elephant walk . . .

Credits: Paper and sticker: Vinnie Pearce, Frame, tag, twill: Katie Pertiet, Staples: Catrine.

here kitty, kitty . . .

Credits: Paper: Vinnie Pearce, Sticker: Irene Alexeeva, Photo Frame: Katie Pertiet, Font: MaFishy, Staples: Catrine, Frame: Ali Edwards.

this one's for the birds . . .

Can you stand one more? . . . snicker, snicker. Or two? or more? I've decided to put together an album.


Credits: Paper and embellishments: Vinnie Pearce, Staples: Catrine, Frame: Ali Edwards, Font: MaFishy.

On another note, Katie was home for an appointment bright and early this morning . . . rolled in late last night. So we decided a family breakfast at Denny's was in order before she headed back. Little did I remember, hanging around the cave as much as I do, that it was bike week in these here parts. Denny's was packed. We were finally shown a booth and as I scurried toward the inside seat, the 9TS plopped in along side me and was suddenly, a good three inches shorter
. . . he, having fallen down the rabbit hole that was his portion of the bench . . . the strips of duck tape should have warned us.

So there we were, knee high in French toast, Grand Slams and hash browns being entertained by the non-stop parade of bikers. They come in every size and shape but our favorite was the rather rotund fellow, with the sleeveless T, multiple tats and a spiked mohawk that stood in salute over his otherwise bald dome. The 9TS, eyes twinkling, quickly offered to set Katie up with him. Orbs flashing back, she was not amused.

Finally in this sea of leather, do-rags, and testosterone came four clean cut collegians of the male persuasion. Katie's eyes lit up. The 9TS's dimmed. I love watching the two of them spar using nothing but their eyes. They have perfected it to an art. Vroom, vroom, vroom!

Oxymoron: Today is Happy Emo day.

If you can't lick 'em . . .

join 'em. Anke made me curious. Curious enough to buy Cassie Jones' tut on extractions. Took me a while and I made such a mess of the shadow, I deleted it and redid it the old fashioned way. I will tackle Cassie's version another day. Here is Jeffrey just busting out of his frame.


Credits: Papers and elements: Vinnie Pearce, Staples: Catrine, Dots: Roben-Marie Smith, Font: MaFishy.

Whew! she said, wiping the sweat from her brow. That is done. Oh, and p.s. did I forget to mention that it was Katie's hand holding onto Jeff's lunch??? Just a little factoid thrown in there.

a great suggestion . . .

from Anke. She thought it would look great if I did an extraction and made the giraffe pop out of the frame. Love the idea. But . . . ROFL . . . I have no stinkin' idea how to do a decent extraction let alone have it pop out of anywhere. Did I sleep through that lesson????? Do I need to pass out 3D glasses before viewing????

I tried though . . . struggling with the extraction because of the leaves and the mane. I gave up, but refused to admit defeat. I tried a new tact. I pulled out my trusty eraser and went to town on that poor unsuspecting giraffe. I erased the stuffing out of him and his midday snack and then got the brilliant idea to convert what was left of him, into a .png file. Ummmm, not my best thought process at work. Then I layered the new, slightly moth eaten looking, .png over the original photo and enlarged it a bit to cover the giraffe behind door number 2, so that his lunch was now poking out of the frame. Not Jeffrey's best look. So I merged the frame and the .png and it looked a tad better. Then I moved the sticker to cover the boo boo on his butt. Are you with me so far? It's done. Edited and posted. Turns out I am just not one of Jessica's two thousand success stories. Totally not her fault.

The village called. They want their idiot back. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

goodness in the tummy . . .

My friend Laura, has been feeding me Mexican flavored recipes for a while now, from a book she got many moons ago when first married. We've become attached to her choices. Even Katie. The other day, I received a brown paper package in the mail addressed from Wisconsin. To my utter delight, it was a copy of the 40th Anniversary Recipe Collection, from the makers of Pace Picante Sauce. The very same recipe book she'd been using all these years. Her husband found it in a book store and knowing how much we enjoyed it's contents, snagged us a copy. Hooray and thank you Dennis.

Yesterday when I was making out the week's grocery list, the 9TS requested a beef free week . . . he, having exceed his allotted consumption in the previous few days. Out came THE book. And tonight, before heading to the movies, I made the Southwest Skillet Supper over Laura's rice. OK, so technically, its called Rio Grande Rice, but we've been calling it Laura's rice for so long, the name has stuck. Yummo! Talk about low fat goodness . . . the 9TS was a happy camper and pronounced it a "do again" which means it had been added to our permanent list of must eats. And so, I must share.

Southwest Skillet Supper

1 medium onion cut into 1/2 inch wedges
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 cups diced cooked chicken
2 cups zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium red or green pepper, cut into 1-1/4 inch strips
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Pace picante sauce.

Cook onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is tender. Add chicken, zucchini and pepper; sprinkle with cumin and salt. Pour picante sauce over chicken mixture; mix well. Cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until vegetables are crisp tender and most of liquid has evaporated, about 3 to 4 minutes. Make 4 servings. 180 calories per serving.

Laura's Rice (Rio Grande Rice)

1-1/2 cup regular long grain rice.
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 -3/4 cups hot chicken broth
1/3 cup Pace picante sauce
1 small carrot, peeled and finely diced (optional)

In large saucepan over low heat, cook rice, onion and garlic in oil until rice is lightly browned, stirring frequently. Stir in hot chicken broth, picante sauce and, if desired, carrot. Cover and simmer until all liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

NOTE: This house is Italian. We use olive oil for everything. So 86 the veggie oil and butter. And since I don't have the same restraints as the 9TS, I topped my plate with a goodly dose of sour cream and taco sauce. I'm telling you, this is excellent. And yes, I will be taking a prevacid before bed. So worth it!!!

Thanks so very much Laura and Dennis.

Sing along with me . . .

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo;
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.

I love zoos and this was no exception and surprisingly non-aromatic. Actually other then running out of gas and getting mucho crabby toward the end (sorry Bean), it was great. We did all the normal fun things like riding their little train around the park, watching the elephant create his own mud bath, snapping Katie feeding the giraffes, wandering around the aviary, getting pooped on. Yep, pooped on. There I was happily shooting the exotic birds when I felt something warm and wet slap me on the back of my neck. Felt like one huge warm rain drop. I checked the sky. Clear as could be. I stuck my finger back there and it returned slightly white. I called for Katie. She took one look and burst out laughing. No further diagnosis needed. Well . . . poo.

But on the good side, I came home with 185 shots. That should keep me busy for a while. And while I know I said I was going to take a hiatus from scrapping for a bit, we all know I lie. A lot. And I did edit the image, so all is good.


Credits: Staples:Catrine, Stickers: Vinnie Pearce, Alpha: Fi, Fonts: MaFishy, Garamond, Frame: Ali Edwards, Paper: Lauren Reid.



Credits: Paper, Frame, Sticker: Vinnie Pearce. Staple: Catrine. Font: MaFishy