Happy July 4th Weekend!

Patrick is back home and he and the new pup, Hootie (short for Harry Houdini), are settled in. Baby Rocket Dog was so happy to have her "daddy" home too. We normally go to the parade downtown on the 4th, but this year, for some reason they did not have a parade. They had cancelled the fireworks because they were to come from a town in China that was demolished by the earthquake, but why did they cancel the parade?? Oh well, on July 5th the 25th Army National Guard band came to the park and had a very excellent concert. They were very professional, yet the Sgt. that was the announcer was also playful and funny. We took the 2 dogs with us...yes, we are those people! (pictures I took were too far away) On July 4th our neighbor Cindy had a big party for Jim's 55th birthday. We all brought a dish (I did angeled eggs & a cheese platter) and their son-in-law,Don was the dog & burgermeister. The food was yummers, fellowship sweet and strawberry frozen drinks were very tasty. A good time was had by all. Patrick had a couple days to rest, now he is back to slaving. Has all but the washer and dryer carried up from the basement. He is outside raking and digging up weeds right now. I escaped to come to town to get this blog out. I started it yesterday, then all the connections down here went kaflooie & I lost all my jabbering. I'm going to try to get some pics from Jim's party posted now too. Enjoy. May the Lord of all things good smile on you this week. Blessings Always, Cassie

What Is Wrong With Me??

Okay, ladies & germs, I might be experiencing buyers remorse. Yesterday I drove down to State Line,WA and bought (my husband) a Welsh Terrier. Of course, he didn't know I was going to do this, but in the past has said (and I quote), "If you really think we need another dog....." Once I saw the little guy I was in love. He turns 8 weeks today and he LOVES Baby Rocket Dog. Now the jury is still out on whether she likes him. So far she shows off for him, steals his toys & food and acts annoyed that he likes to crawl on her and follows her all around. I sure hope they become good friends. I thought Baby needed a canine companion. He seems to be a real smart pup. Only did 1 pee pee in the house today...I wasn't vigilant enough. Seems very pleased with himself when he goes outside. I'm posting this at the library, so can't attach a picture, but will post pics at a later date. The guys finished the front step and stones this morning & I love the look. Also a moose (cow) was up visiting the cabin today while they were working. By the time I got my camera the pictures I took were at too much of a distance. Maybe I'll catch her again sometime. Better go now. If any of you think I was crazy to get another dog, please feel free to razz me. I hope it was the right decision. Blessings on your heads! love, Cassie

John Gets His Garage Back!

The garage sale went fine. Cindy (redhead on the right) made the most $$, then Julia (on left) was next, with me bringing up the rear with $38.00. I was pleased, as I really hardly had anything there to sell. Now, Julia's hubby, John, will finally get his garage back. What a sweetie he has been. First off, they just had this beautiful big garage built last year and he has never been able to put a vehicle in it because it's been full of things for a garage sale. No kidding. Patient man. Also, we were only sitting at our little table about about 15 minutes when he brings out a fresh pot of coffee and some mugs....then 10 minutes later her appears again with homemade pancakes for each of us. Now that is a sweetie if ever there was one! Thanks John.

I hope everyone has a good week ahead and remembers to thank our Creator for all the blessings He has given us. Jesus never fails. PTL!! love,Cassie

Progress & Yet More Dog pictures

Regarding the previous posts of Baby Rocket Dog, I've been told it looks like I have too much time on my hands. To clear things up for those of you who think that: all the pictures of BRD were taken at different times throughout the past year. I didn't sit around and dress her up all day! (She wouldn't have allowed it ;<)

Yesterday I went to Sandpoint and got a yummy therapeutic massage at Lake to Mountain Massage. I have fibromyalgia and there are times that the only thing to make me feel better is a deep tissue, therapeutic massage. Suzzane Guibert,the gal who does this, is a true professional. She got her Bachelors Degree from U of A and has all kinds of special training.....The girl is good. Since I was in town I did a lot of running around, and still did not get it all done. I took Baby with me so she could have an Airie play date with her buddy Lucy. They looked like they had a wonderful time together. In the picture here Baby is on the left. Lucy is a little larger than she is.

Oh, there has been progress on the front steps. The stone for the front under the logs has not arrived yet, but the guys from Inland Masonry have been working on what they could. They cut and fitted the golden slate for the top of the steps and it looks SO cool. (see picture) Also Steve's All Service was over and finished digging up the junk I started pulling out of the ground a few weeks ago and he hauled 2 loads to the dump. Today he was over and leveled out the area where Patrick's shed will go. (pictured also) He even hauled the blocks (to set it on) up to our place, but I have to lay them out. I think I can handle that.

Tomorrow my good neighbors,Julie and Cindy, & I will have a multi-family yard sale at Julia's. I made the posters (about 12) last night & the boys will post them this evening. We are only having it Friday because the weekend has too many neat things going on that we don't want to miss.

Last Sunday I went to Sandpoint to Cedar Hill Church and it was so fun. I really like their preacher and what rollicking music they have! Wow. It was nice visiting them again. Didn't see our dear friends the Cards though.

Yesterday Candy,her hubby Dawson and another couple dropped by after they had supper. It was a nice visit and I showed their friends around the cabin. They also have a log cabin and enjoy viewing different builders. Candy laughed when she saw my "GO AWAY" sign on the deck....I turned it around to read "welcome" then. After they left I turned it back to "Go AWAY". I'm actually very much the hermit, but these nice Idaho folks keep pulling me out of my shell!! I've included my sign and also my flowers (violas, like my granddaughter) for all to peruse.

Okay friends, better sign off for now. May the Lord bless you and keep you close to Him and may He smile on you always. love, Cassie

Anyone Remember Mighty Manfred The Wonder Dog??

Yes, still more silly pictures. She is wearing boys undies in the one photo because we let her go into one heat before having her "fixed". That's my sweetie with Baby Reindeer Dog. They're both cute aren't they?!

Baby Rocket Dog Pictures

For all the fans of Baby Rocket Dog I am devoting this blog to pictures of her being the cutie that she is. I'll start with when she was a pup, in 2007. Enjoy!

A Good Week

Greetings friends. Most of this past week has been cool and rainy. Even was met by snow falling on Tuesday on my way out to visit some folks just north of me. The mountains are once again powdered with snow too. I love it! The only problem is Baby Rocket Dog loves it too and she runs around turning herself into a muddy mess. Oh well. Allstate Masonry had 2 young fellows come over on Wed. and prep the front of the cabin for some stone work. They also poured the footing (in pouring rain) for our front steps. I am so excited about that, as we have had a crude ramp leading to the front door ever since we got our doors on. It will be much better to greet people from that door, since it fronts our mudroom. They are supposed to do the actual steps next week. Can't wait. I pulled a bunch of weeds and decided to try to get some of the buried trash cleared out (since the ground was wet) where I want to locate the shed. Well, it (the trash idea)was a much bigger task than I had anticipated. Once I pulled out one rusty can, another would be underneath. Old barbed wire, Old Spice bottle, rusted motor oil cans...YUCK!! I had to call it quits. On Saturday was my 3rd Kootenai River Run. My buddy, Candy, did it with me again this year. We walk it so we aren't winning any prizes, but it was a gorgeous day and we enjoy chit-chatting. We actually bettered our time from last year: 54:02 & 54:03. Next year maybe we'll even do better. Another cool thing: Patrick's and my neighbors, Jim & Cindy, made a sign for us to point the direction to our place from the private road. They are both really creative and talented at woodworking, so it turned out swell. I took a picture of it, but forgot my camera today, so will post it some other time. I hope you all had a good week too. Blessings and Peace, Cassie

A Quick Note

Spoke to my cousin Mary (from Colorado) yesterday and she is very computer savvy. Anyway, she walked me through how to transfer pictures from my camera to the computer so now I am able to display pics on my blog! I am so excited about this. I will now try to take some pictures of our cabin to share with my fellow bloggers. I hope this isn't the equivalent of "come watch our home movies". yikes. Better get home to see what that rascal dog is up to now. Blessings, Cassie

Me Again...

I had a few bags of trash to take to the dump today, so did that on the way home from church. Picked up my newspapers at Safeway, now I'm at the Visitors Center parking lot. I had a really hard time hearing in Sunday school today but was able to hear the messages presented by Dan and Josh in church. Both were good. Josh is a new preacher and is growing in grace. Right before starting this blog, I listened to Pastor Mark Martin on Calvary Community Church's live webcast. It is so cool to be able to connect with my church home down in Phoenix while I am in the Far North. If anyone is interested in checking it out, it is: Calvaryphx.com. Excellent online resource for believers and also seekers. This week has been kind of a blur. I am slowly carrying stuff up from the basement so that when Patrick returns all he (might) have to do is carry up the really heavy things like dressers, bed, mattress, etc. So far I haven't made much of a dent in it. I get side tracked very easily. Was up 'til 130am this morning rearranging shelves in the utility room. Oh brother. Did get about 6 boxes for the dump though. Yesterday I went downtown to the Car Show put on by the local car group the Rod Benders. It was really nice. I'm not really into cars, but these things were in beautiful, restored shape and quite impressive (even to me). I know Patrick will enjoy going to it one of these years too. Oh yes, and I'm on the Special K diet now and have even lost a few pounds! I do like to eat goodies, so it's been a bit difficult cutting out the sugar. Tomorrow starts week 2. Maybe I'll lose my menopause bump after all! Too much info?? I better sign off for now. I will do so in the manner that Paul did in 2Timothy4:22: May the Lord be with your spirit. And may His grace be with all of you. As Always, Cassie

Happy June

Yesterday Baby Rocket Dog and I drove to Libby, MT to the Meadowlark Log Homes Amish school auction. We bought our place from Meadowlark and I thought it would be fun to maybe bid on some of the gorgeous Amish quilts they had. When I got there they were auctioning off all kinds of 'guy stuff'...tools, motors, etc., so I had plenty of time to browse around and pick out my favorite quilt. This blue quilt looked like the ocean to me. So many different shades of blue. Just beautiful. There must have been about 15 quilts there, every one of them fabulous. (BTW,I need another quilt like another hole in the head!) Anyway, I had a tasty lunch served by young ladies from the colony and sat in one of the willow rockers that was for sale while eating. I attend Kootenai Valley Mennonite church while in Idaho (a permanent visitor), and saw several folks from the church at the auction. It is always nice to see a familiar face & exchange greetings. Also saw the Girod family, the Amish men who raised our cabin, and the Miller family, the men who sold us our cabin. All of these young men have such lovely families. Apple cheeked children and willowy, attractive wives. But I digress. Just before the quilts were to go to auction, they did 3 log cabins, a playhouse, and 2 large sheds. Well, Patrick really needs a shed. Currently we have his chainsaw, tools, etc. in the cabin...yuck! So, I called him and asked if he thought I should bid on a shed. The connection was bad, so I think he deferred to me to make an executive decision. In any event, I did. We are now the proud owners of a 10 X 12 shed. Needless to say, I didn't bid on my favorite quilt (which went for $475.), but we sure needed a shed much more than I needed my bed linens! We'll get a lot of use out of it too. Now I must wait on Corneal getting to us on a flatbed. Pat will be back July 3rd, so hopefully we can work it so they deliver it then. (Pat has to prepare the ground for it too.) Okay, gotta go now. B.R.D. is waiting for me up on the hill and I want to get out of my church clothes. God bless your June. Love, Cassie