goodbye, sweetie

 

kim: peanut and i have had a wonderful life together. we moved to saint paul and eventually chicago, where she spent her final years. she also gained a stepmom along the way, affectionately referred to as her second favorite person in the world.

road trips, lazing on the couch, sneaking naps on the human bed, digging a foxhole to lie in on a hot day, lying in the sun on a cool day, playing with dog friends, hiking, playing ball and frisbee and sticks, sleeping in ridiculous positions, asking if it's time for dinn'r yet, being my office dog, so many walks and skritches and love.

the above photo is peanut on her 15th birthday.

on may 22, 2023, after some months of living with cancer, we did an in-home euthanasia, with peanut fittingly wrapped up in her super-cool unicorn blanket.

peanut, p-nutty goodness, peanut buster parfait, sweetie...thank you for being my dog. i love you. i'll see you on the other side.

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peanut: ...

report card

kim: one of my favorite kennels that i take peanut to has a nice perk: they give you a report card for your dog, so you know how they behaved during their visit.  peanut typically gets pretty good marks, although the first time she was there for a week, she lost her appetite after a few days; poor dog probably thought i was never coming back, as her stays are usually for weekends.

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peanut: the "now boarding" jail is pretty nice. i like it here, as long as it's for only a few days.

portrait of a 5 year old

kim: peanut is spending her 5th birthday in chicago. she is on the road with me while i'm traveling for work.  despite being in a new place, she is managing to make herself at home.

happy birthday, p-nutty goodness!

--

peanut:  is that my present over there?

winter fun

kim:  peanut and i enjoy going to the dog park most days, but once in a while we like to mix it up and head to a local park.  one nearby state park, fort snelling, has miles of ski and snowshoe trails to enjoy on a mild winter day.  a 2-mile hike through snow gets us both nice and tired.  if nobody is around, i let peanut go off leash; then she probably gets in about 4 miles, as she likes to run ahead on the trail then zoom back.

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peanut:  i love running free!  hey, is that a deer?

thanksgiving

kim:  we hosted thanksgiving this year, which meant 12 people and 1 dog in a small space.  nobody went to the hospital with food poisoning, so i'm calling it a success.  peanut hung around the table a lot, hoping for some scraps.

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peanut:  nobody was a messy eater.  rats.  but i did get a piece of turkey with my dinn'r.  yum.

boring?

kim:  wow, peanut apparently hasn't had anything to blog about for a couple months.  things must be getting boring around here.

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peanut:  it's okay.  i get to ride in the car almost every morning for the coffee shop and errands.  and we go to the park almost every day.  and i really like napping.

road trip

kim:  peanut and i packed up and took a 10-day road trip.  we made it all the way to the pacific!  points of interest along the way were yellowstone national park (dogs can't do much at national parks, fyi), dog-friendly restaurants in oregon, the ocean, dog-friendly rest stops, grand teton, and much more.

more trip pics

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peanut:  that was the longest car ride ever!  i liked the rest areas the best.  we played ball if there weren't too many people around.

twins!

kim:  i played in a bonspiel in green bay last weekend.  we stayed with the sister of one of my teammates.  their dog, a very sweet 16-year old named makani, looked sooo much like peanut!  i hardly missed peanut at all, since it was like i had her with me.

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peanut:  she looks just like a coconut retriever!

dog wash

kim:  since peanut's coat sheds dirt so well, she probably doesn't get a bath nearly as often as she should.  but on a hot day, it's a good way to cool down.  i am not certain that peanut fully appreciates this - she doesn't seem to like it very much when i set up the dog wash, even on a hot day.

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peanut:  excuse me, i have to go shake.

lazy summer days

kim: it's been in the 90s for quite a few days, with another week predicted.  this summer could be a real cooker.  i like to consider warm weather an invitation to relax and read, or sometimes follow peanut's lead and just take a nap.

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peanut:  they call it the dog days of summer for a reason.  we know what to do with the heat!

plan b

kim:  peanut and i intended to go to the "high bridge" (the new dog park in town located under what's commonly called the high bridge), but when we got there, a sign indicated it was closed for construction today.  boo.  luckily, it's only a short distance from where peanut's friend ani lives, so we took the opportunity to visit and take a walk along the river.

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peanut:  i love visiting ani!  we can to go the high bridge another day.

high bridge dog park

kim:  yippee, there is a new dog park in saint paul!  it's called the high bridge dog park.  it can be accessed from shepard road by taking randolph ave se, and is nestled beneath the smith ave high bridge between shepard road and the mississippi river.

peanut got to enjoy the opening day festivities with her coconut retriever friends bella and maggie.

another special treat - i got to meet the new (human) addition to our friends' family - a real cutie named adelia mae.  she's got quite a grip, i think she'll be a rock climber.

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peanut:  the high bridge is only a mile and a half from home, so we could go there almost every day!

climbing gym

kim:  peanut likes to go to the climbing gym with me.  i tether her to a picnic bench while i go inside.  sometimes, there is another dog outside to socialize with.  but most of the time, she just greets people who walk by.  or hides under the picnic bench.

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peanut:  always warm up properly before engaging in strenuous exercise.  i recommend doing upward dog and downward dog [demonstrated].

snake

kim:  i saw peanut sniffing at something in the yard.  turned out to be a little garter snake.  luckily, the snake wasn't budging a muscle, so i had time to grab the camera and take a picture.

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peanut:  hmm, not sure if i should bite it before it bites me...

graffiti

kim:  i was amused at this.  when texting, i will refer to peanut as pnut.

not sure whether or not this a step up from peeing on it, though...

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peanut:  this is my territory.

weekend with friends

kim: i was away for another bonspiel (curling tournament) this weekend.  my friend karen was kind enough to take peanut for the weekend, so she got a chance to stay with her friends jake (pictured) and lash.  when peanut got home, she totally conked out, so she must have had a good time.

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peanut:  it was a great weekend.  jake and i wrestled and played a lot, and lash and i snuggled up in my kennel together.  i hope they come to my house some time.

winter nap

kim: nothing like a nap in the sun on a cold winter day.

peanut has very delicate ears - you can almost see through them.

see through my wallet: $4444.24

--

peanut: [sweet dreams]

kidnapped

kim: the heart of the curling season is just past, which means i was recently traveling quite a bit; that meant a lot of jail time for peanut.  one weekend, we mixed it up and my friend carol took care of her.  the photo depicts what she looked like most of the weekend.  apparently, she only came out for food and walks and the occasional back scratch.

i think this was because, due to logistics, carol picked up peanut from my house after work - after i'd already left town.  the poor dog must have thought she was being kidnapped.

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peanut: i'll just wait in my house.  when mom realizes i'm gone, she will know to look for me here.

happy to be home

kim: i went to san antonio this year, my first warm-weather christmas ever.  i thought it would be really strange, but it was quite nice.  and since st. paul had a brown christmas, i didn't even miss snow.  peanut didn't get to go along, but spent a few days in the kennel (affectionately referred to as jail).

we had a little scare, as i forgot to bring along her vet records, so they didn't want to let me drop her off.  fortunately, i was able to talk them into letting me leave her there in "quarantine" until i could get home to e-mail over images of the documents (how did i survive before i had an iphone?).  and to top it off, i forgot her collar and leash, so i used a bungee cord from the car.  good thing my head is attached...

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peanut:  jail wasn't too bad.  i like being around all the other dogs.  i made new friends in the lobby while mom was talking with the people.  but i'm very happy to be home on my own couch!

making tracks

kim:  the weather has been pretty warm recently - for december in minnesota, anyway.  it was above freezing, which means the ground was soft.  soft ground sticks to little dog paws really well.

guess the dirty dog checkpoint was closed when peanut came through.  must have been break time for the rag (why did i let them unionize?!).

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peanut:  it's like hansel and gretel.  if i get lost, i can follow my tracks home.