Snow Day

Still Hip

modeling another knit hat for me and trying to lick it off of her head I think.

Meiby's a hipster pup!

Check it out

pug in a tub

No-Knead Bread - Part 1

A while back I picked up some instant yeast from the grocery store with the intention of trying out my Mother-in-Law's No-Knead Bread recipe (from her Minimalist Cookbook). I've made many quick breads and beer breads but never anything with yeast. This one seemed like a simple enough recipe and a good one to start with.
Mix the dry ingredients:


Heat water to 120 degrees:


Pour water into dry mixture and stir until fully moistened:


Scrape dough from the sides of the bowl and cover, leave for 8 to 18 hours:


When I get home from work today, I'll be baking bread! Watch for part 2 for the final results :)

Minimalist Cooking eBook

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you might remember that I used to post recipes occasionally. My Mother-in-Law recently released an e-cookbook for the minimalist cook that I love and I think almost anyone would benefit from reading.
If you like to keep cooking simple but still eat tasty, nutritious food check it out: Minimalist Cooking - 27 Practical Recipes
For under $5.00 you'll get a collection of healthy and easy to prepare recipes including bread, veggies, meat, pasta, salads, and desserts. Some of my favorites are the Roasted Root Veggies, Roast Beef, Veggie Lasagna, Chicken Pecan Salad, Apple Crisp and Frozen Yogurt...

If you'd like to spend less time preparing food and more time enjoying a meal with your family, this is the perfect cookbook for you! And if you want to check out some of her recipes for free you can find a few at MinimalistCook.com

Meiby has a Licking Problem

Strange Dreams

How do I know I've got crochet on the brain?

The other night Meiby had been keyed up all day. Barking at every little noise (not usual for her) so this continued into the night. She sleeps in our bed so every time she thought she heard something she'd get up and bark and wake us up. I tried cuddling her in a way that would keep her calm - which surprisingly worked(!) - but then she got so relaxed that she was snoring extra loud and keeping me awake that way instead.

So I was carefully trying to wake her up enough to get her to stop snoring without startling her into barking. And since I was stuck in that dreamy between-sleep-and-awake state during this delicate process, I was dreaming of some way to crochet something (like a sling or something, I don't know) that would hold her in a position to keep her from snoring but would comfort her enough to keep her asleep so that I could sleep. Of course this would never work (haha) but it struck me as funny when I thought about the dream later.

As a side note, she's been sleeping better since then. Her allergies have been so bad this summer despite the daily Benedryl so we switched her to Claritin and we'll see how that goes. Yea, she's a princess.

2 years

Yesterday marked 2 years now that Meiby has been with us. On one hand, I can't believe she's almost 3! ...but on the other hand it seems like she's been a part of our family for so long. In the first year that we had her she changed so much as she got comfortable with us. The second year she was right at home. The only thing I can think of that changed is that she suddenly started sleeping like this:

She's finally so comfortable with us that she'll gladly get into this vulnerable position and LOVES to have her belly rubbed. Sometimes if I start rubbing her chest while she's sitting up, she'll just flop over onto her back. She certainly keeps us entertained! Happy Pugiversary Meiby :)

Yup, Strawberries

This is the 4th strawberry from my little pot of strawberry plants. Every morning I take the pug outside, water my plants and, if something looks tasty, share a little bite of something with her. So far it had been mostly sugar snap peas but now the strawberries are ripening and the tomatoes and peppers are about to take off. Meiby LOVES the peas and strawberries but we think she's sensitive to tomatoes and I really doubt she'll be into jalapenos.
This year, since we moved mid-growing-season, we had very limited "crops" ... just a few pea pods and usually only one strawberry at a time. Not enough to even bring them in. I would just pick and eat them straight off of the plant. I'm hoping to have a lot more tomatoes than last year though and next year I want to plant bigger tomatoes... maybe Romas. Everything is still in pots this year so I need to decide on a location for next year.

Crochet Cowl Pattern

You can find out more about it over at Strand Over Fist.

Meiby is always happy to model them for me :)

Pugs and Babies

This weekend I babysat a friend's 6 and 1 year old boys at my house. Meiby has not really ever been around small children and it was... interesting. Basically she thought the baby was a puppy and kept trying to play with him as if he was, pouncing and barking like a crazy pug. Luckily the baby was not upset by this at all. He loves dogs and wanted to play but Meiby was a bit too quick for him. Meiby's favorite part of the evening, of course, was feeding time! It's definitely good to have a dog around when you've got kids. Unfortunately I did not get any photos of this because I was busy trying to keep everyone calm. hehehe...
...but here she is hanging out in the new backyard with me and my plants this weekend.

Looking for trouble

Meiby has never gotten into the garbage. Mostly because we've always had a tall lidded garbage can. In the new house, the kitchen is very small and there isn't room for that can so we just have a small garbage can inside a cabinet. While I was installing this slide out track for the can the garbage was temporarily sitting out. Meiby didn't get into it but she was certainly interested. Here she is with her little chin resting on the edge of the can making lots of snorty, sniffing noises...

You'd think she would have been in it the first chance she got but she was left alone with it all day and didn't touch it. She's a very good pug!

New Home

Meiby adjusts to her new surroundings:


We moved into our new house this past weekend. Meiby was a little nervous for the first couple days. Probably mostly because we had to keep her locked up in strange rooms while we were moving. She was not thrilled about that but she's taking to it pretty well now. She's still afraid to go down the stairs though. Check out some photos of the new place over at Strand Over Fist.

Possible Strawberries!

I planted these last spring, had nothing all summer. I somehow managed to keep it alive all winter indoors and today, the first bloom! I may get some strawberries after all :)



I haven't planted much yet this year because we are moving soon. We bought a house and are moving in this weekend! I have a cherry tomato plant in a pot that is doing quite well and some sugar snap peas that are growing like crazy. Once we get settled in to the new place I will plant some more things, maybe even in the ground. I have jalapeno seedlings that need a home soon. I also have baby carrot seedlings growing for the pug :)

Hipster Pug

Meiby modeling yet another scarf (get the pattern here). I need to get some nice "action" shots of this design but I'm not a good model. I'm not sure it's professional to have your dog model it though ;)
...but I might have to send one of these to Hipster Puppies.

pug scarf

Meiby helps me by modeling a new crochet design idea:

all better

Pugtastrophe

Poor silly pug... a week or so ago we took Meiby to the vet with her second bladder infection in less than a year. After being on antibiotics for a week she was rubbing her head on everything and scratching at her face until she injured her own eye. Turns out she's allergic to Clavamox (the antibiotic). So we took her to the vet again today where they switched her to a different antibiotic and then gave us eye drops, pain meds, and benedryl to administer... and an e collar for her to wear for a week. It's pathetic but hard not to laugh at her. It's just so cute. She's tolerating it pretty well I think but keeps ramming her cone into everything. I have to hold her bone for her so she can chew on it because she can't use her paws on it very well.

Sunday

happy valentime :)

warm and cozy

This is Meiby's favorite chair... especially when the afternoon sun is shining in.

cabin fever

Meiby has been so bored lately since it's too cold to spend much time outside. The other day I was sitting on the couch with my laptop and Meiby proceeded to get all 7 of her stuffed animals out, one by one, and spread them across the couch. She'd get one out, play with it for 10 minutes or so, then go get another one. I'd play fetch with her sporadically but she just didn't seem satisfied with any of her toys.


So I took her for a little night time romp in the snow :)

January in Indiana

Mom, can we go outside? Please!!!


OMG what is all this cold white stuff?





-10 minutes later-
OK, I'm cold... lets go in now!

Happy Birthday Meiby!

It's Meiby's 2nd birthday... and it snowed a bunch:





Ok, I'm done now. It's cold!