how can you tell if a bear's been in your tree?

claw marks on the trunk!

what they're after:

reminds me of the old joke: how can you tell if an elephant's been in your refrigerator? there are footprints in the jello.

pouncey is curious. about bears and cherries. and cameras.

nachos on steroids

took nacho for a rabies shot and asked about some supposedly miraculous allergy medicine for dogs that would cost more than groceries and the good doctor gave us some info and gave nacho a steroid shot and he is 98% better.  it should last a month.

the only problem is now he looks like this 

nachodoggy!

the best i've ever seen 'em

these 5 different trees have made themselves into a little family. from afar they look like 1 tree.

update on the oil pulling - went to the dentist yesterday and the very sweet hygienist i've been going to since 2007 said my teeth were 'the best i've ever seen 'em.' i haven't had any head cold symptoms in 4 months now. i am keeping it up! 

i've been spending a huge amount of time the past 2 months getting a skippyhaha.com website together where i can sell my vintage clothing.  it will take me months plural for me to load all 1200 items into the new site, but slowly but surely i am getting there and i hope to have it done by june. the site is live now and open for business, but i want to get everything up there before really publicizing it. but i like how it turned out and it is getting there!

dogwood blossom, dog named nacho

spring, glorious spring!

buzz

ready or not, spring forward!

dealer decal begone!

buying a new car is fun! until you get home and see they've permanently affixed a stupid dealer decal advertisement to your trunk. 

luckily, these can be removed! pretty easily!

first, we washed that part of the car.

next, we sprayed turtle wax adhesive remover - made especially for cars - and peeled off what we could.  a lot was left.




next, we got an extension cord and a hair dryer and heated up the decal for a couple of minutes.

the heat made the remaining decal much easier to peel off.

next we peeled the decal into fun new words: VD HARLOT USA

finally, we sprayed some more adhesive remover, and wiped it clean.

just like new!

sorry south boulevard subaru, we don't love you that much.

regal pouncey approves.

frozen valentine

happy valentine's day from snow-covered asheville! 

may your hearts, cockles, and fingers stay warm today. 

nachodoggy is ready for besos.

Macy's and Hallmark made it what it is today - well it's a corporate holiday!
http://www.alomusic.com/player.html - "Valentine's Day" (about 20 songs down) ALO - Animal Liberation Orchestra

 boogie boarding down the driveway. looks like more fun than it is!  should've greased the board.

formation of a polar bunny vortex:

love and hearts and chocolate to all!

time to fetch the donuts

what happens when there are 3 inches of snow on the ground, the roads are still not plowed, and your dogs have cabin fever?

snow party! fiesta de snow!

frosty whiskers!

powder pounce!

time to make the donuts

what happens when there are 3 inches of snow on the ground, the roads have not been plowed or sanded, but the court has not gotten itself together enough to declare whether it's open or closed?

you put on your suit and hike up the driveway and go to work! behold asheville's most dedicated bankruptcy lawyer.

pointing out the trail of footprints made overnight by small rodents.

deeeeep freeeeeze

the swannanoa river is bigger than a creek. with this week's polar vortex bringing sub-zero (really) temperatures to asheville, the river froze over in parts.

there's a platform of ice along the bank.

thankfully today is back up into the balmy upper 30's and the ice is now chunking and flowing downstream.

many people were without power and many have burst pipes and flooding. we had a burst-scare yesterday afternoon when i turned the kitchen cold water faucet and nothing came out. frozen pipe! all other faucets in the house worked, so we knew it wasn't a main pipe, but the kitchen sink happens to be located DIRECTLY over my 1200 precious heirlooms (vintage clothing) stored on shelves. i strongly considered buying dozens of plastic bins and moving hundreds of pounds of clothing upstairs, just in case. for over 24 hours the pipe was frozen, but i just kept a sharp lookout/listen out and this afternoon it thawed. no burst, no flood, thank you baby jesus!

pouncey has two balls!

merry christmas from dog

holidays are as festive as you are.  festive is as festive does.

even if it's raining and gray and muddy, you can always put on the carpenter's christmas album, boil some cinnamon on the stove, focus on the twinkling lights, and be merrier than buddy the elf.

happy holidays to you and yours! warm puppysnuggles to all!

time sure flies

 
there are very few things in my life that i have done for consistently for 5 years straight. 

i haven't stayed at one school, or played soccer, or played clarinet, or played tennis, or given up eating meat, or kept the same job, or lived in california, or lived by myself, for 5 years straight. 

 i HAVE, however, been (as facebook says) In A Relationship for 5 years as of today. 

 it was 5 years ago that kevin & i met up in hickory for dinner, and nothing's been the same since! 

i have changed my sleep pattern completely - i used to sleep midnight to 8AM, now i sleep 9PM to crack of dawn. i have learned to can it when it should be canned, and speak up when it should be said. for the most part. 

the sum total of my relationship advice is - if you love retriever dogs, pick a partner who acts like a retriever dog! 

i happen to love retriever dogs. they are loyal and friendly and smart and cute and love to be outdoors. i am not saying i couldn't love somebody who didn't have these traits, but it is soooo much more natural for me to love somebody who does! 

basically, i didn't mature and grow as a person in patience and compassion to get to 5 years - more like i found somebody from the start with whom i am highly compatible. when you share values and a general direction, they can get 'their way' and it not be offensive to you. and vice versa. things that could be struggles with a different person, are more like win-win. it's nice.

onward!

good stuff

we were 6 hours into a 9 hour road trip, in a hotel parking lot in columbus, georgia. we were on our way to the florida panhandle for 'parents weekend' - what would be the first meeting of our parents in the 5 years we've been together - picking up my parents at the airport the next morning to stay 3 days at the beach in a condo with kevin's parents. it was 10 pm and kevin asked "can i help you with your bag?"

i said 'sure....where is my bag?"

my bag was at home.

luckily, i am roughly the same size as kevin's mom, who hadn't left for the beach yet and was kind enough to bring me a big bag of t-shirts and pants and belts and jackets that i wore all weekend. along with some junk i scrounged off the target, dick's, and kohl's clearance racks in a one hour early morning shopping frenzy in dothan, alabama, (and one slight breakdown in the kohl's dressing room - why the hell are all these pants spandex! i hate these pants! i am buying these pants anyway! i hate these pants!) and a baseball hat from my dad, i made it!

which was great because we all had a great time. kevin was only slightly creeped out to see me wearing his mom's clothes all weekend. everybody was on their best behavior and there were no fights and lots of laughs. and cuteness.

this was followed by a nice week at home, including some pasture time with pouncey. and pouncey's tongue.




on friday we got in the car again headed for chattanooga and norman blake. this was hour 5 in what was supposed to be a 3.5 hour drive. it was rough.



but the show was smooth! norman blake is a guitar master. he was playing with his wife on cello and his friend on fiddle. it was very sweet.


we came home the next day and pouncey passed his first overnight test with flying colors! he didn't shred anything while we were gone and has earned enough trust to stay at the house next time we go away. no more kennel for pouncey! see you later, bed, bark and beyond.

looks like somebody ate his wheaties

pouncey had some vaccines this morning and as i brought him into the office, the vet said "looks like somebody ate his wheaties this morning...with some CRACK on top..."



the beginning of a snarl



aww pouncey so cute



SNARL!

 

really he is a nice dog, just a little spring-loaded!

nachos falls

once upon a time there was a waterfall.

nacho went to the top of the waterfall.

nacho hopped straight down the face of the waterfall.

nacho had to think quick because there were slippery rocks at the bottom of the waterfall!

nacho thought quick and hopped even quicker!

nacho did a full extension leap and landed on the dirt and was fine! stuck the landing! 

 the rest of us had heart attacks.

fly foot blood foot

it's been an eventful time for the doggies over here.



last week, pouncey was caught like a striped bass by a fly fishing hook in the ankle. he pounced across the river at the wrong time. the hook went through in two spots and i held him down while kevin removed it with pliers. pouncey did not growl or snarl for even one second. he squirmed and whimpered a little but for the most part laid still.



a couple days later the dogs came up from the river and there were bloody pawprints all over the house and deck. (which came right up with white vinegar). pouncey had somehow sliced his back paw open and was gushing profusely, every step he took. we gave him a rawhide chewy and some pain medicine/sedative and kept him in his crate for a day until it scabbed over. 

his spirits were not diminished by either of these events.

in great news, nacho has stopped chewing, scratching, and licking! it's like a switch turned off this week. it also coincides with the grass mold level dipping from 'extreme' down to 'moderate' for the first time in months. here he is on his first hike since spring. he galloped and pranced around the fields like a puppy!

*****

behold a new video from guadalajara joe - in which he impersonates freddie mercury. this is *NOT [edit] somehow an attempt to prevent borat from playing mercury in a movie. so yeah!

* Borat is already not playing mercury, this is an attempt to have guadalajara joe play mercury, as queen searches for the right actor.  so yeah!


 

roller derby

this weekend the WFTDA (women's flat track derby association) held a tournament at the civic center downtown asheville.

my old friend A-lisa from your favorite kickball team, the san diego kitshickers, is now a member of the chicago roller derby team, the windy city rollers. she goes by 'sargentina' and her job is to kick ass, and she is really good at it. she was an all-star from day one on the kitshickers, and nothing is different on the windy city rollers. 

last i saw alisa, (right) she was ho-downing, now she's downing ho's

i got to hang out with her for a couple of days, and pouncey was allowed to sleep outside of his crate for one night and snuggle with her. he fell in love and will never be the same!

pouncey drooling over sargentina's playing card

windy city had to finish 1st, 2nd, or 3rd this weekend in order to make it to the championships in november. they lost in a white knuckle heartbreaker saturday, but last night they squeaked by minnesota to clinch the 3rd spot!

it was really mind-blowing and exciting watching their bout. these women are extremely intense. extremely agile. extremely powerful. the score is constantly changing, as they get a point for each player that their 'jammer' passes on her trips around the track. it's pretty confusing for a new fan, but very exciting. i can't believe the small amount of padding that they wear, considering the speed they're moving and the concreteness of the floor.

i wouldn't want to try to break that line!

 it's always great to see old friends, especially when they're doing interesting things!