Stormy's now a backpacking dog.

Stormy just turned a year and a half old yesterday.  That marks the day that her bone structure is finished growing, so she can start carrying weight on hikes.  Happy adult bone structure day, Stormy!

The general rule is that you start them off carrying 5% of their weight every other day, then slowly work up to 20%... or a bit less, like 15%, if they're a slender breed.  I'm gonna consider a standard poodle to be slender, so I started her off this week at 3%:  3/4ths of a pound of pack and harness, and 1/2 of a pound of dried garbanzo beans. 

Ahhhh, shade.

The goal is for her to be able to carry her own water, doggy bags, treats, and "trail apples" on hikes.  Just a half pound more (at 4% of her weight) and she'll be doing that!  It is excellent timing, considering that we're about to start our camping & hiking trip.

Hi Ho Silver!

I haven't hennaed since January, and boy, has it become obvious.  Somewhere in the last 2-3 years, I turned a salt-and-pepper grey!  On one hand, it was the most stressful time of my life, but on the other hand, I started getting greys when I was 18 just like my parents, so it's not that big of a shock that it would speed up after age 30.  Tonight I'm doing a major whole-head henna, so I figured it was time to measure and take a photo.

You can see the henna at the bottom left corner, hiding from the 5-inch expanse of greys.

Measuring the grey hairs, I determined that my hair grew exactly 2.5 inches in 20 weeks, averaging 6.5 inches per year rather than my normal 9+.  The result is that I haven't been able to grow my hair past thumb-length, because I have to trim split ends at the same rate as the growth.  Ah, the pregnancy lies they tell you, that your hair and nails will grow thick and fast!  Instead, I think the baby is taking every last drop of energy, including that devoted to hair production, my green thumb, and my house-cleaning motivation. 

I actually really like the grey, and if not for henna's super-strengthening properties that fixed all my hair issues (static electricity, texture, breakage starting at shoulder level), I would stop it.  One of these days when there's more grey, I really really want to have a silver stripe and the rest hennaed.

When I henna tonight, the dark hairs will turn reddish brown, and the white hairs orange.  So long, silver. 

Chickpea "Chicken" Salad: recipe, from scratch

I've been experimenting with different vegetarian tuna salads, and finally found one that has the husband's seal of approval!  He says it is definitely not a "tuna" salad, but extremely similar to a "chicken" salad.  I would agree.

The Bean Prep

If you are trying to use up 25 pounds of dried garbanzo beans like I am...

The night before:

• Measure out 1.5 cups of dried chickpeas.
• Add at least 4 cups of water.
• Let soak overnight.

The day of:

• Drain and rinse beans.  You should have almost 4 cups of rehydrated beans.
• Boil beans in fresh water for about 20 minutes.  Let cool.

Alternatively, you can leave them raw, but I'd soak them for 24 hours, changing the water every few hours... this makes for a crunchier salad.  Or you can just get 'em canned. 


The Salad Recipe

• ~ 4 cups of chickpeas... rehydrated and cooked, or the equivalent canned.
• 3 stalks celery, chopped fine
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup relish
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (full-fat, otherwise it's bleh!)
• 2.5 T brown mustard
• a healthy sprinkling of cayenne pepper, to taste

Directions:  Mash the beans only halfway with a potato masher, you still want some chunky texture (sometimes the skins separate, just stir them back in).  Mix very well with the rest of the ingredients.  If you let it sit in the fridge overnight, the last of the dryness of the beans disappears... but this makes 4 cups so you're pretty guaranteed to have leftovers.  Serve on bread with a bed of romaine lettuce for extra crunch.

Mmmmm.  Just wanted to share the results of many many batches of chickpea salads!  It's far more simple than the other mixes I've tried, but somehow simple was better in this situation.  There's a curry version with carrots and raisins coming up, but it is not yet perfected.

Cloth diapers for dogs are awesome!

In preparation for Stormy's next heat, which should be coming in October when a whole bunch of other big life stuff is going on, I decided to get some cloth/washable dog diapers. 

Why, mom, why?!

While she was not very happy about trying it on, I really wish I'd had these instead of the disposables for the first heat!  They appear to be much more comfortable, and she doesn't have a problem changing positions with them.  I'll do the same thing I did to stretch the use of the disposables... cut a human menstrual pad in half, stick it to the inside, and just change the half-pad as needed until the diaper needs to be replaced.

The purple's a good color... but the other one is hot pink, ew!  It was a pretty good deal to get 2 for $15, considering that is cheaper than a pack of disposables.  We are totally ready for a heat to come on this time.