The dogs new shirt

I was at $5 Below this week and saw this dog shirt. I just had to get it for my dog! She's a Jack Russell Terror Terrier. Her name is Ashley but her nickname is "the fun cop". The Bah Humbug just seemed to fit her! lol

She got her nickname because every time the other dogs are having fun in the yard, she runs up and starts barking at them! They can be playing Frisbee or chasing a kong.....if they are having fun she starts hollering at them. It's not like she just wants to play too. Oh no! She just wants to complain. She barks at us too, especially if we're trying to play a game outside. Actually, she barks at everything!

I do feel bad for her when she goes out in the snow though...that's where the shirt comes in. She shivers a lot. She's had a sweater for a long time, but she's pulled some holes in it. She also has a winter jacket but its a full hooded jacket with matching boots, and she's less then thrilled with it! 

I got her this shirt and a dog Snuggie brand coat. They were $4 each. It's nice because it's cape style, with only 2 Velcro tabs. You'll have to wait till after the holidays for that picture though.......I'm wrapping that one for Christmas!

~L

Caring for A Weeping Cherry tree

I love my Weeping Cherry tree, I truly do. It is just beautiful! The only thing I dislike about it is the length of time it blooms. Usually it only lasts for around 4 days, sometimes less depending on the weather. In 2011 we had a bad wind storm the day after it bloomed and every flower blew off. I was pretty sad about that, I wait all year for this tree to bloom! 

This isn't a tree I would have purchased myself though. It was here when we bought the place and I thought it looked pretty bizarre. We didn't see the tree for the first time until May so it had already bloomed for the year. I wasn't sure what was going on with that weird little tree, but I thought it was kind of neat. 

After it bloomed that next spring I fell in love with it! It was odd looking, but those dainty little flowers were just so beautiful! It took me another year to start trying to unravel the mystery of what it was, mostly because it wasn't properly cared for therefore didn't look like anything I had seen before!

Decadent raspberry chocolate banana bread

Today I have one of my favorite breakfast recipes for you. It combines two of my favorite flavors into a pretty standard banana bread recipe. I've been making this for awhile (and I can't for the life of me remember where I got it since it's handwritten on a recipe card!) It is absolutely delicious though and you'll find yourself unable to stop eating it!

This is a slightly sweeter version of a traditional banana bread with chunks of fresh raspberry and chocolate throughout. I usually serve this sweet bread for breakfast, but we've had it for dessert also. Serve warm with or without whipped salted butter.

Waiting for the trap to snap.

I'm waiting for a fox to get killed. Yeah. It sucks. Here's how it started:
Well, we could go back to last year when a fox took 2 of my ducks right out of the yard at dusk. Probably about a week apart. We caught his picture with the trail cam. My husband stayed up late one night, and woke up in the middle of the next night. He crept out with a rifle, but no fox was to be seen. That had been just about forgotten though when he made his appearance again last week.  

Last week a fox went  into the coop at about 9pm and snagged one of my beautiful French Black Copper Marans hens. The light was on and he waltzed right in! Talk about bold! I wasn't home but I got back shortly and when I did evening count, I was down one. Jessica was missing! 

I grabbed my flashlight and looked all around outside for her (thinking she had just forgotten to come in...or was roosting somewhere weird) and then I saw the feathers. Lots of black fluffy feathers in clusters all over the yard. 

I ran in the house for the thermal camera. If she was hurt somewhere I would be able to find her more quickly by using the camera. I screamed for my husband to come out and ran back out powering up the camera on the way. 

He came out to help me look and just a few minutes later, he spotted her. I ran into the woods to pick her up, but it was too late. She was gone. She had a few bite marks, but amazingly little blood on her. I took her into the garage to bury her the next day and the search began.

Homemade Pumpkin Caramels Recipe

Since it's Pumpkin everything season it seems only right that I would share one of my favorite pumpkin recipes with you! I've been making these pumpkin caramels for what seems like forever! I wish I could say where the recipe originated from, but I have it hand written on an index card like we used to back in the day. So there's no telling where it came from. Dang, I feel old now!😂

Anyway, this is a fun and easy recipe to make. They're a bit different from the typical pumpkin cakes and drinks and they make a yummy hostess gift for fall parties. A quick word of advice: watch your temperature very closely and make sure you stir, stir, stir to prevent scorching.