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.