There has been a whirlwind of activity in my life right now both at work (we are just busy) and at home (way more fun busy).

I realized on Tuesday that after my brother arrived Sunday afternoon, I literally had been on the run and not spent much time with him at all (maybe he is happy about that who knows)!  Yup, that crazy....

Monday I got a ping from a dog friend I know through correspondence but had not met in person.  She, her husband and dogs were on their way home to Oregon after a 6 week whirlwind trip doing dog shows from CA to TX to WI to MN to ND and were camping just an hour away.   So I roused my "always game for an adventure" friend Robin and we took off after I got off work to go down and visit leaving my Mom and brother on their own for entertainment (like I'm so entertaining - NOT).   In addition I was able to deliver to Robin, her new-to-her camera (my old Rebel T1i setup).   After making sure I had my video cam in the car we took off and darned if I didn't take a one video and Robin did take some photos and am hoping to see them at some point.

Tuesday was just one of those super days with a coffee break with one friend and lunch with another.   I also got an email from a gal looking to buy my chest freezer - we loaded that up and it is gone!  Woohoo!   Then while my Mom fixed dinner (chicken and dumplings and corn on the cob - YUMMO), my brother and I got busy and pulled the lift bed out of my trailer.   Crazy I know!   Actually it is an experiment now that I have the new benches in there I have basically a twin size bed to sleep on and if I have company can reconfigure it to make 2 beds - albeit they are a tad shorter than a twin but still workable).   The lift bed was causing me some grief with the a/c (you had to put it down at least 6 inches to get any air out of it) and it covered the one back ceiling light making the back a dark hole.   Since it really was an easy procedure to remove (with two people it was) that is what we did and put it in the garage.  I'll keep it in case the experiment isn't successful but it doesn't take much space so not a big deal to keep around if I were ever to want to use it or sell the trailer.   Holy cow the light and space in there now is incredible AND I have the option of getting some cargo nets to utilize for storage potential.   Bonus!  

Wednesday evening was spent getting the new hanging rod put up in my brother's trailer - version 2.0 we called it!   Then on to my trailer and adding a shelf above the benches on one side just for a little added storage.  Then trying to figure out a better way to get my TV where it needs to be.   We also got the shelves into the garage that I pulled out of the trailer.  YAY!   Gets some things off the floor and where I can get to them.  Installed a new shelf/tv stand in my trailer AND the coolest thing, got an overhead shelf in over the benches that get this - will go up and down with the bed rigging.  HA!   It is awesome.  So here are some of the trailer pics...

My brother really likes to stay busy so he's been wandering around making up projects that need to be done.  Okay maybe not "making them up" but you know, my priorities usually dictate what gets done.  

He was sure he could figure out a way for me to be able to hang the kayak without all the help I needed previously.  He rigged me up some pulleys (didn't realize they were covered in gold till I had to pay for them) and I actually can get it up and down by myself with a few back and forth to each end.

So Saturday's project (and a good part of Friday evening) was getting the new kitchen sink installed.  It went amazingly well and no lives were lost.  One trip to town to get parts once we had the old one out (and lunch) and we had it up and running by 5:00 feeding time (for the dogs). It was tricky going from a double bowl to a deeper single (drain issues) and the sink was considerably wider than my old one so we were not sure we'd get it in.  We did and I was finally able to cut off the stupid deep sill on the window (which now I need to finish trimming out but no biggy.  Whew!

The not-so-optimistic audience member. I did get out and took some photos with my new lens on my big camera (that wasn't getting used as much as it should).  I gave away my old Rebel which I was defaulting to a bit too often. I spent the $$ on some good glass and figured out a range of zoom lens that I think will work well for me.  Some garden photos and dog photos later....

This lonely straw flower came up in my garden this year and I absolutely adore it.   Am hoping more decide to join in! We are still hoping to get out camping in the next few weeks.  My poodles are thrilled to have BOTH my brother and Mom there all day to play fetch with them during work breaks.   They are beyond tired at night but we have put Sterling on restrictions again as he has injured his front shoulder AGAIN!  I cannot have him broken when we have shows in another few weeks AND we need to be carting!