Christmas Letter 2025

Christmas 2021 Letter

Adventures of Meth & Crack

I've decided going into this second year of the Covid stuff to work on getting a few fun videos up on YouTube. It's called "Adventures with Meth & Crack". 

So far, I'm also learning to do a bit of video editing. Can't say I'm any Spielberg by a long shot but it's fun getting them up and running on YouTube and seeing if others actually view them.

Just need to find some more places to do some of the retriever training or just be sure I have I have my camera running all the time when they do dorky things that make us laugh.

The big project was getting the floor done.  It looks so much more roomy and clean.

Changing out the "window treatments" in the kitchen and dining area wasn't as difficult as I originally thought.  Found a lovely print that really "ties the room together" as The Dude would say. :-) 

Certainly beats that really weird burnt orange version that came with the house when we bought it.

And so we continue on with the year almost already half gone.  Amazing how time flies.

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed life, in general, will return to somewhat normal.  But the new normal may include wearing masks the rest of our lives.  Who knows.  

In the meantime, take care of one another and keep safe and healthy.

Fine line between genius and error. . .

On a roll with making masks for those social-distancing from this Covid event. 

This most recent one had me surprised that the lining on the back landed some text perfectly on the back side.


I was thinking that the fun abstract front would keep the pandemic at bay temporarily . . .


While this side would remind those to make sure to keep up the next appointment for that annual mammogram.

Back To The Future . . .Minnesota Style. . .

A customer picked up one of my brochures at Pampered Poochies where they are kind enough to let me display some of my doggy accessories. And recently one of their customers contacted me to make a couple of shirts for her family member. Even she had a jacket she wanted to have relined. And so she showed me the jacket she had to reline.

Bam! Talk about childhood memories flooding back like a tsunami. :-) She had a jacket with the logo from Be-Mah-Quat Lodge which is the sister resort to the Ball Club Lake Lodge in Ball Club, MN, where we went once a year as kids.



Her family owned both resorts but and sold Ball Club Lake Lodge the year after mom passed away. 

 I am grateful that mom was able to visit one last time before she passed. It was good to visit one of the rare few places our family, especially my folks, could enjoy a few moments of peace and quiet from their rowdy kids. :-)

Christmas With A Lamb and Cherry Pie. . .

Christmas 2019 was a wonderfully quiet day with new taste sensations.

  Well, especially for Meth. Rich went all out preparing a leg of lamb with mint sauce, fondont potatoes and cherry pie.

We both noticed that store bought pies really don't contain much of the pie filling we all hanker for on those holiday occasions.

I did have to chuckle when Rich decided to get creative in covering the pie so it wouldn't dry out. You got to love his ability with foil and a marker.

Short Vacation in Savannah, GA

After working so long, we decided to take a quick weekend vacation to Savannah, GA. Annndddd. . . .we got rained out.

 Well, most of the weekend anyways. It was a great drive to and from, but the majority of the time we wanted to spend discovering the town, it rained. We got totally drenched but luckily it was rather warm and we didn't catch pneumonia.

We did manage to get into town later that evening after the rain subsided to have a leisure walk along the river. Took a bit of time to find a parking spot, but we did. 

Right above the stairs that are one of the entrances down to the river.

Here is a fun sign by the stairs we took down to the walkway.

Although they were made of stone and probably have been there for centuries, they were wide enough to use without stumbling too much.

But you have to keep in mind how many bars were down by the river and I can see (and laugh) as to why the sign needed to be posted. :-)



And of course, as usual, Methanie was the bell of the ball.

Rich took a shot of her sitting pretty on this bench outside of a Christmas shop that even said they prefer to have dogs visit versus children.  Go figure.
:-)  She was loving the attention by any and all that would stop and pet her.

Discovering New Parks. . .and New Places to Sniff!!

Seems Meth has a "nose" for smelling out all the new spots. :-)  She seems to really be in her element when it comes to water that is just over her little elbows.  Well, what dogs have for elbows anyways.  She always seems to have a happy grin when she has room to roam.

We are checking out all the local small parks and state forests around our area.  This one was taken at the Jennings State Forest.  I missed this fun as I was at work but below was another fun Sunday.

It was brutally hot but we found another park, Belmore State Park, I believe.  We had a good time just driving the trails and occasionally stepping out to see something interesting.  Here we stopped for a quick bit and drink and I loved the tree that was in the middle of the rest area.  We had the whole place to ourselves.  It was wonderfully quiet, peaceful and relaxing.

I'm hoping we can take some rare days to explore our local area and see what other fun places we can take Meth.  Well, ones where she CAN swim without having any friendly (or otherwise) alligators tagging along. :-) 

Turtles and Birds. . .

Seems these past couple of weeks has a few fun new animal friends coming across our day to day activities. One of our customers at St. Brendan's Isle came to pick up his mail and brought his good pal, Roscoe. Roscoe is a very friendly and colorful parrot. Can't help but to smile at his manners and attitude.

He was kind enough to let me get near him to take a couple of pictures.

To be honest, he was waiting for one of the staff to go get some crackers we had at the table during lunch.  He would have preferred candy from what his owner had mentioned, but would take whatever might be available.

Just wish he WAS able to say, "Roscoe wants a cracker" instead of the standard, "Polly wants a cracker" one always hears.


Then we had Meth meet up with another turtle at the dog park we usually take her.  She doesn't wander far from us but she is getting better at socializing with the other dogs.

But on this day she met another friend who would rather not have her be friends.  She is more cautious since getting bit on the lip from her first encounter with a turtle.  The little guys are getting better at just plain waiting her out until they can escape. :-)

You Simply Can't Make This Stuff Up . . . At The Fair!

My "situational awareness" simply is nil compared to Rich.  He (not to mention my dad and sister) has the quick sense to grab a one in a thousand shot when he sees it.  This one is no different.

We were at the Clay County Fair down in Green Cove Springs, FL last Friday and were finishing up our walking tour when Rich spotted this group of gentleman.

Really. . .does this visual even need explaining?  I think not. :-)