Nicest Neighbors Ever; Thanks Aunt Leslie and Uncle Scott

I just have to say, when mom bought this place, she really hit the jackpot for ncie neighbors. Last night we met our new neighbors who live below us, and they are so NICE!



They walked me last night, and even walked me this morning! At 8am! Now they are going to the grocery store and are going to pick up some milk for us. SO sweet! We love them. I had such a nice walk, and now I'm snuggling with my duck. What a nice Sunday!

Oh, and thanks Aunt Leslie and Uncle Scott for coming to see me Saturday!

Stop! And Smell The Roses!

Awwww, one of our neighbors brought us some flowers last night.


They are so pretty! What a perfect little bouquet. So cheerful, and lovely.



So fresh! And look how the colors coordinate with my fur!



Of course when you get flowers, don't forget to stop and bury your face in them! Mmm! They smell so nice.


Thanks Aunt Denise! Mom says thanks, and I give you a big wet doggie kiss. You are the best!

Thanks Grandma!

Thanks Grandma Mary!

Thanks for coming and staying with us, taking care of mom, and for buying me this new kitchen rug to lay on while I help mom do things in the kitchen. It is a great color and totally complements my fur. It's color-me-beautiful, as you would say! Thank you for everything!

Love,

Lucy

Sharing Ellie Mae's Spaghetti

In honor of mom's grandma's birthday today, we decided to make her famous spaghetti casserole recipe and share it with y'all! Ellie Mae Buck was a very special lady, and I know she's our angel now. Mom says she would have loved me very much and spoiled me, just like she did mom.

This recipe is apparently Ellie's modification of King Ranch Casserole, and some other recipes I've found in her old cook books. Obviously it isn't the healthiest thing out there, but you can subsititute healthier ingredients as you like. This recipe goes a long way and freezes well.



First, brown about a pound of hamburger meat with some sliced onions. You can use ground turkey, and even chicken if you like!

Add cracked pepper, dried or fresh parsley, and salt to taste.

For a pizza flavor, add oregano and basil. For a mexican flavor you can add paprika, chili powder, or taco seasoning.









Next we used corn, mushroom soup, tomato sauce, and tomato paste. we used low-sodium corn and low fat mushroom soup.

We usually use a 12 oz can of tomato paste and sauce each, but this is what Grandma Mary brought us back from the store. Since she's the only one who can drive, we had to make due. :) We used two packages of sauce and one of paste. This doesn't have to be exact.






Here we have fresh garlic. This is mom's favorite kitchen tool, the mezzaluna. It means "half-moon" in Italian. You just rock it back and forth to cut garlic, onions, parsley, cilantro...anything you want cut fine.

Here we've added the mushroom soup and tomato mixture to the ground meat.

Grandma Ellie always added bay leaves, but we didn't have any.

At this point, we add the magic ingredient, which is whole cloves. Add as many as you want, we added 8.

Let the sauce simmer for an hour. Yes, an hour! Ellie always said to leave it for an hour, so that's what you do.

While it's simmering, do some floor exercises!

Meanwhile, have on hand 12 oz of boiled elbow noodles. Mix them with the sauce in a large bowl. Lucky for us, we have Ellie Mae's big yellow spaghetti bowl. Perfect! See below:

Next, it's time to grate the cheese. You can use any kind of cheese, and here we use sharp cheddar that grandma got from the farmer's market.

Shredding cheese is hard work. If you need to take a break, don't be ashamed.

Next, sprinkle the cheese on top of the sauce and noodle mixture and place in the oven.

Since the ingredients are already cooked, you only need to heat them long enough to melt the cheese.

Heat at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until the cheese bubbles.

And voila! It is done! Serve in heaping spoonfills onto a plate or bowl, and enjoy!

Leftovers can be divided into servings and put in the freezer, and fresh cheese grated on them when defrosted.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Ellie!

Thanks Grandma Mary, for helping us get the ingredients.

Yes, I Can Read Your Mind

Hi everyone! Sorry this hasn't been much of an advice page lately. I've been busy! Mom is doing a lot better. She found out today she's going to have to wear the silly boots for AT LEAST another week, probably two. Anyway, we're having fun staying home together and I'm taking good care of her. Mom is in a really good mood and catching up on her sitting and tv watching.

Busy Taking Care of Mom

Oh my stars! Mom fell off of a horse yesterday, and grandma and I have been busy taking care of her. Poor mom. She broke both big toes, the 2nd metatarsal in her left foot, and some bones on the right side of her face under her eye. She has a concussion and has to wear these silly walking cast boot thingys everywhere! Her left foot is much worse than her right, so she anchors herself on the right when she uses her crutches.

Mom is sad because 1. it hurts and 2. she had really been getting into yoga and 3. really likes her new job and wanted to go to work today! The only bright side is that I get to have her home with me all day for a week! We get to watch a lot of tv and surf the net, read books listen to music. Oh, and talk to our neighbor Kay Kay.

Here's mom modeling the hottest new trend in medical footwear! I snuggled her nice and good last night so she could get some sleep. She feels really sore today, but is in good spirits.

Updates From Lucy's Desk

Well, I just wanted to drop in and say hello, and sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've just been up to my shnoz in paperwork, tasks, and correspondence! Paying the bills, helping mom make decorations for the big fundraising dinner, etc. has taken up a lot of my time. Anyway, it's home free for the rest of the summer, so I'll be back to answering all your burning questions as soon as I can. Send them to me!

Love,

Lucy

Updates:

Mom got a new job, starts tomorrow.

Bad news, most of the plants are dead. It's just too hot. And evidently it's too hot for mom to water. The potato vines are still lookin' good though!

So Busy. And Tired!

We have been SO busy. This weekend was especially busy! On Saturday morning, we went for a long walk. We looked and looked for a black kitty that was lost, but we didn't find it. Then Grandma came, and petted me, and it was fun. Then, Kennedy came! We talked about all kinds of things, and brushed me. I am SO worn out! Today we went on another long walk. Then Kay Kay came over and petted me. And I met the new neighbor. She petted me too. YAY! Here I am on my bed. Mom is excited that I went to bed by myself and took my toy. She is really excited, because she thinks that I'm going to sleep here all night. She commented that maybe she wouldn't have to sleep on a slight slope tonight. Well, I can't let her sleep on a boring flat bed. I'll surprise her later. ;)

Oui! Garbage!

That's all the French I know. (See previous post about mom's vacation and discussion with the Frenchman).

This is what happens when your addiction is bigger than you are. You have been really good for a really long time. You know there are eggs, salsa, and half-eaten rolls with butter and strawberry jelly in the garbage bag, and every part of your big yellow body knows that you shouldn't be in the garbage bag. But, mom forgot to take it outside before she left, and the opportunity is too much to resist. GARBAGE! Eggshells. Milk cartons. Ramen noodles. Expired salad. One last drop of fabric softener. Please don't judge me. It happens to a lot of dogs.

Exhibit G:

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th Everyone! Mom got laid off last week, but we live in the land of opportunity, so that's okay! We started celebrating by taking a ride to Starbuck's! Then we drove around some neighborhoods we hadn't seen before and looked at houses we can't afford (yet). :) I had fun checking out all the yards and trees that might someday be mine.


Starbuck's was out of biscuits again, but mom took me to Walgreens for a surprise. Porterhouse Steak treats! WOAH! Mom almost lost her fingers trying to get this shot of me, but all her fingers are still there and I'm one happy dog! MMM! What a great day it is already!

Kennedee Came Over! Yay! Yay! Kennedee!

And to top off Monday evening, Kennedee came over! What a surprise! We had all kinds of fun. It was all tugging and wrestling, and wearing my goose on my head. I love Kennedee, and Kennedee loves me! Sigh.

It was a great day. Good night! Love, Lucy

Shots Of Our New and Improved Kitchen!

Welp, our kitchen is pretty much done! I helped mom paint the whole thing white (aka Crumbcookie), which was really a good idea, and then pick out an accent color for the back wall. Mom couldn't decide which color to get, so she got two (just pint size). I have to say, she did a good job! It all goes great with our Silestone countertops and shiny new sink.

We solved our lighting problem in the back area with this nifty little $8.99 globe lamp from IKEA. Yay, IKEA!

And here you can see our dining area with our super $29.99 rug, also from IKEA. Mom replaced the Family Ties light fixture, and painted the kitchen cabinets white too. Actually, "Candlelit Beige," but anyway you get the idea. There I am looking cute! I love my Winne the Pooh sheets!

Helpin Around The House Sunday...

I had to get Uncle Carl over here yesterday, because mom's dishwasher wasn't draining right. Well you know even Carl needs help sometimes, so I helped him read the manual. Eventually we found what we were looking for to fix it!











Uncle Carl gets forgetful, so whenever he got confused I helped by whispering in his ear. You know, so he wouldn't be embarrassed. We figured out some plug from the new garbage disposal had to be taken out, and that was the whole problem. Gosh, you learn something new every day!

Mom Is Back From Vacation; Language Barrier Busted!

Mom is back from vacation! I had fun at Uncle Jamie's house, and had lots of playtime with Aunt Meredith. Aunt Amanda also came over a lot and showered me with the hose! I had a pool, and tons of fun watching Dirty Jobs with Jamie. Mom is happy to be back!

Mom was thinking about me the whole time, and while she was in Italy she met another Big Yellow! I started to get jealous, but as she told me the story she said that she usually doesn't pet strange dogs, much less in another country. But this one reminded her so much of me she had to stop and talk.

Her name is Asa (?) and although she is a little smaller than me, she is still Yellow and Beautiful! Her dad was a Frenchman who didn't speak much English, and mom doesn't understand much French, but they managed to convey that mom also had a Big Yellow (me!) and that they both loved their dogbabies (me and Asa). Mom just kept on speaking English to the poor man and when she said that I was a living "garbage disposal" (I'll address my offense to that later) the man said "Ah, Oui! Garbage!" and they shared a laugh at the understanding that their dogbabies both like to eat everything, including garbage. (What is seriously wrong with that, anyway?)


Mom wanted to post a few pics of her hike in Cinque Terre, just for fun. This is Vernazza, Italy.

Look at the little swimmers! The plants and flowers look a little bit like Texas, no?



So many flowers grow naturally there, due to the temperate climate, including wild geraniums, and these pretty flowers that I don't know the name of. Neither does mom, but they were very photogenic!

Lucy Answers Boy's Big Question

Dear Lucy,

My name is Alex and I am a 3 year old human boy. I keep asking my mother to call me “Little Dog”, but she keeps forgetting and calls me “Sugar” or “Alex” or “Love” instead. What should I do? BTW, I’m not allowed to throw tantrums.

Love,

Alex

Dear Alex,

First off, what kind of genius are you that you are already driving a car? I am impressed! It's good that you don't throw tantrums, because good drivers don't throw them. I can tell you are an excellent driver!

Well, to answer your question, this is a really sensitive topic. You and I know that dogs are special, but sometimes people use the word "dog" in a not so nice way. Often they call someone or something a "dog" that they think is being bad, or dirty. For example, just this weekend Uncle Carl was over fixing mom's dishwasher. He was having trouble with some part that didn't want to unscrew, despite all his efforts. He swore at it and said "You old dog!" And I was standing right there! Ugh. I know he didn't mean it, and he apologized, but it still hurt my feelings. I forgave him though. Your mom is very thoughtful, and she loves you! She may not want to call you her "little dog" because she doesn't want people to hear it and think she's being mean to you. What if she called you her "little puppy?" That sounds a little more sweet, and maybe she won't forget!

Love,

Lucy

P.S. Maybe someday I can come over and we can play dog together! I'll show you some neat tricks!