Group 2!

Smallest Dog Show Ever

Miss Scout is getting ready for her closeup. She is the only Cardi here, and there are at most only 20 herding dogs here.

On the road again

We're on the way to a show in Southaven, MS. I am so glad to have dogs who travel so well and in the same crate.

My Sewing/Exercise Room

I recently reclaimed the cat's room and set it up for sewing and exercise. I saw the wall unit in the Pottery Barn catalog a long time ago and thought it would be a good addition, and I was really happy when they put it on closeout - which made it almost affordable.

I also wanted something else I saw in the Pottery Barn catalog, a work space made of two bookshelves with a table top spanning them. I went a different direction when I found this table at Target. I had completely missed this pub table dining room table trend, but this table is great as a project table in a small room. It is perfect height for cutting fabric, and has a butterfly leaf that easily expands the size of the table when needed.

And finishing up the Pottery Barn obsession, when I saw this lamp in the store, I had to have it. It puts bright light right over my workspace - I love it.





I've got a small flatscreen tv with dvd player in the corner, which I can watch while I work or workout. The elliptical trainer is there, and I have a rack of weights in the corner you can't see.

This is a small, oddly shaped room, but I like what's going on there now.

Saturday Afternoon Pursuits

I'm piddling around in the house, and I hear Scout outside raising all heck. I go out to check it out, and I see that she has treed a cat.

Kitty finally makes her way down and out of the yard, but the watch corgi is still guarding the tree, just in case the cat tries to return.
Meanwhile, Spence prefers to hang out inside.
Lame post, but I just liked the pictures.

For Dog Foodies

I have recently found all these wonderful blogs where folks are sharing about all the fun things they do (Posie Gets Cozy, Smitten Kitchen, The Pioneer Woman)- and I especially love to read the recipes and look at the pictures of the dish being prepared.

Most of cooking I do is for my dogs - so here is my homage to the dog foodies. About a year ago, Scout was several months out of coat, itchy, and a picky eater. Everytime I would hear about a new food that had done wonders for someone's dog, I would run out and buy it, and Scout might eat it a few times and then turn up her nose at it. She was getting thinner and itchier and I was at a loss of what to do. This was also around the same time when there were so many dog food recalls which was making me nervous as well.

I talked to our DVM/Chiropractor, and she suggested that if I would invest some time in making their food, this might solve some of her problems. She suggested a trying a diet of about a third protein, a third carbs, and a third veggies and fruit. I came home and thought about it and came up with a recipe. I also made an appointment for Scout with a new vet in town who I heard specialized in nutrition. I took Scout in for a visit, and the vet agreed a change in diet was something that would likely help Scout, and when I shared my recipe, she thought it sounded perfect.

I have been feeding this recipe for about a year now, and Scout not only looks gorgeous, but is no longer itchy nor a picky eater. Spencer has thrived on it as well. Here's the recipe:

Carbs:

I fill my big crockpot with sweet potatoes (with peels, cut into chunks), brown rice, oats and barley. I add some oil - olive, canola or sometimes both. I add water to the top of the mixture, and cook on the lowest temp for the longest cycle. I usually put this on before I go bed, or in the morning before I go to work and let it cook all night/day. When it's cooked, I use my grandmother's old potato masher an smoosh it all up together and put it in a big plastic container. This usually lasts almost 2 weeks.

Next is the protein:

Chicken and salmon. I have tried several different ways of doing the chicken. Right now I'm buying a big package of thighs. I load up the crock pot, pour in some water, and cook on the lowest temp. When done, I discard the skin and bones, and mix the meat with a couple cans of salmon. This mix lasts about a week.

Veggies and Fruit:
This mix varies with the season and what I have in the house. I use both canned and fresh. I just dump everything raw in the food processor and mix everything up together. This batch has fresh tomatoes, apple, broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. I also added canned pumpkin and spinach.

I always have an attentive audience while I am putting this together.


Supplements: Each dog gets a half teaspoon of Solid Gold Sea Meal with each meal and a fish oil capsule. Scout also gets Royal Jelly, for her pretty show coat. There's mamaw's potato masher in the background. Actually there's two of my favorite things from different centuries right next to each other - the antique potato masher and my favorite kitchen machine - my Keurig coffee maker. But I digress . . .

This is the fun part for me - where they sit and look at it until I say the magic word. Sometimes I mess with them them -teasing them with O-hio and O-klahoma and such until I finally say . . .

OK! Most of the time, I stir Scout's food up, because sometimes she will spit out the veggies to get to the meat.

On my freshly steam-mopped floor.

But Spencer is right there to clean up the mess. Thanks big guy!