One post, many topics, lots of pictures

One:
This time we believed the reports of the vicious hail, winds and even tornados headed our way. We saw pictures of hail the size of baseballs and heard about the tornados ripping through the Nashville area. And we took precautions: moved the glass off the deck table and into the garage, put the plants under roof, cleared a spot in the garage for my car, put foam insulation under the garage door to prevent a lake forming in our driveway, wheeled Dave's grill under the awning, but what to do about Dave's car ...



We put it in our second garage. :)




Two:
I enjoy cooking. Trying out new recipes or making my favorites from my Mom's cookbook. I especially enjoy it at the beginning of each month when we have money in our grocery budget! Near the end of the month it gets rather boring trying to figure out how to make macaroni, canned tomatoes and ground beef not taste the same as it did last night ... or the night before that. This month I've been burning through recipes in my Cooking Light cookbooks. (Thanks, Jackie!) The Spaghetti Pie was yummy, but I took the picture mainly to brag about the salads that use lettuce from my garden (I harvested leaves before the hail storm.) My favorite dish last week was the Baked Chile Rellenos. Yummy! Roasted (and skinned) poblano peppers stuffed with mozzarella cheese, shredded chicken and cumin ... then smothered with a tomato and zucchini marinara sauce.
I was excited with how well they turned out this time. Last time I don't think I bought poblano peppers since we had to take breaks between bites to drink a glass a milk. We went through a whole gallon of milk between the two of us, and it still took three days for our lips to stop burning!
Three:
For the first time since we've been married, Dave and I owe money on our taxes. Boo. :)
Four:
On Sundays, we give Echo her treat bone: a Jumbone for small- and medium-sized dogs. She spends several hours walking around with it in her mouth searching for the perfect hiding place.
And she tries out dozens of hiding spots for it during this time as well: next to our shoes, under the dining room table, by the side of the couch, next to my chair in the kitchen, etc. She's not that sneaky, though, and we can usually spot the bone fairly quickly!

Even funnier, to us, is when she tries to bury the bone. She scratches at the grass until she gets a circle of dirt and sets the bone in the middle. She doesn't bother to cover it up. If she can find a pre-made circle of dirt, she's perfectly willing to use that as her hiding spot instead of making her own.






Eventually she eats it.