2nd verse, same as the first

Finally got to feeling better and then Thanksgiving - the unofficial beginning of baking season - arrived. We had a lovely small Thanksgiving with another couple who introduced me to the wonders of Chocolate Chip cookies WITH CAYENNE PEPPER. Don't knock it, it is FABULOUS! You don't taste the heat of the pepper. It actually makes the cookie taste likes its warm straight out of the oven with a hint of gingerbread taste to it. FABULOUS. I'm going to try and wrangle the recipe out of my friend.

So I haven't been able to get in the backyard at all. Tobie as become accustomed to the aerial run and is doing OK with it. We have another dog, a rat terrier named Bruce who is enjoying Tobie on the aerial run as well. We got Bruce from the animal shelter and whoever had him prior to us bobbed his tail. Tobie's favorite pasttime is to nip at Bruce's tail. So now, Bruce likes to step just outside of Tobie's reach and put his backside to her. I swear he does this with a smile on his face.

Anyhoo, the last 3 months have had record rainfalls. Lake Travis is considered full when it is at 681 feet. On September 11, it was at 630 feet. Today, it's measuring at 651 feet. So our backyard has gone from hay to emerald green to mud. Clovers, it turns out, do not have deep roots. I was talking with my husband yesterday and LCRA had announced that while we did have significant rainfall, it still looks like we are going to be in a drought next summer (hopefully not as harsh as the one we just had). So even if we do get more rain, I don't think I'm going to buy any sod until sometime after or around April,2010. So in the meantime, I'm going to work on leveling the yard and figuring out more of where stuff is going to go.

In other words... back to the drawing board!