Yes, another blog to follow! Backend of Nowhere Garage

Thursday, June 28, 2018


It's official - the new Backend of Nowhere Garage blog is now live! This has been Stu's dream ever since he was little and it's finally started. He will be blogging there as the garage gets built and then, hopefully, as he chronicles his projects. Hope you will follow him!

Ciao for now!

What's up? A little of everything...

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Stu's only been back a couple of days and has....

Been welcomed by the #2doods...


Been joined out on the deck as he readied for grilling...


Had nice enough weather to have dinner on the deck...


Helped me assemble the pressure washer for the back deck...


Put up our 10x10 Pop-up Canopy on the deck to provide a little protection from the morning sun...




Got his new Troy-Bilt Zero Turn 42" with mulching kit (mulching kit on order)...


Gassed up and mowed the front yard so he could get used to the steering.


Installed the new ceiling fan/light combo on the deck...
...the old


...the new, starting with the install







Ciao for now!

Good puppies! #2Doods

Friday, June 15, 2018

Well, Stu will be home today and I will have some help with the #2Doods, Cooper and Murphy. Not that they're all that much work - most of the time. They follow most commands well now, in fact, the only time they are almost uncontrollable is when we get to doggy day care. They LOVE it there...

They wait at the door to go out and come in - IF, we say "stay" or "wait", which we normally do. Same routine getting out of their crate. They sit and wait to eat. They sit/down for their treats (well Copper will lay down, Murphy still won't). Tell them "In your bed" or "Go nite-nite" and they both go into the crate, no matter the time of day. "Leave it" works on anything. "Stop" works if Murphy is obsessively chewing/licking.

"No bark" has more affect on Murphy and he's never the one barking. He usually goes into the crate to wait till I've gotten Cooper to stop barking. LOL! As soon as I give the command, Murphy looks at me, a second command and off he goes. It could have to do with the fact that he HATES the Pet Corrector while Cooper tries to ignore it - he knows the sound is coming. I have to constantly tell him that he's a good boy!

In fact, I took this photo from the front yard where I was taking photos of the excavation for Stu's garage...Cooper was barking (an 'alert' bark) at me!


We still need to work on leash walking with the gentle leaders. We just don't live in a good area for that, too many loose neighborhood dogs. Sigh...but we need to do it, but with summer here it will be fall before we tackle that one.

Here are a few of the photos I took this week...

Cooper may have bear paws, but Murphy wins with the fluffiest tail!

Here they are waiting for the "Okay" to get their Buffalo Jerky treats.

A couple days later, I broke out the new Yaky Chews. Happy puppies - they get to chew for ten minutes before they get pup away or they would eat the whole thing in one session.

Cooper was lazy playing and managed to get Murphy's attention...which is what he was trying to accomplish!


They are entertaining for sure...love them both and know they are going to be thrilled when "Daddy's home"!

Ciao for now!

Top Ten Thursday: My Blogging Journey

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Once again, another fun Top Ten Thursday topic from the Part-Time Working Hockey Mom!
From Tamara - June 14: My six year blogversary is coming up, so I'd like you (and me) to blog about blogging. What are the top ten things that come to your mind reflecting on your blogging journey: what prompted you to start, what obstacles did you have to overcome, what have been your major learnings, what plans do you have...?

I think I was blogging before it was a "thing" but we called it journaling. My first attempts were to keep everyone apprised of how my now late husband was doing in his fight with head/neck cancer. I had worked with websites and web content since the mid-90s so posting updates on our personal website seemed the thing to do.

He passed in November 2004 and suddenly, after doing that final update, I couldn't write. Nothing. Not even to journal my around the country motorcycle trip the following year. Now I wish I had but I was emotionally unable to do so.

I found my voice again in April 2006 when I made the decision to become a full-time RVer. I found joy in writing again and had fun blogging my decision process in choosing a rig and eventually hitting the road.

In late June 2008, I met my now husband at an RV Rally in Gillette, WY and the rest is kind of history. We eventually moved his blog/travel posts and my personal blog over to OUR blog and eventually moved from myprimeyears.com to our current domain, ourprimeyears.com.

But I love blogging - since 2006 I have written several, merged some, and started more. I think five is the most I have done at one time. We had a blog for us, a blog for our puppy, a blog for our Route 66 motorcycle trip plans, a blog for our property in Tennessee and my author blog. Phew! All those personal blogs have been merged into our main blog here but I have started a couple more. The newest will be for Stu to journal the build on his pole barn garage, Backend of Nowhere Garage.

So, while the above isn't a TOP TEN list, it has made me reflect on what I've done via my blogging.
  1. I've met a world of new friends through blogging. Some come from a mutual interest like RVing or writing, others from participating in blog hops (like this one).
     
  2. In 2012, I ventured into flash fiction writing via prompts from other blogs. That led me to participate in my first April A to Z Blog Challenge. To this day, I am still friends with some of the wonderful folks I met via their blogs.
     
  3. Via the April A to Z and the friends I made, I discovered NaNoWriMo.org and their summer companion, CampNaNoWriMo.org. I participated in two and wrote most of the first draft for "Not a Whisper", my first mystery novel and "Home Again", my first (and only) romance novel.
     
  4. Blogging has let us create a history of our travels, around the US in our fifth wheel, on our cruises and during our two years living in Ecuador.
     
  5. I love looking back and visiting our past adventures through our blog and the photos.
     
  6. A low point was making the decision to move my author blog to the WordPress format and link it to my author domain. I spent way too much time on technical issues, trying to stop hackers and doing updates. I eventually moved back to the Blogger platform but lost a lot of readers/followers with the double transition.
     
  7. I have helped newbies start blogs, creating them to their liking and then turning it over to them to continue.
     
  8. An unexpected bonus to #7 was helping a friend start a blog and get her writing. After her A-Z success in 2014, she published her first book! She now has her own website and a multitude of books. Check her out on Amazon: Scarlett Braden
     
  9. This past winter I was burned out on writing. Participating in the 2018 April A to Z Blog Challenge and writing flash fiction again, was just what I needed! 26 Tiny Tales, from A to Z.
     
  10. I get to write about whatever I want! Take a peek at an early #TopTenThursday post. You'll see what I write about and what I put on social media kind of goes hand in hand. But the topics are of my choosing. So if I want to write about women and girdles (now SPANX®), I can. If we've gone on a wonderful (or bad) trip, I can post. The #2Doods do something silly? Yup, another post. I get to be me and share that with anyone brave enough to follow along!
Thanks for following along - do you blog? Do you have any special memories, thoughts, why you started, why you stopped?

Ciao for now!

June 13 2018: Enjoy the Simple Things

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

“Things are never as complicated as they seem. It is only our arrogance that prompts us to find unnecessarily complicated answers to simple problems.”
Muhammad Yunus

Till next month...

A little catsup, errr, catch up...

Sunday, June 10, 2018

Stu's trip is winding down, he hopes to be home by the end of the week. We can't wait! Yesterday was our youngest granddaughter's birthday party.

Our older grandgirls were more than willing to help get the house ready for the party. After all, what are cousins for?


Yes, she (and her mom) are obsessed with unicorns!







I've stayed busy writing and monitoring the excavation for our pole barn build. Hopefully when he gets home, he will start writing up the text for the new blog, Backend of Nowhere Garage.

I've been fighting a cold - allergies - a cold - allergies. Not sure, but it's kept me under the weather for almost two weeks. SOOOOO ready for it to be gone. I have gotten in some writing AND some reading (finally). I've caught up on most of my Hallmark romance and mystery movies, too.

The #2doods have settled into a routine, even sleeping in till 8-9 am for me. Bless them both! They play hard and the sleep hard. Cooper was chasing his little squirrel, at times flipping up the rug to hide it, then getting it back out. He slides all over the foyer, chasing it (or an elk antler).


Then Murphy joined him, starting their lazy play.


I grabbed two videos of them playing, getting a kick out of their growling play sounds. Their voices are slightly different... CLICK HERE for the first video, then CLICK HERE for the second one.

Remember the carpenter bee trap Stu made before he left? I had forgotten all about it until I went out to refill the hummingbird feeders. One angry bee joined the others....


Ciao for now!

Aging....Important Facts

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Important facts to remember as you grow older

This piece has been going around the Internet for several years but I thought it worth reposting. A lot of humor and a little bit of truth. Enjoy!
 


 Death is the number 1 killer in the world.
 We aren't getting out of this life alive, so relax and enjoy it, regardless of the ride!

 Life is sexually transmitted.
 You may have to think about this one for a bit...LOL!

 Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
 Hmmm, true, but I'd rather have good health than not!
 

 Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to use the Internet and they won’t bother you for weeks, months, maybe years.
 Unfortunately (or not), very true, but this is the price of progress.
 

 Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in the hospital, dying of nothing.
 This one makes me laugh - but still no excuse for not maintaining your good health (if you still have it).
 

 All of us could lake a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
 I need to tape this one on my mirror so I read it every morning. For many years, I worried way too much about what other people thought of me.
 

 In the 60s, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take drugs to make it normal.
 Not so sure about this one...the world has always been weird to it's current occupants. And drugs aren't the answer, in most cases.

 Don’t worry about old age: It doesn’t last that long.
 Ah yes, back to "Death is the #1 killer in the world"!


Ciao for now!

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