LOST DOG:

the other morning, we had a very nice elderly dog hanging around the property. it was a day of no school so he turned into the day's entertainment for....

gabrielle and her good friend marcella,

(when together, which is often, they are referred to as 

gabricella)

this lucky, lost dog was... 

walked,

washed,

named (Casey,)

watered,

fed,

entertained,

taught tricks,

and given a comfy bed.

roxy was in such a state all day over this intruder especially when the girls locked her in the house and wouldn't let her out.

finally, I had enough and phoned the humane society to help us find casey's owner.  after a myriad of phone calls by the officer and much coercing, it was decided that "casey" would stay at our house until the owner could be reached (dicey).  eventually, (8:00p.m.) the owner was found.  it turned out that..... 

ike was our next door neighbor.  

lazy weekend morning.....

gabi got hold of the camera on a lazy weekend morning......

then she got bored and started a makeover on ben...

i also got bored and decided to make refrigerator pickles....

they are surprisingly easy....

choose firm, ripe cucumbers
these are a bit large, thinner would be better

bring 6 cups of water, 3 tablespoons kosher salt,
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons white vinegar
to a boil in a saucepan for 2 minutes, set aside to cool

cut off the ends of the cucumbers then spear, slice
or cube.  i cut off the seeds of these
cucumbers because the seeds were so large

clean and sterilize a glass canning jar and
add 2 peeled and crushed cloves of garlic,
1/2 tsp each whole coriander, dill seed,
hot mustard seed, pepper flakes 

fill the jar 1/2 full with fresh dill

fill the jars with the cut cucumbers, arranging
them as tightly as possible
pour the cooled brine into the jar,
filling until the cucumbers are covered
and secure the lid

allow the jar to sit on the counter for 2 days.  Then, move the pickles to the refrigerator and chill for a week......

looking forward to a reuben sandwich, cole slaw sided with a kosher pickle spear!

laundry day.....

yeah! all done for a couple of days....

each laundry day, sebastian consistently receives the gold medal for the tallest pile of clothes....


 i LOVE my laundry room

that's fortunate, 

since i spend hours in here each week.

dans le jardin.........

paul's best

we're building a dam wall in the stream to create a winter trout sanctuary

while we were in the water, we had beautiful 3 pounders swimming around us

      i am from poem...

i'm from damp, summer days down under.  born from the ocean city, and the soft sand.  i'm from batman and bats.  from jumping on the tramp with my tutu and learning new gymnast moves in the living room.  i'm from growing up with teenagers and getting to know my brother's friends as if they were another sibling of mine.  i was born from a soccer ball and goalie gloves.  i'm from living with sweaty, loud, teenage boys playing football in the snow.  i'm born from the rugby dad from south africa.  i'm from teenage sisters always making me be the shopping cart while clothes shopping.  i'm from a travel family with whom i have already been to 4 or 5 continents, including living in 2 of them.  i'm from long plane and car rides.  i'm from throwing up for 22 hours on the way to south africa.  i'm from a mom with a classic american childhood.  i'm from a huge 105 pound adorable dog that drools continuously.  i'm from the athletic, theatrical, adventurous, outgoing, musical, dramatic and loving meyer family.

by gabrielle meyer