Archive for category life
Yay for pretty days
We are having GORGEOUS weather this weekend and have been taking full advantage. Most of yesterday was spent outside, tending to the backyard and playing with the kiddos…we had a flood in December which “relocated” all of our woodchips from the flower beds to various piles around our yard, so finally getting some of those raked up and tossed out. I spent a disgusting amount of time doing the disgusting job of picking up dog poop so that we could freely play. I always tend to neglect that job in the winter, plus we’ve had so much rain this season it’s been hard to find a day to do it. I will spare you all a photo of the giant bag full of poop that I ended up with, but suffice to say that it was impressive.
Charlie's attitude this morning was, umm, less than desirable. 
Jack, however, was having a grand time
Today was bath day since the yard is actually somewhat dried out and less muddy than it has been for weeks. I know you all probably hate Cardi photos in the grass as much as I do, but this part of the yard is by far the best light for taking photos and I wanted to try him on the ground instead of the table. I think he looks MUCH better when he free stacks than when I hand stack him, for some reason he has a tendency to lock his back legs oddly when I hand stack him, so we’re working on that. (I’m speaking in general, not about these pictures. I hand stacked him for these) He’s starting to look like a grown up all of a sudden, is high in the rear OFTEN although these photos turned out ok I threw away a bunch that were really bad LOL. Ah, the fun growing stages of puppies! They turned 8 months old a few days ago.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Today I promised Charlie that we would make pink heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast. I didn’t have a mold really, so just poured them into heart-ish shapes…not bad, really! They were prettier before they browned but that’s ok, she was tickled. It may have been helped by the chocolate chips inside, too.
Jack wasn't sure what to think at first, but ate them after a bit
And the extra special part of today…..SNOW!!!! After hoping to get some yesterday morning and being pretty disappointed with just a dusting, it starting snowing here early this morning and gave us a good ground cover. The snowman didn’t last long as it was warming up quickly, but the kids had fun! Nash wants to spend the whole day outside. We are supposed to get some rain later (eww), and maybe more snow overnight.
Jack stayed on the sidewalk for a while...he kept pointing at the snow and saying "Yuck!". He did eventually venture out into the yard but mostly stayed in the cleared tracks, LOL.
Throwing snowballs for Nash
Charlie chasing Daddy with a snowball
A very angry Jack-in-the-box
I was in the kitchen when I heard Jack calling for “help, I need help….MAMA!”
Morning romp
Nash and Brady have gotten to be really good play partners. Nash is still easily submissive, which appeases Brady’s inflated sense of self-worth. So every morning after breakfast they have a good long play session. I whipped out the video camera to try to catch them in action, but naturally as soon as I had the camera on them they changed the game. It’s still cute to see Brady play so much even though he’ll turn 12 this year. Lizzie is sometimes in on the game also, but generally she lays at my feet while the boys act like idiots. However, if Brady starts to get out of hand and is “too mean” to Nash, Lizzie is RIGHT THERE in his face. She puts her body between them and grumbles at Brady to knock it off…he always seems to back off like “ok ok, sorry!”. It’s kind of cute to see her protecting her son like that, and it’s been really interesting to watch how the pack dynamics have changed since Lizzie had the puppies and Nash joined the family.
Here is Nash-the-dork showing you his chewie:
Brady and Nash playing a bit:
Random product recs
Anyone who has ever been around my house for dinnertime is always AMAZED at how quickly my dogs eat. Molly-the-Moose would regularly eat her meal so fast that it would come back up, upon which she would…yes…eat it again. Yum! *IF* no other dog is in the house, Brady eats relatively leisurely…taking maybe a full minute to eat kibble. But if other dogs are present, even separating them all to crates or their own area doesn’t work…they still all wolf it down. Dinnertime here lasts approximately 13 seconds total.
I’ve always been concerned about bloat because of this, and even more than that it just doesn’t seem HEALTHY to eat that fast. I soak their kibble for a few minutes before feeding (worst minutes of their lives, just ask them), but still worry. And with our recent digestive, ahem, issues I am more sensitive than ever to what and how my dogs eat. So, I stumbled somewhere across a link to these dog bowls that promised to “prevent your dog from bolting his food”.
They arrived today, and sure do work! I’ve heard before about putting a rock in your dog’s bowl to keep them from eating so fast…this is even better IMO. They are a bit spendy but, well, so are gastro problems that require vet visits. Dinner tonite took nearly 2 whole minutes. http://www.brake-fast.net/
Also, I don’t know about you other show people but I tend to have several different fancy “show” shampoos, but always found myself lacking a good, solid basic “everyday” dog shampoo. Obviously my dogs don’t get washed every day, but when they just plain old need a bath I want something that smells good, isn’t harsh on the coat, and rinses quickly and cleanly. I bought a gallon jug of this stuff a while back off of Amazon:
It’s called “Buddy Wash” (yes, ridiculous name) and is made by Cloud Star. Natural ingredients, herbal scent (I got lavender and mint), soap-free (so can be used with flea treatments), and can be used on puppies. I love that it’s thick and easy to put on, lathers well, and rinses easily. And I think it smells great!
Stuff n stuff
Happy Holidays! Not much going on here…we’re all just vegging out in a post-Christmas haze. My mom flew down on Christmas Day and Charlie has been doing her best to keep her busy. 
I think the kids had a great Christmas…it was refreshing this year because now that Charlie has hit age 5, she has gotten over some of the overstimulation that the holidays bring and instead has just been a ton of fun. Jack, on the other hand…well, at least he’s cute. We’re heading off later today to see the Princess and the Frog.
Waiting at the top of the stairs on Christmas Day, anxious to see what Santa brought! (Mommy had to stay there to make sure Jack stayed!)
It occurred to me the other day that I need to start training my puppy! He’s doing ok with some things, not so much with others, but his first show is a bit over a month away and it would be nice if he wasn’t a total idiot. And I can’t wait for some of the other babies to hit the ring! January should bring “first show” experiences for June, Piper, Echo (maybe, seems like she’ll be the slowest to mature so may be held out), Maddie, and Lucy. Not sure about Vegas but I’m sure when their shows start up again Joyce will be getting him out and about also. Out of curiousity I weighed Nash the other day…he’s a solid boy at 26.2 pounds, but that should put him at a quite respectable adult weight between 34-36 pounds.
I can’t wait to see what 2010 brings!
Pupdate – Harmony! And yes, I’m still alive.
Well we’ve had a pretty terrible month here. Charlie came down with H1N1 right before Thanksgiving and shared it with me, so we had to cancel our trip to Ohio to visit with my family. Nash is officially in the “too awkward for photos” phase, so you may not be seeing much of him for a while LOL! Our weather here has turned lovely and rainy…we had a flash flood 2 nights ago that put our street and entire yard under about a foot of water. Hooray! Thankfully our house is built on a crawl space, so we didn’t have water issues in the house, but our yard is a mess and it is going to take weeks for the crawlspace to dry out. Nash thought it was great and tried to jump into the swiftly running water (before I realized exactly what was going on)…stupid puppy!
On a positive note (I think), Lizzie has decided to come into season again, 2 months later than usual. I’m actually kind of happy about it, if she stays on her regular 6 month schedule that means she wouldn’t be in standing season during the National anymore. Will be interesting to see what Nash thinks and yes, I know that you can’t necessarily trust almost-6-month-old puppies not to figure it out. 
On to Miss Harmony! I know some of you see her on Facebook, but I got a nice note from her kind owners and wanted to share.
Aloha! Here are a few pictures of Harmony. She is always excited to go with me to work each day. Her “aunts” all love her and she’s spoiled absolutely rotten. She’s coming along great being my Service Dog and she’s official now at work. As of yesterday she weighs close to 19 pounds. Not as big as her siblings but that’s okay with us. Her nicknames, so far, are Harmony Pup, Puppity Pup, Pup, Little Bit.
She Loooooooooves belly rubs, balls, squeaky toys, playing tug, being cradled and she’s an absolute snuggle bunny. She’s very intuitive in taking care of me and my PTSD. We’re basically just taking her natural instincts, characteristics and such and developing them. We can’t tell you how much we appreciate being able to be able to take care of her. She is a total joy and pleasure. Thank you again sooooooo very much you chose the perfect dog for us. Thank you.
Aloha & Blessings,
Patti & Cindi
Not a show dog, but a pretty and flashy girl anyway!
Harmony and Patti
Friend or Family?
It’s always interesting when you add a new dog to the household. Even more interesting to me this time because it’s the first time it’s one that was BORN here and now has to live with his mama. I know over the years I’ve talked about Brady, who has always been the dominant personality in our house by far. He’s alpha and opinionated, a bit of the fun police, and everyone has to play by his rules. As he’s gotten older he’s gotten less and less tolerant of dogs that disobey him LOL. But at his base, he’s never a mean or aggressive dog…his goal in life is always to play, and play hard. Just as long as everydog knows that All The Toys Are Brady’s.
So, Brady and Nash get along just fine. Nash, at least for now, crawls on his belly and sucks up to Brady, who will then decide to play with The Boy. And they do fine together. What has surprised me is how much Lizzie likes her son. (granted, I can understand, as I’m a bit smitten with him myself…) They spend most of the day together, chewing on sticks and bones in the backyard, wrestling, barking at the neighbors, coming inside to crash on the floor. I still think that Nash would really prefer a more playful playmate…he loves his mama and they do great together, but at her core she still just doesn’t like to RUN that much, so most of their time together is fairly low-key. I try to pick up the slack in exercise because otherwise in the evening, Nash is So. Bored. he is forced to chase his own tail for entertainment, because the older dogs turn into pumpkins at about 8 pm.
First, I bite you face off
Then we can wrastle
What did you roll in, mom?
Pretty boy
The family that chews together, stays together?
Jack is upset because I'm spending too much time with dogs. Anyone feel bad for him?
Maybe he and Nash can share a bone.
Now LIZZIE is jealous!
Puppies available!
My friend Laura Prosser in southern Tennessee has some lovely Cardigan puppies that are looking for loving pet homes! These cuties are nearly ready to go home, so if you’re interested then go ahead and contact her. I went to visit them on Halloween and they are all beautiful, sweet babies who should make great, healthy pets. You can contact Laura at prosser13@charter.net and see more pictures of the babies on her blog, http://lybertygirl.blogspot.com.
Recipe share – Cincinnati Chili!
I felt like cooking the other day and made a BIG batch of my favorite Cincinnati-style Chili. I froze a good bunch of it and just polished off the last of the rest as leftovers and had inspiration to share the recipe, since it’s chili season just about everywhere right now!
If you’ve never had Cincinnati-style chili then I think you’re in for a treat. It’s very much it’s “own thing” and has spawned several restaurants dedicated to the unique flavor and serving methods…Skyline and Goldstar Chili probably being the most well-known. I’ve rarely seen them outside of the midwest though, and many people here in the South have never heard of “Cincinnati-style” chili. It has some interesting spices, no beans (except on the side if you want), and is traditionally served over spaghetti. I know, right? The meat is also usually boiled instead of browned, but that makes me gag a little bit so I brown mine. The serving methods are either as a “3-way”…spaghetti, chili, and a huge pile of shredded sharp cheddar, a “4-way”…same but with kidney beans on top of the chili, or a “5-way”…with added chopped raw onions also. It’s also very, very good on a hot dog with a pile of cheese on top. In case you were wondering. Don’t let the ingredient list scare you off, it’s mostly spices! You can also add Tabasco to taste at the end if you like, I prefer mine without.
Cincinnati Chili (adapted from The Best Recipe)
salt
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (you can use whatever fat % you want…my last batch was actually with only 7% and was still really good)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped fine (about 2 cups)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp chili powder (I usually add more)
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne (I add more)
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp brown sugar
28 oz can crushed tomatoes (the ones I like best are Muir Glen Fire-Roasted Organic)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 cups water
To serve:
1 pound cooked spaghetti
shredded sharp cheddar
15 oz can red kidney beans, drained rinsed and warmed
1 medium onion, chopped
Brown ground beef in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Drain beef in a strainer and return pot to stove (empty) over medium heat. Add vegetable oil to pot and add onions when warm. Saute onions until soft and browned around the edges, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minutes. Stir in spices and cook, stirring constantly, about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add chicken broth, vinegar, brown sugar, tomatoes, tomato paste, and water, scraping bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits. Add the ground beef back in and increase heat to high. At this point it should look a little thin. As soon as the liquid boils, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until chili is deep red and has thickened slightly…about 1 hour. Adjust seasonings to taste.
To serve, pile spaghetti in a bowl and top with chili and choice of beans, onions, and/or shredded cheese.