All I can say is WOW!

You just have to watch this!

Please click below to be inspired!

Video: A family’s new American dream Video

To see even more go to Hanna's Lunchbox and watch the video there too!

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Windows to the soul

How do I pick which dogs to feature on my blog that are needing a home?

It's all in the eyes.....I feel like I can see into that dog's soul.

This dog made me cry tonight.

I hope it finds a forever home.....it soooooo deserves it!

Blessings to the people who are bringing HOPE back to life.

Please click on her picture to learn more about HOPE.

To see the journey of HOPE, please view the video.....just have the kleenex handy.

99 cent wool auctions and a recipe

I've just added some new 99 cent wool auctions at eBay......still in a continual effort to organize my stash....getting a little closer all the time.

Here is what I have to offer. Just click on the pictures to go to that particular auction.

Tonight for dinner I made some awesome veggie fajitas.....who knew I would ever be saying that?!

If you'd like to make your own here is my recipe.

Veggie Fajitas

(serves 2)

1 small yellow squash cut in half and then sliced into small planks

1/2 of a red pepper (it was a BIG pepper....so if your pepper is small....just cut up the the whole thing into matchstick sized pieces)

1/4 onion...cut into slices

Put these veggies into a bowl or ziploc baggie and add about

1-2 Tbs. Mexican Seasoning,

the juice of 1 lemon

and 1/4 cup refined coconut oil (breaks down less at high heat levels) click HERE to read more about the benefits of coconut oil for cooking

and many other things or you can always use olive oil.

Shake and let sit for at least 30 min.

In the meantime cut 1 large portabello mushroom into fajita sized pieces.

Heat up your skillet or wok to medium high heat and dump all ingredients into skillet and stir until veggies start to become soft....add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with sides of guacamole, sour cream (soy sour cream for me) and salsa (ours was made fresh with tomatoes from the farmer's market).

YUM!

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Chores and stuff

Today has turned out to be a rainy cool day, so I suppose I will work on some of my chores that I've been putting off. I really want to get the dining room finished, but I need to lightly sand this window alcove and this shelf and paint them. I also still need to do the baseboards and then go do some touch-ups on the rest of the paint. I really want to have the dining room finished, but it's just SO tedious.
I think it would help if I had some coffee, but since I just have 5 days left of "the cleanse" I'll just have to mentally muscle through it.

I'd also like to do some baking today....hopefully there will be enough time after the painting....or perhaps I'll paint a section of something and then take a break and do some baking.

I'm really wanting to make THESE pumpkin muffins!

Rumbling

Turn on your volume and you can hear the rumbling thunder that sent Lonnie to seek shelter in my closet this morning.

Dog Days of Summer

It's been in the 90's the past few days and all the dogs want to do is lie around the house in the a/c. I mean who can blame them....would you want to hang out outside in a fur coat? Me neither!

However, the bees are loving the weather and they are totally in love with this thistle plant that we have in our backyard.

I know a lot of people are freaked out by bees, but they are such a part of our life that I can walk through the flowers in the garden and never get stung by them...they are always so busy collecting pollen, that I really don't think they notice us.

Speaking of the garden....OMG! It is totally working overtime!!! I thought I had best get out and get some pictures before the heat dries everything up and it looses some of it's beauty....here it is in full swing!

This is at the back of our yard.....Kenny has planted another 'blue atlas cedar'....one of my favorite trees!

The coneflowers are especially beautiful right now!We have crane sculptures on the tops of the tree stumps that we had taken out in the ice storm....this one is growing some sort of weird fungus/mushroom on it.....looks like little shelves for garden gnomes and fairies to sit on at night.

I love this grass....it's as soft as it looks...you can't help but brush your hand against it when you walk by.The daylilies are gorgeous right now....I love this hot orange color.Kenny's banana tree jungle is really taking off.....who would know that we live smack in the middle of the USA....this looks like the tropics.This all takes lots of watering.

THE ENDGo forth and be creative,

Tammy

Clearing out!

Can you believe it? That two people could accumulate so much STUFF over 13 years together?
We have so much STUFF that my husband, Kenny, decided to get himself a flea market booth. These are just some of the treasures that we are parting with! Parts of a huge cookie jar collection, salt and pepper shaker collection, fishing items, books, rug beaters and lots of other things to boot. He spent most of yesterday evening tagging items and then I helped him tag a few more things this morning before he took his first load to his booth.

I'll be spending the rest of my day trying to list more interesting items on eBay.

Click HERE to see what there is.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Just in....

.....several back issues of Wool Street Journal and Rug Hooking Magazine.

Click HERE to go to my eBay store and see if there are any that you are missing from your collection.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

My bookshelf

It seems I'm able to read SOOOOO much more in the summer.....I've been devouring books right and left.

Kenny brought me this book, "The Darkest Evening of the Year", home from the library and I spent an entire day by the pool over 4th of July just reading, reading and reading. Such a GREAT book!!!

He picked it out because it's about a woman who rescues golden retrievers, but it ended up being 4 stories that are woven into one at the end.....it kept me riveted!!!

I have a book list to the left on my blog of books I've read or wanted to read and I started one a few nights ago called, "Rescuing Sprite". Not sure if it was good or not....I read the first couple of chapters and just could not get into it. Do you ever do that with books....it seems like I can commit or not in the first couple of chapters.....I couldn't "commit" to reading this book. If you've read it I'd love to know if I need to give it a 2nd chance.

I've also read this book, "The Dogs Who Found Me".

It's a book, but set up like a bunch of short stories about a writer who is working to rescue dogs....mainly pit bulls.....from reading this they are a very misunderstood breed. If you like to read for just a little bit before going to bed at night...this is a good one.

Okay, I think that's it.....had my first sugar craving today at work....had to run to the cafeteria and grab an apple...that seemed to do the trick.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

A new way of eating

Wow! A whole week has gone by since I've written.

So what have I been up to? On Monday I started the "21-day cleanse" that is in the book "Quantum Wellness".

I saw the author on Oprah a month or so ago and decided to get the book.

I read the book and then had to try and decide if this was something I could do.....it involves giving up caffeine, alcohol, sugar, animal products (including eggs, dairy, butter, etc), and gluten for 21 days. I just couldn't get my head around eating this way.....I mean, I'm a mid-western girl. My great-grandparents were dairy farmers

and my father's parents raised chickens and pigs

......meat and dairy were staples in my diet and as far as the caffeine and alcohol go......me loves my coffee in the morning

and a good mojito when I get home from work.

Well, Sunday was my breaking point. I put on my bikini to enjoy the 4th of July holiday by the pool and I was like "OMG!".....I've GOT to do SOMETHING.

All of the "eating out" while we were remodeling the kitchen had finally caught up with me.....no bikini this summer....we're talkin' TANKINI this year.....where did that chub around my middle come from?! Hmmm...could it be Chinese take-out, McDonald's, Taco Bell? This is when I decided that now is the time.

I started on Monday and it's been quite a journey.....what do I eat? Oatmeal with berries and soy milk for breakfast.....actually really good.

Then I made one of the recipes from the book that was a hot and spicy rice concoction with black beans, peppers, Ro-Tel tomatoes, avocados, cilantro and olives....once again....surprisingly good!

Snacks....yeah, gotta have my snacks.....pita chips and hummus (oh yeah...not real sure about the whole gluten thing, so I'm trying to do whole wheat products and no white bread or anything junky.

I'm at day 6 and so far I've really missed my coffee with Starbucks liquer in it on Saturday morning (it's my ritual weekend morning drink)......surprised to say I really haven't missed the meat or the sugar.....mainly I've missed the convenience....shopping and cooking takes way more thought and effort. I'm learning about tofu (I have some in the fridge but haven't made anything from it yet), agave syrup (way good substitute for sugar) and coconut oil for cooking.

I've eaten out 3 times....once at Taco Bell (bean burrito fresca), once at Panera Bread (portabello mushroom and mozarella panini...hold the mozarella, and black bean soup and an apple), and last night at San Francisco Oven (Sonoma Garden Pizza.....substitute red sauce for white sauce and hold the cheese). Do I feel self-conscious asking for these "changes".....yes.

Do I feel better because I'm not contributing to animal suffering and factory farming....yes.

Do I have more energy...yes.

Have I lost weight....yes.

Have I stretched myself....yes.

I've realized that I eat a lot of crap.......there are a few other books out there that are basically educating people about a vegan diet and the ones I've read are

and

A "no-holds barred" way of learning about veganism. Just hilarious to read but very educational.

I'm sure once I get the hang of this I'll be blogging more often.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Sweet Sally

I think we all have a soft spot in our heart for dogs that look like the ones we had when we were growing up.

When I was about 10 we had a stray collie mix that came to us and of course we named her "Lassie".....Lassie was so sweet, but we think she had been abused or shot at because if my little brother got his bb gun out she would always go and hide for hours on end.

My "Lassie" was no spring chicken when she came to us and she was just the best dog and would lie by your side for hours.

I guess that's why when I saw this dog, Sally, on Petfinder it just broke my heart to think she's sitting somewhere in need of a good home.

Surely someone will see this and tell someone about her and make magic happen for this beautiful lady.

Click on her picture to find out more about her.
Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Peeking into my "real" life kitchen

Okay.....I can't stand it anymore....there are still a few things to do in the kitchen and dining room before it's "complete", but here are some pictures of the new kitchen and dining room....well, the kitchen is new...the dining room has just been repainted.

This is looking into the kitchen from the dining room.....yes, that's Kenny behind the stove making spaghetti.....we love our bar stools.....modern and oh so comfortable!

Come visit us and have a cocktail!

Here is a better "overall" picture. Trying to mix modern organic with rug hooking is proving a bit daunting, but it's starting to come together. I see new rugs in my future!
Here's a great view of the range hood and gas stovetop.....lots of wool dyeing hoping to be going on this holiday weekend!!! The dogs LOVE being in the kitchen. It's their favorite hang-out!
Here is looking into the kitchen from the den. I got home today and Kenny had hung this great big vase with fresh-cut hydrangeas in them......my aunt Joan calls him "Mr. Martha".
This is our mongo fridge/freezer.....Let's see.....yup...you guessed it....Kenny picked that out!
Here is a picture of the sink area....we got a Bosch dishwasher as recommended by Ev in Alaska....I love it....it's so quiet!
Can you see the 4th of July banner that Kenny put up for us today....and he also did the decorating in the dining room.....what a doll face!


I usually try to make my pictures "pretty"....today I just wanted to share a slice of our "real" life....stuff out in the kitchen to cook and all that.
Go forth and be creative,
Tammy

Content

Hooking up a storm!

Kelly is one of the first hookers that I started hooking with on a regular basis probably 7-8 years ago. We both hook fast....according to others, but here is just how fast she is!

If you look at the post before this it had her "Lodge Signs" rug in progress.

Now she's FINISHED.....she sent me this picture on Monday...just 5 days after I took the last picture.

Can you say WOW!

.....all this and she has a toddler to boot!

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy