I Love Taking Pictures of Food

In case you haven't noticed, I got a new camera somewhere between here and here (if you click on the links, you will notice the difference immediately). I quickly discovered that some of my favorite photos came from the kitchen.


And it's not because I'm obsessed with food.


Because I'm not.


It's just fun to try new recipes, taste new foods, take pictures, eat, and repeat.


Okay, maybe I'm a little obsessed, but I still think I'd like the pictures even if food wasn't my reason for living. Plus, I guess the food makes it a little easy on the novice photographer...it doesn't move, you don't have to beg it to smile, and when you're done taking pictures, you can eat it.

I still have a lot to learn with my new camera...maybe I should learn to love other subjects to photograph.

My hips would thank me.

Meet Turtle

Yesterday evening, while wandering through Walmart's pet section, we came upon some of the cutest dog toys. I couldn't pass this one up...


It has Duke's eyes.

droopy and puppy-like...I'm a sucker for this sort of thing.

What is it, you say? It's a turtle....

..with a squeaker in its head. Duke is in love...and so am I. I tried to look for more info on these little toys but didn't come up with much. They are DanDee Collector's Choice stuffed toys and dog toys...sold at Walmart, Amazon, and some other various sites. And I will say that it is day 2 and the toy is still intact...stuffing and all. It typically takes 24-48 hours for Aspen and Duke to tear a seem, rip out the stuffing and the squeaker and viciously argue over who gets to play with the deflated toy, so I think it safe to say that these toys are fairly durable since it has survived thus far.

I give it a week...

Planting Day

As you may remember, we started some vegetable plants several weeks back. Yesterday was planting day. We ran into a problem right away. The ground was way too hard for a little tiller. So, Daddy to the rescue!...

The tractor got the ground broken up much faster than the tiller would have.

Here's a wild flower after it met its doom from the tractor.

And here's Ryan tilling away after the tractor was long gone. Don't worry, he didn't to all the work. I even took the tiller for a spin through the garden (now THAT would've made a good picture...and an even better video).

Me towering (well my shadow. I, at 5'4" on a good day, don't tower over anything, except maybe Duke) over the freshly planted garden.

I can't wait for these itty, bitty plants to start growing and making some fresh veggies!

Guard Dog

One of Duke's many favorite pastimes is watching various creatures (birds, dogs, squirrels...and an occasional human) and cars from the living room window. He doesn't get to do this often because it requires jumping on the back of the couch, but when he does get to climb on his lookout point, he has such a sense of purpose. He alerts us to every passerby, including the tiniest birds...nothing gets by him..

Until the other day, when I found him...ahem...sleeping on the job.


Duke? You see something out there? Duke? Yep he was OUT.


Well it's a hard life being a dog around our house...even Aspen has trouble coping from time to time...can't you tell by sense of unrest in this picture?

I know. If they were anymore stressed, they would need a puppy shrink.