Pibble Love

I've never owned a Pitbull before.  And admittedly, most of my experiences prior to the disc dog club weren't the best.  I won't go into detail, because I understand that none of these dogs were at fault for their issues. It is completely on their owners, because I know for a fact that not one of these dogs is ever walked. The only time they get out of the house is to go to the bathroom.


We fostered a pretty little fawn Pit with a black face a few years ago. Her name was Gia. 

She was a lovely little gal.  Very animal aggressive, as she was a previous fighter, but she loved people and kids to no end. She was a firecracker of endless energy.  I didnt know anything about anything at the time we fostered Gia.  So it was tougher than it should have been.  But we made do.  She was my first Pitty.  And after her, I didn't foster one again.  I viewed them the same way I viewed herding dogs at the time.  TOO MUCH!

Today I own 3 herding dogs, and after my experiences with the club's Pittys, I am becoming more and more enamoured with them.  In fact it took everything I had to pass on and delete the email I got this morning. I human/dog/cat loving blue Pitbull boy who needs a rescue. And he's close to me.  My fingers were itching to type "I'll take him!"  and hit send. 

Just look at him... He's everything I could ever wish for in the Pitty of my dreams.

But I can't you see... because I already have one.

Annie has been with us nearly two weeks now.  I am much more knowledgeable, not about the breed itself, but with the needs of dogs in general. So this time around is going incredibly smoothly. 

I love her.  Red has to remind me every few days that we aren't keeping her.  I stayed home sick on Monday. I let all of the dogs loose in the house to nap or play or do whatever they were going to do while I stretched out on the couch.  I dozed off a few times, and everytime I woke up, Annie Bell would be curled up on the couch on my feet. 

I love grabbing her jowls and pulling them back into a huge Pitty smile.  If I had a 3rd hand, I'd somehow get a picture of it.  I love her giant head.  I love her melted dark chocolate color.  I love watching her learn how to be a dog.  There is nothing like Pibble Love.

Green Thumb

Did you know that amid all of my childhood dreams to be a dog trainer and an equestrian olympian and a veterinarian, I also always dreamed of doing something with plants?  Flowers and landscaping and forestry.  Horticulture. Greenhouses.  I love the dirt, I love growing beautiful things.  In high school, we had a class called 'Greenhouse'. that I managed to take 3 times. The first time, I aced the class.  The second time, I got back into the class by sheer luck, because my counselor... well she was a bit scatterbrained. I aced the class the second time around, and was able to absorb even more of the stuff I'd missed the first time around.  And then the third time, I wasn't actually taking the class as a student. But I was a senior by then and had a project pass, and I was able to get into the greenhouse class as a teacher's assistant basically.  This allowed me to be in the class entirely and learn even more.

At the end of this class each time, there was a field trip to the Minnesota Arboritum.  It's a gorgeous place, filled to the brim with anything a plant lover could possibly conjur up. It was during this trip that I'd decided I was going into landscaping.

Life intervened and as it turns out, I probably won't even have the design skill necessary to be a landscape designer.  But my love for the green has never died.

When we were renting, I always said that when I had a place of my own, I'd start a garden.  Well, we've been at the house now for almost four years and I still have no garden!

A couple of weeks ago, I stopped off where garden stuff was sold.  It was odd how once I was standing in front of that wall of seed packets, I started feeling giddy.  My high school knowledge came flooding back to me and I was so excited and happy to be standing there, able to pick out whatever I wanted to start growing. It was a rush. Isn't that a funny thing to get a rush over?

Anyways. Here's what I came home with:

I decided to start with some peat pots and indoor starter seeds. For this year, I'm going to make sure I am still capable of growing things before I start tearing the yard up.  The nice thing about peat pots is that once the seeds are well started and ready to transplant, you can just plant the entire pot right into the ground because it's made entirely from peat and will break up in the soil.  It's pretty slick.

I started with just two plants, using a full tray for each.

Some rosemary, because who doesn't love fresh rosemary? And some pretty white daisys.

I began by filling the small peat planters with seed start soil.

I poked a few seeds into each pot about a quarter inch down and then filled the rest of the way with more soil.  And soaked with water.

Um, no... I'm not feeding my new little seed plants Bud Light.  I swear.  It's just water.  I needed something easy to haul out some fresh water and an empty beer bottle seemed like the right thing to do.  Don't judge me.

A week later, I got brave because my little Daisy's were starting to poke their pretty little heads.

Can you see it?  That tiny little green thing right in the center of the photo?  It's a Shasta Daisy baby! 

Hey, it's an exciting event in my small little world, okay?

Since I was having some success, I went ahead and planted some jalapeno peppers, green peppers and this other little colorful leaf plant. 

Stay tuned for more 'baby' plant photos!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a totally seperate note... There is this house that's grabbed my attention.

I took this photo on the fly last night. It's not very good. But I had to be quick because there was another car coming from the other way and I didn't want them to think I was taking pictures of them as I drove by. 

This house is abandoned.  And not recently.  It's been sitting, quiet and empty, for a number of years now. It's one of those things that has clamped itself to my soul and now I have no choice but to research the property and find out what I can.  I don't know why I need to find out...  But I do.

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Today is the 2nd anniversary of The Musings of a Minnesota Girl.  It seems like just last week that I posted my first anniversary.

I do love blogging.  And I do love taking photos and sharing it with you.

Thanks for tagging along. I'm surprised you've hung in there as long as you have!

Little Orphan Annie

Okay, she's not really an orphan.  And, she's not really little.  But her name is Annie... but only because that's what I renamed her.

I recently started back with Dogs Deserve Better as a state rep.  I love the organization and I believe in the cause.  I went into it with the intent to focus on education and legislation more so than fostering. I have four dogs now, after all.

But nooooo... A dog who has been abused, had two litters of puppies in the two short years of her life and living at the end of a chain in what I can only describe as a small junkyard needed help.  The owners were willing to surrender her but there was nowhere for her to go.

So what did Emily do?  She said 'I'll foster her.'  I'm probably not the brightest bulb in the shed.

So anyways. Meet Annie!

I really do love her already. She's a gem.  A diamond in the rough.  She kissed me on Saturday morning and Red's only response was 'We're not keeping her!'. Typical. It's not like I want to keep every dog that kisses me.  Except... I want to keep her.  Isn't that aweful?

Annie is probably a Pit Bull with some Amercian Bulldog in her. I think I can see the Am. Bulldog in her face a bit.  Her head is like a boulder compared to her compact body.  She's small, but 53lbs of solid muscle.  She's strong.

She loves it when Red talks to her.

On the Foster Dog Difficulty scale, she's in the lower end.  She's pretty easy. She's already housetrained, she's crate trained, she is quiet.  She gets along well with my male dogs. We're still working on the females as she wants to be the top dog and so do my girls.  I try reminding them that I'm supposed to be the top dog... but...

Her only flaws: She can and will kill my cat if given the opportunity.  And she needs so much exercise. Like quadriple that of my psycho herding dogs. The weekend was okay because I was able to give it to her. But the workweek should be interesting. Double the crate time and half the exercise.  Not good. And both aren't technically flaws of hers... Just stuff that I need to work on.  Maybe they are my flaws?

Still, she's working on Red. Red is trying to resist.  But nobody can resist that face.

Roller Derby Kirby

I went rollerblading yesterday. I took Kirby with me.  Where do I start?

I got this bright idea yesterday that I should start rollerblading with my dogs. I went to Fleet Farm after work and bought a harness. Not a pull harness, but a harness all the same just in case something went wrong and I didnt want to end up choking my dogs.

So I strapped Kirby into the harness and fitted it. Kirby did a few whirls around and around, trying to figure out what the hell he was strapped into.  While he did that, I found a 20ft rope with a clip and clipped him to it.  I wanted him to have some extra space in case I needed to ditch. Grabbed my rollerblades and Kirby and I went outside.  I first discovered that I hardly remembered how to put the dadgum things on my feet.  Kirby was no help, since he thought that having mom sitting on the ground meant he could crawl into my lap.  I finally strapped them on.  Then I had to figure out how to get up. I ended up using Kirby to help haul me up.

The first thing Kirby noticed was that I was a foot taller. I think it alarmed him a tiny bit.  But he walked wth me as I trudged across the muddy yard.  Once I got to the road, I realized that I hadn't actually had rollerblades on my feet for probably a couple of years. I did a few arms throws to keep my balance, and then we started rolling.  The second thing Kirby noticed was that mom was rolling.  That did alarm him, and more than a little bit. How was I moving without actually moving?  So when in doubt, what do you think a herding dog does?  He herds!  Kirby started herding me on the blades!  He did a few pounces and barks at my heels before I finally got him focused enough to not herd and to work on staying out of my way instead. 

Once we got onto a strait away, I got my legs back and Kirby was havingt too much fun to remember herding. He jogged next to me and away we went!  Kirby was grinning the whole way. I think he loved it.

I'd forgotten how hard it was to rollerblade.  My hips and my legs are sore!  Kirby is definately going to be my chosen roller buddy.

On another note:  Today is the last official day of winter.  Hooray!!!!!!

Spring, Virtigo, Dog, Garden. Eh?

It's spring!

K, no, spring starts in 48 hours actually.  But right now it feels like spring. 

Last night I skipped my Crossfit class so that I could spend some time outside doing some yardwork. Cleaning up the yard after snow melt is never my favorite job.  See, I am not consistant about picking up the pooh during the cold months. But I got the entire front and side yard raked and 'decrapped', took the Christmas garland, lights and ribbons down, swept off the patio and sidewalk and picked up some cords and cardboard that had been covered up by the first snow and forgotten. 

It was good to spend some time in the sun. Jeans and a sweatshirt. Daylight savings time started last weekend so we have an extra hour of daylight in the evening and it will only keep getting better. Those cold months where its dark at 4:30 just depress me.  It sounds like we have one or two more short rounds of snow and then winter will be outta here for good.  Thank God.

The dogs are going stir crazy.  Frankie even took off the other day when we were out pottying. She was just in the neighboring yard. But its further than she usually goes and it was my signal that I need to ramp it up with everybody.  I found my rollarblades a few months ago and I've been itching to start rollarblading with the dogs. I have been wanting to skijor with the Aussies but I keep putting off the training.  And before I know it, winter's gone. Rollarblading will be a good first step at least to get them used to pulling up ahead of me.  What am I saying, they already do pull me. 

I recently went through a week long spell of 'virtigo'.  In my case, the mold under the snow and the thick fog in the air irritated my sinuses to the point of messing with my inner ears, which caused me to be dizzy and nauseous and feel like I was drunk.  I couldnt see strait at times. It was pretty scary.  But apparently it's common in you're sensitive to such things. I didn't realize that I was, and I hope that it's not going to be an annual thing now.  It wasn't fun.

I''ve been busy lately with DDB.  I began posting some ads about what we do and we've gotten a few calls about chained dogs. Saturday I am going to check on a Husky mix and we're also working on a beautiful pitty girl whose already had two litters in her short life of two years. She is chained up in what I can only describe as a junk yard.  She's next to a washing machine.  Outside.  My only obsticle now is to convince Red to let me foster her.  She needs to get out of there and unless I can find another rescue to step up, we am her only current hope to get out of there as nobody else can take her. But Red isn't keen on fostering dogs anymore, not with four of our own. Understandable. And while he's not discriminatory towards any specific breed of dog, he really does have a small uncertanty about pittys.  He thinks they are beautiful dogs and he doesn't judge. But he has no experience with them and they make him a little nervous.  I think that asking him to foster a pit would be along the same lines as asking him to foster an Aussie.

I want to start a garden.  I know nothing about gardening. Ya'll know anything about gardening?  I don't know when I'm supposed to till. I dont know what steps need to be taken before planting. Or when to plant.  I dont know how much sun a garden needs, or what side of the house it would be best on. When are vegetables ready to pick?  What mainentence goes into a garden?  I haven't the foggiest idea. But I want one.

That's all for now.

The Pet Expo

Never been there before. And I'll never miss another year again!  It was so much fun!
Frankie and I joined up with the disc dog club for a weekend at the Expo.  I just have to say that because of Frankie, I have been staying in a lot more hotels than normal.  I love it. Hotels are fun anyways, but to get to have your dog with you? 

Frankie enjoyed it too.  But... who uses bleach white bed spreads?  Frankie made sure to make her paw mark on both beds.

The view was pretty nice, too.  During the day it looks gloomy and dank.  But at night with all the lights on, it was beautiful.

Hellooooo down there!  We were on the 11th floor. Which I didnt realize until I looked out the window.  Don't look down!

Off to the center to help with the booth.

Frisbees Frisbees everywhere....

I often ponder what my life would be like right now if I had never picked up a Frisbee. Interesting. And scary. Don't even want to go there.

DK and I got a chance to walk around and do some shopping before our shift at the booth started. 

One of the first dogs we were greeted by was 'JC' from the Border Collie Rescue.  He has to be one of the most handsome and unusual looking BC's I've ever met. If only I had room for another dog...

There were dogs everywhere.  And I mean everywhere.  Every booth boasted a handful of dogs either as a mascot or for adoption.

Can you guess what this is?

Anybody? 

She's a Sheepdog!  This gal knew how to work it, too.  She'd put her head down like that and sidle up to you. With all the cuteness, you had no choice but to kneel down and pet her. And if you stopped, she pressed closer. She was adorable. I loved her pigtails!

Yup, it was dog city.

There were Pyr's

And Bostons

And Danes

And Elo's.  Oh, Elo...

Oh, I have a teeny weeny crush on Elo.

And there were Greys...

The Greyhound booth had a bunch of sleeping bags and blankets strewn all over the place, and at one point there were 6 Greys' at the booth. It was a Greyhound slumber party!  I wanted to crawl in and nap with the Greys, but a napping stranger in a booth wasnt allowed for some reason. 

There were Pittys... Lots of gorgeous Pittys.  I loved this girl. She was such a sweetheart and let me and DK smush all over her.

And this charming dude. Oh I could have picked him up and stole him away.  But that's not allowed either.  I think this guy could have charmed Red though. Don't you?  Just look at that mug!

There were Bassett Hounds. I want a Bassett Hound.

So droopy and wonderful.

And Aussies galore! This gal was just a princess.  I want an Aussie....

Oh, wait...

Bulldogs.  I heart Bulldogs.

There was an extremely talented artist at one of the Pitty booths.  And when I find her card in my load of stuff that I still haven't yet unpacked even though it's been 4 days since I got home, I am going to post a link to her website.

She painted these by hand while looking at a photo of the dogs.  This picture doesn't do them any justice.  I am on the hunt for photos of my dogs so I can have her paint a collage of the them. I need one of these paintings.

After shopping and getting our dog kiss fix, we headed back to the booth for our shift.

And I noticed that Frankie and I were on the banner!

It's exciting stuff, considering that I don't view us as 'banner worthy' at this point.  But the picture is awesome.We shared our performance area with a dog dancing organization.  This little Corgi would just hang out on his back between performances.  Adorable.

And Nova... How I love you...

I offered to take Nova of Jen and JG's hands... But they weren't as thrilled about that idea as I was.  Oh well.  I will see you again one day my love... 

Can't wait for next year!