Confused crab spider

Spiders are cool. Take the crab spiders of Ohio, for instance (Thomisidae). They’re intriguing little guys. They’re not web weavers, these spiders. They’re passive hunters, masters of disguise. Stealthy little critters, they change color similar to chameleon lizards and blend in with their surroundings, then lie still and wait their prey to scuttle or alight [...]

Minty fresh puppy dog breath

We’ve begun leaving the girls out while we’re gone. For years, we’ve crated the dogs or put them in the bathroom with a couple of big, fluffy dog beds. Now that Sarah, the Trash Destroyer Extraordinaire  is gone, though, we thought we’d let the pups have the run of the living room and kitchen in our [...]

Nylabones and a crib mattress: indispensable for our dogs

First off, we love Nylabones because, more importantly, our dogs love Nylabones. Plus, they hold up to some tough chewing. They stand daily abuse, but last months. But yesterday, I noticed both Nylabones in our possession look like they have flesh attached to them. Yeah, ewwwwww. Let me back up a little bit first. Follow [...]

The king-size über Snuggie is on clearance!

Big and tall friends, no longer do you have to choose between your shoulders and your tootsies when it comes to staying warm this winter. No, siree! The wonderful king-size über Snuggie-esque sleeved blankets I blogged about on The H-Man are now on clearance at LivingXL for only $14.95 now! As a matter of fact, [...]

Dogs, grief and gratitude

Our year ended on a sad note as we said goodbye to our sweet old girl, Sarah. She was our coffee-loving, bean crunching girl. We got her in 1999, the same year we bought our house. Howie and I both grew up with dogs and loved them, but as renters we’d not been able to [...]

Heidi Daus “Pretty as a Peacock” ring

Peacock ring Originally uploaded by gardenwife Mom and went to Caribou Coffee last night and visited with a couple of friends. Before our friends arrived, I took some photos of the ring I got mom for Christmas. This is just a cellphone shot, but I liked how it came out. I’d like to take some [...]

Garden photos slideshow: Minolta DiMAGE A1

I ran across this group of garden photos taken with my Minolta DiMAGE A1. That camera had quite the story behind it, a testimony to good customer service. Sometimes I miss that camera. My Sony Alpha A300 is wonderful, but I don’t have the lenses yet which would allow me to get some of the [...]