The End of Arkansas....In Sight....

I guess I'm pretty overdue on an update for my family and friends. On one hand it seems like I don't do much of anything while in this holding pattern.  On the other hand it seems like I manage to keep busy enough.

Mouse had her 9th birthday. It was a small family affair...as usual. Big brother came through with a horse for the American Girl. He gives the best presents.

I've done so much quilting that I finally broke down and purchased a quilting sewing machine. No. Not the 10K babies that are all the rage. I just couldn't go there. Luckily I learned about a simple Brother that is nothing but a quilter. Straight line - no fancy stitches. Large throat -- the thing I really needed so I don't have to fight the quilt so much while doing the actual quilting. Needle down, leg lift. Its amazing how much time I save with these little features. And well under one thousand. Very very happy with that. Really, I don't know if I ever would have broken down and paid the big bucks for the fancy machines.

Hubs and I made a quick trip into Texas as the preliminary house hunting start. It was time to get our feet wet. We looked in three different areas with three different realtors. 21 houses in 5 days.  I was DONE by the end.

We looked at Tyler first. LOVE the area. We didn't find anything to offer on with what we are looking for but had one strong possibility. We left with some questions on that house which the  realtor was too get back to us on. (In the end it was overpriced and I didn't like the house.)

On the way to our next areas we had pretty much decided Tyler was it. Its about the same size as Waco but more upscale.

Once in Waco we spent the evenings with our son and our friends....and Tyler pretty much lost appeal. Why in the world would I go anywhere but straight back to all the friends and family right there where we left them??? After all, with Hubs gone half the time, I need a built in support network. And it just doesn't get better than 10 of my favorite friends and a grown son. Duh.

We found the perfect house. Well, I didn't love the house but I loved the property and could imagine a long and happy life right there. We offered. The owner pulled it off the market. Hubs was crushed. It had all we were looking for and more in our price range.

The only other one we were about to offer on ended up being in foreclosure and we would have had 12 days to close on. With a VA (government) loan. Hah! The government does not work in 12 days. They would probably take 12 months just because we asked. So we let that one go. It was missing some of what we were looking for and was in Waco school district which is a big no-no anyways.

So we came home exhausted with two strikes. (And as a side I must say I'm glad we didn't offer for the houses in West -- dodged a bullet on that one. A massive explosion in your new town is not the kind of welcome most of us look for. And a big shout out to all my friends and family that are either first responders, medical staff, volunteers with the Red Cross, proving shelter or meals.....you guys are my heros. Can't wait to get back to living with you!)

And now Hubs is back in Saudi and I am starting to unravel our lives from this area. Starting to get rid of the winter clothing and eat all the stuff in the pantry. Funny. We came for Thanksgiving.....and stayed until May. LOL. Our life never goes according to plan. But that is okay.

We anticipate the move in mid May. Yes, I am pulling Mouse out of school early. She will live. We will be staying in a long term slot at a RV park for however long it takes to find and close on a house. Two kids. Two dogs. It will be painful. There will be short tempers. I hope to find a camp for Mouses summer days and a job for the teen.

Hopefully the next news will be good news with a new home in the works. Or maybe it will be the woes of living in a travel trailer with a family and pets. Surely that will bring some humorous events.

Remember us in your prayers. Its not tragic but its not easy being us!

Beach Zen

As happens in our life the last two years, an event came up at the very last moment that made for some quick plans and a trip to the beach.

Our old stomping grounds. Where Songbird was born.

I was lucky enough to find a condo on Mexico Beach in Florida for Mouse's Spring Break. There's more to the story that makes all this make more sense but its not for public consumption so I'll just have to remain a little mysterious.

Anyways.

The teen was thrilled and Mouse was very excited.

Most people would go for Panama City Beach or Destin....but I prefer Mexico Beach. Its a very small community right on the sugar white sands that caters to families.  They wont even rent to the younger crowds so it is NOT a meat market spring break area.  There is also nothing to do there but go to the beach. No big tourist attractions. Like maybe 4 places to eat. One store that sells groceries -- a very small selection.

So if you want to go to the beach and just hang in the surf and sand with your kids....its beyond perfect. If you want the whole tourist experience.....go to Panama City Beach instead.

Sadly, our trip was just a girls trip. It would have been much better with daddy. But when daddy is gone so much, Spring Break still happens. Summer still happens. Events still happen. So do you not do anything? Many women I know wouldn't. But I don't want my girls to miss out on so much life because we were waiting. Its not what I prefer....but its what life has for me to deal with.

So, I was really in need of some zen time. And here it was.

I packed a bag of books and blankets and headed for the beach. Mouse was IN LOVE. She spent the whole week saying THIS is where we needed to move to...not Texas.

Mouse also was very sick and I thought we would end up spending some quality time at Gulf Coast Hospital with pneumonia ..but the sea air worked wonders and the freezing water (which I could not keep her out of) killed the temperatures. Somehow we managed to avoid the hospital. But I sure didn't win any parenting awards for my handling of this sickness!! Well, Mouse might disagree.

We took long beach walks every day. I took the girls out to Tyndall Beach so we could go for miles and miles without seeing a soul. Definite benefit to being a military dependent on the gulf coast. Mouse did 5 miles on this day. She was a trooper.

Songbird wanted to find sand dollars, but it was sea urchin time instead. I did find a few for her out on a sandbar.

I didn't get to see as many of my old friends as I would have liked, but I did get to spend a little time with the most important one. Made me homesick.

And I did take the girls out to Panama City Beach so they could enjoy the touristy stuff.  Mouse was in love with the tacky beach shops and tourist traps. She is an advertisers dream, that one. Mom! Can we stop at the shark!!!!

I did get my zen time. It was very good. There is something about a beach walk that soothes my soul in a way nothing else does. I think its mostly the sound of the surf...which really appeals to my senses. And the squeaky white sand under foot. The breeze that cools and carries the sounds of the gulls. The unlimited vitamin D beating down on your skin (or at least on the 70 spf barrier coated on my skin).

All too soon it was time to pack up and leave. Mouse bemoaned this fact long and hard. She spent the first few hours in the car trying to hard sell the beach as our next place to live. She does not think its fair at all that the rest of us got to live there and she never did.

The trip home included a stop for lunch with my uncle in Pensacola, and an overnight and retirement party for one of my mother-in-laws in Mississippi. A good way to end the trip.

And each hour on that 9 hour drive home got progressively colder. Soon I was crying with Mouse about how I wanted to go back, and why didn't we rent on the beach while we were in limbo. LOL. I SO hate the cold!

Now we are back in the cold. But we aren't too sad...because daddy will be home soon! Its been a long month and a half without him!

Life From My Lawn Chair

Another 4 day finish! Life is all about putting out fires lately. Yet another event came up that required our presence and a gift. Luckily I bought the material for one of the wedding quilts I was going to make...and due to time constraints had to do something else instead.  That left me with the makings for a quilt...that had no home.

This pattern is called Lawn Chair and is a free Moda pattern which can be found here.  And honestly -- it is so fantastic that I am making a bigger one for myself.

I had an audience when Songbird and I took it out to the beach to photograph. LOL.

It really has a lawn chair look  so I only quilted around the patterned strips to give it that braided look of the old lawn chairs.

I used up the end piece scraps on the back. I hate throwing material away -- even end pieces. I also don't like to buy a single color backing fabric...normally I use up my left over fabric from the front. This time I want to make another quilt just like it so I did buy some fabric for the back.

You can't really see the quilting that I was trying to show in this shot. Only the patterned pieces are outlined.

This shot of the back gives you a better ideal.

I did not have time to have a signature/dedication block made so I just free motioned my name into the side.

I have to say this is probably the easiest quilt I have ever done. There are no seams to match up when you put it all together. Start to finish it took 4 days and that all. If you are a beginner and want to try a cool looking quilt, I recommend this one.

Tectonic Plates

Another finish spring. Not being real specific as I have several gifts I am making for several things in the near future.

 This is another pinterest pin on my quilt board. It links to the blog Esch House Quilts where she has blogged about it here.

I liked the color with the gray and orange pop. I'm not usually an orange person but this was striking.

I used the 2 1/2 inch and 4 1/2 inch strip cutters on the Go!Cutter to cut the strips. I used a picture of the quilt to recreate the look. The blog does not have instructions - this is a quilt she made up herself and used as an entry in a show.

For the back I used a city scape fabric in greys and black. With the extra strips I made a few grey stripes and some wonky log cabin blocks to cover side to side.  Then I used left over pieces of the orange to finish it out.  A black/grey was used to bind it so its kind of like a picture frame.

I did not have time to wash it so there is slack showing in the back in the places I did not quilt through -- the orange areas on the front. This will shrink up and have the wrinkle texture when it is washed.

Quilt was boxed and delivered on our Dallas trip. Yet another rush to get it done. Seems to be the only way I know how to do it!!

I did not use a signature block as I was out of time but I did quilt my name and year into it.

 And thats Tectonic Plates!!

Mouses Dream Comes True

Mouse had a dream. One she talked about ALL. THE. TIME. So much so that it became banned in our house on threat of no more presents ever in her lifetime.  l

It was bad.

And as jobless people it was also a dream out of reach.

See, Mouse just had to have an American Girl Doll. Of course this didn't happen until after we were jobless. There was no way a doll over $100 was in any of our cards for over a year.

But things are a little better now. And Mouse has a birthday coming up.

And we had to take a quick trip to Dallas.

Of course it was a secret that I was going to take her to pick out her birthday gift. But she is too smart. As soon as I told her we were going to Dallas for the weekend, she informed me that they had an American Girl store in Dallas.

So I still had to listen to endless conversation on what she could do to earn a trip there.

And she was besides herself when we went. It was really fun to watch her.

So I have a very happy little girl. I still can't believe I spent that much on a doll. Apparently the $40 knockoff she got for Christmas just wasn't cutting it. LOL!

Thinking Day Pinterest Project #23

I was lucky enough to find a Girl Scout troop here in Arkansas that would allow Mouse to join even though we are only staying until June.

Girl Scouts has been a constant for Mouse and has been instrumental in bringing her out of her shell and helping her overcome her fears of me leaving her with others and being away from home. I cannot say enough good things.

Anyways, Saturday was Thinking Day and Mouse's new troop was hosting a booth on Japan at the event in Hot Springs.

The girls did an information board and had many examples of things from Japan. For their fun thing to share they decided to make "Candy Sushi".

I volunteered to help out with this as I had seen recipes on Pinterest and I do my own nori rolls at home...so how hard could it be?


This was the first Pinterest photo that caught my attention. It is from the Savy Mom Ca site. She used a little more variety than I had available to me up in the mountains. So I found two other blogs to help me out.

I love the Swedish Fish. This one is from Planet of the Apels. Unfortunately I did not have a muffin pan to work with...only a cookie sheet or pizza pan.

Finally I found some really good instructions at Makin'Messes.

Putting all those together I managed to make two batches of the roll sushi and form my own version of the fish sushi.

These were the easiest to do. Its actually the ends of the other rolls that were too short to do another full roll. I just sort of shaped them oblong and slapped a fish and piece of fruit roll up on them.

The rolls turned out pretty cool also - and they were surprisingly easy to make. I don't think we came away from the event with a single one left over....although many of our girls ate as many as three.

Mouse told me no less than three times what a fun time she had. If you know her well you know how out of character that is. She will normally not give you the satisfaction of letting you know something was fun.  (Thanks again Girl Scouts!)

So - if you are interested in the candy sushi, I'd so go for it. It is not hard to make at all. Warning! It is crazy sweet with all that junk!!

Pinterest Project #22

Another recipe for you. There are not alot of things from my pinterest boards that I can really get into while staying here. Mostly its recipes and quilts for now.

I had a spaghetti squash that I was going to use in place of pasta with my spaghetti sauce -- but the call of the pasta was just too strong. So then I needed a recipe.

A quick shout out to FB gave me some great suggestions. Mircle recommended that I just put the veggies from my recipe on the squash since I didn't want to make the sauce again. I thought that sounded pretty good. So I did a quick search using some of those veggies and the squash and this is what came up.

Mushroom Primavera with Spaghetti Squash from the Refined Chef site.  Here is the link to the original post. Its a nice site to browse.

Anyways...my take on this one: Not saucy enough. I did read a bunch of suggestions that mentioned using Laughing Cow wedges instead of the feta and that making it saucier. Might be worth trying because the recipe was really good...I just like sauce. If I could figure out what to use without adding too many calories I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Worth a try for sure.

Still on the hunt for more spaghetti squarsh recipes that stand in as a meal. Let me know if you  have any!

Top Of The Moor

First quilt of 2013 is finished. Again it is mostly scraps left over from the group of purple quilts I made. I did buy the border/backing/binding fabric. It is a batik with a filigree type modern heart pattern...which seemed perfect for a wedding quilt. 

I have actually worked on these half square triangles off and on for over a year. It was too boring to sit down and do them all at once, lol! So the quilt sort of made itself up as I went along.

I believe this is only the second time I have used one fabric for the backing. Usually I use up my scraps instead of spending that much on the back piece.

The center is a pillow panel that I built the half square triangles around. I got this idea from another site I follow. She set her panel on point. I could not figure out how to do it so I gave up and just used it squared instead.

As you can see, I just free motion quilted around the design on the panel. The back side looks pretty neat. I used a verigated purple thread to tie in all the different purples.

 I followed the half squares and using a walking foot went diagonally through the squares for that quilting. I was going to do more of an all over pattern but I ran out of time due to an unexpect trip that allowed me to take this and deliver it so I wouldn't have to mail it. 

 Around the border I just used the walking foot again and ran some straight lines around it about 2 inches apart. That seemed to work best with the diaganol lines through the squares. Plus I had run out of time by this point so it had to be very quick.


Because I love the original idea I got this from I am going to share:

This is from Red Pepper Quilts and here is the link to the page that tells all about it. If you are a quilter and want to be inspired be sure to go check out her site. She is amazing.

Maybe I will try this again some day and try to figure out the on point instructions. But next time I will use larger half square triangles. These little ones took FOREVER! I am very much over that!!! lol

Please Help Us Locate Joseph Or Pray Him Home!

I have a friend with an urgent need for prayer and help! Please read!

Please Share This With All You Know...My Son Is Missing

by noreply@blogger.com (Quiltingranny)

Joseph Rummerfield Missing 1/17/13 from Tulare, California

This is a picture of my son Joseph Rummerfield who is homeless. Joseph has lived between Tulare and Visalia, California since he was a child.  Everyone from local residents to police officers know Joseph.

Joseph is mentally ill, he is harmless and very gullible and sadly he allowed a man to talk him into going with him to see an attorney about getting  disability on 1/16/2013.

He was last seen with this man on 1/17/2013 in Bakersfield in a tan RV  possibly an older Winnebago as it had a large W on the side.  The man he was with was very angry with him, is older in his 60's and missing a leg and he has a dog of some sort.

Joseph has a black lab named Hunter and he doesn't leave Hunter but rarely and when he does he always checks on him.   He left Hunter with a friend on 1/16 and has not been back to get his beloved pet or called to check on him.

Something is wrong!  His aunts, uncles and cousins have all been looking for him and even his homeless friends are worried.  I have no idea why this wasn't reported earlier, but there is a missing persons report with Tulare, California PD.

Joseph is a creature of habit, he doesn't leave the area unless led to believe someone can help him.  This is my son, please help me.

If you live in Tulare, Visalia, Porterville, Farmersville, Oildale or anywhere near these communities please get the picture around. When you see a homeless person holding a sign look closely if it is Joseph tell him his aunt Sandy, Aunt Emma and mom are all worried and to call home.

If he is with the man with 1 leg, please call 911 and let them know you have located a missing person.

Please pass this out to everyone you know!

What I Brought Vs. What I Bought

Our stay in the little vacation rental is turning into six months instead of three. There are a couple of different reasons for this -- one of the most important being that Mouse is loving the school here.  See, she stopped working for me so I put her in school here to show her that there are consequences for not doing work for mom. And it turned out to be a great thing because she likes it. I cannot even convey what a relief it is not to fight her to get on the bus or go to school. I'm taking advantage of it for the remainder of the school year.

Anyways -- since we are now living in limbo for longer than expected (thanks to our household goods extension coming through), I have been asked by a couple of people how we are managing without or stuff.

I'd say I did a good job of preparing for this. (Of course it doesn't hurt that we are staying in a furnished rental.)

Now, we were probably a little better off than many people would be just by virtue of owning the trailer. It makes everything easier because we are traveling with a little mini home all our own. A home that stays stocked with certain cooking items and beds and linens, etc. That means there are many things I didn't even have to think about packing.


The most important things that we remembered would be:

*the popcorn popper (cheap and well loved snack)
*a billion blankets (comfort and familiar)

*all the dog stuff (clippers, shampoos, toys, etc.)
*black box of important papers
*canvas bag full of rag towels (sick dog anyone??)

*rice cooker
*all our spices (usually I would give most of that away)
*sewing machine and tools (including Go! cutter and dies)

*two boxes of books
*favorite coffee or tea cups (ours are very oversized)

*hot water kettle (electric)
*large tote of all bathroom and medicine cabinet stock (again, I would usually trash all this but you can't believe the amount of things we have pulled out of here this trip - saved us lots and lots of money)
*Apple TV Box for watching netflix streaming (worth its weight in gold)


There were a few things that I had to buy but it was a planned thing:

*crockpot - I threw the one from the trailer out to force myself to buy a new one
*bathroom scale - ours was missing a foot pad and I wasn't sure if it was accurate anymore so I tossed it while packing

Things I wish I had packed but didn't (and won't buy a replacement):

*my kitchen scale that I use to weigh mail among other things

*my large cutting mat for quilting - I meant to pack it and don't know how I forgot as I have all my other tools

And the things that I did go out and buy because I can't live without them:

*garlic press (now the trailer will have its own -- we use this daily almost)

*veggie steamer basket for pots - how in the world did I forget this???

*wireless network printer -- we did plan on staying somewhere that had a printer available to us but my gut said to pack it and I didn't listen. Thankfully I found one for $30.

*swimsuit for the teen (I told her)


Unexpected purchase that is a pain for travel but I am in love with:

A bisell carpet cleaner. The big dog got very very sick and destroyed this carpet. She was so sick it had to be a carpet cleaner. Since I had borrowed a similar one to clear housing in Ohio (thanks again Wendy) I decided to just buy one. Kind of a crazy thing but it got all the bad stuff up and saved us our $400 pet deposit and probably the $600 other deposit also. By the way - have you ever seen a dog projectile vomit?? It is a sight I hope you never experience.

And things I will have to purchase from breakage or overuse:

I walked the walking foot right off during the last 6 inches of quilting the last Christmas quilt I made, so that will have to be purchased as I am working on more quilts. Grumble. I have and extra foot and machine in my household goods. Should have packed it. But really - pack two sewing machines??


So all things considered, we have done very well just with what we packed.  I still can't believe I didn't remember the garlic press or steamer baskets -- but hey, now the trailer has its own.

The box of books and all our favorite blankets have been good for entertainment value along with the Apple TV box for watching movies.

The teen is glad she had her work clothes from Ohio with her as she didn't need to purchase anything when she got a job here.

All in all I think we are doing just great. Just goes to show how much of our "stuff" is really just not necessary. 

Pinterest Project #21

                                 Healthy Detox Soup

Another Pinterest Recipe I tried this month is Healthy Detox Soup from the chez us blog. 

After the wheat feast of November and December, I was feeling pretty sick. This recipe looked like a great way to clean my system up.

The site not only gives you the recipe, it also explains the health benefits of the ingredients you use. Very interesting.

As alway, I made changes. So my version probably wasn't as healthy as their version.

I did not used leeks as the only ones I could find up here looked like they had been stomped on. I used scallions instead.

I also had an older green pepper, a couple of tomatoes and some broccoli I needed to use so they were thrown into the pot also

As I was tasting the soup I was finding it too bland for me -- and I'm one of those that likes bland foods. Maybe it had to do with the type of vegetable broth I used? I'm sure some brands are better than others. I also had a big can of tomato juice in the refridgerator so I ended up dumping most of it in to flavor up the broth some.  LOVED IT.

So I've eaten this for breakfast, lunch and dinner (not all in the same day) and have been very happy with it. I made way too much for only one adult in the house eating it with Hubs away. But I sure feel better since I started using it and cutting out the wheat products. (And then I made spaghetti when I was doing better and got all kinds of sick. I am an idiot.)

If you are looking for a soup to fill you up on veggies and fiber you might want to give this a try. I did find I needed to tweak the broth but otherwise it was great. I will use this recipe again.

Here is the recipe from the chez us blog:

Ingredients

• 2 medium leeks, cut in half, cleaned well, and cut into small pieces
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed into a paste
• 1 serrano pepper, half of seeds removed, thinly sliced
• 4 carrots, scrubbed clean, skins on, cut into rough chunks
• 4 celery stalks, cut into rough chunks
• 3 small rutabagas, peeled and cut into medium dice
• 3 small zucchini, diced
• 8 cups water
• 3 roma tomatoes, with seeds and skin, diced
• 2 cups pinto beans, I used dried ones that I cooked before hand, used cooking liquids in soup
• 2 bunches of kale, thinly sliced
• 1 juice of 1/2 lemon
• maldon salt, to taste
• fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Heat a large pot over medium heat.
2. Add the leeks, garlic, and serranos.
3. Sweat over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring often.
4. Add carrots, celery and the rutabagas. Cook for about 3 minutes.
5. Add the water, tomatoes and pinto beans, simmer over low heat for at least 30 minutes.
6. The longer, the better the flavor is.
7. 15 minutes before serving stir in the kale and zucchini
8. Cook for 5 minutes.
9. Stir in lemon juice.
10. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
11. Serve.
12. Eat.

Pinterest Project #20

Living here in a different kind of limbo than we lived the whole last year has given me the oportunity to start trying a bunch of the recipes I had pinned on Pinterest.

This last week I tried Slow Cooker Chicken With Tomatoes and Artichokes  It comes from the Betty Crocker website and I have linked back to the recipe. I am a big fan of artichokes and am always looking for recipes to try. I haven't found a favorite for the Frymark Cookbook yet.

I did make alterations. I only had 2 boneless breasts so I cut them into bite sized pieces instead of leaving them whole. So I decreased the meat by half out of necessity. It was plenty of meat when all was said and done. I have noticed that most recipes we American's use could use less meat. With prices what they are I have been doing this more and more often.

I also used 2/3 the amount of Italian Dressing and the last third I put in Balsamic Vinegar. So I combined their two suggestions in a way.

We also left out the green olives because my family prefers black and we didn't have any.

This smelled heavenly. It tasted pretty good to but it smelled so good the taste almost couldn't compare. LOL.

It has more of a broth than a sauce when you put it over rice. I think we would have liked it a little better with a saucier feel. And that's not a taste issue, more of a texture we prefer.

Both girls ate this. Again, it tasted good but we decided it was not a keeper. I'm thinking we just haven't found that artichoke dish that is a keeper yet. We will keep experimenting.

Here is the recipe from the Betty Crocker Website:

• PREP TIME15 Min
• TOTAL TIME4 Hr 45 Min
• SERVINGS4

 

4

bone-in chicken breasts (2 1/2 lb)

3

tablespoons fat-free balsamic or Italian vinaigrette dressing

1

teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2

teaspoon salt

1/4

teaspoon pepper

1/2

large onion, thinly sliced (1 cup)

1/4

cup sliced green olives

4

cloves garlic, finely chopped

1

can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained

1

can (14 oz) quartered artichokes, drained

2

to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Save $$$ on your favorite brands

• 1Spray 3- to 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Remove skin and any fat from chicken. Brush chicken with dressing; place in cooker. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Top with remaining ingredients except parsley.
• 2Cover; cook on Low heat setting 4 hours 30 minutes to 5 hours 30 minutes.
• 3Skim off any fat from top of mixture in cooker. Serve chicken and tomato mixture in shallow bowls; sprinkle with parsley.

UFO's in the Back Yark

We are staying at a place that is in the forest. It has a yard full of gravel. With no fence of any kind. And is surround by the forest on all sides.  There is nothing to keep anything (like the pack of coytoes) out or anything in.

There are also no lights. Except at certain street corners. This is not like a normal neighborhood. The village is built to blend into the forest....not obliterate it. Hence the lack of lights or fences and many other conveniences. And your house can easily be the only one on your entire street.

Its dark when the sun goes down.  Real dark. Too dark to go for a walk even.

Have I mentioned that both our dogs were stray rescues and both bolt if they get loose? Of course they do.  And do  you know how far away a black doberman gets before it disapears completely in the forest after dark?

About 10 feet.

Of course you know Cinder managed to get loose from Songbird one night when I wasn't home and she tried to take both dogs out at the same time. Down a flight of stairs. To their lines they are clipped to since there is no fence.

She could not see the dog once she bolted. At all. Scared the poor kid to death. Luckily it also scared the dog to death and Songbird was able to follow the sound of crunching leaves around front and get her to come back fairly easily.

Crisis avoided.

But with the way Cinder disapears in the darkness it had me worried about what if she got out and ran in front of a car. Not that there are alot of cars up here...but if she went a ways it could happen. (Plus she was really enjoying jumping out at me to see if she could scare me or not. What a fun game.  NOT.)

So - the lighted dog collar to the rescue.


On amazon I found our solution. Both dogs now have a night time collar for whenever we take them out.

We have neighbors on one side of us. I saw them watching out the window the first few nights we used these. I'm sure they thought it was an alien invasion. But no - as the flash reveals, its just Cinder. And the fun part is the collar stays solid or has flashing patterns.

I love these collars. So if you are in need of something like this I highly recommend them. And it comes in different colors.



http://www.amazon.com/Collar-Blue-Lights-Multi-Function-Medium/dp/B0050P0JAG/ref=sr_1_38?ie=UTF8&qid=1358224408&sr=8-38&keywords=lighted+dog+collar

An no - this is not sponsored by the maker or anything. I'm just a happy customer. Just sharing a product that makes my life as a pet owner a little easier.