Update on the Here and Now

Not much has been going on. I haven't gone for a "proper" walk in weeks, the temperatures spiked to almost 90 degrees over the weekend (something like a 30 degree instant shift there) which I thought was delightful. I spent a good chunk of time reading outside in the heat.

Conker taking a break on the trail

Speaking of weekends, Conker and I went on a hike at Cathedral Hills. We ran into a man with a horse (I caught Conker before he had a chance to try to commit suicide) and the horseman and I had a nice chat about the Shiba Inu breed. He was actually quite interested in their history and how they were used for hunting. My guess is that he hunts, possibly with dogs. He surely looked like the hunter type.
Anywho, we got a lot of rain somewhat recently and a buckton of wildflowers were popping up all over the place. I tried to get some pictures of them but the sun wasn't quite right for flower pictures. The flowers were DEEP red with a hint of purple, ivory white, bright lavender, yellow, and an amazing shade of purple-tinted dark blue. I will try to get a better picture if they are still there the next time I go.

One of Conker's "hobbies" is sniffing every flower he can. Seriously, he always does it

I got a computer up and running but it's full of quirks I am not used to. I do not have my own working computer mouse so I have to use the office comp's mouse (which means I basically, like before, can't use the comp unless nobody else is or wants to, since the mouse is not mine), and while I have installed photochop onto the comp, it's difficult to use because it's FINICKY.

Like usual, I have, again, reverted back to my "normal" nocturnal schedule. At least it's still light out until like, 8PM. And since nobody is around I can cook all the liver I want. Oh, didn't I tell you? I EAT LIVER AND LOVE IT! Liver is delish, especially when it comes from pastured, naturally raised, cruelty-free pigs.

I have gone to the farmer's market a couple times. Did you know that radishes are AWESOME? I haven't had a radish in YEARS. What the heck has stopped me from getting them before? I have no idea, but the radishes that I bought this past Saturday are heavenly. Perfectly crisp and juicy (I don't think it's real juice?) with just the right hint of hotness. Even the leaves are good! But I often give them to the rabbit instead.
Oh yeah, I got my kickass liver at the farmer's market. It was a tad more expensive than the stuff I buy for Conker but is hella better tasting so he probably won't be getting any.  Unfortunately the meat-dude was out of heart, and didn't have any kidney. But I got the last liver so that was nice.
I got some chevre as well, which is awesomely good goat cheese. Goes well with just about anything, but is fine on the business end of a spoon as well.

Tall-jar of whey

I have  made a couple small batches of store-milk cheese. It's rather plain (Conker loves it) but fun to make, and I use the whey (leftover milkish water stuff) for crepes or dump some into the Girl's bowls. I plan on getting some cheese cultures to make actual cheese sometime soon, and getting some milk from the farmer's market if I can find any. I want to try it with fresh milk, not, whatever the store milk is.
This is kinda funny, but I have never really liked milk and for years I haven't drank it regularly. I still don't like it. Er, well, I don't like 2%, which is all we ever have here. For my cheese I bought a small carton of whole milk. I got curious and tried some. It's a hellova lot better than 2%, and even better if you dump a bit of cream in there too. I love me some high-fat dairy, milk included, much to my surprise.


So, Conker finished all the Nature's Variety (writeup coming soon) and is now starting on Wellness CORE. A problem I have noticed with Conker is that he doesn't drink very much, but got plenty of moisture from his raw meats and oats. He still doesn't drink much, less maybe now that I think about it, on kibble. I find this a bit alarming since the temps shot up and he was rather hot in his thick winter coat but insisted on spending most of the day outside in the sun beside the fence. 
Before it got hot, I had included a couple cans into Conker's commercial food trial, and now that I've noticed his drinking deficiency, will keep them in and possibly add more to compensate for any moisture he may not be getting. It won't cover all of it, but should help a little. I just have to keep an eye on him when it's hot and make sure he drinks enough. If not, I'll give him some of that whey I mentioned earlier diluted in water since he loves it and will attack the Girls if I give them some but him none. (None of the dogs have had bad digestive reactions to it)

The storm's butt-end

We had a bit of an event today (yesterday) that involved clouds, wind, rain, and LIGHTNING! Supposedly, I learned the other day from some neighbors, that violent late summer storms are common in these mountains. Not in my experience, but then again, they have been here their entire lives and me for only like, a year and some months.
Juneau was freaked out, Sasha a bit freaked but not as bad as Juneau, and Conker didn't even notice. It might have made him a bit more spazzy than normal, actually. He was out in the front yard during the storm running around and being goofy. The biggest thunderclaps didn't even make him flinch and some of them were pretty dang loud. This might be a good thing, if I can somehow train Conker to retrieve or at least find game animals.


Oh, there is a strong probability that I (and Conker) will be moving to Vancouver Washington sometime soon. I've lived there before so it's not new to me. Nothing is set in stone, but I do think it's gonna happen. I'd be living with my grandmother but would be staying in our trailer as not to intrude upon her much, but still be there if she needed me for something. Since I'd be just a river's hop away from Portland, and the rest of Oregon, I can still easily go hunting (yay!) and due to Vancouver's larger size, a job would be much much easier to get. GP is greatly lacking in that department. The huge downside is that, Vancouver is bigger than GP, and right next to Portland, so that means many more people and urbania. Which, if you are a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that I kindasortareally don't like.

Anyways, that's the update on the here and now.