A Few of My Favorite Things: Coffees

As most of you know, the clock is winding down on our move.  And moving has got me thinking and realizing I’ll have to find a new place to get the occasional latte and will probably have to find a new coffee blend as I am not sure where I’ll be able to find my current fav locally at the new place, even though it’s just 30 miles away.

First, let me define what I consider good coffee for you according to me, OS.

Good Coffee- smooth, rich and medium bodied.  A truly good coffee comes from a bean you can eat whole that doesn’t taste bitter, burnt or green.  Should be pleasant tasting.

In order to have a good coffee, you have to know what you’re looking at and how to properly store it.  Good, fresh coffee should look oily.  I usually buy whole bean and grind my own.  Really, really fresh coffee you grind yourself will likely clump in your grinder as the oils will bind it together some.

See that beautiful oily sheen? That's what you should look for in whole bean coffee.

It’s not often you can find good, fresh coffee from the bulk dispensers at the grocery store.  For the most part, these are constantly exposed to light and air, which is detrimental to the oils of coffee, which is where most of the flavor resides.

So, the proper way to store coffee is in a dark or opaque container that has a good seal to it to keep air out and then in a dark, cool place such as a cupboard.  You don’t want to keep it in the fridge or freezer as these are damp places and the cold can cause those beautiful oils to congeal and alter the flavor.

Ok, now that we’ve established that, let’s talk about my favorite blends!  (All photos linked to each roaster’s website if possible)

My favorite!  Smooth, rich, deep, yet medium bodied.  I discovered my love of this coffee in Alaska and mourned it’s loss when I moved to the Lower 48, until I discovered that Raven’s Brew had opened a roasting plant in Tumwater, WA just 5 short miles from where I was living!  It was heaven.  I was in love.  Then I fell in love and moved away.

Two years later I found my second favorite coffee:

Now I prefer to drink Sisters Coffee Company’s Sisters Blend if I can’t get my Wicked Wolf.  Which, of course is often.  This coffee compares to Wicked Wolf, yet seems to be missing something.  Is it lacking that bit of home for me?

I currently pick up Sisters Blend at a local grocery store chain here in the Salem area.  However, I will not have access to this local chain soon.

In between Wicked Wolf and Sisters Blend I found a passable coffee I was satisfied with.  I even blogged about it here.  I drink this when I can’t get the Sisters Blend.  Well, whenever I get myself to my local Fred Meyers to purchase it.

I prefer the Columbian coffee myself, personally.  And this is what I’ll probably be drinking at first when I move as we will have a local Fred Meyers in the new town.  Newman’s Own Organics partnered with Green Mountain Roasters to bring this tasty little treat to us.  And Green Mountain Roasters has some acceptable coffees too!  However, the coffees you get in the bulk dispensers are not always that fresh, so I rarely buy any of the Green Mountain coffees.

Lastly, I drink Millstone when I’m too lazy to go get the good coffee or too tired to head to a different grocery store.  Columbian Supremo is what we usually get.  Honestly, it’s like feeding your pet Iams or some other decent but not wonderful brand of pet food when you’ve forgotten to stop at the specialty place to get the really great, really healthy stuff.  Millstone is ok in a pinch as a method of caffeine consumption, but it lacks when you’re looking for something wonderful to slowly sip and savor.

Now that you’ve had a crash course in my favorite coffees, what are yours?

ZOMG!- Updated!

Is this a sign?  Click the link to read more.

news

CP and I have wanted Friesians for-ever!  This woman had Friesians, Friesian X’s, Quarter Horses, Paints and Arabs.  And we’ve been considering a rescue too.

What do you all think?

Wow!  Looked some info up on the net about this some more, saw a news clip and talked to CP.  This is the woman that Luna’s breeder sold one of her litter mates to.  We’re contacting the breeder and the humane society about this and see if we can get this little girl sprung from there and into our care.  Might take some time to get this accomplished!

Not much to say

Getting down to the wire now.  Beginning to pack like mad and have taken a couple truck loads of stuff in to be donated.  I expect I’ll be going offline this week around Wed or Thurs and back when we finally figure out who offers internet up on the mountain.  Three miles from town, yet no one can offer cable or DSL.  Go figure!

Opinions?

As most of you know, I am very big on rescuing an unwanted animal.  All of our pets with the exception of Luna and the goats are rescues.  Yes, ALL the rest of them.  It’s always been my thing.  Now, we’re looking for a second horse.  And quite frankly, my mind keeps turning towards those horses that might need a good, loving home because their people can’t afford to keep them or who were rescued and need some love and good food.  I tear up when I think about other throwaway horses out there.  It’s not so much that we’re looking for a free horse, because, well, we sure could afford to buy one.  But we want to help a horse who maybe needs us.

What do you guys think?

Comments?  Anyone know of a horse that really needs a good home within about 50 miles of me?

And The Winner Is…

SquirrelGurl!

Congrats!  If I have not heard from SquirrelGurl by noon pacific time on Friday, July 10th, I will have Dude draw another name.

Sorry no pics this time!  No one needs to see my house in the middle of packing!

Stay tuned for the next BAFAB giveaway coming in October!

Spoil Your Pet: Water Dishes

I’ve decided to start another series to be published at my whim.  I’m going to call it, “Spoil Your Pet”, in which I’ll review cool new toys, dishes, gadgets, etc to make life great for you and your pet.

Since it’s summer, water is of mega importance for your pet.  Here are some cool new items for your viewing pleasure:

First up is the Water Hole.  This funny looking bowl keeps your pet from spilling water.  A nifty idea if you have a messy drinker and are tired of cleaning up slopped water.

Next is your average Le Bistro waterer which allows a larger quantity of water to be available to your pet at all times.  It lessens the need to constantly fill and refill your pet’s water bowl.  Personally, I am not a fan of these.  Water can get stale and warm in them.  Who wants to drink stale, warm water?  And every book you read always says to provide clean, fresh water for your pets at all times, not stale, warm water.  However, I suppose it works if you’re in a hot clime and need to be away from your pet all day.  Better than a traditional bowl that won’t leave your pet enough water.

Next up we have the pump and filter style water dishes.  These plug in to the outlet and use a small aquarium style pump to circulate the water and usually contain a carbon based filter.  Consider it like a mini-aquarium for your pet!  These keep water fresh and oxegenated and much more palatable for your pet.  Plus, they filter out chlorine and other nasty things in your tap water.  Hey, if it’s good for us, isn’t it good for our pets too?  Of this style, I personally use this one:

I love that it holds a gallon of water.  I only need to fill the reservoir once, maybe twice a day with all my cats and dogs.  Plus, as cats tend to be on the dehydrated side, it’s a great way to get your finicky cat to drink water.  There are a few different brands and styles of waterers on the market like this.  Smaller, larger, more fountain like, etc.   However, since this plugs in to an outlet, it’s not an outdoor water dish at all.

Maybe a better idea for fresh water outside is this:

This little gem connects right to your outdoor spigot and allows your pet to have fresh water from the tap on demand.  It works like a water bottle for small pets, complete with the ball bearing in the bottom of the tube to keep the water in and not just constantly pouring out.

And for you hikers and people on the go, here’s an ingenious item:

No more need to carry water and bowl separately!  How great is that??

Well, thanks for checking out some water bowl ideas with me today.  Until next time, keep on loving your pets!

Our 4th of July

Wow!  Well, we had a lot of excitement for our 4th!

First CP spent the morning fixing up his bike, which has been in storage or buried in the garage for a long time.  He hosed it off, put in new inner tubes and inflated the tires.  Then he inflated the tires and tightened the brakes on Doodle’s bike and tightened up the handle bars on Dude’s bike.

After a refresher course, some encouragement to ride without training wheels, the three of them decided to ride around the neighborhood.  For hours.  CP came home sunburned.  Really, really lobster-ey looking.  Dude and Doodle were not in the slightest.  Then again, they’ve been playing outside daily for several weeks while CP is stuck inside in his office all day every day.

Luna received her puppy shot.  We just did it here at home and she spent most of the next 24 hours sleeping.

Later that evening, we set off our modest amount of grocery store fireworks.  Most of our pop-its were duds as well as a couple of the bigger fireworks.  Oh, and the sparklers too.  What is it about men and playing with things that go “kaboom”?  Ok, I like the idea too, but I would rather do it on a bigger scale and not around my pets whom get scared by the loud noises.

Our neighbors, on the other hand, decided to set off the big, professional stuff.  You know, the stuff that’s illegal unless you have a permit and then is still illegal in residencial neighborhoods?  Well, we watched them set stuff off that went right over our house.  Instead of enjoying it, we watched, with hose at the ready in case of fire.  After the first couple of times fireworks went low and over our house, you’d have thought they’d have changed trajectory or at least called out a “sorry”.  Nope!  Not these brain children!  Eventually they ran out of explosives and went back inside (presumably) to drink more beer.

Copper and Freya did not fare as well this year with the noise.  I don’t blame them though.  That was some pretty big and loud stuff to be going off next door.  The benedryl I had slipped them earlier didn’t seem to have an effect.  Next year will be better though out in the country.

Then around 2am, I awoke to quite the racket!  Fire trucks raced by our house and down the block.  Fire trucks are quite noisy when they’re pumping water so it seems.  After working in the transporation industry, a loud engine isn’t enough to keep me from finding sleep again.  However, those water pumps on a fire truck are.  As far as we can tell, no real harm came to the house down the block.  Maybe the idiots next door had some stray sparks that caught some lawn on fire way over there.   After all, it’s not really 4th of July unless someone catches the lawn on fire!

How was your 4th?

Happy 4th of July!

Don’t forget to keep your pets inside, cool and comfortable today!

Every 4th of July many pets run away in fear from the noise and smoke and sulfur smells in the air.  They’re afraid.  They don’t understand.  And a lot of these pets are never recovered.  So, please, please, please keep your pets indoors and in a secure place today!

Training Thursday: Bite Inhibition, pt 2

Last week we started talking about bite inhibition and yelping as a way to communicate to Puppy that she’s using too much pressure.   I have a bit more to add to that this week and a caution.

First, the caution.  In some dogs and in some cases, the pup will not respect the yelp at all and it may excite them more.  This is the case with Luna.  In cases like this, your best option is to end play time immediately.  I. Mean. Right. Now!  A short time out of 2-3 minutes is usually long enough and then you can start play time again.

Also, I realize I should have told you all to not stare at Puppy when you yelp and she backs off.  This usually tells her that the yelp wasn’t real and she doesn’t need to listen to it.  In cases like this, Puppy will usually wait a second and then jump back in, jaws at the ready for another sharking.  Instead, do not make eye contact.  Look away for a few seconds, then re-engage Puppy in play.

So, how is the first part of bite inhibition going?  Is Puppy getting the idea?  If so, let’s move on to the next part.  If not, give it another week before moving forward.

It is very important to make sure Puppy knows what is acceptable to chew on.  Keep a good supply of acceptable, puppy safe toys for Puppy to chew on and rotate them frequently so that she doesn’t get bored.  Also, you can redirect Puppy and distract her with an appropriate chew toy when she’s wanting to use you for that purpose.  When Puppy chooses the toy over sharking you, praise her.  Let Puppy know how good she is for chewing on her toy!

Also, if you do have to get up and walk away and Puppy decides to nip and bite at your ankles, pant legs, shoes, feet, etc, toss a chew toy behind you as you leave so that she gets distracted with it and leaves you be.

Again, we want appropriate chew toys here.  No toys with cracks or bits that can break off and be swallowed.

The last part of bite inhibition is simply teaching Puppy to keep her mouth off of you.  In order to do this, we’ll refer back to our discussion of “Leave It”.  In fact, we’ll be taking the first step of the leave it training and applying it here.  Just think, Puppy will be starting to learn another skill!

I’ll repost the  basics here so you don’t have to look them up again.

To teach leave it, I start with two treats, both bite sized.  One treat might be a piece of kibble or a piece of a dog biscuit.  The other is a high value treat like a bite sized piece of chicken or cheese or roast or something really, really yummy.  With one piece in each hand, place the high value treat hand behind your back.  Offer the treat hand to Puppy enclosed in your fist.  Now, Puppy will sniff and lick and paw at your hand trying to get it.  Firmly say, “Leave it!” like you really mean it.  DO NOT give this treat to Fido.  Wait until Fido sits or backs off from your fist and is calm.  Then praise Puppy with a “good boy” and quickly offer the high value treat behind your back.  Repeat this several times, a few times a day for a week until Puppy is really solid with the command with the treats in your hand.  Really, expect this to take a week to be solid.  Don’t progress too fast or you’ll have to start over when Puppy’s capabilities fall apart.

Alright class, any questions?

And now your weekly dose of Luna cuteness!

Luna is learning to play “fox on a stick” as a way to get exercise, has lessened the pressure of her teeth on human skin (we are no longer all scratched up) and has begun the basics of “leave it”.  She is starting to eat more food at a time and is sleeping for longer stretches at a time at night.  I’m sleeping on the couch less and less.  However, she does not like to have anyone out of her site and howls and throws a fit if she is crated and I walk into the kitchen, or need to put her outside on her own for a minute while I clean up a mess in her crate (Bad Mommy!  Didn’t make it in time to get her out!).

No pics of her this week.  It’s hot out.  Really, really hot out!  As in, it’s supposed to be 105 degrees today, which according to records, has not happened since 1942, and that is the record for the hottest day here in the Portland area.  I have boxes everywhere and I’m not going to show you how messy my house currently is.  Nor am I going outside to swelter forever.  So, I will tell you that Luna is probably about 12 lbs and her head is finally bigger than a Blue Buffalo brand dog biscuit.  (For those of you that don’t know, it’s about the size of a saltine cracker).  Now, that’s just the top part of her skull, not including her muzzle.  I’m going to have to let her collar out some in the next couple days as well.

In the mean time, we’re sweltering.  I wish you all cool breezes and a peaceful day!  More tomorrow!

Win A Book, It’s BAFAB Week!

Comments are now closed!  Stay tuned for the drawing!

This is a sticky.  Please scroll down to see the most current posts, but don’t forget to enter for your chance to win a book FOR NO GOOD REASON!

I discovered this awesome giveaway last fall over at Karen’s.  I am so very excited to be able to participate this time in Buy A Friend A Book for no good reason!

What’s BAFAB, you ask?

BAFAB was started by Debra Hamel, fellow blogger, writer and book reviewer.  Celebrating BAFAB is easy. Just get yourself to a real-life or virtual book store during Buy a Friend a Book Week (the first weeks of January, April, July, and October) and, well, buy a friend a book! But here’s the fun part: you can’t buy your friend a book because it’s their birthday or they just graduated or got engaged or had a baby or anything else. You have to give them a book for no good reason. In fact, this present out of the blue from you should shock the pants off of whomever you decide to give it to. And it’ll make them happy. And that’s the point: promote reading, promote friendships. Just make sure to let them know about Buy a Friend a Book Week, so they can spread the joy in turn.

For this round, I have chosen a book I’d like to give away!  I’ve been a bit homesick for Alaska lately so I’d like to give everyone a chance to win Winterdance by Gary Paulsen.

Here’s a little blurb from Amazon.com:

Amazon.com Review
Fueled by a passion for running dogs, Gary Paulsen entered the Iditarod–the 1150-mile winter sled-dog race between Anchorage and Nome– in dangerous ignorance and with a fierce determination. Winterdance is his account of this seventeen-day battle against Nature’s worst elements and his own frailty.

Here are the rules:

Just drop me a comment on this sticky note and let me know you want to enter!  If I draw your name on July 8th, you’ll win Winterdance.  The winner will be announced here on Oregon Sunshine and via email.  Contest closes at 11:59 pm on July 7th, Pacific Standard Time.  Drawing to be held before 5 pm PST on July 8th.

*Note: The winner must be willing to give me a mailing address as the book will be shipped directly from Amazon.com.  Contest is open to residents of the US and Canada.