Goin’ to Gramma’s
Lucy is a pretty smart dog. She had tons of phrases she understands, like, “Want to go on a walk?”, “Is it time to eat?”, “Are you hungry?”, “Go for a ride”. One of her favorites is, “Want to go to gramma’s?”. When we utter those words she perks up and excitedly runs to the back door and starts whining. She knows that grandma has a great big yard to run around in and spoils her rotten with treats and that often her cousins are there to play with (our nieces & nephew). She always has a blast playing with her cousins (whether human, feline, and canine). Our nieces love to dress her up in all their dress up clothes and our nephew just likes to try to ride her around like a horse, this Sunday was no exception.
On Sunday she want to my parent’s house with us for our Christmas celebration. Lucy always gets gifts for her cousins as well, they thought it was great that Lucy sent us out with her allowance to buy their presents.
Do you include pets in your holiday celebrations?
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In the Eyes of a Child – Dandelions
A while back we went on a school field trip with our nieces & nephew on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.
While we were waiting for the train our nephew found a dandelion. He though it was the most wonderful thing and carried it around all day. It was his prized possession.
I don’t mind dandelions in my yard, but many people view them as noxious weeds. They are willing to spray toxic chemicals all over their yards just to have a dandelion free zone. I think they’re kind of pretty and since we have an organic chemical free lawn here at Chiot’s Run we have a few dandelions. Perhaps this coming spring I’ll start eating the greens as a way to keep the population under control.
What do you think, noxious weed or beautiful flower? Anyone eating dandelion greens?
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The Season of Giving
Mr Chiots and are big advocates of donating to charity. Not just any charity, we believe in donating to a charity that you feel strongly about and want to get involved in. This is why we travel to Colombia every now and then to make videos to help raise money for a school down there that provides an education for poor children.
We also donate money to the International Rett Syndrome Foundation and to the Rett Syndrome Research Trust to help research new drugs to help treat and cure Rett Syndrome girls. We are involved in this charity because some friends of ours have a beautiful daughter Brooklyn with Rett Syndrome.
I wrote about Brooklyn back at the beginning of October since it was Rett Sydrome Awareness month. If you’d like to read up on Rett Syndrome you can visit Brooklyn’s Blog. We’re going to be scheduling a trip up to visit Brooklyn and her family this winter so we can make a video to raise awareness and help raise money for treatment for Rett Sydrome.
We believe in being especially involved this time of year. We don’t just spend money on our friends and families, we also donate money to charities and do things that help others. We’ll be sponsoring a drug in Brooklyn’s honor over at Rett Syndrome Research Trust. You can also donate to IRSF in Brooklyn’s honor to help find a cure for her and other girls like her. We’ll also be sponsoring several poor children in Colombia through the Colombian Christian Mission by paying for them to have a quality education.
Here’s a short video (3-4 min) we made about the Colegio Peniel Scholarship program.
[flv:/video/colegio_peniel_scholarships.flv 480 320]
So what charities are you involved in? Do you do more for your charities around the holidays?
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America Recycles Day
Today is America Recycles Day, a day dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle more and buy recycled products.
We recycle here at Chiot’s Run, always have. All of our plastic, glass and metal goes to the local recycling center about once a month (no curbside pick-up here). All of our organic waste goes into the compost pile as does all of our newspaper and cardboard. This is the best kind of recycling if you’re a gardener. All that stuff becomes black gold, it feeds your plants better than any fertilizer you can buy! We also try buy recycled products and try to buy products with less packaging or do without the product at all. This has made a huge dent in the amount of waste we produce. Our actual waste that goes out to the curb only takes up a grocery bag each week.
What are you doing to reduce your waste footprint?
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A Fun Day Outside
On Wednesday Lucy and I spent the day outside doing some end of the season cleanup. I mowed for the last time. This time of year I bag my clippings & leaves for my compost pile, most the year I follow the mantra “Cut it high, let it lie”, but this time of the year the chopped leaves & grass make wonderful free mulch.
Lucy had a great time running around the yard as well. She’s back to her spry energetic self now that she’s finished with her antibiotics. She spent the afternoon running around trying to play with me while I was working.
Lucy doesn’t like to have her picture taken, she usually refuses to look at the camera. She doesn’t mind these kinds of pictures though, it’s almost like she poses for them. Who knew a pound puppy could be so sleek and pretty!
I still have tons more leaves to rake, but with the rain we had yesterday and the forecast for today, I think I’ll be finishing up that chore next week.
Anyone else raking up some wonderful compost?
