Irish Soda Bread

It’s a bit cooler in my neck of the woods, so I turned to a favorite recipe of mine to chase away the dampness. My mom’s recipe for Irish Soda Bread. It’s easy, tasty, and keeps well for a few days (well, if you don’t eat it all first). I like it with stew or…

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Paracord Leashes

I was recently at a show where a little boy was selling some really cool paracord show leads. I bought one (orange and black, naturally) and really like it. A friend bought a pink and black one, then commented that she’d like one much longer for obedience. I studied the construction a bit and came…

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Ranger at the NWDA Nationals

A few weeks back I decided to make the trip to the National Working Dog Association National Weight Pull as Ranger had qualified to attend when he pulled in Michigan at the beginning of November. We loaded up and traveled from Indiana to Pennsylvania to compete, where Ranger earned two 2nd place finishes in his…

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Fall Fun

I’ve been absolutely awful about posting anything this year. I’ve sat down to write posts at least a dozen time, then ended up just walking away. Looking back I realized I didn’t update with information of what I’ve been up to. Last fall, about the time I got sick, Ranger stopped pulling when in competition….

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I like to ride my bicycle

I took my 8 year old Marin mountain bike in for a tune up this week. When I got home I started looking at craigslist for something else entirely and ended up finding this gem: It’s an early 1960s Huffy Eldorado cruiser. It’s got a sturdy steel frame and coaster brakes. And a tank. I…

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Gear Closet Cleanout Sale

Hey all,   I was cleaning out my gear closet and discovered that I have entirely too much stuff in there. I have a lot of dog packs for reasons I won’t get into here, but I want to get them out of my closet and into the hands of people who will use them….

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Year of Big Ideas

Wow, it’s March already and I haven’t posted this for you guys. The Dirtbag Diaries Year of Big Ideas 2011 episode.   I’m in there, but I’ll let you guess which one I am.   It may not be the start of a new calendar year, but I just heard a little song bird outside…

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Year in Review

Earlier in 2010 I decided to set a goal for myself to walk or bike 400 miles in 2010. This seemed like a completely attainable goal—and it would have been if I’d not started having some health problems. I was tired often and wrote it off as stress. I figured exercising regularly would help. It…

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Weight Pull Drop Calculator

I put together a spreadsheet to help me calculate drop weights for Ranger’s weight pulls. At first it was designed for dogs in his rough weight range and for a specific set of equipment. Upon further thought I decided to make it go from a 1-block drop on up to a 25-block drop and to…

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