That CAN'T Be Comfortable!

• I had to snap this pic the other day. It was just too funny, the fact that Jenny was actually sleeping in this position.
• Tori, Jenny is a large-ish dog. About 60 pounds. She's long & leggy and looks something like a slender german shephard, except she's white with some "biscuit" colored fur down her spine. She's got lovely big, brown eyes. And when she's happy, she actually smiles. *grin* Anyway, in this picture she's laying in her kennel (one of those kind you'd pack a dog into for transport in a plane or such). It's a large kennel, but just right for Jenny's bed.
• And she's got an old quilt in there. A blue & white, tattered old thing that I try to keep washed. She loves her blankey. *grin* She nearly freaks when I have to take the thing out and wash it, then she gets all weird when it's freshly cleaned and I crawl inside her kennel to put the folded thing back in neatly. She climbs in after I'm done and pulls and pushes and rearranges it to HER liking again. *grin* Then she lays in there and gives me this look like she likes her blankey nice and clean, but for pete's sake would I let HER do the arranging?!?! *wink*
• So, in this picture, she's laying in the kennel on her back, with her head at the inner edge of the door. Her legs are in the air, but leaning against one side-wall of the kennel. Looks very uncomfortable. But she was actually asleep enough that when I took the picture, she didn't even open her eyes. I've never been able to understand how animals can sleep like that.
• (It reminds me of how one of our cats used to love climbing on top of the printer we had when I was growing up. She'd sleep in the indentation on top where the paper would pop out after a printing job. Considering it was almost always turned on, when we were kids, we figured she liked it so much because it was warm. That cat was pretty well anorexic. Didn't have an ounce of body fat on her.)
• Ok. So I just had to share that pic of Jenny with y'all.
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  I DID get to watch my movie this weekend, and read my books. I'm actually just now into the 4th book in the series and LOVING this series!!!! The author is AWESOME!!!! The main female character in each book is a very strong, healthy woman. Of course, they've all got their issues that they're working through, but they're WORKING through them and not hiding from them. At the same time as being strong, healthy women though, the women are also not adverse to letting a guy take control once in a while. It's the knowing when it's appropriate to give up a bit of control, and let somebody else take over. And the guys are very strong, very assertive (hell, they're vampires! *grin*) and of course, sexy as hell. But, at the same time, the guys don't have a problem with letting the woman be their own person. The guy characters handle the woman's personality with the understanding that the woman IS her own person and capable of her own thoughts, wants and desires. And even when the guys take control or go into "dominant" mode, the author has written them in such a way that they're not control freaks, or permanantly want to "dominate" the woman in the story. Simply that the woman has momentarily given over control to the man, and he handles the responsibility with respect and care.
• Did I tell you I LOVE this author?!?! *grin* I actually passed the first book off to one of my coworkers, and now she's hooked. She's given me back the first book already, and probably starting on the second by now (she'd already started something else by the time I gave her the second book), and when she's finished that, I've already finished book 3, so she can then borrow THAT one, and by next week I'll have book 4 finished, for her to borrow as well. *grin* I also love being able to share books I enjoy with friends.
• After finishing book 4 in this set, I'll probably go ahead and start on _Dies the Fire_ again. That's the next book in the "Apocolyptic Fiction Book Club" thing that Sharon's doing over at Casaubon's Book. I've read it before, but it's a good book and I think I'll enjoy reading it again.
• As for watching the movie this weekend. It was good. I enjoyed it. The same coworker who's borrowing this set of novels from me, also lent me her copy of "Stargate: Continuum" to watch this coming weekend. She said "Continuum" is even better than "Arc of Truth". I can't wait!
• And, seeing as the hubby's going caribou hunting again this weekend, I should have no problem finding the time to watch my movie. I think I might also borrow "Narnia: Prince Caspian" to watch with Tay. She wanted to see that in the theater, but we never got around to going to see it.
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• As for the gardening efforts, our time here is nearly at an end. The leaves are turning on the trees already, and very quickly. My zucchini plants will give me one more good-sized zuke, and a bunch of teeny-tiny babies. I have yet to get the rest of my turnips picked. And, I'm doubting I'm going to get any beets from my veggie bed this year. I should pick my swiss chard here tonight or tomorrow, because it's possible I'll get even one more picking out of that, if I do one now. The tomato plants are wilting, though I'm trying to protect them by covering them in a clear-plastic drop-cloth. They've each got 2 tomatoes on them. The plants on the side of the house (the plants in the big plastic planter) I've pretty well given up on. Those tomatoes are so tiny as to be smaller than cherry tomatoes. But, the two plants in the back yard in smaller pots, I've still got hopes for. The tomatoes COULD ripen yet. I hope. That's why I've covered both plants with the drop-cloth. I want each of those plants to have a ripe tomato or two for me to gather seed from. I REALLY, REALLY want to be able to save that seed to plant next year. Esp. with the Black from Tula, as we used up all the seed in the origional packet. Also, my Sunset Runner beans are finally producing beautiful flowers, but I don't see any bean production off them yet. At this point, I'm not even worrying about enough beans to eat for the winter, simply enough to provide seed for next year's planting. *sigh*
• I've also given up on my eggplant. Nothing came of it this year. My pepper plant is getting tall and quite leafy in my kitchen window, but hasn't yet shown any sign of flowering. *sigh* Even if it does flower, the best I can hope for is pepper formation through hand-pollination. By the time it flowers, at this rate, all natural pollinators will have died off or gone into hibernation for the year.
• Over at the inlaw's we're completely done with carrots (I may have mentioned that), cucumbers and radishes. We still have more beets to pick. Our cabbages are huge, to the point where some of them are splitting. We're trying to use them, but they're not getting canned, it seems. I've got a jar going with some kimchi in it that I'm hoping to divide into smaller cans yet and process for keeping. We haven't yet pulled the potatoes, as the potato plants are still growing and thriving. The onions all came to nothing. (My onions were all pearl onion size, or smaller. All dozen of them.) The peas need to be picked, but I have yet to get over to the inlaw's with the time to do so. Also, we have some beans growing, but we're not sure that we're going to have enough to preserve for the winter. (And, we were REALLY wanting to try pickling some beans on our own this year. Though, if we don't, I'll be back in at the Ornamentary, buying more pickled green beans from her.)
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  I think that's pretty well it for now. Gotta get eatting, so I can head out to work at a decent time. *grin*
  
  Have a Blessed Day!