Shaak Ti Vs. Sasquatch

Shaak Ti had a battle with a Sasquatch the other day.  Apparently she lost.  Either that or she has some kind of strange deaf-dog crush on Sasquatch, we don't really know.  Shaak Ti is an odd little dog, there are myriad possible reasons why she's snuggling up with Sasquatch's foot, but those reasons remain her own.

The Sasquatch Statue was a Christmas present for John.  It seemed like every plane flight we took he would pine over the awesome Sasquatch Statue in the Skymall catalog, so we finally got him one for Christmas.  It is a fairly awesome addition to the house. 

In Shaak Ti's defense, Sasquatch does have a pretty mean glare, maybe that's why she lost this particular tussle. 

Hand Knitted Dog Sweater Follow Up

It's only been a week, but we have an update on Shadowfax and her hand knitted dog sweater.  I know you were all begging for closure on this topic as we've been deluged with literally hundreds of e-mails asking for some resolution (and more photos). 

One thing you should know about Alycia's Mom, she's one speedy knitter. It didn't take her long to make the adjustments from the previous fitting session and get the sweater ready to go!

No final fitting session is complete without some play time in your new sweater.

Hugs from Alycia and pets from Grandma.

She has a tail, I promise.  It's wagging so fast in this picture that you can't see it.

There we go.  Slowed down our wag-rate a smidgen so you can see the tail. Look at how nicely that sweater fits - well done Grandma!

Shadowfax has become pretty good at posing nicely for the camera.  In case there are some people who are looking for a deaf pittie to model sweaters, Shadowfax is currently available for work. 

Shadowfax has become pretty good at posing nicely for the camera.

The only bummer in this whole sweater ordeal?  It's in the 50's today and is supposed to stay nice all week.  We're probably not completely free of Winters' icy grip, but we might be out of dog sweater season.  This lovely sweater may have to get shelved until next winter when it's cold enough.  Sweaters are usually on clearance about now, so you might be able to snatch up some pretty good deals if you're so inclined. 

Hand Knitted Dog Sweater Photo Montage

Alycia here. So my mom has been knitting ferociously for the past year or so. She's knitted me a hat, fingerless gloves, mittens, and a few scarves. Recently she decided to take on a more challenging project: a sweater for Shadowfax.

Today she and my dad stopped by for a sweater fitting. The following photo montage shows how that went.  The photos are all from an iPhone, so they aren't the best, plus Shadowfax was a blur of happy activity anyways, so pretty tough to capture.

So far so good, but that's all about to change.

Shadowfax is thinking that this might be s new fun toy.

Here comes the sweater, Grandma is checking her tummy for proper measurements.

The first attempt at putting on the sweater, a barrage of kisses and wiggles ensues.

Waiting for dinner

Every day Shadowfax sits and waits patiently in her crate while the other dogs eat. Today she's a little more tired since it was warm enough to play fetch outside.

I'm not sure if this is comfortable but she's been laying like this for 5+ minutes.

I guess it isn't bothering her lips and gums. 

Happy Valentine's Day

While we're not big on the greeting card holidays, we couldn't resist getting the fur-kids some new toys for Valentine's Day. And the toys' arrival was very timely since today's high was not forcasted to be above zero, so no outside playtime today.

Shaak Ti enjoys her rope-ta-pus

Shadowfax modeling the beauty of a 6-foot rope toy. The length ensures that she won't jump up and accidentally chomp our hands...

Tito being Tito and refusing to participate in photo time.

Chilly time, snuggle time

After an unseasonably warm couple weeks, we're back to below zero temperatures. The girls have the right idea and are snuggling to keep warm.

Don't Worry - We're Still Here

Wowzers have these last few months raced by me.  Don't worry, I've got my excuses. But they're the same old tired excuses that I trotted out back in October.  We're going to try to ease back into the routine of posting pictures and stories and local events and the happenings around the household.

We'll ease back into this process nice and slow.  Maybe just a picture of Shadowfax on the kitchen rug.  This is her favorite place to supervise the humans when we're in the kitchen.  Later this week we'll try and post another picture, maybe a photo of her romping and playing with one of her favorite toys, the Jolly Ball. 

Monday Mornings Are Ruff

It can be hard to wake up on those dreaded Monday mornings.  Start slow, just an ear.

Now maybe open those eyes just a little bit, you're on your way.  Now for the first cup of coffee (for the people at least).

Thanks

Thanksgiving and the Holidays are officially upon us!  Many folks will return to their ancestral homes, share food and drink with loved ones, and bask in the proverbial warmth of kith and kin.  This is also the time when many stop and reflect on all that they have in their lives and express thanks and gratitude.

We do things a little bit differently around here at the Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes homestead.  The big important things in our lives are too amazing to only express gratitude for them one day a year.  We spend 364 days a year being grateful for the big things we have.  Not a day goes by where I don't give the misses a hug and tell her "I love you".  Not a day goes by that I don't pet our furry companions, or tuck them in at night and remind them they are loved (even if they can't hear).  We try to always express our gratitude for our family and friends, our health, and the countless thing that bring us comfort and happiness in our daily lives. 

Since we spend the rest of the year being grateful for all the big important things we have in our lives, we usually spend Thanksgiving being thankful for the little things that make small moments or ordinary days special.  Today we're thankful for:

Warm afternoon sunbeams.

Bowls of freshly harvested currants.

 

The ability to explore our world and discover cool things, like Harlequin Ducks.

Monarch Butterflies in the garden.

The ability to try and fail, and learn from our failures, like the failed sauerkraut experiment.

Things that are beautiful just for the sake of being beautiful.

The little things in life, they're pretty darn special too. 

The Professor and The Puppy

The girls hanging out on the floor for snuggle time.  Shadowfax has very good posture when she sits up straight.

Online Fundraiser for Circle of Friends Humane Society - Grand Forks, North Dakota

It's been our good fortune here at Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes to have gotten involved with our local animal shelter - the Circle of Friends Humane Society in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It is this involvement over the last month and a half that has prevented us from making more frequent posts, but it's all for the greater good of helping out the furry little critters in our community.

This post is a request for action from our awesome Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes readers.  The Circle of Friends Humane Society is having an online fundraising event where they're trying to raise $5,000 in 5 days.  If you can, both me and the little creatures of the greater Grand Forks area would be eternally grateful if you could make donation.  Here's the website for donating to Circle of Friends.  They would be incredibly happy for any donation, no matter how small.

If you're not in a spot to donate money, that's fine!!!  They would love to feel your support in other ways. One of the easiest ways is through the Amazon Smile program.  This is a charitable arm of Amazon that donates 0.5% of all purchases you make if you've linked up your Amazon account to the Circle of Friends Humane Society.  It's super easy to sign up for this and doesn't cost a thing.  Go to smile.amazon.com and type in "Circle of Friends Humane Society" in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It should come up in a search box, then simply click on it.

Your Amazon page will now say "Supporting: Circle of Friends Humane Society" at the top left of the web page.  Then just use Amazon as you normally would and we'll receive 0.5% of the proceeds of stuff you buy AND we'd be forever grateful for your support.  Thank You.

First Snow of the Year Means Warm Dog Beds

The official arrival of winter means no more messing around when it comes to being all warm and snuggly.  Now here in North Dakota, we don't wait for the Winter Solstice (December 21st) for the beginning of winter.  Winter starts when the first dusting of snow falls and sticks.  We had a thorough dusting of snow on Sunday that has stuck around for the start of the week, and flurries are still falling as we speak.  Thus, winter is upon us. 

Snow on the ground means the dog bed heaters are added to all their big ole’ fluffy dog beds.  The dogs (yes are spoiled) really seem to appreciate it and nap time seems to take on a whole new level of importance.  

UFO Abduction in Cavalier, North Dakota

Devoted Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes readers alerted us to the fact that there was an alien abduction just yesterday right in Alycia's hometown of Cavalier, North Dakota.

You can read about the alleged alien abduction here. 

We'll ignore the facts that there is only one (1) security camera in the entire town of Cavalier and it just happened to perfectly catch an "alien abduction", and there are literally hundreds of more remote roads in the area that would be much more ideal to abduct someone from.  More than likely this was a bored teenager, who should at least get some kudos for putting Cavalier, North Dakota on the viral interwebs map. 

Awesome Nephew Pics - Blog Authors Included

Two weeks since our last post?  That sounds about right.  Two posts in a month?  Sadly, spot on.  It's been a crazy month or two.  Between work (an unfortunate fact of life), Fall chores, gardening duties, multiple family visits, and a sudden onslaught of volunteerism (more details on this later, probably much later) - we've been negligent in our obligations to our millions of readers here at Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes.  Sorry.

Here's a picture of Alycia, myself, and our two awesome nephews.  They came for a visit a few weeks back, and we had a kid-filled, hectic household for a while.  These two little dudes are sprouting like weeds and it took all of our energy and gumption just to try to keep up with them. 

We'll get back on track with pictures of all the Fall happenings, Doggie Halloween Costumes, canning, leaves, pumpkins, and all the wonders of the season here in North Dakota.  Until then, stay warm and enjoy Autumn!!

Shadowfax Performs Again as Pig-Dog

Shadowfax has performed again as the melodious pig-dog.  We've chronicled her pig sounds before (Is It a Pig or a Dog), but are always amused by her snorfling, snorting antics and thought we would share her encore performance. 

Her Luna Ball makes her nose and snout get all squished and she snorts like a pig. It's quite funny and she seems to enjoy snorting up a storm. And yes, she's a delicate lady. 

Kelly's Slough - Grand Forks, North Dakota

Even though John and I have been in Grand Forks for over 5 years, we had not visited Kelly's Slough (approximately 10 miles west of town) until his dad and special lady friend came to visit in September. It was a lovely day, bordering on hot, when we headed out.

The slough is actually a series of water holes, and there were a couple of lookout towers and several walking paths for visitors.  We walked down one path bordering the largest section of water.  Apparently the water levels vary on the time of year and whether it's a wet or dry year, and the types of birds vary depending on the season.  Spring and Fall migration times were the best for seeing quantity and variety of birds. 

We brought Shaak Ti and Shadowfax and they had a great time smelling all of the smells.

We saw a variety of flora, none of which I know. Here are some interesting red berries.  As you can tell we went all out for this blog post.

Yellow flowers.

Purple Flowers.

We also saw a variety of big birds. Possibly juvenile bald eagles or golden eagles, herons, ducks, sea gulls, etc. We were a bit unprepared with no binoculars or good camera, but we'll definitely be heading back to check things out again.

Deaf Dog Awareness Week - Video of Deaf Dog Play Time

Hey!  Did you know it's Deaf Dog Awareness Week.  Heck yeah.  And we're going to celebrate all week.  We'll post some new videos of our awesome deaf dogs as tribute to Deaf Dog Awareness Week, September 23 - 29.  If nothing else you can see what terrific pets they make.  Their deafness never slows them down.  Go out and celebrate a deaf dog this week!! 

Tito may be getting old but he still manages to scamper around and play with the other dogs, well he plays with Shaak Ti anyways.

Shaak Ti doesn't throw any big punches, just a bunch of soft jabs at old man Tito.  Tito can take it, he's the cagey old veteran who can still hang with the youngsters for a little while.

HellStrip Wildflowers

They call them "hellstrips" in some parts of the country.  Here we call them "berms".  They're the utilitarian space 3 to 6 feet wide between the sidewalk and the street.  Here in Grand Forks, North Dakota, the city owns the berms but the homeowner is required to maintain them.  Snow gets piled on them in winter (lots of snow!) by the plows, and brush and leaves are left there for the city to pick up during Fall clean up (see 2010 post with pictures of the leaf machine).  Don't worry we don't give away our leaves, they're far too precious to us, though we do make sure to not rake leaves on windy days.

The standard default is a grass berm that the homeowner is required to mow and maintain.  Our neighbor Bob across the block though is smart and has a better idea for his berm...wildflowers.

I'd like to try something like this in the coming years. For most of Spring and Summer it just looks like weeds growing on an untended patch, but for a month or so in late Summer and Fall it looks magnificent with explosions of color. 

Wildflowers mixes are pretty inexpensive (you can buy them by the pound) and cover a huge area, so a big bag of seeds can last for several years.  What do you do with your hellstrip/berm? 

Oregon Tours - End of the Oregon Trail Museum

Over the Labor Day weekend John and I went to Portland, OR to visit a large number of our friends who live in the area or were up visiting. One of the highlights of the weekend was our trip to the End of the Oregon Trail Museum (not to be confused with OTHER Oregon Trail museums). This museum was located in Oregon City, OR about 45 minutes from the middle of Portland and operated by the Historical Society of Oregon City.

John and my good friend Sue accompanied me on this visit. As you can see, the architecture was true to the ideals of the American West.

As soon as we got into the visitor's center, Sue found us some classic (and classy) bonnets that we bought and then wore throughout our museum tour.

We started with a historical re-enactment movie that "followed" a variety of different people on their trips on the Oregon Trail. We also liked that there was a hologram of a guy who interpreted the movie for us periodically.

There were three different sections to the museum: a pre-trail "general store" that showcased all of the things the people left behind and what they took with them, a section that discussed some of the interesting people's stories from the trail, and a post-trail area that contained a land claims section. The Oregon Trail ended in Oregon City, as this was where they could file land claims.

After the movie and our tour through the museum, one of the docents, Missy (who by all accounts appeared to be bored to tears), offered to let me make candles. Sue and I think she was entertained by our enthusiasm and our bonnets. I did not appear to be a very good candle maker as Missy kept telling me to move faster between the wax container and the cold water container. But I did end up with a nice little candle.

While I have not traveled the entire Oregon Trail in life. I did play the game for many years as a child. In addition, I have seen some of the other stops on the trail - notably Fort Laramie and Independence Rock (which is now a rest area in Wyoming).

Perhaps we're not the quintessential frontier couple, but we're modern day Oregonian travelers.

After the End of the Trail museum, we headed to the McLoughlin House near downtown Oregon City. I was most upset to discover that I had forgotten my National Parks Passport book. I had to stamp my stamps on paper for later taping into my book.

We didn't go on the McLoughlin House tour, but instead walked down to the 4th oldest elevator in the U.S. It was made out of an old water tower that gave us a view of the city. It was a bit unnerving that they had a full-time elevator operator who sat behind a plexi-glass shield - we jumped when we first saw him.

The elevator took us to the Oregon City promenade that we walked down to Willamette Falls (in the top left corner of the below photo). Unfortunately in late-August, it appears that the falls are more of a dam than a waterfall. And, the old factories that lined the river did not add to the beauty of the scene. Possibly we'll revisit during the rainy season to see if it's more picturesque.

Clematis Blooms - Better Late Than Never

Our clematis have struggled this year, not sure why.  Most were planted in the last couple of years, so it's possible that they're still getting established.  They've finally started throwing off some blooms in the last week or two.  I'm not sure which variety these are...I think jackmanii clematis.

Hopefully next year will be better for clematis blooms.