Turkeys in the hood

I walked up the street a few houses yesterday and guess what we saw. A bunch of wild (I assume.) turkeys on the prowl. Ruby was interested but a little shy. There were a dozen or so in this gang of hoodlums. Only a year ago we moved in to such a nice neighborhood and now it is just going to pot. I can only imagine what the graffiti will look like. Probably chicken scrawl over someone's new fence.

Old post.

Here are some pictures I wanted to post many days ago but computer ills stopped me. Ruby, Starla and I are on our way to Keith and Angie's rehearsal dinner.

My funny

Here is something that I just said to Starla that she thought was funny. Ruby was hacking and gagging around the living room until she finally barfed up a small amount of white saliva. Starla asked what was wrong with her. I told her that nothing was wrong with her except being a dog. They just throw-up from time to time. That's why they call them dogs. Because they are dog-awful. Starla laughed.

Sorry for the break

I have been trying to blog for the past several days but I haven't been able to upload pictures without my browser crashing. So here is a post without picture. Keith (Starla's brother) and Angie were recently married, congratulations. We've been busy going back and forth to TN for that.

More anniversary

After we all ate more than we ought our very nice waiter, David, brought out a special cake. There was a slight mishap during it's displaying for pictures but that's ok.

Hank and Lana's 40th.

Stay married for forty years and what do you get? You get a buffet with more food than you can shake a stick at. I mean more food than even experienced stick shakers can handle. We got a tour of the buffet as we were being seated and I am still positive I didn't see all the food. Anyway it was very good. And the view was tremendous. The scene of the event was the Grove Park Inn's Dining Room. You can see the view behind us in these two pictures.

Exorcising...I mean exercising the dog

Ruby loves to run and jump in the front yard. If she doesn't get a little running and jumping every day she turns into quite the terror. I enjoy running around the neighborhood with her frequently but if I am too lazy to do that Ruby is content to run around in circles chasing a stick in the front yard. She can jump higher than she can land and often ends up on her rump. She must not care though cause she gets right up and jumps again. Unfortunately for her, she hasn't mastered opening her mouth at the peak of her jump to grab the stick. Mostly she just bumps the stick with her nose. ...Don't miss the supercool socks with sandals look. I guess I really am German.

Espresso break

After eating Indian food at Mela last night Starla was nice enough to stop with me for a bit of dessert. Oh, that is an interesting map.

Remember when

Does anyone remember this dog? She's just as playful now but 10x as strong. Sometimes she thinks she's still that dog.

Color choice

I forgot to mention that the color of the latest room is Driftwood. I chose it myself. By "chose" I mean that Starla looked at 40 colors and narrowed it down to 3, then she gave me those 3 and said I could "choose" any color I wanted. Marriage is great.

Heat doesn't slow me down.

Boy, it has been warm here. Not as bad as other places, though. NYC was in the 100s today. That would have been a miserable train ride home. I think we have been a little under and a little over 90 this afternoon. But I was a worker bee anyway. I finished painting the last bedroom. I walked Ruby. I put up the last of the guest room blinds that we ordered. I hit a bucket of golf balls. I went for a run with Ruby. I treated the yard for bugs. (Sorry, environment.) I went grocery shopping. (That was in the A/C at least.) Attached are pictures of the blinds in the freshly painted guest room. The walls are darkish grey with a hint of purple. That's full spectrum paints for you. Tonight Starla and I are going to the movies. I don't even care what we see as long as the seats are comfortable and the A/C is set to around 65. (I just spell checked this post and my program wanted to replace "darkish" with "Turkish". I wonder what Turkish grey would look like?)

Free picture of Ruby

Ruby is bored and has had enough of laying in bed.

Hotel room

This is us in our hotel room and our view.

Fingerprints

Starla and I had our fingerprints taken in Charlotte last Thursday. It was a really easy process (we just had to wait a long time for our appointment). We stayed at a nice hotel where Starla had a lavender massage. And we ate at a wonderful restaurant named Table. Martinis and a cheese plate. Mmmmmm.

A little tired

I am just relaxing in my bed upstairs at the moment. I flipped the mattress and washed the sheets, blanket and mattress pad earlier today. In fact, today has been a busy cleaning day. We go to Charlotte tomorrow to get our fingerprints taken. Hopefully, that will go smoothly. Anyway, I am just doing crosswords right now and reenergizing for the rest of my work this evening. Ironing. Hank is coming over tomorrow to watch Ruby here while we are away. Apparently, Ruby is rough on unfinished stairs and new carpet so she doesn't get to visit Tennessee. Even though I haven't seen the actual proof I am willing to believe it. Hank is brave to face the home with no AC. No one wants to visit us during the summer. Starla's not to big on it either but it doesn't bother me so much. I guess I can thank Texas for that. Here is the view outside my window in the bedroom. Pretty, no?

Dog treat

Here is one of Ruby's fake ice cream bars. Here is Ruby waiting for one of her fake ice cream bars. This thing guarantees about 15 minutes of quiet.

Two new rooms

The two rooms I have been working on have come to a point of stasis. I won't say they are done yet but they are acceptable for the next several months, perhaps as long as a year. Next I start on new rooms and new projects. The library and the last guest room are first on the list.

Our file cabinet

We finally broke down and bought a file cabinet. It came in many, many pieces. Ruby watched me while I put it together. Here is the finished product.

Ruby relaxing

Ruby made herself right at home in Missouri.

Strike that last comment

Apparently Chester, Illinois is home to the creator of Popeye and he used several townspeople as a basis for his characters in that old time, wonderful cartoon.