out of a thousand invitations

i hope you have as much fun celebrating the end of 2011 as minnow is planning to have! it's the end of a year, the end of a month of dogs, and the beginning of a bright new year.

"...Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering ‘It will be happier’…”

--Alfred Tennyson




xoxo

my heart is returned to sister winter

hello. i am sick, and that is my excuse for the dearth of dogs around here. i selected two dogs for today, in an attempt to make up for the past few dog-free days. first, nurse minnow, guarding the sickbed.

and second, the long-suffering miles, who after being rescued from the dog spa was apparently forced to wear the handmade hello kitty crown and cape that stella received for christmas from her uncle mark. what a good sport.

 

you love what you are*

a wintery walk at two lights with mark and zoë this morning. the waves were huge and frothy, and the clouds were crazy too. such a beautiful warm wintery day, and such lovely quiet company.



 

it was pretty perfect for this bittersweet post-holiday week. we're cleaning, slowly, and trying to eat food other than leftover cookies and mashed potatoes and chocolate (not all together, ew), and fitting in some actual work hours and gradually getting back to normal life. although it's life with our girl home from college, and our boy out of school too, so it's way more sweet than bitter, much as we miss having the extended family around to play games and drink coffee and laugh and watch movies.

did you  notice that i neglected the dog-of-the-day? yes, i was thinking that those dogs in the manger might tide you all over for a while. several days, at least.


*from mark strand's lines for winter

only at christmas time

merry christmas to you from a bunch of very patient dogs and me. ♥

santa claus is coming--hear the banjo strumming

holy smokes. i just came SO close to forgetting your dog-of-the-day. this dog is adorable, but this post is lame because here's what i can tell you: he is a male dog. he sleeps and hangs out in the window of a shop on middle street. i forget which shop, and i forget what his name is.

merry holidays, friends!

everybody's waiting for the man with the bag

reindogs-of-the-day. i love how dubious minnow looks in this picture.

right down santa claus lane

did you think i'd forget today's dog? never fear, here is santa's helper, patiently awaiting instructions as to how he can be of assistance begging for a piece of my pizza crust.

and we're also waiting for our girl, who arrives tonight, driven back from new york by mark* with her banjo and bags in tow!

we had a near miss, but christmas can proceed as planned, now that my brother david found the essential ingredient. seriously, it's just not christmas without the traditional almond-filled bread.



























*best dad award, 2011

give it to someone special

although this dog-of-the-day* will be vacationing at a north carolina dog spa over the holiday, i will get to see his buddy stella the day after tomorrow!



*miles, redux. as i mentioned, i am running out of dogs!

in time the snow will rise

corey templeton, of portland daily photo fame, has been rallying portland bloggers to write about their favorite local good-doing organizations and causes this week. what popped into my head is the one group i've supported financially this year. my financial contribution may have been a paltry drop in the bucket, but my enthusiasm for this organization is enormous.

it's blunt youth radio at wmpg, and here's how they describe themselves:

The Blunt Youth Radio Project produces a weekly call-in talk show that airs Monday nights from 7:30-8:30 on WMPG, Greater Portland Community Radio. High school age youth from the Portland area, both free and incarcerated, staff the show. Blunt Members are trained in all areas of radio production: interviewing, hosting, reporting, editing, and engineering. The show has won several Gold and Silver Reel Awards from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and a number of First Place Radio News Awards from the Maine Association of Broadcasters.


blunt is in my top five reasons-why-i'm-glad-my-kids-grew-up-in-portland-maine. there are only a couple of other programs like it in the country, and it's played an enormous part in zoë and isaac's lives. i probably can't even begin to summarize what they've gained from blunt, but the list includes responsibility, independence, how to say no, how to work collaboratively, public speaking, critical thinking, and the deliciousness of japanese curry. and that doesn't even include the technical radio skills they've learned, recording, editing, interviewing, live hosting, and engineering. and that's just my kids--blunt is a resource for every high school-age person in the portland area, including those who live at long creek youth development center. blunt has basically given teenagers a (loud) voice, a forum in which they demand (politely) to be taken seriously.

here are some ways you can support blunt:

financially. a donation to portland, maine's amazing community radio station, wmpg, is a donation to blunt. when you donate, be sure to mention blunt specifically.

blunt embarked on its first kickstarter campaign this fall. they will only use this kind of fundraising for specific projects, like their trip to the 2011 new york city audioslam. check their website, listen to the show, and like them on facebook for updated information.

listen to the program, and if you're braver than i am, call in with questions and comments. it airs every monday evening from 7:30 to 8:30pm on 90.9 and 104.1 fm locally, or you can listen online at wmpg.org.


thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks to corey for the inspiration!

(did you think i'd forget your dog-of-the-day? not a chance.)

bringing good cheer

vegan gingerbread stars!

a colorful christmas tree!


























pine cones!

and your dog-of-the-day, sweet mabel, who lives with max's family and is difficult to capture on film, due to being either constantly in motion or rendered invisible by her black fur.

























(photo by max)

their favorite time of year

mele kalikimaka is the thing to say

first of all, a tableau i like to call "debauched crèche." surprise: this photo was not taken at my house. i shall say no more.

we finally got our christmas tree! on the recommendation of the checkout girl, we went to a new tree farm in cape elizabeth, and it was lovely. there were friendly people, snow-dusted trees, a sweet little hot chocolate hut, and an outdoor fire for marshmallow toasting.

today's dog is a sleepy minnow, whose look basically says, "excuse me, i was sleeping. would i take a photograph of you in your pajamas? no, i would not."


 

the stars are brightly shining

today's dog is gracie, who lives with my mom's great friend judy. she's a rescue dog, one of those magical best dog friends, and though i haven't met her yet, i can tell she's a good girl.

you know what you can do? you can take spoonfuls of speculoos spread* (mom, you can call it "cookie butter" if that word still seems a little too close to "speculum" for comfort), you can roll them into sticky balls and you can dip them in melted chocolate. then you can place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and put it in the fridge for a spell. then you have a delicious candy treat that you can refer to as either "speculoos truffles" or "cookie butter truffles," as per your preference.



*buy it at trader joe's!

**update: this just in from gracie herself!

Gracie Pearl Gilhousen is soooo honored to be Dog of the Day. Gracie hails from West Virginia, where a dog rescue group found her wandering alone, homeless. She now lives in Pleasantville, NY, and is looking forward to Santa bringing her treats.

collecting little kisses that are due me

this dog-of-the-day comes to you from christmas in carolina 2010. that's jonah, enjoying some quiet time with minnow, who is enjoying some quiet time with a tennis ball.

i am in that weird holiday stage of feeling like there are a million things to do, but not being sure where to start, exactly. i am organizing and baking and hoping that's what i should be doing.*

several days ago i purchased some boxes for mailing things at walgreens, and i had the following exchange.

cashier: oh! mailing some last minute packages?
me: no. no, it's december twelfth. it's only december twelfth.
her: oh.

i think i came across as kind of mean, which was not my intention. but i'd been thinking i was way ahead of the game. which, really, i was.



*i am working too, but i must admit i jump up from my work with great frequency to rustle around in the basement, or make a cup of tea, or mix up a batch of cookies.

fa la la la la la la la la

did you think i'd forget miss lulu, hound extraordinaire? mais non!

she's a pretty little pony, and she's your december fourteenth dog-of-the-day.

*cookie update, because i know you're dying of curiosity: speculoos bars are nearly to the taste testing stage (they require many steps). today's project=almond macaroons.

i'll hold your hands, they're just like ice

dog-of-the-day, your pal minnow.

it's finally getting cold, and while i like to complain about my chilly fingers and toes (and nose, and the insides of my very bones), it actually strikes me as appropriate to need a winter coat and gloves when one ventures outside. you know, in maine. in december. and maybe it's because of my new bean boots, but i find myself eagerly anticipating snow.

in the meantime, it is vital to keep up an almost constant intake of tea and toast.

and all of your kin

today's dog is my german shepherd cousin, ze, who lives in kansas. here he is, shopping for treats at three dog bakery with my uncle chuck.

yesterday i made maida heatter's recipe for ginger almond biscotti, and my house smelled so good. i love her quotes about baking, like, "happiness is baking cookies." i am slowly filling my freezer with cookies (isaac is also slowly eating them, but with any luck i will outpace him).

you know what else i made that was delicious? vegan fried chicken.

as i cooked and baked, i wondered, "why is sufjan stevens so sad about christmas?"

do you see what i see?

happy sunday to you. last night i made a batch of chocolate-peppermint bars, to add to the almond toffee bars already in the freezer. yesterday i also attended a meeting of the very tiny book group,* listened to christmas music, hung around with isaac, and ate what may have been a pound of kale with tahini dressing for dinner (it was so good).

meanwhile, mark is in new york this weekend, where he is visiting zoë, doing some christmas shopping, and enjoying new york at the holidays, when it is so festive. for example, dozens (hundreds?) of santas walking down the sidewalk, suddenly. he thought it was a santa pub crawl, but it turns out to have been santacon. of course.

 

*the group is tiny, but the book is endless.

once again, as in olden days

why yes, i am running out of dogs--but never fear, i've got plenty of minnow photos lying around. and he is a photogenic fellow. thus, your dog-of-the-day is minnow pretending to be a merdog, from a couple of years ago.

every time i go in the basement (usually to do/adjust laundry), i bring up a handful of holiday decor. also, i am constantly trying to develop the perfect pandora christmas station (i want it to be jazzy, classic, but it must not play smooth jazz, nor should it ever play the little drummer boy). i am always setting pandora straight when it strays off in some objectionable direction. also, the baking has begun.

just like the ones i used to know

i got to eat lunch with my sweet friend the checkout girl yesterday (and though we had specified "a cheap lunch," i sort of swayed us toward green elephant anyway, where i talked so much, neglecting my hot and sour soup, that they kept trying to take my food away before i'd finished. miraculously, it stayed hot. and it was delicious).

and i photographed sophie, your dog-of-the-day. what is she like, you ask? well, imagine if minnow slipped into a boston terrier costume and didn't lick you quite so much. that's pretty much what sophie's like.

follow me in merry measure

introducing charlie the dog, minnow's san francisco cousin and the newest addition to the family. my mom is visiting him (and his humans) right now, and she sent me a few snapshots.

he is a little guy, about ten pounds, possibly a jack russell terrier/chihuahua mix, with a big dog personality (according to my mom, and that's the ultimate compliment). i can't wait to meet him!

they looked up and saw a star

i painted my fireplace white! i keep forgetting to take a picture, and i also neglected to do a "before" photo.* imagining thirteen stockings hanging there is making me very happy (everyone gets a stocking, including my grandfather ribby, my mom and dad, the four of us, my bruddy and family, and the two dogs. we will sadly be missing our four family members who are adventuring to switzerland this year. so yes, that would normally be SEVENTEEN stockings hung by the chimney with care).

dog-of-the-day: a melancholy minnow, with last year's christmas gift.



*you can almost see it in this photograph, but not quite.

fall on your knees

i am currently at the "thinking about baking some things" stage of my holiday preparations. also, today i bought a box of candy canes.

yesterday i had lunch with my good friend mama d, and i was able to take a picture of your dog-of-the-day, maisie. she is an older lady who loves to sleep on mama d's lap and occasionally springs around her yard like a little deer.

please have snow and mistletoe

your december fifth dog-of-the-day is none other than...

miles! buddy miles is minnow's north carolina cousin.* he is a sweet, soulful dog. one time i blew gently on his nose and made him pee. i guess i was expressing my dominance over him without realizing it. he has since forgiven me.



*photo stolen from my brother.

let your heart be light

today's dog comes to you from friday night's art walk. mark had to restrain me from dognapping this adorable dog, who was waiting patiently outside local sprouts for his/her person to emerge.

i love the december art walk. portland's holiday lights are the best.

these trees always remind me of dr seuss, somehow.

 

the hap-happiest time of year

firstly, your dog-of-the-day.

secondly, my family and i are not exchanging gifts this year (we're only shopping for kids, and yes, you're still a kid when you're nineteen). but i can't help hoping to find the following three items in my stocking:

isn't he the sweetest? look at that bite out of his ear. aw. i want him.

i know it isn't true, but i keep daydreaming about how my life would be perfect if only i had this sofa.

maybe santa will bring me some pretty little bird tattoos.