pugz

Ever seen anything cuter? Not likely.

Yin and Yang

This is so rare that I had to get photos of it. There are four dog beds in the house, and Berger likes his personal space, so the fact that he came to lay beside her is really noteworthy. And adorable.

WIP Wed...wait, Monday: Everyday Wrap

I'm working on the Everyday Wrap in Noro Taiyo. I saw the pattern and picked up the yarn during the Autumn 2011 Yarn Crawl. The project is a bit stalled because I need to confer with my friend Meg about the alterations that I'd like to make, but overall I'm pretty excited. Noro is always a favorite. I wish I could knit with it every single day. I guess I could if I knitted the Everyday Wrap every day. Chuckle, chuckle.

P.S. The question is not do you, but how much do you love the solemn, artsy Pug in the background?

walkin' on Pugshine...

If you're ever looking for Puggie and you can't find her, check the sunny spots of the deck. Her foster mom said that lying in the sun was a favorite pastime, and I believed her, but I didn't really understand. I'm feeling really bad for the Pug now that the temps are cooling and and the sun is setting earlier and earlier. How will she find time to sunbathe now?

intro to sewing/those colors look good on you

My friend Karen came over last week to teach me how to use my sewing machine, and I have to say, she's a GREAT teacher! She explained everything really thoroughly and let me try things out for myself, and made sure to correct me when I was doing something crazy. She also taught me a major rule of sewing: never sew if you are tired and/or angry. I think that applies to knitting as well, but I learned (and continue to learn) that the hard way.

I bought some fabric this weekend to make the pups a series of kerchiefs...and clearly the first one on the list was the Steelers fabric. I was definitely waaaay tired, but I decided to sew them anyway. True to her advice, I had a few threading hiccups and being tired only made troubleshooting *that* much worse. Alas, the kerchiefs are finished and being worn as we speak.

It is RIDICULOUSLY hard to get both dogs in the same photo. I managed one shot before Puggie bolted, and Berger had his eyes closed. Geez. Jose does the same thing.


Puggie up-close. She's not as fond of kerchiefs as Berger is, but she tolerates them. And I'm sure they will grow on her.


Oh, Berg. Ever handsome, ever adorable. Ever hanging out in the kitchen, waiting for food to fall from the counter.

a space of my own

I think the phrase is actually "a room of her own", but this is close enough for me. The dream became reality pretty quickly after the blueprints were drawn up, but this really should have happened a long time ago. I freed up SO much space in the living room and the third bedroom (which is so multi-purposed that it was bursting at the seams), so it's a win-win. Added bonus: my yarn will be locked up and out of Puggie's reach. Double bonus: I have plenty of space for more yarn now...and some fabric as well!

A big shout out to Jose for assembling the furniture and hanging the shelves. And for being supportive of the whole thing. And for not losing patience with Puggie as she walked all over the moving parts during construction. You forget that the "good" part of having a nervous dog is the fact that he never gets in the middle of projects like this. Puggie? She was all over it, every step of the way. Even the photo-taking process at the end - so appropriate.

the great yarn fiasco of 2011

Oh, Puggie. Why did you do it? Since she can't talk, we can only assume that she did this because I was painting in another room and had locked her out. Because I didn't want her to breathe in the fumes. Because I love her. Jose thinks that she thinks that yarn is a toy. Not me. I think she's just mischievous. And super cute.

Side note for the knitters: this is the cheapest yarn I have in my stash. I told her that she's lucky the Madeline Tosh wasn't the one that struck her fancy.

show me fierce

I almost feel bad for all of the many, many dogs out there that are sweet and smart, but can in no way match the cuteness, or dare I say fierceness, of the Lopez K-9s. I say 'show me love' and they show me love, I say 'show me fierce' and they give me fierce. Don't believe me? A picture's worth a thousand woofs...


Now accepting modeling contract offers for these two primo pups. Make sure the offer is good, though. They say peanut butter and fresh bacon are non-negotiable, as is freshly cut basil for sniffing, and a fresh dirt patch for rolling.

barkin' PB basil (dog) cookies

The beggin' fur basil bisuits were such a hit with the dogs that we decided to up the ante by adding basil to a peanut butter cookie. Did I need to put (dog) in the title for you to know this was for our furry friends? Certainly humans would never want this combo...

But the dogs really did seem to love it. And we have a serious abundance of basil, so I'll make sure to dry enough to get us through the winter and spring as well.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 cup water
1 cup oatmeal
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2-3 tablespoons of dried basil

Combine the water, peanut butter and oil in a boil and whisk until well combined. Slowly add the flour into the mixture and then the oatmeal and basil. Kneed until well combined...as always, add a little water if you need to, but the dough shouldn't be wet.

Roll dough out to 1/4", cut into shapes and bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes (or until the edges begin to brown). This is for an average size cookie cutter shape (~3"), we also do 3/4" stars for Puggie and those take more like 25 minutes.

The scooping of the peanut butter is always torture for Berger, so Jose let the pups lick the spatula while I worked on the dough. They have a tough life.

beggin' fur basil

Berger loves homemade treats. I mean, Berger loves ALL treats, but I think the fresh ones that we make at home must be really flavorful, because he freaks out for them (or maybe he can taste the love in each one...d'awwww). Puggie is a food hound in general and will eat anything you give her, but since she moved in with us, we've noticed that she loveloveLOVES the basil we're growing. You can frequently find her outside laying in the sun amongst the many pots of basil we have. That is, if she's not standing and sniffing each leaf like it's the most amazing thing she's ever smelled. I once saw her take a timid chomp at one of the leaves, but she looked around like the super guilty dog that she was and dropped her score.


I confirmed that basil is safe for dogs to eat and vowed to come up with a recipe for the pups. I took bits and pieces from a number of recipes and I think they turned out well (not that I can/would try them, but the dogs seem pretty excited about them).

Ingredients:
4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/3 cup oatmeal
2-3 tablespoons dried basil
1 1/2 cups water*
4 teaspoons vegetable oil

*You may find that you need a touch more water than this, just be careful not to make the dough too wet.

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and blend well. Add the water and oil and kneed for several minutes, until the ingredients are well distributed and the dough is a nice firm mixture.

Roll out the dough to about 1/4" and cut into shapes with your favorite cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheets and bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes (or until edges are browned). NOTE: 30 minutes is for a medium ~3" cookie shape. I make smaller 3/4" stars for Puggie and those were ready in about 20 minutes.

Not too bad, Puggie. Not too bad.

Jose and I signed Puggie up for a Canine Good Citizens (CGC) class at Teamworks dog training in Raleigh - we started the class two days after we adopted her. Ultimately, our goals were simple...we wanted her to learn her name, bond with us, and come when called. In the six weeks the class ran, we saw a huge, huge improvement with Puggie. HUGE. She never really agreed to sit-stay or down-stay, but she would stand-stay. She stand-stays very, very well. I wasn't sure if that was enough to pass the class, but lo and behold, it was :)

I get pretty emotional just thinking about how badly Puggie was treated for the first (2-5?) years of her life at the puppy mill. Now she has a loving home, great toys, nutritious food, routine vaccines and meds, and an AKC CGC certificate under her collar. Not too bad, Puggie. Not too bad.

Recommendations:
If you're interested in adopting a Pug...please consider a rescue. MAPR is our regional organization and they are frequently bursting at the seams with Pugs that need hugs (and homes). If you're not in the mid-Atlantic, contact MAPR and I'm sure they will direct you to a reputable Pug rescue organization near you.

If you're in the Raleigh area and looking for dog classes, check out Teamworks. I'm eternally grateful to our instructor at Teamworks and her tireless work with us and suggestions for helping Puggie. We took the 'Fearful Fido' class with Berger a few years back and that was top-notch as well.

i think you'll find the Death Star is quite operational

Why must all of my dogs hate bath time? Is it a curse or just a sick, twisted coincidence? It would be impossible for Berger to hate baths anymore than he does, but he fights it physically. Not Puggie. Puggie just looks as pitiful as possible and makes me feel tremendously guilty.

Jose is a big fan of post-bath towel humor and as he took these pathetic photos he made many, many Emperor Palpatine references.

cuddles...well, almost

It's not quite a cuddle, but we're getting closer. Puggie had access to three other beds, but she chose to curl up with Berger. It's probably because laying atop a pillow, atop the most comfortable bed in the house was her best option, but I'd like to believe it's because she wanted to be closer to Berger. No matter the reason, I heart this picture.

Berger Lopez: hero

Guess who got a new charger for her DSLR camera? That's right, and you know what that means...more and better photos of the pups!


I think it's appropriate to take this opportunity to give Berger some props. Two weeks ago, Puggie found a space under a few pickets in the fence (that are completely hidden by a patch of thick shrubs) and she escaped. When we go inside and the dogs don't follow, we'll leave them out for a few more minutes and usually they come up on the porch on their own, which is a lot better for our sanity than calling and calling and calling and being ignored. So the fact that she didn't come in didn't really throw up a red flag.

When I went outside to call her again, I could hear her choking and I panicked. Our yard is a jungle - seriously. A jungle. So I wasn't even sure where to start searching. Before long, the choking stopped and I had no leads. That's when hero Berger stepped in. He started running this big circle around me and then between the shrubs and the fence, and back again and again. Every time he would pass me he would bark, then he would bark as he passed the fence. When Jose came out into the yard, Berger widened his circle to encompass Jose.

Nobody loves Berger more than me. And nobody loves a good Berger joke more than me. He constantly does things that would have you question his intelligence - he'll turn too fast and hit his snout on the wall or bark at sounds he hears on the TV. And in general, the look on his face says that the lights are on, but no one is home. Bright-eyed and clueless. We love him, but that's just the reality of Berger. So he's running this circuit and I asked Jose if he thought Berger was trying to point us in the direction of those shrubs. I almost laughed at the thought...but when I got down on the ground, I saw the open slot in the fence, and I knew.

I told Jose she had gotten out and he was able to run into the next yard and retrieve her. I was completely stressed out that she could have been gone, gone, gone...and amazingly impressed with Berger. So impressed. He has never done anything like that before, never exhibited those kinds of perception or communication skills.

I will never, ever make jokes about Berger again. He's a smart dog and a great brother to Puggie. I think his actions indicate that he cares about her (although Jose offered the alternative - that Berger was jealous that she could fit under the pickets, so he snitched). Either way, he saved Puggie and he got a series of delicious treats for the rest of the day.


Wherever I go, he goes...my buddy and me!

the evolution of basil

doggie souvenirs

I stopped into Doggie Style, a very cute shop in Philly with anything and everything your dog could want. I was at the peak of missing Berger and Puggie, so they racked up. What can I say? I'm soft.

In addition to actual bones stuffed with beefy, cheesy deliciousness, I got them an array of beautiful cookies...

I had to get the burger one for Berger. He liked it very much.

Berger has a Steelers jersey and seeing as how part of Puggie's name came from Troy Polamalu, it seemed only fair that she also get some game day gear. When I saw that the shop had a Steelers tee in her size, I seized the opportunity.

Was she very, very cute wearing it? Yes.

Did she hate every second of it? Yes.

The sleeves were not a good shape/fit for her and she let me know about it. So I got a few pics in and now the shirt will be going on eBay. Hey, she got delicious cookies and a bone out of the whole thing, so don't feel too bad for her.

Are you hungry?

Puggie gets pretty excited about mealtime.

brown dog + pug = bliss

Props to Jose for catching both dogs in the same frame. You have no idea how tough this is to do. If he knew how to use Photoshop, I would totally think this was doctored.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (for Jose's birthday)

So I gave the breakdown of the quiches I made for Jose's party, but there was so much more going on that night. All of our friends are wonderful cooks, and their dishes included: cheese grits, tofu-potato scramble, poached eggs with a steak-salsa garnish, chocolate chocolate chip muffins, barbecued sausage, and amazing fruit.

And did I mention the mimosa contest? Our friends have been kicking around the idea of a brunch with a mimosa throw-down, so I roped that into our celebration. I had an idea for scoring the drinks in an orderly fashion, but the drinks started flowing early in the evening and I didn't get good pics of all the concoctions (or the 8 empty champagne bottles at the end of the evening). I did manage a few good pics here and there...

the evening's first pour

Miranda looooves Puggie!

a sampling of the homemade juice blends for the contest (all delicious)

it's been a long time since we've had a girls pic,
but this was a must since we have a new girl - Puggie!

Jose's cake - a stack of cinnamon crumb slices from
the neighborhood deli - yummmm!

the boys, kickin' it like ninjas

entertaining takes a lot out of Berger

Happy Birthday, Jose. Here's to many more!