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.

SHV at HSMF

High Sierra Music Festival jammed on this past weekend in California.

I was not there, but a slew of Skippy Haha Vintage shirts made the trip.

Behold members of ALO and Tea Leaf Green happily sporting SHV torso shields on stage.

photo by Wally Meerschaert

(L to R) Josh Clark in Lynyrd Skynyrd t-shirt, Bo Carper in vintage western, Trevor Garrod in embroidered 70's western, Steve Adams in Hot Tub t-shirt, and Dan Lebowitz in picnic gingham button down.

Viva rock!  Festivaaaaaaal!

july 4th in the 50th state

aloha!



it may not be the most popular time of year to visit maui, but the weather was tropical, everything was in bloom, and the trees served as flower girls.




our first stop was hana. the road to hana was slow, twisted, and dripping with scenic splendor.



the lava flowed down to the sea where it was beat back by the wind.



we got up early and hiked through bamboo forests to gigantic waterfalls at haleakala national park. 

we were the first ones there!



next stop - lahaina. hey - i have seen this view on t-shirts before!



kevin played (really really well...like 400 yard drives...draining 30 footers...) golf at the plantation course at kapalua. 



we saw unnecessary fountains under basement stairwells. 



we spent the last few days with fambly from denver in the bustling hippie town of paia. 

  

catching waves, watching turtles, looking for sharks, eating like kings, playing with the keiki.



it was a great trip, worth the looooooooong haul to and fro. hang loose!

happy birthday, nachodoggy!

whew! donde estan los dias? (very roughly - where did the days go?)

today nachodoggy turns a ripe 11. he is still hopped up on steroids and feeling GREAT! his allergies are gone and he can enjoy jumping around the yard with his fluffycups flying.

today he will have (part of) a rotisserie chicken in celebration.  not too much or he frows up.

happy birthday sweet little sugardoggy! 

happy mother's day

from pouncey in a flower field!

kids art 3d printing spring pretzel

last week 2 nephews, my brother & sister in law stopped here amidst a 2 day road trip for a total of 14 hours and during the entirety those 14 hours it rained steadily and was under 50 degrees. it was great to see them nonetheless and they will have to come back and enjoy the outdoors soon. 

here is our ever-expanding gallery of kids' art and vintage cross stitch. if any of your kids want to be featured, please send away!

my friend who works for makerbot sent me a sweet box full of 3-D printed with "a corn based eco-safe bio plastic." 

we have labrador stoppers of many shapes, stretchy fun bangle bracelets, a hot pink unicorn cat, a dunny, and fantastic dog butt hooks in green and  -

nacho! already hung nacho butt for keys. phuckyeah!

 spring has really sprung around here. everything is changing like crazy. it's neon.

he sees cows

on thursday i found this heathered gray vintage 80's sweatshirt with an airbrushed picture of "Pretzel" the beautiful long haired long tongued dachshund dog. 

Supermama of Supermama vintage alerted me to the "mamie ringer t-shirt" on ebay. they're asking $5000 for it. i would be happy with 1/100th that.  "Pretzel" will be posted this week. 

 blisstexas bought this fun fiesta san antonio shirt from shv and posted a few pictures from the actual festival this weekend. it is awesome to see a shirt get a great new life! 

we have plants in the garden, and in pots on the deck. ferociously friendly nachos on steroids still. todos buenos!

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!

florida, alabama, and sinking cars

spent the past few days in tallahassee where the skies were fantastically blue and 82.  had some Apalachicola oysters that were plump and delicious but not salty. i went thrifting and scored some great stuff like a 70's Florida State Seminoles golf shirt. pouncey came with us and got an A+.

went to the FSU student circus. the only animals were humans. the students do not get paid, and do not get class credit, they do it for fun. they were flipping, juggling, twirling, clowning, and balancing all over the place.

watched a really cool documentary last night called 'muscle shoals.' so many awesome albums of the 70's - 80's were recorded in that little town. rolling stones, bob seger, bob dylan, percy sledge, on and on. the archival footage of aretha franklin in her 20's was worth the watch alone. if you like southern rock, or any rock, or any music at all, this movie is a must see. i found myself often covered in goose bumps and occasionally tears.

if you want to read something absolutely terrifying but also full of good information - How to Escape from a Sinking Car

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!

good night march madness

the only action PJ Hairston saw at the Dean Dome this season

well, the unc basketball season came to an unceremonious close on sunday night. 

it was very sad and confusing at the conclusion, and i had tears coming down my face, but the tears were not of sadness, they were leftover tears of joy and pride from when james michael mcadoo hit both of this free throws! after a season-long horrific charity stripe struggle, what may have been the first time ever, he HIT THEM BOTH. to tie the game, in the last 10 seconds, when it really mattered, he hit them both. way to go j'michael!

too bad it didn't matter and the end was terrible, turble, terrible, but i am looking forward to seeing these guys play again next year. i believe marcus paige is an outstanding human being. and at least they made it further than dook. success!

happy first day of spring and march madness!

it's like christmas around here!

the ides of pouncey

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POUNCEY! The big 2!

his muzzle is already turning gray but he hasn't slowed down a bit.  no longer a puppy, now he is officially full grown pouncey doggy. 

he has already been pouncing around the woods and river chasing balls today, and will have a hamburger for dinner.

keep on pouncin, don't stop no!

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.

where my oil pullers at?

just kidding, i don't think that anybody who reads here is an oil puller. but you never know!

i first heard of this practice - oil pulling - a few years ago on a facebook for hippies site called "tribe," where a lot of alternative thinkers would post questions and solutions, most with a decidedly natural bent.  i was looking for carcinogen-free toothpaste recommendations and saw a post about oil pulling. it was interesting but i did not try it.

fast forward to last fall when i was becoming aware of the wonders of coconut oil. i was fighting a cold and there was a recommendation i saw online for mixing coconut oil with eucalyptus oil and putting it on the bottom of your feet to clear sinuses. it seemed like a better (less malodorous) idea than the bowls of chopped onions i put around the house last year. the same thread mentioned oil pulling. several commenters chimed in with anecdotes of oil pulling easing everything from tooth decay to rheumatoid arthritis - head colds, blood sugar stability, cramps, asthma, back pain, skin problems, the works.

i bought a jar of unrefined cold pressed virgin coconut oil and was happy with how it plus eucalyptus helped my cold. 

i figured the ancient Ayurvedic practice of oil pulling might be worth a shot.

basically you put a tablespoonful of oil (unrefined coconut or sesame seem to be the most popular) in your mouth and swish it around for 10-20 minutes, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.  i floss my teeth beforehand so the space between my teeth is bigger. after swishing through your teeth, you spit it out in a jar or trash can *NOT DOWN THE DRAIN* and rinse with warm salt water and then brush your teeth as usual.

it supposedly works like an intense mouth wash - the coconut oil is anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and it collects all your mouth germs and then you spit them out.

bonus is the lovely trippy layered tiers of half solidified - half liquid coconut oil collected in the jar!

i have been doing this for 2 months now. i can report my mouth feels terrific! i cannot attest to any other health improvements at this point, though i usually have a sore throat/ear pain at least every other week in the winter, and i have not had a hint of either since starting.  considering i spend many hours per week in the germ nest of thrift stores, and we went on a floating petri dish carnival cruise, i am pretty happy.

it seems that western science has proven oil pulling to have a positive effect on oral health, though the other hundreds of benefits have not yet been verified scientifically. i have a baby tooth - a molar that doesn't have an adult molar to push it out - and i would like to keep this baby tooth as long as possible before i need an implant. i am hoping oil pulling will at least help in this endeavor.

i will keep you all updated on this riveting oil pulling journey. i have my 6 month dentist appointment in april and i am interested to see if the hygienist can tell a difference.

at the bare minimum, it serves as a kind of meditation. for 20 minutes every day i am not talking.


as an aside: how great is talenti gelato and sorbetto? the mango is out of this world!

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.