Keep Away

Yet another rainy day in Minneapolis. That makes two in a row. We'll probably get three if the weather stays around for Saturday. All the football fans are going to be miserable. An outdoor stadium is great, especially when it is all new and exciting... but I'm not sure I'd like being out there on a cold wet Saturday. Even if it is Gophers vs. Badgers.

Poor pups. They're also going to be miserable if this weather continues. Rain makes it very unpleasant for all of us to go on our walks, and the boys get uptight and bored when they can only get out two or three times a day. I've tried to take them out in the pouring rain but they will have none of that. If it is sprinkling they don't mind, but if it's coming down hard they refuse to leave the house. And it's been on and off raining hard for the better part of two days.

Gus must have known they were going to be stuck inside for a while because on Wednesday when I dropped them off at Grandma's house he already had a plan to keep himself entertained. We just didn't know about it...

Grandma spoils the dogs rotten, and that day she had been to Petsmart and bought a couple gigantic raw hides for them to play with. Charly doesn't seem at all interested in raw hides. He never really has been. But Gus, he loves them, and in general will have one all chewed up within 10 minutes. That day, Grandma gave Gus his raw hide, and promptly left the house for an appointment.

When she returned home, Gus and Charly were both waiting excitedly for her, and the raw hide was no where to be seen. So she assumed Gus had eaten it up right away, like so many other times in the past.

Wrong.

That evening, as she was getting ready for bed, she noticed Gus sitting at the foot of the bed, staring at it intently. Grandma brushed her teeth, poured a glass of water, and started walking towards the bed with the intention of getting into it for the night. But as she got closer and closer to her bed, Gus became more and more agitated, to the point that he was barking and jumping and stomping all around the room. When she backed away from the bed he would stop, and when she would move forward again he would continue to bark.It was so disturbing that Charly, who had been quietly waiting on the bed for Grandma to get in, immediately jumped off the bed, thinking Gus probably didn't want him there.

Eventually, Gus hopped up on the bed and began to wrestle with the blankets, burrowing himself in the comforters. Some people call this nesting, when dogs make a mess of their beds, your bed, or the sofa. Grandma finally got into bed, and Gus made such a fuss that she took off the covers thinking he might want to get inside too, what with it being so cold and all.

And that's when she saw it, the raw hide, tucked neatly between the covers and a crack between the bed and the wall. Gus hadn't eaten the toy, he'd deftly hid it in Grandma's bed for safe keeping, but Grandma found out and ruined the secret! And took all the fun out of the next two days stuck inside.

On days like today sometimes I wish I had a heat lamp, one of those that's supposed to be good for your mood. Wouldn't it be fun if this lamp from Pure Design wasn't just a lamp but a heat lamp that could make you feel better when your feeling rainy day blues or boredom?

Reuse and Recycle

A friend sent me this link and photo today and it made me laugh and think of the time when Gus chewed a hole into my mother's couch last fall. Thankfully we were out of the country in Germany when Gus decided to tear into it, so by the time we got back Mom's frustration with the situation had simmered and we were hardly scolded for our dog's misbehavior. Of course the couch still hasn't been fixed, she just strategically places a throw pillow in front of the torn section.

Oh, and yesterday Gus chewed a hole into his own dog bed here at home, but we've never had anything as bad as this photo happen at our house! This reminds me that I love this Bird On A Wire doggie duvet by Molly Mutt, a company based out of California that sells durable, stylish, and easy to clean duvets to cover your dog's doggie bed. You can cover an old dog bed with one of Molly Mutt's duvet covers, or you can stuff a duvet with old clothes, sheets, bedding, etc. that you might have lying around the house. Reuse and Recycle! These duvet covers are innovative, fresh, and fun and we love them.

Let's Play A Game

I realize that I haven't posted in quite a long time, long enough that many of my readers have probably thrown in the towel thinking the writer's block was too thick, or that maybe the wedding got the best of me and sucked out all of my creative juices.

But this story is too funny not to share. So we're back, and hopefully we'll be here for a while. There are no weddings or other life changing events in the forecast so we should be good to go. My energy can re-focus onto House & Hound and this blog.

So this afternoon I decided to finally break open the "Solid Gold" brand bagel treats we've had in the pantry for over 5 months. I'm not sure why we haven't treated the dogs to these before or why we waited so long for them to try these tasty snacks.

I pull two delicious bagel treats out of the bag and give one each to the boys. They each take a treat and go off to a separate corner of the room to supposedly enjoy. Except they don't even try them. They sit sniffing at their bagels, and then get up and walk away, apparently in disgust. (Remind me some day to tell you about the time Gus ate a dozen Bruegger's bagels!)

A half hour goes by and they've totally forgotten about the bagel treats, when all of a sudden they start playing with them again and I finally hear Gus munching on his bagel in the upstairs den, and Charly gnawing at his in the kitchen. Gus finishes his bagel in 2 minutes flat, and comes down to see if Charly has finished his yet.

Charly always takes forever to finish up his treats, so of course he is just hanging out, with the bagel under his nose, sniffing it, munching on it a little, but mostly just guarding it. Evidently he knows his brother Gus all too well, because Gus begins to stare intently at Charly and his bagel for the better part of 45 minutes, obviously trying to find some way to get that bagel away from Charly and into his own jaws.

So the dogs continue to stare at each other, and as the minutes go by Gus gets closer and closer to Charly and his loot. Finally he tries for it, but of course I'm there to make sure life is fair for these two. Since Gus already finished his own treat, I end up putting myself between the two dogs, and scold Gus for trying to steal away Charly's treat. I mean, I know he's your little brother, I know he's your subordinate, but come on! Can't you just be a little generous to a fellow member of your family!

I give the treat back to Charly, who promptly sits back down with it, and continues to just guard it. He doesn't take a bite out of it, or lick it or anything, he just sits there with it. How infuriating for Gus! Of course Gus is back at the staring game, trying to manage someway of distracting me this time so he can grab the treat and make a run for it.

After a while of this back and forth staring game, Charly gets up and leaves his treat behind. Apparently it wasn't good enough for him. This time I let Gus get it and he eats it as fast as he possibly can.

Does this story remind you of when you were a kid and your big brother or sister wouldn't let you near his candy bar, even though he or she hated Baby Ruth's?

Cookoo

I realize it has been over a month since my last post. Who knew planning a wedding would be so all consuming? It's like every ounce of my time and creativity is being sucked right up by planning this big day. I'm hoping when it's all said and done I'll be able to get back into writing regularly and covering a wider array of dog inspired design topics.

By the way, only eight weeks left until Gus gets to try his hand (or should I say paw) at being a ring bearer! I've been searching for a collar for him to wear on our special day, and though I haven't found the perfect one yet, I did come across this absolutely lovely Birdie collar from Wonderdog NYC. Every collar they sell is unique and beautiful, but this particular one is just so special. I love the bird motif and chic silver buckle.

What A Mess

It's definitely Monday cause I've having a terrible time getting back into the swing of things. First off I had to take the dogs back to my mom's house last night for their weekly three day sleep over at her house. Of course the minute I drop them off I start missing them.

Second, I was up late on Saturday night watching movies with my brother at his house, and didn't get home until 2 in the morning (not typical for me, way past my bed time). I slept until 11 a.m. on Sunday so then of course last night I wasn't a bit tired and didn't end up falling asleep until, gasp, midnight. So then getting up on time this morning was a real nightmare.

Third, I had to drive all over the city this morning to meet a delivery truck and coordinate the installation of furniture and chairs for several of our City properties. Well communications first thing Monday morning never go all that smoothly, and I missed the delivery truck like three times at three separate sites. A delivery and install that should have taken an hour and a half ended up taking three, with a lot of aggrevation and wasted gas to boot.

The only thing keeping me from calling it a day is the fact that I spotted a dog themed dish towel in the window display of the Bibelot on my way back to the office from that horrendous delivery. So I stopped in and bought the towel, and I can be proud of at least one thing I did today. Sorry but I can't find an image of the dishcloth online. Yet another disappointment in my string of disappointments...... Oh well, it is a Monday.

Baby Mania

We've welcomed three babies to the world this week. None of them ours, all of them brand new and beautiful. No, I'm not pregnant, first we've got to get married in August. But three of our good friends all gave birth within a week of each other. Two of the babies in fact were born yesterday. 

Imagine our surprise when we received the second call yesterday, from our friends Alix and Holly. We'd already heard about the first brand new baby earlier that day, and so the news of Jasper's early arrival blew us away. 

In fact, we had just been over to Alix and Holly's for a dinner party on Sunday, a last hurrah before baby. Jasper wasn't due until this coming Sunday, but I think the cheese cake I brought for desert(which Alix had been craving for months) did the trick. And so out he came, five days earlier than expected. Yey!

Love, Love, Love this travel diaper changing pad from My Retro Baby. Makes me almost want to change a diaper. 

What's Up Doc?

We brought Charly to the vet yesterday. He's been acting normal, except for he's been limping on his back hind leg for the past three weeks. The thing is, he's been going on all his walks, he's continued to run around and play with his brother Gus, and he's has had no problems jumping up onto our bed and back down again. Despite everything looking relatively fine, (except for his gate of course) we took him in.

A half hour later and the vet couldn't find anything wrong with him. She told us his muscles, his bones, his ligaments, everything was looking really healthy. So has Charly recently acquired a bad walking habit? Is this his new strutting style? His new runway walk? What the ???

By the way if you saw Charly today he'd look like the dog in this Doodle Dog painting! Seriously, you can't tell anything is wrong with him he's so energetic and exuberant.... except he's got kind of a funny walk...

Tag A Long

It looks like we've finally got Spring here in Minneapolis. We're always at least three weeks behind everybody else on this front, and today's the day we get to join the rest of the U.S. in spring frolicking. It's going to be a whopping 70 degrees this afternoon!

Yesterday wasn't too bad either. We made it up to around 64 degrees, and to celebrate everybody went biking. Seriously, even me, after a long hard day of work. I hopped on my bike and took a leisurely pedal around the lake. The bike path was crowded with bikers, rollerbladers, and runners, all of us trying to get a breath of the fresh spring air before nightfall.

The best part of my afternoon yesterday was seeing three different bikers cruising along with their dogs in their bike baskets. Too bad Gus and Charly would never fit into a bike basket...

After Dinner Mint?

Yesterday evening turned out to be way more eventful than Daniel and I had planned. It started off just fine. We met with a potential wedding florist right after work, stopped at the grocery store for some dinner ingredients, and then made our way home to walk the dogs and cook supper. And then everything went downhill...

Dan and I have our household chores pretty well divied up. Most of the things we split equally. If he cooks dinner one night, then it's my turn the next night. If he cooks, I clean. If he walks the dogs, I take out the trash. If he washes the laundry, I fold it, and vice versa. Tit for tat as they say.

Yesterday was Dan's turn to cook dinner, and my turn to walk the dogs. Of course a simple dog walk turned into a nightmare when both dogs decided to sniff out and proceeded to consume massive amounts of left over dog poop from somebody else's pup!

As soon as I realized what was happening I yanked them back from the crime scene, and then forced my gloved hand into their mouths. I had to yank out huge baseball sized poops, and Charly especially had poop all over his mouth and snout! It was horrifying!

So I cut the walk short, and rushed home. I had to interrupt Daniel in the kitchen for him to help me get the boys into the bath tub and washed. The smell eminating from their mouths was so revolting that it took the two of us several washings each to thoroughly clean them up.

Yesterday's incident was almost as bad as the time Gus got into a thick foamy coat of slime on Cedar Lake. But not quite. Note to first time dog owners or people who do not own dogs: Most dogs eat poop. Some eat it more frequently and some eat it less, but almost all of them eat poop, either their own or somebody else's.

I remember being horrified when Charly did this for the first time as a pup. I immediately called the veterinarian and she told me it was normal behavior. I hung up the phone, and stood there dumbfounded at this new information I had learned.

Charly doesn't eat poop very often, but once in a while, especially in the Spring when the ground is at its most fertile with left over thawed dog poop from the winter, he gets into something gross.

Look at this beautiful pristine retro biscuit dinner jar from Barker and Meowski. Too bad Gus and Charly won't be getting any treats for a while. Just Kidding!

Pit Stop

Jason Stenvold Glen Lake Photography

Dan and I traveled to Spartanburg, South Carolina this weekend to attend the wedding of our very special friends Lukas and Julie. On our way we spent a day in Asheville, North Carolina for a small visit to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

We were planning on doing some hiking but it never stopped raining, so instead we explored the quaint and lovely town. While strolling through the main drag we came across two young men and their lovely pit bull dog. Of course we approached them and asked politely whether we could pet their beautiful friend.

They welcomed our enthusiasm for the mama dog and let us know that they desperately needed to find her a new home. With no money, no automobile, and some friends waiting for them out West, they needed to get on a Greyhound bus as soon as they made enough cash, and when they did they would need to leave the mama dog behind, since Greyhound won't let dogs travel on board.

You have no idea how badly I wanted to take this dog home with me to Minnesota. We had flown though, so that would have been pretty impossible, considering the dog had no papers, no vaccines, no history, etc. Not to mention Gus probably would have had a major fit with the addition of another dog to our household. We stayed petting the dog and talking to the men for longer than we should have, and left reluctantly, after dropping a ten dollar bill into their collection hat.

If this had happened to us in Minnesota I would have immediately called A Rotta Love, a Rottweiler and Pit Bull rescue group that fosters unwanted non-traditional breeds. Not being from North Carolina I didn't know who to contact at the time, and instead mentioned the mama dog to every person I continued to meet on our stroll through town.

Coincidentally, A Rotta Love is co-sponsoring an art show with Lintu Art, celebrating Rottweilers, Pit Bulls, and other non-traditional dog breeds through art. I missed the gallery opening this past Saturday, but First Thursday at the Northrup King Building is coming up this week, and Lintu Art should be open for showings.

Baby It's Spring!

Looks like we've got Spring! It is an absolutely beautiful day here in Minneapolis, and everybody seems to have added a skip to their walk, especially Gus and Charly. They love this weather, as do we. We can finally walk the dogs wearing only a fleece, no mittens, no hats, no scarves. We can go out for longer periods of time too, hours of which the boys can't get enough of. Gus gets to chase bunnies and squirrels that have come out of their winter hideouts, and Charly can sniff around for whatever the snow has left behind for him.

The only down side of Spring , and I wouldn't call it a down side, more of an inconvenience, is that the snow and hard ground begins to melt, which is such a huge relief, but everything turns wet so the dogs start tracking an infinite amount of dirt and mud into our house. So Dan and I end up sweeping and mopping the ground floor of our place about once or twice a day. Not fun!

I'm looking forward to a nice long walk around the lake this afternoon when I get off work. We'll enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures for as long as we can today! Love this very springtime weiner dog onsie and burp cloth set from BellaBlu Designs on Etsy. Adorable. Would she make the shirt in my size?

On The Mend

It's been a pretty rough month. First Daniel came down with the cold that half the city seemed to be getting. Then I came down with that exact same cold, which eventually turned into a much worse version, some sort of terrible sinus infection that lasted three weeks. And then on Monday I somehow threw my back out, which immobilized me for 20 minutes (very scary), and then forced me to miss yet another day of work, there have been four so far this month. It's been a rough month to say the least.

Have you ever noticed how incredibly helpful it is to have your dogs around when you're sick? Seriously, emotionally, it is so much better to curl up in bed and feel crappy when there's a dog there with you to keep you company while the rest of the world keeps on moving. I definitely felt 10 times better when the dogs were at home with me, than when they were over at grandma's house because it was her turn to take care of them. Even Dan noticed that whenever the dogs were around the color came back to my face, if only for an hour.

It looks like I may be on the mend today. My sinuses feel clear, my head's not spinning, my back is sore but I can walk and come into work. This simple Akita dog puzzle from Canoe Online would have been so nice to have with me on my sick days off. Entertaining and easy enough to do when you're slowly fading into a nyquil induced nap.

Chicago Is For The Dogs

Dan's off to Chicago this weekend to visit with some college friends he hasn't seen in a while. I think it has been quite a few years since all of them got together, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a crazy weekend.

Inspired by Dan's trip to the windy city, I thought I'd search for a Chicago themed dog product and found this city-wide art contest Chicago held last year. High school students were asked to design a 2009-2010 City Vehicle Sticker under the theme “Dog Friendly Chicago," and the elected sticker will be displayed on nearly 1.3 million automobiles! Check out the 10 finalists!

Who Wants to Go On a Walkie?

We've had the dogs at our place for the past 10 days without interruption... my mother took an impromptu vacation to visit her family in Argentina, and we naturally took the dogs. It was rather nice to have the boys with us, day in and day out, with no scheduled pick ups or drop offs or chauffering, etc.

Well Grandma came back from her trip yesterday and drove straight over to our house to pick up the boys and you should have seen the spectacle that was our front entry. Gus and Charly could not contain their excitement to see their beloved grandmother. Jumping and barking and squealing and violent tail wagging, it was quite a sight.

Dan slept in this morning since there were no dogs to walk, yet despite his gratitude for that extra hour in bed, the first thing out of his mouth this morning was "I miss the boys."

This leash holder from Etsy seller Bublebellydesigns is so cute. I'm always scouting out good looking storage pieces for dog related things, and this one is on the top of my list.

Breakthrough

Well I've been sick as a dog for the past 4 days. Seems like this cold is running rampant through this city, and it's a pretty wicked cold. It started out in my chest and went straight up into my nose and mostly my head. I feel like a blow up doll and all I want is for somebody to stick a fork in me to let the air out. 

It's not ALL bad though... I stayed home from work today to try and sleep this thing off, and miraculously, Gus spent almost an entire two hours curled up with me on the bed. This is a pretty huge breakthrough since Gussie hasn't set foot in our bedroom for the past, I don't know, maybe 8 months... I think he got spooked a while back during a thunderstorm or something, and ever since then he hasn't been able to be comfortable in our bedroom.

I'm not sure what caused him to confront his fear and join Charly and me this afternoon, but let me tell you, this was the best nap I've had in a long time. The boys took good care of me today, now all I need is to get better by tomorrow because I can't miss out on another day of work. 

Remember last weekend when I spent Valentine's Day in New York City? Did I mention I had a grand old time! I stumbled on this awesome urban chic placemat featuring a New York City subway map and thought I'd feature it here today. Would have been perfect for last week's post, but it's never too late right? You can find this on Fab Dog Inc., along with other very unique items. Have fun exploring the site!

Love, Love, Love

Dan and I are celebrating Valentine's Day a couple of days early since I'm leaving tomorrow for a girl's weekend in New York City. I figure we have years and years of Valentine's Days left to spend with each other, it can't be that bad to skip out on him just this once?

To celebrate we're going to Chowgirls for a special tasting evening. We've hired Chowgirls to do the catering for our wedding this summer, and we thought this would be a great way to spend our own Valentine's Day evening, trying out the foods we're thinking of serving for our wedding celebration.

I've been waiting and waiting to share this Valentine with you from Kerry Beary on etsy. Perfect for your dog loving honey.

Cheers!

I like wine, but I've never really been able to say I love it... until Tuesday, when a friend of ours invited us out for dinner to celebrate our engagement, and popped open a 20 year old bottle of French Pinot Noir. Delicious!

I have never enjoyed wine as much as I did on Tuesday evening. I couldn't believe I could taste a difference between the stuff we usually drink at home and this generously aged wine. It was definitely an unbelievable improvement.

Not that the wine we drink at home is bad, but I must admit an aged bottle of wine makes the world of difference. Really.

And so does this t-shirt from Dogs Uncorcked. If you love your dogs and a good bottle of wine, this t-shirt is perfect for you. And while your at it, check out the book WineDogs, a photographic journal of stunning pictures and great stories created for the love of dogs and wine.

Welcome Baby!

The past few weeks have been, I don't even know how to express it... I guess very very busy will have to do. First things first, by brother and his wife had their first baby on Thursday, January 22nd... Ayla Rose, a beauty.

Daniel and I are enamored by this little bundle of cuteness, and we've been trying to help the new parents out by bringing them food so they don't have to cook or clean the kitchen, holding the baby so they can get a half hour break, and entertaining them with our presence so they have a distraction from breastfeeding and changing dirty diapers.

We haven't introduced Gus and Charly to Ayla yet, since we're still trying to find the best and least stressful way for them to meet. Charly isn't a huge fan of children, so we're a bit apprehensive of getting these two kids together. Honestly I don't know how he feels about babies, maybe he won't mind her?

In any case, it will be a slow, gradual process. Our first step is to bring one of her baby blankets back to our house with us, so the boys can get used to her smell. I think our second step will be to leash the boys up and bring them over to Ayla's house, so they can just be in the presence of the baby. Third, we'll let them smell her, and after that we'll see what happens. Most of the literature I've read says that if your dog doesn't fall in love with baby right away, all is not lost, and it's important to continue exposing the pups to the baby in calm and controlled environment. So we'll see.

Love these natural eco-friendly toys from ImagiPlay! ImagiPLAY products have been recognized by the media, children's advocacy groups, and parents' organizations for their outstanding quality, design and ability to inspire imagination. These dog inspired toys are perfect for a dog themed baby room.

A Dose of Style to Cheer You Up

I am cranky cranky cranky today. I know all I really need is a good long nap with the puppies and I'll be fine, but I've still got a couple more hours left in my work day and it will be 5 or 6 before I get home tonight.

Check out these adorable pup earrings I found on etsy from Tillylula... Aren't they fabulous!!! Just my style.

A Late Night

So it hasn't climbed above 5 below today, and I was right, Gus and Charly made it half way around the block and they were done with their walk. It took Dan all of his strength to get them to finish their miserable trip to the toilet, i.e. their pooping street which is located about three blocks from home. Once the business was all taken care of they hurried back to the house, where the boys spent the rest of their day basking in as much sun as they could get through the windows.

I on the other hand have been working all day, 12 hours to be exact... I never ever work more than a 10 hour day, I don't believe it's healthy, but today I made an exception to help a co-worker out with a move project she was managing. Unfortunately, things went a little slower than planned and the movers are still here, and I'm still here. It's 8 pm and we'll probably still be working this job for another 2 hours at least. We are the designers for the project and so we have to be around to answer any questions and make sure things get put in the right place.

So that's my day. A lot rougher than expected, since I've been on my feet since basically 7 am. This t-shirt from Canine Styles (unfortunately it's no longer available for purchase) perfectly expresses how I feel about working more than a normal 8 hour work-day, and also how much I hate this weather!

Remind Me Why I Live Here?

So we're getting pounded with snow today, and it looks like the next couple of days are going to be the coldest in two years. Yuck... Makes me want to stay at home and nest, never leave the house, except to walk those puppies, and most likely they won't even want to go out in this ridiculously frigid weather, which would be kinda nice for me.

We were lucky enought to miss the entire month of December here in Minneapolis, which was apparently pretty darn cold from the reviews we've gotten from friends and family. My mom actually called me up one day in December to tell me that Gus and Charly were refusing to even go outside to do their business, and she had to force them outside so they wouldn't be in pain from holding it all day long. On those days she'd walk them around the block, long enough to go potty, and then head straight back into the house. The dogs couldn't get back into the warmth fast enough.

So I figure we won't have to walk them a whole lot in the next couple of days, although I'll still have to come into work, which means I will actually have to leave the house. Bummer.

I want this Kikkerland dachshund business card holder from Shop Fosters. Instead of collecting business cards in my pencil drawer I could actually display them nicely on my desk, and actually find contacts when needed.

A Brand New Closet

When I moved in with Dan a couple of years ago, we had my mom remodel all of the closets in his townhouse, except for the small closet on the first floor at the entry. Don't ask me why we didn't have her do that one because I don't have an answer. The new closets changed how we live our life upstairs... We have become so much more organized, clean, and honestly, happier since we've had functional closets.

But downstairs we've continued to struggle, and it's been hard to keep a clean and inviting entry to our house because of the lack of sufficient storage for our boots, coats, hats, scarves, mittens, umbrellas... and don't forget dog leashes, coats, and booties.

So we broke down last week after getting home from Europe, and ordered a brand new custom closet from Diseno Closets, which we had installed yesterday. I must say it looks terrific, and our storage capacity in that closet has doubled, if not tripled in size.

Now all I've got to do is find some hardware for the sliding doors... I was thinking about these dog bone shaped handles from Knobs and Things. Would Dan go for these... probably not.

Morning Commute

We're remodeling our entry closet this afternoon, and because our dogs are, like many others of their species, not so welcoming towards workmen, we had to get them out of the house for the 2pm. installation.

So, this morning, I got up at 6:30 sharp, while the sky was still dark, and the temperatures were at 15 below zero Farenheit. I took a quick shower, had a cup of coffee, and made it out the door by 7:15AM, with the dogs in tow. Dan and I are still sharing a car, and I've got a number of different appointments I need to make this afternoon, thus I was tasked to get the dogs over to grandma's house, so the closet installers wouldn't have to deal with their incessant barking.

I drove from our place in Minneapolis, to my mom's house in Saint Paul, and back to downtown Minneapolis, and still made it to work by 8:00AM. That's the Twin Cities folks! Yes, it's freezing in the winter! Yes, it's a damn long winter! Yes, it's not Chicago, or New York, or San Francisco... But you can make it just about anywhere in the cities in under an hour, even during rush hour! And I like that.

This French antique clock circa 1810 can be found on the website of Gavin Douglas Fine Antiques Ltd. It's a bit spendy at 10,750 English Pounds...

Missing In Action

Wow! Has it really been that long since I've written a post? This may be the longest amount of time I've gone with out updating this blog since I started it almost a year ago. I'm sorry for the delay... moving back across the ocean can take up a lot of physical and mental energy, thus my three week long absence.

But we're back in Minnesota now, and life seems to be getting back on track. It took a couple of hours for Gus and Charly to adjust to our homecoming, but they've been super dogs since moving back into our place with us. Grandma brought them to the airport when she came to pick us up a couple of weeks ago, and although they were both jumping and wagging their tales when they saw us, they also seemed a bit confused by our re-appearance. An hour or so later, they were both acting as if we'd never been away, and now, two weeks later, we're back into our normal routine: 7:00 am morning walks in the blistering cold, twice a week shuttles to and from grandma's house, snuggles on the sofa, and lots of hugs all around.

I love this painting by Lisa Ballard, and although it's already sold on her website, you can find many more dog inspired prints on her Etsy shop. It sure would be nice if the dogs could drive themselves to grandma's wouldn't it?