Minot's Ledge Kennel, Orchids, and Poultry (2024)

17/09/2021

So I was enjoying how Cody’s ears went up and down - he’s so adorable- in time with my rigatoni laden fork reaching my mouth. Then I glanced right- check out Granite’s extreme judgement. She is the queen of judgement AND side eye. I thought her left eye was going to pop out of her head. Anyway- enjoy. Oh and Spuds did finally shake himself loose of his new favorite bed to get his own piece of rigatoni. Living with dogs is such a joy. (actually now that she’s all grown up with 4 false pregnancies with lactation behind her- Granite is more of a don’t you think?

15/09/2021

This shot, titled ‘Pinky reading stallion porn’ was always in every show with her, it’s a great appy stallion mag from the late 60’s. Sometimes I’d pose her on it, and her tag clearly stated she was a mare. Of course breyer genitalia was in its shy to bizarre phase- but the face is so marish- I just figured it was another example of weird breyer stuff. I grew up around breeding stallions- and my buddies and I often puzzled over the mysterious shapes sort of placed sort of near to a horse’s groin. Oh the fun we had!

12/09/2021

Sound up for the full effect of the bitey face game. Here we have puppy Granite in full rabid wombat mode with- again - a very patient Cody. Spuds really wanted to referee, but I reassured him that he didn’t have to. Another in my dogs training dogs spam. Now Granite had a momma, but she hit the ground in my house as the bullied pup from her litter- so the rabid wombat phase lasted a long time. I love reviewing these photos any time someone remarks on how gentle and easy going Granite is!!

12/09/2021

The fun part of having an pack of multiple ages/generations- even with some being visitors only is getting to watch one dog go from being the pest to being the everlasting essence of patience. Dogs shown include a very young but immensely patient Spuds playing with and schooling a very young Cody with older auntie Coco looking on. Ginger the gigantor puppy being schooled by Spuds and Granite, with Cody being the patient one. There is nothing in a dog trainer’s toolkit that is better than a well balanced pack with experience dealing with puppies and/or disregulated dogs. Ginger wasn’t raised by a dog mother, having been discovered as part of a box of abandoned pups. As a result she plays far too rough and fails to read cues, either dog or human. These are things pups learn at their dam’s side. Per the wonderful post last night by re the whole adopt don’t shop online influence- know that any adopted dog comes with baggage, even a puppy. Having a trainer is a piece- having a trainer with Spuds, Cody, and Granite is another. Want to learn more? I recommend following the story of Cookie on the Pudge the pit page- she’s easy to find- her approach all her fosters, but especially the lovely Cooks Magooks should be required reading before one steps foot in a shelter. In the meantime, enjoy some fun puppy throwback. equal

12/09/2021

One of the most striking sensations during the emergency phase of September 11th was the silence of the skies. One becomes inured to background sounds, airplanes, the dog at midnight, the hum of household electronics, the sound of your heartbeat. Once the entire American airspace was cleared and grounded an eerie silence fell. Because we live near an active Air Force base occasionally a jet would zip overhead, startling the poultry and causing ecstatic barks from the pack as if they were hearing something they missed. We indeed missed the sound, but now for the human members of the home the sound of a booming aircraft also meant danger. We spent what felt like days waiting to see if my brother had been on one of the Boston aircraft. He had vanished, he had left from Boston that morning. Fortunately his plane was one of the many grounded up in Nova Scotia. He was safe, if grumpy and hungry. Finding loved ones, friends, colleagues and members of the extended network of emergency services family was as full of silence as our skies. Nobody knew. We had all been mobilized to respond, expecting survivors- but then there were the horrific requests for DNA.

12/09/2021

Sound up to really get the feel of the memorial. On September 11, 2001, people were not all carrying smart phones. The most tech savvy folks might’ve had a blackberry, but most of us were still reliant on pay phones, pagers, land lines and awkward ‘mobile’ phones of 2001. No cameras, no internet, no news. What is remarkable is how much footage there is of the attacks- for several reasons: 1. The democratic primaries were going on and there were lots of cub reporters out with cameras. 2: the Battalion Chief who was first on scene had a film crew (one guy as I recall) with him. The Chief was the first to recognize the size and markings of the plane, despite every news agency calling it a small plane like a Cessna. And 3: this was and still is New York City, the home of so many videographers, from the academic to the wanna be’s to the professional. Most of the ones in the area moved in, despite the police trying to keep them out of the area. Any time I watch footage of the aftermath I think about this, how different the technology was- that so few people knew what was going on in terms of a pattern- for example the failure to promptly evacuate the south tower because not even the people in charge could imagine what was about to happen. I grew up during the era of hijackings- but on that morning there had not been a hijacking for over 30 years. There had always been a certain way hijackings went: bad guys take plane, land somewhere, make unreasonable demands, realize the hostages are more trouble than they are worth and either let them go, moved them off plane, or shot a few - but not this idea of using a plane as a weapon(kamikaze fighter planes non withstanding.). Of course the idea had been floated in movies, books, and I am sure, around the tables of government. The point is we were too disconnected to catch the pattern until it was too late, despite some quick work by NORAD, the FAA and multiple Air traffic control centers. I take this day to mourn my friend and my Emergency Services family lost that day.

11/09/2021

20th anniversary of a day that changed so much for so many. We had been in New York the day before on a fun shopping trip and had - as usual - admired the twin towers. It took me until 2017, and a solar eclipse, for me to gather myself sufficiently to return to the site. It is both a thing of beauty and recalled terror. I was not able to make myself go into the main museum, the twisted I beam I could see through the window somehow stopped me. I did tour the chapel that stood strong whilst all the towers fell- people forget that it wasn’t just the twins that fell. I was there without a service dog and feeling quite lost approached a security guard as to how I might find the name of a dear friend. He smiled gently down at me and said: “just close your eyes and take a moment. Then open your eyes and follow your first inclination.” He tapped his heart to show what he meant. Sure enough, the first spot I was led to I looked down and saw Jane’s name.

06/09/2021

A throwback to a fun day at Trekonderoga in New York. This might have been Granite’s first big outing other than a dog show. In any case it cemented her love of all things Trek. I hope this wonderful place has survived Covid so we can visit again!

06/09/2021

One of these things is not like the others, one of these things isn’t quite the same. So many pictures of Ginger upside down rolling in ecstasy recalled to mind my 2nd favorite Edward Gorey story: the Wuggly Ump. Anyone out there recall this story? I used to enjoy having my students memorize and act out this story to demonstrate the way our brains learn. Ginger is the Wuggliest of Umps. The caption for the panel is : ‘It’s making an unholy fuss, why has it come to visit us?’ Granite’s and Cha cha’s blank expression regarding the dozens of rolls seem to be saying this. (And no- she’s not choking or being dragged- she’s blissed out by what turned out to be a very surprised and somewhat flattened leopard frog.)

04/09/2021

We have lots of guests this week- and someone got into the recycling and ‘retrieved’ Cha Cha’s empty traveling treat can. I love Granite in the first picture trying to fade into the background. Second picture Ginger is so happy to see that can again. Granite knows she’s in trouble, cuz although Ginger probably took it from recycling, Granite promptly took it from her. Third shot is Cha Cha’s best horrified expression- as if she would NEVER go into the recycling!!

03/09/2021

Ginger made a new friend of my grand dog Cha Cha. Side by side, despite the coat and color differences they bear a strong resemblance. Cha Cha came from the Boston MSPCA, victim of a hoarding/puppy@mill situation. She is a standard poodle x Doberman cross, the most recent in the scam of ‘hypoallergenic’ dogs. To be clear, there is no such beast. Allergens are carried in the proteins found in blood, saliva and or skin dander. Hair and fur are not different and have no bearing on the matter. Ginger appears to be a black mouth cur cross- yet another fad - they have become so popular that some of the known crosses have names, similar to Cha Cha- that cross goes by Doodleman or Mandoodle in the south. Black mouth cur pitbull crosses are called black mouth pittie, cattle dog cur crosses is a black mouth heeler, the basset BMC is a Cursset- you get the picture. The BMC brings a lot to the table, but they are long legged high energy hounds. The number of them that have appeared in northern shelters worries me as the adoptive parents really need a trainer from minute one. Fortunately Ginger has devoted parents and me- but she’s still a challenge. I would recommend anyone thinking of adopting a BMC or a cross- do your homework and get a trainer right away. They are lovely dogs but their size and hound nature make them not a dog for a novice or someone who’s never owned a hound! A bonus point is that not only can they jump as high as a Belgian Shepherd, they have the anatomical differences necessary to climb vertically. Google puffin hunting dogs (ludehund) and the Belgian Malinois to see what I mean- as it will change the kind of fencing appropriate for your black mouth cur!

02/09/2021

We’ve discovered something this puppy loves more than destroying toys: Star Trek. She enjoys both Next Gen and DS9- but her real love is the OG. I don’t think her owners let her watch much television- so I feel a bit like that lazy babysitter- however she is having a good time and Granite also loves Star Trek so it’s a pack thing.

01/09/2021

If you saw the Jawa post. This is the fox kit that had taken refuge in the culvert. ‘Tis the season for many young terrestrial mammals to be kicked out of the nest. It’s best to let them be, all part of the learning how to survive curve (really it’s a cliff face) but that’s normal as well. One of our local fox litters tangled with a porcupine. I’ve seen one of the remaining kits- she only has a few quills. Her sibling wasn’t as smart, or lucky or whatever and perished from the sheer number of quills in his face. (And no- we did not have time to attempt a capture for treatment- they were spotted quilled and one died within a 24 hour period. The survivor will - unlike a domestic dog- learn from the experience and likely not be quilled a second time. This fox kit is from a different litter. Our silver fox kits that live behind my house feasting on peaches and grapes are still with their parents. I’m keeping an eye on them to see when mom pulls the plug. I’ve never had a silver fox family make themselves so at home before and have learned much through observation. The culvert fox - a red fox- will have to leave the immediate area as there are already two adult pairs who have the property well divided between them. We shall see what happens next!

31/08/2021

I found a Jawa lurking in a culvert at the barn.

27/08/2021

Granite’s favorite thing: stairs with a view. She is such a tourist. I was happy to chug up the stairs at 3300. The last time I was there I had to use the elevator and was still out of breath.

25/08/2021

I just stumbled upon this amazing artist- he was referenced in a Smithsonian show as an expert in miniatures. His work blows my mind. As someone who works in what I considered to be miniatures- this makes all that I do seem large and clumsy. I also am fascinated by his issues with his education. As a teacher and coach I have often encountered students who did not fit the mold- yet were brilliant. It was one of the things that inspired me to begin my after school/lunch/vacation/ let’s face it- these young humans were so excited to do real learning, to follow their passion and discover that it is the questions we ask rather than the endless parade of dull fact that is the basis of much curriculum and all standardized tests - that they were willing to meet anytime anyplace. My Supergroup. It will be one of the big things I shall miss. In the meantime, artists everywhere should enjoy looking over this man’s work.

22/08/2021

At 10 am already hunkered down for the storm.

22/08/2021

Oh dear, Henri what are you up to now?

22/08/2021

I see you and raise - my dogs and horses all both ‘wait’ and ‘stay’ which I use with slightly different meanings. And yes it is super convenient when setting up a go pro to be able to tell a horse to stand and stay and know he’ll be there waiting. It’s an important command set and often overlooked. I cannot bear a fidgety horse- and how many people are injured due to a mounting/dismounting while refusing to stand still. None of these horses belong to me personally, but I took the time to create that sense of standing- and you are so right- it’s not a ground tie- so that I feel that I am operating within as safe an environment as possible. I catch a bit of flak from my fellow horse enthusiasts who claim that I treat my horse like a dog. Well….I say…..my dogs can read and write- so what’s wrong with my horses trying to live up to my dogs? With the dogs, once they have the basics down we go to poses, distance, becoming part of a store display, surrounded by squirrels and chickens, whatever works. I couldn’t find my favorite stand and stay of my old now gone Coco, wearing the bunny ears with balloons tied all over her standing in an Easter candy display at our local food store. I’ll keep hunting- it shows up in my feed every so often. That is a dog’s true long stand and stay test, with the handler out of sight. I love the first shot- Granite had only recently mastered sit and stay and was not amused to find herself being posed with my friend’s English Shepherd. Horses actually have an easier time with stand and stay than dogs- and I grew up around driving horses- who learn to stand before anything else as it is an even bigger safety issue. I wish more people realized- as you demonstrate- how ‘trainable’ horses are. They enjoy the brain work as much as dogs and each positive lesson pays off!!

20/08/2021

Oooh peach marmalade. I never enjoyed marmalade until I tried making it with peaches. This one is a lemon recipe- with maple syrup and homemade vanilla in Buffalo Trace Bourbon. It is equally amazing with oranges. Marmalades are interesting as they are the one jam I make where I continually taste and make slight adjustments as it cooks. I can make most other jams in my sleep- in fact this happened once during a particularly difficult sleepwalking phase, however marmalades prefer more attention. A couple of tricks I’ve learned over the years: the fruit to sweetener ratio must be 1:1 by mass not volume- this sounds stupid but makes all the difference in the world. The other point is that if you are working with peaches never let them get over 212 degrees F. This can be tricky, but it preserves the ‘brightness’ of the fresh peach flavor and prevents darkening. This is what I’ve been doing today to prevent myself from ‘overdoing’ it. I do not convalesce well.

20/08/2021

If I could figure out how to send this directly I would- but whatever. So I’m making jam, puppers sleeping, even was all poofed up ignoring the off and on sounds of hickory nuts hitting the barn roof- it sounds like a 22 caliber - loud and sudden. However the hickory shelling has been going on for days so everyone had FINALLY stopped reacting to every bang. Suddenly there was this very odd sounding crash. We have bears so after looking (with 3 growling dogs) at obvious possibilities inside and scanning for a bear being naughty the dogs ceased patrolling and I went back to my jam. At some point I needed my charger and came into the bedroom. Please imagine my horror at this scene. Dani and Fireheart have been hanging out on my jewelry box for a while. It is flat and stable. The good news is that neither is injured- no idea how as the fall was about 3’9” and to be where I found them they had to have bounced off my bed stand. They are back in place- this is the spot where I usually enjoy my new favs- and I have never had any fall. Thank you for making this chonky boi extra sturdy! And please notice that he was a gentleman and broke Dani’s fall. I admit, my heart stopped when I found them. I took the photo before I picked them up- old paramedic habits die hard- documenting mechanism of injury, crime scene or whatever- I was sure someone would be broken. Afterwards I found a few other items on the floor in other rooms. I am going to check our local geophysical website to see if we had a tiny earthquake. If we did that’ll be a great show name! ‘Tiny Earthquake’ or as they are known around here, a ‘Glacial Thump.’ Thought you’d appreciate this.

20/08/2021

Catch of the day.

19/08/2021

Because it’s been interesting road. Curious? Listen to album and or podcast. Featured this weekend on That great grainy selfie of me and Tom at Sebastian’s and Tanya’s wedding. The reception was held at union station- as Sebastian’s train habit dictated- and Ian was the master of ceremonies, DJ, singer et al. Ian was done up in a conductors outfit. I was standing thinking how wonderful and bizarre it all was when Tom sneaked up to say how wonderful and bizarre it all was. He said something about, well you can tell he’s a Coss- so I punished him by taking a selfie of us. Divorce may be final, but once you’ve had children together you are never really separate- for good or for bad. Enjoy the podcast!

19/08/2021

I’m going to shamelessly spam regarding my number two son’s podcast: Forever is a Long Time. When he was working on it he caused me to dig through old photos👁- ‘member those? 110, 126, 35 millimeter FILM processed at photomat? Who else had the local pe*****le as the guy in the photomat box? Anyway, he makes me hunt through pics- so here’s a few to give you a rough idea of what we looked like back then. I’m currently curating some marvelously embarrassing photos of Ian and Alex back when JP and I were his only roadies. The pic of me in uniform is one of JP’s, the final shot is Flea assisting in photo selection. (which is the tentative name for the next podcast) Listen to the podcast on this weekend, or at least the first episode. (another possible title)

13/08/2021

First off: do not ever do this unless you are in complete control of your dogs- and I don’t mean that they are your soulmate or baby, but that your commands convey a level of religiosity that means the pack ‘hears’ your voice even over prey drive. For example- well- observe. Flea, the infant starling, was on schedule to be repatriated within the confines of summer. Two weeks ago she suffered an attack by some toothy critter, possibly a chipmunk who had learned to eat from her outdoor cage, or a weasel intent on murder. I heard her agitated calls and arrived in time to see a small brown form exiting stage left. Flea lost all of her tail and has injuries to her leg and bottom. This created several issues. I am no longer able to leave her out back unsupervised and she needs to continue flying- she had only just learned but now flies like a overweight bumble bee. Part of flight time either involves locking up all the dogs, or teaching them mutual respect, much like kittens and dogs. Flea is well armed- her bill is pointed and powerful. She is as fascinated by the dogs as they are with her. However, should she survive to repatriate, it is crucial that she not approach strange dogs. I didn’t film the first part- as I was managing three dogs, dog cookies, and Flea- but I have taught her to hurl dog cookies. Starlings enjoy havoc, so the cookie game was easy. Next step was for her to be in a position of power, on my shoulder or perched above the head of the dog- and for both parties to take a good look without becoming frantic. Starlings do have a personal space bubble so this is possible if the dogs are actually under control. Once the dog enters the personal space the beak is brought into play. The dogs know she is pointy from sniffing around her cage. Outside of the cage her pointyness and ability to dispense cookies makes the dogs respect her. It helps that she barks when they bark. In this way I will condition her to not interact with dogs other than from a superior (out of reach) position.

11/08/2021

Not sure how she did the selfie- beak open last shot. I took the other two- found the third. Starlings are mysterious. She does love my phone, punching it, poking, gaping and prying at every bit of the phone.

06/08/2021

Tonight at 630 is the official kick off for the 250th birthday party for Whately. The cake made it here- fortunately they didn’t destroy my garden, and it poses nicely with the fleet of hot air balloons that frequent our area. The last shot was some sort of last minute re-wiring that firefighters are fond of doing- literally last minute- around 430 pm. Anyway if you’re in the area there will be ice cream from the whately Creamy - not going to even try and spell their name, Polish last names defeat me even when I’m at my best; and today I’m on day two of overdoing it, plus foolishly allowing myself to become sunburned. In any case, if you’re around come enjoy the lovely evening weather, have an ice cream, and view the Whately fire station.

04/08/2021

On our solo patrol to make Spuds feel better regarding Granite getting what Spuds felt was an extravagant outing. Spuds went out of his way to pose for me.

04/08/2021

Sound up for Spuds’ complaints regarding Granite being allowed to go with me on an outing that involved a puppy. Note how he holds up the one paw and shivers. This is his best demonstration of how abused he feels about the day. This went on until I took him on a private patrol of the grounds and photographed in posing. Honestly unless each dog gets their own special moment there’s a lot of griping.

30/07/2021

Speaking of early- but this peach tree- one of three from always surprise me. I always mess up their clonal names- but they come into peaches exactly 3 weeks apart- and drown me in peaches for a full two months despite aggressive fruit pruning. Best investment in fruit trees ever, the first one even survived a move- being dug up and transplanted in a less than professional manner. They arrived as tiny twigs and began producing fruit within 2 years. One of them occasionally takes a year off- but usually it’s all peaches all the time from the end of July to the beginning of September. Much less fussy than my other fruits- oh wait- I can hear the grapes complaining that I forget about their amazing yield. (The grapes complain a lot- but they are correct regarding their production. )They also came from - an impulse purchase planted in terrible soil with either too much or too little sun, yet they have grown into magnificent style plants. They threatened to take a peach tree hostage this year if we didn’t build them a grape worthy pergola- they already have an apple tree firmly under their sway. The Apple tree, for the record, doesn’t seem to mind. The pergola was not built, they made good their threat. What is interesting is that no peach tree branches with even the tiniest grape tendril produced flowers. So half of the tree has peaches. That tree comes in last and I admit, by the time it’s gorgeous peaches are ready I’ve run out of recipes, jars for canning etc. This year we have developed a family of grey fox, who are currently guarding all the fruit bearing plants. They harvested all the golden raspberries the other day- every last one- all the while avoiding the red and black ones. I’m curious to see what happens next. ?

Minot's Ledge Kennel, Orchids, and Poultry

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