Cinco de Miles

Happy 5th Birthday

to our ornery - but wonderful - little Miles!

(aka Miles Davis, Miles of Smiles, Mr. Miles 

and, on occasion, Milesyoulittlebastard)

Musical background is "Doxy" by Miles Davis

Wordless Wednesday - Is It Safe to Come Out?

For more Wordless Wednesday fun, click here.

Wordless Wednesday - Forget Waldo, Where's Louie?

Sorry, can't go wordless today. I was putting makeup on in the bathroom, glanced over at the bed and thought, "What is that?" 

Yep, it's Louie's muzzle and nose sticking out from between the navy blue sheets. This guy is a burrower. He crawls under the blankets and tunnels his way around until he's comfortable. 

After I took the picture, I kissed him on the nose. He never moved.

For more Wordless Wednesday fun, click here.

Louie, Louie Poo Pooie

In celebration of Louie's 4th birthday today ...

Happy Birthday, Louie!


(FYI ... this was my first attempt to create a slideshow, set it to music and export it.)

Everyone Should Have a Red Sweater

The shagamuffins went to the groomer recently and got nekkid. I know they look pretty, but let me tell you how much they don't like being brushed. They went from this ...

To this ...

And even though those fancy blue bandanas rock, it's on the chilly side now so we got out the old red sweaters that I bought at Petsmart years ago ...

The Granddaughter thinks they need earmuffs too ...

They seem to enjoy their sweaters -- Miles headed right outside. The sun may be shining, but the air is brisk. Geez, those sweaters are looking ratty. Guess I better knit up something new for them.

Then he soaked up a little sunshine on the doormat ...

Louie cruised the yard making sure everything was cool. This rock looks fine -- check!

I don't know what this is, but it probably needs to go into the trash can ...

Here he's thinking, "I'd love to shoot a few hoops, but the ball is just too darn big" ...

The citrus trees are looking good -- I see some fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice in the future ...

Uh oh, looks like we have a dead oleander to pull. Louie, go back in the house and quit showing the work that needs to be done ...

As it turns out, he was so exhausted from patrolling the perimeter, he dragged a blanket onto the floor, collapsed and took a little nap ...

But their favorite thing to do is pal around together like best buds do ...

The End!

What's Cookin' - Chicken and White Bean Chili

Don't you just hate it when there's a line for the bathroom?

I posted my so-called recipe for Cheater Chicken Soup recently. Now I'm going to share with you the link for the best from scratch Chicken and White Bean Chili from Epicurious.com. No kidding, this recipe is so worth the little bit of trouble it takes to put it all together. And you can still have dinner on the table in about an hour.

The one thing I have found after making this a number of times is that you really don't need to reserve the juice from the beans and add a little at a time as instructed in the recipe. I just dump in both cans of beans and juice all at once. Believe me, it still thickens up nicely and tastes perfect. And the boneless, skinless chicken thighs are so juicy! Although I'm thinkin' that a few cups of cubed leftover turkey would be extremely delicious as a substitute, especially since I have a 21-pounder ready to roast.

We like to serve it with Tostito's Baked Scoops. Oh. Em. Gee. It is sooooooo good! It makes a pretty good sized pot of chili and the leftovers just get better and better.

Dog Baths and Cheeseburger Pie

Because Miles and Louie are small, we're able to give them baths in the kitchen sink. They never like it while it's happening, but they are so happy when it's over. They feel great, they know they're cute because we all oooh and aaah over them, and they get a treat after they're brushed. And, of course, it doesn't matter how fast I am with the towel, somebody always shakes and sprays the window.

Well, now that we're all nice and clean, I have two words for you ... Cheeseburger Pie. This is the good old Betty Crocker recipe made with Bisquick that has been around forever and a day and it is one of our family favorites. Hubby has a love/hate relationship with this dish because he always has to have just one more piece. And then just one more piece. You see where this is going.

Here's the link for the recipe -- Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie -- and a few pictures of the process ...

So have a nice bath and brushing, then a piece of cheeseburger pie ... you'll like it!

Bad Dogs, Good Hats

According to the late Barbara Woodhouse, there are no difficult dogs, only inexperienced owners. Well, Louie is my fifth Yorkie in 32 years and, experience aside, I'm still being surprised by my dogs.

Point in fact: Louie, who is nearly 4 years old, is a digger and a chewer, which has me completely baffled. I don't think of these as Yorkie traits. He began life as Louie Louie Poo Pooie, then became Louie Louie Chew Chewie. I ask you ... is this the face of evil?

Well, let's take a closer look ... anybody else see HORNS?

One fine Sunday morning when Louie was a little puppy, so cute and innocent, Hubby and I were sitting in the family room sucking down our caffeine and reading the paper. We heard a noise like a gunshot in the kitchen just a few feet away. We jumped up and found Louie with a piece of molding from the kitchen island in his mouth. He had actually chewed on it and snapped it off. I did the bad Mom thing, took it and swatted him with it, then shoved him out the doggie door until I could calm down.

Also, during these puppy chewing days, he ate the entire edge off the family room carpet while we were at work -- another good reason why we now have only ceramic tile throughout the house. Chew that, you little sh*t!

But he will be 4 years old on January 19th. Is that still considered puppy brain age? I buy him the best chews ever -- Mini Dingos with meat in the middle. I know he loves them because he goes into conniptions every time I give him one. Happy, happy! He has toys and rawhide bones all over the place. So why, oh why, did this happen?

Closer ...

I left a package of bamboo double pointed knitting needles on the end table and when I returned, the package was on the floor with needles scattered around. The points are all chewed and one of them has even split. Fortunately, there was no actual knitting on the needles at the time or we'd be planning a doggie funeral. As it is, he was cussed up one side and down the other. I probably should have closed the windows first because we live near a school and I suppose those kids got an earful that day!

Bad dog, bad dog, bad dog!

Skyler

When we had our second Yorkie, Skyler, he puppy brain chewed a leather belt that Hubby left laying on the bedroom floor. I reminded him that anything on the floor is fair game and he should have picked it up. Now he's trying to throw this back at me but, people, I left this package of knitting needles on the table, not the floor. Hello! Not the same at all!!!

I am on a hat knitting kick. I found the cutest pattern in "Yarnplay" by Lisa Shobhana Mason. It's called the "Tami" and also has a matching scarf. I made a few of these hats with minor changes like adding an extended, overlapping button band ...

Here's one for a girlfriend in Denver. I made a knitted flower (pattern from "Interweave Knits 2010 Holiday Gifts" magazine) and put it on a pin backer so she can remove it for washing or even pin the flower to something else ...

And then I had an idea for a new pattern and designed a blue hat for myself with a band of fun fur just above the doubled brim ...

The double thickness of the brim is much warmer around the ears and YD thought this was so cute, she ordered one in a gray alpaca blend. Here is the Granddaughter modeling it ...

I've sanded down the chew marks on my needles, but it's not working so well as there are rough spots that catch the yarn. Thanks to Louie Louie Screw Screwy, looks like I'll be heading to the store for some new size 8s.