Wilson's Own - the Secret Recipe

The weather in Va Beach lately has been following the pattern of a few days of spring and then a few days of winter with a rainstorm in between. We are enjoying one of the spring-like days now, although the heavy cloud cover fortells the rainstorm to come. Wilson and I have been taking advantage of the balmy temperatures to fit in multiple walks today. In fact, Wilson is trying to make the most of this day in general - 3 walks, 2 seizures, 1 visit from a canine friend and a bath, and it's only mid-afternoon! Poor little guy. You gotta take the bad with the good. :( We have found that one method of dealing with seizures is to "walk it off". He walks better with some motivation, so we've been making laps around the kitchen table. It seems to shorten his seizures remarkably. Now he's going to add a nice long nap to his daily repetoire.

Wilson has also (as a reward for taking a bath) enjoyed several of his homemade treats today. He really does love them! I haven't seen him get this excited over anything other than a hot dog. Although he could stand to make millions on the secret recipe, he has graciously consented to allow it to be published here for the enjoyment of dogs around the world (well, at least those lucky enough to have someone with thumbs around).

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Wilson's Own Gourmet Dog Treats

Oatmeal
Rice flour
Creamy peanut butter
Molasses
1 Egg
Brewer's yeast (optional)

Grind the oatmeal in a food processor or blender into coarse crumbs. Mix with an approximately equal portion of rice flour (1 cup to 1 cup, for example). Spoon in a healthy serving of peanut butter and pour in a fair amount of molasses. Throw in an egg to help hold it all together. If you happen to have any brewer's yeast, throw some of that in there also. Dogs love it and it supposedly helps keep fleas away! Stir it all up. It will be stiff and clumpy, add water if you feel you need it, but just enough so it all sticks together. Grease a baking sheet. Spread the batter on the baking sheet, pressing it out by hand until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut it into squares of the desired size. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, until kinda hard and crunchy but not burnt. Store in a sealed jar. They keep for a long time.

*Note - People will be tempted to eat them, and this is fine as they are homemade with all natural ingredients. Please remember to save some for your dog, though.

Happy New Year!

We managed to stay up to midnight last night. We didn't have TV to watch that silly ball dropping thing, but we did get to watch the cellphone switch over (it's very official, talks to satellites and such). Actually, staying up late wasn't that tough. We seem to be doing it a lot lately, but for good reason. We've been catching up with friends who are in town for short holiday visits and have been making the most of our available time.

As if to blow in the new year, the winds have been WHIPPING, and the temperature has dropped significantly. We had been enjoying balmy weather, but at least it is a sunny start to the new year.

Happy 2009 everyone!!!

Historical Explorations

On Saturday we went to Jamestown and Williamsburg with our friend Lauren. I had never been before, and Joe hadn't been in many years. Usually he doesn't like tours and such, but this time we were both excited to check out some old architecture and ways of living. We were especially interested in the timberframe and wattle and daub structures in the Jamestown settlement. Wattle and daub is similar to cob in that it is a clay and sand mixture. In the case of wattle and daub, however, the framework for the walls is a wooden lath (or wattle) of woven saplings to which the clay (daub) is applied. This is used as infilling between the timbers.

We were excited to find that there were earth ovens at both Jamestown and Williamsburg. The interpreter at Jamestown told us that the original clay ovens at the settlement were shipped over from England. They could have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they had Kiko Denzer's book "Build Your Own Earth Oven" like we did. I don't know that it would have helped them, though. They apparently sent a sorry lot of people over to colonize the new world. It would have helped if anyone had had some practical skills. It wasn't even until the 2nd or 3rd boatload of people that they decided to send over some farmers, carpenters, and here's a thought...maybe some women?

The Williamsburg oven was more similar to ours. It was about the same size, had a brick arch, and a wooden door. Joe was pretty excited.

I really enjoyed seeing all of the little houses at both places. The little houses just had so much warmth and character, especially in Williamsburg. We got there late in the afternoon and did the "free tour", meaning we just walked down the main street and didn't go in any of the buildings. Most of them had already closed up for the day. The evening light made for some nice pictures, though.

Throw in a visit to the cheese shop and the chocolate shop and it really was a fun day. You can see more photos from our trip here.

Holiday Happiness

Here's hoping everyone had a wonderful holiday. Ours was stress-free and filled with family and friends. Earlier this week my sister, Lynn, drove out from Blacksburg to spend a couple of days with us. It was a short visit, but we did manage to fit in some fun thrift store shopping and movies. The weather was quite balmy so we took Wilson down to the beach as well. He's not very impressed by sand, but you can't visit Va Beach and not at least look at the ocean. This photo was also supposed to be one of me and Lynn, but Wilson managed to steal the shot at the last second.
On the 23rd, we went to Joe's cousin Rachel's house for a family Christmas auction. The premise of the Christmas auction is that everyone brings some items they are getting rid of, which are then presented to the group and auctioned off to the highest bidder. Everyone starts with an equal amount of Monopoly money. :) What a fun idea! Such a great way to find a new home for items you're not using any more, and have blast at the same time. Emre was our illustrious auctionneer (seen here modeling an antique pair of aviator glasses, a very hot item) and kept a lively pace. I spent most of my money on big ticket items - namely a wooden box made by Howard and a hand-printed denim jacket by Melodie. Joe managed to snag a vegetarian cookbook and a pizza cutter.

On Christmas Eve we went to Joe's stepmom's house for dinner, where I managed to capture this rare photo of Joe and his siblings, Tommi and Max.

Christmas day we opened presents with Joe's mom. All of my sister's gave me cooking related items, all of which will see MUCH use. Jenny made me a BEAUTIFUL apron (I don't have a photo yet), so pretty I'm afraid to cook in it for fear of messing it up. Instead I wore it as an outfit accessory for the rest of the day, and received many compliments. :) I gave Joe a pressure cooker, something we've been wanting to get for a while. As you can see, food is very important to us. Joe managed to surprise me with an "Eco Media Player", an iPod of sorts which is powered/charged by a hand crank - the perfect accessory for off-grid living. :)

Having Wilson around at Christmas is almost like having kids. He's not quite sure what is going on, but he's very excited by it all. He was especially thrilled when we followed each round of gift giving with a treat from his cookie jar. Last year Lisa gave him a stuffed frog, a present he is still having fun with a year later.

Later in the afternoon, we went to Joe's uncle Tony's house for a delicious Wareing family tradition - Grandma June's pizza! I was too busy eating to take any pictures. :(

All this Christmas socializing really wore Wilson out. Good thing he has an entire couch full of warm pillows to sleep on.

Wilson's Cookie Jar

As I've mentioned, I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen since coming to VA Beach. Because it's Christmas, and because he's always guilt tripping me about moving him to the city where he has to be inside all the time, and because I just really like the little guy, I decided to try making Wilson some special treats. We have come to the conclusion that wheat and corn (very common dog food additives and common dog allergens) might be triggers for Wilson's seizures. So, I stirred up a concoction of oatmeal, molasses, peanut butter and rice flour baked into little gumball sized hard cookies. I figured it Wilson didn't like them, we could always eat them. However, the results are conclusive - Wilson loves them!

Last night we celebrated Joe's cousin's 30th birthday by going to an arcade. Joe couldn't believe I had never been to an arcade before (who knew I was such a sheltered child!). I guess arcade dexterity comes faster when you're a kid, because I certainly wasn't picking up on anything really quick. Joe and I went through 5 dollars of quarters and only ended up with 74 tickets. I had to give myself pep talks when I realized I was letting Pacman determine my feelings of self worth! All in all it was a very fun time. Everyone in our group was going to save their tickets to give to some lucky little kid, but it turns out there were no kids there, only goofy adults like ourselves trying to relive their childhoods. :)

Settling in at the beach

We've only been in Va Beach for 2 1/2 weeks, but it seems longer. That sounds bad, but really I mean that we've quickly settled in to our routine and surroundings and feel like old pros. I think the patterns we formed last winter resurfaced quickly and made settling in easier. Even Wilson remembers all his old haunts and rules - like waiting at a street corner for the okay BEFORE crossing.

Joe is working at the gym 6 days a week, mostly afternoons and evenings. This is quite the opposite schedule of his body clock, but he is making up for it with naps. :) He is making full use of the gym and working out alot. Usually he has almost finished a workout before I even get up in the morning. I am managing to make it to the gym more often this winter. I have dedicated myself to doing at least one yoga class a week and working out, with Joe's help, several times a week.

I am doing some substitute teaching when called upon, which has only been twice so far. I am really enjoying the downtime, though, and am investing it in expanding some of my interests. This website has been one of my major projects. My other focus so far has been cooking. Having access to an "easy" kitchen (e.g. one with running water, unlimited electricity, etc.) has motivated me to practice my bread baking and try out new recipes.

Wilson's ideal urban schedule would be to wake up mid-morning and hit the streets until evening. In reality he gets one or two walks a day, the occasional play date with his buddies Tico and Baby, and settles for sleeping on the couch the rest of the time (a privilege he is not usualy allowed and is taking full advantage of). Foxy's schedule hasn't changed much and still consists of sleeping non-stop except for his two, much anticipated meals, and a forced exile from the house at night. This is so we can sleep peacefully and not be woken up when the call of the wild hits him at 2:30 a.m. And now...a couple of pictures.


It is really hard to get a picture where Joe is not making some kind of face AND Wilson looks happy. In this one, I had to settle for Joe looking normal. The frog is Wilson's new favorite toy of the moment.

These pictures are for Deb, who requested more goat photos. Banjo always wants to get upclose and personal with the camera. Yoda is finally feeling big and confident enough to engage Banjo in that always favorite pastime of head-butting.

The move has been made. We are now in Virginia Beach until March 1st-ish. It is sad to leave our little universe. The morning we left (Monday, Dec 1) there was such a beautiful, but brief, snowfall. We couldn't resist playing around for a minute and taking pictures. I do love snow. Our little house will not be lonely, yet anyway. At the last minute we were able to offer it up as temporary accomodations for a friend of a friend while looking for more permanent housing. Here in Va Beach we are staying with Joe's mom just a few short blocks from the beach. Joe is keeping busy working at the gym. I am keeping busy with projects, following Wilson around the city, and keeping an eye out for occasional bouts of gainful employment.