Happy Birthday Captain Y

 From the Party Animals!

Sasha!

Today is a very special aniversery around the Y house house.  Eight years ago today Sasha came to live with us!  

 

I had been waiting to get a dog for years...basically since I had moved out of my parents house.  We had gotten married in January but knew I had to finish school before we would have time to take care of a dog.  One day in May, not long after graduation, the animal shelter had puppies outside of Walmart trying to find them a home.  Captain Y and I stopped to look at them but none caught our eye.  We talked about it and knew now was still not the time for a puppy because I was about to leave and to spend a month at camp teaching botany.  BUT, we went to the shelter anyway just to see the dogs and pet them.  We saw one dog that really caught our eye but we left empty handed :-(

June was a rough month that year but we made it through and when July rolled around and I was home from camp we knew it was time.  On July 17 we headed to the shelter to find our pup.  We walked in wondering if the dog who caught our eye more than a month ago would still be there but we didn't hold out much hope.  We went straight to the spot she had been last time but there were different dogs in the pen.  So, we started wandering through looking at other dogs when we saw her.  There was Sasha, the dog we had seen weeks ago, still at the shelter sitting up like a perfect lady looking at us quietly!  We knew she was our dog!  We took her outside to play for a minute and the deal was sealed.  She has been part of the family ever since :-)

She goes on road trips with us

And fishing at the lake

And celebrate holidays together

While we work Sasha keeps up with things at home.  

It's hard to be Sasha, but somehow she manages. 

Bringing Sasha home with us was one of the best decisions we ever made!

Songs of Summer

A few of my favorite summer songs:

Summer in the city

Girls in their summer clothes

Down on the Corner









California Girls 
The midwest farmer's daughters really make you feel alright ;-)

Summer time and livin's easy

We’ve been busy having adventures here in Texas (some of them more fun that others)

Some of the fun!

• Crawfish boil
• 
• Two sets of company in one weekend! 
• Snapper season (fun b/c Captain Y gets to fish and I get to eat)
• 
• Dinner with friends in the pergola
• Space Center Houston and the unofficial NASA gift shop 
•  
• First snow cones of the summer
• Trip to Ikea 
• My new Tervis wanna be cup I got at Marshall's for $4 
• A fun new summer printable in our ever changing frame
•  
• Delicious tomatoes from our garden 

Some of the not so fun 

• New air conditioner and furnace
•  
• Working, a lot
• Cleaning the garage
• Relighting the pilot light on the hot water heater at 10:30pm so we can have a warm shower the next morning (OK so Captain Y actually did the lighting while I made sure he didn't fall out of the attic)
• Dealing with stupid stuff at work
• Our first 100 degree days (Yes, days plural.  We couldn’t start with just one we had to start with three in a row)

First veggies!

We got our first vegetables out of the garden this week!  One summer squash and one zucchini.  We ate the zucchini already but have not tried the squash yet.

The tomatoes are doing really well, especially considering how dry it has been.  We have to water a couple of times of week but it looks like it's going to be worth it; there are tons of them on the vine. 

Our bell peppers are only doing so-so.  The plants are still small but they are producing peppers.  We're eager to see how they do.

Finally, here is what the garden as a whole looks like.  The green beans are not doing very well, only a half dozen plants came up, but they do have flowers so we might be a few beans out of them.  The zucchini plant is already big, can you see it here peeking out behind the chives?  And yes, there are quite a few weeds, we were keeping up with them for a couple of weeks, but they are are taking over now.  Guess the brown paper isn't the answer to our weed issues. 

I can' believe how big the tomato plants are already!  If they keep this up they will be trees by the 4th of July. 



We built a floorgola

What, you've never heard of a floorgola?  Maybe some pictures will help you understand.

Here is our pergola that Captain Y and his buddy built a few years ago:

Here is our pergola with a floorgola:

We have always intended to put a floor(gola) on the pergola but couldn't decide what kind...deck, patio, pavers, so many options!  Finally, we decided to go with a deck.  So, last weekend we bought some wood...

And built the base...

Added some decking boards and now we have a floorgola...

We still have some more plans, of course.  We want to put some lattice on one of the short ends and a nice wooden porch swing on the other and build flower beds on both short ends that wrap around to the step in the front.  We'll plant some vines (probably cross vine and passion flower) to grow up the posts and cover the top and we'll probably add some solar powered lights.  But for now, we're enjoying the pergola with it's new floorgola, just as is it!

Who Wore it Best: Ears

Our house backs up to a drainage right of way so we have a fair amount of wildlife around.  Armadillos, squirrels, raccoons, the occasional snake, and of course rabbits.  So now for the question of the day:  Who wears the ears best...

Gaston?

OR

 the Back Yard Bunnies?