Here I am!

Steve watched the animals while I was gone. In order of the drawing: Frankie, Xena, Herman, Clarence and Floyd. Steve is a saint.
I think toward the end, he was running out of patience. This card was waiting for me when I got home. Notice Clarence jumping the fence in the background, and the puddle on the floor from the puppy. I laughed for about an hour looking at this card. Funniest husband ever.
The weekend in Orland Park was not quite so funny. We arrived on Friday night and set up our tents. Apparently there was a storm the next morning that I slept straight through. When we got there on Saturday morning my tent was all discombobulated . I walked inside to find nothing but my plastic tables and glass on the ground. The joints on my Showoff tent had been duct taped together where they had snapped from it falling. I held back my tears to find a volunteer, thinking that I was just going to pack up and go hang out with my friend Amy who lives in Chicago. This could not have happened at a better show! The volunteers saved everything except one cabinet and my tent. They loaned me a tent. All and all it was a fun show to do and the folks of Orland Park are a great people. Plus, I still got to hang out with my wonderful friend Amy. I also got to meet her lovely son Jonah. He is so cute!

Oh, but the weekend is not over. After the show on Sunday we packed up to drive home, got on the road around 6 p.m. and headed for home. About an hour into the trip the van quit working in a town called Gardner, IL. Never heard of it? Me neither. That's because there is a gas station there. That's it. No motel, no cab service, no tow company. It took us 2.5 hours to finally track down a tow truck that could come get us and bring us to the nearest civilization about 15 miles away. Turned out that the transmission broke in the van. Pretty much not worth repairing. I won't go into the gory details of that situation, but let's just say that poor Heather and Ben left their van to live in Dwight, IL. Ben drove the 4 hours to come retrieve us from Dwight. We sat in the same and only restaurant in Dwight for 5 hours. Ate breakfast and lunch there. Stared at each other. Laughed at the situation. There may have been a few tears too. It was quite the fiasco. It was so nice to be home on Monday, only to leave for Sheboygan on Friday.

These are pictures of all of our stuff that barely fit in the truck that Ben drove up. I don't think we could have fit another dime in there.

Heather hating on her van. no longer her van at this point.

Me stuffed in the extended cab, ready for my four hour trip home!
I don't want to talk about Sheboygan. Let's just say that I am considering not traveling out of state for shows anymore. The good news is that we figured out a way for my tent and all of my supplies to fit in my car. Steve does not have to sell blue thunder, and I get to keep my 40 mpg Yaris. Yippee!

Herman found a home! He was adopted by the sweetest couple near St. Louis. I hope he does silly things like this for them. He is going to be so happy there. He just jumped right in their car, ready for his new perma-home.
The new blog for our rescue has begun. It will document our journey in starting our own rescue and art education center. Click the link below to read more about us.

Jeez!

I am so embarrassed to say that I am pining after these shoes from Walmart. I don't shop at Walmart, so I will not own those $14.88 pair of shoes. But, oh how I love those shoes from Walmart. The reason I do not shop at Walmart is because they are closing down, or let me rephrase, have closed down all small businesses and eliminated competition among anyone and everyone. They do not treat their employees well (as they lie about) and there are about a gazillion other reasons to boycott Walmart. They are ridiculous. Boycott Walmart! Even if they have the cutest shoes I have ever seen. Rahr!

Eating Habits

After reading about the Humane Society's recent investigations of Dairy cow treatment, I have decided to stop eating dairy and eggs. Until there is legislation that holds these companies accountable for their treatment of the cows, I will be holding the dairy. I always thought that a vegan diet was a boring diet. That is until Oprah got on the vegan train. She has some of the best chefs making sure that she still enjoys her diet, regardless of what that diet might be. Tonight I made the Artichoke and Oyster Mushroom Rockefeller. I did not have rock salt (I used margarita salt) or the spirts, but it was still absolutely delicious. I HIGHLY recommend this recipe. It even got Steve's stamp of approval.

We had a fun 5th of July. We went to our friend's Jesse & Carroll's house for a little celebration. At the end of the night, they decided they wanted to meet Clarence. We went and got him, he stayed the night, is back home now and they are thinking about whether they are ready for a dog. Clarence would be perfect for them, and I hope! hope! hope! that they decide to adopt him so that I can know him for the rest of his life. Send good adoption vibes, please.

This weekend I will be in Illinois at the Village of Orland Park Art Fair. Steve is outside making my weights for the tent so I don't blow away in Illinois. Thank goodness for Steve. I do love that boy.

Old Mr. Herman is moving on.

I call this necklace 'Sling Your Hook'. It is what pirates used to say when they were ready to pull the anchor and move on. It also has a British meaning of let's go , or move on. So, there ya go, let's all sling our hook, move on from whatever is holding us back.
This is Herman. He is moving on from that yucky Jefferson County Pound. He is 10 years old, skin and bones. I think once we kick the cold and get him on something for his hind legs, he will be a little spunkier. We had to shave him because he was so matted. He looks a bit like a gremlin now, but will have really pretty curly hair, once he grows it out. I miss having an old dog around. They are so much sweeter than the young spunky ones.

Isn't he handsome?

I hope everyone has a great wonderful and relaxing holiday weekend.