Article pictures

Last week I submitted two articles to Backwoods Home Magazine. Below are photos which might be suitable for illustrating the articles. These are posted so the editor can choose which ones she wants.

These photos are for the article on kerosene lamps. Some are alternate shots of the same scene.

Lamp Photo 1 -- Washing soot from lamp chimneys. It's best to use a plastic tub or other means to keep the glass from bumping into the sink, which can easily break the chimney.

Lamp Photo 2 -- Washing lamp bases. This illustrates some of the variety of kerosene lamps.

Lamp Photo 3 -- Clean chimneys. Let these air-dry completely, because a wet chimney can shatter if placed on a lit lamp.

Lamp Photo 4 -- A wick trimmed to produce a crown-shaped flame. A little bit of charring at the tip is normal and won't affect the quality of the flame.

Lamp Photo 5 -- Two ways to trim a wick to produce a crown-shaped flame.

Lamp Photo 6 -- This lamp has the wick adjusted too high. The result is a huge out-of-control flame that uses too much kerosene and soots up the chimney. In this instance, the chimney becomes significantly coated with soot within ten seconds or so.

Lamp Photo 7 -- A sooty chimney after about ten seconds of a wick adjusted too high.

Lamp Photo 8 -- A properly-adjusted wick should not be visible over the top of the burner. Adjusting the wick too high is one of the most common reasons people are frustrated by kerosene lamps and smokey chimneys.

Lamp Photo 9 -- The proper way to light a lamp is to hold the match horizontally to the wick, not downward.

Lamp Photo 10 -- A bulk order of burner units which fit onto canning jars, allowing an ordinary canning jar to be converted into a kerosene lamp.

Lamp Photo 11 -- Spare chimneys, purchased at thrift stores and stored in liquor boxes, which have dividers.

Lamp Photo 12 -- A package of new 3/4" wicks. These can be found at most hardware stores.

Lamp Photos 13 through 17 -- A lamp gives enough lighting to read a small-print book if placed close by.

Photo 13

Photo 14

Photo 15

Photo 16

Photo 17

Lamp Photos 18 - 20 -- A collection of kerosene lamps, illustrating some of the variety.

Photo 18

Photo 19

Photo 20

Lamp Photo 21 -- A classic kerosene lamp

Lamp Photo 22 -- A canning jar turned into a kerosene lamp. Not as pretty, but just as practical.

These are photos for the Low-Tech article. Not too many, I'm open to suggestions.

Low-Tech Photo 1 -- Wood cookstove. An excellent multi-purpose tool which cooks, heats water, supplies heat to the house, etc.

Low-Tech Photo 2

Low-Tech Photo 3 -- Food staples such as beans, rice, spices, etc. are versatile and inexpensive.

Low-Tech Photo 4 -- Indoor clothes racks (either standing or hanging) are an excellent low-tech alternative to clothes dryers.

Low-Tech Photo 5 -- Scythes. (Lisa, take note: this photo is only available in 1003 kb resolution.)

Low-Tech Photos 6-9: Scything wheat.

Low-Tech Photo 10 -- Maps won't fail.

Low-Tech Photos 11, 12 -- Books are your low-tech friends.

Photo 11

Photo 12

Tragic piece of journalism

A friend sent me a link to an article called Parents' Worst Nightmare: Kids Are Jealous of 'Teen Mom' Stars. My friend called it a tragic piece of journalism.

It seems there are reality TV shows depicting teenage mothers and what their lives are like. We don't have television reception so I was unaware of this genre of reality programs.

Apparently the shows were filmed as cautionary tales against teen pregnancy. However a study found -- what a surprise! -- that "young fans of these two series are shockingly envious of the shows' stars." The reason, apparently, is because these teen moms "have an enviable quality of life; high incomes; supportive, loyal romantic partners; and children who are cared for well."

Even though the shows are supposed to be "cautionary," impressionable viewers doubtless get these reality teens mixed up with single celebrity moms who "have the time, money, and hired help to squeeze in red-carpet appearances, European vacations, date nights and parenting duties."

I hate to break it to teens, but motherhood -- especially single motherhood before you're 18 -- bears absolutely no resemblance to Hollywood moms. In other words, reality trumps reality shows.

The article states, "What could possibly be enviable about the lives of single, teenage mothers? Let's see. Janelle Evans, 21, mother of a 16-month-old son has battled a heroin addiction and has multiple arrests under her belt. In 2010, she lost custody of her son, and she is currently pregnant with her second child. Farrah Abraham, a 22-year-old with a 3-year-old daughter, made a sex tape with porn star James Deen and is now starring on VH1's "Couples Therapy." And Amber Portwood, 24, mother of a 4-year-old daughter, was arrested for domestic violence in 2010 after beating her child's father in front of the little girl. She recently admitted to Us Weekly that she was high on drugs for most of the filming."

I wonder if any of this misbehavior was documented on the show?

My friend who sent me this link confirmed these dire statistics. She wrote, "One of the show's 'stars' resided a county over from our hometown. She is constantly in the news for probation violations, arrests, etc. Awful to think she is a role model for young girls. Grrrr."

Up to this point I thought the shallow writers at Yahoo handled the subject quite well. But toward the end of the article I saw this... and my jaw hit the floor:

Let's be clear: There's nothing inherently wrong with choosing to be a single mother if you're mature, responsible, and financially independent.

Okay. There's "nothing wrong" with intentionally depriving your children of a father's love. I see.

Idiots.

Cold weather advice for livestock owners

Granny Miller put up an excellent post on caring for livestock during bitterly cold weather. Since I'm too busy at the moment to write anything coherent, I thought I would direct your attention to Granny's timely advice.

Temporary silence

I'm so sorry for the silence -- I've been working on two honkin' big articles for Backwoods Home Magazine (due today) and won't be home all day either (Thursdays are my "city days").

Be back soon!

The house from hell...

It may come as no surprise to all of you that my childhood fantasies about the Perfect House involved variations on the same theme: something small, rural, cabin-like, cozy, rustic, and simple.

A small farm was usually part of that fantasy.

Thanks to the partnership with my beloved, much of this fantasy has come true. We are quite content on our little farm.

Anyway, this contentment came into focus when I saw an article discussing "smart homes" which boasts, "Your coffee machine, washing machine, heating, and even your garden will all soon be connected to the internet."

Rather than the timeless, patient joys of a cozy house, cherished garden, and farm animals... the article informs us that "The past 12 months have witnessed some remarkable innovations... Yet consumers admit to already being impatient for the next big thing. The honeymoon period for a new gadget is four months, with users confessing that boredom sets in beyond that."

Boredom. After four months.

(Zombie voice): "Need...something...new."

In four months, I can grow an entire garden, and every day there's something new. There's no possible way I want my garden "connected to the internet." Heck, I go to the garden to get AWAY from the internet and other worldly distractions.

But it gets worse. "[A] quarter of consumers claimed they were bored within just four weeks, eager to upgrade as their friends and colleagues got newer phones."

It appears technology is trying to save people from themselves. "[T]here is very much a next big thing coming. That smartphone or tablet is no longer merely a portable window on the web, it’s increasingly the gateway to an internet of things, whereby your coffee machine, washing machine, heating, even your garden, are all connected to the internet... What may sound like a futuristic set-up is approaching faster than anyone anticipated... And your yucca can even inform you, via an app, when it needs watering."

Apparently this worship of technology isn't universal. As one person succinctly commented, "Who, in their right mind, thinks this is a good idea..?"

Technophiles are getting to the point where they're letting technology think for them. You know why encyclopedia sales are in the toilet? Because it's too much work to physically look something up. Instead you punch the request for info into your smart phone and have the world of answers at your fingertips. But has this ability made people wiser? I don't think so.

"Smart" houses are rarely depicted as warm, welcoming environs. They're not places you can cozy up with a friend over a cup of tea. They're always depicted as large, impersonal, cold, sterile spaces with screens everywhere and controls panels on everything, a place where no one dares to put their feet on the coffee table and relax with a book. (Incidentally I don't believe it's an accident that Smart Homes never have cluttered bookshelves in them.) "Smart" people apparently don't read books.

I realize there's a certain amount of irony to rant about technology on a technological marvel called a blog, and I'm certainly not opposed to the judicious use of technology... but the fact remains my childhood fantasies have never died, and an "app" to tell me when my plants need watering seems supremely stoopid. People who need "apps" to water their plants should probably put the stupid smart phones down and check the plants themselves.

I don't want to live in the house from hell. I'd rather have my "un-app'd" life where I do things for myself.

Okay, rant over.

"An era of indulgent slothfulness..."

Right now the midwest is having historic bitter cold. New England is seeing massive amounts of snow from blizzards. Chicago just had an enormous snow dump as well. In short, in many parts of the country it's good weather to hunker down, if possible. Drink hot tea/chocolate/coffee, simmer a big pot of soup on the stove, listen to music, play board games or cards with the kids, or read a good book.

Now maybe I've lived in the country for too long, but when reader Rob forwarded me an article on the etiquette of ordering takeout food during a blizzard, at first I thought it had to be a joke. Who in their right mind expects food delivery during a blizzard?

Is this something peculiar about urban living? Do people think food delivery is done by machines who don't feel cold or experience wind-chill? Whaaaaat?

But no, this was a serious (more or less) article (with an occasional expletive) with advice for people who don't want to put on pants and walk across the street to get orange juice and a bagel.

"If you live in the blizzard-ridden United States," it begins, "you might be looking out your window at a harsh, desolate, snowy wasteland. Cars in the middle of the street. Frosty despair. But you're also hungry. Here's how to order in, guilt-free."

The "guilt-free" solution, apparently, is to call ahead to see if your favorite restaurant is even delivering (this is because apparently there are now intermediary websites that take your order and relay it to your local restaurant). You're also supposed to NOT complain when your food is two hours later than normal, and please tip very generously.

"[I]t's important to reconsider, just a bit, the way you deal with the Internet Instant Food God," the article gravely informs us. "Namely, that it's powered by the service of human beings, who on snowy days in particular, deserve some extra consideration. Above all, consider the fact that delivering food to you is going to really suck for the exact reason that you don't want to go out and get it yourself. Pants will become snowy and wet, bicycles will slide around on ice, and beards will be caked with vicious snow. But this will all happen to someone else! Someone bringing you food. Tipping reasonably is always the decent thing to do, but under conditions that might look like a scene from a science fiction movie, you've got to keep others in mind. This ain't business as usual."

Um, then why the heck are you asking these hard-working delivery people to venture out into the blizzard you yourself don't want to risk? Am I missing something here?

Or, as Rob bluntly puts it, "Buy a flippin’ cookbook. Start here if nothing else. If you can use the internet to order food, you can use it to learn to do your own!"

These are not hardship cases we're discussing. These are not people who are destitute and hungry. Besides Rob's obvious point that if you have the internet to order food, then you clearly have power, I'll add: If you have the money to buy takeout food, you have the money to buy the ingredients for a hearty chili. In other words, there's not much excuse to drag some poor fellow through a blizzard to your doorstep just because you're too lazy to cook your own meal.

The article author admits, "The advent of online food delivery has ushered in an era of indulgent slothfulness..." No argument there, bub.

Not incidentally, Rob's subject line for this article was, "Why cities are set to starve out."

Another driver!

I'm pleased to report that we have another driver in the house! Well, sorta.

Older Daughter (who just turned 18) went in this morning and took the written exam to get her Driver's Permit -- and passed 100%.

I realize 18 is old (by American standards) to get a driver's permit, but weirdly enough the fact that she was homeschooled threw the licensing department off. I don't know why, since there are homeschoolers all over this county, but there you go.

In fact back when she was 16, I called up the licensing department for our county, and the conversation went something like this:

Me: "I have a 16 year old homeschooled daughter who would like to get her driving permit. What do we need to do?"

Them: [The licensing department outlined the requirements, i.e. driver's ed, driver's training, minimum number of hours behind the wheel, etc.] "And she'll need proper documentation."

Me: "What kind of documentation?"

Them: "She'll need her social security card..."

Me: "No problem."

Them: "...and her birth certification..."

"Me: "No problem."

Them: "And a form of photo ID."

Me: "That's a problem. She doesn't have any."

Them: "Oh, a student ID is fine."

Me: "But she's homeschooled. She doesn't have a student ID."

Them: [Silence. A long silence.] "Oh."

As it turned out, this initial conversation led to additional conversations with county officials, then a call to Boise, then a call to the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, then another call to Boise, yet more calls to our county, etc.

It was a Catch-22: How do you get a form of photo ID without some preceding form of photo ID?

In the end we decided to wait until she was 18 before dealing with the bureaucracy. This meant we could skip driver's ed and driver's training (that is to say, we could supply those ourselves).

So today Don took her in for her test. We still had to provide her social security card and birth certificate... and you know what we used for a photo ID? A group picture from a newspaper clipping with her old Venture Scouts crew. Go figure.

So now Older Daughter will be getting behind the wheel a lot more than before. She's driven quite a bit on our non-county road, but of course speeds are very slow on a pothole-y country dirt road. She'll have to learn to drive at night, in the snow or rain, in icy conditions, etc.

What fun! (/sarc/)

Product review: the EZ Milker

A few years ago, our neighbors got a beautiful Jersey cow. Since she was lactating but didn't have a calf on her, they were plunged into a strict twice-a-day milking schedule that got a bit overwhelming at times. After a few months they asked if I would be interested in milking twice a week (and keeping the milk) in order to give them a bit of a break.

Since I wasn't milking at the time, I said sure. This was my first introduction to the lovely Jersey breed, whose rich creamy milk is justifiably famous.

Eventually the neighbors got a single-cow portable milking machine. One day I watched as this contraption was strapped on top of the patient cow's back, with straps going around her belly and little suctions that attached to the teats. Turn the machine on and vroom crank crank crank crank -- the cow was miked out in above five minutes under very sanitary conditions. Then they had to unstrap the entire machine, take it into the house, and spend -- I'm not kidding -- about 45 minutes cleaning it.

I vowed then and there that I would never have a milking machine. Such devices are obviously necessary for large commercial dairies, but seemed totally useless for a single cow.

...Unless, of course, your physical health does not permit you to milk a cow. And that, sadly, is the situation far too many people face. Lots of folks would love to get a cow or goat and have their own fresh milk, but the repetitive strong hand motions necessary to milk might be painful or impossible due to arthritis or other conditions.

Under these circumstances, the bulky, noisy, and hard-to-clean portable milking machine might be worth it. But sheesh, wouldn't it be nice to have some sort of compromise?

Now fast forward to last April. I was writing a dairy article for Backwoods Home Magazine, and in the interest of covering all possible scenarios, I interviewed a sheep dairyist. It was a fascinating afternoon since, quite honestly, I had never considered the merits of sheep as dairy animals.

One of the questions that got answered during that afternoon is how -- physically how -- a sheep is milked. The teats are so small that efficiently grasping them must be a trick! (So says a cow milker.) The answer was to use a gizmo called an EZ Milker.

The EZ Milker, it turned out, was the "missing link" between hand milking and a milking machine. It's a hand pump that creates a vacuum that efficiently milks a cow, goat, sheep, horse (yes really), or just about anything else that will stand still long enough for you to grab their udder. Like a milking machine, the EZ Milker keeps the milk very sanitary since it never sees an open bucket.

So anyway, I wrote up the dairy article for Backwoods Home Magazine, and I also put up a blog post on my afternoon with the sheep dairy. Rather to my surprise, the blog post garnered quite a bit of interest among niche-market dairies and got passed around more than I would have thought possible.

Which is how, in July, I received an email from a fellow named Buck Wheeler, the inventor of the EZ Milker. A charming older fellow (whose birthday is today -- Happy Birthday, Buck!), he offered to send me an EZ Milker in exchange for a review.

The milker promptly arrived, and the only difficulty I had in following the directions was to know which parts were which. If you've never seen the components before, it's not clear which is the "bottle connector" and which is the "collection cylinder" and which is the "extractor" and which is the "silicon inserts." It would have been vastly more helpful to have a schematic with the parts clearly labeled, for those (like me) who are "assembly challenged."

However that was my only complaint about the EZ Milker. I have seldom come across a product that so clearly lives up to its claims. At the time I received the milker, I was milking Polly, our young Jersey. She has nice small teats, and once I figured out how to insert the cup over the teat so the proper suction formed, I gave the pump handle a few squeezes and wow! The milk came right out!

The sensation must be reasonably comfortable for the cow because Polly, despite being a novice milker, didn't have any problems with the EZ Milker. It was a strange for me, though, to get milk without the work. I just sat there and held the bottle and let the suction do the work. Once in awhile I gave a few more squeezes to the pump, and then it was good to go for another couple of minutes. It felt odd to milk a cow without the familiar "zing zing zing" of milk streams hitting the bucket.

I quickly realized how useful this gizmo would be for those whose health won't permit them to actively milk an animal. Hand strength simply isn't required.

Nor is cleaning a problem. In fact, the milker was an absolute snap to clean. In contrast to the absurd cleaning requirements for the portable milking machine our neighbors had, all I had to do with the EZ Milker was submerge the various components in hot soapy water, slosh them around, and upend them to dry. For obvious reasons, the pump itself is not washed, just the parts that come in direct contact with the milk.

However if you DO get milk into the pump (which you'll know because your hands will get wet with milk), there is a way to safely clean the pump, outlined in detail here.

Now since I don't have hand-strength problems when milking cows, I continued to milk Polly by hand as the summer progressed. But then something interesting happened.

My beloved older Jersey, Matilda, gave birth to little Amy in mid-September. Because Matilda's udder is poorly attached, it swells and hangs very low after she gives birth. This time it hung so low that Amy couldn't nurse, necessitating an emergency milking of Matilda's colostrum and bottle-feeding the calf.

I tried using the EZ Milker to milk out the colostrum, but Matilda's udder hung so low that I couldn't fit the milker underneath it. Buck Wheeler later said, "I wish you would have called me because the pump is set up as vacuum. It will work sideways very effectively. It does not have to be straight down or under the bag, you could milk her laying down."

Now that's what I call a versatile product!

Despite my ignorance on this strategy, I milked enough colostrum to feed the baby... and this time the EZ Milker kit became a literal life-saver. You see, among its many fine accouterments, there are bottles of various size and, most critical, a rubber nipple just the size for a baby to grasp. I used those bottles exclusively for three weeks until Amy "found the faucet" and got the hang of nursing (which also correlated to when Matilda's udder resumed a less-massive size).

I wish I'd had an EZ Milker when we first got Matilda and were fighting teat scabs as well as a life-threatening case of mastitis. Milking her was a nightmare which gave me a bad case of carpel tunnel that took me months to get over. An EZ Milker would have eliminated that problem.

All in all, I must say this EZ Milker is a phenomenal invention. It opens up the possible of home-grown milk to a whole segment of people whose physical conditions may have previously excluded them from the joys of milking an animal.

The EZ Milker website has lots of info as well as videos on how to use the product. The link called EZ to Use has lots of additional info (as well as video instructionals) on how to use, clean, and care for the milker. There are different kits available depending on what kind of animal you're milking (i.e. horse, cow, goat, sheep, or even more exotic critters like llamas and reindeer). There are also additional accouterments available (extra bottles, replacement parts, etc.) on the website. And Buck Wheeler is a font of information for anyone with questions.

It's always nice when a product lives up to its claims. In this case, the EZ Milker far exceeds its claims and is, I feel, a valuable tool for any homesteader. It may even allow people to become homesteaders who were unable to milk because of health considerations.

The EZ Milker kit comes in at under $200. While that might seem pricey, the quality and usefulness will easily offset the price. And the customer service for all aspects of the product and its various uses is superb.

If I was a person to give a "star rating" to something, I'd have to give five stars to this baby. Over the years I've had readers express regret that they couldn't get a milk animal because of some sort of physical impediment. Can you imagine the whole new world that might open up for these folks?

All in all, I can highly recommend the EZ Milker.

Happy New Year!

To end the old year on a happy note, the fine folks at Thoughts from Frank and Fern sent me the following photo:

They're holding two of our tankards plus a copy of my book. How sweet is that?

As I post this, I have some homemade macaroni and cheese in the oven, a glass of wine at my elbow, Mozart on my Pandora station, and I will doubtless be in bed by 9 pm (my party days are long over).

May God grant you all a blessed, healthy, and prosperous New Year, dear readers.

Some Pyrenees questions

As you all know, we have a Great Pyrenees named Lydia whom we love dearly. Lydia came to us courtesy of some wonderful breeders who used to live a couple hours away, Jim and Carol of Agape Ranch.

Pyrenees were historically bred as livestock guard dog in the Pyrenees Mountains that straddle France and Spain. They are an ancient lineage and fierce defenders against predators, but gentle as lambs with their flocks. Since Lydia guards us, we have become her flock.

Pyrenees aren't for everyone, as I explained in this post. We are fortunate in that our rural location as well as our previous experience with large dogs qualified us to get a beastie as wonderful as Lydia.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I received a blog comment from a reader named Geralyn as follows:

I need some insight. Our Pyr, Sophie is 7 months old and I think she's hit the "horrible teen years" I hear everyone talk about. We've had her since she was 8 weeks old. She's developed a routine of sorts over the past few weeks that's driving me nuts. She stays out all night patrolling our 3/4 acre fenced in yard, with our dairy goats, chickens, and ducks all in their respective barns with enclosed runs so she doesn't have direct access to them. She's fine with the goats when I'm out there with her, but she thinks the poultry are chew toys. She's never killed one, but I've found more than one soaked with her slobber, so we now keep them all in covered runs. She comes in the house around 7am everyday, sleeps for several hours on the living room floor, wakes up, eats, I take her out on the leash to pee and then she comes back in. She then just hangs out with us, resting a little more and demanding attention off and on from me and my boys, usually belly rubs.

Up to here, we're fine. What I'm having a problem with is she seems to be stalking in the house when I'm in the kitchen too long. We have a double wide modular home so it's not like she can't see me. The living room, dining room and kitchen are all open to one another. She moves from the living room into the dining room about half way toward the kitchen with her head down and her eyes looking up. If I come out of the kitchen and ask her whats wrong and head for the living room, she backs up and follows me, sits down in front of me and wants petted or buries her head in my lap and wants petted. If I don't come out of the kitchen, sometimes she'll just lay on the runner in the dining room until I do, but sometimes she'll give a really low grumble until I do. She doesn't have the Pyr smile I hear everyone talk about either, but then again, I'm not sure what it's suppose to look like either. She never has. Ever since she was 8 weeks old she has always had a somber look about her. Unless, she hits the randy, ornery, hyper part of the day that's driving me nuts!

Somewhere between 2 and 4 in the afternoon she starts with the "I want out" "No I don't" part of the day. She'll go to the door and want out, but only to sit at the front of the house and scope out the back yard for several minutes and then pulls me back to the front door. We have to take her out the front door and down the side yard to the gate in the fence to let her out. She'll do this 3 or 4 times before I can get her to go back out into the yard. Then, if you go into the yard with her she's all hyper and jumpy and "play with me or I'll run circles around you until you do" kinda thing. Her stubborness seems to have blossomed overnight and with a vengence! Any insight into this behavoir would be much appreciated along with any suggestions. Thanks.

Figuring I'd turn this over the the experts, I directed the comment to Carol at Agape Ranch. She not only responded, but also had other Pyr owners address the questions on a Pyrenees Facebook page.

Here is Carol's response:

It seems to me Sophie is restless because she is a livestock guardian dog and she feels the need to be with those she has the job to protect. The fact that she spends nights outside and days inside may be confusing her. Also she should not have to be supervised with ANY livestock. If she is slobbering on the chickens, then she does not understand that she needs to be guarding them. She has not associated them with protection, only prey.

Here's what other Pyrenees owners said:

Jen: I am a first pyr owner and what you have stated seems pretty typical of the breed. Mine is 5 months old and is so good during the day but around 6ish at night he turns into a wild man for about a few hours and then he settles down again. Mine has always had that "sad" look to him, we call him eeyore. lol I'm not sure about the poultry issue since I have no farm animals, but I do know when I visited my brother law mine was very excited/interested in his chickens. I think its just a time and patience thing unfortunately...just be consistent and she will out grow it. I once read a great Pyrenees is a labor of love and I do believe that is true especially for at least the first year...then you get the sweet, calm, gentle giant, lol. But I will say this too, the breed has won my heart over and I'll have at least one from this point on...to tell you the truth I want to get another soon, lol. Hope this might help some!

Brenna: All normal puppy behavior for the most part. I would caution about letting her get near the chickens without supervision. From what I have read, most dogs should be be near fowl until they are at least 2 years old and even then some dogs just are not good with them. My pyrs get hyper two or three times a day, more so if it is cold outside and they really want us to play with them so we do. They aren't in to fetching so much so we run with them and toss their toys so we can all chase them. With the going out behavior, she is just gonna have to put her foot down. Either the pup goes out or she doesn't.

Carolyn: This is very typical puppy behaviour. Our last two pups had mad hour between and 9:30 in the evening. We used plastic lemonade bottles and they would run and play with those. Pyrs do not do the fetch game like a gun dog would do. Remember they are natural guard dogs and will guard all night! I wouldn't let them near the chickens but then ours are not working dogs. Hope this helps.

Becky: She sounds like she wants to play or have an activity where you go out and play with her. We take walks, hikes, or play a couple times a day and that seems to satisfy Bear. Bear is 2 and he is still quite demanding but exercise and play helps a lot! She is still quite a puppy even though she is probably big. I have also heard sometimes it just doesn't work out with pyrs and chickens.....it takes much supervised time, training and patience.
about an hour ago.

Lisa: Typical Pyr puppy. She will grow out of a lot of those behaviors (but second the "keep her separated from poultry" folks).

Francesca: Our two 5.5 month old puppies have what we call the "zoomies" at least twice a day..mid morning and again in the evening...pretty typical for puppies.

Geralyn, I hope this helps as far as understanding your Pyr's behavior. Thanks for asking!

Let's hear it for "despairing desolation"

Here's an interesting photographic essay that appeared on the United Kingdom's Daily Mail entitled Rural bliss... or despairing desolation? As it turns out, this English newspaper was depicting photographs of our backyard, namely the Palouse region.

For those unfamiliar with it, the Palouse is a vast (about 3000 square miles), rolling, mostly treeless region that encompasses parts of eastern Washington and western Idaho. It's heavily agricultural, growing enormous amounts of wheat, lentils, and other dryland field crops. I had never heard of it until we moved to its borders, but now I'm enamored of it.

The photographer who took the shots featured in the Daily Mail article overlaid multiple photos and digitally manipulated the landscape to make it look as brooding and forbidden as possible. She terms it "abstract realism" and I suppose all artistic types like to tweak reality here and there... though why she would choose to depict such a beautiful area to look so forbidding is anyone's guess. (I urge you to go to the Daily Mail link to see her work.)

My gripe about this representation of the Palouse in such a far-away place as the U.K. is that it gives the people of that fine nation a misunderstanding of the true nature of our region. In reality, the Palouse is beautiful. Absolutely breathtaking. I suppose to those used to crowded urban areas, the vast rolling treeless hills could be considered "despairing desolation," but it's captured the attention of many, many renowned artists and photographers. Go into any local bookstore and there's usually a section devoted to photographic essays of the Palouse, depicting its beauty.

In fact one of my favorite local artists, Andy Sewell, has partially built his career by taking artistic advantage of the Palouse. Of his many fine paintings, this is one of my favorites. I've seen the original photo on which this painting is based, and believe me, there's no exaggeration. It's that beautiful. (Some of his other paintings can be seen here.)

Ironically the Daily Mail did feature some nice photographs of the Palouse a couple of months ago. I must say I prefer these photographic depictions over the other "despairing and desolate" ones.

Or maybe I shouldn't praise the Palouse too highly. I guess those grim and despairing photos might help keep tourism down and keep our corner of the world quiet and undiscovered.