a few clips from jean's [treibball](https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/sports/treibball-this-sport-isnt-just-for-herding-breeds/) training session this afternoon. she was actively afraid of the ball a few days ago, so this is awesome progress!
autumn
6d ago
•
100%
the individual therapist matters a lot. i know friends who have gone through many before landing on one that actually helped them. i know that's not ideal, but it is an option. it's also a slow process for lots of folks.
two friends of mine are actually on ketamine treatments to help with their mental health after trying everything else.
autumn
7d ago
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100%
Therapy didn’t help
there are lots of different kinds of therapy, so i hope it doesn't completely discourage you from ever going again. 
autumn
7d ago
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100%
saw the substance last week, and i'm still thinking about how great it was.
took loki (aussie) and echo (border collie) to try a couple of new sports on sunday: treibball (pronounced try-ball) and barn hunt. loki liked pushing the big ball around a lot in the former, and echo has a great nose for barn hunt.
autumn
1w ago
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100%
oh yeah, no dogs in the front yard thank goodness!
we had to cut down a maple in this spot last year, as it was in danger of collapsing on our house. i planted this three-foot-nothing white oak to take its place, and i'm excited to watch it grow! the soil is _super_ rich and well-draining right here since we had the stump ground down and left all the mulch to decompose. basically black gold.  edit: seeing all those invasive privets in the background. 
autumn
1w ago
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100%
I think posting about your plan would be a good starting point for some conversations and might encourage some other folks to emulate you
once i actually start doing the work, i definitely will!
Did they talk to you about solarizing next spring using tarps?
they did, but this area of the yard is pretty shady, so the guy leading the workshop specifically recommended using cardboard and mulch for maximum annihilation.
autumn
1w ago
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100%
the plan itself isn't that difficult, just takes a lot of time to kill all the invasive plants off so the native plants have a chance to grow. you completely clear the ground first, let the invasive seeds germinate, kill them again, then seed it with native grasses and plants (prairie moon has a lot of US mixes, so i'll probably use them). you won't get blooms for at least two years, i think. and you need to cut everything down to about 1.5 feet the first fall to get the invasive plants before they go to seed. unfortunately, that means you're also cutting down the plants you want to grow, so they take another year of seeding before things really get going, but they should help keep out the invasives at that point.
autumn
2w ago
•
100%
i have a Meadow Plan for the last ~20 feet of our back yard now. first step is laying down cardboard and mulch and leaving it there until next may.
i'm picking up a white oak tree sapling on saturday to plant in the same spot where we had to cut down a big ol' maple in our front yard (it was dying a slow death and a danger to our house).
i started [this online scent work course](https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/14305) about a week ago, and it has been a lot of fun! i'm used to more showy dog sports (agility, rally obedience, dock diving, etc), so finding something chill has been really eye-opening. you can see right around the 1:45 mark where she sniffs the other colander, realizes there's no scent, and immediately plops her nose into the correct one! i'm just so amused and delighted.
autumn
2w ago
•
100%
"what remains of edith finch" and "gone home." waiting for the right rainy day to play them.
autumn
2w ago
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100%
wingspan
i love both the physical and digital versions of this game. 🕊️
autumn
2w ago
•
100%
been offering moral support for a friend who is (was?) renting a house in black mountain (western NC). they still have no power or water, and they can't get their cars down from the mountain because the road is still blocked by a ton of trees. they were able to get a friend to pick them up at the end of their road at the bottom of the mountain at least.
got to see zach galifianakis and josh stein (NC governor candidate) on saturday which was neat.
ordered an oak tree that is going to replace the maple we had to cut down in the front yard last year. picking that up on saturday.
echo is currently going through an online scent work class which has been fun. loki and jean started agility lessons back up now that the weather is a smidge cooler.
autumn
2w ago
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100%
i'm attending a meadow-making workshop tomorrow, and i'm hoping to learn a lot about what to do with the little plot of land we take care of. i would love to do some fall planting!
autumn
4w ago
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100%
haha, no worries! i have three dogs total, so even i call them by the wrong names. ;)
autumn
4w ago
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100%
echo unfortunately has a bum wrist, so she can't do any sustained running without hurting herself. jean is the speed gremlin (but she rides in a backpack when i take her cycling).
started a few days ago getting her acclimated while i walked beside the bike, and we took our first trip around the block today. she stood up a few times, but for the most part was comfortable lying down.
autumn
4w ago
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100%
had some really icky back pain last week, so i've been trying to do yoga in the mornings before work.
jean got another title and i fostered a puppy over the weekend.
picked up a dog bike trailer yesterday from a friend, and i started teaching echo (border collie) how to sit/stand/lay calmly in it this afternoon in the driveway. hoping she will enjoy it!
autumn
4w ago
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100%
she's clearly the most popular of the bunch (and she knows it).
jean has earned 500 points in [fast CAT](https://www.akc.org/sports/coursing/fast-cat/) since she started in february, so she got her DCAT title today (first was BCAT at 300 points). very proud of her! it has improved her recall and behavior around other dogs so much. 😊
autumn
1mo ago
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100%
it's the dogs! i love dogs, but having them jump through the window destroyed me.
autumn
1mo ago
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100%
if you want to know how to get back, pick a side (i chose left) and always put torches on that side going down. to come back up, keep the torches on your right. 🔥
autumn
1mo ago
•
100%
the original resident evil. couldn't even get through the first 15 minutes before i threw the controller across the room. i don't play scary games anymore, but i love watching other people play!
silent hill was super fun to watch.
autumn
1mo ago
•
100%
bummer to hear about cohost (but not all that surprising, unfortunately).
i attended hopscotch music festival the weekend before last. three very full days of seeing artist after artist play music (with a tiny bit of stand up comedy and amateur professional wrestling mixed in). it was great, but boy howdy am i feeling like an old. my feet hurt for days afterward.
the day before the festival, my little dog rode around town with me for a whole 13 miles! that's her longest ride ever in her backpack, and she did great. i'm definitely going to upgrade her pack, though, since she was shifting side-to-side a bit which wasn't terribly comfortable.
echo earned her CGCU last week, which is the last of the one-shot titles i plan to get for her. next up is prepping for our first rally trial, including a class that starts at the end of october.
this weekend i'm heading to another three-day fast CAT (coursing ability test) with the little dog. hoping to pick up some advice on stretching her before and after so she's less sore this time around.
postimg.cc
this is what peak performance looks like. 😎 but seriously, this lil' chihuahua mix runs like a greyhound! photos by stirling hasen.
we have a looong way to go, but i like to keep video records of even the not-so-good practice sessions. she's really disengaged with me for a big portion of this video (probably because it's our first time doing this outdoors). hoping to eventually get her into rally obedience. :)
it's her absolute favorite activity in the world!
thankgoodness.game
i’m really vibing with this game. absurd, casual, sometimes disturbing fun. slapping and jumping are the only actions, and it’s very england.
echo *loves* the creek so much. definitely her most favorite activity. also my first time using sniffspot (private dog park; this one was about three acres and fully fenced in), and it felt like we weren't fenced in at all! there was a little walking trail and everything.
we recently watched _maxxxine_, which i thought was a good ending to that trilogy. (_x_ and _pearl_ are the other two.) _in a violent nature_ was another one i enjoyed, even if it was a bit slow... perhaps intentionally. we're watching _longlegs_ tomorrow, which is supposed to be very unsettling (my favorite kind of movie). _beetlejuice beetlejuice_ is coming out later this year, and with tim burton directing and a lot of the original cast returning, i think it's going to be decent! if you hadn't already guessed, my favorite genre is horror. ;)
we had graduation last night! we did some rally practice since all the dogs had already passed all the test items, and echo loved it. could _not_ get her to look at the camera because she loves to look at me always, haha. very proud of this rescue pup who has exceeded my expectations when it comes to training. she really is the dog i've wanted since i was a teenager. ❤️
today’s the summer solstice (for the northern hemisphere), so tell me your favorite way to cool down while we’re watching the world burn. 🔥
sidewalknature.com
ordered some tablets to make a few of these after i saw the concept recommended on a local forum. can't wait to murder millions of (mosquito) children. 🦟
going to collect all the silly certifications for fun with this dog.
this was always my goal with her, so i'm pleased as punch! i remember my agility trainer giving me the most "what are you doing with this dog?" look so many times, haha.
the [canine good citizen test](https://www.akc.org/products-services/training-programs/canine-good-citizen/canine-good-citizen-test-items/) consists of ten items: 1. accept a friendly stranger 2. sit politely for petting 3. accept ears and feet touched, plus a brush 4. walk on a loose leash 5. walk through a crowd 6. sit, down, and stay 7. come when called 8. react appropriately to another dog 9. react appropriately to a distraction 10. stay with another person for three minutes this is something i try to get with all my dogs, but my little dog definitely did not pass back when she took it as a yearling. very proud of how far echo has come since she's come to live with me—hard to believe that was only about three months ago!
are you doing anything to celebrate? do you typically observe the “solar holidays?” i usually have a bonfire with friends to mark the passage of time, but it snuck up on me this year. maybe i can light a candle instead and let that be enough.
her fastest time this weekend was 9.56 seconds (21.40 mph). i’m so proud of her for running despite the cold (and rain on the first day). we wrapped her up in a towel right up to the gate the first day because it was so miserable, and on the second day she had her sweater plus i held her inside my fleece, hehe.  we should get the professional video back in a week or two!