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Saturday, May 30, 2009

Flowers & Trees At Our Place

I planted double petal Impatiens in the mosaic pot I made. Can you see the snow in the mountains in the back ground?? The Rocky Mountains go up into Canada from here.
The second hanging planter here is full of baby lettuce plants. They've already grown 2 inches!
These plants on the deck are my most recent "gardening" projects. One hanging planter I didn't show because it just contains seeds. Sugar Maple Tree seeds! My blog-buddy, Daisy,in Ohio sent them to me while I was still in Phoenix. She also sent some packets of flower seeds which I planted in my little garden patch. Will let you know if they come up.

This is a Sweetheart Cherry tree that Patrick planted for me. It's still in a bit of shock I think.

This Rhododendron bush is 1 of 3 that one of our neighbors was going to throw away last year! We couldn't believe that they would just dig them up and throw them out and asked if we could resurrect them. (By we, I mean Patrick...he did all the digging and heavy lifting. Thanks baby!) We also got 2 Azalea bushes that haven't bloomed yet. They look pretty scrawny, but the flowers are pretty. If any of you garden aficionados out there have any suggestions for plumping up the leaves on these bushes, please feel free to comment.

This little guy is one of 4 Blue Spruce that we planted last October. They all made it through the rough Northern Idaho winter. Yippee!

I hope you all are having a lovely weekend. A special shout out to blog-buddy, John in Wales on his 47th Birthday!! If you get a chance, hop on over to his blog and wish him happy returns of the day. Approaching 50 can be traumatic to some!!

May the Lord of Heaven and Earth rain His blessings on all who read this.

love, Cassie

Monday, May 25, 2009

A to Z Mondays ~ The Letter T

These are my odd shaped Tulips! I planted the bulbs last Fall and was so happy to see them waiting for me when we arrived here last Monday. My computer is running out of juice now, so I have to come back on a later date to read all my buddies blogs.
Go to Jen's blog for more A to Z Mondays.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

A to Z Mondays ~ The Letter S

Saxophone

I played the E flat alto Saxophone from the 3rd grade through my Senior year in high School. My Sister, Harley and my father and his Sister, Auntie Vi also all played the Saxophone. Auntie Vi was Super beautiful and was first runner up in the Miss Pennsylvania Pageant many years ago. Her talent for the contest was playing the Saxophone. I would have preferred playing the flute or clarinet, but was probably made to learn the Saxophone because my family owned Several.

Sooooo I was Sassy Cassie the Silly Saxophonist!

For more A to Z Mondays Skip on over to Jen's blog.

See you Soon! Sayonara, Cassie

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

What Is This?

Once again the ghost writer of Martha and Bailey's blog has caught my attention. Who are you really Miss Ghost Writer? (Martha and Bailey are Basset Hounds with whom Baby Rocket Dog and Hootie have become bloggie buddies.) There was a picture of this "neighbor" of theirs on their blog:

How many of you know what this thing is?? Well, you are twice the man I'll ever be if you guessed a Highland Cow!! Isn't this an amazing looking creature? Now, if you know me at all, you know that I have had a major fear of cows since I was a little kid. But, this thing looks like a teddy bear! I became quite interested in this breed of cattle, so I googled Highland Cow. What an interesting breed this is. Here is a list of traits I pulled from one of the Highland Cattle Breeders sites:

Hardy, Gentle, Thrifty, Ease of calving, Longevity, Profitable

The one that caught my attention was Thrifty. Oh my goodness, even the Scottish cows are thrifty!!

Then I found the following on another google search:

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A HIGHLAND COW

The following is a schedule of events in the life of a highland cow in Summer pasture mode:

5:30 to 6:00 a.m . - Cows wake up. Senior cow gets up first and stands in front of the other cattle so they can admire her. All then get up and do a little ritual poop. Cows may make sarcastic greetings to each other like "good morning hairbag" or "who made those horns?"

6:00 to 8:00 a.m. - general grazing time, followed by a period of staring at the master's home. All drink water during this period.

8:00 to 9:00 a.m. - All cattle receive the master, reporting any overnight problems and complaints. Common complaints are: quality of hay, grass has lost it's crunch, why are we not being raked more regularly etc. Master gives hay and they show appreciation by staring at him and threatening to break wire and escape or rub and kill more trees.

9:00 to 11:00 a.m. - Cattle find shade and socialize. The senior cow leads discussions.. (I have learned their lingo, so have a fair understanding of what goes on)...basically they gossip! They are very interested in visitors and the shoes, belts or gloves they wear, wondering who they once may have been. Highland cows have no teeth on top so can't say their "L"s. They talk of escape from the master during these socials. This escape talk never goes any place, probably due to their speech impediments. One recent exchange went like this. "Rets rush master when by fence raking reaves, knock him off his regs and break for woods, cross that rittle rake through the woods to rarger, greener pasture."

11:00 to 4:00 p.m. - general grazing, pooping and peeing, rubbing on trees, trying to break fence, resting in shade, staring at master's house or watching him work around yard or barn. A highlight of this period is when master's wife yells at him or he does something stupid that appeals to their sense of humor. Highland cows don't laugh openly, but smile and grin with a slight upper lift of their mouths.

4:00 to 7:00 p.m. - eat hay master has given them, poop and pee followed by a time of meditation. Highland cattle have no religion but know they are sacred and play on this. Crop circles, sacred cows, their role at the nativity and in Scotland's history is very important to them. The face west as the sun sets and place their noses on the ground, standing perfectly still for up to a minute. It is a most moving ceremony.

7:00 to Dusk - Senior cow decides where they will bed down for night. She usually sleeps looking towards master's home, with other cattle behind. They are very quiet during this period; however, there is some lowing or "rowing" as they say.

At Dusk - To get to sleep, cows tell stories for night. These are epic tales which highland cattle have passed down for centuries...I have overheard them. Some of their favourites are:

Wellington Wullie" - about a lonely shepherd who goes nuts and trys to ravish a herd of highlands -

Old Mary and the Wolf" - about an old cow who fights off a wolf to save her calf - "How the snake got it's name", and on full moon nights, the horror tale "Jock be nimble, Jock be quick.

Then they fall to sleep secure in the knowledge that the master loves and cares for them and has been placed on this earth to serve their every need and be their devoted servant.

THE END

composed by expatriot Scot...Del Clark...Fenwick Ont.(got this from http://www.electricscotland.com/ )

My search was turning up some interesting stuff! Not only do these hairballs come in the giant economy size, but they also come in miniature. No joke. There are tiny little Highland Cows!

For all kinds of information that you probably will never need, click here. If I were not afraid of cows, I think I'd have to get a few of these guys.

Grace and peace to all my blog friends. Hope your week is going good. Let me know if you decide to buy some cattle.

love, Cassie

Monday, May 11, 2009

A to Z Mondays ~ The Letter R

Recital 2009 and Really good friends. Good work M2. I love ya!!

Saturday morning I left home at 6am to drive down to Tucson to attend M2's recital. She takes gymnastics lessons at Trinity which is a Christian run dance and gymnastics center. Her mommy C2 has shared M2 with me since she was a little baby. (The Baby in the photo isn't M2. She was just a cute little ballerina that I saw there!) The recital was really good. Better than I had anticipated actually. There not only was gymnastics, but also ballet, tap and modern dance. I got lots of chuckles while watching some of the little tiny kids doing their routines. So cute. I especially liked that the music accompanying the routines was Christian contemporary. M2 is in the collage before the recital with no recital photos. They didn't allow flash photography. Phooey. C2 is in the collage too 'cuz she is my really good friend. The bird, Yoshi, a Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus) is one of their pets. According to Wikapedia Cockatiel are prized as a household pet throughout the world and are relatively easy to breed. (Had to stretch for that one!)

For more A to Z Mondays go to Jen's blog.

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Friday, May 8, 2009

Mother's Day Video

Dear Bloggie Buds, You have got to see this video from CNNBC. My buddies Cathi in Tucson and Nan in Glendale both sent a copy of it to me, so I thought I should share it with you all. It's been on all the news stations and is for the first time in a long time an accurate news story. Please watch the whole thing. You won't be disappointed. Enjoy. I sure did!! Blessings for a great weekend and special Mother's Day! Grace, peace and love, Cassie

Monday, May 4, 2009

A to Z Mondays ~ The Letter Q

Queequeg ~ Queequeg ~ Queequeg ~ Queequeg ~ Queequeg ~ QueequegWhen I was in junior high school we had to read Moby Dick for English class. I thought the chief harpooner of the Pequod, Queequeg, was an interesting character. I especially liked the sound of his name. Try to say it 4 times in a row. Ha! I'm thinking that Herman Melville must have been fond of the letter q!

Now I'm interested in seeing all the other q's today. If you'd like to join me, let's jog on over to Jen's blog.

Grace and Peace to you all. love, Cassie