Owner: Karen Shanley: My life as an author, mom, dog nut URL:http://karenshanley.com/blog Join Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:23:14 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Karen Shanley is an author, blogger, and mom. She has one 11 year old daughter, and two grown stepsons, whose hearts were won mostly through their stomachs. (Karen routinely whips up gourmet meals with food grown from her organic garden.)
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Wanderings — Free Dunbar Articles 2007-01-21 06:39:41 Ian Dunbar
, the father of the positive training movement, has many wonderful books, articles, and videos on training. Here’s a site that offers many of Dunbar’s articles for free. This site also offers Dunbar’s BEFORE You Get Your Puppy for free. Read more:Articles
My Kitchen Table 2007-01-19 06:41:55 I’m typically not a very sentimental person. I can do without all the Hallmark Holidays. The only feelings I care about are the ones that are unsolicited and genuinely offered, the ones that don’t have to be coaxed or coached, or require an appointed day.
I’m also not a saver of any kind of stuff, really. [...] Read more:Kitchen
, Table
Jon Katz, Trainer or Trouble for Dogs 2007-01-18 06:31:57 From the mail bag: Allie asks: Just wondering. What do you think of Jon Katz? As a person, a writer, and now a trainer?
Dear Allie, I can’t comment on Katz as a person; I’ve never met the man. And I know all too well how it can be hazardous to draw conclusions about someone who [...] Read more:Trainer
, Trouble
I Just Had to Ask, Didn't I? 2007-01-17 06:10:43 I just had to ask where Winter was. Seems Mother Nature heard me.
“Here’s Winter for ya,” She said. “How ’bout a nice ice storm to start things off with a bang?”
Frog Man and Other Terms of Endearment 2007-01-16 06:51:11 Some dogs lend themselves to nicknames. Graidy is such a dog. He goes by The Graidster, Graidy-Gru (Cait came up with that one), Happy Boy, Circus Dog, Clown Boy, Barky Boy, Monkey Mon, Licky Boy, Dagger Paws (for as light as he is on his feet, when he stands on you, you’d think he weighs [...] Read more:Terms
Wanderings — Recipes 2007-01-14 06:49:57 About this time of year, I’m all cooked out, with nary an interesting dinner idea left in my head, and lots of weird stuff left over in the fridge. Perfect time to type those food items into the Food Network Recipes
to come up with a tasty, and usually easy, recipe.
Alice Down the Rabbit Hole 2007-01-12 06:48:17 When I was growing up, we lived out in the country where there were a lot of animals, but not a lot of kids. Animals were my constant companions. When I wasn’t busy with my horses, dogs, cats, and the cows (not ours) out in the back pasture, I’d amuse myself with my mind. Like [...] Read more:Rabbit
Eleven Years and Counting 2007-01-11 06:44:36 I’m someone who needs a lot of freedom; I often find it a challenge to be locked into anything predictable or confining. I prefer to keep things open and flexible–and spontaneous. To satisfy these needs, I’ve always worked for myself so that I could keep my crazy schedule. I typically have several projects going at [...] Read more:Eleven
, Years
, Counting
How to Choose and Introduce a New Dog to an Old Dog 2007-01-10 06:55:59 From the Mail Bag: Renee asks: I have a mini Aussie a little over a year old. I've been thinking of getting another dog as a companion for her. I am home most of the time, so I have time for two. I play with Sierra a few times a day throwing Frisbee, etc. but [...]
Where's Winter? 2007-01-09 06:23:18 Just a few days ago it was 67 degrees here! Here, as in cold upstate NY here. It actually felt hot outside, and people were walking around in shorts and tee shirts. I know this is supposed to be from El Nino, but it’s just downright weird. So weird that I can’t even fully enjoy [...]
Code Red — the new "Duck and Cover" 2007-01-23 06:47:58 Okay, I’m gonna date myself again, but I wonder how many of you remember the “Duck and Cover
” drills we had back in elementary school during the Cuban Missile Crisis?
The drill went thusly: The alarm would go off throughout the whole school, and the teachers would instruct us to get under our [...]
Molly, Then and Now 2007-01-24 07:40:08 For those who’ve read Dogs of Dreamtime, you remember Molly
, my deaf Aussie and Kiera’s sister. You probably also remember that I had to rehome Molly because of a deadly sibling rivalry. It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make for one of my dogs.
I hope you also remember that, with [...]
How to Introduce a Kitten to a Dog 2007-01-25 06:54:23 I’ve received several requests asking that I share how I introduced Finnegan, our Maine Coon cat kitten, to Kiera, our 7 yr old Australian Shepherd, and Graidy our 3 yr old Border Collie mix. Here’s how I did it.
First, a little background. When Kiera was a puppy, we had a cat with whom she got [...] Read more:Kitten
Honest Friends 2007-01-26 06:50:03 Cait catches me off-guard.
“Mom, when you’re having a conversation, are you listening or waiting to talk?” she asks.
“Huh,” I say.
“When you’re talking with someone, are you listening or waiting to talk?” she repeats.
I stop what I’m doing, look at her and clarify, “Do you mean, when I’m in a conversation and the other person is [...] Read more:Friends
Wanderings — Spacial Art 2007-01-28 06:49:15 Peter Callesen, art works in paper, snow, and ice. Simply amazing!
Note to Self… 2007-01-30 06:06:03 …Make sure, with all future book contracts, to specify that if I write a book about my dogs, and the publisher is going to put a picture of a dog on the cover, then it’s my dog’s picture that will be used. Not a generic stock photo of a dog that not only is not [...]
Murphy's Oil Soap Users Anonymous 2007-01-31 06:34:46 I admit it, I used to be a regular Murphy
’s Oil Soap user.
Those commercials with the older ladies polishing the wooden pews and floors of that big ol’ church packed a powerful, underlying one-two message. Your mothers and grandmothers use Murphy’s Oil Soap religiously, and so should you! Or, how about this one: If it’s [...]
Kiera Died from a Gunshot Wound 2007-02-01 06:36:32 No, no, it’s not what you think. My Kiera is alive and well, and right here happily dozing on my feet. It’s the Kiera from The Oregon Trail.
Cait and I have been playing this computer game she got for Christmas. It’s designed to teach children about the realities of 19th century pioneer life on the [...]
How is it that… 2007-02-02 06:27:33 … one dog can be outside lying at the far end of the field, the other dog can be sleeping on the bed upstairs at the other end of the house, and the cat is nowhere to be found.
Until I open the refrigerator door.
And all three magically appear.
February Write-Away Contest 2007-02-03 06:45:24 Michele, over at Scribbit is hosting the FebruaryWrite
-Away Contest
.
Posts are due by February 12th. Go have a look and see if you’ve got something you’d like to submit. The winner receives a selection of Alaskan chocolates from Alaska Wild Berry Products in Anchorage
Wanderings-Live Science 2007-02-04 06:48:50 Live Science
: Animal Domain is a site full of amazing animal stories and scientific research.
Wanderings — History Explorer 2007-02-25 06:11:01 The HistoryExplorer
web site offers various ways to take a step back through time. It covers world events starting with the appearance of Homo Sapiens through present times. Great timelines offer snapshots of different periods.
Argue for Your Limitations and They’re Yours 2007-04-13 07:15:37 As I was listening to a visiting friend talk about her life over lunch, I was reminded yet again of how she’s painted herself into a comfy corner of “I can’t.”
I’ve known this friend for 25 years. What attracted me to her originally was her adventurous spirit. When she wasn’t home hobnobbing with famous authors, international journalists, and heads of state, she was traveling the world. She was politically active and spiritually seeking. In other words, she was full of life.
Fast forward to today, and that person is nowhere to be found. As we were talking, or rather as I was listening to her complain about all the things about her life with which she’s dissatisfied, and all the things she can’t do, and all the reasons why she can’t do them, I was inwardly feeling sad for her. I’ve learned not to try to offer ideas anymore, as that just brings another barrage of “that wouldn’t work because,” and “you don Read more:Argue
, Yours
Most Current List Of All Recalled Pet Food 2007-04-17 07:44:51 There is a single list of all recalled pet (dog and cat) food at:
http://srv.ezinedirector.net/?n=1666824&s=41304140
Menu Foods, Inc., expanded its recall Tuesday, April 10, to cat food not previously subject to the recall. The varieties of cat food in the United States and Canada now being recalled are included in the spreadsheet in the above link.
If your brand is on the list, make sure to check the code on the spread sheet against the code on your can. If they match, stop feeding that food immediately and take your animal to the vet to be checked. Thousands of animals have already died of kidney failure. Prompt treatment may save your animal.
This is a list of Pet Foods NOT on the list.
Post Script: As new pet food is added almost daily to the recalled list, visit PetSit Usa for daily updates.
Prayers to all the families affected by the Virginia Tech shooting.
Read more:Current
My ABC’s 2007-05-07 07:36:56 I was tagged by my good blog bud, Girl and Dog, so enjoy!
A- Attached or Single? Attached
B- Best Friend: Several, including my husband and one from childhood.
C- Cake or Pie: Homemade pumpkin pie, with pumpkins grown from my garden!
D- Drink of Choice: Water
E- Essential Item: Laptop or book.
F- Favorite Color: Periwinkle
G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Don’t have much of a sweet tooth. Could even go without chocolate for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy.
H- Hometown: Easton
I- Indulgence: Buying books.
J- January or February: Same difference. How about October?
K- Kids: Three. Two stepsons, whom I love to pieces, and one daughter, whom I love to pieces.
L- Life is incomplete without: Family, dogs, gardening, reading, writing, and travel.
M- Marriage Date: Sept.
N- Number of Siblings: I’m the third of four kids.Two brothers and a sister — all good friends.
O- Oranges or Apples? Oranges… and apples. I could live on fruit.
P- Phobias/Fears: Claustrophobia.
Q
Leaves of Three - Let Them Be 2007-07-09 23:10:58 I thought I was immune, but I guess I’m not… For the first time in decades, I’ve got Poison Ivy. I got it pulling some vines off my trees. My hands are a blistered mess, which makes typing interesting. In others words, this’ll be a short post. Just a quick refresher for those who might have forgotten what Poison Ivy looks like.
This is what’s left of the vine that I foolishly grabbed with my bare hands.
Poison Ivy is most easily recognized by its compound leaves consisting of three pointed leaflets (thus the rhyme leaves of three, let them be). The middle leaflet has a much longer stalk than the two side ones. The leaf edges can be smooth or toothed. The leaves are reddish when they first come out in the spring, turn green during the summer with the mature stems covered with hairy rootlets, and turn various shades of yellow, orange or red in the fall.
As I bemoaned my stupidity and my itchy hands with Cait in earshot, she quickly put it into perspective. Read more:Three
The Happy Box 2007-07-30 23:08:16 “Mom I can’t get to sleep,” Cait yells from her bedroom. She’s been in bed for almost an hour.
“What’s the problem?” I yell back from my study.
“I’m having bad thoughts… I’m worried I’m going to have a nightmare.”
Since birth, my daughter has been inordinately sensitive to her environment. She takes things in that others hardly notice. The upside is that she’s very compassionate and caring. The downside is that any images, especially from TV, that are at all uncomfortable, worrisome, or violent, have an outsized impact. To save her from herself, we’ve offered her a list of “safe” shows that she knows she can enjoy.
“Mom.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve got a confession to make.”
“Let me guess,” I say as I walk into her darkened room and sit on the side of her bed. “You watched a TV show not on the list.”
She grabs my hand and holds it to her face. Moonlight streaming through the window outlines her worried expression in soft relief. Read more:Happy
Wanderings — Pandora Radio 2007-11-17 22:04:28 If you haven’t discovered PandoraRadio
yet, you’re in for a treat. It’s an internet radio station that lets you pick the songs you want to listen to. From your selections, through their Music Genome Project, the radio will add additional songs similar in quality to the ones you’ve picked. It’s a great way to find new artists and great music you might not otherwise come across.
Here’s what Pandora has to say about itself:
Since we started back in 2000, we have been hard at work on the Music Genome Project. It’s the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Together our team of fifty musician-analysts has been listening to music, one song at a time, studying and collecting literally hundreds of musical details on every song. It takes 20-30 minutes per song to capture all of the little details that give each recording its magical sound - melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics … and more - close to 400 attribut Read more:mdash
“Mad Hatter: No wonder you’re late. Why, this watch is exactly two days slow.” 2008-03-06 23:07:18 That’s me these days. The faster I try to catch up, the hurried-er I fall behind. Too many projects and not enough clocks running two days slow. So, it’s getting to be that time again… Time for another intermission.
In the meantime, what was it that sign said on the doorknob? Ah, yes…
“Doorknob: Read the directions [...] Read more:wonder
, watch
I Knew That 2008-03-03 23:18:14 Cait has finally reached the age where she’s been made aware by friends of clothes labels. I always knew that I was on borrowed shopping time, because this kid came out of the womb with her own sharp sense of fashion style. I’m happy to have gotten away with outlets and discount stores with her [...]
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