4 legged friends

As I speak my SO is probably on his way back from Coos Bay with an extra hound in tow.
Trooper is his name, and he is a 3 year old finished Walker.
We will have him for a 2 week trial period and see if he is getting along with the other boys and if he hold up to his claims we'll keep him.

So the roster for The Spotted Dog Farm now sits at 8.
Benelli - Our house dog, a half chocolate lab and GSP. He will be 4 in less than two months and is the only one allowed in the house. 

Jake Spoon - A walker hound and THE first hound we brought home. We found him at the pound and just knew he was meant for us. He had some hunting experience, but is maybe only 2 or 3 years old, so he is still a young pup with much to learn. Jake has definitely proven to us that he is here to stay, and we've definitely gotten attached.

Shorty - A bluetick hound and our old man. He turned 9 this year, and has the st experience.  We trust his decisions about what to run and of its a legit trail or just a trash animal such as a skunk.  He and Jake our the leaders of our team and we are so proud of what they've done in the short time we've had them.

Blizzard - A bluetick hound and our least liked dog sadly. We spent a good chunk of money on her and she just isn't holding up her end of the bargain. She nips at the other dogs, is lazy at the tree and lately has been an unreliable nose. Her days here are numbered and she's going to N.C.

Holly - A walker hound, and another pound pup. We estimate that she is about 4 or 5 years old. She has little training but seems to have potential,  so we haven't given up on her yet. Hopefully she shows some progress this winter because we aren't in the business of having a million house dogs, ya know? 

And last but not least, the puppies
Maggie and Suzie - a walker and a bluetick.  The girls are about 7 months old now and we are just starting to get them out on the scents and into the woods. We are looking forward to seeing how the girls react to a cat in a tree and hopefully they get as excited as the boys.

We knew it would take a few years to get a highly functioning team, and I can't wait till we get there.
I love that we have these beautiful creatures in our lives and that our children get to grow up with animals and responsibilities for them.  Ryleigh helps feed the dogs every night, and loves when we take them out and she gets to go.

Rainy night blues

Alone.

Seems like I've been alone alot lately.
Not intentionally,  and not for reasons you'd suspect with a start such as this.

Work.
Normal work.
Side work.
Hobby work.

These are the things that have caused such aloneness lately.
Not on purpose but by circumstance.

I catch myself swirling around these type of feelings this time of year, and it's getting hard to pull myself horizontal and swim out of the quick sand.

I know I am loved.
I know I am blessed to have the things we have.
I know I have an amazing husband and support system.

I know this.

But I also know that I don't always let those people know that these feeling are resurfacing. 

It starts slowly at first, you're listening to a song on the radio that has a somber tone, and suddenly you have tears streaming down your face.
From there, it can whip out of control, like it has in the past or you can slow the progression and try to swing back to the surface.

In the past I haven't been as successful in stifling these feelings.
I've had moments of self harm and long bouts of depression, feeling as if the sun would never be back.

But lately I've noticed the feelings creeping up when I'm alone.

Granted I'm never technically alone anymore.
One of the kids is always with me, and their smiles and laughter helps, but they are kids.  Kids that don't understand how to help me get out of the funk I've slipped into.

From working a 9-5 and then having side work on the weekend for the past 3 months straight to a 2 week elk hunt.

I just feel alone.
And sad.
And tired.
And on the verge of tears.

I just need a detox from the loneliness.
A weekend of time with my lover, my children and no distractions.
No cell phones, except for pictures, no Internet, no outside forces.

That's what I need.

The next week needs to hurry.

Dinner obsession

Meat + brown rice + black bean bowls

Enough said.

Lately I've been obsessed with these things. 

 

I may have eaten leftovers of such a dinner before a 9 am play date.

Don't judge me.

For the longest time I would always make these with chicken thighs.

1. Because chicken thighs are wayyyy better than breasts

2. It's what we always have in the freezer.

But tonight I was craving this dinner but we were out of chicken and I HATE going to our local grocer for meat, so I pulled out some elk.

We eat a lot of wild game.

No seriously, we eat elk or venison more than we eat another meat. 

And boy am I glad I tried the elk! 

It was to die for! 

Ok, so to the food/cooking part of this blog post.

I cut the meat up into little tidbits, so it would cook fast and it would be easy for our two year old to eat. I seasoned it up with some garlic, salt, carne asada seasoning, red pepper flakes and black pepper. Let it sit for a few hours.

Cook until all the liquid the meat released is gone, 10 min max.

I also warmed up a jar of black beans that had been canned with some garlic. I added some cumin, garlic and salt and let it simmer till I was ready.

We are big brown rice fans in this house, we rarely eat white rice. I think the only time we eat it is if we go to sushi or we go to Silver Dragon.

I like to cook it in the oven, 350 for 60 min, covered in foil, no it's perfect!

Combine in a bowl and top with some cheese, sour cream and a little cholula, and dinner is served.

This has become one of our daughters favorite meals, not her most favorite, which is probably salmon and rice. That girl can put back the salmon, more than I can some times. It's rather amazing actually. 

Anyways.