Shadowfax - GSD

Every passing day brings us new deaf dog related discoveries and entertaining new revelations about our four-legged companions. After years of trying to decide what type of breed she was, we finally realized that Shadowfax is in fact not a Pittie/Bulldog mix, but a GSD.

Now traditionally GSD has stood for a long admired dog breed - the German Shepard Dog.  But Shadowfax is a new breed of GSD - a Green Stick Dog.

The green stick is a goughnuts dog toy.  We've extolled their virtues before, but are now here with photographic evidence of their awesomeness.  We have had this particular toy for a year, and it's still fully intact with little more than a few minor teeth indentations.  And it's one thing to have a toy for a year, but quite another to use the toy every single day like Shadowfax does, and still have the toy remain intact.  This is one impressive dog toy, seemingly perfect in it's ability to hold her interest (she plays with it EVERY day) and remain in one piece. 

Shadowfax with her stick again. One of her favorite things to do is plop the end of the stick on my laptop as I'm sitting on the couch working.  (Yes I sit on the couch and work, don't judge).  If you ever read a blog post that says "jladhf ajksdhf;kauyer;aljkdhf kjladhsflkauyeblahgfasderlndkc" it's either because I've finally passed on to the other side of sanity or Shadowfax and her toy have written and posted the story together.

If you have a dog that's a heavy chewer I'd recommend trying one of the goughnuts dog toys. They're not cheap by any means, this green stick was $20 or so, but if it lasts for a long time, it might be worth it.  We also have a few other gougnuts toys that Shadowfax plays with semi-regularly, and they've also withstood the chomping jaws of our little pup.

And naturally after playing with her green stick, it's usually time for some snuggles and pets with Alycia.  Shadowfax is a pretty spoiled pooch. 

Farewell to the Camry

John here with a stern warning - this may be an emotional post.  It may be tough news for many of you to handle, especially those who have come to love Alycia's Toyota Camry over the years.  Don't ruin this moment by saying something snarky about how in the world Alycia could still be driving that piece of vehicular rubbish.  Mostly because it's not nice, but also because it's not true. I've been driving this unreliable hunk of crap/four-wheeled curio of nostalgia for the last two years while Alycia has been styling in the comfort and heated seats of our new Subaru Outback.  Now I'll turn things over to Alycia.

Yes indeed. It seems like yesterday when my mom (aka, Mama Bear) brought home the Camry. Well, it was actually August 1999 and the Camry was already 7 years old and had nearly 100,000 miles. Soon enough, the Camry and the Bear Family took off for the first of the Camry's many adventures - a cross-country road trip back to Stanford for my senior year of college. Note - look how young I am, and how good looking the Camry is.

That first big trip was perhaps an indication of all that the Camry represented. Not 100 miles down the road we had to stop to buy a headlight for the car. And then in the middle of the Nevada desert in September, the AC died. Good thing that the AC system had been recently recalled and we got it fixed up as good as nearly new. My mom had paid for the extended warranty on the car, and I made good use of it, having all sorts of subtle mechanical issues with it in that first year.

But the Camry survived and was my constant companion through a few years of "working" at Stanford, and then through all of my grad school years in San Diego. During those years, it made countless trips throughout California: to the Tahoe area multiple times for ski trips, to Ukiah for camping, to the City (San Francisco) for shopping in the Haight, to Napa/Sonoma for wine tasting, to LA to see friends, and throughout San Diego county for many years.

By the time I finished grad school in 2009, the AC had died again in the Camry. But, since my Camry was the better of the two Camrys that John and I owned, we fixed it up again for an unimaginable trip back to North Dakota - the Camry's homeland. Never did we think that it would come back to North Dakota, but it made the trip home with no issues, carrying not only John and myself, but also Shaak Ti, Tito, and our 2 fish.

Once back in North Dakota, the Camry remained the "good"car for 3 years, as John drove the Grandma-mobile (the 1989 Ford Tempo that my Grandma owned prior to her death). When the Tempo was on its last gasp, we bought our Outback in 2012. That is when I went from the Camry's primary caretaker to its occasional rider, and John took over driving it. The past few years haven't been quite so kind to the Camry, as it became less and less reliable in starting, and it did not handle very well on the snowy and icy roads. John finally got fed up with the enigma of the Camry (Will it start today? Probably not) this January and declared that we needed another new car.

In a very ironic twist, we had decided to buy a new car the same week that the Outback got smushed by an irresponsible teen driver. And perhaps even more surprisingly, when we went through the new car paperwork, the dealership offered us $500 (American dollars no less) for a trade-in of the Camry. We were planning to donate it to some non-profit to get the tax deduction, but the $500 was a better offer and so we jumped on it before the salesman had second thoughts.

The dealership was even OK with the fact that the car didn't start and they offered to come and tow it away. It took them a week and a half to come and get it, but that gave us time to say our goodbyes to the Camry. We cleaned it out and found numerous interesting relics from the 15 years that I had the car. Directions to all sorts of places I visited, and of course the little notebook in which I kept notes on all of the mechanical fixes the Camry had over the years. I wanted to give that notebook to the dealership, but they took it away before I could put it back in the glovebox. Now they'll never know how many miles ago it had its timing belt replaced. Oh well. And in a somewhat anti-climatic end, the dealership's guys came with a pick-up and a tow-rope a few Tuesdays ago and towed it out of our driveway. At 235,000 miles, the Camry was a great car.

Here, in its last photo, the Camry doesn't look quite so beautiful and graceful. It's covered in snow and ice and we hadn't been able to start it for over a month. But it was an excellent, awesome car. One that many people would have been proud to own, and I was. We had many adventures, the Camry and I, and I hope that its new owners will treat it with the respect that it deserves.

And yes,  I know that my pink coat is a little gray there - I blame playing with Shadowfax and her dirty basketballs in the backyard. It is just my dog walking/playing coat. I wouldn't wear that coat anywhere fancy...

Snow Pictures from North Dakota

I haven't really posted any snowy winter pictures at all this year.  But now that we're nearing late-February and the possibility of winter ending seems real, I think I can muster the wherewithal to post some pictures of the homestead in the snow.

We've gotten a lot of snow this winter.  No huge storms, just a lot of Alberta Clippers that have swept through and dropped 2-3 inches, or quick overnight storms that left 4-6 inches.  We've had about 44 inches of snow this season, which is a bit above average.  These are the apple trees in the garden, and they're about 9 feet tall. 

The front of the house with snow piled up. The front of the house faces North and even though there isn't much roof surface that faces that direction, the snow really piles up on the little roof area that's available.

The bird feeders in the front yard.  These branches that the feeders are hanging from are between 5 and 7 feet tall, but with all the snow pack they're almost at eye level.  All the snow makes it super convenient for the squirrels and bunnies, they can just sit right up and get the sunflower seeds. 

But the picture that really puts it into perspective is this next one, a picture of the front berm on the North side of the homestead.  Just a big pile of snow with no definition, or anything near it to give you perspective.  What a great shot 'eh?  I included this photo as a public shaming to myself to never take pictures like this again.

The Great Backyard Bird Count 2014

We participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count of 2014.  And if you also want to participate, there's plenty of time - it runs the whole weekend February 14 to 17. All you have to do is set aside at least 15 minutes to record the birds that you see in your back (or even front) yard.

Check out the Great Backyard Bird Count website.

Alycia spent about a half hour counting birds (I helped quite a bit).  For being a "scientist" in her professional life, Alycia's methodology for counting birds lacks a certain scientific quality at times, but that's OK. We still love her despite her abhorrent aberrations from proper scientific bird counting methods.

Here's what we ended up counting:

• 10 sparrows
• 2 chickadees
• 2 nuthatches
• 1 American crow

Not the most exciting list by any means.  Not as exciting as last Spring when we saw all manner of awesome birds: Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting, Baltimore Oriole, Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, and American Goldfinches.  Soon Spring will return and so will the awesome bird sightings.

Photo Credit

With a little luck, we'll see this awesome Scarlet Tanager again this Spring. First we need a little bit of snow melting to happen...that may take some time.  

Professor Cummings Honored

January is thankfully behind us.  January is the nadir of cold and snow, and even though there are two months of winter left, there seems to be some faint light at the end of the tunnel.  I'm also finally starting to approach feeling normal even though I'm not fully recovered from the malaise detailed in A Rough Month.  One sure indication of feeling better is having a sassy enough attitude to want to write a blog post.

Instead of focusing on illnesses and crunched cars and continued sub-zero high temperatures, we'll mention something more positive...like Professor Alycia Cummings being honored by her own students in the University of North Dakota student newspaper, The Dakota Student.

At the end of last semester Alycia was approached by one of her students and asked if she read the current edition of The Dakota Student.  She hadn't since she never does (chock full of school spirit is she).  Alycia was told that the students in her class (and in the National Honor Society) had placed an notice in the newspaper thanking her for being such a great instructor.  It might bear mentioning that this was unsolicited and no extra credit was granted. 

It was quite the honor for Alycia and she was proud that her students were enthused enough about her teaching to place a "Thank You" notice in the student newspaper.  Alycia was grateful for the unexpected gesture from her students and realized that things like this look great when going up for tenure (which is right around the corner). 

A Rough Month

Well gang, it's been a few weeks since I've broken radio silence.  I'm not ignoring you, this isn't some complicated tough love experiment.  Without turning this into a (yet another) woe is me missive, I shall endeavor to merely describe why I've been negligent in my blogging duties. 

Starting the weekend after Christmas I've been knocked flat on my keester with some manner of "digestive" issue (yes I'm trying to be delicate here).  Multiple trips to the doctor and many diagnostic tests have been unable to ascertain exactly what the problem is, and I've gotten slowly better.  But there are some lingering issues and my doctor has me on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet that includes avoiding chocolate, spicy foods, acidic foods, fatty foods, anything that tastes good...and worst of all coffee.  Sigh. 

The good news from the bout of who-knows-what is that I've lost a lot of weight and am reveling in my new svelte figure.  Please bear in mind though that this is NOT a diet program that I would reccomend. 

On top of that we're experience transportation woes here at the homestead.  It's finally time to put the 1992 Toyota Camry out to pasture, and last night on our way to the UND basketball game a stupid high school girl who was driving too fast (and probably texting) lost control of her car, slid across two lanes of traffic and the median and smacked into our only remaining drivable vehicle.  More hoop jumping, phone calls, and annoyance.  But we're both OK, though our only mode of transport at this point is deaf-dogsled, we'll let you know how that works out. 

So to take our minds off our various worries, let's watch a clip from an old South Park episode, yes Petey the Sexual Harassment Panda.  I dare you to not let this song get stuck in your head.

Polar Vortex, Historic Cold

I know that in winter I post a lot "jeez look how cold it is here" kinds of things.  These posts are only slightly meant to be an outlet for my complaining about the weather.  Mostly they're about cool weather related stuff that until we moved here 5 years ago, I'd never conceived of. For instance, I'd never heard the phrase "polar vortex" until this week. 

A polar vortex is a gigantic semi-permanent cyclone that hovers near each of the Earths' poles and can bring significant cold air to other areas during weakening/oscillation.  Essentially we'll have the weather that should be at the North Pole here in Grand Forks for a few days.  I won't tell you how much time I've spent browsing scientific websites reading about polar vortices (plural of vortex), but it's been quite fun.

As an accountant and numbers person, these numbers are fascinating to me.  These are numbers I never even would have thought possible until I moved here,  And granted, these are just the actual surface temperatures, this doesn't factor in the wind chill, which is expected to be in the -50, -60, even -70 range today through Tuesday - that's just plain crazy!!  Local news and the newspaper has stated that weather this cold "Hasn't been seen in the area in decades".

Weather forecast picture from the Grand Forks Herald.

Fourth Coldest December on Record

It's been a cold stretch here over the last month or so, dang cold.  We've had the kind of cold that literally takes your breath away when you step outside, makes you mutter expletives, and forces you to strongly rethink your life decisions.  How cold?  The fourth coldest December on record since some crazy ass pioneers settled here and started measuring the temperature and writing it down in 1890. 

You can read the full article here in the Grand Forks Herald, but here's the relevant piece:

"Jeff Makowski, meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Grand Forks, said December 2013 was the fourth coldest December in the area since 1890. The average temperature was 0.6 degrees."

Yes you read that correctly, the average temperature was 0.6 degrees. Average.  0.6 degrees.  And we've got four months of winter left to go.  

A Gnome-y, Doggie Christmas

Merry Belated Christmas to all of our faithful readers. John is taking the night off so I thought I'd post a few photos of some of our awesome presents.

I have a fairly extensive t-shirt collection, thanks in large part to John's diligence. I got 4 t-shirts this year: an In-N-Out shirt (I still love California and all it has to offer), a Wallace shirt (he looks shockingly like Shadowfax on the shirt), a fluffy (not fat) sheep shirt.

and quite fittingly for this blog, a gnome taxi t-shirt.

All of them are awesome and I look forward to sporting them on a regular basis. I really look forward to the day when I have tenure. Then, I might start wearing them to school...

Also in support of the gnome theme, John's brother and sister-in-law sent me some excellent gnome knee socks - let's count the silent letters there. And, they also sent us a homemade gnome. Here he is resting quietly on our new plant stand.

If you look closely on his bag, she painted a fairly good likeness of Shadowfax (complete with a pink collar).

And finally, possibly one of the most awesome presents ever, I got a dachshund lamp. Not quite the leg lamp from the Christmas Story, but quite close. I new what it was when it arrived, as the box said white dachshund, but I held off until Christmas. I eagerly opened the box.

I was appropriately amazed when it came out.

Some assembly was required, which John assisted with.

And now it has a place of honor on our TV stand - next to the dog toys.

All of us here at Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes hope that you had a fabulous Christmas. More to come soon, including the yearly news letter.

Buoy Found!!!

Last month Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes helped raise awareness on behalf of a UND professor friend of ours who had lost his scientific data-gathering buoy.  See Have You Seen This Buoy? for the full back story.

We're happy to pass along the joyous news (via the Grand Forks Herald) that the buoy has been found.  Granted it's a bit of a bummer that it's current status can best be described as "intact, but stuck in frozen mud along the shoreline".  No word on what, if any, punishment is in store for the buoy for staying out past its curfew without calling and making us worry so much. 

Sleepy Slumber Time

It's sleepy time here at the homestead.  Pups are snuggled in their slumber balls, covered with cozy blankets, warm and drifting off to dreamland. Sub-zero temperatures outside don't have much of an effect on you when you're as snug as a pug in a rug. 

It was a long day of braving the cold outside, playing tug-of-war, and barking at bunnies from the upstairs window. 

In case you're wondering what pit bulls really look like, this is it.  They're huge sleepy lumps.  They'd rather snuggle than do just about anything else in the world. 

I Have Diseases

Huh?  Well I do have diseases, but that's not what this is about.  This is about Alycia's diseases.  Don't worry, I won't get too graphic or too personal or embarrass Alycia.  Well not much. 

Last winter Alycia was diagnosed with Raynaud's Phenomenon, which is essentially poor circulation in the fingers and toes during the cold months.  This wouldn't be a big deal if we lived in say...San Diego, but here in North Dakota, it gets surprisingly chilly.  She had spent the previous three winters with undiagnosed poor circulation in her fingers and toes and had essentially low grade frostbite for months at a time.  It had to have been painful and uncomfortable and we're both glad that now she has medication to help mitigate the poor circulation. 

Quick tangent - don't worry I'll tie everything together.  Last year Alycia's Dad had separate successive surgeries on both his thumbs and during the months of recovery he was unable to play golf up to his previous high level of performance.  Partly out of need and partly as a joke, he got his surgeon to write (on an official prescription form) "Due to recent medical procedures, please grant Tom Cummings an extra stroke per golf hole and extend to him every possible courtesy on the golf course".  Alycia's Dad is quite proud of this doctors note and shows it off to just about anybody. Alycia quickly realized the importance of having a doctor's note.

How Raynaud's Syndrome affects blood flow.

After her diagnosis Alycia spent a few months reminding me how special she was (having a "Phenomenon" and all), then quickly realized that she could play this card to her advantage.  Along with medication to help improve circulation, any and all clothes/shoes/accessories are now also considered a "medical necessity".  She no longer sees a pair of shoes or boots and remarks how cute they are, but rather how well they could help her manage the symptoms of her legitimate medical condition.  Sigh.  This leads to endless derivations of the following exchange:

Alycia - "Look at these SmartWool socks, they sure look warm.  I bet they would really help mitigate the terrible effects of my officially diagnosed condition."
John -  Sigh.

Alycia - "This homespun alpaca yarn would be perfect for me to knit into a nice warm scarf that could alleviate the symptoms of my legitimate medical syndrome."
John -  Sigh.

Alycia - "Oooh, look at these boots, they're cute!!  I mean, I bet they could sure help with my cold feet, which are brought about by a genuine medically diagnosed syndrome and for which I have a doctors note."
John - "Those are pretty expensive."
Alycia - (Sad puppy dog eyes) "But I have diseases" (continued sad face and a sniffle for good measure).
John -  Sigh.

7 Day Weather Forecast

Here's the 7 day weather forecast for our little corner of Northeast North Dakota, courtesy of the Grand Forks Herald:

Chilly!!!  It's always rough when the high temperature doesn't even get above 0, as it's forecast to do for 4 out of the next 7 days.  And this is just the air temp, with wind chills factored in there are going to be some -30 and -40 degree wind chill evenings.  It will take all of our persuasive powers to convince the pups to go outside and do their business.  I hope you're warm wherever you are.

The Assassination of Angel Bear by the Coward Shadowfax the Puppy

Our recent Thanksgiving trip to Cavalier, North Dakota to spend the holiday with Alycia's parents was a relaxing and food filled weekend.  As always we brought along the three pooches to share in the holiday festivities. Tito and Shaak Ti are pretty well behaved and are allowed to mingle in the kitchen and living room, but Shadowfax gets a bit too excited in the free-for-all doggie snacking environment that happens during meal preparation and mealtimes.  So Shadowfax stays behind a baby gate in the hallway where she can see all the action and get pets/treats without the danger of an altercation over a scrap of turkey.

Shadowfax is very well behaved and usually lays in her dog bed behind the baby gate, watching the action. During lunch on Friday I was trapped at the far corner of the table and couldn't see Shadowfax, but I suddenly realized that she had been quiet for several minutes.  Very quiet.  This quiet stretch was immediately followed by some odd thrashing and bonking noises.  Alycia was closest to the hallway and I told her that shenanigans were afoot.  She jumped up and found Shadowfax the puppy in the process of mauling her Mom's beloved Angel Bear, the Beanie Baby.  Not since the demise of Tourist Dog (see A Wake For Tourist Dog) has there been such a wanton, deliberate act of stuffed animal carnage. 

Shadowfax has only mangled two things at Alycia's parents house, a Bible (King James edition) and Angel Bear.  I try to play this off as the puppy having interest in religious matters, but Alycia parents instead see it as a sign of Shadowfax being rasied in a non-religious and immoral manner. 

Alycia brought Angel Bear home and offered to repair him.  I think this might be tough since he no longer has a face, and any repair will leave him with a large, jagged facial scar and may necessitate a name change to Prison Angel Bear, which doesn't quite have the same warm and fuzzy connotation.

We were also only able to recover one of Angel Bears' eyes.  There is probably another eye rattling around somewhere in Shadowfaxs' digestive tract, which should have taken care of itself by now.  Though it will be unsettling when I have to scoop up a poop in the backyard that is starting back at me with a single beady eye, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. 

 

Shadowfax obviously enjoyed the soft, delicious texture of Angel Bear and seemed quite intent on finishing the job.  She was convinced that Alycia was being extraordinarily cruel by not letting her finish the disemboweling and disassembling process.  Even though he has no eyes and may have a rough time navigating the journey, we're hoping that if repairs don't work, that Angel Bear can spread his wings fly up to stuffed animal heaven. 

Deaf Dog Indoor Playtime

It's winter here in North Dakota.  It's been cold for the past few weeks and there's snow on the ground with (possibly much) more on the way this week.  When it gets cold outside, doggie playtime moves indoors and we have to get creative to come up with adequate adventures for the pups.  Luckily sometimes they do the work for us and just wrestle and chase each other. 

So maybe it isn't the most compelling video, but it's been a while since we posted a video of the dogs playing.  I mean...this is Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes after all! 

You may notice in the video that Shaak Ti always jumps over the section of hardwood floor between the two carpets in the living room/dining room.  We became aware a few years ago that this section of floor is actually is hot lava, never to be touched. It would have been nice for the real estate agent to disclose to us that we had hot lava in the house before we bought it, but apparently that's not a mandatory disclosure here in North Dakota. 

Have You Seen This Buoy?

Our friend and volleyball companion Xiaodong (Sheldon) Zhang is a professor at UND and recently his buoy became lost, either due to natural circumstances (unlikely) or deliberate human malfeasance (likely). You can read the full article on the Grand Forks Herald.  If you happen to know the whereabouts of his buoy, please contact him. 

UND says buoy with scientific payload is missing from Devils Lake
UND is reporting a missing buoy. Anchored in the middle of Devils Lake, the lonesome buoy would report water quality and its location every 10 minutes to scientists at UND.

Anchored in the middle of Devils Lake, the lonesome buoy would report water quality and its location every 10 minutes to scientists at UND.  It went silent about a week and a half ago, and, when the scientists went to search for it Tuesday, it had disappeared, said professor Xiaodong Zhang with the Department of Earth System Science and Policy.

Now, Zhang is asking those in the Devils Lake area to be on the lookout for the buoy, which is 5 feet tall, 5 feet wide, 80 pounds, bright yellow and obsessed with salinity, turbidity and other measures of water quality.  It last called home to say it was two miles northeast of the Spirit Lake casino.

Zhang won’t speculate why the buoy went mising. It’s unwieldy to move and, even though the university spent $30,000 to build the scientific sensors attached to the buoy, all of that is worthless to the average person, he said.

There is some urgency because cold weather is coming and, if the buoy is still on the lake somewhere when it freezes, that could damage the sensors, he said. And more people will be able to get to it by walking on ice and maybe messing with it, he said.

Major project
The buoy first went in the water in fall 2011 as part of a $3 million project funded by NASA. UND’s goal is to figure out how the saltiness of the water changes as the lake floods and as the climate of the region changes.

It was initially anchored in Stump Lake, which is now connected to Devils Lake because of flooding, and was moved to Devils Lake this year. The buoy was last seen Oct. 21 by state Health Department workers doing water quality surveys and last called home at 8 a.m. Nov. 9, Zhang said.

He wasn’t worried when he didn’t hear from the buoy because it has a habit of not calling, he said. In cool weather, the batteries sometime drain before they can be recharged by the solar panel, especially if the solar panel is frozen, he said.

UND is contacting government agencies in the Devils Lake region, such as those that run Grahams Island State Park and Fish and Wildlife agents, and the tribal casino. But it’s also asking the public for help.

 
Xiaodong Zhang, co-project leader, with the UND Department of Earth System Science and Policy, stands by the buoy that he and his colleagues were to launch Wednesday at Stump Lake. The buoy will measure and monitor changing conditions, water quality and other issues in the Devils Lake Basin as more water is moved from the Devils Lake to the Sheyenne River. It’s part of a $3 million NASA grant to the Northern Great Plains Center for People and the Environment at UND. The buoy was tested outside UND’s Clifford Hall before being taken to Stump Lake. Herald photo by Eric Hylden.

How you can help: If you know where the buoy is contact Zhang at (701) 777-2490 or zhang@aero.und.edu. 
On the Web: More info about the water-quality project is at www.und.edu/instruct/zhang.
 

Your Immediate Attention - Follow Up

Thank you to everyone who voted (or tried to vote).  This was a very quick contest, only lasting for the duration of the conference she's attending.  We just learned that Alycia and her colleague did win 2nd place!!!  Thank you all for your support and assistance for helping Alycia achieve her dancing dreams. 

Your Immediate Attention Required

Hello all.  I don't ask you for much.  In fact I don't think I've ever asked you for anything.  Heck I don't even give you grief for never clicking on the awesome ads (sarcasm intended) that I have, but that's OK. Now I need you to step up.

I need you to go and vote for Alycia (Contestant #24 - spelled Alisha) and her dancing colleague Sarah. Please, please help Alycia realize her dream of being a Doctor of not just Speech /Language Communication, but also a Dr. of Funk. Vote Now for Contestant #24. Vote Often.

Go HERE and vote for Alisha (sp) and Sarah in a fancy dancing contest being held at the Annual Convention for Speech Pathologists.

Seriously, go do it now.  Vote as many times as you are allowed.  Do it now.

Cummings-Chappell Wedding Announcement

My mother couldn't wait any longer for us to be proper Midwesterners - meaning that one of the rites of passage is the wedding announcement in the local paper, which in this case is the Cavalier Chronicle.

John and I made the Community News page on Wednesday, October 30. Below you can see what other captivating news was happening that day in Pembina County, ND.

Geometric Snow Patterns

When you live in North Dakota, you can't fight the weather.  Cold and winter are going to happen whether you like it or not.  Winter might not be the most hospitable season to be outside, but if you're brave enough to venture outdoors, astounding beauty and cool stuff invariably awaits. Last winter after a storm we had awesome Snowdrifts and Icicles.  This year?  Who knows, but we're off to a good start.

We had a decent snow squall move through yesterday.  Over the course of an hour or so of moderate snowfall, we got a decent amount of accumulation.  Decent for early November at least.  I came home to find that the sun had melted the snow in the areas within reach of its warm rays, leaving stark patterns of snow and grass in the shady patches of the yard.

The 90 degree angle at the jog in the fence allowed the sun to melt the snow and form a near-perfect right angle. 

You can see where the shadow of the tree is cast.  The snow in the shadow remained on the ground, everything around it melted.

It was a pretty cool scene in the backyard for a few hours. By evening, the snow had all but disappeared, leaving these cool patterns nothing more than a memory. 

Three Year Puppy-Versary

Next week is the three year anniversary of Shadowfax (fka Whisper) coming to live with us here in North Dakota.  As a commemoration I added the YouTube video that her awesome foster Mom Michelle took more than three years ago.

You can see little miss spazzy puppy in all her puppy glory, flouncing and pouncing around with a toy.  I watch this video on occasion happily remembering what Shadowfax was like as a goofy, scrawny puppy.  Much has changed, she's gotten bigger and sturdier, but no less goofy.  And for the record, we bought her the same toy that she's seen playing with in the video (the Floppy Flier) and she shredded it in less than a minute. 

And in case you missed our post in 2011 on our One Year Puppy-Versary, you can check out the musical photo montage I made to mark the occasion.

Halloween Pictures

How about some festive Halloween pictures to get you in the Fall spirit?  Since I don't have any great pictures of myself/Alycia and the pups, I figured I'd pass along pictures of my super awesome nephew Jacob enjoying the autumn happenings. 

Super awesome nephew Jacob testing out the pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.  If they were strong enough to sit on, they were sturdy enough to make a good jack-o-lantern. 

Jacob dressed up as a firefighter for Halloween.  I'm pretty sure real firefighters are supposed to wear shoes, but we'll ignore those safety concerns for now. 

Jacob and his Mom.  Future firefighter with actual real life firefighter. 

Jacob and his buddy who lives s few houses down were both firefighters for Halloween.  This was apparently a very safe neighborhood this particular evening, safety personnel were on the scene. 

New Dog Bed

We recently acquired a new dog bed from Doctor's Foster and Smith, one of our favorite online retailers.  With winter coming up there's been more competition for the one heated dog bed in house, and with Tito's13th birthday coming up, we want to ensure that his old, creaky joints have a warm place to rest on cold winter days. 

So we got a big, fluffy dog bed (emphasis on big and fluffy) and a heating pad to put inside the dog bed to help keep our pups warm through this winter.  Preliminary results are promising.  The bed might be a little too big for Shaak Ti, but she doesn't seem to mind.  

The view from ground level truly shows the immensity of bigness and fluffiness that we're dealing with here.  Shaak Ti's nose and noggin are barely visible amidst all the coziness. 

Sweet Potato Harvest

There was much yard work to be done over the weekend to get ready for the first snow of the season.  We got an inch or so of wet snow on Sunday, but it was mostly melted by the end of the day.  I spent Saturday frantically getting the garden ready for winter, on the off chance that we got the 4 or 5 inches that were "possible" from the storm.  I had visions of everything being covered in snow until next Spring and that actually scared me into action. 

One task that needed to be completed was harvesting the sweet potatoes.  It was an experiment this year to grow them (we'd never tried before) and it was quite a success. 

I didn't so much "plant" the sweet potato as threw it in a collection of compost and shredded leaves from the previous autumn.  This was a seriously low maintenance experiment since it needed no tending whatsoever and because it was in range of the sprinkler, I didn't even need to manually water it.  

The leaves of the sweet potato vine were pretty well fried from the hard freeze we had over the last weeks, it was ready to come out. 

These were the vegetables of our non-labor - about a dozen sweet potatoes, three or four were pretty big.  After I harvested them, the remaining compost was broken down enough to top dress two raised beds in preparation for winter.  The sweet potato experiment?  Complete success.  A dozen sweet potatoes, virtually no effort, and a handy place to break down compost for use in the garden.  We'll do this next year for sure, maybe even have more than one sweet potato/compost bin. 

Fall Weather and First Snow

It's fall here in Eastern North Dakota.  The breeze has turned stronger and chillier, blowing the falling leaves in showers of autumn colors.  We've been swamped with pulling the last tomatoes, peppers,and eggplant from the garden and getting everything ready for winter.  The hard freeze on Wednesday night did in the last summer crops including the sweet potato vine that I need to wrangle and chop up into compost. 

The apple trees are holding onto their leaves (barely) and the marigolds somehow still look quite vibrant.  That may all change if we get some snow over the weekend.

From the National Weather Service:

THE FIRST ACCUMULATING SNOW OF THE SEASON IS POSSIBLE SATURDAY
NIGHT INTO SUNDAY. THERE COULD BE A BAND OF 1 TO 3 INCHES OF
SNOW ALONG A LINE FROM AROUND DEVILS LAKE TO GRAND FORKS TO
BEMIDJI. THE LOCATION OF THIS SNOW BAND WILL BECOME MORE CERTAIN
ONCE THE EXACT TRACK OF THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS KNOWN. IT WILL
GET VERY COLD BEHIND THIS ALBERTA CLIPPER...AND NORTHERLY WINDS
WILL INCREASE SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. THE UNSEASONABLY COLD
WEATHER WILL CONTINUE NEXT WEEK.

We'll be busy as little beavers putting the rest of the garden to sleep for the winter, raking and chopping leaves and adding them to the raised beds.  As always, there's so much to do and so little time.  Nothing is quite as motivating though as the threat of snow, it's one heck of a deadline. 

Homemade Sauerkraut

This weekend brought a visit from Alycia's folks who came down to run errands and celebrate Alycia's Dad's birthday in the big city.  I'll be discrete and not tell you how old he is, but suffice to say he is retirement and Social Security eligible.  During the gardening season, and especially in late Summer and early Fall they always bring us gifts of extra produce from their gardens or their friends gardens when they visit.

This trip they brought green and red cabbage as well a large sack of apples.  We quickly turned the apples into a large pan of apple crisp, which pairs perfectly with my morning cup(s) of coffee.   The cabbage got sliced up, crunched into a crock, and is currently fermenting in the basement with the hope that it will soon become sauerkraut.

These are the good looking cabbages that Alycia's parents brought us.

I just chopped up the cabbage with a knife, though having a mandolin or more chopping patience could have yielded smaller grain of cabbage or more consistent size, but that's fine with me.

Making sauerkraut has always been on my list of things to try, but fear of the unknown and my hesitation to try fermentation (oh yeah I just rhymed), kept me from experimenting.  But sauerkraut is incredibly simple; just chop up the cabbage, put it in a crock, add salt, wait a few weeks.  Super easy. We'll know in another couple of weeks how it turned out, I'm looking forward to having a big jug of homemade sauerkraut sitting in the fridge all winter. 

Gift From a Loyal Reader

In our long and storied history here at Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes we had never received a spontaneous gift from a reader, but that all changed today.  One of our most loyal (and by far our most sarcastic) readers from Southern California, Andy (last name withheld due to his fears of government surveillance), sent us a package in the mail.

Since we have a few months of non-conducive crop growing weather coming up here, we won't be able to plant these until next Spring.  Even though I have to wait a few months, I'm looking forward to trying some of these new plants/herbs out. 

You can see the product here or check out the website My Patriot Supply.

Thanks a bunch Andy!! We hope that this sets a precedent of more unexpected gifts being sent from readers.  Please ask if you need our mailing address to send us a gift, we'll be happy to provide.

Happy National Coffee Day

Did you know that today, September 29th, is National Coffee Day?  I had no idea since, well every day here is National Coffee Day.

Did you know that Theodore Roosevelt (that guy on Mt. Rushmore) drank up to a gallon of coffee each day?  I try to live up to that standard, but probably only reach a half gallon each day.  It's nice to have a goal to reach for and strive towards. 

Deaf Dog Dirt Day Spa

It may only be mid-September, but it's time to begin preparing the garden for winter.  Ahh yes.  I've learned that winter here in North Dakota is either in recent memory, or in the near future.  In these parts Old Man Winter is always lurking somewhere with a special surprise, a May snowstorm, a September hard freeze, you just never know.

Getting the garden ready for winter is always easier in small, manageable batches, so we approach our labor in small doses.  Alycia started the ball rolling and cut down some peonies and irises in the back yard the other day, leaving some patches of bare dirt. 

This is one of the patches of dirt left bare by removing the spent irises and peonies.  It may not look like much, but on a warm fall day, this is a fantastical magical place to Shaak Ti, a veritable Deaf Dog Day Spa.  She spent several hours outside today, basking in the sun and rolling in the warm bare dirt.  Then after a few hours of pleasant snoozing, Shaak Ti came inside, covered in dirt and filthy. 

This might not look like much, but she's really dirty.  Shaak Ti is white with gray and black spots.  After her time lolling in the dirt she was gray and brown, covered in a thorough coating of dirt and completely unashamed. 

Conscience clear, she continued napping indoors, upside down. 

New Plants in the Garden Update

It's been a bit since our last posting, yes that's my bad.  All my fault.  I won't even take up your time with my verbal self abuse.  How about we get back on the posting wagon with a follow up to an earlier post.

At the end of June we (and by "we" I mean "me", Alycia didn't do more than supervise) planted a bunch of New Plants in the Garden (that we ordered from BloomingBulb.com).  The Summer Sun Heliopsis, Caradonna Salvia, and Paprika Yarrow have all done fantastically and bloomed profusely despite only having a few months to establish.  The Zing Rose Maiden Pink Dianthus has done OK, most have lived and even partially bloomed.  

The Summer Sun Heliopsis blooming with some sunflowers and Salvia Coccinea - Lady In Red in the background.  

The Arizona Sun Gaillardia?  Not so good, I think only a few survived.  Perhaps they'll return in Spring, but if not they're still guaranteed and I can get get replacements sent. 

I promise that we'll have more stories in the near future.  The first hints of Fall are in the air here in North Dakota, we even had a Frost Warning last night, and there shall be tales of apple cider, deaf dogs in sweaters, raking leaves, and pumpkins from the garden.