Casper the friendly cat

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Have I mentioned recently how much I love this cat?

I don’t think we could have asked for a more perfect kitten for us.

He seeks Meredith out and will cuddle with her for hours. If it looks like she’s forcing him, she’s really [...]

This and That

Fiona is already over three months old. Unbelievable! She’s growing so fast and definitely not my tiny, squishy newborn any more. Now she’s my tiny, squishy baby. She’s very chatty, much more so than I remember Meredith being, though it’s hard to remember so long ago. She’s starting to be able [...]

Meet Happy Birthday Cake

Otherwise known as Cricket, at least right now. Yep, we got a new kitten. Sort of on impulse, though it’s actually something we’ve discussed off and on for years.

Meredith loves little animals, and last summer we had thought of getting a kitten. We got a new dog instead, and then [...]

Salmon Dog Treats

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We ran out of the treats I normally use for our dog classes, and since I’d been planning on trying to make my own at some point anyway I decided now was as good a time as ever. I wanted a soft treat since I use them for training. Most of the recipes for [...]

Getting into shape

Sarah posted on her blog last month about a running program she’d started and been having success with. I used to run a lot. A good friend and I used to run 5k every other day, and I won some medals and ribbons in city-wide races. But it’s been over a [...]

Introducing our new dog

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Meet Spice.

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Or at least that’s the name she had in foster care. We’re still debating between Sorcha and Shiloh, though right now I’m leaning towards Sorcha. Feel free to add your vote in the comments. She came from Mosaic Rescue, has already had a litter of puppies though she’s [...]

Catching Up

I am going through another one of those periods of time where I have so much I want to write about, but not enough time. So I end up writing nothing instead and getting even more behind! So I’m going to try and write a short recap, and come back later and write more [...]

Dog-Friendly Dog Training

Katherine over at Our Report Card posted this link on her blog: Ian Dunbar on dog-friendly dog training. It’s a 15 minute talk, but very interesting for dog owners, parents, and really anyone interested in relationships. A lot of what he says is exactly how I feel about [...]

Animal Vaccinations

I was tired and uninspired today, so I had decided to just copy from a post I made elsewhere about animal vaccinations.  Then I started writing an intro and before I knew it had typed out part of a post about vaccines that I’ve been thinking of writing anyway.  Then Meredith woke up and [...]

Natural Age of Weaning

Aristotle at 5 months with mom Kat

I found this interesting article about weaning: Natural Age of Weaning. The author has looked into variables that affect weaning in other animals (especially primates), and then made predictions on when a human’s natural age of weaning would be based on those. She also discusses the benefits of extended nursing. Now [...]

“Birds fly, fish swim, man thinks and learns. Therefore, we do not need to “motivate” children into learning, by wheedling, bribing, or bullying. We do not need to keep picking away at their minds to make sure they are learning. What we need to do, and all we need to do is bring as much of the world as we can into [their lives]; give children as much help and guidance as they need and ask for; listen respectfully when they feel like talking; and then get out of the way. We can trust them to do the rest.”
~ John Holt

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