I've been doing some webwork lately, and set up blogs for my clients , Needle-Lane Farms & Wines Beeyard, and I said to myself, "Laura, you can babble with the best of them. By God, a blog must be JUST what you need. " And actually, it will be a lovely way to connect with my Tarot folk out there.

New stuff in my life- Petey, the puppy. Just at a time when my kids are entering teenhood- I have finally lost that faint aroma of peanut butter that accompanied me for years- (which came AFTER the faint smell of spit-up...) I was finally starting to smell like me again, but my lap felt pretty empty. I guess I missed the snuggling you get, along with the all the smearing and the smells. Enter Petey.

We were always big dog people. Well, not big DOG people, BIG dog people- the Labradors, etc. However, we don't have that kind of house- we are just barely cramming all of us in here. We finally got another chair in our living room so that when my eldest comes home we can all watch TV together- tres sad. My Daughter's friend has a dog, Stella the Shih tzu, and her litter came on December 22. Being BIG dog people, I didn't have any interest in the whole thing.

Well, so much for plans. Margaret got us to look at them, and we were lost from there. And sadly, I have become the kind of sappy small dog freak I once despised- sweaters and all. I have no idea how I lived without this amazing little guy.

Any Shih Tzu owners out there? Petey has been doing this thi ng where he runs and hides from us if he gets out and loose. He's fine on walks- any suggestions?

Other big News! Across the road from my house is a Tallgrass Prairie Conservation project. It's a gorgeous view for us through every season. From spring through fall it bloooms, daisies and black-eyed susans and more, the fragrance from whatever is in season floats on the breeze to us. On summer nights the grass sparkles with the lights from a thousand fireflies. This is all the good news. However, part of the cycle is burning, and they finally burned this week. This is the sad time for me-it seems late in the season, the Redwind Blackbirds that nest over there have been back sonce late February. Wouldn't you think this burn sets them back, poor guys? And before they started these burns we would hear pheasants over there. They are gone now... And really, burnin g is the bad news, but it's a small price to pay.

Anyway, I'll keep track of the view out my front door and share with it you all as the tallgrass comes back to life!