A Bean Boot couple of days

I am back. Both to the blog and to civilization. This weekend I went to one of the more remote places left in the lower 48 states: Porcupine Mountains State Park on the shores of Lake Superior. This is one of two annual trips up there with my dad, sometimes my brother, and our friends. The winter trip is a guys only affair, but women and girls can come in the summer, though most of the candidates opt out. Both trips involve relaxation and good times off the grid. Neither are true backpacking adventures since we rent rustic cabins, but it’s about as much roughing it we get for the year.  We spend a few days with no electricity or running water, just hanging out and having a good time.  I was looking forward to seeing lots of snow and being able to use the snowshoes I got for Christmas, but even up there the snow was pathetic and I was faced with trekking it through the woods in my Bean Boots.  Leon Leonwood Bean was a genius for coming up with these boots.  They are American icons and are the favored footwear in my closet anytime it is damp in winter, spring, or fall.  I know some people even wear them with shorts in the summer, though I am not that adventurous.  I received numerous comments on how goofy they supposedly look this weekend, but I know my feet were dry and comfortable in any condition they faced.  Even with the lack of snow, it was as always, a great feeling unplugging from my phone, email, Facebook, and yes, this blog.  It would be downright impossible for many people,but I think that everyone should take a chance to escape from technology for at least one day a year.  It lets your mind slow down for a bit, because pretty much anything you want to get done has to wait until you get a connection back to the 21st century.

After my escape from modern conveniences, I came back to find that Alyssa was roughing it here as well.  With the cold weather last week, the water line in our basement froze sometime Friday between when I left and she got back.  Lucky for us, the pipe didn’t burst, but Alyssa was without water for a couple of days.  She managed to survive though by spending a lot of time at her parents.  Her dad got the water going right before I got home so I didn’t have to put my handyman skills to the test.  Needless to say, her and Ellie were excited for me to come home.  Alyssa will probably agree when I say I think Ellie was more excited to see me though.  She is still not used to being home with Alyssa when I am gone.

After all my complaining about a lack of snow, things sure did change today.  We got hit with quite a bit of snow this morning and Alyssa took the day off to keep from having to drive in the ice that came first.  My Bean Boots got a workout again today keeping me dry as I went to work and also shoveling the driveway tonight.  After finally getting snow, Alyssa, Spring Dog, and I got to use our snowshoes this evening.  Ellie loved the snow and wore herself right out.  She is curled on on the couch next to me sound asleep as I type this.

Check out this great article about Bean Boots and their growing status as a Made in America Icon.

Related articles

• Hot footwear must-have: L.L. Bean boots (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Play Hard, Crash Harder

It’s been a long time since I posted last and again I have no excuse for why.  After the last post I decided to wait until my DSLR is fixed to finish the house tour rather than post crappy pictures from my point and shoot.  Our Christmas and New Year were very busy this year.  Even though we had the same number of get togethers as the past few years, it seemed like we were pulled in a million different directions.  We survived the craziness and are looking forward to 2012.  Looking ahead to our first full year as a married couple and living in our house we are excited to share with you the projects, hobbies, and recipes that we come across.  We will try to post as much as possible and make our writing more interesting as the year progresses.

The first weekend of 2012 for us was a chance to breathe in a sense.  With the hustle and bustle of parties and shopping in our rear-view mirror we had a chance to unwind, undecorate, and spend time with the pooch.  One of the Christmas gifts we were most excited about was the snowshoes we got from my parents.  We were looking forward to taking Spring Dog out to Fumee Lake to run wild in the snow but mother nature hasn’t cooperated.  Instead of a typical UP winter with snow coming in 6, 8, or 12 inch dumpings we have gotten an inch or two at a time followed by warm weather.  This week was no exception and even though I wished it were snowing I decided to take Ellie out Friday afternoon to enjoy the sunshine.  I planned on a walk around town to wear her out so I could get some stuff done around the house.  My chores would have to wait after the walk because this is what she looked like when we got done.

I spent almost an hour wiping her off, covering furniture, and keeping her entertained until she dried off.  Magically, she came clean after drying all the way and she didn’t need a bath.

Saturday, Alyssa and I got sick of waiting for snow and decided to go to Fumee without snowshoes.  We took the pup for a long, long hike so she wouldn’t be too rambunctious when we put her in her crate while we went to dinner at my parents.  Here are a couple of pictures from the walk.

All this walking wasn’t enough to wear her out yet.  She wanted to play with her tennis ball even after an hour and a half in the snow. How can you resist when she looks at you like this?

FINALLY after lots of chasing the ball Spring Dog was finally ready to crash.

And by that time, I was ready to join her.

Year in Review: Spring Dog Part 2

I am a few days late writing part two of the Spring Dog review.  I have no real excuse besides for being a slacker.  So to continue from Tuesday I want to talk about Ellie since she came to live with us.  As I said on Tuesday, little did we know what we were in for.  I had grand plans for her in my mind.  She was going to be potty trained quickly, sleep in her crate at night or on her own bed on the floor, she would be good on walks, and she would play fetch with a tennis ball.  So far she is an expert with a ball, fairly good at walks, did pretty well with potty-training, but the sleeping arrangement was a pipe-dream.  I think that got ruined the very first night she came home.  We had a little crate set up in the living room for her with a blanket Alyssa made and we set up an air mattress on the floor so we would be able to take her out quickly at night.  We figured she would be exhausted after the car ride and getting acclimated to her new home.  Literally the minute her crate door closed she started howling bloody murder.  I tried to stay strong and let her go for over an hour but finally we let her out thinking “oh she can sleep with us just for tonight since she is used to having all her brothers and sisters close by.”  We tried to get her to lay with us but she wanted to run wild like a banshee.  This was our first glimpse into one of her major problems as a puppy which I will talk about in a few paragraphs.  My plan was to get her to sleep through the night in her crate and then let her come upstairs and sleep on the floor on her bed.  For nearly six weeks I slept on the couch with her in her crate so that I could let her out when she needed to go to the bathroom at night. I didn’t want to sleep upstairs in our bedroom because I didn’t want to carry her crate up every night and back down each morning.    Finally she was sleeping 10-4 straight through and I was extremely sick of sleeping on the couch so I tried her on her bed.  I knew it was going to be a process, but I was hell-bent on not having her sleep in bed with us.  The first night she lasted about an hour on the floor and then she wanted to come to lay with me, I put her back on the floor after 15 minutes and she lasted another hour.  It went on like this for 2 weeks, gradually getting her to sleep longer and longer on the floor until she spent 4 hours at one time there.  After that night though something in her snapped.  She did not want to sleep on the floor at all, I don’t know if it was the hot weather or what but she was restless the next few nights.  She would lay on her bed for 10 minutes and then wander around the room, bark to come up with me, scratch at the door, anything but sleep.  I knew I wouldn’t get much sleep with her wandering so I had her come to bed with me and she fell asleep almost instantly.  Big mistake.  After those few nights all hope of her sleeping on the floor was lost.  She was too comfortable snuggled up close to me.  Things haven’t changed much since then.  Even with Alyssa in bed now, Spring Dog is tucked in between us tight against me most nights.

I said that first night we got a glimpse of a problem she had.  As a puppy she had bouts of craziness, not excessive energy but episodes of pure craziness.  She would go outside and run laps around the yard jumping and trying to bite at anybody and anything that she came near.  These episodes would last for 5-10 minutes and then she would act like the never happened.  When she was at my parents house she would run and try to bite at Bella, when she was with my uncle’s puppy who was about the same age she would play very rough and bite a lot.  It was almost like she was having a seizure.  She was earning a reputation of a problem child and if things didn’t get better she wasn’t going to be able to play with anyone.  I knew that if these types of episodes happened in a child that an adjustment could help with them.  I knew that I could probably adjust her if I had to, but I didn’t feel totally confident and would rather an expert take care of her.  My aunt has been taking her collie to an veterinary chiropractor for years and I asked about her.  It happened that she was planning a trip with her dog in a week so I asked to tag along with Ellie.  My suspicions were correct and the vet said that an upper cervical adjustment should take care of her seizure like symptoms.  She examined Ellie and adjusted her upper neck, paws, and upper lumbar spine.  Ellie slept the whole way home and most of the evening.  Since that one adjustment, the episodes have stopped completely.  She still has a ton of energy, but the aggression has stopped completely.

The one thing that defines Ellie most people that know her is her love for a tennis ball.  I said one of my grand plans when we got her was to  get her to play fetch.  What I didn’t plan on was her being obsessed with tennis balls.  The first toy I bought for her was a package of tiny tennis balls.  From the first night she would chase those balls all over the house.  She would crouch down and pounce on them as they sat on the floor.  Eventually she moved on the full size balls and things would never be the same.  From the minute she wakes up to the time we go to bed a tennis ball is the only thing on her mind.  In the house she has one with her constantly, either trying to get you to throw it for her by shoving it under the couch so you have to get it out or carrying one in her mouth while dragging a blanket around.  Outside, she will chase a ball until the cows come home.  She has an amazing ability to catch the ball on a bounce, it is like she is an All-Star shortstop.  When we go to my parents house she runs inside, takes one bite of Bella’s food, and then starts searching for a ball.  Her obsession can get annoying at times.  At night when we want to watch tv we have to put her ball up or she will make it impossible to pay attention.  When this happens she stands on the couch and yelps trying to get it off the bookshelf.  I guess you could say we got more than we bargained for when we wanted her to like playing fetch.

As I said last post, Springer Spaniels are loyal and loving, and Ellie is no different.  She wants to be by my side at all times.  If I get up she is right there seeing what I am doing.  She waits for me when I shower or leave her home with Alyssa.  Besides her tennis ball, there is nothing she wants more than to make me happy.  They say dogs are man’s best friend and she is no different.  Even though she is crazy at times, I wouldn’t trade her for anything.  She has made drastic improvements since we got her and she will be a great dog for our future children.  Here are a few pictures of her in the past 7 months since we got her.

Year in Review: Spring Dog Part 1

For the next three weeks on Tuesday and Thursday we are going to give you a bit of a look back on our year, mainly the three big things that happened in our life this year.  First up this week is the Spring Dog, aka Elleanore.  Our search for a dog goes back close to three years.  You could say that back then it was more that Alyssa was searching for a dog that she called her own, but would stay with me since she couldn’t have one in her apartment.  There were a couple times that I was awfully close to coming home with a basset hound puppy from the pet store in Racine, but both times I came up with excuses to get out of it no matter how cute they were.  Living in a small apartment and having 30 credits worth of class a trimester, I knew a dog wasn’t in the plans for me while we were in Davenport.  The day we bought our house though, I couldn’t use the excuse of no room any longer and a puppy moved to the top of the to-do list that Alyssa and I made for the summer.  Next up was coming up with what kind of puppy to get.  Alyssa would have probably taken any dog with four legs and a tail, but I was a little more picky.  I said no ankle biters, poodles, or guard dog types.  Our dog would have to be an active dog that could go skiing and snow-shoeing with us and not have to be carried in a backpack.  I love Bernese Mountain Dogs and Bloodhounds, but we both decided our house didn’t have enough room for a 100 pound dog.  For our next choices we turned to hunting dogs.  Obviously this group would be capable of being outdoors with us and there were many options that weigh less than 100 pounds.  Immediately we ruled out Beagles, Labs, and Goldens because they are too popular; we wanted a breed that was a little more unique.  We tossed around ideas of Wire-Haired Pointers, Basset Hounds, Cocker Spaniels, English, Irish, and Gordon Setters, Brittany Spaniels, and finally Welsh or English Springer Spaniels.  Growing up we had a mixed breed dog, who was mostly Springer Spaniel, and two Basset Hounds; so I was partial to either of those breeds.   Like I said Alyssa would have taken just about any dog with a heartbeat, but she really wanted one that was kind of shaggy (think the Traveler’s Insurance “Worry, worry, worry” dog) and that she could cuddle with on the couch.  It took a little convincing but I finally brought Alyssa around to Springer Spaniels.

Katie, my first dog growing up, was a great dog.  She was loyal, playful, and loved being outside.  Everyone who has a Springer Spaniel raves about them.  I have many fond memories of Katie while I was growing up and those thoughts came flooding back when we decided to make Springers the top choice for our first dog together.  Next up was to decide which type of Springer we wanted.  Springers are made up of three close but fairly distinct types.  Two of the three bear the English name and one Welsh.  It’s easy to guess that the Welsh is the most different of the three.  They are slightly smaller and are red and white in color rather than liver or black.  The two English types are the field and the show; they are separated by their desired uses.  Show types are thicker bodied and have longer, flowing coats.  Field Springers are agile, have shorter coats, and are generally smaller.  My top choice was the Welsh Springer.  There was a major kink in the plans though.  Welsh Springers are fairly rare in the United States.  There are roughly 60 litters in the US each year so finding one when we were ready could have proven tough.  Along with making it tough to find a litter close by, rarity makes Welsh Springers expensive; most breeders charge well over $1000.  This fact led us to choose a field type Springer instead.

So after that was settled we had to find a puppy.  We searched the internet for weeks trying to find a litter that would be ready in June so that we would have enough time to train it over the summer.  We found a few in western Minnesota, western Iowa, South Dakota, or Ohio but that was a long way to travel for a puppy.  There were numerous litters in Wisconsin and Northern Michigan, but they were either ready in late April or late July.  These w0uld not fit with our plans so we were getting discouraged.  One day we found a mixed breed Springer puppy in a humane society about 30 miles from Davenport where Alyssa was still living.  I called and emailed multiple times and a week later when they finally got back to me the puppy was long gone.  Finally in late April we found a litter that was 4 weeks old, would be ready at the end of May, and was only 75 miles from here.  They had two female liver and white field type Springers left from a litter.  There were also males available, but we wanted a female.  Renee, the breeder, sent us pictures and we could not decide which one we wanted.  They were both adorable and it was a tough choice.  I liked one and Alyssa liked the other and our families were split as well.  In the end, and I don’t know how, we decided on the one I liked best.  At the time they called her GraceLynn, but we soon decided on Elleanore.  We paid our deposit and it was set.  We could bring her home in 4 weeks, which happened to be Memorial Day weekend so Alyssa could pick her up.  In the meantime, I would be going to Davenport for Alyssa’s graduation, so we arranged so that I could stop and see her on the way.  I’ll leave you with my first picture with the Spring Dog, little did I know what I was in for. Check back on Thursday to read about her life since she moved to Kingsford.

Oh Christmas Tree…

It’s  beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our house.  If you remember back a few weeks, Alyssa couldn’t wait to get her Christmas decorations up.  I made her wait until at least the day after Thanksgiving because I was “defending November.”  Well obviously now that we are about two weeks from Christmas day, she has decorations up all over.  The last thing to go up was our Christmas tree.  We both wanted a real tree this year.  We love the smell and there is just no way a fake tree can truly look and feel like a real fir.  Monday night we went out in the cold to Storheim’s where we hmmmd and hawwwd for half an hour before finally picking the one we wanted.  We loaded it in the truck, brought it home and I struggled with my dull hacksaw to cut the end off, but finally we got it in the stand.  Since Alyssa was on call Tuesday night and we wanted to be able to have a glass of New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red while listening to Christmas music, we waited to decorate til Wednesday night.  Since this was our first Christmas after marriage our ornaments are a bit of a mismatch.  

We picked up a few at Presents of Mine, a few at Hobby Lobby, a couple at Shopko, and so on.

Our tree topper is the best mismatch of all though.  During our two years in Davenport we never had a true tree topper so last year I threw a trapper hat on top and called it good.  After looking at the ornaments we picked up this year and seeing how they all fit a sort of ski lodge theme, we knew that the hat had to go back up.

Guardian of the Tree

So now it sits proudly up on top of our real Christmas tree waiting to guard the presents.

Now if only it could protect the skirt from Ellie.

Skirt Thief

 

Spring Dogs Love Tomato Soup. They Hate Citrus. Recipe: Tomato Soup

Almost everyone claims that grilled cheese goes best with tomato soup.  As a kid though, I NEVER wanted tomato soup with grilled cheese.  I don’t know if my parents didn’t like tomato soup or what, but we never had it with grilled cheese so I just assumed for years that I didn’t like it.  In fact, until a year or two ago I don’t believe I actually had a bowl of tomato soup in my life.  Now, I am not one of those people who craves tomato soup, but this colder weather has me in the mood for something warm and comforting.  A couple weeks ago Alyssa and I went to Spiro’s in Iron Mountain and I ordered a Dr. Pepper braised short rib grilled cheese sandwich.  It was fantastic and I am pretty sure I asked Alyssa why more restaurants don’t put grilled cheese on the menu.  It is one of the ultimate comfort foods and so simple to make.  The next two days we made grilled cheese and I put some of my beer braised chuck roast in mine.  That weekend rekindled my love of grilled cheese and this week I was in the mood for them again.  As I was cruising Serious Eats I came across a recipe for Nordstrom’s Tomato Basil Soup. Bells went off in my head: warm, comforting, and supposedly the perfect companion to grilled cheese.  Remember, I am not one to crave tomato soup, but according to the recipe, this soup has a cult-like following.  It looked easy enough with just a few ingredients and it was something I could whip up fairly quickly.  So here it goes.

Gather the gang for a pool party.

Chop up some aromatic vegetables.

Let them get nice and cozy with some aromatic herbs.

Add EVERYBODY to the pool.

Simmer, cool, blend, add cream, simmer, serve, enjoy.

This soup is fantastic.  Ellie gave it 4 paws up, in fact she has been trying her hardest all night to get the leftovers as they cool on the counter.  Though, she does not like grapefruit peels (I had to test the theory that dogs don’t like citrus).  I won’t join the cult of Nordstrom Tomato Basil Soupeans after eating it tonight, but it is a great side dish to a grilled cheese on delicious natural starter home baked bread (which I will post about in the future).

Recipe: Tomato Soup (adapted from Serious Eats)

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 tablespoon dried basil, crushed
• 3 28-ounce cans whole peeled Roma tomatoes
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 1 pint heavy cream (we used half and half, and probably only 10-12 oz.)
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add carrots and onion and cook until beginning to soften, 10 minutes, then add basil and cook until vegetables are completely soft, about 5 minutes more.

2. Add tomatoes and broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20-30 minutes, or up to 45 minutes if time permits.

3. After allowing soup to cool somewhat, purée in a blender or food processor until smooth, doing so in batches if necessary. For a much silkier texture, strain the purée before returning to the pot (we didn’t strain it, the texture just added to the comfort factor).

4. Stir in cream little by little over over low heat, until desired texture is reached and soup is just heated through (we used about 10-12 oz). Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve warm.

Busy week…

We were slacking on posting the past week. With a short work week and lots of family to see, the blog was on the back burner. We had 6 family parties in 4 days; including 3 Thanksgiving dinners on Thursday and one on Saturday. Needless to say we are stuffed to the gills after all the eating. It was great to spend time with family and friends and even more so that we didn’t have to travel to see them for the first time in 7 years for me. The long drives were definitely the worst part of coming home for the holidays. We are blessed that all four sets of our grandparents live in town so it makes seeing everyone easy for us, especially now that we live back in the area. Since last week was so busy with family and friends, this coming week we have lots of projects we want to work on before Christmas so we will share them all with you. We have decorating, table building, finished pictures of our bedroom and a crafty project up there, plus a recipe or two. I’ll leave you with a picture that sums up our week, the Spring Dog laying down for a nap at 5:00. That rarely if ever happens but she was beat after the busy week.

Another Furry Friend Friday at Fumee

One of the best parts of working for myself is setting my own hours.  Before I opened the office I knew I wanted different hours than the standard 9-5.  Being open early in the morning and late into the evening lets me accommodate many different work schedules, and it also lets me get things done that I want to do around the house.  By far my favorite day of the work week is Friday, I know I am not alone in this though.  I start seeing patients at 6 AM and get done at 1, this lets me run errands, work on projects, and play with the Spring Dog.  On the nicer Friday afternoons Ellie and I have bonding time out in the woods, I like to call it Furry Friend Friday.  We hop in the car and head to Fumee Lake for a good hour-long trail run/walk.  Spring Dog absolutely loves being out in the woods.  The first time I took her out there I brought her leash along but wanted to see how she would do without it.  She was great, she stayed on the trail and never ran more than 20 yards in front of me.  Every so often she would stop to check that I was still coming and then she would take off down the trail wagging her butt the whole time.  After that first day she was hooked.  She knows if I put on my trail shoes and she gets her harness put on we are going to the woods and she gets super excited.  I love spending time out there with her.  We both get our exercise in and I know it’s a close second in her favorite things to do behind chasing a ball.  Here’s a video from today’s Furry Friend Friday and a picture from another day out there. Click the link to check out the video.

 

FURRY FRIEND VIDEO

 

My backup career as a furniture maker

Alyssa and I are in the market for some furniture for our living room, but we run into a few problems whenever we look. We see all kinds of cool vintage pieces that people find at rummage sales or thrift stores on our favorite blogs, but there is never anything good at the Re-Store or Goodwill and Craigslist in the UP is full of people wanting to make a fortune on absolute junk. Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, and Crate and Barrel make stuff that we would love, but it’s way out of our price range at this point. Ikea has styles we like and can afford, but the closest one is 6 hours away and their stuff is not durable. So what’s a newlywed, thrifty couple to do? Well, most of our living room is second hand. In fact we just picked up a second couch today from Alyssa parents and have another one on the way when their new set comes in. Our other option is to build our own. Maybe I am a little too ambitious, but I am going to give it a shot. With the help of a blog I found last week I am going to attempt to build a few pieces for our living room. No, I am not going to build a recliner or sectional, though Ana White does have plans for numerous sofas. I am going to start with a few easier pieces. Here’s what I am going try to build. I will post some pictures as the work comes along. Keep your eyes peeled, you might see Maki Furniture popping up in your nearest Slumberland soon if things go well.  Even the Spring Dog has something to look forward to.

Photos from ana-white.com, click to go to site.

 

Photos from ana-white.com, click to go to site.

Photos from ana-white.com, click to go to site.

 

Fall is in the air…

This weekend was the first in a while that we really didn’t have any major plans since well before the wedding.  It was nice to have a somewhat lazy weekend free from big projects, travel, or thank you card writing.  Instead of finally getting power run to the upstairs of the house, driving to St. Louis or honeymooning in Traverse City, we were able to have our first quiet weekend as a married couple.  That’s not to say we had 2 full days of sweatpants, pizza, and beer, though all three of those came into the weekend at some point.  Saturday morning consisted of drinking some of my newest hobby, home roasted coffee, and making what is becoming a favorite breakfast for both of us, krapsua.  Both of these will make extended appearances in the coming months at Spring Dog This!.  Seeing as how the Spring Dog doesn’t exactly do lazy mornings we had to take her out to do her favorite pastime, chasing a tennis ball.  Luckily we have some big spaces nearby where we can let her free and she can chase a ball to her heart’s content, or my arm gets tired (usually the case).  Here are a few pictures of her in her element.

Ellie

Elleanore

Saturday afternoon I brewed a batch of Front Porch Brewery beer with Travis.  I still haven’t come up with a name for this beer which is a clone of Furthermore Oscura, a California Common-type beer infused with whole-bean coffee.  Travis is looking to get into home-brewing and wanted a few pointers.  Having help during a brew day is always nice because it can be a long day by myself.  While I was brewing, Alyssa was doing her best Suzy Homemaker impression, cleaning and organizing in the house.  It’s a never-ending process that you take for granted growing up.  Saturday night we hit up the Hitch-N-Post for a party celebrating Alyssa’s sister, Erika’s, boyfriend returning from Afghanistan.  Mike’s family had a shin-dig there for him so we went with Alyssa’s parents to welcome him home.  Let me tell you how thankful I am that I am not a single guy trying to find a woman at bars like that, slim pickings is an understatement.  Alyssa had some more colorful words to describe the girls there.

Sunday consisted of church, organizing the pantry so my vertically challenged wife can reach the necessities, and priming the walls in our bedroom.  We are FINALLY getting close to painting it to suit our tastes.  We have had bedding for over 2 months now, but choosing colors for the walls has been a project in and of itself.  We’ll be sure to post pictures of the paint when it actually gets on the walls.  After priming it was time for pizza, football, and a nap.  To round out the weekend we went to Alyssa’s parents for a small birthday party for Erika where we watched Philip Rivers single-handedly lose against the Packers.  It was tough being the only non-Packer fan there.

Here are a few pictures from the brew-day on Saturday.

Wort