Puppy Lover’s Poem

Golden puppy Sprocket

We just re-discovered this poem written by D. Lyman whose family stayed at Dog Bark Park two summer’s ago. Our puppy, now 10 months old and 75 pounds heavy looks mostly like a grown golden retriever, yet he’s still very much a puppy in spirit & has not tired of chasing butterflies or birds.

My Puppy

His gentle puppy breath, so warm and skunky sweet.
Paws that trip and stumble over everything they meet.
Liquid eyes, not quite focused, filled with purest trust.
And when he sleeps, sweet puppy dreams, legs that kick and thrust.

Sometimes he’s slow to understand, but he only wants to please.
It’s just his mind that wanders after everything he sees.
A bird or butterfly, each a strange and new delight.
And every blowing leaf is a challenge to a fight.

His body trembles with excitement each time I speak his name.
A harsh word from my mouth fills his heart with grief and shame.
Every moment I’m away is a lifetime in his mind.
A more selfless love, a truer friend, I will never find.
—————————–

While writing this blog our puppy Sprocket has finished a favorite activity, shredding a cardboard box into tiny pieces scattering them throughout the house of course! Job completed, he’s now napping on the cool tile floor until some other enticing play opportunity catches his fancy.

Fall 2009 Newsletter

In this newsletter:

New Outdoor Art

Scarecrows

Customer Photos

Social Media/Blogs/Reviews

Vacation Info/Reservations

Dear Friends of Dog Bark Park,

No, we’ve not run off with a pack of stray dogs. But, we have strayed from being in touch with you. Our last newsletter was back in February & we’ve missed writing.

This past winter was both a delight and a challenge. A delight because of our new puppy, Sprocket, who is now 9 months old. A challenge since Dennis suffered through an extended illness.

This summer was our busiest season ever. We’re deeply honored that guests have arrived from all corners of the country and world to experience Idaho’s famous big dog. Meeting and visiting with everyone enriches our lives tremendously and makes long days a pleasure.

New Outdoor Art

When Dennis’ health returned along with warm weather in late May he sprang into creative activity. Before long, what appeared to be a haphazard tangle of steel rods and plywood was transformed into a 12-foot tall stucco coffeepot resembling the ceramic CorningWare ones of yesteryear.

Why a coffee pot for our outdoor art gallery? Well, it does coordinate with our retro giant toaster carving. And, the cornflower pattern Corning coffeepot is an iconic American household object that blended technological advances of the time (1950’s-1970’s) with pleasing design & superb functionality.

We are hoping to collect each Corning cornflower coffee & tea pot model made. So far we have 6 different ones. If you have a model not shown in thephoto we’d love to hear from you.

Eventually the collection will be displayed inside the big coffeepot, which may become the world’s tiniest coffeepot museum! We’ll highlight the story behind Corning’s cornflower pots along with personal vignettes from coffeepot & teapot owners. Also included will be the path that led us to create the big coffeepot for visitors to enjoy.

Scarecrows

When Fall arrives in Cottonwood, Idaho, so do scarecrows. They appear at businesses and in yards all around town. We enjoyed making Miss Canine Scarecrow from studio “finds”. Sprocket contributed the dog-bone bowtie from his stash of toys. Standing at the entrance to our parking lot, Miss Canine hopes to scare away any crows or cats that attempt to trespass as Halloween approaches. She also cheerily waves a welcome to all beings of the humankind.

Customer Photos

We appreciate receiving photos from Dog Bark Park visitors or from recipients of our dog carvings. We share a few in each newsletter.

Last summer a classic car group scheduled a pit stop at Dog Bark Park and we permitted this pretty car to drive across our lawn for a unique shot.

Young Hunter’s picture was snapped as he enjoyed a picnic lunch with Wooden Grandpa & his wooden grandchildren. Hunter’s big sandwich is dry as a board since it’s a wood carved concoction!

If you wish to share photos for future newsletters just e-mail them to us & be sure to include a little background about the picture.

Social Media/blogs/reviews

It’s a brave new world out there in the social media realm. And we’re entering it one paw at a time! We post several blogs each month & also upload most of them to Twitter and FaceBook. Recent articles have been about special area attractions & activities, behind the scenes info about our breakfast foods, ways we conserve & recycle, etc.

Options to connect are:

• http://dogbarkpark.wordpress.com
• http://www.twitter.com/dogbarkpark
• http://www.facebook.com/dogbarkpark

We also invite you to post a review of your experience at Dog Bark Park at any of these sites:

• http://www.dogbarkparkinn.com
• http://www.iloveinns.com/innreviews.php?write=34423
• http://www.tripadvisor.com/UserReview

Vacation/Getaway Planning/Reservations

We’ll be hibernating the big dog for the winter in early November. Reservations for next season are already coming in. If your thoughts include travel to Idaho we’re happy to provide itinerary ideas.

Dog Bark Park Inn Bed & Breakfast – Where Being in this doghouse is a GOOD thing?

Website: www.dogbarkparkinn.com.

E-mail us at frances@dogbarkparkinn.com

Telephone 208 962-3647.

Enjoy all the splendors of Fall & be well.

Dennis J Sullivan & Frances Conklin        2421 Business Hwy 95 at the Dog,  Cottonwood , ID 83522

Dog Bark Park Inn – Bed and Breakfast and World’s Biggest BeagleWhere being in the dog-house is a GOOD thing!Visit our website: http://www.dogbarkparkinn.com

Email: frances@dogbarkparkinn.com
For Reservations 208-962-3647

Idaho Leaves will be Falling Soon

While our maple leaves are turning crimson & gold,  temperatures are falling from crisp to cold.   Record lows are forecast for the next few nights. At Dog Bark Park today’s high was only 36.  With winter coats &  bright sunny skies the day was pleasant though for tending to outside Fall chores. 

Here’s hoping our Halloween jack o’lantern won’t be seeing any snows like this for awhile.

Grinning no matter what the weather!

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s an interesting recipe for preserving the color of Fall’s fleeting foliage. Here’s how: 

1. Pick small branches when leaves are in their fall prime & right away place stems into water.

2. Boil one part liquid glycerin (available from pharmacies) and two parts water for about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat & let the solution cool.

3. Remove branches from water and pick off curled or damaged leaves.

4.  Mash the stems with a hammer.  This will increase absorption of the glycerine solution.  Or, use a sharp knife to cut length-wise slits in the stems. 

5. Stand stems in the solution and place container in a dark, cool place for a few weeks for the solution to be absorbed.  In a couple of weeks you should be able to feel it on the leaves.  Remove branches from the solution & wipe leaves with a soft cotton cloth.  Place in pretty containers or scatter across a table top or mantle.  Note: colors may deepen somewhat over time.  Enjoy the leaves for several seasons.

We’ll be issuing a very long overdue e-newsletter in a couple of weeks.  If you’d like to receive a copy click here, or subscribe by visiting our home page, lower left column.

Scarecrow Canine makes Appearance

It’s Fall, the air is crisp, harvest on the prairie is completed & out come scarecrow decorations in Cottonwood, including a special one at Dog Bark Park.

Scarecrow Guard Dog on Duty

This Saint Bernard-ish lady scarecrow has a chainsaw carved head, wood shavings stuffed body, dog bone necklace & cheerily waves to passersby.   

Stay away crows & cats - Humans are welcome!

 Scarecrows decorate downtown & around town in Cottonwood each Fall.  This year the Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce will name a Best of the Best Scarecrow, awarding the winning creator some chamber dollars to spend locally.  Each day more decorations appear in town as the calendar ticks closer to Halloween.

Fall Getaway for Fun and Learning

Experience the big beagle & stretch your knowledge.  Take a one-day class and then spend the night in the big dog at Dog Bark Park Inn B&B.

Choose from two classes:

Intro to Herbal Salves & Tonics – Sat Oct 17, 2009

Taught by herbalists from the Monastery of St. Gertrude at Cottonwood in this hands-on class learn how you can benefit from the use of local herbs to enhance your health and well-being.  Students will make their own salves and taste tonics.

Noon meal at the Monastery Dining Room is included.

Saturday, Oct 17, 2009  9am -2:30pm.

Course Fee: $35 (includes lunch).  

Location: Monastery of St. Gertrude Kitchen, Cottonwood, Idaho.

Top 10 (and more) Tips for Computer Care  – Mon Oct 19. 2009

Learn tips about viruses, spyware, backups, security and much more to keep your computer in tip-top shape.  Taught by a Microsoft Certified Professional with 15 years in the computer industry.

Monday, Oct. 19, 2009  5:30-8:30 pm

Course Fee:  $49.50

Location:  Grangeville Outreach Computer Lab, Grangeville, Idaho

For registration/reservations/more info:  phone us at Dog Bark Park, 208 962-3647

Play & Stay Fall Golf Special

Announcing  -  Kennel Up and Tee Off Fall Golf Package

Book a stay at Dog Bark Park Inn B & B and play Grangeville Country Club Golf Course in Sept or Oct 2009.  Receive $15 in Dog Bark Park golf bucks to use towards Grangeville County Club green fees or clubhouse purchases. 

Grangeville Idaho public golf course

This is a nice community 9 hole course with sweeping views of the Camas Prairie and surrounding mountains.  Amenities include a pro shop, snack bar & driving range.  Play is unhurried & friendly.

Please mention this special when contacting us for reservations.

September and October are usually gorgeous here.  Crisp evenings with sunny days.  Usually our rains don’t start arriving until late October or well into November.   Whatever the weather, we’ll have snuggly flannel sheets on the bed for cozy dreaming about favorite hounds and golf games!

Kennel up with 26 dogs on the Headboard

Seeing is believing – Combine Demolition Derby

What do you get when you put a dozen or so decorated old harvest machines (combines) together in a small rodeo arena all trying to wreck into each other to be the last one running?  Action, noise, excitement, dust, laughs, cheers, fun, disbelief – an afternoon of family entertainment like nothing else!

Combine Demoliton Derby

Where?  Nezperce, Idaho  (not far from Dog Bark Park)

When?  Sunday, Sept 27, 2009

Who? Lewis County Fair Finale, sponsored by Nezperce Lions Club

Why? Celebrate end of grain harvest season.  Raise a little money for the community of Nezperce projects such as the Lewis County Fair.

Where to stay? At Dog Bark Park Inn B&B, of course!

More info?   contact us at Dog Bark Park.

A few words about our Breakfasts

Prairie's Best Fruited Granola & other breakast selections

Sweet nutty aromas of our freshly baked Prairie’s Best Fruited Granola drifting through the house prompt this article.  It is one of our featured breakfast selections.  Made in small batches with oatmeal, sunflower & seasame seeds, honey, canola oil & other healthful grains & nuts this recipe has been a family staple for over thirty years.  For our inn guests I add colorful bits of dried fruits such as cranberries, papaya, pineapple, & raisins.  Yummy with milk, yogurt, applesauce or eaten just plain like trail mix!

Another breakfast specialty is our home-baked yeast dough fruit filled coffee breads.  We like to use local fruits; often peaches, rhubarb, blackberries, nectarines, apples, huckleberries.   Some, like the blackberries & huckleberries grow wild along the river banks & and in the mountains nearby.  

Strawberry Huckleberry Cream Cheese Coffee Bread

Picking blackberries along Clearwater River

This summer we have a quart of mountain harvested huckleberries, picked by our son on his way from Missoula, Montana to Idaho.  What a welcome surprise!  His visit, and the precious huckleberries which I am sharing with our guests in our coffee breads.

Healthful fruit muffins are another regular breakfast feature.  [By the way, all breakfast foods are in the big dog at time of guest check-in.  Either on the counter or in the undercounter refrigerator.  This allows guests to eat breakfast at a time & in the attire of their choosing.  At midnight and in their jammies if desired!]  Rhubard raisin or moist banana brown sugar muffins are guest favorites.

Breakfasts are rounded out with plenty of fresh fruit, yogurts, cheeses, dry cereals, milk, vegetable & fruit juices, teas/coffee, etc.  I’ve always enjoyed cooking & it has been my pleasure to extend friendship to our guests through my signature healthful baked foods.

A few notes about being “green”, naturally

Being environmentally sensitive in our practices at Dog Bark Park has always been our practice  for both the bed & breakfast and the chainsaw art components of our business at Dog Bark Park.

This article will cover some of the ways we endeavor to be earth-friendly at the big dog bed & breakfast. 

1.  We use as earth friendly cleaning products as much as possible.  We wash windows, mirrors & other surfaces with vinegar solutions using reusable cotton cloths, for instance. 

2.  We do not use disposable dishes, preferring instead china dishes.  Drink glasses & serving dishes are clear glass and our cutlery is heavy shiny stainless. 

3.  Whenever possible we hang dry the laundry.  We do this not only to return precious moisture to the atmosphere & avoid unnecessary electric consumption, but because we enjoy the task.  What better way to spend a few moments than being under the fragrant boughs of a giant spruce tree that partially shades our clothes line.  When the breezes float through it is delicious evergreen music!   Additionally, we’ve found our guests enjoy the natural fragrance of sun-dried sheets.

Clematis flowers at clothesline

  This week  we are also enjoying the pretty blossoms of a clematis vine that winds its way through the outer ends of our clothes lines.  The humidity in Idaho during summer is very low.  Most laundry items are dry in less than an hour’s time!

4.  We use very little pre-packaged food items, preferring instead to do the baking & cooking ourselves.  For instance, our Prairie’s Best Fruited Granola is made from bulk-food ingredients purchased from the local health food store. 

5.  Whenever possible we use locally grown foods to serve fresh or to bake into muffins & coffee breads.  Some summers we pick wild blackberries from along the banks of the Clearwater River. 

Picking Blackberries for Dog Bark Park pastries

Sometimes we’re fortunate to find & pick precious Idaho mountain huckleberries to share them with our guests by baking them into our pastries.

Idaho Rhubarb Brown Sugar Muffins - a Guest Favorite

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.  Exterior lights are on automatic dawn/dusk switches to avoid unnecessary usage.   Heating/cooling equipment is set to PowerSave until guests arrive.  We encourage natural cooling & warming  by opening/closing windows and window coverings, etc.

7.  Except for a small grassy area beneath the big beagle & a few selected plants, we do no outside watering at Dog Bark Park.   Most of our landscaping is natural field grasses, plus plantings of pines, maples, poplars & drought resistant shrubs & bulbs that must survive on Mother Nature’s weather & precipation. 

Blooming Sage & Honeysuckle Shrub

This sage, for instance, has grown from a tiny cutting to a lovely plant that now overflows its container.  We’re glad to share a cutting with any visitors that would like an easy, attractive plant.  The hummingbirds heavily visited the sage a few weeks ago when the blooms were prime.

We hardly could imagine the dry root honeysuckle sprig could grow nearly 10-feet tall as the planting instructions suggested.  After a decade, we are trimming these bushes to keep them managable!

Their berries are turning red right now adding color once again as the green leaves fade with summer’s heat.

Each year we see more bird life at Dog Bark Park as our grounds mature providing a variety of cover for them.  Yesterday we watched a family of California Quail traverse from our log yard along the perimeter tall grasses to the lower portion of our property below the big beagle where they pecked about in the mowed field grass until disappearing into tall rushes.  We see bluebirds, waxwings, finches, hawks, flickers, tree swallows, meadowlarks, owls,  and all the usual town birds.    Feels good to know Dog Bark Park is providing for the birds.  And, they in turn, are providing natural pest control along with the pleasures of their song and beauty.

Thoughts on an Idaho Summer

What’s great about Summer in Idaho?   Abundant sunshine.  Blue skies.  The slow turn of prairie & canyon lands from green to amber.  Short mosquito season.  Warm breezes, open windows.  Visitors arriving from all over.  Fresh local fruits & vegetables.  Hanging laundry outdoors in the fragant dry air.  A full palette of outdoor activity options.  Catching the stillness of the very moment when the summer sun sets.  These are just a few reasons to celebrate summer in Idaho!

Enjoy summer with us through this sampling of images.  Better yet; come visit & experience Idaho yourself!

Flag Face

Sprocket, our golden retriever pup, walks with us every morning to put out this flag.  When younger than his now rather grown-up age of six months, he used to bark at the face .  This photo was taken shortly before the 4th of July.

Bicycle Boy RodneyMeet Rodney, our perpetual wooden biker kid! He rides out every morning to the grassy bank near the road. There, in his own innocent way, he reminds speedy drivers to slow down as they enter town. Then, at day's end he rests in our studio/giftshop until we arrive next day. Sage plant in bloom

 We were given a small sprig of sage a few years ago & now it has taken over the rock birdbath sharing space with it on a log pedestal.  Hummingbirds even found the lush blooms attractive this summer.  Visitors to Dog Bark Park are welcome to take a clipping  home for their gardens as a remembrance of Idaho.

 

August Rainbow over Dog Bark Park

And on a warm dusty dog day in late August, a special rainbow may just about take your breath away!  The magic of the moment.  It’s Idaho.