Misc House Stuff

This year we decided to try having a salsa garden. We had "garden envy" last year with our neighbors garden. In May, Lance dug out a spot next to the house, bought some great pavers and fencing material (to keep the dogs out) to make a garden. He brought 5 or 6 loads of compost from one of his clients dairy farms. The ground here is just clay so we definitely needed help. The garden has grown beyond our expectations. We have so many tomatoes. We (actually Lance and our neighbor Pat) have made 3 or4 big rounds of salsa. They are enoying experimenting with the recipes. It has been AWESOME! I am definitely not a salsa fan but it isn't chunky and they make some not so hot for the kids (and me too!). Lance had even pulled out our pepper plant thinking we wouldn't get any more peppers and as he pulled it out he noticed peppers. He then put it back in the ground and the peppers have flourished. We will probably do another round of salsa but we are going to use the rest of the tomatoes for spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, etc... Below is a photo of our little garden. After our trip to MN and seeing the cousins big garden, the kids have high hopes for next year. They want to plant beans, potatoes, pumpkins, etc..
For over a year now, Lance has wanted to do a Western theme in our living room. We purchased a picture of Lance's great grandfather, Kid Amby Cheney on a round up that would be the centerpiece of the Western theme. Little by little we have been thinking and planning but nothing was taking shape. In July we took a quick weekend trip to Montana. While at Lance's grandmother's ranch, we collected some items for our living room. While I was in MN, Lance took another quick trip to MT and collected a few more items. Below are some photos of what it looks like now. We still have some tweaking to do but Lance put everything up and organized while I was gone.

We need some opinions on this space. Lance would like to put a clock above the entertainment center. I would like to move the bar (not sure what it is called but it is above the two neck harnesses) above the entertainment center. I think a clock will make it too cluttered and I do not like clutter. Any thoughts??

Here is a wall shelf that Lance built out of barnwood displaying some of the treasures he collected in MT. He did an awesome job on the shelf. He was able to find brackets at Home Depot that fit perfectly with the color of the room and other items. The stars we found in Sun Valley at an antique store and the driftwood Landon collected at a reservior in Emmett. Otherwise all the other items are from the ranch.

Here is the print of Kid Amby. The frame is made from barn wood from the ranch. Landon cowboy boots and some other items from the ranch. The candle holders and candles were sent to us from my sister.

We have one glaring problem around our house right now and that is the puppy, Cait. She is very cute but she has caused lots of issues around the house. We moved her to the garage in March which has been a HUGE blessing. She no longer causes problems in the house. I thought it would be an issue because Teagen (our 9 year old golden retreiver) lives in the house but she doesn't mind living in her kennel.

The problem with Cait (and other female dogs) is the her urine has been causing burn spots in our grass. As Lance says we have a "cancer yard". Our backyard looks horrible. It is just killing Lance. He takes such pride in his yard and works really hard to have a nice looking yard. Our front yard looks great but it is the back yard which is on a path and since we have a rod iron fence everyone can see into our yard. Someone told us to give the dogs Vitamin C and it would help the acidity in their urine so it wouldn't cause burn spots. We will see if it helps. Lance bought some stuff to fix the grass but since we have had no rain and not much snow they cut off our irrigation water early this year. Now we can only water once a week. Hopefully we will get lots of snow this winter and by next spring we can fix the yard. Cait the wonder pup -NOT!

The burn spots