1. I have been painting a really cute hutch in my new work space (the dining room). This change of venue brings some challenges ... Alice and Dorothy.
"This is like a big box with different compartments, Mom."
Alice: Whack, whack
Dorothy: Bite. Alice: Dodge.
Alice: Whack, whack ... you get the idea.
2. On Friday, we went to our friends Kim and Andy's house for dinner and game night. Ruby and Winnie went with us ... dogs are always included in the invitation. Winnie did really well, considering she has only been here for just shy of four weeks, and this was her first away-from-home visit like this. Ruby loves visiting her Auntie Kim, and she can get really silly while we are there. At one point, she was sitting upright on the sofa hugging with The Husband while we all were chatting. I'm really glad that Kim had her iPad on hand to capture the moment.
3. You may already know that I am a big fan of ice hockey. Saturday morning's Olympic hockey game between the USA and Russia was one of the very best games that I have ever seen. Both teams were evenly matched ... the hard-fought game was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation ... no one scored in the five minute overtime period ... and the USA finally won the game in the 8th round of the shoot out. I was on the edge of my seat for most of the action. Winnie ... not so much.
4. After the hockey game, I spent the rest of the morning making a big batch of dog stew. The result was 20 containers of stew in the freezer (600 grams each), which will supplement Ruby and Winnie's meals for the next two-and-a-half months. Ruby gets kibble with water and stew added ... Winnie eats canned food mixed with stew. My recipe for this varies, depending on what I have on hand. Yesterday's batch contained rice, ground beef, ground turkey, pork liver (simmered and ground in the food processor), and lots of colorful vegetables (carrots, peas, lima beans, green beans, broccoli, collard greens, canned pumpkin, and butternut squash ... simmered till tender then whirled up with my hand blender.) ... stir the meat and rice into the blended veggie mixture.
5. Speaking of food, the morning dog and cat feeding dynamics here are still evolving. For the first couple of weeks, Winnie would wait just outside the boundary of the kitchen in the dining room while I prepared her food. Now she comes into the kitchen with Ruby, wagging her tail, following me from cupboard to fridge to microwave. This isn't freaking Dorothy out nearly as much as I thought it would. I'm assuming that this is because canned cat food is involved and Dorothy rarely misses a chance at that.
Winnie really likes her big sister Ruby ... but she continues to growl at the cats.
Today started with another early morning Team USA hockey game (a 5-1 victory over Slovenia!) and now I am getting ready to paint the bottom portion of that hutch. It's cold outside and we still have almost all of our snow from last week's storm. Weather Guy says that temperatures here will be in the 60s by the end of the coming week. It's enough to give a gal whiplash.
Happy Sunday, Everyone!
