Puppy Post - Week One with Nymeria

1hr into puppy ownership

My First Dress, JR is not impressed.

Wow - it's hard to believe that Nymeria has only been at home with us for a week. Seems like she's been here forever. We picked her up from Blue Ridge Shibas last Saturday and started the lengthy drive home. At first she wasn't too sure of the car, but then as we took some time at the first rest stop, she really started to get not excited, but happy. She seemed, happy.

The first two nights were rough. She very clearly missed her siblings, and we'd spend hours petting her to help her go to sleep, but as soon as you stopped, she started up again. I wound up spending the second half of the first night on the couch, sleeping with her on my stomach.

So far we've learned a couple of things. The Kong Halter, was a huge bust. While it fit properly, it kept rotating around her body and confused her. And the underbody mesh piece kept attacking her face. I don't know about you, but I personally do not approve of things attacking faces... So while it looked good, it wasn't very usable. I don't recommend it at all.

So we moved over to a mesh style halter - just your standard Petco/Petsmart mesh halter in her signature, teal/turquoise color. For the first few days this was perfect. She was still uncertain of other people and dogs so she'd stay pretty close, but over the last two days it's become very apparent that she's gonna be a puller.

We decided after a couple days of watching her freak out when the stretch lease stopped and after more than a few, 'oh, I am so not walking that way, I want to walk this way' experiences that we needed to move towards a halter (at least while training) that is front guided. So after our petco halter proved the wrong size, I did a bit of research and bought a SENSE-ation, and it should be here on Wednesday. I forsee tug-of-wars in our future.


She's definitely starting to come out of her shell more, and she's quite the awesome pup. Aside from her new-found dislike of her puppy kibble: she loves people, she loves other dogs, she's everything a puppy should be, including certifiably adorable - The Daily Puppy said so, and she's definitely a great fit for JR and my lifestyle.

Off-Leash Play at Woofs with Atlas the Puppy

Overall she's settling in nicely. We've met some toddlers and babies and lots of people, but by far her favorite thing she did this week was the puppy party over at WOOFS! She got to have some off-leash fun with other puppies in her age/size group and made some great friends. She was completely not having us put her in the car to go there originally, but after it was over - she didn't want to leave. We're gonna enroll her in puppy kindergarden so that she gets more off-leash play time and some basic obedience training. She's gonna love it. We think. We hope...

Playtime with another neighborhood Puppy, Harvey! 

It's Been Too Long

It's been too long my friends.

Summer is here; our plants are thriving; we have a deposit on an adorable girl puppy, and JR and I have tied the knot.

En Route to Scotland for our honeymoon! 

It's been a busy few months, but boy have they been productive and happy! The wedding was a blast, and it has been very lovely to have gotten to spend our engagement around such an amazing group of family and friends. We're just very much looking forward to having a few nice relaxing weekends, before we do anything else too crazy!

We've just gotten back from Scotland, and let me tell you. If you don't have plans to go there... you should. It's everything you could imagine - picturesque, friendly, tasty, and absolutely just like a scene out of a novel. It has hiking and castles and gorgeous flowers and friendly people and some might-i-ly tasty food, and if you like tight windy roads, it's a utopia! 

Now that the wedding is over and the honeymoon has wrapped, it's time to start planning for our next great adventure - Our PUPPY! We just found out that we'll be getting a girl puppy so It's official that she'll be called:
The Dowager Countess Nymeria MacBattleby Logiealmond MacGold of the Easter Geddes, the Maid of Nairnshire, Baroness of Drumornie, The First of Her Name

Had it been a boy, he would have been called: 

Sir Onich Wynd MacBattleby Logiealmond MacGold, the Thane of Nairnshire, Laird of Easter Geddes, Bane of Cawdor, fifth son of Drumornie, The First of His Name

One of the Puppies in the Litter ours is coming from. Could this be, The Dowager Countess Nymeria MacBattleby Logiealmond MacGold of the Easter Geddes, the Maid of Nairnshire, Baroness of Drumornie, The First of Her Name?

It could have been, but that's not her, that's her sister!

This is little Nymeria! Isn't she a cutie?

There is so much to do to prepare for our little bundle of fur, we have to get a collapsible crate and puppy bed and harness and vet and leash and water bowl and food bowl and toys and food and piddle pads!! So many things!

But we definitely have to have them all by August 2nd, because that's the day we pick her up from the Breeder (Blue Ridge Shibas - VERY nice people).

When we first met little Nymeria, she licked all of JR's fingers, which is a pretty big deal considering he was never a big fan of puppy slobber. She also fell asleep with her head in my lap and stood near us most of the time we were there. It was like she knew that she wanted to be our puppy.

She's also pretty adventurous and likes to roam, so I have a strong feeling we'll have to keep an eye on her out and about! 

Garden Post - Tiptoe through the Tulips with Me...

OOOOOOOOOH.

Because if I'm going to have nightmares you need to... too!


Anywho...
I AM SO EXCITED FOR SPRING!

Aside from the obvious reasons of yay sun, and yay wedding coming up, and yay experiencing warmth and overall happiness. I am excited for my tulips... and my soon to bloom ability to tiptoe through them.

Tulips are in the purple pot with the towel
draped over the top. Gotta keep them safe! 

Last fall, as the winter winds began to creep through the trees and found their ways to JR P.I.'s and my porch, I planted some happy little tulip bulbs (what color, I'm not sure, because... it's me). I had determined that I was going to do my green-thumbed grandmothers proud and grow tulips.

So JR and I went to the Home Depot... or maybe we bought them from Burpee, but needless to say we bought some tulip bulbs and some garlic (this one definitely came from burpee), and we began planting for our spring crops.

We're going to ignore the fact that the garlic died in the throws of winter, because of all the damn snow, and instead revel in the the fact for some bizarre reason, they survived, because
through all the snow, the unthinkable happened, they started to sprout.

And now I have happy little tulips "popping out of the snow, like daisies!" If you can name that quote you get a high-five!

I've been tending them with a gentle touch and plenty of water (most of it snow based). Hopefully in a few weeks, these tender plants will produce gorgeous flowers... hopefully. I am so, so, so excited that I can barely stand it, to get back into the "garden" again. I use the term loosely, because my garden is a series of pots and planters, but I am still really excited to see what we'll be able to grow and eat this year. 

I've got high hopes for our batch of pea plants that we started from seeds, as well as, a bunch of lettuce that started as seeds too. The radish sprouts died quicker than I could say, "Oh my gosh! Yes! Radish plants!" So... yeah, but we've got a couple of hybrid on deck corn sprout-lings still going and a few carrot seedlings. I'll bring those around to you next post! 

Tasty, Tasty Pineberries

Happy, Happy Chives

And on another, happy note, I had a whole heaping of chives that actually over-wintered, so that's ober exciting. They've actually already started to really hit their growth spurt. And, I have gotten a new pineberry plant to replace the one that I killed this winter as well, so soon I shall have delicious pineberries to snack upon.

Happy Gardening! 

Much Love, 

LoRo

2014 Restaurants to Try

In 2014 I plan on eating a lot of food... 3 meals a day, plus snacks and deserts!

So with that in mind, I wanted to give myself kind of a DC Metro Area Restaurant Bucket List. These are the places in the area that I haven't eaten at yet, but my mouth waters every-time they're mentioned, or in some cases I just want to know what all the hype is about.

So here goes:

1. Willow
2. Melting Pot (I've just never been)
3. Acadiana 
4. Capitol Grille 
5. Fuel
6. G Sandwich Shop
7. Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken
8. Medium Rare
9. Kaz Sushi Bistro
10. Maté
11. A Tapas Place... Any Tapas Place... (Open to Suggestions)
12. Fuego 
13. Thai X-ing, though I'm a little nervous to not know what I'm going to eat.
14. Bourbon Steak
15. Pupatella
16. Stoney's
17. The Passenger
18. Graffiato
19. P.J. Clarke's 
20. Lincoln
21. Rumors for Brunch (because I want to see what Aaron's Chicken and Waffles are all about)
22. Menomale
23. Il Canale
24. We the Pizza
25. Red Rocks
26. Rustico
27. Del Ray Pizzeria
28. Pizzeria Orso
29. Ethiopian (Open to Suggestions)
30. Osteria Marzano
31. Water & Wall
32. Maple Ave.

And yes there's a reason that a lot of them are all places I want to eat pizza... I friggin' LOVE PIZZA.

So that's my list! Let me know if you think there's anywhere else I should eat this year that I haven't heard of yet, because I am open to suggestions. Also! Let me know if you know of a Tapas or Ethiopian place I should eat, because I'm curious and I've never done that. 

Oh 2014 Resolutions

New Year, New Resolutions...

Last year I resolved to only drink soda/alcohol once a month through the first 6 months and then only soda once a month through the last 6 months.

What did I learn?

One... Goodbye tolerance... hello hangovers.
Two... I prefer soda to alcohol. Seriously there is something so satisfying about the smooth twang of liquid brown velvet sweeping down my tongue. When I had the choice of cheating on alcohol or soda for the month, I usually spent my one "bad for me drink" on soda.
Three... I fell off the horse there at the end I drank probably 4/5 sodas in November and December, but you know what... that's a LOT less than I could say about drinking soda pop from last year.
Four... I learned the key to moderation with beverages. This one is definitely the most valuable. Don't get me wrong I love soda pop, and I enjoy drinking margaritas, but my wallet and my waste-line probably survived better this year without me enjoying them every-time I went to a Mexican Restaurant.
Five... I will sustain this limited soda/alcohol drinking through this year... This time we're just going to let me have one alcohol beverage and one soda a week. No use is punishing myself.


SO for my New Year Resolutions.

I will exercise (UGH GAG VOM - MAKE IT STOPPPPP!!!!). I'm not talking running a mile or anything, but I will at least make the block and do some cardio. I can do that... I think.
&
I will write more. I need to start writing some books and scripts... my creative juices are not flowing like they used to.

Woo...

Okay that was exhausting.

Happy New Years and Hope you all make some great Resolutions!

Prepping for the Big Move

So last you heard was the big engagement. Now, it's time for the big move. I have 21 days to pack up and move into JR's condo in beautiful Virginia. It's going to be tough (seriously you should see how much SCHTUFF I accumulate), but someone's got to do it.

The combining of the households is requiring a storage unit, because it just doesn't make sense to get rid of a perfectly good bed (the crappy bed frame, yes, the bed, no) and my perfectly good IKEA chair bed (also amazingly comfortable). So we've been packing boxes for a few weeks, separating things that are going to his place and things that are going into storage, while also getting my place in tip top condition so that I get my deposit back (I have a lot of things I want to buy with that deposit).

The combining of the household is also requiring an incredible amount of new storage over at JR's. Let's just say "WALL OF BOOKSHELVES" together! Now a little quieter we'll say "wall of miss-matched bookshelves." We have IKEA bookshelves ranging from Beech to Dark Brown. We'll see how it works...

In the meantime, we've been prepping for the wedding and cooking and I have been steadily researching plants to grow in next year's garden.

Right now all we have left in the pots are Silver Rose Garlic (which are growing quite nicely, we should be able to harvest a couple in the next few weeks) and some China Rose Radishes that are really FREAKING stubborn. I thought anybody could grow a radish! I planted the seeds when I supposed to and everything, but those DAMNED Radishes refuse to plump! We'll try again in early spring to see if maybe the spastic freezing is what's stunting their growth, but who knows.

So next year's garden (let me tell you JR is ober psyched about the new planters coming to his porch - emphasis on the ober) is going to be bigger, we're going to be moving some planters up onto the balcony railing to improve light-reach, and we'll get a few bigger pots for the balcony floor to grow some really tasty things.

The key to next year's garden is going to be edible. Everything will be edible. EVERYTHING (okay maybe some marigolds wont be, but everything else is edible). Burpee.com has become my new favorite website. I visit it basically every 20 mins. Who knows if there's a plant that missed my eye before! I have to see! I HAVE TO KNOW!

So! Next year's garden, I'm thinking:
Chives
Oregano
Basil
Scallions or Onions of some kind
Born to Be Mild Jalapeños
Cayenne Peppers
Sweet Flavorburst Hybrid Peppers
Bush Belle Hybrid Peppers
Container Corn (This is a thing)
Baby Boomer Tomatoes
Shooting Star Eggplants
Peas in a Pot
Caracas Carrots
More Silver Rose Garlic
More China Rose Radishes
&
Pineberries (currently have a plant to see if it can weather the winter, so far it's doing fine!)


I think we're going to need a bigger balcony....

Where Have You Been!

Oh Goodness!!! SO much news!

So for starters, immediately after the last post, JR and I hightailed it for a week in Texas for him to meet all my friends and family out on the 'range.' I, of course, left my computer up in the Virginny so that I could rest and relax. Well... We were having just a rip-roarin' time that I'll be dagged if he didn't propose. (Shiz Son! - Sadie Sadie Soon-to-be married lady)

I said yes, because "hello have you met JR?" And we've been having a CRAZY, CRAZY last couple of months touring around planning the blessed nuptials, while also running around to some of our friends' weddings!

Don't fret though... I'm coming back shortly! Just planted our garlic for a "fall" crop and Tulips so that they can spring next spring!

Stay Thirsty My Friends,

L