Return of the Flickers

Spring brings many things here in North Dakota, but the seasonal transition from winter to spring is noticeable by the timeline of the arrival of winged visitors in the neighborhood.  The bird arrival schedule is first the robins arrive, then the grackles, then a lot more robins, then even more robins, then the flickers. 

Flickers are not only an interesting bird to watch but they also have seemingly unusual/contradictory characteristics.  They're technically woodpeckers, but they don't bang their heads against trees and make holes in tree trunks, instead feeding on the ground on ants, bugs, and tasty creepy crawlies.  And strangely, even though they're year round residents here, they're rarely seen (by me) except in the Spring and Fall when some of them along with their brethren from Canada migrate through the area.

Photo Credit

Flickers are slightly larger than a robin and at first glance from a distance I usually mistake them for robins, but they're much more skittish than the bold robins and tend to flee for the safety of trees sooner than a robin would as you approach on foot.  In flight it becomes much more apparent that they're woodpeckers.  When they alight on a tree, they sometimes grab a vertical branch or the tree trunk like a woodpecker instead of perching on a horizontal branch like most birds. 

Photo Caption

Prior to 1930 the nickname of University of North Dakota athletic teams was the Flickertails (not to be confused with flickers, flickertails are a very fierce variety of local ground squirrel), but that all changed and eventually led to the current imbroglio with the Fighting Sioux nickname that is still going on today. You can read about the history of the UND nickname if you are so inclined, especially the Flickertails here on Wikipedia.

Photo Credit

 You can learn more about flickers and see more awesome pictures from the fantastic Cornell Lab of Ornithology website.

Bingo and Easter and Spring

It was a whirlwind of a weekend, so much so that I'm just now pausing to update the Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes crowd of the happenings around the homestead.

On Saturday Alycia's parents visited us from their Cavalier, North Dakota country estate.  Alycia got the bee in her bonnet that we should try our hand at one of the many local bingo events in town.  So the four us stopped by the VFW in East Grand Forks, Minnesota (just on the other side of the Red River of the North) on Saturday afternoon and we had a blast learning and then playing bingo.  I committed a rookie blogger error and forgot my camera at home, which is too bad since I can't adequately capture in words the bingo scene at the VFW.

The bingo companions that we shared our table with were most gracious and helpful and prevented us four bingo newbies from making any egregious or embarrassing bingo faux pas.  And to top it off Alycia won $100!!!  It was quite the outing and I think we're going to return, possibly semi-regularly, it was a lot of fun.

On Easter Sunday we headed up to the Cavalier, North Dakota estate for an Easter feast and celebration of family with Alycia's parents.  We hauled the dogs along with us (of course) and Shadowfax showered everyone with kisses and spazzy puppy hugs, while Tito and Shaak Ti snacked on turkey tidbits from Alycia's Dad. 

Despite the cool weather the last few days, there are signs of Spring everywhere.  This week we'll have some posts about our vegetable and flower seed germination, some new feathered visitors around the urban homestead, as well as an update on our un-hibernating garden gnomes.  Stay tuned.

Puppy's First Stitches

Shadowfax the puppy got her first stitches on Tuesday.  This is an unfortunate coming of age benchmark and it's the first time we've had to get any of the dogs stitched up.  Most of the previous self-inflicted injuries the pups have have sustained consisted of scrapes, small punctures, and some small cuts - the kind of thing that we could treat at home with peroxide and Neosporin.

But on Monday night as puppy was in the midst of a high speed tear around session, Tito "The Moray Eel" lurched out from his hiding place under the dining room table like a moray eel and nipped her good.  I actually didn't notice for a few minutes since other than letting out a yelp (the loudest I've ever heard her yelp), there was no indication she was hurt, she just kept racing around and playing with Shaak Ti.

She wound up with a decent sized gash and 8 stitches.  While not life threatening, it was definitely beyond our first aid abilities so we took her first to the emergency vet (it was late evening) for staples, which didn't hold very well, and then the next day to the vet to get sewn up.  Between the emergency vet visit on Monday night and the follow up visit to get stitches, it was an expensive little incident and the cost is definitely coming out of Tito's allowance.  

After she came home, she just kept right on playing.  I don't think she even knew that she'd been injured.  At the vet, even though she had a gaping wound, she jumped right up on the counter.  Not front-paws-up-on-the-counter, but jump through the air onto the counter with all four feet so she could give the receptionist kisses. The receptionist commented "my she's s a busy dog isn't she".  Yes, yes she is. 

Here she is in her Comfy Cone chomping away at Triumph the Triceratops. We're big fans of the Comfy Cone, it's much less damaging to the shins (of the people, not the dogs) and and still keeps the pups from pulling her stitches out.

Here's the puppy napping in her Comfy Cone, cozy and comfy, but a little sad looking.  She's healing up quick and will be flying around the house before we know it. 

At the Fire Station

My nephew Jacob with his Mom at the fire station.  He's getting big, at only 15 months he's already showing off the inherited family height, big feet and torso girth.

Esquire Article - The War Against Youth

If you have 20 minutes I highly recommend reading this article.  It's very well written and summarizes so many of the economic/political/generational conflicts going on today.

Esquire - The War Against Youth

"The recession didn't gut the prospects of American young people.  The Baby Boomers took care of that." 

Spring Continues - Tulips, Honeyberries, Trash

Spring continues to take shape here on the Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes urban homestead.  There are finally flocks of robins (Alycia contends this is the true indicator of the arrival of Spring) clamoring around and there's been some rustling and commotion from the garage cubbyhole where the garden gnomes are hibernating, I think they're beginning to awaken from their winter slumber.  More on the developing garden gnomes situation later this week.

The tulips continue to emerge, looking ready for a good spring color show.

I think we may even get our first tulip blooms this week.  My fingers are crossed.

The honeyberry is almost fully leafed out and looks terrific.  It's not a native but thrives in our very cold winters and was one of the first plants to set leaves.  It needs another variety as a pollinator and the second honeyberry we had was nothing more than a 4 inch bare root twig didn't survive last summer due to a series of unfortunate episodes of neglect when I was out of town.  We may buy another pollinator this year so we get berries.  The berries are small, oblong, dark blue (like a blueberry) and very tart.  They are not the best to eat raw and we'll use them to make jam.  

One of the Spring tasks I despise is picking up all the trash that accumulates over the winter, gets stuck in the snow and then reveals itself after the snow melts.  The truth is that picking up trash is not just a Spring job, but an unfortunate year round task for Alycia and I.  The regular heavy winds are partly to blame as they tend to blow trash around until it gets caught on shrubs and windbreaks, but the majority of the fault is with people who are just messy inconsiderate litterers.  Weekly we pick up candy wrappers, cigarette butts, pieces of paper, soda bottles, fast food bags, beer cans, you name it.  People who litter suck.

Every once in a while the litter though is mildly entertaining, such as the picture above - I found the Giraffe 9 of Spades in the garden. 

The Giraffe 9 of hearts was in the front yard (sorry the picture didn't come out great).  How these particular cards made it into our yard I'll never know.  Perhaps this was a losing hand in some majestic poker game.  Or perhaps this was the winning hand (tallest animal on the card wins?), we'll never know.  What I do know is that littering is pretty bad around here and it makes me sad/angry. 

It's a lovely sunny day outside, 70 degrees and light winds, the perfect day for some light outdoor tasks with periodic bouts of distracted bird watching and miscellaneous procrastinations.  Have a fabulous Sunday.

Deaf Dog Photo of the Week

Shadowfax is an imposing figure, striking when she sits up straight.  And she certainly knows how to pose for the camera.  I'm pretty sure she's the best puppy in the world. 

Being so pretty all the time can tire you out though (I can also personally attest to this).

Deaf Dog Bed Repair

One of the dogs beds opened a seam in the last few weeks and had a 6 inch gaping hole on the top with stuffing/fuzz coming out.  It wouldn't have a been a big deal except for the fact that the puppy likes her fuzz like politicians like fuzzy math.  Yeah, that much.  So Alycia grabbed her sewing kit and, even though she's not the fastest seamstress in the world, doggedly (I went there with my awesome pun so deal with it) set out to repair the dog bed.  I figured that she'd work at the table or even on the couch, but she decided to sit down on the floor to work on the dog bed.

"Uhh you know what's going to happen if you do that, right?" I inquired. 
"What?  It's fine."
Sure enough about six seconds later, this happened.

And then this.

Which quickly led to this.

Luckily despite the fact that sewing needles were inches away from everyone faces, no pups were accidentally injured and the dog bed was repaired.  It must be nice to be so well loved that the second you sit on the ground multiple dogs are jockeying for position to snuggle with you.

Starting Seeds Indoors

The warm weather and Spring-like atmosphere has made me antsy to get gardening, but since it's only March, I'll have to settle with starting some seeds indoors.  It might be too early to start seeds, but I think that it might be warm enough to set out some of these transplants when they're ready in a month or so.  It might be pushing the envelope, but I like living on the edge.

I started four large trays with about two dozen six packs of pots I've saved from former nursery purchases.  It's super easy to just fill them with fresh potting soil and pop in the seeds.

All of the seeds are on the counter down in the basement with a large shop light on a timer so that seeds get plenty of light and (hopefully) germinate like champs.

These have some of our veggies (tomatoes, squash, honeydew melons, watermelons, eggplant and cabbages).

These are some annual and perennial flowers (zinnias, coneflowers, salvias, hollyhock, lavender, and clematis).  I'll be sure to show updates if/when things start to germinate and are ready to put out into the garden.  It's easier for me to be slightly more aggressive putting the flowers out sooner, when there's still a danger of frost, if they get frozen there's no big loss.  If I lose one of my delicious Sun Cherry Tomato plants though, I might be a bit of a sad panda, so I'll wait to put those out. 

This is only a fraction of the veggies and flowers that we plant.  We will still make our annual May pilgrimage to a nursery in Fertile, Minnesota, the fantastic Bergeson Nursery and buy other plants from local nurseries and hardware stores.

We're On Facebook

Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes has finally cleared the formidable obstacles (John) and arrived on Facebook, finally joining the technological world of 2009.

Check out Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes on Facebook.  Once you're there you can "Like", "Really Like", "Like Totally Really Really Like", or "Pledge Undying Allegiance" to the page.  OK, you can only "Like" the page until I figure out how to make those other things happen.

Howling at the Moon

It's been a while since I posted a picture of my little nephew Jacob. He's already motoring around at a high rate of speed, tottering around on two feet and trying to master the whole "walking" thing. 

Jacob's canine big brother Buster is teaching him all the important things in life: how to chase bunnies (see picture above), howl at the moon, and to greet others by sniffing their hindquarters.  Buster is a pretty good big brother. 

Signs Of Spring On the Homestead

Even though it's only March there are signs of Spring around the homestead here in North Dakota.  The grass is starting to green up and trees are beginning to swell with new growth.  I'm expecting little green leaves to burst forth on tree limbs any day now.  The honeyberries that we bought last year have already started to produce small leaves.  I'll get some pics of them later this week.

The weather was wonderful again yesterday, mid-60's, sunny and warm.  These are bonus days to me.  Normally we'd still be knee deep in snow and yearning for warm dry weather.  Now with this early Spring I can get out and start puttering around the yard - starting some Spring cleaning, tidying up the garage, building more tomato cages, completing some of the projects that never quite got completed last year, map out the perennial beds we're going to plant, etc.

You have to look pretty hard, but you can see the first tulips emerging from the ground.  The tulips are a full month ahead of schedule from the last two years when they didn't emerge from the ground until mid to late April. 

These are legacy leeks, already greened up and growing.  Legacy isn't a variety of leeks, these are literally a family legacy.  They were growing in Alycia's grandparents yard for years, then transplanted to her parents yard where they've grown for an unknown number of years.  Her parents dug some up last year and brought them to us and we planted them.  They go to seed in late summer/early fall and we allow them to sprout in the designated leek area (I call it LeekLand) adjacent to the compost bin.  The leeks seem very hardy and don't need much in the way of winter protection.  I half-assedly scattered some leaves around them in late Fall last year, but I don't think they needed it.

The Early Arrival of Spring

An early and vigorously warm spring has arrived here in northeastern North Dakota.  Yesterday was 70+ degrees and warm enough that a) Alycia and I moseyed out into the yard for some light yard work and b) I worked up a light sweat in the process. 

I spotted the first robin of the year on Wednesday, hopping about in the neighbors yard, and have since noticed several more each day.  Alycia is of the opinion (gleaned from one of her bird watching books) that Spring hasn't truly arrived until there are flocks of robins bounding about in every yard and peering down from every tree branch.  We can't be far off from that scenario.

Photo Credit

Homemade Vanilla Extract

I was greatly inspired by Alycia's friend and awesome blogegr Sara who made her own Homemade Vanilla Extract, and since it seemed so simple, I thought I'd give it a shot as well.  There are really only two ingredients, vodka (a 1.75 liter bottle) and whole vanilla beans (about a quarter pound), easy.  So easy that even I probably couldn't goof it up.

This is about what Alycia and I consume in a week, so we just had these two jugs sitting around.  Just kidding.  The vodka was readily available at the local liquor barn type establishment, but I had to order the vanilla beans online. 

I took a pair of clean kitchen shears and sliced the vanilla pods down their length to about an inch of the end.  The vanilla pods had the consistency of a raisin and the whole process only took about 15 minutes.

The vanilla pods were evenly divided up into each 1.75 liter jug of vodka, with about a quarter pound in each jug.  After only an hour the vanilla had already started to turn the vodka color and begin the extract process.  I'll put the bottles into the downstairs root cellar where it's cool and dark.  The vanilla will be ready to use in about a month, but will be best after it's had about 6 months to percolate.

Marilyn Hagerty Olive Garden Restaurant Review Goes Viral

The Grand Forks Herald and its food writer Marilyn Hagerty have exploded over the Internet over the last few days when her review of the Olive Garden restaurant in Grand Forks went viral and was picked up by snarky sites like BoingBoig, Fark, and Gawker.  These sites initially seemed intent on making fun of this old lady from a hick town in North Dakota and imposing their "big city' ideals of what being a food critic should entail.  But happily some public outcry came to her defense and tried to shout down the multitude of angry Internet trolls.  

Marilyn is 85 years old and has been associated with the Grand Forks Herald for more than 60 years (her late husband was the editor of the newspaper for many years).  She's a local institution and at 85 is a not only a better writer than most current college graduates, but has been churning out journalism pieces since before you were born (probably).  I hope that my brain is working half as well as hers when I'm 85, and can only imagine churning out 5 newspaper columns a week at any age.

Marilyn is very much the charming matron of Grand Forks, North Dakota.  She's the kindly grandmother who never has a bad word to say about anyone, and this is reflected in her restaurant reviews.  She rarely has a negative comment and can always find the good in anything, a quality that's sorely lacking in our world today.  We see Marilyn frequently at every manner of University of North Dakota sporting events, football, men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, etc.  She's an enthusiastic and knowledgeable sports fan and very much an icon in the community.  Sure Alycia and I cracked a few jokes when she did her "Eat Beats" review of one of the McDonald's in town (I mean it's McDonald's, what can you say?), but that's Marilyn.

I mentioned Marilyn a couple of years ago here on Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes when she wrote an article about a Minnesota High School's ice fishing team.  

You can read about Internet sensation Marilyn Hagerty at the following:

• Yahoo Article 
• The Original Grand Forks Herald Restaurant Review that started it all. 
• The Grand Forks Herald Article detailing all the fanfare and describing the possible appearances on CNN, The Today Show, Good Morning America, etc. 
• A list from the Grand Forks Herald of all the various mentions across the Internet of Marilyn and her Olive Garden review.

Homemade Ketchup Article On Yahoo Voices

Despite my best efforts to the contrary, Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes continues to garner validation in the Blogo-Interneto-sphere.  The How to Made Homemade Ketchup post (after a few necessary edits and textual massages to make it less "bloggy" and more "article-y") was recently published on the much heralded new site Wisdom of the Gaucho.

You can read the article here - How to Make Homemade Ketchup. 

Deaf Dog Growth Spurt

Want to see how much our little puppy Shadowfax has grown?  Check out this picture from the I'm Watching You post back in mid-August of last year.

Now a picture from the same spot that I took this week.

Isn't crazy how big she's gotten?  She's grown like two feet in under a year!!! At this rate she'll be 10 feet tall in a few years, like a spazzy deaf version of Clifford the Big Red dog.  I sense impending destruction shall be wrought upon the house if this growth trend continues.

OK, so what really happened is we put a trunk underneath that window in the mud room.  Alycia and her Mom covered the trunk with a carpet remnant and it's now a prefect perch for the puppy to watch the back yard happenings.  Did you really think she'd gotten that big?  Hadja going there didn't I???

Through the Blizzard - Remington's Rescue Relay

Ever since our deaf puppy Shadowfax arrived to us from Waco, Texas via a marathon relay of volunteer rescue drivers, Alycia and I have been anxious to try to repay the karmic debt and help others dogs in need.  We volunteered our services as rescue dog transporters with the local Humane Society (the Circle of Friends Humane Society in Grand Forks) and waited for our call to action.

The only problem is that living in North Dakota means that you're fairly well out of the way of well, everyone.  Not many folks are ever going to or from Grand Forks, or passing through your area.  After a couple of transport attempts that fell through, Alycia and I finally got our chance on Sunday to participate in a rescue dog transport.

Snow Pictures and A Cold Puppy

We got a bunch of snow on Monday night and Tuesday morning, not a significant snowfall by any means (only about 4 inches), but it was still the largest snowfall so far this winter.  And I actually remembered my camera so I snapped some pictures as I was out shoveling.

The snow was wet and heavy and clung to even the thinnest branches, turning every tree and bare shrub into a giant frosted mini-wheat.  It was quite lovely.

There's actually a small evergreen shrub under there.  We have more snow on the docket for Saturday night through Sunday evening, details are still uncertain, but it could be a decent storm.  And apparently now the door is open for winter, since there's also a good chance of significant snow early next week. 

After clearing the driveway, sidewalks, and front porch I cleared the "doggy business area" in the backyard.  I probably clear about 500 square feet for the pooches so that they don't have to get their feet cold and wet and have a multitude of location options to perform their outdoor functions.  This is mostly for Shaak Ti and Tito, the Puppy actually prefers to perform all manner of business on as large of a snow pile as she can. Seriously, I've seen on top of a four foot high snow drift happily taking a potty break. 

The other dogs are smart enough to stay inside when there's that much snow on the ground, but not Shadowfax, she thinks that shoveling snow is the single greatest game in the world, running around barking and chomping at the shovel and generally being a huge goof.  I admittedly don't help matters by dumping shovel-fulls of snow on her, which just drives her into a more frenzied barking and racing around fest. 

Since she has so little fur though (and apparently doesn't have a strong enough self preservation instinct to go inside when she's so cold and wet that she's shivering) she can't stay out for very long and play in the snow.  After 20 to 30 minutes, I have to stop shoveling and physically haul her inside for a warm up since she won't go on her own accord.  What a goober. 

Garden Recap - Part 2, The Failures

I delineated some of our garden successes in Part 1 (see Garden Recap - Part 1, The Successes).  Now on to the fun stuff, the mistakes I made and lessons learned during the last year on the urban homestead. 

Failures:
Strawberry Jam.  You can read all about our strawberry jam making in the Strawberry Jam Insanity post.  The jam is delicious, but more like a runny, gooey, jam-esque substance than actual jam.  It's still a great topping for pancakes, waffles, ice cream, and gluten free yellow cake but it doesn't have the consistency of proper jam.  The problem was I got a little too big for my britches and thought I could modify the jam recipe.  The lesson learned?  If you want your jam to set properly you need to follow the recipe precisely.     

Onions.  The one set of onions that we tried to plant in the raised bed of strawberries?  They hung around for a week or so, then they just disappeared, totally overwhelmed by the strawberries.  Since we had no place for the onions, this seemed like a good idea, in retrospect this was an idea that was doomed to fail.  Lesson learned?  We're going to make some space for rows of onions and give them plenty of space to do their thing.

Apple Trees.  We lost a couple of apple trees (one each of two varieties) over the winter out of the eight that we planted.  It's hard to tell if it's because they were still vulnerable in their first full year, if I planted them poorly, or if it was just a super hard/cold winter (which it was). We're going to replace them this year with a couple more hardier "North Dakota approved" varieties that should fare better.

Shaak Ti the Deaf Dog - Photo Montage

Since the recent Deaf Dog of the Year voting debacle where Shaak Ti, the middle child, finished third, I have been thinking of a way to make it up to her.  I've had a chance to say my peace and admonish those responsible for the voting fraud and shenanigans in the 2011 Deaf Dog of the Year Voting Results post.  But I figured it might be nice to dedicate an entire post to Shaak Ti (still despondent from her third place finish) to make her feel loved.  All set?  OK, photo time.

Whoops, your blue eyes are closed.  Lets try that again. 

Yay, that's much better.  Such a regal posing little pooch, well done Shaak Ti.

Now a picture playing with your awesome Triceratops toy. 

Looks like we're all pooped out from our super photo shoot.

Garden Recap - Part 1, The Successes

Even though it's cold and marginally snowy outside, it doesn't mean I'm not thinking about the garden, thunderstorms, fresh tomatoes, warm summer evenings, and what plants to grow next year.  Alycia and I usually spend several weeks every winter flipping through the various seed catalogs that are mailed to the house, debating what new tomatoes we want to try, which onions grew best, and if we should stubbornly keep trying to grow things that didn't do so well the prior year.  We're right in the midst of whittling down our seed catalog choices to a semi manageable number of veggies and flowers since Spring is (hopefully) right around the corner.

This exercise always leads to the very helpful analysis of what worked and what failed last year.  So here's a list of things we learned, success we had, and failures we experienced last year in the garden and around the homestead and how that'll change what we try this year.  So for Part 1 of our garden recap, here are the things that did well and we considered successes last year.

Successes:
Cucumbers.  I can't decide if we did really well with these or if the weather and environmental factors just lent themselves to a good cucumber yield.  Multiple people I talked to mentioned that their cucumbers were going gangbusters last year, and the same was true for us.  The pickling cucumbers, Armenian cucumbers, and regular cucumbers all produced prodigiously.

Pickles.  The unexpected number of cucumbers was sort of a surprise, but my plan was to make/can pickles last year.  This is all part of my plan to try a few new things every year (new things we canned in 2011 were strawberry jam, pickles, and ketchup) and build every year on that knowledge.  You can't become a self sufficiency or canning expert overnight, so I'm employing the "learn one or two things a year and build the toolbox of skills" plan.

We had enough cucumbers to can (10) Quart jars of sweet pickles and make (2) 1-gallon jars of refrigerator sweet pickles.  Canning pickles was a snap, a limited number of ingredients and short prep time made this one of the easiest canning recipes I've tried.  The refrigerator pickles were also a huge asset since I could make the vinegar/sugar/spices mixture, put it in the gallon jar and store it in the refrigerator.  Once the mix was made Alycia could easily chop and add cucumbers as they became ripe (this was especially useful and efficient when I was out of town and cucumbers were ripening).  See the post - Bread and Butter Pickles for more info and the recipe. The only downside to the refrigerator pickles is that the gallon jars take up a lot of space in the fridge. 

Dog in the Pocket

My Dad claims to not be much of a dog person, and to his credit he really isn't.  But every time he hangs out with my sister and her 5 dogs, he seems to really enjoy himself some canine company, especially Toby the Chihuahua who just loves him.  Whenever Dad goes over to visit Toby makes a beeline for his lap and gets himself comfy for some tummy rubs. 

My sister snapped the above picture of Pops snuggling with Toby, eyes partially lolled back into his head as he settled in for some snuggling.  Nothing quite like family snuggle time. 

Deaf Dog in Action!!

Wanna see a cool photo? 

Best caption to the photo, left in the comments section, wins a prize.*

*Please note that prize may or may not be an actual physical prize, it may be something slightly more esoteric like my everlasting respect or a shout out in the blog. 

2011 Deaf Dog of the Year Poll Results

The results of the poll are in, and winner of the Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes 2011 Deaf Dog of the year is......Tito. Sigh. Tito's prize for wining was me not verbally abusing him for an entire day, quite the prize.  Needless to say the prize would have been different had anyone else won. 

Now let me say how utterly disappointed I am in you all.  Very disappointed.  As I sat down to discuss the poll results with the three pooches, I saw the inevitable looks of sadness from Shadowfax, who wondered if she was cute enough, playful enough, or engaged in an adequate amount of puppy hijinks to satisfy voters.  I wasn't too concerned about her, she's young, and likely has many awards in her future.

I saw in Shaak Ti the all too familiar look of the vanquished and forgotten middle child (I have seen this look many times in the mirror) who appeared crestfallen at her third place finish.  Shaak Ti was inconsolable and cried many deaf dog tears, unable to comprehend why she finished last in our inaugural Deaf Dog of the Year contest.  You made Shaak Ti cry, I hope you're happy with yourselves. 

I also actively weep for the future of our country.  Here we are in an election year and you have all voted for the most ornery, irascible, and wholly unelectable candidate, and this is just for Deaf Dog of the Year.

A special "I'm very disappointed in you" shout out goes out to Alycia's friend "A" (name partially redacted) who wrote her an e-mail bragging that they were having a grand old time manipulating the poll for their own amusement.  Sigh.  The e-mail actually went on to describe how happy they were to be committing this particularly onerous manner of voter fraud because they knew that Tito winning the poll would greatly annoy me.  Double sigh.

I guess the lesson learned here is that Democracy in action isn't always predictable, and sometimes the results aren't what you would expect or prefer.  Sometimes the candidate you voted for isn't the one who wins, and sometimes the winner might be the most detestable of the lot.  We'll spend the next year emphasizing the good traits of Shaak Ti and Shadowfax, and downplay the accomplishments (if any) of Tito.  Hopefully the 2012 Deaf Dog of the Year contest turns out differently. 

Only Two Days Left!!

There are only two more days left to vote in the 2011 Deaf Dog Of The Year contest.  If you haven't done it already, get your vote in, this is for all the marbles.  Marbles people, marbles. 

The Littlest Truck Driver

Little Trucker Jacob driving his Caterpillar tractor.  He's probably honking the horn or givin' em the ol "get outta my way" hand gesture that his Dad taught him. 

2011 Deaf Dog of the Year

I was inspired by one of my favorite blogs (Montana Wildlife Gardener) and his 2011 Cat of the Year post.  Yes this is a blatant example of bloggo-theft, but his post was incredibly funny and a great idea, I couldn't help but appropriate it for my own nefarious purposes.

In the interest of conferring more power to my loyal blog readers in the form of feedback and voting, let's see who you would vote for in the Inaugural Deaf Dog of the Year contest.  Voting is on the upper left part of the screen, and please leave a comment as to who you voted for and why.  Here are your three choices for 2011 Deaf Dog of the Year (presented in order of seniority):

Tito the Wonder Puppy (aliases - Tito, Toberto, Toe, Berto, F@%khead, Chubbs)

2011 Accomplishments - Took the meaning of close companionship to the next level by never being more than 6 feet away at all times (this would be considered stalking if he were a person). Stoically cycled through 5 sessions of antibiotics, mostly due to impacted anal glands.  Protects the grill at the Cavalier estate with a level of security rivaled only by Ft. Knox.  Has (allegedly) become friendlier and less angry, allowing people to pet him.

Flaws and Negative Press - His obsessive compulsive licking habit has worsened.  Despite his orneriness detente, he is still prone to snapping at any moment.  He has decided he no longer wants to be burdened with the arduous task of walking up stairs and has to be carried up to bed every night. He has a generally bad attitude and negative outlook on life.  Has a very greasy pelt (this is partially from not being bathed regularly and partially from constantly rolling in nasty crap outside).  Spends every walk hunting for bunny poop to eat.

Key Voting Demographics - the elderly, the angry, the ornery, Antonio Banderas fans, old men who shake their canes at the damn kids, those who wish that it was socially acceptable to be able to bite others.  

Jedi Master Shaak Ti (aliases - Shaak Ti, R-Dog, Skuzzlebutt, Spotterdog, Scoops, Squito Burrito)

Accomplishments - Required no vet visits from self inflicted trauma or crashes in 2011.  Plays well with big little sister Shadowfax and is able to give her a run for money despite being half her size.  Stands constant vigil over the house from the upstairs window, ensuring that no intruders: human, dog, or squirrel penetrate the outer defenses.  Continues to exhibit her awesome jumping abilities.  Actively loved Grandpa and Grandma.

Flaws and Negative Press - Still doesn't understand the concept of sleeping in past 5:45 am.  Causes left shoulder deltoid or rotator cuff injuries due to her constant exuberant pulling and running on the leash.  Crazy singing and off key "woo-wooing" are amazingly loud for a dog her size.  Is high maintenance and constantly demands pets, whines loudly when not petted or allowed into laps.  Finicky eater, prefers Grandmas kibble and gravy scrambled egg surprise to her regular food and goes days without eating in protest when we serve just kibble. 

Key Voting Demographics - ultra marthoners, extreme sports enthusiasts, professional/amateur yodelers, descendents of Lewis and Clark, historical re-enactment participants, people with a zest for life, vegetarians/vegans/gluten free folk. 

Shadowfax (aliases - Puppy, Puppytown, The Town, Sweaterdog, Barklesaurus, Thrashy)

Accomplishments - Reduced the size of wood pile by chomping and eating logs.  Passed three obedience class and is awesome with performing her many tricks.  Leaves festive rainbow colored poops in the backyard from all the various toys she consumes.  Good foot and slipper warmer.  Loves all human visitors, and despite her training, jumps on them, giving them kisses.  Sleeps through the night in her crate without complaint and is generally a good napper. 

Flaws and Negative Press - Constantly interrupts any attempt at work in the home office by shoving a wet, chewed upon toy onto my computer or lap and demanding I play with her.  Has crazy howling, yowling, screeching barks when she sees something (squirrel or dog) outside from the upstairs window.  Occasionally plays to rough with Shaak Ti and has to put on time out.  Had a six month stretch of late night barfing, that seems to have abated now (I hope - knock on wood).  Has yet to understand that mud and sticks are outside only toys.

Key Voting Demographics - young voters, people who have ever been stereotyped due to how they look, toddlers and children with dirty faces, professional wrestling aficionados.

Warmest Fall and Winter on Record in Grand Forks, Fargo

This is from the Grand Forks Herald.

According to the National Weather Service office in Grand Forks, the period from Nov. 1 to Jan. 7 was warmer this season than any other corresponding 68-day period ending Jan. 7 since 1850, in both Grand Forks and Fargo.

The average daily average temperature for the 68 days ended Saturday at the UND reporting site was 26.5 degrees, besting the previous record of 26.2 set in 1914. Third -highest was 25.2 set for the 68-day period ended Jan. 7, 2007.

You can read the full article in the Grand Forks Herald here.

Poll Results and Camera News

The results on our "What Would You Change" poll here at the Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes blog are tallied up and ready for an in depth statistical analysis.   Our winning answer was "You're awesome, just keep doing what you do".  While it's flattering and highly complimentary that my blog readers think the Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes blog is already pretty spiffy, it doesn't give me a ton of ideas for improvement.  But that's OK.  I'm going to use this as motivation to keep posting entertaining nuggets for y'all to digest and enjoy. 

And in a bit of happy news, our old digital camera decided to start working again, so there's no need to buy a new one....yet.  On the way out the door to run some errands (including buying a new camera) I tried to give the old camera one last shot.  So I smacked the camera on the table a few times and VOILA!! it worked.  It reaffirms my core belief that the best way to get sensitive electronics to work properly is to smack them on a hard surface.  To prove its functionality, I snapped the photos below of the pups sitting nicely. 

Then I waited too long to snap the next photo and the puppy decided that it was time to pounce, so we ended up with an action shot. 

Since we're having so much fun with the polls, this week there will be a new poll for you to vote on.  This poll promises to a dandy, the Deaf Dog of the Year for 2011.  And lo, it shall be awesome!!

Weird Winter Weather

It's just after noon here in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and we're at 44 degrees, headed for a likely high of upper-40's, maybe we'll even flirt with 50.  It's been an unprecedented (seriously I can't emphasize enough how unusual this is) warm winter here, so warm in fact that the snow and ice in the back yard melted yesterday, causing April/May mud conditions and allowing mischievous puppies to dip their noses and paws in fresh mud and haul it into the house.

We're headed for a record high today, tied a record high of 41 the other day (Tuesday), and broke record highs seemingly every few days in the week before and during Christmas.  The high temperatures combined with the lack of snow (we just got our first significant snows, 4-6 inches total before the New Year) has made this an almost unprecedented dry and warm winter.  Everyone I've talked has said they can't remember a winter with this little snow this late into the season, and hardly anyone can remember one, let alone multiple 40+ degree high temperatures in December and January. 

Our cross country skis and snowshoes have remained firmly entrenched in the basement closet, there's still not enough snow cover to use either.  And there's pretty much a news story every day about someone falling through the ice driving their ATV whilst ice fishing.  People are so accustomed to the "the ice is always thick enough by this time of year", that they venture out into marginally safe areas and fall through, sometimes with horrific outcomes.  Snowmobiling is a huge hobby/sport here, but we've only heard a smattering of snowmobiles, and those have only been within the last week.  All forms of winter recreation seem to be on hold for a good snowfall.

All this weird weather begs the question, is this just single seasonal aberration, or is this the new normal?  Climate change more than anything means more extreme, more severe, and just more weird weather.  Is this the first of our chickens coming home to roost?  Is this just the first annual installment that we have to pay the piper?  Nobody knows.  We could revert back to normal winter temperature and precipitation, and stay that way for the rest of winter, and folks probably wouldn't remember this stretch of weird weather.  But if this is just a harbinger of things to come, many people could be in for a serious forced lifestyle rearrangement.

In pictorial news, we're going to bite the bullet and buy a new official Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes digital camera this weekend, so pictures should return soon.  We're also going to have the results from our poll in the next few days, and a chance for readers to vote on our "Dog of the Year" for 2011.  Stay tuned...

New Poll Determines Fate of World in 2012

Rarely do individuals have the chance to change history, but you do right now, right here on the Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes blog.  Bearing in mind that your vote changes the course of this blog, please click an answer (or two) on the poll and let me know what you'd like to see more/less of in 2012.

If you happen to have an idea or suggestion that isn't a selection on the poll (this seems impossible since I've chose every possible scenario), please leave a comment.  I love comments and enjoy reading any feedback you have.