Around here we have what we refer to as 'Dog Theatre'.  It is a compilation of all the beagle Bernhardt moves that can be mustered to achieve any or all things desired at any given time or place. Some of these skills are rather impressive__some, not so endearing. Like the head shaking she insists on doing constantly because she wants her wetfood treat that comes along with the meds for her minor ear infection." Oh, look My Most Concerned and Valuable Human! I am in such Pain and Discomfort!" I swear the dog is going to sever a vertebrae. This all magically stops once her objective has been met. Transparent much?

We had an altercation over it this morning as she started in on me before coffee. Not a good idea. I fell [I was at the top of the basement stairs at the time and precariously balanced trying to put the gate back up]. I did not fall down the stairs. I did break the gate. And I did fall on the bad shoulder that just got injected again yesterday. It was at this point that the actress decided maybe it was time to get off the stage for a  while. Good thinking.  She has about 10 more minutes before she gets what it is she wants. If I give it to her at her behest she will push the time limit that much earlier tomorrow. You think I'm kidding? If I let her, by this time next week she'd have me up at midnight feeding her. It's uncanny the time-clock that the animals possess. Who needs an actual timepiece?

On the cute end of the fourlegged stick around here, Mattie in her ongoing culinary perusal of taste sensations has decided that:
okra is for flinging around on the carpet until it sticks
only organic carrots are edible
broccoli is edible if coated in beef juice
cauliflower the same
and tomatoes are very mysterious unless made into pizza sauce wherein they are divine

and I believe she has decided that mushrooms and tofu aren't food at all.

Oh, and now I must worry that every time I hear her squeak about something in her crate at night it might be one of those monster spiders I found downstairs in the basement yesterday. Now that was something to get dramatic about.

In the old days beans was a term used to signify derision, on occasion. 'Oh, you're full of beans.' [I'll leave you to extrapolate] or 'Aw, beans!'. These days we have other words and we use beans for other things. Like food. Well, we used them as food back then, too, don't get me wrong, but now we have LOTS and LOTS of beans where as in the old days we only had a few kinds. Maybe it was because we were vaining their name, I don't know but we have so many different kinds of beans to choose from these days that it seems kind of disparaging to refer to the bean as humble.

Take for instance the original pinto, my personal fav. Now Mexican food would be bereft w/o it but then so would many other kinds of dishes, especially certain southern kinds served with cornbread.

Then there's the black bean. The navy bean [which is the interior of the green bean for those, like me, who didn’t know that] the adzuki, which I have yet to try, the lima, the kidney, garbanzo [yeah], pink, and the fava. [I believe there are more but you get the general idea].

Now, this last, the fava bean, was not on the list of the US Dry Bean Council. I arbitrarily added it. Why? Because it took me a while to find the da*n things in the stores around here. When I was a kid the fava bean, also known as broad beans or Italian beans, were everywhere including just about all backyard gardens. I don’t know when or why they fell out of favor but POOF!! Gone. So why am I so keen on finding these particular beans?

Because they are a food source of levodopa.

It is used to treat, among other things, Parkinson’s disease and related disease symptoms like tremors which I am now developing especially in my hands. Some days these are so bad I cannot do much of anything including use the computer. Many are finding that getting the L-dopa through food rather in a medicinal form is more effective for them__some not. I am willing to try it.  I did finally find the dry variety in the Latino food section at one of the local groceries. I think I’ll try a Mexican type of hummus recipe I found. Beans, lemon, cumin, garlic, parsley [it calls for cilantro] and cayenne. Sounds tasty, right?

Anyway, that’s me. Full of beans. Or soon to be.

I may have mentioned in passing that I joined the Interior Design group here.  I enjoy design.  I don't necessarily practice it in my own home as we always seem to be tearing things apart around here but I enjoy the concept of it.

This is one of the best under-stair storage ideas I've seen.

Since joining the group I get inundated daily with pics and ads from all over the world for layouts and products.  Some interesting ... some__well, lets just say I'm puzzled by the current retro trend of back to the 50's/60's. Most of that molded plastic furniture wasn't attractive [or comfortable] the first time around, why bring it back?

But if you're going to go retro this reminds me of the 60's/70's.


Then there's the new non-color scheme. White.  Everything is white. Oh, you can have accent colors, but the predominant, hit you square in the eyeballs and send you into migraine as soon as you enter a room, is white. Can one say Glare?

 But I do like this bedroom. The dark wood saves it. And I like shutters.
Here is another example of the white scheme__

Anyway, I thought I would go through and pull a few of the more interesting photos [interesting to me, at least] and post them for any who might find them of interest, too.

Yep__white

I

And this __ have you ever seen such an elaborate foot bath?

And I found this different and therefore interesting. Very masculine. I like the curve of the bed frame.

It is the hour of nearly sunrise. I've abused the exercise bike. I'm contemplating floor exercises. I'm swilling coffee and ignoring the pitiful begging coming from the animal members of the family for sustenance before they all disappear into oblivion from immanent starvation. I have a plan to capture the elusive yet ravenous Sari and lock her in the cat condo so we can spray for the dreaded stinkbugs this morning and the only way to catch her these days is with food.

Speaking of stinkbugs our local legislature has decided to take action on something. Yes. The stinkbug. Not guns. Not human rights. Not__well, nevermind.
http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2013/06/stink-bug-bill-passes-through-congress.php

Given that it's been raining non-stop for the last week and a half there's mowing to do and that has to be done today, too as it's going to rain tomorrow. And the usual stuff of the w/e around and about.

And I really don't want to do any of it.

Watched a fairly entertaining movie last night on Amazon called The Guard. It had me giggling from the beginning all the way through.

I woke up from a ghastly nightmare this morning.  I don't have them often. I have what one could call interesting dreams more often than not but outright nightmares are uncommon. This one qualified. Probably one of the top 5   [shudders] .  I have to pick these things up out of the ethers. There is no way I could conceive of this stuff on my own. I don't know how anyone could conceive of this stuff. It's going to take days to shake it off.

Oh, well. That's about it from the Blue Ridge. At least for the moment.