Sunday, February 24, 2008

Untitled February Post

Even MR Tiki has the Flu Right Now...Poor guy. The rock on his head looks like a cool block of ice.Pansies Comeback 2008...
Pepper and Snoopy in Doggy Jail...The fence got left open last week and good little Snoopy stayed right by me, but Pepper got out to visit a neighboring herd of horses. Once on the ridge facing her prey, she just stood there and barked. Bad dog. Go home! She was recaptured by the middle daughter before too long. Sorry, M.
Rose Hips...and Buster Sleeps...Boy! Does he!
Daffodils Jumping Up to Greet the Sky...Notice the thick, self-seeded stand of chard in the background. Below, Random Bloomin' Beauty...A Favorite Spot on the South Fork of the Eel River near Miranda, Ca...Wide turn in the river fills my eyes.

My blog became a vegetarian soap box for a brief moment there. I hope you all considered the issues and appreciated the little cow cartoon. Sunny days have given way to a hyped up storm that really hasn't amounted to anything of note. A couple gusts of whistling wind came through, but beyond that it, pretty wimpy - considering all the press attention given to it this last week. Warm and dry weather is in the forecast for the week ahead, so I hope to accomplish some homestead chores with renewed energy. We were all down with the Tiki Fever, and various other parts of my body were acting uncooperative as well. With that behind us I am now looking forward to participating in this great adventure called health. I did manage to prune all grapevines and about 6 of the smaller fruit trees. One branch at a time from here on out...

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Meat Free Society? And What About the Dogs?



I am HIGHLY disturbed by the recent meat recall of 143 million pounds of beef - part of a two year supply that has largely already been consumed by public school students, and patrons of fast food joints. Ugh! The abuse of animals goes beyond the issue surrounding this recall, which was the processing of downed, and obviously ill, cattle for human consumption. To go deeper, watch Meet Your Meat -It is an extremely graphic depiction of the suffering and inhumane existence most animals raised for meat, milk or eggs must endure. Not Green Acres here gang, or my Grandma's barn. Those were the good old days. Personally, I already avoid consuming meat at virtually every meal, now I think my poor little doggies might have to go all vegi. According to the National Research Council (NRC) "Dogs require specified nutrients, not specific feedstuffs." I am feeling very powerless about it all, and I wish in this world there was more respect shown to animals. You can bet there's no vegi-head dogs on the Iditarod. Oh no my friend, hundreds of pounds of lamb, turkey, fish, and Lord-knows-what-all are fed to those sled dogs daily...probably hourly. But I love those little mushers. The whole topic is controversial I know, and it triggers a lot of self defense in people because they think they need it (and it tastes good!) Although it is a far fetched notion, I'm posting some interesting vegi-doggie links ...sorta like sending out a prayer. Maybe Spirit will move humanity to compassion....and doggies everywhere to love rice and carrots, over lamb and chicken...!?!

Vegetarian Dog Food Sources:

The Warm Store; offers dog and cat food in their mail order catalog. (800) 889-WARM.
12 Tannery Brook Road, Woodstock, NY 12498.

Nature's Recipe; Vegan canned food and kibble for dogs (800) 237-3856.
341 Bonnie Circle, Corona, CA 91720.

Basically Natural; Vegan dog food and a variety of cruelty free human and animal products. (800) 352 7099; (301) 834-7923.
109 East G Street Brunswick, MD 21716.

Harbingers of a New Age; Vegetarian cat and dog book, as well as a supplement mix designed to go with their homemade recipe. (406) 295-4944.
717 E. Missoula Ave, Troy, MT 59935-9609.

Wow-Bow Distributor Ltd.; A variety of vegan/vegetarian dog foods. Also meat based products. NY (516) 254-6064; (800) 326-0230.
13B Lucon Drive Deer Park, NY 11729.

Natural Life Pet Products, Inc.; Vegan (?) dog food. Available from veterinarians and pet food centers. (800) 367-2391.
Frontenac, Kansas 66762.

Wysong Corporation; Vegetarian dog food. (800) 748-0188.
Dept. CF, 1880 N. Eastman Ave., Midland, MI 48642.

Vegetarian Dog Information Sources
Vegetarian Society has presented a well organized, fairly comprehensive information resource on a vegetarian (not vegan, I believe) diet for dogs. Peta's Meat Stinks collects a series of articles that PETA has created that discuss the issue of vegetarian dogs.

Vegetarian Cat! Information Sources
Vegan Cats is a site that takes vegetarianism even one step further. Learn more about the issue and buy specially formulated foods that make this possible.
General Vegetarian Information Sources
Vegetarian Central is a gateway to vegetarian resources/sites on the web. It is a must-see for vegetarians.
Radar3 lists a variety of general purpose vegetarian links from this content organizer.
Animal Rights Resource Site provides a wide variety and in-depth guide to animal rights related issues and information. A very serious site for those interested in exploring animal rights theory and action.




Sunday, February 17, 2008

Iditarod on the Brain...

Lance Mackey - Currently in the Lead in the Yukon Quest. Iditarod Starts Mar 1st.

What can I say, it's just all about the dogs, the Iditarod and dreaming about Alaska for me right now...Sorry. Featured next door at the SoHumMushSpot are links to the Last Great Race on Earth, the Yukon Quest, a bad ass Arctic mountain biking woman, and a book review to further educate yourself on the intriguing world of dog powered activities. See you there.....

P.S. Rest assured, the garden is green and growing. With temperatures in the 60*, we have been loving it! Daffodils are popping...but we've all seen a daffodil before...

xxoo

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Vista Driven

Sunset View to the East...Beautiful long views of these remote northern California hills are a blessed event in the cold, dreary, rainy, windy, snowy ..and brrrr! Did I say cold?.. days.
The Greening of the Meadows...The rains have stopped for a few days, and a prelude to spring bursts out all over.
I am drawn to the long views these days. They are easy on the eyes and full of potential. Still, the garden has begun to bud out in certain corners. It is always amazing to me, that in the cold and dreary gray, the march towards warmth and green is underway. A camera glitch is preventing me from doing much documenting of the few bursting buds that are starting the show. It has some kind of moisture issue, probably from filming wild rides with the dogs in wet conditions and taking on the splatters and splashes of our good fun. Check out my YOUtube bikejoring videos if you want to take a ride with us. Meanwhile the camera breathes...

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Whole Lotta Nothin'

We've had constant rain and snow since my last post. I've collected another 14". Gray is the motif of the moment. We've had lots of snow all this last week, and even down at lower elevations there was significant accumulation. We took a hectic drive up north for an animal fundraiser, and got to drive in snow on HWY 101 all the way to Fortuna! I have not been inspired to take many photos...I downloaded just 11 and 2 more videos today. The videos have been a lot of fun to mess around with. I am on a dog powered tangent. Although the dogs love the cooler temps, icy rain is not exactly our favorite running weather. Right now the ground is saturated and overflowing everywhere. I think I lost another plum tree to the damn root chewers that infest my homestead. It is a real nice 6 year old prune plum that's all rocking in its socket. It feels like it has less than half a root... we'll see. I figure I will weed around it real good, and back-fill it with rocks and soil to prop it up. Sigh. ...I can't wait for spring to come.