A View of My Garden in a Mirror 2010

Sunday, March 27, 2011

#10 of 10 Things I Love in No Particular Order

Last but certainly not least....MY HUSBAND KEITH!


My apologies for taking so long to post. The last few months have been filled with an extraordinary amount of activities and new developments in our lives. I had planned on posting this for valentines day. Oops! Better late than never....here are a few of the many reasons I adore my husband.

He Roots for the Underdog (literally).



After adopting our rescue pit bull Peaches over two years ago we were suddenly made aware of the prejudice that follows this breed. I admit that I had a bias toward pit bulls before becoming educated. Luckily for Peaches we only saw a cute sweet dog when we adopted her and didn't stereotype her. She hit the doggy lottery that day! If you want to read more click on


Keith's Website about how certain breed of dogs become "demonized"


He Gives Back 
What I mean by this is he gives his time and money to causes that he is passionate about. He volunteers at the local animal shelter. And after researching how many pit bulls are in shelters as well as euthanized every year he has worked with a non-profit in our area Pet Adoption Network to donate money for pit bulls to be altered who belong to low income families that can't afford the procedure themselves. We hope this will help even a tiny bit to keep the number of pit bulls down in the local animal shelters. In addition an altered dog is typically a better behaved dog which will help the image of pit bulls as well.
 A sleeping dog is a good dog too!



He can be a goofball (I say that with endearment)
Yes, we all need a goofball in our lives. Someone that brings the child out at times and he is certainly that in my life! He loves roller coasters and other such adventures that I gladly watch with both feet on the ground. So I guess you could say when it comes to activities that are "adrenaline" related, I live vicariously through him! The poor guy, after several rides from the front row of a roller coaster he used his camera to make a video that turned out great! I felt like I was on the ride with him when he showed it to me. Unfortunately he lost it in a file transfer after our vacation. Most people are screaming as they ride on a roller coaster. Not Keith, he was making a video! 



He is supportive
OK, so he thinks I spend too much time gardening and not enough time doting on him and well, he is probably right on that one. Oh no! Did I actually put that in print!? I am in trouble now! He is still supportive about the volunteer hours that I contribute for my Master Gardening program and also the many hours I spend in the garden. And when he is sitting back enjoying the view with a glass of wine in his hand I like to think that he is thinks it is all worth it. And when he wants to do things like this..........
I never say no! He took a helicopter ride and landed on a glacier! I waited on the ground for him to return.


He takes care of the grass!
A garden with dead grass just isn't the same. I love that he fertilizes, grooms, re-seeds and thoroughly cares about the grassy area of our yard so I don't have to worry about it and can focus on the important things like flowers!
Look at that grass! It's green! If I had to take care of it then it would be brown!




He is the Poop Master!
This may not sound like it, but this is a term of endearment for my precious husband. The Poop Master! Which for those who haven't figured it out he handles the horrible nasty chore of picking up after our furry kids. What a guy!!!!!!!    


He trusts my judgment...most of the time!
When I bring something home like this..........
and say it will be perfect in our back yard. He trust's my judgment. Or maybe I should say he humors me and doesn't have my head examined :) What is this thing anyway? I found it when Gottschalks was closing and everything had to go. It was sitting in the men's section. I guess it was supposed to make men want to buy more shirts or something. Go figure!


Happy Belated Valentine's Day Honey!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

#9 of 10 Things I Love in No Particular Order

Movies!

We don't have cable TV. We can view a few television channels with an antenna but we rarely watch them. It isn't because of the expense. It is because we don't want to be tempted to spend a lot of time watching television as our lives go by. We read the newspaper for our news and watch movies when we feel like a little entertainment on the screen. I admit that before I married Keith 7 years ago I used to watch television every evening like most Americans. I would be able to discuss the latest sitcom with the best of them. Now at times I do feel a bit out of the loop when someone starts talking about a particular episode of a popular TV show and I sit there with a blank look on my face. I have no idea what they are talking about. But it is also so amazing what I can get accomplished since I have stopped watching television.

In the summer evenings I will be out in the garden, or out riding my bike with the dogs, or some other outdoor activity. In the winter I like to read, work on crafts, take an online class and lately working on this blog. I can honestly say I don't miss watching television.

I have found one odd side affect of not watching television. Television is where you learn to pronounce words! If a new politician, entertainer or product comes on the scene we will read about it in the paper. However, the paper doesn't give the proper pronunciation.  I will pronounce it in my head the way I think it should sound so after awhile I think the pronunciation in my head is correct. Then I blurt it out wrong to someone who does watch television and if I'm lucky they will correct me. If I'm not so lucky I will go on using this pronunciation until someone, like my sister does correct me. I have tried to get in the habit of asking people who watch television how to pronounce something if I think I might use it in conversation more than once. Anyway, I will stop rambling. I just thought this was a weird phenomenon that others might not realize if they do watch TV. So if you ever hear me pronounce something wrong please correct me! I will be very grateful for the information!

Back to Movies.......

I do love to watch movies. We have a mail order subscription service to get our movie fix. We rent main stream movies, obscure Foreign movies, documentaries and other little known offbeat movies.  And yes, we can also order an occasional television series when we hear good reviews. We once watched all 5 seasons of Six Feet Under over the course of a year with no commercials. It was fantastic!

Do you realize how hard it is to narrow down a list of favorite movies? It took me forever and I know I missed so many. But here goes.

Chicago: I love a good musical and this one is just so much fun.



The Pursuit of Happyness: I don't think I have ever rooted for someone in a movie as much as I did for Will Smith in this one. It will definitely makes you  stop and think about the homeless and the bad luck or social issues that brought them to where they are now. It is an eye opener.



Bridges of Madison County: This is not your typical romance but Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood do such a fantastic job that it works. I love just  any movie with Meryl Streep. She is such a wonderful actress.


Mamma Mia! : This movie did not do well with the critics but who cares. It's fun and the music is great and again Meryl Streep is wonderful!


Hachi: A Dog's Tale: I knew I was in trouble when the video store attendant said, "This movie makes Old Yeller look like a comedy"! Eeek. He was right. It was a real tear jerker but a great movie for dog lovers.


Man of the Year: Robin Williams is so funny. This political satire comedy is a hoot!


Documentaries: We enjoy a good documentary and here are a few:





The David Attenborough version is the best!


Foreign Movies: One great feature of mail order movie subscriptions is the availability to great foreign movies that may be hard to get otherwise. Here are a few we thought were exceptional.





Miscellaneous: Here are a few other movies and mini-series I can't say that I loved because the content is so heartbreaking and sad. But I think they are excellent and worth mentioning:




I would love to hear your favorite movies too 
so I can add them to our list! Please share!