Tea Time

It is Thursday!!!  Also, for everyone in the USA, it is only a week until Thanksgiving!  That is my favorite holiday because I enjoy hearing what others are thankful for, as well as expressing what I am thankful for.  Another plus is that the food is delicious!

I am having a pretty good week, and  am working on custom crochet orders that people are placing for Christmas! Have you placed your order yet?  Place them now by visiting my shop, here or emailing me (pssst...the email is over on the right)!

If you want to enter to win a crocheted cowl, I have a contest that is starting today (11/15/2012) for a fabulous piece.  Head on over to our Facebook page, here, 'like' us and look for the contest album.

I think we have strolled off on a tangent!  Back to business...

Today, my morning tea is extra delicious, and I think it has something to do with the fortune it had.

Let's break through our limits by letting our ego go!  This is what I am striving for, for myself.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

~Best Wishes~

Adventures of the Traveling Wiener

Jixer and I are finally on our way back home!!!  I am excited, and I think Jixer will enjoy having a backyard to play in, two big doggies to play with, and of course the beach.

On the first leg of our trip today, we drove down Pintler Loop  from Missoula to Butte and Jixer enjoyed walking in the river and sniffing around in the grass.

He was really enjoying this little stretch of the river.  He was making me nervous walking farther and farther into the water, but luckily he is a good listener and would come back when called!

Jixer found a small patch of grass on the shore of the river to chew on.  He is keeping an eye on me, keeping an eye on him!

Here we are cuddling with each other by the water.  Actually, Jixer was just getting me all wet!

Jixer pretending he is king of the world.  Really though, he is the king of my world!

A couple more miles down the road we stopped at a little recreation area by Georgetown Lake.

This is one of the my favorite places that I have visited in Montana.  It was my 4th time here, and Jixer's first.

He really enjoyed sniffing around in the grass.

And, sniffing around in the grass even more!  This little doggy would have stayed there all day, if we had the time to spend.  

Little Jixer also enjoyed spending time with his Papa.  It was Papa's first time driving Pintler Loop too.

We had a great first day on our way back to California.  I am excited for tomorrows adventure.  We are stopped in Idaho tonight and have a fun day planned tomorrow, so check back to see where Jixer travels to next!

~Best Wishes~

Adventures of the Traveling Wiener

Spring time is in full force here in Missoula, and it is lovely!

What do you do in Missoula on a Saturday morning during Spring/Summer?  Go to the farmers market of course!!!  Jixer and I walked downtown this morning and checked out all of the vendors.  I didn't actually get any produce today, but I did get a delicious iced coffee from the nicest couple imaginable.
I don't know about farmers markets in your area, but in Missoula, dogs are not allowed.  I think just because there are so many people and dogs would make it just that much harder to navigate.  However, I wasn't going to let that stop Jixer from enjoying the market.

I invested in this Outward Hound dog sling.  It is pretty awesome!  There is a clip in the front to clip the Jixer's collar and a clip on the top to keep him secure.  So far, he enjoys being carried around, and still gets lots of attention from people.  This sling allows him to go pretty much everywhere with me now.

On our way downtown, we met these two sweet boys that fell over themselves trying to get to Jixer and pet him.  They were so curious about him and asked many questions about what breed and how old he is.

The younger boy (right) said "I want to stop petting him, but I just can't. He makes you pet him with his cuteness!"  I could not help but giggle at how charming that statement is; especially coming from a little boy.  We ended up seeing the boys on our way back home and again they jumped their fence to pet him one more time.

On our way downtown, we stopped next to the river so Jixer can drink some water and get a few splashes in before he was put into the sling.  Normally, I would take him off of his leash so he can enjoy the water a little more, but they are becoming very strict about the leash laws.

Just because we only bought an iced coffee at the farmers market doesn't mean that we went without goodies.  In fact, we both enjoyed scrumptious treats from Bernice's Bakery!

If you are in Missoula for any length of time, Bernice's is a must see eat!  Deliciousness doesn't even begin to describe the goodies you will find.  I kept Jixer in his sling long enough to stop in here and get a cupcake for me and a dog treat for him (yes, they have homemade dog treats, and Jixer LOVES them!).

May is cupcake month at Bernice's, and this week they have an animal theme.

My choice of cupcake today is the Panda.  A chocolate cupcake with butter cream frosting and a hazelnut filling.  I absolutely adore all things hazelnut, and this cupcake is no exception.  On that note, if you do visit Bernice's and are lucky enough to have the chance to try a slice of their Hazelnut Latte cake...DO IT!!!

Jixer sat on the bench outside with me and munched on his doggy treat.  Easy to please this dog with 25 cents.  I usually buy five of these treats at time because then they are only a dollar, but we already had some at home.  Jixer always enjoys snacking on a Bernice's treat when we get home from our walks.

This is him earlier this week chowing down on a Bernice's treat at home.

While we are talking about Bernice's Bakery, I want to share some other treats I enjoyed earlier this week.

I went to the bakery Tuesday to meet up with a friend for breakfast.

Breakfast does not get much better than a cinnamon roll!

Of course, while I was there I had to buy a couple of cupcakes to take home.

This elephant cupcake was spectacular!  It is a white wine cupcake with butter cream frosting and raspberry filling....divine!

The peacock is also amazing!  Of course, you can't really go wrong with dark chocolate and butter cream.

Don't you worry if sweets are not your cup of tea, Bernice's has you covered.

This is the Rosemary and Olive Oil Bread.  Again, Bernice's does it best!

Ok, ok...back to Jixer's adventure today.

Jixer was not ready to leave the bakery...I think he just wanted another delicious treat!

On our way home, we met two adorable little girls that were selling pictures.  Luckily, I was actually caring cash (a very rare occurrence), and I was able to purchase one of their masterpieces.

Isn't is just beautiful!

I gave the girls a dollar and Isabella (left) said "They are only 50 cents, but you can give us a dollar if you want." The masterpiece I bought was colored by Lily (right).  They were both so cute and friendly!  We visited for a while and both girls were very happy to be able to give Jixer one of the training treats I keep in my pocket.

The round trip walk from our home to downtown is just under four miles, and this a long way for Jixer's little legs.  He was so tired when we arrived back home.

He laid down on the grass outside, and did not want to move!!!

Usually, all I have to do to make him walk the rest of the way home is tell him to go get a treat.  All that did today was make him open his eyes. HA!  I ended up carrying him up the stairs and back inside.

Jixer very much enjoyed his Saturday morning, and we hope you all did too!!!

~Best Wishes~

Adventures of the Traveling Wiener

Hello Everyone!

We finally decent weather here in Missoula today, and that was enough for Jixer and me to go on a little adventure.  It wasn't too far away!  We took a long round-a-bout walk to Franklin Park.

Along the way, we stopped to smell the flowers...or at least take pictures of them.  There are so many beautiful tulips blooming right now, and I absolutely LOVE it!  Of course they are my favorite flower.

Aren't tulips just fabulous?!?  These all came from the same yard.  It seems like every neighborhood has that one house in it that is just overflowing with beautiful flowers, and today Jixer and I found the one in our neighborhood.

This is my favorite tulip that we saw today.  Just this one petal had a splash of color.

Of course we came across other flowers too.

There are many homes in the area that have trees with beautiful pink blooms.

Pretty purple flowers!  I should really spend some time learning the different names of flowers...

Along the way Jixer was also being stalked by a kitty. It was pretty funny to be followed by this little guy.

Jixer wanted to stop and play, but this kitty looks like he can handle business and Jixer has never played with a kitty that has claws.  So we kept going about our business and eventually the kitty stopped following us.

At last, we made it to the park!  After Jixer decided that he wanted to play in the water, I took his leash off so he could have some fun and splash around.

He walked into the water, and came right back out.  I thought he was done, but he actually just felt like searching for a suitable stick.

Here is one of the sticks he found.

I tried to get him to jump off the little ledge and into the water by throwing a stick in, but he wasn't having it.

He just stood on the ledge and stared at the stick.

However, if I through the stick where he can walk in, then he would go and grab it.

After playing for a little while, he took a seat on the ledge and watched the Corgi that was in the yard across the creek.

Before leaving the park, I had to take his picture on one of the cool turtles that they have at one of the entrances.

This is what I like to call a tourist shot, but sometimes being a tourist is fun!

We had a long walk back home; although, we did take the direct route walking back.

Little Jixer is so tired!  I gave him a yogurt bone, but he did not even have the energy to chew on it.  He went straight to sleep, and stayed that way until he felt a disturbance in the force...aka Oswald sniffing his yogurt bone.  Even then, Jixer only got up long enough to hide the bone in the bathroom and come back to the couch for some more Zzzzzz's.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend as much as we did.  Remember to stop and smell the flowers!

~Best Wishes~

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Adventures of the Traveling Wiener

Happy Friday Everyone!

As you all know, I am preparing to move from Montana to California. This means selling items on craigslist, and that leads to people coming over all day long.  Jixer gets so excited when people come over, and just wants to play with everyone that walks in the door.

We have been playing all day long, and I decided to get out my camera and start snapping pictures of this little cutie!

He didn't really travel, but soon this will not be our home anymore.  Who cares anyways? He is cute no matter where he is at!

"Why are all of these people coming over, but nobody is staying to play with me?"

He is carefully watching me as I plan my next move.

And here he is planning his next move!

Waiving is his go-to move to get a treat!

It is also the trick he does when I get a beer out of the fridge.  He goes crazy and always tries to get the bottle and have a drink.

We had a great day staying home together and playing.

Jixer and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!

~Best Wishes~

Missing Montana

It is May, and that means there is less than 25 days until I move to California!  I am extremely excited to be moving back to California.  For the reasons that, I will back in one of the most beautiful places in the world, I can go to the beach, I can go boogie boarding, and most importantly I will have my family and friends around.
That being said, there are some things that I will miss about living in Montana.

The first thing I will miss is the ease of which you can access the wilderness.  I am not talking about just a hike on a trail through the woods!  I am talking about the wilderness, parts of the land that still seem untouched by humans.  The outdoors are pretty spectacular here in Montana.

Walks in the woods are even better when you can go out with friends!

Now, this ease of access to the wilderness is wonderful, and it can be scary too!  On the first hike Chris and I went on, we came across a bear.  We were just walking along and all of the sudden there was a black bear about 15 feet away from us standing on hits hind legs.  Luckily, it looked at us and ran away!  While watching him eat, we found that there was actually two bears enjoying lunch.  

This is the first bear we came across AFTER it ran away from us.

Of course, there is also other, not scary, wild life around.

There is not many times that Chris and I went out without seeing deer.  I have many pictures like this.  Seriously, the deer is always in the same stance and the surroundings change.

Another thing I will miss is the random road trips and not knowing where they will lead.  I grew up on the Central Coast of California, so I would have to travel pretty far away before the roads were unrecognizable.  That all changed once we moved here.  It was great to just get in the car and drive with no particular destination. I felt like Lewis and Clark!

Last summer during one of these random adventures, we came across a sign for the Lewis and Clark Caverns and had to check it out.  We followed the signs and found the state park, and found out that you can take tours of the caverns.  We arrived just in time for that last tour!

The first thing you learn is that Lewis and Clark never came close to these caverns, so I don't know why they call it the Lewis and Clark cavern.

It was beautiful inside! Well worth the $10/person for the tour.  There is a short hike the the entrance, and I would definitely recommend a light jacket because it can get chilly inside.  While exploring the caverns, there is some stooping, crawling and sliding that has to be done, but the spaces never get too cramped.  If you are ever in the area,  I highly recommend a stopping here.

Another adventure to take is driving Pintler Loop, if you are driving between Missoula and Butte.  It is a two lane highway that will take you past glorious sites.  The great part is that the actual drive does not take any longer than if you were to just take the boring four lane highway 90.

Chris and I had the pleasure of driving Pintler Loop a couple times during different seasons.

The first time was at the end of April in 2011.  That was a long winter here in Montana, so it was still cold and of course the snow had not melted.

Picnic anyone?

The next time we took the drive it was at the end of July 2011, and happened to be one of the nicest days!  Not too hot and of course the big beautiful Montana sky!

This is the same area as the picture above, but as you can see, all of the snow melted and you can actually see the magnificent Georgetown Lake.  It is also possible to now have a picnic!

One of my favorite experiences was during the Christmas season.  I got to go out into the woods with my good friend Steve, and cut down our own Christmas tree!  You have to buy permit (a whole $5) and there are certain areas that you cannot remove trees from, but it is pretty easy to find an area on the map to go. 

It was such a great experience!  I don't think anything can compare to being able to go into the woods to find the perfect Christmas tree during my first white winter.  

Chris, Steve and I also had a wonderful time on a night hike on the old train tracks just outside of Butte.  

It was pretty awesome being out here in the dark.  The only time we I had to use my headlamp was walking through the two, old tunnels...they freaked me out!!!

The thing I will miss the most about living in Montana is Missoula, my home away from home!

I will miss riding my bike down the bike-way to downtown, the University of Montana, the Missoula Osprey baseball field, and down South St to the river to raft.

The cold water of the river feels so good after a 6 mile bike ride in triple digit temperatures!

Jixer and I always enjoy a little trip to downtown, and always stop by the Clark Fork river so he can sniff around.

Not many things can compare to a Sunday afternoon baseball game.  As Chris would say, "Hold up your 'K' card!!!"

Montana has forever changed my life!  If I did not move here, I would not have Oswald or Jixer, and Chris would not have the project he is working on in Canada which is an amazing opportunity.  We came here for school, and left with so much more!

~Best Wishes~