Nothing is better than licking the inside of a Cheetos bag…
…and grinning about it afterwards!
It’s Wednesday, and you know what happens here on this day of the week – – the garbage man cometh and the dogs are always waiting for him!
Nikita and Bella love to sit at the front door and watch the neighborhood, and it appears that they miss nothing. Just like the little spider that was crawling down the front door that they noticed.
I love our dogs!
Summer is gone, but I am not even sure that we even had a Summer over here. This was a strange Summer as we did not have the typical temperatures we normally do. The garden suffered a little with all the rain we got, but it is still alive and producing all the Juliet Tomatoes we could ever wish for. The pepper plants are doing well and we have been enjoying all the home grown peppers in our meals.
Out of all the pumpkin plants that we had planted, we only got two pumpkins out of that entire batch. We are bummed, but we think that perhaps we planted too many in one area, so next year we will do half the amount. We could have had a few more pumpkins this year, as we had lots of pumpkin vines crawl up the back fence, then fell due to the weight of the growing pumpkins and the vines got cracked, and that did them in. By the way, the adorable “Pumpkin Patch” sign was a gift from our neighbor Steve! (Thank you Steve for such a wonderful gift!)
The Cleveland Browns beat St. Louis on Sunday 26-24 on their first home opener game, and they said that this is the first time in ten years that the Cleveland Browns won on a home opener. Amazing! It was a nail biter game, but a win is a win, and we’ll take it! I took advantage of cheering on the Browns to a win by dressing up our Skellie as he sat in the front yard waving to everyone who passed by the house. The funny thing is, is that when I brought Skellie into the house afterwards, I sat him at the kitchen table and left him there overnight. When I woke up the next morning, he scared the crap out of me because I thought someone was sitting at the table! LOL Â (never will do that again)
With the changing of the seasons from Summer to Fall, we need to take advantage of this time of year and start clipping the seeds from all of our flowers and save them for next year. I have a huge supply of Marigold seeds that I have harvested & dried for next year already. Once your flowers die back, make sure you clip off the dried flower and extract the seeds. Let them sit out and dry thoroughly, then label a small baggie and place them in there for next year.
I hope to get a few more Fall Mums from the garden center because I want to place them in this wood box that I painted & stenciled for the front porch. My little yellow mailbox already adorns a nice purple mum too! One of my nice huge paper mache pumpkins is also on display here!
Nikita and Bella must know that the season has changed too, because all they pull out of their toy box are their Halloween toys! Their favorite one is the huge stuffed pumpkin that they always play tug-of-war with!
What is going on at your end of the world with the season changes? How are you enjoying the Fall season?
Our sweet girl, Bella, turned two on Sunday! Bella has been such a wonderful addition to our little family and we love her so much. I still remember the day when we saw Bella for the first time, as we immediately fell in love with her.
I love all of Bella’s facial expressions, as she has many!
Bella posing next to my chalk birthday sign, but is interested in looking at something else. LOL
This is one of my favorite birthday photo’s of Bella.
“Oh, what’s that?”
This is a typical scene at our house with Bella. As you can see, Bella is not pampered at all. She loves being covered up when she naps with Teddy.
Look at how little Bella was when we brought her home for the first time at two months old. Bella and Nikita fell in love with each other that day and have been best buddies ever since.
This photograph is so silly, as you can see Bella sticking her tongue out at Nikita! Nikita was probably thinking “Is she staying here?”
Happy Birthday sweet Bella, we love you!
Summer brings so many unexpected joys! Soak them all in and enjoy the little things in life that make you so happy!
Nikita enjoying a nice warm evening out on the lawn with us watching the traffic.
Nikita saw “another doggie”.
Bella just “chills” when she is outside. Her face says it all. “What’s Up?”
Blue Hydrangea, oh so beautiful! I want these too! Look at all those buds!
Pistachio Hydrangea! We saw this at Lowes and I want it so badly!
Woke up the other morning and saw one of the dog toys sitting in the bathroom. I loved how the shadow of the alligator reflects on the side of the bathtub.
Our froggy made it to the backyard and somehow he crawled up onto the netting we have over our flower garden. He is so talented that he could join the circus!
It’s the little things in life that matter the most.
Nikita is fascinated by paper. Period. I can crumble up even the smallest piece of paper and she hears it… and wants it badly! Then stares at me until I give it to her to play with.
The skies offer a wide variety of views lately.
This little fly landed on the front door while I was looking out.
That’s me in Grandma’s gazing ball in her backyard.
Bella always gives me this look – “It wasn’t me”.
Let the woo woo’s begin as the garbage man cometh, all heck breaks out! The mechanical arm on the garbage truck drives Nikita and Bella crazy.
Seeing this on a daily basis always cracks me up because little Bella Boo can barely see out the bedroom window. Best buddies forever.
The 9th annual Pledge For Pets Fundraiser was held this past Friday & Saturday at the APL and it was all about the animals!  The grand total that the APL raised for their event was $84,518.33, and Nikitaland’s total fundraising amount was $1,175 !  Thank you again for those of you who helped us raise this much needed money to help those animals in need and we hope that they all can find their “forever homes”.
When we first arrived at the APL, I needed to turn in all the checks and cash that I raised offline, so Nikita and I headed into the Cash Room. From the second we entered, Nikita got tons of hugs from the volunteers at the APL, and lots of belly rubs too! As you can see, Nikita is not shy from asking for belly rubs!
Glenn Anderson from Q104 just loves our dogs and he always makes sure that he poses for a photo with us!
Bella was a little shy at first, because there were just so many people at the APL, but she quickly warmed up to everyone and won their hearts over. Â I can’t tell you how many people approached us and asked if our dogs were up for adoption! What?! Â It did not surprise me that they asked this, because the APL had lots of other dogs walking around that were up for adoption and I guess Nikita and Bella just blended in. No way would we ever give up our beautiful girls to anyone!
Bella took a pee break outside and strikes a pose!
Nikita met another new friend named Katie.
Our local radio station, Q104, was at the APL hosting the event and as always, they did a super job in broadcasting the event and getting the word out about the importance of how your donation impacts an animals life. Alan Fee, Glenn Anderson, and a newbie intern always make this event so enjoyable. Â They even got the intern to sit inside a dog cage to help collect “cage sponsors” and I even walked over and gave the intern a doggie treat while she was in the cage.
After we spent a few hours watching the live radio show, it was time to head home. We knew the dogs had enough and were tired, so we packed up our things and journeyed home. Â We knew the dogs would pass out when they got home. Â When we got into the car, Bella decided that she wanted to drive home. Â Nikita took a nap in the back seat.
We are so proud to be a part of this event every year, as it means so much to us, and we are so thankful for everyone who helped us raise the much needed donations to help the animals find love, happiness, wellness, and a forever home.
We hope to see your continued support next year! Hugs from all of us at Nikitaland!
Say “Cheese!”
P.S. – FYI, Saturday, May 3rd was also our five year anniversary too!