Rosy ran away today (but thank goodness for the neighbors)

Because they caught her. They'd left with their two dogs to go for a walk & she ran after them, in typical puppy fashion. That was quite an heart attack, because she came back, saw me in the open gate, and then ran off again. Boy, she's fast.

We think her head hit the gate latch & popped the gate open. I really need a new fence. Maybe the tax return will help.

On the good news front, apart from getting Rosy back safely, I also managed to cut ALL of her toenails, while she was busy eating doggie bones. Amazing how well that works, I'm not sure eating food would distract ME if someone else was cutting my nails. Yeek.

In this picture, I think she looks comparatively innocent. I love these pictures of the dogs looking into or out of windows. She's obviously thinking, "Mom, come out and play!" I need a couple of acres of land (fenced) for her to gallop around & really exercise. Am going to make pumpkin walnut bread to thank the neighbors. Maybe chocolate chip cookies too.

One more of Rosy

Ok, I can't stop... she's too darn cute! This is also on Nick & Robbyn's farm. She feels as good as she looks too. That lovely soft & silky puppy hair.

Roi'si'n on the farm

This is Rosy at Nick & Robbyn van Frankenhuyzen's farm, back in December. She loved it, and it was such a nice safe place for her to be off leash & gallop around.

Rosy graduates from puppy class

And plays with the paper shredder. Not to worry, I have it unplugged, so if she licks it, it won't pull her tongue in. For some reason, she thinks it is fun to grab at the mail as it goes through the shredder and also likes to watch the paper drop into the bin, through the plastic window. Silly pooch.

She was a good demonstration dog again, and demo'ed puppy pushups. This is where you make the puppy do a down, then a sit, and back to a down again, several times. Rosy's very good at this, because she's known this since she was 8 weeks old. I'm used to her doing this, so wasn't prepared for the people in the class laughing. Apparently they thought she was cute! I think she's cute too. They promptly started trying it out with their puppies too.

We also had puppy dressup, where you run down, call your puppy to you, put something on the puppy & run back with the puppy. Rosy looked confused to have a purple zip-up vest on. They had bobbing for treats, but Rosy wanted to drink the water, so of course, the other puppies drank the water too, until the level was low enough to get the treats out without dunking their noses in the water. Too silly. It was a good class. I'm hoping we'll be in other classes together, but we'll see.

Will take Manners I next, starting in March.

I have several times called Rosy Nosy instead. Oops! But she is nosy, as all puppies are, I think. She & Annie are continuing to bump noses, and this past weekend, Annie was more congenial toward Rosy than I have ever seen her. It is still going to take Rosy time to settle down & treat Annie nicely consistently.


By the way, if you don't already have a shredder, get one. I have the cross cut one now (the old one burned out & this was the one that just turned paper into long strips). The cross cut one holds more shreddings, because the paper is more compacted due to its size after cutting. Had a blast, and shredded two large trash bags full of stuff.

On the reading front, re-read Robin McKinley's Chalice, which again is good for anyone who loves bees or honey. It is a fantasy. Also read Jacqueline Sheehan's Lost & Found. Adored this one. There is a black lab in it, and a wounded woman. It is a mystery, I think, but I think it is billed as fiction. Lovely story of coping with loss, grief, and how differently people deal with it. The black lab is dealt with in a lovely way, and the chapters dealing with what he's thinking & why he's doing what he does are done well. Doesn't seem like soppy sentimentalism & anthropomorphism, which I really hate.

The other book is Flying Changes by Sara Gruen. This is another book dealing with loss, but also about learning to let go. To say too much about the plot would ruin it, but it is another animal book, so's to speak, in that horses are talked about a lot in this book. Not to the detriment, even if you're not a horse lover. Highly recommended.

More later. I'm cooking pistachio chicken, and going to make soup for the week ahead. Soup is always fun. You just fling everything you like together. (ok, so there's more to it than that, but that's the basic for me). I'm also going to try my first London Broil. Pray for me. (yikes). It is marinating now, so I'm debating whether to wait until tomorrow or do it tonight. Supposedly it is better if you let it marinate overnight. Would all day suffice? Who knows.

Seasoned Oyster Crackers

I did a search because I thought I had posted the oyster crackers recipe here earlier, but apparently not, I had only posted a promise to post. So here's the recipe :

One bottle butter flavored popcorn oil : This is Orville Redenbacher's, and I think it is an 8oz.

two packages (large) of oyster crackers. (I prefer the small crackers over the large ones).

one package of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (the kind you add buttermilk to, not the kind you add milk to).

Lemon & Pepper seasoning
Garlic
Black pepper


Mix up butter flavored popcorn oil & Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, stir in well. Mix in your preferred amounts of garlic & lemon & pepper seasonings, plus the black pepper to taste Stir in well.

Put the oyster crackers into a large bowl, big enough for you to stir the oyster crackers (with your hands, so you don't break the crackers up) once the oil is on it. Pour oil over the crackers, stir up well, and let rest for ten to twenty minutes.

Oven needs to be set to low. I put it to 250 degrees. You do not want the crackers to brown up too much or get too crisp. Put the crackers in a pan with sides, and try to get the layer as flat as possible, so the crackers are not resting on top of each other.

Stir every ten minutes. Bake at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 40 minutes. Bake longer for more brownness.

Also, I often scatter more lemon & pepper seasoning on the top of the baking crackers or even more garlic powder, to make sure they have enough flavor.

I do think the secret to this recipe is to stir often, so that they get baked well, and there's no oiliness.

If you can not find butter flavored popcorn oil, get an equivalent amount of oil, and add butter flavoring to it (approx. one teaspoon. You should be able to smell a light odor of butter coming off the oil).

Variations : Parmesan cheese, other spices. Many recipes similar to this call for dill. Dill is not my favorite herb, but I did put it in the dish last time & liked it, so a mild scattering of Dill can be a very nice addition.

Cooks.com has the lemon pepper & the garlic at a 1/4 tsp. They have Dill at 1/2 tsp. I would actually reverse this & put only 1/4 tsp of the dill & 1/2 of the other two spices. Also, since I have two packages of the oyster crackers going (or even two boxes) you can double the Cook's Recipe, and then increase the seasoning as the oyster crackers bake. Taste the oyster crackers as they warm up & start to brown, and I think you'll get a sense of what they need.

Enjoy!

Early pic of Rosy

This is a picture from the fall, early on. She's doubled in weight since then and now weighs 36 pounds, unless she had a foot off the scale. ;) She's a wriggler! The picture is in here mostly so you can see her favorite toy of all time... a rose pot!

She really does love this thing and with the snow melted off, we have rediscovered the buried snow pots & she ran to the back fence to show them off to the next door dogs, who are not impressed. Oh well. The glory of rose pots will have to wait for another day. Rosy & I will just enjoy them together.

Sure is fun to have the break from all the hard snow & ice. Have to report also that Rosy & I watched Westminster together. And yes, Rosy really does watch TV, especially when there are animals on there. Annie does this too, and I think I've mentioned before that she especially likes the moose from Northern Exposure. She was fascinated by the tiger cubs too, and I'd like to see Rosy's reaction to tiger cubs. Full grown tigers might be too scary right now, since she's so young.

My house

This is my little house, with lots of snow too. Wouldn't it be nice if both Annie & Roi'sin were peeking out the front window? Bridie & Annie used to do that & I see more & more signs each day that someday Rosy & Annie will do that also. For now, Annie stays up high, especially on her new cat condo, so that Rosy doesn't flatten her. It is very obvious that Rosy likes Annie (and vice versa) but Annie is understandably cautious around my wild puppy.

Nice brillant day today, and I took Roi'sin for a walk. She was very good, but we both were skidding over the black ice, which is impossible to see and which is caused by the snow melt & refreeze. The sun is wonderful & I love the change from grey & snowy to sunny.

Starting Monday, Rosy and I are looking forward to Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show for 2009

Sunday updates

Had a pretty tranquil day. Just made artichokes gratinata, a chili (midwestern style, so with beans added and some other vegetables), roasted red pepper spread and should be set for the week ahead. Can't wait to get to my Friday off. I plan to take Rosy to the dog park in the morning. Here's hoping it isn't too cold.

Changed the picture in the last post too, since I thought the one I uploaded was a tad too blurry. Here's one of Annie & Rosy together. Rosy used to run around the outside of this pen, barking. It used to scare Annie a little, until she finally realized that Rosy really couldn't reach her & was just being noisy. One of them just knocked a pan off the table, so I have to go comfort them all with treats. Poor babies. I think I need more kitchen space. Doesn't everyone.

just got out of puppy class

And Rosy was a star. She knows a lot already, very smart girl, & is wonderfully responsive. The one thing she wouldn't work on with the instructor was the leave it command, mostly because she wanted to go play with the other puppies more than she wanted food. Funny girl. She's more & more wonderful every day. Annie even got down on the floor four times yesterday & bumped noses with Rosy. She goes away as soon as Rosy gets too interested in sniffing her, but things are greatly improving. Rosy seems to be getting it that I don't want her to chase Annie and ever since the new (very tall, close to five & a half feet) cat condo was installed, Annie's been happier too. I'll have to get pictures of Annie in the new cat condo up soon. Meanwhile, here's another good picture of Rosy.

And a good quote: Choices are the hinges of destiny."
– Pythagoras

Rosy & Annie and the mysterious paper bag

Here's Annie, sitting inside Roi'si'n's exercise pen, which is in the backyard, so I can deposit her in there for a variety of reasons. Such as when she tried to help with the painting the garage project or when she was nipping me unmercifully.

As it is, now that Roi'si'n knows that nipping me means all the fun is over, the exercise pen is now used so Annie can be out in the backyard with us, so that Rosy doesn't try to play with her, which Annie, for some odd (coff) reason, doesn't appreciate much.

Today, we had the adventure of the mysterious paper bag. Went grocery shopping and we heard a lot of rustling coming from the kitchen after I'd unpacked the bags. Ro wanted to go in there & see what was going on and.... help. I knew that the rustling was probably Annie, and given her liking for bags, she was probably not going to appreciate help, so I put the baby gate up & put the bag on its side so Annie could get in. She loves this.

But just now, I let Ro in from outside, and Annie was in the bag with just part of her back feet sticking out. Ro went over to look, and an angry cat face appeared & she got her face smacked. I called her back & kept her away & Annie eventually came out & went up on the table. Rosy then walked slowly over to the bag and looked inside, poking it with her nose, as much as to say, "Hey, where'd that thing go? I wanted to play with it!"

Why dogs want to play with scratchy things that smack their faces is beyond me. Sure fun to watch Ro looking at the bag hopefully.

Rosy update

Sorry not to post sooner, but it has been (again) hectic. Roi'si'n is enjoying the snow and loves to dig in it. She also went to her first puppy class today (Saturday, January 17) and had a blast. Met a lab puppy and a miniature Aussie. Let's just say Rosy was the most animated dog there! She did well and was obviously happy with herself, has a long way to go in terms of learning not to jump on people, but we'll get there. The handouts will be really helpful in terms of guiding us in practicing small things every day, that will wind up with a nicely behaved puppy, who doesn't knock down small children. ;)

Annie obviously likes having Roi'si'n around, although sometimes I think puppy behavior ticks her off. She made a mad dash toward Rosy's back and made slapping motions toward her tail before madly dashing off down the hallway. But I think they'll wind up pretty good friends as soon as Ro quits chasing her.

Things of note : Rosy doesn't like Dave Matthews Band. Awww! They're one of my favorites. Guess I'll have to play things she likes better, like Christmas music and classical stuff! Really, I'm not kidding, her reaction to Dave Matthews Band is very much on the order of horrified realization that there's AWFUL NOISE coming from the CD player. Maybe her tastes will improve as she gets older.

On the reading front, over Christmas & New Year's breaks, I read Sue Grafton, Michael Critchton, and about fifteen other books that I can't recall right now, because its been too busy. Also started Inkdeath, but for some reason, can't find it now. Maybe Sis took it back. Picked up four or five books at the local (and favorite) bookstore today, including Jenny Nimmo's Charlie Bone series, which I really love. Need to win the lottery so I can buy lots of books, right?

Tomorrow a friend is going to show me how she does ski-joring and tracking with her dogs. Roi'si'n is showing increasing aptitude for using her nose. I'd love to get her certified soon (when she's six months old) and get her entered for some tracking tests coming up this spring. so that's what's been going on with us lately. Stay warm out there!

Its not all puppies around here

And today was a great sunshiny day, so a good day to take some pictures. I needed to send a couple of pictures to someone so they could see whatever is going on with Roi'si'n's eyelid (just some puppy thing, I think, but it is always wise to get a second opinion). Annie took some really gorgeous pictures today, so here she is, in the sunshine. Another picture is of her outside. She loves to go outside with us, but can't stay out for long because it is too cold.

Roi'si'n is getting very silly. She makes me laugh so hard sometimes and it is great to have something in my life that is lively & silly. She chased a squirrel today, and I think was pretty close to getting him. I wish the squirrels would get a clue and not risk their lives in this yard. That part I didn't laugh about, but I am impressed! She is learning to back up on command, but the spinning, if I make her spin more than once, she bites my sleeves. I don't think the agility judges will be impressed if she nips me in the ring. ;)

A few days ago, I sang Silent Night and Ro'isi'n actually barked at me! Then she got up in my lap and got eyeball to eyeball with me, which makes it really hard to concentrate on singing. Either she doesn't like my voice or she doesn't like the pitches in that song, because she paid attention to Silent Night on the TV too. I'll have to practice singing in bass. (ha ha)

Trip to Hazel Ridge

I went to Gijsbert & Robbyn van Frankenhuyzen's farm, Hazel Ridge, for the open house they had this past weekend. They had invited people to also hike on the farm if conditions were right. So, of course I asked if Ro'isi'n could come along & they said yes! She had a great time & it is the first time I had her off leash. Bridie was offleash very early on, but we were in an area where this worked out ok, and in this more urban environment, it is much harder to find places where it is safe for Ro to be off lead. She stayed close, checked on me periodically, and it was a good experience for both of us. She also ice skated on the ponds, much to my dismay, but did ok, and didn't break the ice & fall in. It was very hard to get a picture of her because my battery ran low and also, she would dart away or turn, so I'd get rear end pictures or blurs. Still fun to try it out.

Roisin makes friends

Today, we went up to visit an open house at a local artist's studio, but got lost. So we went to two locally owned petstores, and visited the people inside (and purchased chewies. Roi'isin's teeth are coming out and her big teeth are coming in!) and then we went to the Threadbear & I showed her off there too. The two guys who own the place were happy to meet her. They have two resident dogs there, and those two boys were also happy to meet Ro'isin, who was her usual silly self. One lady there recognized the breed, which is very cool. Very good socialization and I had a tired puppy when I got home. We're going to try for the open house tomorrow at 11, and I hope to have a chance to hike with her on the back forty. Should be fun, and she needs the exercise.

She also had a bath today, since she's been digging up the back yard. It is something puppies do, but meanwhile, I have black footprints on my floors. Good thing I don't mind. ;)

Update on Ro'isi'n's fun & games

Just lost this post when the computer froze up & dumped everything. Anyway, brief update on Ro'isin, I have just taught her to shake hands & she loves it. I know it is one of the easier things to teach dogs, but I'm still very proud of her for learning this in less than a day. Will have to get family to take a picture of her shaking so you all can see it. Meanwhile, to tide you over, here's one of my favorites, probably already posted, but a good picture is well worth sharing again, right?

Ro'isin & her litter pictures (take two)

Yes, I'm reusing the blog title from a previous post and for some reason, if I knew enough French, I would start out with some really apposite French phrase, to the effect of Life changes every day. Oh well. ;) Ro'isi'n is growing up! The vet visit today revealed that she now weighs at least 18 pounds, which is much as my old cat, Cooky, weighed at his heaviest. She is also cutting teeth & has at least two adult teeth peeking through and no teeth at all on the bottom. If dogs smiled with their teeth exposed, she'd look like those cute pictures of kids with missing teeth.

She's big now, although I know it is hard to tell from the pictures. I don't know whether she's bigger than usual, but I do think she's very mature and very advanced physically. She was able to "tightrope walk" on the beams in my backyard when she was 8 weeks old. She's darn cute too. What, me biased?

Aren't those little puppy faces cute? I feel like Ro'isi'n is growing up way too fast! But every stage is fun and she learns more every day. She's also naughtier every day. I'm going to have to get Annie a bigger (taller) cat condo, so she can get away from Ro'isi'n more easily. Trouble is, I don't know if Annie's having fun smacking Ro'isi'n or if she dislikes this harassment. Wish I could ask & get a straight answer....

more Ro'isin pictures for Jane

This one is of Ro'isin & her littermates. The little pup at the back is the male in this litter. His sisters are all crowded at the front, looking at the funny human taking pictures of them. They would much rather get out of there & run around & make mischief than have their pictures taken. Ro'isin is the puppy on the far right (your right) and you can see why her breeder called her Big Red.

Thanksgiving recipes

Busy day today. I have it off from work, so am spending the time working on recipes & on various other chores. First thing I made was John Garland's fruit salad, which is a jello salad. John doesn't like cranberry sauce, so this replaces it. It includes pecans, apples, mandarin oranges, pineapple, cranberry sauce from cans, and jello. Then I made real cranberry sauce. Read all the recipes on the 'net and they're pretty uniform. One package of fresh cranberries, one cup of sugar, and one cup of water. Some people add variants on a theme, so I decided to add the orange zest, lemon zest, pieces of orange, cinnamon to the mixture. Then at the last minute, I put in raspberries, and I think it turned out pretty well. Nice & tangy, but not too tart and not too sweet.

Next up, the famous broccoli salad (yes, even with red onion in it), green bean casserole (cooked from scratch, but includes French's fried onion), and artichokes gratinata. If I have time, I may make Kate's red pepper dip and also pumpkin bread.

Ro'isin is doing well. She's very naughty, but that is part of being a puppy. I have discovered that it is best to cut her nails while she is upside down. What you do is put a big piece of doggie bone or dog food between her teeth and then cut her nails really fast. She loves food, so when you do it this way, she doesn't chew on your fingers, the cutting implement, and various parts of your body. She's a rowdy girl. I don't think I've posted this one yet, so here is the picture of her in her crate, the first DAY I got her (sorry about the random caps, she's "helping" me type) and on the trip home.

Wriggly Ro'isin a week or two after I got her

Can anyone say wriggly puppy five times fast? This picture, with Charley, a friend, is one of about fifteen pictures I took. Charley's having fun, and Ro'isin is all over the place. I think she was about nine or ten weeks old here. And yes, this is probably the best picture of the two of them together, because I kept cutting someone's head off or else Ro'isin would look headless, because she moved each time the camera snapped. Too funny for words!

Ro'isin with expression

Thought you might like this picture of Ro'isin, with a very silly look on her face. You can tell from the expression in her eyes that she's plotting something. Probably biting the camera or the camera strap.