plant photo: 008

the blues... echeveria giant blue... blue lacy... blue italian greyhound.

happy holidays

Happy Holidays! It has been quite a while since my last post. Luckily the celebration of Festivus begins with the Airing of Grievances so here I go... blogging here has become so annoying with my photos refusing to download and the layout appearing all whacked out that I no longer want to do this blog. WTF blogger.com? I don't have 5 hours to spend on each post!! And still be unhappy with what ends up posted!! GRRRR. Today blogger.com just refuses to download my picture of our tree this year. We got an Oriental Spruce - alive so it can be planted in the front yard after the Holidays. It's lovely, it really is, trust me. But since you cannot see it, please enjoy my photos of Lottie and Minnow. I wish I could prove that I DO take photos of more than just dogs. I will be using Pinterest for my photos and ideas so find me there if you like. Perhaps I'll start posting again on Tumblr. Who knows.

To protect our Chrismas tree from Minnow's destructive ways, Mark built a nice wooden box around the pot it's planted in. Minnow loves to get into the dirt in a potted plant! I think she still managed to destroy about 8 ornaments but the tree itself survived - hooray!

Our annual holiday hot sauce was finally bottled on Christmas Eve and look out! This year Mark created two different sauces and both of them are HOT! The red one is brutal.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. Here's to a creative and fun 2014 filled with puppies and home improvement projects and design ideas and love.

-Beth

brew dogs

My two favorite things... dogs and beer! Lagunitas brews some mighty fine beer and they have the best bottle cap ever. One of these days I'll get a Lagunitas hoodie for Minnow. Why not.

minnow

shell

this evening the sunlight was perfect for long shadows and naps.

one!

Happy Birthday Minnow!  Who doesn't love a birthday burger?

more Aimee Wilder for Minnow

File this post under "I buy way too much stuff for my dogs".  Guilty as charged.  There was no way I could resist buying this Aimee Wilder Airedale Pattern harness... for $7.99! 

it's nice outside

smile!

look who's smiling on Desire to Inspire today...Minnow!

Desire to Inspire has been a part of my morning routine for a few years now.  It's one of the design blogs I must look at as I drink my coffee and seek doses of inspiration for the day.  Way back in 2010, Lottie was a pet on furniture too!  The story of how Desire to Inspire came to be is as awesome as the interiors they feature.

A Canadian and an Australian Trying to Inspire the World One Room at a Time

Kim and Jo have never met but there is a bond between them that is so strong that it can cross half the world and back again. You see Kim and Jo are interior design junkies. They go weak at the knees when they find that perfect room and they just have to share. It all started towards the end of 2006. They met on Flickr, shared images they had bookmarked and well that was that. Desire to Inspire was born.

Go spend some time in the land of Desire to Inspire now!  I guarantee you will want to clean your house, rearrange your furniture, or possibly take a photo of your pet today.  Go!

i like you and naps

random happiness

three photos I took today reminded me of how easy it is to be happy... birding in the backyard... being amused by my cute dogs... watching my succulents come back to life after a long winter.  today was a nice day.  happy easter!

hot rocks and cool wood

Why do I even buy this dog toys and beds?  If it's a sunny day, you will find Minnow playing on the wood pile or napping in the pea gravel.  I think she's some sort of wild animal disguised as an Italian Greyhound.

Aimee Wilder

Aimée Wilder is a New York-based artist and graphic designer... and fellow Italian Greyhound owner.  Her wallpaper and fabric designs are always clever and playful with unexpected subjects like robots, pigeons, and sumos woven into her bold creations. 

After graduating from The Art Institute of Chicago in 2001, Aimée moved back to her native New York and began her career working in house for several firms including Designspace, Dwell, and Martha Stewart Living.  She has designed a wide range of pieces including bedding, wall treatments, fashion accessories and footwear. Her designs have been featured on products for Crate and Barrel, Urban Outfitters, Dwell & DwellBaby, Skip Hop, Toggs of Australia,Vans, and Furry Friends & Co. 

Imagine how excited I was last month when Fab.com had a collection of pet accessories designed by Aimee Wilder.  Now I'm having major regret for only buying one collar and leash set.  I should have bought more.  I gotta say, the orange Circus pattern looks perfect on Minnow.

 Love.

goodbye everything I own

dear Beth,

I hate it when you do not give me 100% of your undivided attention.

love,

Minnow

p.s.   I am LOVING that silver ball thingy you bought to keep me busy. 

a little Target shopping

Oh Target.  The convenience is unbeatable.  And I have found so many nice things there lately.  Come see!


The Threshold line of bedding products at Target are wonderful and incredibly affordable.  First I brought home an Ombre Faux Fur Throw (for Lottie's bed).  Then I picked up the Vintage Washed Solid Quilt in a nice grey tone for my new bed.  And this week I decided to try out the Ultra Soft 300 Thread Count Fitted Sheets and a 100% Organic Cotton Blanket.  Let's just say getting out of my new bed has been a bit difficult.

I hate it when things I love are limited edition!  The Orla Kiely pear ginger hand soap for Method is delightful.  I only bought 2 and now it seems that they are gone forever.  Sadness.

You know I don't have kids so I'm not sure what I was doing in the baby bedding aisle.  But I saw this super cute grey and white chevron patterned crib sheet and instantly had an idea... it was the size of the large dog bed that I had... the one that needed a new cover that I've been too lazy to make... this crib sheet was going to be my new dog bed duvet... and it worked perfectly.  (yes that is another faux fur blankie - the dogs can never have too many)  I'm on the hunt for more cute crib sheets cuz this concept for the dog bed is really working for me.  And so easy to machine wash and dry. 

Now if Target would only stop selling BenAwful dog food.  One can dream... especially in beautiful bedding.