Everyone loves Quiche!

Gruyere cheese, ham, broccoli, sauteed onions and garlic, eggs, heavy cream. Fresh ground nutmeg on top too.
Low-cal quiche.
Yeah, right.

Gruyere cheese, red peppers, asparagus, broccoli, sauteed onions and garlic, eggs, and heavy cream. Oh yeah, nutmeg again. Low-cal vegetarian quiche.
My crusts aren't the prettiest but they are yummy.

How do you get a dog to take her heartworm pill?

If the above video won't play, try the You Tube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCngIYKWRrM

a few more deck shots

We had to take out a few bottles. Dang. More work for another time.


Taking shape.

Yippee!

Finally! My deck! Yay, no more grass (aka weeds)

Gary's trailer full of lumber and stuff.

In NJ

No pics, no camera.
I'm headed to the city tomorrow.
It was cold and almost snowy here in Franklin Lakes, NJ. Today it is warmer and by Saturday will be beautiful according to weather.com.

Marc takes a fall on the bike. ouch...

Gary called this morning and said they needed to head to Zephyrhills to make a quick fix to something on Vicki's pool. He asked if I wanted to ride along and he was trying to get some other peeps to ride today, Easter Sunday.

So, I sent a text to Marc. He loves to ride but I wasn't sure if had plans. He was able to join us. We had to stop and fill the tanks first.

We arrived at Vicki's house in ZHills and I took this self-portrait.

We ended up with three scooters on this ride. After they made the quick fix we headed to San Antonio (NOT Texas! LOL) for some tex-mex. The restaurant was closed. So, we headed to another place - some steak house by the highway. It took FOREVER to get our food and when it was brought to the table it was either wrong or cold. Marc asked for some tomatoes and the waitress brought him ketchup. I guess that is a form of a tomato, right? We finally got out of there around 4pm and headed home. I crossed two milestones today. The bike turned over 1K miles - LOLOL - AND - I drove the bike on the highway for the first time. I am not a go-fast-biker so the highway never appealed to me. I rarely drive the miata on the highway either. Well, I made it and was scared. Gary and Vicki headed south on 301 for home and Marc and I headed back to Seffner. He wanted to look at one of my duplexes that is empty. I need a renter! After he checked it out we decided to drive five very short blocks to another property. We were about a block away from the turn when this young pit bull ran towards me and then stopped. I slowed for the turn and looked in the rear view mirror and all I saw was marc sliding on the bike. I panicked and nearly dropped mine. I headed into the grass because I thought if I'm gonna drop it, I'm dropping it in the damn yard. I was so scared. Some guys came running over and pulled the bike off marc. Then they helped me stand the bike on the side of the yard. The dog is now yelping and leaning against the fence. The 'owner' comes out and says "I'm so sorry, I don't know how the dog got out. We just got him today. We took him from someone who was abusing him'.
Ok, I'll vent about that later.

Here is marc after the paramedics bandaged him a little. Marc was in shock and couldn't decide if he need an ambulance, etc. He settled for some gauze and band-aids.

Paramedics leaving. Injured Purple Rain to the right.

Purple Rain is the true victim here - well, besides the puppy of course...

Crunch

Scrape

Little bit of mangled parts.

Yeah, he's all smiles today. I bet that tomorrow he is a sore boy.
So... the dog... The dog is some sort of pitt bull and I would say the poor thing is less than six months old. The sentence uttered above by the owner was repeated at least 10 times during this event. I was fuming. Here is what I wanted to say:
You just got the dog TODAY, right?
YOU RESCUED the dog, right?

How did you not know where the dog was?
Why weren't you lovin' all over that poor, abused, rescued dog who just just got TODAY?
You have the dog less than ONE DAY and you allow it to wander off.... Wander far enough to get hit by a motorcycle?
I feel very bad for the dog. All of my blog readers know that I am an animal lover and will do anything for the paws. This human does not deserve any paws.

I was ready to slap her every time she uttered the statement above.

I felt bad that she was crying and was obviously upset. I would have been very upset too. Actually, I WAS very upset, in shock, shaking, etc.

Ok, I'll stop bitching about it and move on.

The best part is that Marc is ok. Purple Rain can be repaired. I'm not so sure the dog will make it through the night and I know I will have nightmares about this later. Yes, I will be taking a little sleep inducer.

I have to admit that I am freaked out and am ready to sell the bike. I know, I know, it was an accident and what are the chances of it happening again? The worst part is the memory of seeing him sliding across the pavement in my rear view mirror and hearing that poor dog yelping and crying.

I need a xanax. :)

My Friend Gary and his son Adam

I have wanted to have this tiled since the day I moved in. Why oh Why did I wait so long? Gary did a great job installing the tile. Pics of the finished entryway will be added soon.

Gary and the sinking table. He came to his senses and moved it to the drive way. hee hee

Adam shoveling mulch.

Adam again.

Elsie and Bob... Bob the Cat

Not the best video. I had to shoot through the screen. Also, the yard is a mess. I'll take some nice pics of the yard this weekend. It is looking much better - altho sparse. In a couple of months things will be looking real good.


Yes, those are wine bottles I'm using as a border. I've been collecting them for almost five years now. It takes A LOT of wine bottles to go just a few feet!

Yes, those are surfboards on the fence. One just fell the other day. I think I'm gonna screw then right to the damn fence. No one can seem to figure out a good way to keep them hanging. Rope, wire, plastic coated stuff, etc. Eventually the boards fall, one at a time. I think some good ol' drywall screws will do the trick.

Yes, that is a tiki head carved from a palm tree trunk. I was told that locals used to carve those and sell them to the tourists around Florida. Maybe in the 50's or 60's? I picked that up at an estate sale years ago for a couple of bucks. It is completely hollow now and falls over all the time. I'm gonna have My Friend Gary put a post in the ground and then put the tiki over the top. Clever huh. Maybe you can't see the tiki thingy in this video. I post a pic of it later.

Yes, those are big pieces of oak in the back garden. They are from the big oak that used to be in my front yard. The third of four hurricanes sent it crashing to the yard the first year I lived here. I had the guys roll those chunks out back as yard art, memories, whatever. The big woodpeckers have almost destroyed them but it has been fun watching those birds work their way around the stumps looking for bugs. Actually, I read that they poke (drill!!??!!) the holes in hopes that bugs will go in there and then they come back later and eat the bugs. I need to research that more later.

Yes, that is NO GRASS in my yard. I refuse to waste water on stuff that is not native to the sunshine state. I'm going to spraying some Round Up on those weeds this weekend because My Friend Gary will be installing a wood deck over most of that grass-less, weed-full, area.

Two more pics for tonight and then I am done. This is Zoe, Elsie's kitten. She is a very pretty girl with some very sharp claws. She's become an outdoor kitty - well, 99% outdoor. She likes it outside. When she's not outside she is either sleeping in the backseat of the Volvo or on the floorboard of the Miata.

Liz and Emily at the Sawgrass Flats outdoor mall concert event

Liz and Emily

A new mall opened just north of Tampa. It is one of those fancy Your-O-Pee-In styled malls with all the doors outside and you walk from store to store. I guess no one told the builders that in a couple of months it will be 95 degrees, 100% humidity, and 99% chance of rain on a daily basis. Oh yeah, let's not forget those little wind and rain storms that blow thru here occasionally. But, what do I know??
Anyhoo, for the next few Thursdays there will be live music on three stages around the shops. We stayed for about an hour and then Emily stated that she was hungry. So, off we went. Next time we'll take Elise since it is dog-friendly.

Elsie giving me some raspberries! Little brat

Elsie has learned that the shiny box I point at her makes a big flash and hurts her eyes. She has taken to putting her head down when she sees me with the shiny thingy. It took a few shots to get one with her head up and when it was up - she stuck her tongue out at me. :ppppppppppp

Paul Thorn weekend .. Canal Street and the South Gate House

Friday, April 3, 2009 I travelled to Ohio to spend a few days with the family and also to see the Paul Thorn Band at the Canal Street Tavern. We had 10 in our group with 6-8 more in a second group - Tracy's friends.
Our group: Mom, John, Scott, Kathy, Sean, Adam, Brian, Tracy, Vikki,.....and....... ME :)

What a terrible picture of Tracy and me. We were giving instructions to the picture taker. Oh well. Mom and Vik look grreat.

This is a better version of the pic above! I'm sure Tracy prefers this version. I know I do.

I got kinda sweaty dancin' around. Gotta love Paul!

Vikki came to the show and we had fun both before and after. We even stopped by old Grill's Tavern in Trotwood, Ohio.

Shelley, Vikki, and Tracy... self-portrait.

Tracy and the boys
Adam, Tracy, Brian, and Sean

Tracy, Sean, and Vikki

Sunday night Tracy and I went to Covington, KY to see Paul again. Paul performed solo this show and it was truly an experience. About three songs in he took off his boots 'cause his fee-et got hot. (my best PT imitation)

Shelley's attempt at an artsy shot. Paul painted that sign. :)

Paul usually has a straight face in pics but I think I see a tiny little grin here.

Thanks Paul for two wonderful shows.

Where do I begin? oh, with Elsie of course!

So, some of you know what a crazy dog elsie is when any animal comes on TV....and ...it is even worse when I say 'aahhhhhh' or 'ooohhhhh' 'look' etc.
I captured this video of psycho dog. From sleepy to cuckoo.