Snowy Christmas Forecast

Christmas is just around the corner here at the Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes homestead.  We received over a foot of snow from Blizzard Alivia a few weeks back and have even more snow and wind in the forecast for Christmas Day. 

Here is the Grand Forks office of the National Weather Service forecast for the upcoming holiday weekend. 

Alycia and I have been taking full advantage of the snow cover and relatively mild temperatures this week (it's been near 30 degrees all week) and have taken several snow shoeing adventures along the Red River of the North.  It is very convenient for us, we just walk down the block, over the dyke wall and we're on the Grand Forks Greenway along the Red River.  This upcoming snowstorm should mean enough snow cover for show shoeing and cross country skiing for the rest of the season. 

The dogs are either unimpressed with all the snow, apprehensive about another foot and a half of snow on the way...

...or still trying to impress upon Santa that they've been good all year. 

Shadowfax Indoors in Winter

With temperatures plunging below zero, accompanying wind chills making it feel even colder, and a fresh layer of snow on the ground, it's cold!  That's expected here in December in North Dakota and so we spend a lot more time indoors. Outside playtime is relegated to a minute or two at most before the critters toes get chilly, so we spend more time playing indoors. 

Shadowfax loves her 6-Foot Rope Toy (Amazon Link), and we have three of them, swapping them out every few days so she has something fresh to chew on.  It's a pretty good workout for the human too. A game of Tug-of-War with a 70 pound chunk of deaf dog on the other end is some pretty serious lifting and pulling.  In this case she's actually chewed herself into an almost-nap, barely awake and chomping away. 

I also thought we should throw in the stereotypical (and always funny) "big dog in tiny bed" photo.  Tito barely fits in this dog bed, let alone Shadowfax, who is twice the size of Tito. 

The First Snowstorm of the Year

A very warm Fall and lack of snow through the first part of December had us dreaming of a mild winter, but such thoughts are often soon dashed here in North Dakota.  A storm arrived on Monday evening and dumped a foot of snow by Tuesday midday.

We weren't complaining much as both Alycia and I had a snow day on Tuesday.  All the snow from that storm was augmented by three more days of snow showers and light snow, accompanied by howling winds.

This is the blueberry area on the East side of the house. We ended up with  total of over 16 inches of snow and drifts caused by the high winds that were significantly higher.  Alycia and I cleaned off the back steps several times each as they continued to fill in with blowing and drifting snow from the high winds.  We also wound up snowblowing the driveway and sidewalks three times over the course of the storm and subsequent days of wind.

Recognize this character?  This is the Petunia Tower, now well covered in more than a foot snow.  This was the biggest snowfall event since the Christmas storm (Blizzard Alvin, more pictures) back in 2009, which was our first winter here in North Dakota. 

Deaf Dogs Shaak Ti and Shadowfax Wrestling

Shaak Ti and Shadow fax don't play together very often, mostly because Shadowfax gets a little too amped up and spazzy.  So we carefully monitor playtime between them to make sure that Shadowfax (who is twice the size of Shaak Ti) doesn't play too rough.  In this case, Shaak Ti is exhibiting her classic "I really wanna play but I'm too lazy to get of of bed" game. 

Being winter time here means that there's going to be a lot more indoor playtime in the coming months.  Cold and wind have made expending energy outside all but impossible for more than a few minutes at a time. 

Thanksgiving in North Dakota

For the first time in our tenure in North Dakota we hosted the Thanksgiving festivities here are the homestead. Everything went well, Thanksgiving dinner and all the accompaniments were well received. 

Shadowfax and Shaak Ti were overjoyed to have Alycia's parents in the house for multiple days.  There was multiple hours of snuggling and quality time with Grandma and Grandpa.  And Tito?  He seemed pretty happy to have a few more people to randomly snarl at.  

After all the leftovers were parsed out, shopping trips completed, and pies consumed, the dogs were pooped.  They passed out in their warming beds and dreamed of turkeys roasting in the oven.   

Heated Dog Beds Make Happy Pups

As the weather gets colder here in Grand Forks, North Dakota, attention turns to keeping warm.  We've always had dog bed warming inserts in several beds.  We purchased a few more heating inserts recently to try to ensure that everyone has a warmed bed to choose from.

The results are predictable, everyone lines up to make sure their tummies and noggins are adequately heated.

These dog bed warming inserts are significant components of the dogs daily routines, especially throughout the winter months.  If you have dog beds that have an outer cover, you can just slip this heater in the dog bed and run the electrical cord discretely out one end. 

Another North Dakota Sunrise Picture

We hope you have a fantastic day!  We had an incredible start to the morning here in Grand Forks, North Dakota.  May the sun rise and greet you with equal splendor wherever you may be.

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Snoozin' Pooches and Garden Chores

It's been another long break since our last post.  My stars have things been busy around here!  Busy for the humans at least, the pooches haven't participated in this sustained onslaught of busy times, they've been their usual sleepy, slacker selves.

One cause of our jam-packed schedules has been the beautiful weather we've had over the past few weeks.  Little to no rain and daytime high temperatures in the 50's and 60's have abounded.  Knowing that snow and cold are around the corner, we've seized upon this great weather and been busy in the gardens; raking leaves, clearing out garden beds, and preparing the homestead for winter. 

And today, Sunday November 6th we had our Annual Daylight Savings Celebration.  This is where we try to explain to Shaak Ti that is in fact only 4:00am, not 5:00am and it is NOT time to get up yet.  No amount of bargaining or explaining or rationalizing has ever seemed to work with Shaak Ti, and thus what should be a glorious day of an extra hour of sleep becomes another early dog walk in the darkness.  This has been an annual celebration in our household for almost a decade.