Baby Raccoons

Yesterday at lunch Lynne' called me at work to tell me there was a demon in our wall - seriously. I'm not real sure how I should've responded to that, but we both laughed. I told her I knew it was there and we'd wait for this evening.

Turns out we had a baby raccoon in our wall! We kept hearing it chatter and move around and Lynne' was the one that came up with the raccoon diagnosis. We Google'd it and found a website with baby raccoon sounds and sure enough, that was the sound. I called Animal Control and the officer came out and went in the laundry room with all his gear and Keith. They said they would trap it, but they cannot cut your walls open (go figure). Keith stood there and tore a big hole in our wall, then stood in the dining room with Lynne' and I while the man wrestled an elephant, at least by the sounds of it. He brought his little cat carrier out of the room victoriously and the cutest little baby raccoon was spitting and chattering in there. I took pictures, but don't have them out of the camera yet.We had a Disney moment before he left when he told us how they would make sure it was ok and then they would set it free somewhere that raccoons roam.

They are coming back out tonight to set traps in the attic in case the mama is up there. We were cautioned about DO NOT GO IN THE ATTIC! Hey...not a problem dude! LOL!

WHIBSIB

WOW - what can I say about WHIBSIB? I'm back from a three day knitting retreat. This was the "3rd Annual WHIBSIB", which stands for "What Happens In Buda Stays in Buda" and this year it was down the road a piece in Wimberley.

We had a total blast! Left early Friday morning with girlfriends and drove the estimate 5 hour trip in about 10 hours - LOL! We stopped at yarn shops, a ranch, Starbucks (naturally) and the grocery store.

There were five gals in our cabin and I think there might have been six cabins filled with people from our group. Friday night we hiked to the cabin next to us to meet a bunch of the other gals and ended up having a spaghetti dinner there. Coming back, wearing our stylish citified flip flops on this rocky, hilly terrain, hearing that it's rattlesnake season, laughing so very hard in the pitch black night, having only one flashlight for the group, somebody up ahead let out a startle sound. Being the brave souls that we are, Dawn and I grabbed each others' hand and just stood there holding hands. Not sure what we thought we would do next, but at least we were going down together! This of course sent us all into more gales of laughter.

Saturday found Carrie and I headed to town to do some retail therapy. Cute, cute little town that you just find a parking place and walk all around to the shops. I got some sunglasses that are simply "da bomb" and some other little trinkets. :) This was apparently a mecca for girlfriend groups because everywhere we looked we saw groups of gals laughing and "all about the chat".

We headed to a nearby alpaca farm to meet the rest of our group. The alpaca close up picture was Romeo, who had been bottle fed as a baby. He was so sweet and had the best hairy lips for alpaca kisses! Lunch was next, then more shopping before heading back to the cabins. That night we had lots of guests, so we tossed some frozen pizzas in the oven and did some knitting, spinning and LOTS of talking.

Sunday morning was more of the same, then a few carloads of us headed back towards Austin for lunch and another yarn shop visit. It was there we had a rock star moment and met Amy Singer of knitty.com fame. Yeah, I'm shameless and we took pictures. Luckily she was very gracious about the whole thing.

Honestly, I'm leaving out so very much and could probably type for days with stories. But really I'm trying to remember that..........What Happens In Buda, Stays In Buda....even if we were in Wimberley this year! :)

Sewing and Hobbies

Last night I finally had some time to slow down and just enjoy. I'm working on a "secret project" that I'll be able to post about soon, but I will say that it involves sewing. I haven't had my sewing machine out for quite some time and am enjoying it immensely. The quiet hum of the motor and the rhythmic motion of the needle are very calming. I think I've really missed this.

It also made me think about how I flit from hobby to hobby. The picture of the thread shows I'm still playing with all the settings on my new camera - and enjoying it as well. There are so many things that I really love to do and at least I rarely get bored! My list includes - in no particular order - sewing, photography, knitting, scrapbooking, cross stitching, reading, walking, crocheting - and who knows what the future will find me doing. :)

Speaking of knitting, I got a call last night from the lady that I met in the tornado shelter Friday night. She invited me to their Knit n Nosh, so I'll be going next week for the first time. Isn't it funny how such a good thing can come out of a scary situation?

~ Elizabeth

We who had sweet fellowship together walked in the house of God in the throng. -
Psalm 55:14

Irish Cream Bundt Cake

Yesterday while perusing my favorite blogs I found a cake description so compelling that I was driven to stop by the grocery store and liquor store on the way home from work. The Dine and Dish Blog has been one of my favorites for quite some time and her paragraph on the wonders of the Irish Cream Bundt Cake had me putting on my sheep ears and following the herd. I am now a Bundt Cake Trendsetter and am proud to have my voice heard!

And the amazing thing about all this fun is that this cake truly is worthy of the praise. The recipe can be found at Recipezaar and is destined to become a signature cake for me. I read through the 23 comments on this cake and decided to try the glaze a little differently than the recipe calls for and followed one of the comments. We're not overly fond of cakes that have holes poked and glazed poured over the top as too often they can become soggy. I made the glaze and let it cool a bit before pouring over the cake and it was perfect.

I will admit that Irish Cream isn't something that I've ever purchased before, but I did know of Bailey's and headed for that. When I saw the price of the real thing vs. the cheaper substitute at half the price, well I'm sure you can guess I was a cheapskate. It was still wonderful. :)

Loni and Xena Knit!

While Loni has been on bed rest (I just can't decide if that is one word or two!) she has been busy teaching herself to knit! She is doing an awesome job and I honestly think it won't be too much longer and she'll be teaching me some things. :)

But then there's Xena, her adorable black lab. She left the knitting out while she went to the bathroom and came back to this picture (that I have blatantly stolen from her)! She said she'd just started a new skein of yarn when this happened. And that the needles now have teeth marks on them deep enough to snag the yarn.

My little grandpuppy is just too cute! LOL!

Samsung 500

Once we got Loni released from the hospital and felt that immediate danger was averted, we made the decision to go ahead and go to the Sunday Nascar race after all. There are very few thing in life that I enjoy as much attending a race. Truly. So this was the best thing in the world for us to do. I will admit to being a nagging mother-in-law though and called Loni a couple of times to be sure she was off her feet. ;)

We really couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for the race. And we really felt rather spoiled rotten before and after the race because our version of "tailgating" was in my brother-in-law's fifth wheel! Really nice to have a fully equipped kitchen and bathroom right there for our every need. :) We grilled burgers for lunch and sat outside enjoying the weather, then after the race we had pizza outside while the cars sat in pretty much a gridlock for an hour and a half. Very, very nice to have the trailer!

This picture really tickles me and won't interest anybody that isn't a Nascar fan. As a group, one of our favorite drivers is Dale Jr (and I'll add that really he is a BIG fan favorite here in Texas). Anyway, he was doing so well all through the race and it was looking like if he didn't win, it would at least certainly be a top 5 finish. Next thing we know there's a wreck and in front of him and Kyle Bush ran into Jr's backside, causing him to spin out! There was practically weeping in the stands at this turn of events. We had scanners and sat listening to Jr. try and try to get the car going, but no go. Next thing we know the scanners said that Jr. was on the track again, this time driving Kyle Bush's car!!! Very funny - to the fans anyway. :)