Hilltop Garden Tour

Went on the Hilltop Garden tour today with my friend Mary. This was my favorite garden - It has my DREAM pool. I have always wanted a little cocktail or lap pool, but we just don't have room here. Having space for it is a priority as we are looking for a new house.
More pics are linked in the linky mclinkersons section.

Reading lists - suggestions always welcome!

READING and TO READ lists now on Goodreads.com - link on right.
Topics I want to read about:

• The East India Trading Company
• The history and development of the banking industry
• The failure of Bear Stearns and the impending burst of real estate bubbles (HA! BUSTED!)
• Living vegetarian
• Halliburton and BlackWater
• The Tuskegee Experiment
• China
• Sadam H.

National

Made it through security @ National in record time. Pics to follow! Now sitting at the airport HAPPILY drinking a mocha latte. My only real complaint about work this week is that the coffee in our central office was awful. I tried it from 2 different floors. I don't remember it being bad before, maybe I've gotten to be even more of a coffee-snob.

Schaffer

Did you ever see a more "happy to know ya" kind of face?

Bella

A little digital scrapbook page I did right after we lost Bella.

Sandy

My brother's goofy (but sweet) Sandy.

My Daddy

My Daddy and me waiting to go eat dinner @ Lambert's in Gulf Shores - Home of the Thow'd Rolls!

size matters

Here's a good example of the size difference between males and females. The two dogs standing together are brother and sister - from the same litter! Greta is in the foreground.

Justice

Here's Justice wanting to sit in his momma's lap. Justice weighs 105 lbs. and is 19 months old. For comparison, Greta weighs 57 lbs. He's a big, big dog. And a total mamma's boy.

Giant ligularia

We like giant things around here, and the giant ligularia is no exception. I think I finally found a place it likes!

Jaunty little man

Schaffer feeling jaunty in a big run all by himself. He can taunt the big dogs but they can't get him!

Giant Schnauzer Fun Day

One of our friends in Baton Rouge had a "Giant Schnauzer Fun Day" for East Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. There were 19 giants there, plus Schaffer. Fun was had by all. There was also a grooming lesson. When those "professional" schnauzer people (they are all breeders/handlers/etc) saw the way Greta and Schaffer were groomed they said "Oh that will just not do." They showed us how to give them an underline instead of a skirt like the pet store groomers gave them. I have to say that they do look much more schnauzery.