the cockapoo finds herself in an enviable position: lots of fun projects to do; sadly, cockapoo cannot complete a single one of them. i read an entry on 'apartment therapy' this morning that talked about completing home improvement projects and the suggestions are some that i can follow. SO, this is the deal: i have a dress and jacket partially assembled; fabric and patterns strewn over three rooms; light box and potential eBay merch ready for photo and upload; recipes and equip ready for use...and here i am, semi-reclined, vitamins, ipod, iphone, coffee and ice water arrayed around me...AND THE SUN IS SHINING AND IT'S NEITHER HOT NOR COLD.

prioritize, focus, focus, focus

i can always depend on my main man, Archie, to set me straight, so he got me up and out this morning for a sniff and perimeter check. we have to do several things every morning or Archie isn't happy. he has to check out the scents of the varmints who have invaded his territory since yesterday and i have to check on my Big Blue Banner.

we also have to check on the local wildlife and our neighbors have had a faithful watch-bird for several days now.

we can then come in, dog treat for him and cup of people treat for me.

aside from the above mentioned projects, i've been dealing with technology. my faithful, old, sloooow, desktop bit the dust a couple of months ago and i abandoned it completely in favor of my MacBook Pro (and even though my brainiac software engineer son works for Apple in Nirvana (aka Cupertino), i did not use the family discount for new products and ordered this from the factory refurbished. when the desktop died, my printing capability went away, as well. i don't print much but i have some printing requirements, so got out the HP Officejet 100 Mobile Printer with Bluetooth, which i bought for travel, and that has been my printer for a while. i've been having problems getting my print jobs completed. problems with tech is nothing new for me: my son did not inherit his technical abilities from his mother...my problems necessitated 1) READ THE MANUAL; 2) GOOGLE it; 3) PRAY...

i can't remember which of the three options actually resulted in success, but my problems have been (mostly) alleviated. but, i need to scan and want to do some other things that require a big printer, so one is on order. my little officejet will go back into its case and await my next trip...

my other new piece of tech is my BREVILLE Grill and it is absolutely FABULOUS. i've been looking at electric grills for a couple of years but wasn't willing to invest the money in something that i might not use and i wanted a good one, my dear husband's george foreman just didn't meet my standards...this is the Breville Smart Grill, which has removable plates. i am in love...atlantic char night before last, cooked to perfection in two minutes; 1/4 kosher hotdogs and BUNS were incredible last night. the manual with a selection of Australian recipes, is almost worth the price of the grill (and i said ALMOST). Aussie Burger recipe is standard until you get to the part about the thinly sliced beets...???...i love beets but i never dreamed of adding them to hamburgers. there are some great suggestions for prawns (shrimp to all us yanks)...

i think i mentioned once before that we remodeled our kitchen a couple of years ago and i don't ever want to fry inside again, so have established my deep fry station on the patio--we will now have a fry/grill combo area and that makes me very happy. luckily we live in an area which is not overrun with flying insects, as a general rule. however there are times when we get some yellow jackets, flies, etc., so i think i'll order a ceiling fan for the patio cover so that i can discourage any airborne predators...

i'm winding down, time to finish my vitamins, gird my loins, or at least cover them as well as other body parts, get to the gym and actually get on with my to do list. i'm including the photo of my artichoke plant. when i was prepping for my husband's fan-tabulous 90th birthday party i was desperately trying to put some relatively inexpensive green stuff in pots around the patios and i hit on artichoke plants--they weren't fruiting but they have beautiful shape and color. one of them survived my benign neglect and is blooming. i think this color is just about my favorite in nature...

i am going to get some 'stuff' up on eBay today AND start the finish work on my linen dress. it will be ready for my trip to ..... get ready for it ..... the MEDITERRANEAN for a cruise with my gal pal Gladys Ann in November ...


My Breville                                    Similar to my MacBook             My cute little Officejet

ttfn