This is how I have been feeling for the past couple of days....
It was brought to my attention that non Google+ members were not able to comment on my blog! So, with mucho assistance from my blog buddy, Ron, I was able to come up with a solution that I believe will work for everyone!
When you are exasperated by interruptions, try to remember that their very frequency may indicate the valuableness of your life. Only the people who are full of help and strength are burdened by other people's needs. The interruptions which we chafe at are the credentials of our indispensability. The greatest condemnation that anybody could incur--and it is a danger to guard against - is to be so independent, so unhelpful, that nobody ever interrupts us and we are left comfortably alone.
We are here today to support our friend, Benny of the blog, Two French Bulldogs. Benny is very sick and his family is really in need right now. Their blog makes us laugh every single day and they do so many good things for people that we wanted to do something nice for them!!
Please go and visit Benny's Page...We ALL want to Fight Like A Frenchie!!
We are hoping that Benny, Lily, and family will enjoy seeing all of Blogville Fighting Like A Frenchie Today!!
Please enjoy some of Benny & his sister Lily's pictures...
And if you are so inclined ... please stop over and visit Benny & Lily!
It has been one month since Remington has left us and we are all still missing him every single day. Remington's girlfriend is sponsoring a tribute for Remington and you can read all about it here on Sasha's Blog... http://chicamom85-sassysasha.blogspot.com/
Here are some of our most favorite pics of Remington...We love you Remington and always will...until we meet again!
We are in pretty good shape in terms of all shopping done and the house is decorated and the only thing I really have left to do is wrapping! That's a good thing!!
We had a very nice day yesterday with my blog friend, Kae and her husband Mark...wonderful to spend an afternoon just relaxing and eating!
We did not take very many pictures, but here are a few!
WHERE are the pictures of Kae and I, you ask?? We don't know...we are usually the ones behind the lens!!
The girlz were not much help...they were just lounging around watching us!!
Hope you all are getting your holiday preparations accomplished!!
We were so delighted to receive a package from our friends Doogan and Isabelle on Bainbridge Island!! Doogan and Isabelle belong to Teresa from Blooming on Bainbridge!! We were fortunate to be the winners of the Frosty Paws Giveaway on Teresa's Blog!! Here are a few pics of the BOX!
I think they could smell Doogan & Isabelle...or maybe Teresa's COOKIES on the stuffed animals!!
They cannot wait for me to get to the store to purchase them some Frosty Paws!!! More pics to follow at a later date!!
The girlz were beyond excited to open this box!! They are getting to the point where .... whenever the postman rings the bell...they automatically assume he is bringing something for THEM!!
We were relying on Mr. Ben to take these pics and he doesn't always take the best pictures...but you get the idea!
Had a wonderful holiday lunch with my blog buddy!! Yes, it was 12/12/12, but the other interesting thing was that it was exactly one year ago that we had last year's annual Christmas Luncheon!! This year was Mexican...and it was excellent!! We had lunch at El Jimador in Farmington...FABULOUS service and the food is always good. It wasn't spicy enough for Kae, but I think she liked it anyway. Oh, and I want to say a special thank you for those DELICOUS chocolate chip cookies that Kae made!! She knows the way to my heart!!
Hope you all are getting all your preparations done. Can't believe we only have 12 days left. I better get going!!
The appearance of things change according to the emotions, and thus we see magic and beauty in them, while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves.
Kahlil Gibran
We are dedicating today's post to our very Special friend, SUGAR!! Today is Sugar's 11th Barkday!! We are celebrating by having our very own cake for Sugar today and we have even pulled out our party dresses!! Please join us in Seeing Beautiful with Sugar today!!
While we were gone on our trip, we had an invasion of army worms. The army worms are UGLY and can ruin entire neighborhoods!!
Armyworms are a strange pest. The moths responsible for mobilizing the
‘army’ don’t overwinter in the North, just down in milder climes, where
the armies of caterpillars are major pests of turfgrass. There are
several generations a year down South, where infestations can occur on
such a massive scale, reports our turf grass specialist Dr. Nick
Christians of Iowa State University, “that you’ll see them reported on
the evening news. The lawns appear to actually be moving, and severe
outbreaks can cover a hundred mile stretch.”
They feed as they march, eating the tops of grass blades, and can be very damaging—especially down South, where the warm-season grasses that predominate get a much shorter cut than our Northern cool-season grasses.
“The lawn looks severely burnt and drought stressed after they’ve
passed over it,” explains Nick. If the weather is decent and rains come,
the grass can recover, he continues, because—unlike lawn grubs—they
don’t damage the root system. “But if armyworms feed on a lawn in the
middle of a hot and dry stretch, they can destroy large sections.”
So how do these Southern menaces appear in the North? Our homeowner
lives in the ‘somewhat Southern’ Washington DC region, but armyworms have been reported
as far North as Massachusetts!
“Wind”, explains Nick. “You’ll have the first generation of moths in the
air somewhere down South, a big storm whips up around them and they can
be blown incredible distances. The next thing you know there’s a
report of a ‘moving lawn’ in New Jersey.” And while a marching army can
cover vast distances back home, these Oz-borne invasions tend to be
highly localized.
Let me just tell you....when I received a phone call from my friend and fellow blogger, Kae...with this news, I was stunned!! Kae's son was in charge of lawn duty while we were gone. Imagine THEIR surprise when they came over and saw this INVASION!!! I would have been totally creeped out!!! And she was...
By the time we arrived home...nearly three weeks later...the worms and their "remains" were all gone...thankfully!! However, upon closer inspection, we discovered while watering what dead grass we had left...that there are hundreds of MOTHS laying eggs underneath the dead grass. YIKES!!! So, further research was done and we have learned that these types of army worms usually come in waves...and the second wave should be coming within the next couple of weeks. OH JOY. Not.
You have to "biggify" the pics to get the FULL effect of these creatures. It really makes my skin crawl just thinking about it. I am extremely grateful to Kae and her family and my neighbors who all kept us informed as to what was going on. Even the DEC was notified!! The treatment / spray obviously worked as we did not lose our entire lawn...and that COULD have happened had nobody been paying attention. So glad that none of these things got into the foundation...or inside the house somehow.
We have been trying to stomp out the moths that are out there, but it appears that they have laid their eggs under the soil already.
Will keep you posted!!
This is the yard today...it appears to be growing back...you can see some green.
Had to put CHLOE in the picture as she was assisting me with photography this afternoon!!
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