I Just Want Vegetables

When your life is on one of those really smooth patches and you're just gliding through the trees, it pays to take a step back and really savor the moment. Well, the past week spent at 'the Farm' was just so delightful for all of us that it deserves a comment or two. The Squash Soup made with homegrown butternuts and all sorts of good vegetables and seasoning made by the K-grrl was to die for. The brand-new, better-than-original motorhovel door fashioned by the 'SteelKing' is beyond belief. The value of letting our puppy learn how to be a 'real farm dog' and get filthy, dig trenches, and just exhaust herself everyday was better than any 'dog trainer' we could have hired. The 'happy day' massage with my new favorite vietnamese immigrant was indeed a happy ending to my aching head. But most of all was the time given so freely and so generously to our every whim (ie. "let's go sheet shopping", "we need a dog bed", "oooh, Trader HoHo's coffee"). I think to be loved in such a way is something of an honour and I want it known how humbled I feel. Apparently, you can pick your family as well as your friends...Yay.

In the Company of Loved Ones

NO DOGS IN BED

As these photos clearly show...the 'puppy' is winning. There is just something so irresistible about cuddling in bed with a dog. Oh, come on, its true and as hard as we try to enforce the 'no dog in the bed' rule, they simply wear us down. The problem with PonyGirl is that she is still growing and has the longest legs of any dog around...ever. Even she has problems with where to put those legs when sleeping. Consequently, she is getting most of the bed. So, things may have to change in the near future. I know that will be a struggle but she does choose, on her own, to sleep elsewhere about every other night (blessed bliss). I am hoping that means she is just as uncomfortable with multiple sleeping partners as the rest of us. Bon nuit mes amis.

Firmly Entrenched

As these photos clearly show...the 'puppy' is winning. There is just something so great about sleeping with a dog. We

Dying Was NOT an Option

March 1, 1995 - December 30, 2008 I thought that it would be easy to let this day pass without any words. I thought that maybe I had said everything that I needed to say and to say more would just be belabouring the point. But, then I thought that love, in any shape or form, for any being, is something to be proud of. I am glad that I can, and do, feel with such intensity. It borders on obsession at times and that is a part of me that I finally realize, is a part of me and needs no apologies. Diving into love puts my world into place. It makes things right. It clears the fog. It makes me. Dog Bless you.

Planet of the Apes?

This is indeed a strange land. It is hard to understand how this place on the very populated west coast of the US of A, and the next-door neighbor to California, and just a few hours from Seattle, for God's sake, does not have the internet. I confess, it has been a bit of an adjustment for me and yes, I have whined and complained some about it but in reality I have come to appreciate its absence. It has freed up so much time for other things. Trite, I know and I am embarrassed and pleased with this realization. I get to play a lot more and not feel rushed. The evenings are long and luxurious. Life seems a bit more 'hands-on' and far less 'virtual'. I won't lie and say that having a connection tonight hasn't made me giddy, but I will say that I am not feeling so 'obligated' to this machine as perhaps I was just a few weeks ago. Funny, how quickly you adjust to whatever your situation makes out to be normal. This wet, coastal forest was just covered with all kinds of mushrooms these last few weeks. As you can tell if you have read my blog, I adore mushrooms and just couldn't resist showing off the biggest one I have ever, and probably will ever, find. Before we got that baby sauteed, one of our resident deer had it for lunch, right off the table. Apparently, someone got distracted by a beach.

Comfort Dog

Some pictures do indeed say it all. See Spot Sleep. See Spot Wake Up !

Pokey Puppy Attacked Again !

Some things are just not to be understood. For instance, what is is about this particular stuffed animal that seems to drive dogs insane? This adorable, little thing has had its face ripped apart and sewn back together THREE times. Cowgirl could almost not be in the same room with this thing. If she caught a glimpse of it she became obsessed with getting it and killing it. Let me say here that normally, a stuffed animal person, I am not, but I really like this one and maybe that is its attraction, plain & simple. I like it and therefore it must be destroyed? Well, the other day little Miss PonyGirl spied it for the first time. I watched as it happened. The gears in her head started spinning, her eyes widened in disbelief (?) or was it desire, and in no time flat, she was on it. If I hadn't been there to wrestle it away from her and we are talking 'WWF' here, this pup not only would have killed 'pokey' but I am fairly certain, she would have eaten it. The legacy lives on.

Keeping the BadThings at Bay

Maybe its the names of places around here...Devil's Punchbowl, Boiler Bay, Road's End and my current favorite Cape Foulweather, or its the wind and the rain, in combination, the whole night through that spin me into bad dreams. But lately, the big bad wolf has been at my door. I don't really put much stock in dreams foretelling the future or any such thing but it is always interesting where the mind does go in the dark of night. It is almost as scary as some of my secret fantasies (yes, those kind, and no, I am not going there). A thought just did occur to me. Maybe, just maybe, it is the wild mushrooms we have been eating that are the culprits. Those delectable specimens that all the local mushroom hunters have assured us are quite edible and grow all over the place. They are good, let me tell you. Sauteed in olive oil, butter, with garlic, shallot and some hot red chiles, a little fresh parlsey and a squeeze of lemon, then served with a nice crusty baguette. Oh, and don't forget the wine -- either a dry, chilled chardonnay or a heavier, deeper red. Not too picky as both are good choices. The 'King Boletes' are the ones we are gorging on, and the orange ones with the white spots are the 'Fly Agarics' that we just look at and admire. Oh, and just so you know, none of my bad dreams has so far come to pass, so mushrooms are still on the menu.

DEW

The reason there are no photos here of the beautiful and spectacular beach that we are currently living by is because of that tiny little word...DEW. It appears on my camera whenever I attempt to take an outdoor shot. It then shuts the camera down. I guess Oregon is a little wet and my old camera is way too sensitive. I have figured out a way to trick it though, so next post I hope to share some shots of life outside the door. In the meantime let me say that it is wicked nice here. A perfect place to be at this time of the year. Very few people anywhere and miles and miles of wide, open, wild coastline to trek. The new girl is really enjoying seafood. She finds lots of crab legs and clams to eat on our morning hikes. I hope the shells are a good source of calcium or something, because she eats those too. She also became crazy-happy yesterday when she found a pelican wing and started to devour it while running away from me. I think that explains the hacking that is going on today. Other than that PonyGirl is having the time of her life so far.