As promised, a bit of a Scout update. There are more photos here.
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Unbelievably, Scout is 12 weeks old. As a comparison, here is Bixby at week 12. Scout is a slender 25.6 lbs. Bixby was a very solid 30 lbs. She’s not that far behind him, but I swear where he was all muscle and chest, she’s all leg and a skinny-minnie.
She’s really come into her own. She trots around the house (sounding nothing like a puppy and more like a herd of Danes, with those big feet of hers) confident of wherever she is going. We are, knock-on-wood, fully potty trained, with just a few incidents when she waits too long to ask to go out. And very close to ringing the bell.
She LOVES to be outside and will stay outside even when Bixby has come back in. She finds a spot in the sun, grabs a stick and happily lays around watching her ducks. She has learned not to chase the ducks, BUT, she often walks over to them and sniffs around them – looking at me like, “what, I’m not bothering them, I’m just over here sniffing stuff” – definitely pushing the limits wherever she can.
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What’s everyone up to this afternoon? I’m staying as far away from politics as possible. I find if I tune out over the weekend, I more able to cope the rest of the time.
Open thread!
rikyrah
Awe, Scout is so cute ?
schrodingers_cat
Spotty Scout is so cute.
TaMara (HFG)
@rikyrah:
@schrodingers_cat:
Thank you. She sure has been the cure for some very broken hearts here…
Scuffletuffle
Love Scout’s coat colors and patterns…just beautiful! And such a sweet face.
Amir Khalid
@rikyrah:
And growing up so fast.
Feebog
Love the video of Bixby and the Huskie. We had a young huskie who lost a leg when she got out a and was hit by a car. About a week later my wife was in the back yard grooming her when Godiva jumped up, ran across the yard on three legs and nailed a squirrel. Huskies are fast.
WaterGirl
Adorable photo – Scout does look long and leggy. I think she may be a model when she grows up.
On valentines day, my niece’s two lab pups will be coming to stay with me for 10 days while their family will be out-of-state at two different soccer tournaments for their kids. I am 90% excited and 10% thinking “what have I done?”. The pups will be 4-months-old when they arrive. I was there at Christmas when she got them on Christmas Eve. Now they are 21 and 26 pounds, respectively. They will be much bigger by the time they arrive in 11 days.
my 2 dogs, my two cats, and 2 pups. Good times!
CaseyL
So lovely! I’d say you were lucky in your Danes, but I know how much effort you’ve put in training them. Happily, Bixby can help out! And I love how she makes sure to see your reaction when she’s testing boundaries.
How is Zander doing, though? Has he regained his Zen Kittiness?
jharp
Winter Farmer’s market in downtown Indianapolis today.
For the best tamales in the world, some curry pickled cauliflower, a Thai Chicken Curry Pot Pie, 3 1/2 pounds of wings, and 2 oxtails.
Ox tail soup or ox tail stew? That is my biggest quandary today.
Recipes welcomed and appreciated.
Catherine D.
Scout is so cute!
And since this is an open thread – a few weeks ago on a cooking thread, I mentioned that my mother had trouble with an InstantPot. It wasn’t the equipment, but user error. A very nice person on their helpline walked her through steps while he used the exact same model. She then sent me one, and I’m finding it really useful.
TaMara (HFG)
@CaseyL: I’m not sure. He’s sleeping on my pillow again…and he looks to be teasing Scout – comes out and entices her to chase him. He used to do that with Bailey at first, too, then they settled into a sweet routine where they’d go nose to nose all the time and then he’d wrap himself around her legs. I’m hoping that’s where we are headed here.
Amir Khalid
After a few weeks of practice, I think we’re finally getting the hang of the main riff from Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll. I am seriously thinking about giving in to my gear acquisition itch. I want two more guitars (so far): some kind of Stratocaster or Strat copy, and either an Epiphone Les Paul Studio or a good Les Paul copy. And I also yearns for a cherry-red ES-335 like Chuck Berry’s. Guitar godhood, here I come!
Litlebritdifrnt
@Catherine D.: I saw a review of the Instapot on MMN today and the user basically said it wasn’t worth a damn compared to her crock pot. She said that the steam release was just damn frightening.
eclare
Scout is adorable!
HeleninEire
Prolly gonna move house. Long story but my maybe new housemate asked if I like dogs. Yup I said but I’m a bit, just a bit allergic to cats. “We hate cats he screamed” Rut roh.
Aleta
There’s something about how her thinking shows through her eyes
(unless I’m imagining from photos, which could be)
that I just love. Her thoughtfulness adds to her beauty and grace.
And how healing it is, to see little ones looking at all things in the world as new.
donnah
@Amir Khalid:
I saw Led Zeppelin when I was fourteen. They had a concert in Pittsburgh and a group of us went. Our seats were pretty terrible, but it was a grand show.
Aleta
“lays around watching her ducks” : )
pamelabrown53
Wow! Scout looks so huggable. Definitely a glamour shot. Maybe submit it for next year’s calendar? I am so going to enjoy watching her grow up via her pix. Thank you, TaMara.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@WaterGirl: ZOMG, what HAVE you done? It will be a grand and rowdy time for all no doubt. Harry would be envious if I told him your dogs will have company, so i won’t.
Scout is totally adorable. I love baby pictures. I’m sure the ducks will back her off if she sniffs too intrusively.
donnah
@Litlebritdifrnt:
A crockpot and a pressure cooker are two different animals. It’s slow vs quicker cooking and the techniques are different. The Instant Pot has a lot more safety functions compared to the old fashioned pressure cookers, so the steam release shouldn’t be scary.
I have both a crockpot and an Instant Pot. Let me tell you about customizing mac and cheese with five cheeses, ready in ten minutes…that’s in the Instant Pot!
pamelabrown53
@HeleninEire:
Hope you let us (metaphorically) assist you with your move. Am I right that you’re planning to move from the city center in Dublin? I’m convinced that if there’s such thing as a spirit animal, mine is a cat. Lazy, languid and purring until I have a burst of goal directed, brutally efficient energy.
WaterGirl
@pamelabrown53:
That’s what I was just thinking about a second before I read your comment! That photo would make a very tasteful centerfold, I think.
That face, it’s so sweet.
Major Major Major Major
Just got up a little bit ago. Really needed sleep! Caught the last 30 minutes of episode one or Altered Carbon (my husband was watching it). I literally just finished the book yesterday so watching it was an odd experience, but it appears to be non-terrible.
Dunno what I’m going to do today, other than some mandatory work on the novel and the comic.
Shana
@jharp: I’ve always been a fan of the Joy of Cooking Scotch Broth. AIR it calls for oxtails.
ETA: nope, it calls for lamb, but I think you could sub oxtails nicely.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Amir Khalid: You go, guy!
Betty Cracker
She’s a beautiful pup! I wonder how tall she’ll get? She resembles my grand-dog quite a lot, in the coloring, anyway, but where she looks gorgeous and graceful, he is goofy and awkward.
The mister and I rode motorcycles out in the country today. We wanted to see a draft horse pulling expedition in a nearby town but we farted around too long and missed it.
So, we had strawberry shortcakes at a farm stand for lunch instead — delicious! We’ll probably just loaf around the rest of the day, although there are plenty of chores to be done. That’s how we roll.
pamelabrown53
@WaterGirl:
Hah! Scout is definitely a “Cover Girl”!
HILFY
@WaterGirl: Please send us lots of pics of your coming menagerie. Pet photos and stories help maintain our sanity against the constant barrage of Trumpian incompetence and lies.
Major Major Major Major
@pamelabrown53: @WaterGirl: making me think of a boudoir shot of Samwise I took one time.
Elmo
Third weekend of flu. Chores piling up, dogs bored, Mrs. Elmo fussing at me. So tired of it.
Another Scott
We took our ~ 18 month old Ellie (some sort of Aussie Shepherd/Border Collie/Mutt mix?) to the vet today to have blood taken for a DNA test. She’s about 35 pounds. ;-) She hates the vet (only been there twice), but she hates just about anything new that could conceivably be scary. She puts the brakes on and wiggles about 50% out of her harness. She’s getting better (she didn’t want to walk on the kitchen floor her first night in the house), but it’s a process… We should have the DNA test results in a couple of weeks or so.
While at the vet waiting room we saw Nellie – a 4 year old retired Greyhound racer. Her right front leg had broken in a race and got infected and had to be amputated a while ago. The left front is now being treated for some infection, too. Her elbow was all wrapped up in some yellow-green gauze/tape. She was taking it all pretty well, and seems to be a sweet girl (as you’d expect), but seemed a bit stressed out too (big open mouth panting “smile”, with some yawns). Fingers crossed that she recovers fully.
Thanks for the pictures and the Scout stories. It’s a great antidote for many of the horrors going on out there…
Cheers,
Scott.
pamelabrown53
@Major Major Major Major:
OMG. What a great shot. Methinks we need a separate “Boudoir Calendar”!
Catherine D.
@donnah:
Exactly. I have a slow cooker as well, and I like it fine, but I do my cooking for the week on the weekend. The pressure cooker means I can do two recipes a day instead of one.
I’m also old enough to remember stovetop pressure cookers blowing pea soup on the ceiling. The electric ones are so much safer. I just use a spoon to tap the release valve. Look ma, no hands!
Yutsano
SCOUTPUPPEH!!!!
I’m getting the urge to get a furry companion again, but going back and forth on what I want. I actually have enough room in my apartment for a larger dog but Gsheps and the like aren’t allowed.A friend in California breeds Dobies but again breed restrictions. I also saw a GORGEOUS Sheltie yesterday and I’m getting weak.
Major Major Major Major
@pamelabrown53: he was on the 2017 calendar!
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
She’s beautiful !
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: Oh, yes! I can see why.
realbtl
Heading off to explore Volcano NP on the Big Island. Yes life is tough.
frosty fred
@Catherine D.: I use my electric pressure cooker a lot, although I don’t like the wateriness of some results (sauerkraut has to go in the oven, for example). I’m about to set up a batch of broth in the slow cooker because I think that comes out better too. We had a stove-top pressure cooker when I was a child, I think it came as a wedding present. My mother may have used it once because I remember the pressure valve jiggling and hissing, but she was so scared it would explode that after that it was just a big heavy pot.
ETA hard to type with a cat draped across my arms, but fun to see Scout coming along.
HeleninEire
Good on ya Scout. Imma gonna go back to bingeing The Crown. Long week.
pamelabrown53
@Major Major Major Major:
Well, no surprise there. Samwise is sultry. He’s only missing a martini and Pussy Galore.
Tazj
What a pretty girl Scout is! I love the picture of her asleep on the couch as well.
Supervising the completion of weekend homework here, and I’m thankful he chose a written report instead of the working volcano. The goofball had a stomach ache yesterday because he and his friend decided to devour a huge bag of Starbursts between them at lunch.
WaterGirl
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: @HILFY: Well, at least it will be a different kind of crazy than the news brings! I will definitely take photos.
WaterGirl
@Yutsano: Doggie love isn’t weakness, it’s strength!
@pamelabrown53: @Major Major Major Major: Love the idea of the Boudoir Calendar. I think that has great potential.
edit: Sexy Beasts?
Betty Cracker
@HeleninEire: I’ve finished up The Crown, and now we’re all caught up on Game of Thrones too. Show hole!
pamelabrown53
@WaterGirl:
“Sexy Beasts”. I think we have enough creative, twisted BJers to make a calendar that could go viral. Think of all the pets we could help.
Wanderer
Greetings to all fellow juicers. Lurking here forever and am so grateful for all the knowledge and sanity. Have celebrated joys and accomplishments and mourned losses personal and political. Soon we will be getting a new puppy and am I correct in understanding Scout is learning to ring a bell to go outside? How is this done? Seems it would be a very useful skill to have a puppy learn
raven
I’ve been shopping and cooking since 8am! Got the chicken bracoile and turkey meatballs made and bakiing, turkey Italian sausage grilled. I made homemade breadcrumbs and, as my baker friend told me, have a ton left over from just one load. I plan to make an eggplant and mushroom dish in red gravy for the lettuce heads and am still trying to figure out if it’s worth it to get “gluten” free pasta for one person.
raven
@WaterGirl: Sexy Beast is a hell of a movie with Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley.
Jager
@pamelabrown53:
Sexy Beast calendar? Anze the Dog (90 lb male German Shepherd) won’t make the cut. OTOH, a video of him sprawled on the bed, out cold with his head on a pillow with a voice over of “Who do you think you are mister? Get off the bed, you know better than that! You’re on my grandmother’s quilt! Move it! Now!” voiced by Mrs J. Anze’s reaction? A sleepy eyed slow motion head lift, a roll to the side, a stretch and then a slo-mo hop off the bed. He could star in a Bad Doggie video series.
JPL
@raven: It seems that you have enough food that the gluten free person can enjoy, so I wouldn’t worry about it.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@raven: Holy cow. Can I come to your house if I don’t watch football?
maeve
Wondering what to do about the mice in my house – the only way they are obvious is in the closet where I (formerly) kept the dog food. Do I catch and release? PETA says that is cruel. No glue traps (obviously) but the snap trap may be the kindest in the end. But what if they are Aeslin mice – should I just let them take up housekeeping in the closet?
Major Major Major Major
@maeve: Who cares what PETA says? They’re ridiculous.
raven
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): Shit, more than half if the people that come here couldn’t give a rats ass about the game. A bunch of them used to leave for fucking Downton Abbey when it was on. I’m such a sweetheart that I cook my ass off and let the chips fall where they may. (They also refuse to show up in time to eat before kickoff and then have to have the pool explained to them even though they do it every year. Fucking hippies.
pamelabrown53
@Jager:
You have a great sense of humor, Jager. Maybe you can spearhead a collection of “pets at their most aggravating” pictures “but we still love them beyond reason”.
raven
@maeve: I used one of those metal traps where you put peanut butter in it and they crawl in and then can’t get out. What happens after that is up to the individual.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@maeve: I poison the ones that venture in from the field behind us. If they wanted to live, they shouldn’t have come in my house. If you have a cat, that isn’t an option.
TaMara (HFG)
@maeve: Catch and release is cruel? Damn, I’ve been doing it wrong for years. My friends have great luck spraying peppermint oil (not extract) all around the edges of their attic to make the mice leave.
TaMara (HFG)
@raven: I usually use the Barilla gluten free spaghetti when needed and no one ever notices it’s GF.
pamelabrown53
@raven:
Would you be willing to share your chicken bracoile recipe? Googled it. looked good. Ho do you make it?
P.S. I SO wish I could be at your Superbowl Par-Tay.
Jager
@pamelabrown53:
When ever I go in the pantry, I get a steady series of ass-pokes. I usually show him a can of garbanzo beans or something and say, “Here yah go, enjoy.” he doesn’t buy it and goes back to poking my ass. Mrs J bitches about his begging but she always buys him a double-double plain at In ‘n Out burger and slips him food off her plate at home. She also puts a beach towel on the bed and let’s him snuggle her back when she takes a nap. Other than the ass pokes he doesn’t bother me, but I get shit for his bad behavior with her.
Catherine D.
@maeve:
When I was a dog-only household (and said dogs were absolutely useless – they wouldn’t even bark at the mice), I put a RatZapper in my kitchen to kill the mice quickly. Now Jeeves the tuxedo cat keeps them under control.
ETA – my neighbor, who is out of town at the moment and AirBnB’ing, is trying the peppermint oil option.
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
Judging from your sense of humor and affection for the absurd as expressed here, if you haven’t previously raced through the multiple seasons, the Aussie series Rake.
What sorts of shows or genres are you looking for? Are subtitles an automatic no?
Mnemosyne
I’m hanging out at a mall in the San Gabriel Valley eating pan-Asian fast food. Very happy that I was able to get a custom multi pen so I only have to carry one pen in order to color-code my agenda. #OrganizingGoals
pamelabrown53
@Jager:
Sounds like the Wife and the Dog are in cahoots. You re the cuckold Maybe refrain from In ‘n.Out references, too suggestive?
WaterGirl
@raven: I knew it was movie but I have never seen it.
Let the gluten-free person know you will be serving a pasta dish and invite them to bring some cooked gluten-free pasta for their own use?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
have we finally found a way to talk about Paul Ryan?
pamelabrown53
@NotMax:
I LOVED the Aussie series “Rake”. Then after the first season and a half it got to be more of a downer. So, I (temporarily) abandoned it.I swear there’s a short circuit in my TV/movie viewing psychology: I can’t bear to watch abject humiliation.
schrodingers_cat
@raven: Can you make Spanish rice or some pilaf that will go with the rest of your menu.
WaterGirl
@Jager: @pamelabrown53: I see no reason we couldn’t publish a Sexy Beasts and a Bad Dog version of a book or calendar or video.
maeve
@Major Major Major Major:
That was the point
WaterGirl
@pamelabrown53: Is that different from the Rake that was on TV a few years ago? I thought that was awful.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
And spend all day Monday vacuuming crumbs out of the carpet.
maeve
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):
allergic to cats (although love them in small doses)
NotMax
@pamelabrown53
If people ask for a description I say, “Think Rumpole but with no scruples whatsoever.”
raven
@pamelabrown53: I bought a big pack of boned breasts, butterflied them and pounded them between parchment paper with a small skillet. I went with golden raisins, crumbs, garlic,and parmesano reggiano filling. I added the stuffing to the breasts, rolled them up and used toothpicks to hold them tight. Baked at 350 for 30 minutes and let them cool. I’ll make the “gravy” tomorrow and add the bracoile, meatballs, italian sausage and some chicken thighs and let it simmer. Then I’ll cook the “macaroni”, separate the meat and mix the gravy and serve. I’ll also make a mushroom and eggplant in gravy for the lettuce heads.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: @SiubhanDuinne: we ain’t got no carpet, we got various rugs but no carpet on these ancient heart pine floors.
raven
@WaterGirl: @schrodingers_cat: Yea, they know the score.
Van Buren
@donnah: My mom gave me an instant pot for Christmas. I use it a lot. My wife , who is basically neverever eats anything resembling a carb, has been bugging me to make macncheese in the instant pot . She read about it on Pinterest, I think.
pamelabrown53
@WaterGirl:
Truthfully, I don’t know. I was researching Aussie series and found I could watch it on Netflix. While I pay for satellite, I rarely watch more than TCM and PBS series.,
WaterGirl
I went to the grocery store this afternoon for chicken so I could make chicken & white wine with a side of rice and broccoli.
There must have been 50 places throughout the store to pick up samples of stuff people might want for their Super Bowl parties. Sausage, pizza, chicken salad on bread, other stuff on crackers, various kinds of alcohol. I didn’t take any samples, but the Smart chicken I get had a very short expiration date, so I left without chicken, but I did pick up those mini-chocolate eclair things you can get in the frozen section. I decided to have that and leftover homemade soup for dinner.
Betty Cracker
@NotMax: I’ll check out Rake. As for genres, we’re flexible. Subtitles are okay with me but annoy the mister. I prefer to watch series that are done so I don’t have to be at the mercy of a studio exec’s schedule.
pamelabrown53
@raven:
Thanks for the recipe. It sounds both delicious and doable. When you add your other dishes it sounds like a Super Bowl banquet beyond my ken.
WaterGirl
@pamelabrown53: Just searched for it on Netflix and I can tell from the photo that it is NOT the same show. I added it to “my list”, no telling when I’ll get to it, but at least I won’t forget it.
pamelabrown53
@WaterGirl:
When you get to it, let me know your thoughts. I’ll keep a look out for your posts. No worries: I’ve got a ton of things on my lists between Netflix and Amazon Prime. Lately, I’ve been hanging out with my Kindle: it’s silent and I can read in the dark!
Mike J
@Betty Cracker: Speaking of the Crown, here’s a relevant tweet (with pic):
https://twitter.com/RealTimeWWII/status/959900321068830734
Betty Cracker
@Mike J: Group Captain Townsend!
laura
@TaMara (HFG): your lovely, spotty, Pearl of a Girl is a balm in terrible times. As is my worst, bad dog for the worst bad times- Chet, the slightly used weinie dog. My dad’s 2 falls this week revealed his melanoma on the move.
My daddy is dying and my spouse and dog are helping with the right here, right now of it all. That Scout, like the bright stars in these painful times, like my Chet and your (insert bj boon companions) make bearable the inescapable pain of life and loss.
Betty Cracker
@laura: That is terrible news. So glad you’ve got a supportive spouse and faithful hound to help you make it through an awful time. Strength and courage to all.
SWMBO
@laura: Peace and comfort to you all. Take care of yourself and appreciate the time you have left. My dad died in a car wreck at 49. Poof and it was over. No chance to say goodbye or make those last memories.