Morgan

Our week got off to a rough start.  We had to put Morgan to sleep Monday morning.

She was almost 11 years old and for a Great Dane to not only live that long but live that long without any major health issues?  Props to her owners for keeping her in such great shape.

We had her smaller size on our side.  My dainty Dane rarely weighed more than 105 pounds, which helped her joints.  We treated her for pneumonia in the past 6 months and she had one other major illness in her lifetime but otherwise, she was as healthy as a you-know-what.

We adopted Morgan from the Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League.  She was four months old at the time and was one of three sisters given to the Rescue by a breeder who had saturated her market with Great Dane puppies.  The volunteer who took the puppies in said her husband only agreed to fostering three puppies if he got to name them.  The foster mom thought that was a fair deal and that’s how she ended up with Sky (as in the vodka), Harp (the beer), and Morgan (after my favorite: The Captain!).  It was fate, I guess.

Morgan wasn’t the most exciting dog, but that’s what we wanted: a gentle giant who liked walks but who wasn’t exploding with energy.  She was more like a cat in her needs for human interaction as she was perfectly happy to just lay on her bed, preferably in the sun, for the better part of the day.  Even from the beginning, she wasn’t overly needy; she definitely wasn’t a Velcro dog like I’ve heard so many Danes can be.  However, she did have “the lean” down to an art.   For those of you who haven’t met a Dane, they like to lean against your legs and be petted.  You have to be ready for this move because even a smaller dog like Morgan can knock you over if you aren’t prepared to accept their weight.

Morgan also had a habit of going between people’s legs.  She may not have been the tallest Dane around, but she took quite a few people by surprise with her trick.  Right, Mom?

Morgan was spoiled in that she always had to have a bed to lay on.  If the sun was just right and I wasn’t moving her bed to where she wanted it, she’d sigh, give me a dirty look, and lay on the floor, but she preferred to always have a bed between her and the ground.  When she laid down with her legs tucked up against her body, she looked like a much smaller dog and, well, I guess she was as you can see by how she squeezed her Great Dane body into a bed for a Boston Terrier.

Besides being my dainty Dane, I also called Morgan my Dane-a-roo.  Back in her younger days, she would get excited and jump up.  She wouldn’t jump on anyone.  She literally just jumped straight up into the air.  Silly puppy.

I know she’s now enjoying laying on a fluffy bed in a warm sunny spot as often as she likes.  The icing on the cake is not having to walk on any gumballs.  Those things used to get stuck between the pads of her paws, and she’d have to limp up to the back door so we could get them out for her.

Goodbye, old girl.  Give Tucker a hug from us.

{Recipe Recap} Pumpkin Apple Bread

I’m sorry I missed posting this yesterday.  Even before our exciting (not!) Sunday night, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to publish anything because my computer was still on the fritz.  Luckily, a coworker spent the day with my laptop, cleaning it up and checking it out and, fingers crossed, it seems to be working great.

We spent three hours with Morgan at the emergency vet Sunday night.  Around 8:30,she threw up twice, collapsed, and lost control of her bladder.  We made the right call loading her up because she had a 105-degree fever and, after chest x-rays, was diagnosed with pneumonia. She spent the night at the vet getting IV fluids and antibiotics and was doing much better in the morning.  We moved her to our vet where she spent the day continuing to get IV fluids and she even ate something there, which is big because she doesn’t have a great appetite in the best of times.

Before the weekend ended on that high note, I was busy in the kitchen making baby food (apple-pear-prune-oatmeal puree that the sitter and her sister both said smelled really good) and some big-people food, this Pumpkin Apple Bread.

We have a breakfast meeting at work on Wednesday, and I figured October 1st was a good day to share some fall baking.

I baked this bread for just over an hour. I tented some foil over it for the last 10 minutes as the outside was about as done as I wanted it to  be but the inside needed a few more minutes.

I’m a little undecided on the apple chunks. I think I would like them better if I used a firmer apple, but the Jonagolds I used were a little soft.  Don’t get me wrong, I like the apple in the bread, I just think I would’ve rather used a Gala apple.

I do recommend this bread.  It was easy to throw together, it had great texture and, oh yeah, it tasted pretty darn good, too.

Hope your week got off to a better start than ours!

{Recipe here}

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I was going to share some treats with you today, but I think I’m going to have to go with something a little cuter and a heckuva lot sweeter.

I’ve told you before that Morgan’s not much for cuddling while Monte never lets an opportunity to snuggle go by.  Well, Morgan must’ve been really tired last night from all the laying around in front of the fire she did all day because she didn’t get up from her bed in a huff when Monte had the audacity to let his head touch hers.

Actually, they are more than just touching.  Monte’s got his head ON Morgan’s.

I’m sure Monte was in seventh heaven with Morgan letting him do this.

Right, Monte?  “Shh, don’t wake her up, she never lets me do this.”

Anyone notice that the wall behind the dogs looks a little bare?  Well, they were playing Wednesday morning and somehow tugged on one of the curtains so that the thing in the wall, the thing that holds the rod, broke.

See how only a very small portion of the bottom of the thingamajig on the left is still up there?

So now I have to see if I can buy a new set of these things and if I can’t, hopefully my oh-so-handy McHusband can glue the two pieces back together and make it good as new.

It would appear that I have made it to my due date!  While I had (Who am I kidding – while I STILL have) relatively selfish reasons for wanting to make it through the weekend, can I just tell you how happy I was to get home on Wednesday after more than four hours on snowy, icy roads (a drive that normally takes maybe 30 minutes) and to STAY home on Thursday?  We are very thankful that the McBaby didn’t decide to up the ante a little bit and make this snowstorm that much more interesting by forcing us to drive in the ice to the hospital.  He’s totally getting a car on his 16th birthday.

(Oh, by the way: Monday is President’s Day (Happy Birthday, George!) and it’s also a company holiday so I’d normally not post anything that day.  So don’t think no post = a baby unless you see something in the Instagram pictures to indicate that coincidence.)

TGIF!

{Recipe Recap} Browned Butter Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Bars

Another productive weekend thanks to the McBaby’s imminent arrival.  We went out to dinner with friends Friday night and I got my cheeseburger-and-fry fix.  On Saturday, the McHusband and I went to the Carolina Theatre and saw Defending the Caveman, which was a one-man “show.”  I say “show” because he was kinda like a stand-up comic, but his routine was presented a little like a play.  He was pretty entertaining.  Before we headed to Durham that afternoon, we set up the tripod on the patio and snapped a few photos.

Sunday was my day for chores and baking and making what may be our last pre-baby homemade (by me) Sunday-night dinner.

We had Turkey and Quinoa Meatloaf, steamed cauliflower, and edamame.  I made the meatloaf once before and I think the cook time was wrong so it was a little dry.  This time, I used my meat thermometer and pulled the meatloaf out at 40 minutes and it was great.

So I have a coworker whose birthday is the 17th.  Between the baby and the fact that the 17th is a company holiday, I wanted to bring his birthday treat a little early.

I chose these bars because Jamie likes cinnamon.  And, well, so do I.

At first, I thought maybe these bars were going to lose points for being too cakey, but they proved me wrong.  They weren’t overly gooey, they weren’t too dry, they were just right.

I threw some white chocolate chips in along with the cinnamon chips.  I’m not sure they were necessary, but I like the way they look.

The cinnamon-sugar mixture on top made the bars a little crackly and of course amped up the cinnamon flavor.

The recipe calls for browning the butter first rather than just melting it.  If you don’t feel like taking the time to do that, I think they would still be fabulous with non-browned butter.

One last picture, a behind-the-scenes look at my little photoshoot this afternoon.

Morgan is a professional napper, she doesn’t let anything get in the way of her snoozin’.

After my baking and picture-taking, I got busy around the house.  My toilets are scrubbed, my floors are vacuumed, swept, and mopped, animal beds are washed, and my laundry is done.  So if the McBaby comes this week, at least the house is clean.  And if he doesn’t, well, at least it won’t be that hard to clean the house again next weekend.

Hope your week’s off to a great start!

{Recipe here}

Snow much fun!

We had a snow day here in NC on Wednesday.  The timing could’ve been better as I had a doctor’s appointment and my doctor is within walking distance of my office.  Luckily, the McHusband was home as well so he went with me and by “went with me,” I mean he drove us into Raleigh and took me to lunch.

But before all that fun, we spent some time playing with the dogs in the backyard before going next door and visiting with the neighbors who were sledding with the kids.

Morgan and Monte in the snow

I know this picture’s out of focus, but I love the crazy look on Monte’s face.

I took a work phone call while we were outside and I can prove it.

Pretty puppy.  Morgan’s going to be 10 this year.

I may have thrown snow at Monte’s face and the McHusband got photographic proof of that, too.

Checking out what the neighbors are up to.

They were nice enough to share there saucers and sleds with us.

Surely the McHusband will go around the fire pit.

Or not.

He had better luck on the saucer and looks happy after that ride down the hill.

Trying the sled again.  The good news is he doesn’t run into the fire pit.

The bad news is he doesn’t stay on the sled.

My turn!

Last picture of the morning.  Ready or not, Monte’s coming for you!

Hope you guys had as good a Wednesday as we had!