Can they reach the temperatures? Ninja Foodi XL Pro Air Oven Vs Instant Omni Plus

Since my breads did not bake as expected last week, I bought an oven thermometer and tested how long it takes all the ovens to reach the temperatures. And unfortunately, the Ninja Foodi XL Pro Air oven completely failed the test.

Sourdough Bread Battle | Instant Omni Plus Vs Ninja Foodi XL Pro Air Ove...

 

My very first attempt at baking in these two ovens. It definitely did not go as I thought it would. Check it out. #InstantOmni #InstantPotOmni #NinjaFoodiXLProAirOven #NinjaFoodiOven #AirfryerSourdough #SourdoughBread #SourdoughFocaccia #InstantOmniVersusNinjaFoodi #InstantOmniPlusVersusNinjaFoodiXLProAirOven #PalsLivesLife

My lil helper

Today I asked Dhruv to pick up one of his shirts, that he had just changed out of and was lying on the floor, and take it to the hamper. He said, 'No no', as he has started saying now a days, and started playing with his car again. I went back to watching TV. In a few minutes he disappeared. I asked J where he was, and J didn't knew. I noticed that the shirt I had asked him to pick up had disappeared, as well. Just then, Dhruv walked back into the living room, saw a pair of his pants on the floor, and took those to the hamper as well. He then came back, and walked towards me clapping his hands, with a smile on his face. I know, it's such a small thing. But, he really made my day. He is not even a year and a half yet.

Feeding the hungry children, instead of the stone gods

India is a country of extreme contrasts. On one hand, we are almost out of the 'developing countries' list,  while on the other there are thousands of children on our streets that go to bed hungry at night, while alost 3000 won't even make it through the night. And while that is happening, precious food resources like milk, oil, and money that could have fed these kids gets poured down on stone statues by God fearing people.
The sight of begging kids has always bothered me. But now that I have a kid, who I see almost loose his mind when he is hungry, makes it even more personal.

This picture, posted on Facebook, especially struck a nerve. Both J and I felt that, the little one even looks like our baby. The Gods are our patents. And if that is the case, will I ever be happy, if my baby was crying away with hunger, and someone was bathing me in food? Then how can Gods be happy with the same? I need to do something to get the food/money to these hungry mouths. God forbid, if there is ever a situating, a worldwide natural calamity, something devastating, that lands my babies in a situation like the ones in the picture above, I want to feel like they will atleast have food. I don't want to add to the list of things that people do. I don't want people to give to god and then give to these kids. I want them to give it to these kids, these flowers from God's garden as they are called in my native Marathi language, knowing that it is infact reaching the God. I need them to feel the same satisfaction/ happiness/security they feel in giving to God, knowing that they did what was needed of them. I know that I am talking about a massive change in outlook, which is usually very difficult to bring about. That is why this needs to be done in conjunction with the temples. Either have a deal with the temples, which I doubt if the priests would be willing to let go of a major chunk of the hundi, or separately collect the donated food items; or have booths right outside temples, which I am afraid would simply be ignored by most devotees. I would like suggestions. I would like to hear from some hardcore devotees out there.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/1517098

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/02/16/10424930-indias-hunger-shame-3000-children-die-every-day-despite-economic-growth?lite

Blowing bubbles

Today my baby, who is just one day short of his 16th month birthday, pulled out the top from a small empty spray bottle. Held the little spray tube close to his lips and blew. Then with his little hands he gestured something flying upwards. It took me a minute to understand that he was pretending to blow bubbles, the activity he loves so much, and we haven't done for over a month since we got back from India. Oh, bless his little heart and imagination. Love him so much! 

Baby on the way

Week 32, here I come.. says the notification from my pregnancy app. Can't believe we are here for the last haul of this pregnancy. 8 weeks to go, at the most!

The past weekend J said, "I can't believe, the four of us are going to be home full time for atleast 14 days straight after the delivery!" And I found myself thinking, four? J, my mom who will be visiting to help us and myself.. who else?

OH! The baby, ofcourse! (We still do not have name for him, so he is still just baby. )

A mini panic attack sets in.. like it has a few time over the past two months.. the realization that we are going to have a little one living with us, full time, not visiting, not for a few hours like my nieces or nephews, not even for a few days.. but for ever.. 24 - 7.. and I am the main person who is going to be responsible for his everything.. feeding, cleaning, soothing.. everything! EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!

After the overwhelming feeling subsides, I usually follow up by going into the action mode. I go ahead and order the cloth diapers and covers as we had discussed, or rather I have insisted after learning that regular disposable diapers take 500+ years to degrade in a landfill and one kid generates about a ton of disposable diaper waste till they are potty trained!

We place the order. I spend the rest of the weekend watching cloth diapering videos.

As it turns out, for our diapering system we are going to have

• Diaper covers
• Diapers/diaper inserts
• Diaper liner, which catch the solid portion of the poop and which can be flushed away in the toilet
• Flushable wipes
• Changing pad
• One large diaper bag/pail to hold the soiled liners
• One medium size diaper bag/pail to hold soiled covers
• A small tub to hold one soiled diaper-liner combo near the changing station till we are done changing the baby
• Special soap like Charlie soap
• And possibly a drying rack to dry the covers, and liners if we decide to do that.

When the diapers first arrive, I need to wash and dry the liners 4-5 times to remove any natural fiber oils/residue from them and make them more absorbent.

After that, we will have to do

• The liner-laundry every two or at the most three days,
• With one cold rinse cycle.
• Followed by one full wash and rinse cycle with detergent with hot water.
• Again followed by one cold rinse cycle.
• The liners need to dry on high heat or in the sun.

• And a separate cold wash and rinse with detergent cycle on the covers.
• The covers need to be dried on low heat or on drying rack.

This is on top of everything I have seen other parents around me do!

And (yep, it does not end there), I am hoping that I can start potty training my kid like they do in India.. I have seen it a few times with my own younger brother and cousins, and neighbors kids growing up. According to my grandmother, you can hold a baby as young as a month old over a sink, sprinkle some cold water on his/her feet which makes them pee, and pair it with the pee sound like 'Shhh'.. and soon they learn the association between the sound and action of peeing and learn to hold the pee atleast for a while..

Also, I remember growing up, uncles and aunties joking about weird faces babies make before they want to poop or pee, which can be taken as cues to bring them to the toilet. Ofcouse, back then, there were no absorbent diapers, and it was essential to know these cues if you yourself wanted to stay dry, or they would soil over you..

But right now, all of this sounds nothing but overwhelming! So the normal doctor of philosophy within me goes online to do more research, and I came across this quote by Pursuing Titus 2, who has done the Western version of the same thing called Elimination Communication with her young ones, which makes me instantly feel better:

"If I were unable to walk myself to the bathroom, I know I would much rather have someone take me than put me in a diaper and change me at their convenience (like I did with my first three children). That’s a big thing that keeps me going on this strange path. I’m treating my baby the way I would like to be treated myself."

So true for a little little life that can't walk or even talk for himself, that I am bringing into this world because I want to be a mom!

Get geared up Pallavi, you singed up for it. Now, you have to do your part!

Growing up

I recently got a very disturbing call from one of my aunts. The first thing she said to me when I picked up the phone was, "I know you have always hated D (her daughter, my oldest cousin)!". Needless to say, I was shocked. So shocked that the only reaction that came out of me was a downpour of tears. I was confused. I had always prided myself to have not hurt anyone and being able to see the other's point of view in order to ignore their idiosynchrocies. I know I have my own set of those. And given that everyone in my family still seems to love me, I always assumed they did the same as well. But this statement from my Aunt, and a few others that followed it just didn't make sense.
As it turns out, I had forgotten to call D on her 42nd birthday the day before. And to add insult to injury (I guess?) I called my Aunt to wish her on her birthday a week before, right date, wrong month! I know it's not good. But all I did was to wish her well, didn't l? And I wouldn't have minded receiving a call from my aunt complaining that I didn't remember her birthday correctly or from D that I forgot to call her. But making a leap to it being a twisted way to taunt D? Given me, anyone who knows me knows that I get dates and months confused, I do not call people even if I really really want to, and I most definitely do not go out of my way to hurt people. And even if you don't know me, how do you turn wishing someone into an intentional act of hurting them? One needs to be really screwed up to make that jump. And even if you do, how long can you have your parents fight your battle for you? How long can you fight your children's battles for them? Aren't you actually hurting them if you are still doing that past their 40s? D has always taunted people and insulted the elders including her father and my father in public, and my aunt has always supported D. How I wish I had the guts to call and tell my aunt that she actually needs to correct D when she does this. Tell her that she is not always correct. Tell her that by blaming and insulting everyone around her, she is alienating people who once cared for her. Every single one around her is actually scared of her outbursts and she is going to end up alone and lonely if she does not change her ways. Harsh as it may sound, isn't that a parent's job? Shouldn't you prepare your children so that when you are gone, you know they will be ok?

As I see my little neices and nephews grow up, I can't even imagin doing to them what my aunt did to me this last week. She chose her daughters feelings over mine. 

I know I want to have my own children one day. I hope I love and pamper them, but prepare them for their own battles. I hope I am a stable support, but make sure that they do not crumble without me. I hope they remember me as a loving mother who taught them to love and respect themselves as well as others. And I hope I teach them to steer themselves clear of people who do not do the same.

I think it is time for me to follow my own advice and steer clear of these people week clearly do not love or respect anyone's feelings besides themselves. I guess this is a vital part of growing up as well. 

These are paintings?

I recently came across a blog by Brad Teare. He is a landscape painter with beautiful work who also teaches through his videos.

After listening to him refer to his wife a couple of times in his videos, I for some reason presumed that she was a photographer and wanted to check out her work as well.. Her work is beautiful. Rustic, antique-ish and colorful.. a good combination of what I love..

But her prices were crazy! $7000+ for just a 18 x 24 print???

And then I realized, the description said "Oil on board"!

These are painting? These are PAINTINGS?????? 

 

 I could not believe my eyes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any number of exclamation marks I put would not be enough!

Apparently there are Trompe L'oeil paintings, which is the art of illusion. Like the ones you see on street art.

   

But her work is just amazing! Do check it out.

Shutting off the left brain..

Recently, as I am trying to get back into drawing and painting, I am realizing more and more how important it is to shut off your right brain to not just create art, but to actually see it in the first place.









I have always had this issue... I start drawing/painting something... initially it looks like it is going well, I am making progress.. and then suddenly, something will go wrong. As I step back from my work, the eyes will look out of place or incorrect in size or looking in a completely different direction as compared to the rest of the face!




I always thought the main reason was that I would start getting tired or bored and would want to finish the project.. basically lack of patience. In a way my did say that a couple of times that I lacked patience.. and I did.







But, because of internet and the rich resources available on it, and the two classes I have taken at WAM, I am realizing that that is not the only issue. I am an engineer and my analytical brain is always ON. After I start to see some form on the paper, my left brain automatically completes it, pushing aside anything my right brain has to say and despite what I am actually seeing.

So, after learning about your brain's auto-complete feature, I have been trying to shut my left brain off consciously. Every time I feel an urge to just draw a line or fill up a shape, I ask myself, do I really see it?

And I have to say, it does help. When I step back from my work, my left brain realizes that it actually looks more like what I am trying to achieve. Here is the latest sketch I did based on a live model.

 

Check out my other works at http://arainbowfortheheart.blogspot.com/ 

One potato, two potato

 

I am not a gardener.. Infact I used to say that I have a rotten/brown thumb. But ever since moving into my current place, that seems to have changed a little bit. 

A few months ago, I found some potatoes in my pantry that had gone a little mushy and had started growing roots all over. I stuck them in a pot and that was that. I wasn't expecting anything as my last year's attempt had been quite a failure. Last year I planted about four potatoes and my yield was one one-inch diameter one and one 5 mm diameter one!

So this year when the stem started dying off because of some strange small bright green fuzzy insects eating all the leaves, I decided to dig up to see what I had… Atleast I could use the pot for something else, right?

 Well.. here are the leftover skins of the potatoes I planted, and my returs ratio was actually >1!!!!

The fairer sex?: Gender ineuality

J and I had this huge discussion last week about gender inequality in salaries. J wasn't even aware of such a thing. Eventually it came down performance. Men can assure they will be there more time purely due to biology.

That got me thinking. It is true. A woman is bound to take atleast 24 weeks off from work, paid or unpaid assuming she has two kids in her life. This reality is even more in my face now that we are thinking about kids and I am thinking about applying to jobs. I have always been annoyed that I have to have periods each month and endure the cramps, bloating and discomfort that comes with it, not to mention the emotional roller coaster. "That comes with womanhood".. what also comes with womanhood is having to bear the weight of breasts on my chest, having to wear a super uncomfortable contraption called the "bra" each and every day, stretch marks, tearing of your private parts during child birth, loss of bladder control... and on and on!!!

Come on! Was it my choice to become a woman? Why do only women have these things? Why does the only thing a man has to do in terms of propagation of the species is sex!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But wait, if I am as a woman doing most of the work in terms of keeping the species alive and making sure that men are born, shouldn't I get atleast some compensation for that? I have been doing that since I was twelve and won't stop until I reach menopause! If you are mentally or physically disabled, you get special privileges, but we as women get nothing. And I have no choice in that either.. even if say I never wanted to have children, can I get rid of the pain and suffering I go though each month? No! So I guess, men in general need to compensate women, just for carrying the load of human continuation. And if some men want to argue that they are not liable because they never plan on having a wife or children, but they were born, right? Which means some woman went through a lifelong suffering for that man to exist.

And if you are not going to pay me for being a woman, then don't you dare underpay me for taking time off to bear future humans.

Slimquick or not so quick is the question

Recently, I have been gaining more and more weight. And it is not by the week or by the month, but I seem to be gaining it by the day for heaven's sake! Had a busy week, one pound here, visited J for a few days, three pounds there!!! I mean, the age thing is hitting me harder than I expected.

Back in my 20s, if I thought I should loose a few pounds, all I had to do was cut back on some meals and weight would go right down.

Then came the 30s! I think the day I turned 30, cutting back on food was not just not helping me loose weight, but if I did not control my food intake and go to the gym 5 days a week, I would start gaining weight! But there was hope. I could do those things and loose and maintain the lost weight. Well, I did have to reset my mind to what was my ideal weight was, too. I could deal with that, I was ok, right?.

Well, ever since I turned 35 last year, no matter what I do, my weight seems to be going in just one direction, 'up'. I am sure, choosing to walk with Bella instead of the gym and traveling back and forth to SJ have their own share in the process... but come on!!!

The breaking point came yesterday. I changed doctors because of change in insurance, and I weighed in at 160 lbs!!!! At 5'1.5" I am 30 pounds overweight! So as of yesterday, as per my friend M's suggestion, my another friend at work 'C' and I have decided to try the Slimquick route.

C has chosen the pills.

 

And I have chosen the drink packets.  

My reason for the drink is that I think it will help be drink the required amount of water. If I take pills, I get lazy and do not drink enough water.

According to M, when she tried the drink packets, she was like an energizer bunny.. and at this stage, I could use a little boost on the energy front as well!!! 

Well, yesterday was the first day as we drive to CVS after lunch and bought this. I reached home at 6:30 after doing the much needed grocery shopping and fell asleep on the couch at 8:30! Woke up at 10 and could not go to sleep till 2:00 am because of the heat! Needless to say, never made it to the gym. Today I weighed in at 159lbs... but that was in my PJs before breakfast!

So I will keep on updating this post as days go by!

Ready for love, are they really?

After watching the mos predictable finale of the show I had high hopes for, it really makes me question whether these three guys, Ben, Tim and Ernesto really even understand what love is? Ben chose the only virgin in his group, Ernesto chose the Miss Universe and Tim chose the youngest in his bunch or as they call in 'Friends', the 'Twinkie'!!! I mean really?

And you know what, I think it is purely the guys' fault! The matchmakers did the best they could. The girls did what they had to do to get a chance to date these guys... but finally it was the guys' decision. 

I thought it was going really well until only the last three girls in each group. Both Tim and Ben got rid of the girls from their past. They eliminated girls they didn't feel a romantic connection with.... 

And then, Ernesto sends both Alba and Kristen home and does this crazy climb up the display wall to meet up with Shandi. Now, am I the only one who thinks that this feels less like mature romance and more like a teenage one?? Nothing against Shandi, she looks super composed and comfortable with herself. But Ernesto, I don't think he even understand what love means. 

Then there is Tim. He has these two amazing girls, Hailey and Sara in his final three. Both girls are mature, experienced, have this amazing personalities, have professed their love for him in multiple episodes. And who does he go for? Jenna.. the inexperienced little girl who can't even say she loves him without looking like she has constipation!

The only couple I have any hopes for are Ben and Angela. Even though I was rooting for Allie till the very end because she was so madly emotional for Ben, I can see how she might not be the right one for him for the exact same reason. Ben looks like an emotional guy himself and being a successful business owner, he might need a rock by his side. Angela does seem to fit the bill. So hey.. may be they did get it right once.. 

But there are already rumors about Shandi and Ernesto having already broken up.. and I won't bet on Tim and Jenna lasting much longer either. So let's just wait and see.

Sighhhh!!

Today is a super stressful day. For no particular reason. Well, may be for a few reasons.

Yesterday I found out that there aren't enough funds for me to go to a conference in June. I haven't gone to any conference since 2011. And Last year is the first year in last 6 years that I did not go to atleast one. But I did not care much as they are not very very productive and I had too many things going on.
And then there were conferences in other countries, which I would have loved to go, but my visa at present does not allow me to travel. So I was kind of ok with it.
Then I went to visit the folks in SD and the entire expense came out of my pocket, but it was a good trip. I learnt a few things from them and, hey, you can't put money on that, right. And then there was this other conference in SJ, that my prof said I could attend, but only the conference entry will be covered. I thought, I had already paid for my ticket to SJ, so its ok. And I wasn't able to go for it anyway because the other project, "the review", I was working on had to be finished.
So it was kind of building up for a while. But I thought I would definitely be going for the June one. It was in the country, I would mostly not even require to stay in hotel as I will stay with my cousin and I have a poster accepted there. But yesterday when I asked, I found out that, someone else would be presenting my poster because of lack of funds!

Its not as much the not going to conference part, but more of the 'lack of funds' part that has gotten me really down. You see, when I started here two years ago, I thought, that I would move up, doing bigger and greater things quickly. But things are proceeding at a much slower speed, which is normal I guess. But that means that I am still at the minimum first year salary. The university only recommends giving NIH salaries, but has no structure in place to ensure that we get appropriate raises. I was planning to bring that up, but if there aren't funds for travel, how can I even expect a raise? And then T told me that three people got laid off today! What????

This whole travel back and forth hasn't been easy, emotionally and financially. It is bad enough that we both live alone, but on top of that, since the wedding, there has been an added pressure from both set of parents and on a smaller extent from J to move to SJ. I have been trying to hold my ground, because I don't want to be dependent and without a job. And I do not want to move at this stage in my career because I am worried that if I do, I will be kept as a post-doc for an even longer time. But after yesterday's events it feels like, that would be a possibility even here and how do I hold on when J seems to be making wayyy more than me? In addition to that, J was super stressed out yesterday because he felt like he wasn't performing as well as his colleagues. Am I to blame for that? Right now I am freaked out that I will get laid off if we think about starting a family. I am going to be 36 this year? Is it crazy to think that I should not be in this situation this late in my life? I don't know but the walls seem to be closing up right now!

Boston Marathon Bombing

Yesterday morning I was watching FOX news about the Boston marathon bombing. People were paying tributes to the victims who got killed in this horrible incidence. There were survivor stories of people who were marathon runners and now can't even walk as they have lost their feet or legs. My heart goes out to these people. First of all, it is not a small feat to run a marathon. It involves years of practice and patience and endurance. And then to have it taken away in an instant like that!

As my home for the last ten years, I went through a series of emotions from the first time I heard it on Apr 15. The first was of course anger and outrage. How can someone do this at such a peaceful event? It is a Marathon for god's sake. It is fueled by human sweat. Why would someone want to even do this? And then learning about the little boy who got killed and numerous victims that got injured, I was saddened. I couldn't even watch President Obama's visit as my eyes kept on tearing up. Can you really get attached to a foreign country so easily? I am an Indian. I grew up hearing about a couple of bomb blasts every month. May be because I was so young back then, that I could just shrug it off. But now when I hear about events like these or the Connecticut school shootout, it fills me with profound sadness and anger. I can't believe people can even process such a gruesome thought.

Then there was the series of almost movie-like events that followed which resulted in subsequent identification of the bombers as Tsarnaev brothers, the city being quarantined, the older brother being killed in a shoot out and finally the younger one being captured. I was really proud about Boston police and the speed at which this operation happened.

But as the excitement has died down over the last week and I am looking at the aftermath, I am trying to wrap my brain around the fact that, whether with additional help or not with preparing the bomb, the operation was carried out by the Tsarnaev brothers. One 23 and the other 19 years of age. The 23 year old had a wife and a child and they had their entire lives to look forward to. What makes someone so young capable of such an act? Ofcourse, they are being labelled Muslim extremists, but how does religion, which is a completely theoretical phenomenon, become larger than life itself? How does it become larger than the life of your young child or lives of your old parents, who will have to face the consequences of your actions?

I was always taught that a person is never good or evil, but there is some good and some evil in every person. Which makes me believe that there was good in those two boys as well. They recently aired a video of the younger brother playing with his niece. What makes the person in that video kill another boy the same age as his niece? I feel like the we as a society failed here. There must have been a way before it was too late for these people to reason with them. But we didn't. And as much I feel sorry for the victims of this tragic event, I know they will be remembered in a loving way in future. Anyone who got injured, we will provide enough support for them to pull through. But these two will be hated in the future forever. They will be remembered in history as the two villains. Anyone associated with them will never talk about the good in them. The young girl will never identify herself by her father's name. And their parents will die in shame. And to be honest, that makes the Tsarnaev brothers the worst victims of the Boston marathon bombing.

I want my Phoebe back, Phoebe back,Phoebe back!!

Two days ago Bella chewed up my Alfani 'Phoebe' wedges!! Its been super hot for the past few days, with that and me spending additional time watering the lawn, I guess Bella was more stressed than usual. On top of that, I came home on Wednesday and did not take her out immediately... and when I found her sitting on the stairs waiting for me, I noticed she was not alone! In her paws she was holding one of my favorite pair of shoes. All chewed up and destroyed....

These were the only sorta heals I could wear for an entire day, without complaining. And any one who knows me would know what a great deal it is!

To add insult to injury, these seem to be out of style. The only pair on sale is a brown one on ebay!

I want mine back :(
(Anyways.. I did order these given that they were only pair available on the internet.)

Distressed furniture

I just love love love the look of a good distressed furniture. And its not just the look of it, but its also the fact that you get to do all these creative things to it like painting, staining and sanding, and the piece comes out looking perfectly aged, as if it is telling you a story..

Its like going through someones dusty attic!! Well, not many people will say that they like to do that, but I have always been fascinated by it. You climb this mysterious staircase that no one usually uses, and you open up boxes and find black and white pictures and old, dusty artifacts that were probably touched by someone many many years ago....  almost like making a connection through time.. it fascinates me to the point of giving me goosebumps!

But, alas!!! I still haven't been able to make myself distress anything. Well it was my plan with Dresser1. But when I was done, I liked its color so much, that I just decided to keep it.

Well, not true.. I did sand down a tiny corner on the top and applied some dark glaze on one of the shelves... But, the color was not coming off as cleanly as in others' cases and the glaze was not very apparent because of the darker color I chose... So I just ended up painting over it and just stenciling..

But one day.. 

Lawn!!

Now that I am in gardening and stuff and looking forward to having a little grass seed put in my front yard, I stumbled upon this ad I had seen a few years ago... One gotta love it. Enjoy!

Sunday

I feel that a lazy Sunday is an essential thing for ones mental health. And, I am happy to say that yesterday was just that!
Initially I was supposed to go for my niece's second sixth birthday party. But by the time I got back from a walk, I knew I wouldn't be able to make it. For one, it was already 10:00 and the party was supposed to start at 11:00 and the place is over an hour away.
And I was still to take a bath... after giving Bella a bath... And boy did she need one after running through a brook after a bird she was chasing near the dog park that I only take her to on days I plan on giving her a bath. Well, that was Saturday night. But I was doing chores all day and was really tired and lazy, and Bella had dried off and the dirt had fallen off by the time we got home.. and I thought I would have time in the next morning for the bath, which neither her, nor I enjoy very much.

Anyways, so it was pretty clear that I will have to either give up going for the party, that I was really looking forward to as I thought I would get a chance to see my niece in the dress I made for her, or I can give Bella her bath and finish up the rest of my chores. After debating for a few minutes, I decided to pass on the party.. I will get other chances to see my niece in the dress, but skipping on the bath would mean it will not happen for another week!

So, I gave Bella her bath and surprisingly she did not put up as much fight as she usually does. She decided to lounge on the porch while she dried up.

In the mean time, I decided to proceed with my other project, sanding down the sewing machine cabinet. It turned out to be a much much longer project than I had expected and took rest of the morning and most of the afternoon.

  During this time Bella kept on going in and out of the house, looking at the squirrels, sunbathing on the porch,

 

or cooling off on the floor inside!

As soon as I moved at this house I had put up a few bird feeders, and have been working on ways to keep squirrels off of them.

 In between my breaks, I took a few pictures of my bird feeder.
We got visits from Mr. and Mrs. cardinal,
Cardinal male always feeds cardinal females.. isn't that cute!

 some sparrows,

 a nuthatch...

 and ofcourse squirrels. Nothing so far has kept these buggers away!

  At 5:30, after I was done with the sanding, we took a walk to the nearest Starbucks. I had green tea frappe, ummm.. Yum! with egg salad sandwich and raspberry cake, on the outside patio, while Bella sat next to me waiting for the bread crust.. Love these summer days!!!

Then we bought some top soil, Marigold flowers and seeds for lettuce and mixed burpees  from home depot!

Finally, we ended the perfect Sunday by taking another short walk at around 9:00pm!

Why Bella shouldn't be by herself

This for everyone who thinks Bella should run free at home while I am at work. I crate her because....

Luckily this was only a chord of a lamp base I purchased to make a bird bath out of. Can you even imagine what it would be like if she is free during the 8 hours I am out of the house and gets into all the power chords around the house... never even mind the open walls that are not even closed yet!

While I was at it I thought I should a share the colorful fried rice I made last night.. Yum!!!! :)