Vanilla Cupcakes

Sunday. Sept 26
Walked dogs
Dropped off axle in CDA at Lowe's for Dan
Got BiBi Caffe at Shotzy's. Greg said tastes like root beer float. With espresso
Shopped at Michaels
Got burritos at Food Truck. Not so good
Picked Bravo up at KRN's home
Took Bravo & food to meet KRN at her work
KRN was surprised - "That's MY dog!"
Ate lunch with KRN & gave her espresso cupcakes
Drove Bravo back home
Stopped at Earth & Sky Nursery in Cheney to pick up Burning Bush (got a free palm tree with purchase)
Got a white coffee latte at Blue Ox
Went to N Spokane to pick up tailgate at Cory's house
Stopped at Home Depot in Liberty Lake to pick up 3 additional 1/2 wine barrels for fall bulbs
Did not have room in back of truck for dirt
Went to CDA so we could get cheeseburgers for dogs at Wendy's
I ran into Michael's in CDA to see if they had hemp rope - no such luck - out of stock of lots of items
Hubby, Bud, Bit & I drove home.
Took dogs for walk in park.
Made vanilla cupcakes with "grocery store vanilla frosting"
Went to bed.

 vanilla cupcakes

Monday. Sept 27
Did laundry
Vacuumed house
Cleaned hard wood floors
Washed dog rugs
Washed dog beds
Washed loft quilts
Changed bedding in extra room downstairs
Washed extra bedding
Vacuumed basement
Watered plants
Picked up dog poo
Washed several loads of dishes
Put away all dishes
Shaved legs, took shower, washed hair
Collapsed
Fed Ex delivery man came with cupcake books from Amazon!
Hubby came home
Took dogs for walk down at Farragut Park (in the dark)

Isabelle rests on the driveway while I water plants.

Cupcakes & Dog Walk

Cupcakes in the AM

Angus & Bud Dog walk in the PM

Tuesday morning KRN came over. We took her Jeep to Spokane. Went to Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's. Picked up some cute decor for fall/Halloween. Also got material & yarn at JoAnn's.

On Wednesday, we stopped to get drinks in the morning after KRN finished with her hair. So we were a little late getting started (about 10:00). Saw the Sheltie running down the road on the way into A-town. Poor little pooch. We had taken Harriet (who gave sad eyes & wanted to come so badly) Bud, Lil Bit, and Bravo with us to see the local dogs. DeraLee cried to see KRN here in town and asked if she could work for a couple hours while she went for a medical emergency for her father. KRN worked for 2 hours. I went home, (on the way home saw the Sheltie running down the highway again) Harry & Bravo decided they were going to run out into the road to find it...They finally returned after worrying me a lot.

I vacuumed FMF & cleaned it out. Got done just in time to get back to latte stand at 1:00. Saw the dog running down the hwy again in front of a white car. A nice woman got out and tried to help me capture the dog but it was so scared and raced away from us in fear.

Finally picked KRN up at the latte stand & we went to the Valley Mall to return AE clothes, Lady Footlocker shoes, and do our nails at Nail - Tek. Got done about 4:00. Stopped at Shotzy's on the way back to find out what the advertised drink - A Zipper would be. Did not purchase that, but did get the best drink in the world! BiBi Cafe. Wonderful.

Hubby and I took the dogs for a walk down at Farragut Park. We went a totally different route and it was so nice. Watched the setting sun. The moon was beautiful coming up over the water. Dogs loved the new route & smelled great new smells. Saw LOTS of deer. Momma & 2 babies ran in front of the truck. 5 deer darted out in front of us on the walk. Several single deer alongside the road as we drove home, and about 15 in a field in the park. We had never seen so many deer!

KRN went to Olive Garden to eat with high school friends. She came home around 10PM.

Jumping out of the FMF on Thursday morning, KRN tried to duplicate the taste of the BiBi Cafe. DeraLee was all for trying to experiment. However she was out of seltzer. I drove home to drop off dogs as we had forgotten the cupcakes for DeraLee and the advertisement for BiBi Cafe. KRN walked to Super G to find seltzer water but they were out. When I drove home, I saw the little Sheltie running down the highway again!

KRN texted me to pick up seltzer at Lil Town Market. Then I went back to the latte stand. We experimented trying to replicate the wonderful drink for over an hour. KRN helped with customers. Then I spied the Animal Control officer at the Hair Salon next door. Went over to talk to her about the wandering dog.

We finally left the stand and came home to work on KRN's crochet basketweave afghan project. KRN left at about 3:30 after we went to the neighbor's to leave the kennel, dog food, & water out for the little Sheltie. Hope no other animals feed on the food or try to eat the dog.

Cupcakes

AM - Cupcakes

2PM Isabelle & Harriet to vet for shots.

a walk in the park

On Saturday, I took Isabelle & Angus in to the groomers. Angus had a total body shave - she has been shedding horribly. She will have grown her winter coat before another month goes by so she will be warm & cozy. For now, she looks fresh & clean. Isabelle just needed an overall bath with toenail trim.

Hubby came in with me at 5:00 after working in the shop. We picked up A&I from Apryl's, got cheeseburgers for the other dogs, traded a socket at Sears.

When we got home it started to rain. Was cold.

Hubster slept in until 10:00 on Sunday. He was very tired. I got up & took Bud & Bit to the latte stand with me. Then came home & made breakfast for hubby. Then we took dogs for a walk in the park. The National Guard was out on maneuvers in the park which made it difficult trying to walk the dogs. We drove around and were saddened that the park was starting to close. The end of another season :(

Fall color at Farragut Park

Then came home & rested. Greg put up my tiebacks for the curtains. Got groceries at 7:00PM in Spirit Lake. I made cupcakes. Went to bed early.

Spokane County Interstate Fair

Mini Donuts
Racing Pigs
Jumbo Super Long Corn Dogs
The Giant Wheel

International Lumberjack Show
Corn-On-The-Cob
Euro Balls
Hawaiian Ice
Animal Barns

1001 Nachts (What is the speed of Water?)

If It's Fried, We Tried - Fried Twinkie (grotesque) and Deep Fat Fried Oreos ("yuch-the grossiest thing I ever tasted!")

Too Cute

The Westerly Trench

Bravo would look just adorable in this. Or even Bit. Maybe Bud would look distinguished in a darker color!

Lily In The Fall

My Calla Lilys are coming up quite well. I was totally surprised to see them spurt out of the barrel.

On Sunday night I fell asleep quite early. Was exhausted. Hubby was concerned. He wanted me to go to the Dr. on Monday. So he stayed home with me on Monday to take care of me. That was so sweet. He made sure that I was comfortable. I was just totally exhausted & couldn't even get out of bed. Boring.

Hubby mostly rested on the couch on Monday. Played with the dogs. Lil Bit walked around holding up his left paw - limping pathetically. We were concerned but could not take him into the vet as Dr Mike is on vacation this week.

By Tuesday morning, Lil Bit was walking again normally. We will make sure we watch him closely in case he has further problems.

Hubby returned to work on Tuesday and I felt a little bit better. Temps were in the high 70s. I managed to vacuum out a little of the truck. Dark clouds & lightning, but no rain. Isabelle was scared & holed up in the upstairs bathroom for a while until I went down in the basement to open the door to the bedroom down there so she could "hide". Poor terrified baby. When I was in the library, she slept in there for a while.

I managed to do a couple loads of laundry, crochet a little & do some dishes.

Fall Edges Nearer

The weather has been cloudy, rainy, and colder. It seems that just as soon as September crept onto the calendar that the seasonal changes started.

I had every intention of digging into house cleaning, dog cleaning, and a myriad of other things to do. However, I was intensely tired & cramping for most of Thursday & Friday. So I rested. Did a few chores around the house. Laundry. Cleaned countertops which almost exhausted me. Vacuumed the FMF finally after putting it off. I did schedule an appointment for Harriet & Isabelle for their shot updates. However, Dr. Mike is on vacation next week and so their appointment is not until Sept 20. Almost the end of the month. And then that month is shot! Closer to the time that Matt comes home.

It seems beyond my ability to be able to find a new window washing service. Most are too expensive because of the height of our windows. But I don't want to use the service I had previous. They were just not cutting it. The windows were slimy and I really didn't trust the workers they were hiring. Also need to find a better carpet cleaning company. Will work on that this coming week.

Hubby had to work late both Thursday & Friday nights. He did not get home until 10PM on Thursday in addition to being woken up twice with on-call emergency calls from dispatch even though he was NOT on-call this week. My sleep schedule has been severely disrupted.

KRN could not join us for Saturday at the Kootenai River Ride. Even tho it was a distressing day to begin with; dark clouds & ominous rain threatening it turned out to be a wonderful early fall day. Moderate temperatures were enjoyable for the ride. However, the registration did not go well. Even after sending in the registration early, the individuals were almost arguing with me about payment (check went through 3 weeks ago) and confirmation (telephone call was confirmed through the Rotary 1 week ago). It was not pleasant to have to point out to them that I paid for 3 shirts, not 2. In addition, the "goody" bag that we received was dismal. Another disposable hospital donation bag & a pen & a business card. Their sponsors must have dramatically stepped back in regards to $. The ride is getting tedious too. I think we need to look for a different annual bike ride next year. We did get to view some fall colored foliage.

Fall Foliage

On the way home, we stopped at a craft (crap sale hubby calls them) sale by the river in the parking lot Bonners Ferry. Hubby also had to look for a tool on the way home & we had to stop at every automotive store between BF & home. Stopped at Home Depot (no room to put the whiskey barrels in back with bikes) but I did manage to get a yellow mum & a pink mum annuals. 

Mums

Dogs were extremely happy to have us back home. Hubby worked at the shop until 8PM. We had a light dinner & went to bed after watching a couple 9/11 Documentaries on television.

Sunday morning Bud, Bit & I went to get drinks in the Dodge while hubby made SPAM for breakfast. I hate that smell. We drank our lattes on the deck with the dogs eager to get going for their walk.

I watered plants outside, picked up poo & then hubby was ready to go. Took the dogs to Farragut for a dog walk. There was a Mounted Shooters Club at the park shooting blanks. Dogs did not like it at all. When we returned, all the dogs were panting & thoroughly exhausted even though our walk was not as long as usual. The temperature was only hanging in the 64 degree range. Not hot at all. They took a LONG dog nap at home. Hubby & I picked spots to put the new plants - the Cistena Plum, the Irish Bell Bosnian Pine, and the Colorado Blue Spruce.

Hubby took a nap on the couch while I blogged. Also got out my crocheting things to start work.

StayCationAnniversary The End

Tuesday. The final day. Hubby is having nightmares about going back to work. He is already talking about it. I keep telling him to "shut up about work!"

Get lattes at DeraLee's and give her the peaches from yesterday's haul!

Bud came with us in the Dodge today. We stopped in Post Falls briefly only to realize that there were already 28 people in line at the DMV to register vehicles. Ooops.

Went to Donut Parade in Spokane, WA to try out the famous donuts. Yum. Met KRN there to share lattes & donuts. The best donut I have tasted lately. KRN said that her sprinkled was very tasty, too.

Then we loaded up and drove to the Lowe's in Spokane Valley to get a brand new snow blower for KRN. There was a sale at 15% off and with her additional 10% military discount she raked in the savings. Also picked up some shop lights for hubby.

Hubster and I were hungry again because our shopping at Lowe's took quite a long time so we went over to Honey Baked Ham Cafe to grab a quick sandwich. We ate 1/2 our sandwich there & took the rest home for tomorrow's lunch.

We drove to Cheney to drop off KRN's snowblower and she met us there. Beebo was EXTREMELY excited to see Grampy and Gramma at his house. He jumped and jumped and kissed and licked us both. It was nice to get greeted in that manner.

Hubby determined to do a couple other honey dos around KRN's house again, but did not have the proper tools. Will stop back and work some more.

We drove to the South Hill to find a cupcake shoppe, but by the time we got in there it was not a real cupcake shop at all just a stupid place for sandwiches. Will not believe the internet again!

Picked up wheels & tires in Rathdrum at Perfection Tire for Matt's MegaMatt. Then drove home. Hubby worked down at the shop for a couple hours. I gave the dogs leftovers & treats.

Went to bed late. Lil Bit kept me awake all night long barking at the Screech Owl outside.

I felt hungover on Wednesday morning. Hubby found me in Isabelle's bed with Harriet curled around me. After getting up for the 4th time, I decided not to bother hubby in our bed. He had spread out all over...so I climbed in to sleep with Harriet. Hubby dumped Lil Bit on the bed with us. I had dogs all around me!

Got up at 8AM, but had no energy or effort to do anything much today. Back on the Isagenix Cleanse after our vacation. Watered plants. Went to get mail. Watched woman in a white car across the street get pulled over for speeding, do a sobriety test, fail test, get handcuffed, frisked & piled into the police cruiser (one of 3 that had pulled over for this criminal) along with 2 other vehicles that filled out police reports. Better than watching COPS!

Did several loads of laundry. Started to bring in summer decor from outside. 

Hubby came home at 9PM after working OT.

What? More StayCationVersary

Slept in until 9:45AM on Labor Day Monday! Wow. Harriet kept trying to wake us up, Angus was getting whiney. So while hubby made his eggs for breakfast, I went down to get lattes from DeraLee.

Came back & shared drinks on the deck while sitting in the warm early fall sun. Clouds finally moved in and we decided visit Greenbluff for the peaches this weekend.

yum! Peaches

Bud & Bit came with us. We got a couple more drinks for the road & went the Elk-Chattaroy road for the scenic view. No changing of the leaves yet, but still a nice long drive.

Got to the Greenbluff Country Orchard around 2PM. Walked dogs for a while. We had a pleasant lunch on the patio, then went peach picking with a "character" named Harold. He liked to talk to himself, but was quite pleasant. He showed us where to get the best peaches, drove us down there in an electric powered golf cart & then told us entertaining stories from his younger days!

Walked the dogs again just before we left. Drove back home after picking up cheeseburgers at Wendy's for the dogs we left at home. They were quite appreciative that we brought back treats!

Mtn View from Greenbluff

Sat around watching TV for the rest of the night. Quite cold. Right now at 8:30 is 52 degrees outside. We have the fireplace on already.

Yet MORE StayCationAnniversary

Sunday started with us rolling out of bed after getting no sleep at all. A low of 41 degrees last night makes us determined to enjoy what little is left of the summer!

Baby Screech Owl

We found out that the reason the dogs are barking all night long is that we have a baby screech owl living out under the front deck & in the trees! He sounds so adorable.

Breakfast at the Floating Patio Restaurant in Bayview, Idaho. Yum. Conversed with a fellow that had a beautiful Pitbull named Sandy. She was very well behaved and ate a hotdog while the gentleman enjoyed his breakfast. Very pretty dog.

Then picked up the dogs & drove to Granite Falls near Priest Lake, Idaho in the Kaniksu National Forest. Stopped at a potty stop on Hwy 57 just prior to getting there & ran into a delightful couple that adored petting our dogs. Packed up the dogs in the Dodge again & drove to Granite Falls to visit the beautiful waterfalls there. We decided there were too many people there to take all the dogs for a walk, so we just took Bud & Isabelle. The most well behaved. Bud, however, decided he was going to snap at an Italian Racing Greyhound that was walking sans leash with a black Great Dane (also sans leash) ALL the other dogs on the trail had leashes. Get a clue people!

Granite Falls

Anyway, we ran into the delightful couple again who loved petting both of the dogs. We trooped up the 1 mile round trip trail, then back down again to the truck. Took the other puppies for a short walk around the old growth cedar trees (500-800 years old).

 Roosevelt Cedar Grove

Then drove to Espresso drive-thru in Priest Lake. Wonderfully good lattes! Picked up cheeseburgers for dogs at Burgers Express in Priest River.

Ate in shade of the (formerly) Verizon Central Office, then drove to deserted subdivision to let wild dogs run! But when we got there, two cars were already there walking their dogs (sans leash again). So we leashed our dogs up & walked to the river. After those two cars (finally) left, another car pulled in. He was the new owner of the property and had already placed building stakes right in the middle of the biggest tree there where the eagle had nested & would eat his fish. We had found lots of fish guts, bones & assorted fish at the bottom of the tree.

We finally left disgusted that we would no longer be able to take dogs to their favorite spot.

Once we got home, there were 2 ATVs & 2 dirt road bikes racing down Hwy 54 from Clagstone to Ramsey Road IN THE ROAD. Hubby had to swerve to avoid one dirt road biker as they were riding into oncoming traffic. After pulling into our driveway and watching them race down the road similar to drag racing, I finally called the police 911. I do not know if they sent out the ISP, but we desperately need at least one officer making the Hwy 95/Hwy 54/Hwy 41/Hwy 53 circle at least once an hour to show a police presence. ESPECIALLY on holiday weekends.

Even More StayCationAnniversary

On Friday hubby took the bikes down to the shop after I vacuumed all the dog hair out of the back of the pickup. He carefully filled the tires with air so as not to burst the tires. We packed up all our snacks into a back pack & drove into A-town to get water & sandwiches at the Little Town Market.

Drove to Montana/Idaho border & bought tickets for the Route Of The Hiawatha bike trail - 15 miles of scenic rail-to-trail mountain biking. Stopped for lunch mid way & let a little ground squirrel share some of our snacks.

 bikes on trail

We all got saddle sore by the end of the 18 mile round trip ride!

When we got back to the truck after the 2nd trip through the 1.7 mile Taft Tunnel which was quite cold on our lungs, we all needed a hot latte. Finally found a place open just off the interstate in Smelterville. Yum. Really hit the spot!

At home the guys were still working on the lift kit for KRN's Jeep. The tires & wheels that Poor Joe H left did not fit, so they remounted her old wheels & tires. KRN took off for home around 7PM. Rain storm hit us with very dark clouds, hail-like rain & lightning shortly afterwards.

Opened up the order I received from Victoria's Secret. I am NEVER purchasing from them again. Cheap, ill made clothes. The sweater had buttons on it that would not fit through the knitted opening. If I had tried, the sweater would have ripped. All items are going back!

Hubby & I both took showers & went to bed early.

We slept in late again on Saturday morning. Packed Bud in the FMF & got lattes. Then went into Post Falls to pick up check from C&N Diesel. Stopped to wash FMF at the auto car wash. Stopped in Rathdrum to check out the Farmer's Market. Which turned out to be craft & junk sale in the park. No Farmer's food at all. Very disappointed as I had anticipated some jalapenos, apples or onions. Boring.

Bud on the dock

Hubby drove us out to Twin Lakes & we had Bud check out the water. Then back to A-town to pick up BBQ. Pulled pork, chicken & beef. Yum. Took it home to eat.

My boots from Alloy came in USPS today. Oh. They are SO comfortable, beautiful & just perfect for fall. I am ordering another pair! Hubby at the shop from 2PM until 5PM. He rested for a bit, then we took dogs to deserted subdivision in Farragut. Afterwards dropped dogs off at home while we went to Spirit Lake to have ice cream cones.

More StayCationAnniversary

On Wednesday took the dogs to a former missile silo site over in Newman Lake, WA that was completely fenced. I found this through an advertisement on CraigsList. The owner advertised it as a secure dog run site. We rented it for 2 hours. All the dogs ran, played, & ran some more. They were completely worn out.

Angus running & playing

 

However, we were to have it privately and then some strange old men came into the compound, and wanted to get their car out of storage. The dogs went nuts barking at them. We had to leave because the people would not let us have the area in private any more. Hubby went up to complain to the owner who apologized profusely. He had not anticipated these people coming.

We took dogs back to our place, then went to Spokane to eat lunch at Kowalski's, a little known great sandwich place inside a bank building. Cheney to pick up KRN's bike & leave her plants she purchased.

On Thursday we got lattes after sleeping in until 9AM! Wow. When we drove into A-town, Dead dog was missing from its yard. We are very concerned that DD has either died or been taken by the Humane Society.

Traveled up to Hope, Idaho to visit the then stopped at 1PM for reservations at The Floating Restaurant. Great food, excellent service & it was wonderful to sit on the water in the sun! We finally left at 3PM.

me & hubby at Floating Restaurant

Both before & after lunch we observed grazing herds of whitetail deer at The David Thompson Game Preserve on the penisula. Stopped in Sandpoint to get Cupcakes but were told they only "bake them on the weekend" and they were closed for the season effective this coming weekend.

Deer at Game Preserve

Long drive home; almost fell asleep. Hubby worked at the shop for a while, then took dogs down to deserted subdivision & let them run.

Home to bed. Long day.