Teddie Turned 14 on October 14!

Teddie enjoying her birthday cake ... of canned meat product.
Happy Birthday, Teddie!

Below is a quote that pretty much sums up what sharing your life with a canine companion means. I'd like to dedicate it to Teddie:

"He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea. He has told me a thousand times over that I am his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is not along to care for me.) When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded. When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am only another man. With him, I am all-powerful. He is loyalty itself. He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant. His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me ... whenever ... wherever - in case I need him. And I expect I will - as I always have. He is just my dog."
~ Gene Hill

Teddie enjoying her organic beef rib -
'twas a good day all around for the ol' Tedster!

It is with great pleasure to report that Teddie is alive and well!

Teddie Bear turned 14 years old last week. Her birthday was celebrated with filet mignon dog food, an organic beef rib, a specialty canned dog food fashioned into a birthday cake, and a day filled with car rides.

She still enjoys life with gusto - including walks, tummy rubs, gourmet meat-laden food, ice cream, car rides, and naps. She still knocks at the door when she wants in and jumps up and down (well, does half jumps) when she knows she's getting a car ride.

Happy Birthday, Teddykins. It's been a terrific ride so far!

Back in the Old Country....

Traditions are valuable things. They allow us to create memories, and hold those dear to us close to the heart, be they family or friends (and often a bit of both).

On Saturday, September 19th, family (and somewhat brotheresque) friend Les invited some of the women in my life whom I consider to be sisters (i.e., Kelle, Doe, and Anthea, the latter of whom unfortunately couldn't make it) to his Delta, BC home to be tutored by his mother Sylvia and grandmother "Baba Lena" on how to make cabbage rolls and perogies. By hand. From scratch.

'Twas a fantastically memorable afternoon.

We made, rolled, cut, stuffed, squeezed, pinched, baked, boiled, fried and -subsequently - devoured some of the tastiest Ukrainian/Eastern European fare I've had in a loooong time.

Imagine three helpings just like this.

Not to mention the absolute fun it was to spend the afternoon surrounded by such friendship, team work, feminine collegiality (sorry Les), humour, and all-around fun. They say you can choose your friends, but not your family. This may be true, but you can also choose you make your family friends and your friends family.

Just like they used to do back in the Old Country.

Thank you, Les, Sylvia, and Baba Lena - you rock!

Hundred 'n' Nine Jars of Preserves on the Shelf ...

Only a slight portion of this year's bounty.

There's truly something to be said with living off the land. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have a couple of fruit trees and a hankerin' for growing edibles. (As Chris always says, "if you can't eat it, what's the point?" For the record I also love planting and growing the non-edibles, but here I digress.)

Urban homesteading is definitely where it's at. That said, Mother Nature doesn't space the harvest times out for us much, which means we have a LOT of edibles at any given time. This year I made over 100 jars of preserves. I'll break them out below:

Pruhig Rhubarb:
Our rhubarb plant is prolific; this is our third cutting since May; it's September now and it's still full! The trick to rhubarb is to cook it savory as well as sweet - you can substitute about 1/3-1/2 of the celery in any recipe - the more rhubarb, the tarter the taste - and see how it goes. Two of my favorite rhubarb recipes are rhubarb juice and braised rhubarb onion chicken.

Pruhig Fruit Trees:
This year our Italian plum prune and pear trees went wild; each bore us no less than 300 pieces of fruit each. What to do, what to do ... after countless fruit desserts ( plum and port crostata and baked butterscotch pears being two of them) and the giving away of bags 'n' bags to family and friends, I decided to accept the inevitable: I was going to can. Boy, was I ever going to can!

Pruhig's Neighbor's Contributions:
Urban homesteading is not for everyone; however, once word gets out that you have become one, those who choose not to get on this bountiful bus and know you have want to share (there are also plenty of terrific organizations that collect and distribute such food to needy folks, such as City Fruit , Community Harvest , and Solid Ground ). As a result, I inherited both crab apples (thanks, Ian), honey figs (thanks, Freecycle), and salal berries (thanks, Larry). Thank you, gentle donors.

Pruhig's Small Purchases:
I confess that not all of my fruit was gratis; I also found fabulous apricots, blueberries, a couple of bananas and oranges and some cherries at the local market and small cukes at the West Seattle Farmer's Market that I couldn't resist picking up and (subsequently) preserving.

The Result:
ONE HUNDRED AND NINE JARS of preserves! They are itemized below:
- 11 jars of bluebarb jam (blueberry-rhubarb)
- 14 jars of rhanana jam (banana-rhubarb)
- 4 jars of orange rhubarb chutney
- 3 jars of apricot jam
- 15 jars of salal preserves (both jams and jellies)
- 2 jars of fig preserves
- 3 jars of pickles
- 39 jars of tri-tree fruit jam (pear, plum and crab apple)
- 7 jars of crab apple plum jelly
- 7 jars of canned pears
- 2 jars of cerises l'eau de vie
- 2 jars of plum & pear l'eau de vie

Some of you may read this and think I have a wee bit too much time on my hands. But hey, if armageddon hits and the zombies try to take over, have I ever got food set aside!

Sky Pie OFFICIALLY Joins the Fam!

On Monday, August 10, 2009, Skyler officially became a part of our family: April's adoption of Skyler was finalized! Skyler also chose that day to adopt Monday, his stuffed toy Macaw (named after the day of the week that this auspicious double adoption occurred).

A very happy April and Skyler in the Courtroom

Skyler and Monday the Macaw, in matching suits.

Congratulations, April, Skyler, and Monday - what a lucky family to have one another!

Springtime ... in the Snow:

Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!

~Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"

Early this week was the first time I could actually feel Spring in the air. Smell it in the crisp, cool, February winds. So Wednesday I went to our local nursery and bought all the flower and vegetable seeds for this year's garden. I even bought some live plants - the lovely Fritillaria meleagrus (a.k.a. Snake's head) and promptly planted them in the ground, against the nursery staff's warning that it's still Winter and to wait until March. But heck, the bulbs are coming up, and they're selling the plants right now, so they must be safe to put in the ground now, right? So plant I did, right next to the Hellebore hybridus that is already blooming, I might add. Of course, that night, it just had to snow. The next morning, I went out to see if my beloved plants were still alive. And behold! They were doing just fine, nicely tucked in with their leafy groundcover from last Autumn's rakings:

Hellebore hybridus

Spring makes its own statement, so loud and clear that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments, not the composer.

~Geoffrey B. Charlesworth

Fritillaria meleagrus (a.k.a. Snake's head)

So carpe diem and enjoy this lovely snowy Spring of ours. I know I sure am!