Flowers in the Garden

This past weekend was beautifully sunny yet cool. The Spring flowers are in their prime. Last fall, I planted another 100 or so tulips and other bulbs. And for the most part, they all bloomed,except for a couple of rabbit nibbles. The yard is finally starting to fill with bulbs. I like it.
Spent Mother's Day morning with my mom. we had a great brunch at the Iron Works Cafe at the Goodman Community Center. Bonus, we got to watch Raine cook! She looked very chef-like!
The two photos above of the fuchsia plant is my mother's day present to myself. Mom and I drove to Kopke's Greenhouse near Oregon, WI. The hanging baskets are stunning and huge. Brought mom her summer flowers and had to get a few baskets for myself. The fuchsia is almost 4 ft wide, I kid you not!

Everything is coming up Green!

Spring has finally sprung in Wisconsin. I've been holding out for one last snow squall, but I think the time has safely passed. I spent most of the weekend in the back yard, pulling weeds, mowing and cleaning up the flower beds. The rose bushes survived the winter and all of the perennials are going gangbusters.
Also at its peak this weekend was the Magnolia tree in the front yard. Todd captured some beautiful shots of the blossoms in the setting sun. The colors are just beautiful.Ah, Spring is definitely here - thank the gods that be! This past winter nearly did me in. Now I have growing things all around me, dirt under my fingernails, pollen up my nose and I couldn't be happier!!!!

Seeking a little comfort

Ever since Teiko was a pup, he's always sought the comfort of his pack. When he was little, it was so cute, how he'd come between our legs and either stand or sit between our feet seeking security and closeness while gazing adoringly at us.

And he never outgrew this need to be close. Five years later, he's now 27 inches tall at the shoulders and he often comes up from behind to get close....meaning he often "gooses" his loved one....often by surprise.

And it's not just the immediate pack with whom Teiko shares this particular form of affection. He does this to others he deems worthy - including friends that come over to the house, complete strangers who he takes a liking and has access to and definitely my mom who has probably been recipient of this goosing the most.

Pictured above is an example. At a Sunday family dinner night, we are all standing around watching Todd cook dinner on the grill. Teiko is waiting for something to fall to the ground. Where better to stand and watch? Right between Ryann's legs. Nice and safe while strategically close to the food source.

Mama's very smart and loving dog.

Happy Blogoversary to me

Yay, today marks the the start of my third year of blogging the Life of Rylee. When I first started - I tried to do my own blog, but soon gave up and started using Blogger tools. The original still exists here - Life of Rylee. One of my first blog stories was a photo essay of using the macro lense on my new (at the time) Pentax Optio point and shoot camera.

A lot has happen over the past two years as witnessed on my blog. I hope the next years are just as good!

Photos from Washington DC

I've finally gathered the photos from two separate cameras and uploaded them for your viewing pleasure.

The four of us had a wonderful time in Washington DC. I would totally recommend a trip to our nation's Capitol. As expected, the city is steeped in history but absolutely alive and vibrant.

All the national monuments and museums are free. We got a great deal on hotel rooms through priceline.com. Making it a very affordable trip.

Click on the photo below to be taken to my photo gallery.

Washington DC

Sunday Family dinner

We are recovering from round 1 of tonight's family meal prepared by Raine. She made these really spicy blue cheese stuffed hamburgers. She followed this up with a strawberry torte with marscapone filling. The crust was amazing and tasted like an English biscuit cookie. The strawberries were just beautiful and very sweet.
Oh, and she made all this delectible food with a burnt hand. Earlier today while working at the Goodman Center's Ironworks Cafe, she grabbed a hot pan with her bare hand. Burned it pretty nicely and the blisters keep coming. She'll survive, but they sent her home early. So what did the chef-in-training do? Planned her own menu, went to the store, and prepped all the food for our family dinner night. That's dedication....

Newest Foster dog arrives

After taking a few weeks off from fostering, the call came in last week that GSD/Husky mix was is desperate need of a foster home as her time was up at the humane society in Milwaukee. The amazing volunteers at GSRAW coordinated a pick-up team who took Midnight out of the pokey and transported her to Johnson Creek where I met the newly freed hound.
The backstory is similar to many others. Midnight is an owner-surrender who had to give up her dog upon moving to a non-dog home. This is one seriously nice and human-focused girl. The blue eye thing kind of freaked me out at first, but for a mix, she sure looks GSD.

The only problem that I determined, is that Midnight is a alpha dog wannabe. Teiko has serious issues with her and doesn't like her. She wants me to be her best friend and is trying to push her way to the top of our home doggy hierarchy to get to me. Teiko has other thoughts about that idea and has let it be known. Hence, this makes for a somewhat tense environment.

Midnight is slowly coming around to the idea that she is not top dog here. Nor should she be, she's an interloper, with a temporary visa to the life of Rylee.

Don't get me wrong, she is a great human companion. Sticks right by your side, comes when called, completely housebroken, plays with toys and even fetches. Everyone that has met her, absolutely adores her, heck, our Wyoming Aunt and Uncle wanted to take her home with them.

She just needs to be top dog and probably only dog in her forever home.

Hanging around on Sunday

What do you think of the new window treatments we put in place on Sunday? Pretty avant guarde, no? Back again to make fresh pasta, Raine commandeered my curtain rods to dry the fresh spaghetti she made for Family Dinner.

While the sauce was canned, the meatballs and pasta were made from scratch. Todd put in extra garlic in the meatballs and they were nice and spicy
I found some of Raine's Cheesy Garlic Butter in the freezer and made hot bread. I love that stuff - not sure how she makes it, and probably don't want to know either because when it tastes this good, you know it's bad for you.....
And while we didn't have Apple Squares for dessert, I just had to add it to this post as it was beautiful. Raine actually baked this scrumptious treat for a friend's birthday present earlier in the week.

Oh, the pain that is mine, having to live with such cooking and baking goddess.

Spring has sprung in Washington DC

It's around 70 degrees today in Washington DC. Last night we saw the playoff games for the Championship on Saturday. The second game was fast, furious and high scoring with Boston University pulling out the win.

Packing the suitcase for Wash D.C.

Packing the clothes for a long weekend in DC with Todd and the girls. We are officially going there for the NCAA Frozen Four Hockey Tournament were we will meet up with Todd's Uncle Matt, but there is lots of time for sight seeing. Haven't been to DC in years. Will be fun to see the nation's Capitol with the girls. Not sure if it is prettier than Wisconsin's Capitol, but we'll report soon!