I caught a lizard

While doing some yard work the other day I scared up a lizard in the dirt. Naturally I was bummed when he scampered under the concrete slab and out of reach but I figured i'd see him again. The next day R and I were finishing up the same yard work when she thought she saw a garter snake. Of course I told her she was mistaken and a while later she points out this lizard. Her fear of creepy crawlys and some animals often cause her to think she saw something much worse than what she actually did. Kind of like this one time in Idaho we were in the mtns and she saw an alligator swimming in the river. Turns out it was a beaver...??? I know, I have no clue how she could have misconstreued an alligator for a beaver either but she did. LOL! So anyways this lizard just sat there and tried the "sit still and the human will go away approach", well it didn't work and he ended up in my hand. The dogs checked him out and he hissed so I let him pose for some pics then I let him go. I know your thinking Croc Hunter right? Well maybe in another life, either way theres something about catching lizards thats just cool!

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Thinking outside the Ghetto

So I just have to say a few words about the Michael Vick case and his dogfighting enterprise. First and foremost he was participating in illegal activity so as far as i'm concerned he deserves all he gets. I think its funny that his freeloading friends turned on him...thats the problem with running an illegal gambling/dog fighting ring, DUH! I do also want to mention the fact that he is Black has nothing to do with my opinions here however it does seem that these types of things appear to be more prevalent in minorities. So while I was watching the news the other day one of Vick's Black teamates did suggest that he did nothing wrong and Illegal gambling/dog fighting was no different than Deer hunting. How do you correlate deer hunting and gambling on dog fighting? The two are not even remotely in the same ballpark not to mention one is legal and one is not! Why is it when minorities get caught doing something illegal they try and justify their actions by comparing themselves with mainstream society? How a person who makes millions playing football could conceivably get caught up in what I like to call "Ghetto Games" and throw away a hell of a career in the NFL is beyond me. I guess a multimillion dollar salary only fuels the passions of a life less lived had the talant to toss a pigskin not been his.

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preview: Lizards, yard work, permits and flowers

Free Ballin to Crazy Contractors

Sometimes you just gotta let it all hang out...then when you see someone is looking get all sorts of modest.

Site prep for the shed is going well on the other hand finding a good electrical contractor at a reasonable rate not so good. The trouble with living on an island is there are not as many services as elsewhere so if we visit the laws of supply and demand we find there is much demand especially in the dryer months and less supply. I have come to the conclusion that contractors have no incentive to call you back, bother to show up or even charge a fair price because there is so much work out there that they can do whatever they want. So after taking a couple of bids on tree removal, one high the other half of first bid, I see that it may be more affordable than I thought. The electrical on the shed might just have to wait cause the bids on that have been pricey. We have been searching for some plants to put in the planter pots we got but we could not find what we were looking for...bummer.

Buddy our Lab has a yeast infection in his ears again. Seems to happen during the summer months and bothers him very much. We initially thought (w/vets advice) it might be a food allergy. So for the last year he has been eating expensive dog food and although his ears got better the problem never really went away. Now he is on benedryl, eardrops and a chewable tablet and behold we have a winner. Next vet appt tomorrow so we shall see.

Still raining, gotta love washington and getting down into the 50's at night...can't complain though it beats triple digits. Gotta go!

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Sharing is caring...or something like that

Wanted to share this years crop of Stargazing Lillies as they are georgous not to mention smell fantastic. The past couple of years they have been very abundant but the stalk could not support the weight. This year they are getting full sun and thriving as you can see. I wish I could bottle the fragrance and send it to all of you but I do not yet possess this power so for know you will just have to believe me. We are in the process though of our design of the landscape so hopefully we shall see some grass before years end. We also have this issue with the pine tree out front just on the otherside of our property line. This pine bleeds sap something fierce and blocks the late day sun on the one side of the house. So I called the county and after they came and inspected they gave me their blessing to cut it down. See the challenge here is that I have never cut down a tree before:) Not that I'm an idiot or anything but I just don't want to end up on YouTube as the guy who cut a tree down only for it to take out my car or fall into my house or worse take down the power lines. I know you probably saying Hire someone right? Well I can only imagine how expensive that is! Well I will let you know how that turns out. Site prep for the shed is underway and although we are making progress we keep digging up anything and everything you can imagine. For example today I found about 30 ft of metal rod buried just below the surface, also an old door knob, more beer bottles and some rather large rocks. Oh rocks I have a huge pile going right now, I will have to get a pic of them and post it. Well I suppose that what I get for buying a property that was a rental for 30 years. Till next time...

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Ye of little faith

If I have learned anything in my life it is not to assume anything and not to expect too much. So I have come accustomed to expecting the worst so that I don't get dissapointed. When things work out better than planned then it's gravy. So with this shed project that just seems to be taking up way too much of my time I finally made a purchase but not where I expected to. Before going directly to the Tuff Shed place we decided to stop over at the Home Depot to take some measurements of the Tuff Shed they have in their lot. Thinking that the Depot was not the place to buy due to the mark up I was amazed to see the same model with more features for less money. Imagine my amazement when I learned that it cost less to the tune of a thousand bucks. Color me blue and call me a fool if I turn down this deal. So finally my shed is paid for and will be delivered on September 5th. Due to my saving so much money now we are going to have enough to get custom blinds installed. Preparing for the worst seems a bit cynical but if you set yourself up for dissappointment by expecting truth, honesty and fairness then you can expect to get taken advantage of.

On another note I have never seen a dog so afraid of getting a bath and nail trim as my Lowkey(the older JRT). We took him in for his yearly bath/trim and despite doggie downers he went kicking and screaming all the way...literally! We only go once a year because it is so stressfull for him but I got to say that dog has more fight in him than a Notre Dame Defensive lineman. I mean drugs, muzzle and a team of people to hold him down, I guess you could say he has a water phobia, I just call it issues. Anyway it is a sight to see as you would think we are trying to kill him or something. The lab loves to swim but hates the hose and the other JRT will let us give him a bath but he is not to keen on it.

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