Blog - Page 75 of 91 - Karen Shanley

Remedies for Dogs with Thunderstorm Anxiety

June 7, 2007 / Dogs in General, My Dogs and Me / By Karen Shanley / 33 Comments

I have a fool-proof thunderstorm detector — more accurate than the local weather Doppler system. And she’s sitting right here on my lap (which makes typing a bit of a challenge). So I know a thunderstorm will be hitting here within an hour or two.

Kiera never used to be bothered by thunderstorms, but for the last few years they’ve turned her into a quivering mess, courtesy of chronic Lyme disease. (Lyme can affect neurological functioning in all kinds of … Read More

Has It Always Been So Peachy

From the mailbag: Samantha writes: You and Caitlin seem to have quite an amazing relationship. Has it always been so peachy? Don’t you ever lose your cool?

Dear Samantha: Like Kiera, my daughter came into my life to slap me upside the head and wake me up out of any sleep-walking through life I might have been inclined to do. From the very beginning, Cait has had a way of getting and holding my attention. Right from the emergency C-section, … Read More

A Race to the Finish

June 4, 2007 / My Garden / Recipes / By Karen Shanley / 6 Comments

I’m true to my mostly Italian Heritage; I can find a way to add garlic to nearly any meal. I’ve long gone through all my garlic bulbs, and am down to the dregs of my minced garlic (above left). I’ve got another month and a half before my garlic plants (above right) are ready to pull. With the help of my brothers and sister cleaning me out (they fight over my garlic), it doesn’t look like I’m gonna make it. … Read More

Wanderings — Relative Size of Astronomical Objects

June 2, 2007 / Nature / By Karen Shanley / 14 Comments

By now, you guys know that I have an interest in anything up in the sky. Here are some photos that will help give you a sense of scale.

These are the planets closest to the Sun. Except for Pluto, which has recently been demoted as a planet and is the furthest from the Sun. The order goes Mercury, Venus, Earth, then Mars.

The big boys, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, come next. As you can see, Jupiter is the … Read More

Somehow They Know…

May 31, 2007 / Dogs in General, My Dogs and Me / By Karen Shanley / 14 Comments

Having been away for a few days to help my mother, I walked into the house to my happily leaping dogs. Graidy came rushing up the chair in front of me and used it like a springboard to catapult himself up into my arms. Kiera, wanting to lick my face, had trampoline feet, she was jumping so high.

Finally, I brushed them both off, so I could sit down on the floor. Then, and only then, could we give each … Read More

Kid-Like

May 29, 2007 / Cait and Me, Funnies / By Karen Shanley / 11 Comments

“Mom, why do my eyes squint when I eat something sour?”

“It’s because of a pucker reflex.”

“Do you want some (Sour Skittles)?”

“No thanks, I don’t really like candy.”

“Mom, you’re not very kid-like.”

“I wasn’t very kid-like when I was a kid.”

“I’m a little kid-like, and a little not.”

“Yeah.”

“The kids on my bus are very kid-like. They had a burping contest this morning.”

“Can any of them burp the alphabet?”

“One kid got to ‘k’.”… Read More

Faces in Nature

May 28, 2007 / Nature / By Karen Shanley / 12 Comments

Cait and I are always looking at clouds. We like to see what shapes we can find in them. Here are some clouds we saw recently. Take a look and see if you find a shape that jumps out at you. Then scroll down to see what I saw.

I saw what I call “phoenix rising.” It looked like a bird rising up out of the … Read More

Homemade Bread

May 26, 2007 / My Garden / Recipes / By Karen Shanley / 10 Comments

There’s something about the smell of freshly baked bread filling the house. Having grown up in a 300 year old house with a beehive oven in the walk-in fireplace, us kids grew up baking our own bread. It’s a holiday tradition the grandkids now carry on.

With a fireplace like this, how could you not bake bread?!

Here’s a better look at the beehive oven hidden behind the hanging pot.

First, we’d get a roaring fire going in there. When … Read More