A small trip

I went on a small trip recently to Indiana. For those who are not familiar with the state the best way to describe it is flat with lots of cornfields (in fairness to the state this describes the parts I have visited). There are charming old farm houses, modern malls, and big cities,  it is just that the vast majority of the land seems to be used for farming.

This was not a new trip for me. It has become a yearly tradition since I was in middle school or before (the exact year escapes me). We make the 5 to 6 hour car drive up to Indiana every year in the Fall. It provides my family the chance to visit my Aunt and Uncle and assorted cousins and their children but additionally we go to the Covered Bridge Festivals which are held at the same time.

Over the years I have collected assorted treasures at these festivals. From antique hats and compacts, to tie dye shirts, bamboo plants, and the kettle corn made and sold by the Amish (the best kettle corn I have ever had!) The festivals are an interesting mix of old and modern. The Mansfield Covered Bridge festival is the one I have attended the most over the years. It is spread out over several acres on either side of the covered bridge, and I find it much easier to navigate than some of the other festivals. In the last few years I have not even bothered to cross the bridge. Perhaps that is poor of me considering how rare a covered bridge is these days ,but with every passing year I find less charm in the cheap modern goods filling the stalls on the other side of the bridge. Most of these goods I could easily purchase elsewhere so I don't bother to waste my time crossing the river to see them. Still I thought I would share a picture of the bridge. I wish the leaves had turned more but it seems fall is slow in coming to Indiana.

I had a lot of fun seeing my family in Indiana but one of the bigger highlights was meeting a Denmark native at the antique store. He was quite charming and cute but it was just a passing meeting. Plus as my mother made clear he was to old for me. I think his looks and good humor made up for it but that is neither here nor there.  The moral I guess is ,that as wonderful as it is to travel, there is no replacing ones own home and things. I was glad to be home in my bed and with my animals.

                                                        (My last pictures of Indiana as I was heading home.)

                                                                             (Just some fun random shots.)

Also I wanted to say thank you to Aura-Illumina for pointing me towards this awesome Polaroid making application. I love it soooo much!

My Godwill finds of the day

Went to Godwill as per my norm on Friday. Sometimes the trip seems a total waste but today was not that day. I managed to find all the below pictured items for $11.00 (with the aid of my mothers senior discount).

The pitcher is so heavy! I almost put it down a couple of times because carrying it around in the basket was awful! As the second row of images shows, I have yet again another saucer without a cup but I couldn't resist. It is just so beautiful and the hand painted details are just wonderful.(I tried to show them in the picture) The last row of pictures are the cutest and funniest shape tea cups I have found in awhile. I couldn't resist! I found the cups first and was worried I wouldn't find the saucers ,but with just a little searching I lucked out.

Have a cup of tea!

In the last few years, I have started to think of what I might want at my wedding. (If I do get married and don't end up an old spinster) Getting back to my initial point, one thing I have been collecting has been tea cups. I am not sure if I will use them in the reception or use them purely for decoration. I have seen them used in both capacities online. I am leaning towards just using them as decoration. I have become rather attached to the teacups and if they were broken during the party it would definitely darken my mood.

My collection of cups is not perfect. Often I am buy the random saucer or the random cup because it is more thrifty . Mismatched pairs are so much cheaper. I have found cups and saucers that come fairly close to matching and ultimately it doesn't matter to me. In the end I would like the decorations to look like an English garden party meets the Mad Hatter's table. Beautiful but a bit whimsical.

 Recently I have been shopping the local Goodwill for my teacups. You really can't beat a teacup or saucer for under a $1.00. Generally I pay $0.49 to $0.25 per tea cup or saucer depending on the sales of the day or if I happen to get to Goodwill on half price Saturday. I will share some more of my Goodwill finds in the future but for now please enjoy some of my collected cups.

~Not all of these were Goodwill finds but a lot of them were.~

A new look and frustration

So I am ever so slowly trying to learn how to change my page. Thus the new look. Like it ? Don't like it? Personally I rather fancy it. Sadly if you can believe it took me several hours to make this new template.

My real complaint is about all these how to guides on the internet. They tell me go to edit html and find some word combination or another. The problem I have is the supposed code I am looking for does not exist. Any help would be greatly appreciated because I am most certainly at a loss. Someone please tell me where this mystery code is ! I am at my wits end!

The tale of Gunther

You ask of my companions.  Hills, sir, and the sundown, and a dog as large as myself that my father bought me.  They are better than human beings, because they know but do not tell.  ~Emily Dickinson

Well one of my first posts in this blog was about the sad passing of my beloved dog Godfrey earlier this year. He is still very much missed and loved but I am happy to say we were able to provide a place for another dog in dire need of a home. 

We had been looking for some months at online postings from animal shelters and rescue groups and had visited several shelters in our area with no success. The only real plus was that it seemed my family was a good luck charm for the animals. Nearly every dog we inquired about ended up getting adopted.

On a whim when my mother and I were running errands in town I decided to go visit our local animal shelter again. When we went inside we saw several cute dogs we thought might be possibles so we called my father to have him come look at the dogs. While waiting for him to arrive, we discovered one of the three dogs we were considering  had the bark of a screech owl (it was horrible), and no matter how we pleaded it would not cease. We knew for sure that my father would not want that dog, but we were still hopeful for the other two dogs. While waiting, I continued to look in the runs at the other dogs.

My parents initial plan was to get a smaller dog. No more then 30 lbs (15.876 kg) because their backs are not what they used to be. Looking through the runs I found myself stopping repeatedly to look at the dog the shelter had named Bubba. He was a very large dog with beautiful chestnut fur and white feet and collar. His most striking features were his yellow brown eyes and liver nose. I just kept coming back to his run, but I knew there was no way we could have him. He was just far to large.

Finally my father arrived, and he quickly decided against the two smaller dogs we had considered. Since he had made the long journey, he continued to look at the other dogs available only to stop at Bubba. After a short talk with the staff it was arranged for us to take Bubba outside to a play pen. I was excited and amazed but knew better than to get my hopes up. Unfortunately, it was the worst possible situation for any dog. In the fenced off play pen right next to the one Bubba had been taken to, there was a goat. Someone had abandoned a goat at the shelter and when a strange animal like a goat is running around it excites a dog quite a bit. I just knew Bubba's chances were doomed. 

I was expecting us to turn around right then and return inside, but we lingered much longer than I expected. Finally, we took him back inside, where he calmed down, and dad decided we would go home and consider our options. I was nervous of course. I had fallen hard for Bubba and knew from looking at his card that his time at the shelter was coming to an end. Over dinner that night we talked more and suddenly my dad said, " You know what that dogs name is; it is Gunther." I knew then that we would be going back for Bubba. Father had told us he would know the dog when he saw it, and he had been right about all the dogs we had owned in the past. My father just couldn't bare to think that such a beautiful and sweet dog would get killed. He was just too large a dog for most people to want to adopt. We knew we would have to get him trained, but it felt right saving his life over investing money in a purebred dog, According to my father, Bubba was the dog for us.

We went back to the shelther the next day and adopted Bubba. We arranged an allowance of time for an examination by our vet and for insuring that Bubba and our cats could cohabit.When we first got Gunther he was weary; his tail and head always hung low. It has been several months since and he is now a  happy dog with curly tail held up proudly. He has even gone to a few classes of doggy school and is a wonderful student. 

The shelter we adopted him from identified him as a Irish Wolfhound. Actually, Gunther is a German Wire-haired Pointer who escaped having his tail docked. It was very hard to find images of GWP's without docked tails but some of the ones I did find had tails with slight curves to them like his. 

Gunther is still a puppy if you can believe it looking at the pictures. At the time of this post he will probably be around 10 months old according to the vet and in the 70lb range (31.751 kg). Puppy or not, he is quickly becoming a beloved member of our family.