"Maybe that's what life is... a wink of the eye and winking stars." --Jack Kerouac
I love what I do here at Piri's Place -- having dog guests stay for daycare and overnight stays and Piri being the kind of host who doesn't mind sharing everything -- from his water bowl, toys, blankets and his bed. Well.. of course he too likes to take some of the guests' beds for a test run. We even found him one time snuggled inside a super tiny dog bed that was too small for him but he found a way to fit inside it just fine.
My two favorite things are dogs and photography and it just so happens that through DogVacay and Piri's Place I get to do two of my favorite things together - take care of dogs and take photos of them and share with their humans.
I love what I do here. It makes me incredibly happy, and I feel extremely lucky and grateful for this opportunity.
I love what I do here. It makes me incredibly happy, and I feel extremely lucky and grateful for this opportunity.
A while back, I saw these incredibly cute clothespin dolls on Pinterest and wanted to try and make them on my own. They were a great way to use some of my scrap pieces of yarn and get nice decorations for our shelves as well.
What I used:
+ Clothespins
+ Scrap pieces of yarn
+ Knitting needles
+ Scissors {to cut yarn}
+ Embroidery needle (to weave ends in}
+ Felt
+ Hot glue gun
+ Marker
What I did:
I used simple stitches -- knit 2 purl 2 and also knit one row purl one row combos to make the sweaters. I cast on about 8 stitches I believe but of course this would change depending on what size needles you'll be using. I used US Size 10.
The skirt is felt and I picked up a combination of brown and black. I thought they would go nicely with the yarn colors I had. I used a hot glue gun to secure it against the clothes pin.
Finally I used a Sharpie marker to draw the eyes and hair although I kind of wished I didn't because it was runny and made it look a little messy.
What do you think? I know they are dressed for the winter and we are well into spring but that's ok. I think they look stylish for spring weather, no?
Right now there is a popular Korean TV show on the Korean cable networks called "Sam Shi Se Kki (삼시세끼)." It literally means Three Meals a Day. Basically the premise of the show recruits a pair of celebrities to experience a certain location - either on some farmland or near the ocean, far away from the city. From there, they have to prepare three meals, which is done using only the ingredients, resources and cooking tools available to them {and they aren't the fancy ones you find in modern kitchens. Stoves and ovens also don't exist and cooking is done over live fire}. Special guests also make appearances so they can experience on a more short term basis
Anyway, there is a famous Korean actor named Cha Seung Won and he was part of the team that experienced the oceanside. He was widely popular because of how well he as able to prepare meals. He was able to whip up many dishes and side dishes, even baking bread and pizza, knowing just what types of ingredients were needed.
One of the more simpler things he made was called Gut Jul Ri. I'm not really sure what that means exactly. I asked Yangkyu and he didn't know either. But he thinks Gut Jul Ri literally means "Seasoning the Outside" ("Gut - 겉" means outside and "Jul Ri - 절이" means seasoning). Perhaps it is named this way because this can literally be prepared and eaten in less than 10 minutes (not even). For those who are not familiar, kimchi usually takes a long time to prepare - from soaking the napa cabbage in salt so that it loses its firmness, to seasoning it and finally letting it ferment. Gut Jul Ri doesn't need a lot of the fancy seasoning that a regular kimchi needs and it is prepared so that it can be eaten right away.
I made it for the first time the other day and while it was a bit bland, it was still tasty.
We picked up a smaller sized napa cabbage from a Korean grocery nearby. I then took off a few leaves, maybe six or seven, and gave them a wash. I dried them off with a paper towel and chopped them up into edible, chewable pieces. Although, next time, I think I will wash them a bit earlier and let it dry a little more. I realized that the cabbage lets out a lot of water which then watered down the seasoning hence the bland taste. Make the seasoning {see below} and add to the chopped napa cabbage and mix by hand or spoon.
The seasoning only took these simple steps:
+ 2 or 3 spoonfuls of dried hot pepper flakes (might need more or less or 3 may just be perfect)
+ 2 spoonfuls of sesame oil
+ 1 spoonful of sugar
+ 1 spoonful of Sand Lance Sauce*
+ 1 spoonful of hot pepper paste
+ A little bit of vinegar
I think other people add maybe a bit of minced garlic, sesame seeds and also chopped green onions. I didn't.
It's funny because when I started to cook more I would follow recipes to the T. But with Korean dishes, I find that sometimes people don't give exact measurements. I think it's because many people eyeball it or moms and grandmas, they just know. It's all about a feeling they have. And it's exactly this way with my parents.
In the past I asked them how they made certain dishes which were a favorite of mine growing up and I just never really understood their directions. I wondered why they couldn't they just say 1 tablespoon of soy sauce instead of "a bit of" or "pour just the right amount of." But now I'm beginning to appreciate that more. It seems a bit more authentic or a bit more personal -- like it's the same dish but prepared a little differently in different households. And the way we prepare it tells the story of our family.
I began to write some of these recipes down in a little notebook. The ingredient section looks ridiculous - it's written half in Korean and half in English and the measurements and directions sometimes aren't specific. But I feel like it's something that I can keep in our family from now on. The dishes as prepared by my parents, living on in my generation and hopefully on to the next.
Do you have something similar that holds recipes handed down from generation to generation in your family?
This weekend we have a couple of DogVacay guests staying with us. I am hoping to dabble in a bit more crafts and steal away some time to read. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
*This stuff smells like fish, meaning it's stinky and might be a little
harsh to people who are not familiar with it. But what you smell, you
can't really taste.
After going back and forth for weeks, I finally did it. I purchased a stroller for Piri. Before you roll your eyes at me and move on to your next blog reading, let me explain.
In the past whenever I saw people using strollers for their dogs I thought it was a bit silly too. Dogs were meant to walk and sniff and use their senses. Let them be dogs! Well, that was before I was living with a dog well into his senior stages in life and it was before I knew anything about special needs dogs - dogs who are blind, can't use their legs or don't have any.
When Piri came to live with me he was already 7 but he didn't have any issues with his mobility. We went on hikes together, took long walks and went on outings anywhere we could. Then the years went on and he grew more tired and became limited in distance. Most recently we noticed he couldn't go two aisles in Home Depot without resting, panting and looking really tired.
I want to continue to have quality time with Piri outdoors. The weather is getting nicer and we have the usual things we do - go out to DC, enjoy the cherry blossoms, spend time surrounded by nature. I still want to enjoy that but I don't want to do it at his expense. And so I asked around, heard stories from other dog owners who use strollers and finally purchased one last night.
I do worry and cringe at the thought about receiving eyerolls and laughs from people who may I think I'm just an over the top dramatic crazy dog lady. You know, it's the part of me that cares too much about what other people think. Especially people who don't know any better and make any situation into their little soap box or comedy. And I keep recalling back to something that someone said -- how people who use strollers for their dogs were ridiculous. Dogs are not babies.
Maybe I'm putting my insecurities on Piri and his situation. But you know what I'm most afraid of? I'm afraid that some people who know of my infertility struggles may take it as me going as far as buying a stroller for Piri because I can't have a baby. It's the kind of thought I don't want to have but people can be the most imaginative storytellers in the most unkind and cruel way.
I guess in the end this post isn't really about Piri and his stroller. It's about judgements we make about people without really knowing the back story. But for the sake of keeping the theme, if you see someone who is transporting their dog in a stroller, it may be because the dog has a health issue or is older and needs rest in-between his walks.
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