Goodnight Balloon?

Westin Hotels & Resorts suggest sleeping on a bed of balloons would be a restful, dreamy experience. The above ad is for their Heavenly® Bed which is engineered for a "good night's sleep" which will "reduce stress." Beautiful, sleeping woman demonstrates how this is supposed to look.

When I look at this picture, I hold my breath and pray she doesn't move. If she does, she will fall through the balloons and smother to death. Or they will POP! 

I know this about balloons. I had a very bad experience playing with a birthday balloon some years back. Now I know - balloons are NOT stress-reducers. When I see balloons, I know it is best to slink away and hide on another level of the house. 

I sure wouldn't sleep in Westin's Hellish® Bed - not for all the dog biscuits at Petco®.

Hellhound!

Three Ball Dog

I am not a ball dog. I tried it once and it is not for me. Even the fuzzy balls are a poor imitation of a squirrel. Don't even get me started on the whole fetch thing. But I can still be impressed by my fellow canines' skills. There is no way I could do this!

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Puli Rug

Here is a lovely rug for Puli lovers.

Like the Shar Pei Chair, this is a delightful intersection of design and essence of dog.  

I am not sure how one would vacuum this rug - but who cares about such nonsense? I can't decide if that is accent pillow on the righthand chair or a lap dog. I haven't the faintest idea what those white things on the table are. Hopefully coconut puffs.

Pulis are Hungarian herding and livestock guarding dogs with corded, virtually waterproof coats.

Puli in action. 

Zombie Farmers

While I waited for Boys#1&2 to drop blueberry pancake bits this morning, this article in the morning paper grabbed my attention. 

I found it a chilling article for the Saturday morning Variety section. 

Maybe I have been reading too many of Boy#1's zombie books. But that hand is darn creepy with its undead fingernails. And that chicken wire ain't gonna keep that other zombie in for long!

Susan tried to assure me that it was an article about female farmers, sustainable agriculture and visiting children from a local charter school. 

Poor slob. 

She will be one of the first to go in the zombie apocalypse. "Oh, someone is at the door...I will go see who it is... Aaaaauuuuuugh!!!!"

Further investigation proved my initial suspicions were correct about the nature of this farm. I found these additional photos accompanying the online version of the article. Pretty dark for a "Lifestyle" article.

A new zombie farmer is created and left to season in the field.

Zombie farmers wear pink flip-flops? Who knew?

A zombie farmer probes the leaves for produce to sell
at the Zombie Farmers Market (Sundays 1-5)

Zombie farmers leave their fields to find lunch.

Zombie farmers have not yet mastered the art of peaceful conflict resolution.

Zombie farmers may be taking root at a farm near you.

More American Gothic parodies

A Bakery Worth Visiting

Some of my people were on a road trip this July and found this most excellent bakery. Stop by and check it out, if you are in Ankeny, Iowa. It looks to be a fine establishment.