The universe is with you

If you have a bright thought today, send it my way, I will use them all to create the big magic that is going to happen this afternoon, as I step into the ritual circle to change my life. 

New year's resolutions - part 1

Woohoo there, or coucou, as we French say *lol*
So, our lovely landlady was here today to sign the inventory. I was a bit nervous about how she would react on the fact that we had already taken some of the art down and replaced the carpet in the livingroom with a cowhide. I didn't know how close to her heart the things in the flat are (which used to be her mothers - the first thing we did was take down the family pictures from above the sofa... it's just a bit weird having strangers looking down on you when you have tea.)
But she was completely cool with it. In fact, one of the first things she said when she arrived was that we should feel free to change anything we want. She also said that all the things in here are really old and she just doesn't have the time to get rid of them, so we shouldn't worry if something breaks. Well, good to know, I would say.
So we went to work and put away the last of the things that we didn't like and put up some of our pictures. Not all of them yet, but it feels more 'us' now around here. That also has a lot to do with the fact that I put up the altary. I think I should write a blogpost about all the different altarys I've had in my life... that would be quite funny. This time, I found an old shelf meant for plants on the balcony. It works really well.

Well now, back to topic: Have you made any new year's resolutions? Many people tell me they don't because nothing comes out of it anyways. But I love making plans for the new year and thinking of great things that I can do with myself and my life in the coming time. Some time between Christmas and new year I always sit down and make a list of things that I have achieved this year, an then I draw up a plan of things I want to change in the coming year. It's great to look at the plans from the last year and see how much further I've come since then.

So, for this year there are a few things that I have cooking and I will set aside at least one more blogpost to talk about them. For now, I would like to link you to two interesting challenges that will start soon and that might interest you. I'm definitely participating and it would be nice if some of you came along on the journey.

The first one is the 21-day yoga challenge from yogajournal.com that starts this coming Monday. You can choose either a beginner or intermediate program and you'll receive daily emails with asana practice, recipes and tips. There's three goals involved in this challenge: 15 minutes of meditation a day, one vegetarian meal a day and one session of asana practice (that means the actual gymnastic thing) a day. You can choose to follow all three of those goals or only one or two, just as you like. I haven't exercised since we got back from Britain and I really miss challenging my body, so I'm absolutely grateful for this little boost of motivation. I know that once I've got my body moving with some yoga positions in the morning, it will be easier to exercise, because it'll want more.

And then there's the Simple Living Pledge, by Kanelstrand. It starts in February and there's nothing in there that I haven't been working on for a while, but I always like to get inputs from somebody, and it's great to share the experience with a group. So if you are interested in making your live a little simpler, more frugal and sustainable, calm down a bit, spend more times with activities and people you enjoy, you should go and have a look at this.

Thanks for checking in here, and have fun making your own plans! :o)

A day of sewing

I spent some days last week at my parent's place and went to Bern on Saturday afternoon to meet some girls that I studied with (we still organise meetings every once in a while which is fun) - a great change of scenery! Today I slept in rrreeeally long. I'm not sure but I think the medecine is making me sleepy...
Anyway, I realised that our time here in Switzerland is running out and this means that I will not have a sewing machine for much longer (I promised my Mum I would give it back when we go abroad), so I decided I needed to revamp my relationship with Miss Bernina.
I also did some handsewing on the balcony, because I couldn't bring myself to sit in our room in the dark whils a brilliant autumn sun was shining outside.

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My score of today is:

Mended
- 1 pair of socks
- 2 dresses
- 1 pair of trousers
- 1 skirt
- 1 corset

Made
- 1 trouser = 0.5 pair of trousers ^^ (they're nearly finished but I don't know how wearable they'll be...oO)

So for tomorrow I've planned some more sewing with the fabric that I got for my birthday and that has been lying around for much too long. Let's hope that Miss Bernina will be as cooperative as today!

Do you sometimes mend clothes? It's real easy and it can double the life of your stuff. Good for your wallet, good for the environment!

Recipe: The ultimate fall breakfast

Recipes are very scarce on that blog because I normally don't cook (and if I do it is nothing that's worth mentioning) and if I bake I use recipes of other people - I'm not experienced enough to make up my own stuff.
But even a blind chicken finds a corn from time to time, as we say in German.

I have been on a quest for the perfect breakfast for a while. Ever since I've stopped eating sugar I've had muesli or bread with honey in the mornings.


But I don't like the effect dairy has on me in the morning and a bread with honey without butter doesn't taste the same.

So I've been looking for breakfast that is vegan, quick(!) and simple to make (I don't go great lenghts in the morning, there just has to be breakfast, now.), warm and sweet (we do English breakfast every once in a while but the very first thing I need in the morning is something sweet and fruity to get me going - my coffee replacement ^^).

You wouldn't think,but it is actually really hard to find something that lives up to my standards.
I've seen recipes for sweet porridge and also rice pudding that I will definitely try. My reservation with these is that they use milk replacement products like rice, coconut or soy milk which are all by themselves not unproblematic in production and come from far away, so I don't really want to make them an everyday standard.

Now last week I whipped something up in the middle of the night because I had an extraordinary case of PMS-sweet-cravings and there was nothing whatsoever that suited me.
So I raided the cupboard, took what I could find, threw it all together, and lo and behold: It came out yummi!! :o)

People here in Britain eat something similar for pudding (dessert) and they call it crumble so that's where it got the name from.

Here's how to make Apple-nut crumble

Ingredients:
3-4 medium size apples or fruit of your choice, cut into slices about 1 cm thick
2 cups ground nuts of your choice (I used hazelnut)
1 cup wheat flakes of your choice (I used oats)
0.5 cup chopped up dried fruit of your choice (I used figues)

optional: 2 tablespoons of honey with 0.5 cup of hot water

Preheat your oven to 200 °C

Put a baking sheet in a small cake form or rub it out with oil.
Spreat one layer of your fresh and dried fruit at the bottom ot the form, then cover with the ground nuts and a handful of the wheat flakes.
Repeat, but make the top layer of nuts and flakes thicker, covering the fruit as much as possible.
If you want you can now sprinkle the filling with the honeywater (I did and mine came out very sweet, so it really wouldn't have been necessary).

Put in the middle of the oven and bake for 30mts.

It is done when the fresh fruit are soft and the top is golden and crusty.

I had a small serving that night to soothe my sweet tooth and then kept the form in the fridge. The leftovers made very generous breakfast portions for two more days. I just popped it in the oven at 100 °C before I did my morning yoga and then had a great fruity sweet and filling breakfast waiting for me!

I love that this recipe is flexible enough so that you can use whatever you have at hand and don't have to get special ingredients in order to make it work.
And since in the morning I just want something that works and don't need any variety, this will definitely be my go-to recipe to keep ready for fall breakfasts.

Thanks for reading!

As the leaves are turning

The other day I felt a bit small and not really up to anything. It happens when the only possibilities you have are either to curl up under a heap of blankets in the bed in a cold room, or sit downstairs in the livingroom where it is warmer but you don't have much privacy. And I like my privacy when I work. Sometimes there are things to do around the house like bringing plants in for winter, or putting the last of the harvest safely into the cellar, or doing the laundry.
Everyone likes these chores these days because they make you warm. ^^

Anyways, it turned out to be quite a nice afternoon after all, because the sun came out and we had a little walk to the store and I picked up the golden leaves from the side of the road and then I hung them around the livingroom for decoration. They look so pretty, I didn't really need to do anything with them. I just knotted threads on and put them up. I mixed in a few feathers for variety. It's nice to have the place all autumn-y and special.

If there's still pretty leaves when we come home in two weeks, I might make a wreath for the front door. Did you do any seasonal decoration? Do you already have the pumpkins out?

The groove of today

Here's a few impressions from today's groove:

... What I saw
A lot of rain in front of the window. It's gone grey again around here. I balanced it out with a lot of colourwork in my art.

And this is my favourite picture of today:

Memories of sunny autumn days... it's not so long ago that we were able to sit around in T-shirts.
Picture from Martin.

... What I heard

A lot of mellow music. Sticking in my head these days is this:







... What I made

I did some painting that you will soon see on here, but I'm saving it for a bit. :o)
I also made candles from leftovers of old candles. I don't like throwing all that wax away. It's bad enough that all the candles I can afford these days are either made from oil-based wax or palm oil, which isn't much better... so I want them to last as long as possible.
Mixing all sorts of different colors together only gets you a boring brown of course, but I was being more practical than aesthetic this time.
I also didn't have any thread to use as a wick, so I cut up a cotton cloth and used the thick hem. They're dry now and the next time I do this I have to figure out how to avoid the 'caving in' that happens when the wax dries unevenly. It makes an uneven surface... But I hope they'll serve their purpose.

I couldn't find a nice basic tutorial for pour candles, but basically its as simple as that: Melt your wax, either in a wather bath or use an old tincan and put that directly on the stove, fix a wick into your container, pour wax in (I just read that pouring in layers and letting them dry halfway helps with the caving), let dry. Finito. (I used the lower part of beer cans as containers... >.<)
There's some really pretty sites about candles of all sorts, colors, scents... though, so I'm giving you some links:

- Pretty blog about candlemaking
- Coffee bean scented candle
- More elaborate wax recyling instructions

... What I ate

There were potatoes and curry leftover from this week's meals, so we had heated curry and I fried the potatoes. 'Only' leftovers, but it was veeery tasty!!

... What I thought

First I thought I wouldn't be able to get out of bed because I kept waking up last night... I dragged myself downstairs anyways and I got most of my boring tasks done before midday. Yay, what a feeling!
Then I tried to create a bit which didn't look good at first because I felt vaguely inspired, but not really driven, so nothing seemed to come out of whatever I tried. In the end I did get some things done and even one that I'm pretty proud of!
I also thought about flats a lot because we have started looking for a place to move to at the end of this year. It seems like there is a great opportunity for us, cross fingers and wish me that it will work out!

... What I felt

Cold! It's chilly up here in the mountains, and the house gets very cold now. We only have a woodfire oven which heats the livingroom and the kitchen. Since our room is under the roof, nights up there are brisk. I'm sleeping with woollen socks and a jumper, under two blankets. I like to work in my nook up there, but now it's just not possible anymore, so I brought my stuff down to the common room.
I really hope the temperatures will stay above zero until we move out here...

Oh, and I felt jealous as well! Whilst I even put on my only pair of jeans in the hopes that they would be warmer than two pairs of tights and a skirt and am more often than not wearing my scarf and fingerless gloves around the house, Trev is sitting upstairs in the cold room in his tracksuit bottoms, barefoot and in a freaking T-shirt!! Curse the man and his inner stove!

Hope you're doing well and feeling toasty warm wherever you are! ;o)



P.S: I put a new outfit peek up on the facebook page! If you haven't seen it yet, click here to see how I styled boy's clothes. Oh and whilst you are there, why not 'like' it? I'd be happy to see you again there! ;o)

Strategies for a stressfee and sustainable gift culture this Christmas

I really enjoy thinking of presents for other people on Christmas, as I enjoy making them. I am not a big fan of pressure and obligations, though. So I tried to list the strategies that have made Christmas work for me since a few years. Without stress and with a lot of joy and with a much clearer conscience. 

First of all...

• Make a list of people you feel you want to give presents to.
• Ask yourself how many of these people you genuinely want to make happy and where it is other factors like guilt or duty that make you want to give them something.
  
  
  
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For the people you only feel obliged, but not really moved to give a present to:

• Try imagining what the worst thing is that could happen if you don't give them a present. Would it really be that bad?
• Wouldn't a heartfelt (handmade?) card make you feel better than a half-heartedly bought present?
• If you still want to give them something, try asking them if there's anything they would be happy about.

If you still feel like you should give them something:

• Homemade cookies are rarely the wrong choice.
• Try to think of something that will be a present to more than only the receiver: Supporting an institution with a cause that you both believe in, or buying the present from an artist in your community or a small shop that you like will at least give some sense to the act and maybe make you feel more satisfied with the whole thing.
• Try to avoid desperate impulse buys of funny wine corks, non-subtle aprons and cute dust-collectors. They are rarely appreciated and most of it is badly produced junk that will weigh heavy on your environmental and social bill.

Necessary?

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For all the people you really want to give something to...

... but really don't know what:

• Ask them. Tell them that you really couldn't think of anything they'd need and you want to make sure they're happy about their present. Tell them that if they don't come up with anything they need, you'll make them a bag of cookies (or, if it seems more fit, a bottle of wine etc.), or give them a gift certificate. Most people will appreciate your thoughtfulness – nobody likes to receive a gift that they can't use. Maybe they are really very content with what they have (my dad is such a case...) and don't want anything more.
  Often it is hard to think of things that you really want when somebody is waiting for an answer. A gift certificate from a nice store (maybe one that has a sustainable philosophy?) is often a good solution for people who happen to stumble upon the perfect present in January.
• You can also profit of this fact yourself if you keep a list of gift-ideas during the year. I often get into a situation where I am with a person and I realise: „Yes, this would be a perfect gift for him/her!“ I write it down as soon as possible and it has helped me out of brainstorming-misery for many X-mases and birthdays.
  
  

...If you have an idea:

• Can you make it yourself? The best solution. You know what's in it, you know what will come out of it – and everybody appreciates the personal touch and your effort.
• Can you buy it locally/handmade/fairtrade? Two out of the three would be even better, of course! ;o)

And lastly:

• Start early. The middle of October might seem early to be freaking about Christmas for some of you. But the thing is: Because it is early, I don't have to freak. And since I have enough time to think about all the things that I've listed above, I don't get stressed and buy junk only so I can be 'guiltfree' (in our strange ways, of course) under the Christmas tree.

Christmas really is the time of year where people buy things like it was their last time. Not only presents. There's so many things we think we need so Christmas can be 'real' – and strangely enough, you can all buy them at the mall. Hallelujah!

So take a moment and think about what you really need and what things you can come up with a sustainable, more personal alternative.

This is a time where every little change can have a big influence.

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Happy preparing! ;o)

Present crazyness

I've been browsing pinterest as a morning ritual these past few days. I like it that the first things I look at on the internet are not my emails or the storm of social messages on facebook, but pictures of beautiful things.

The selection of pictures you see on this website is of course influenced by what other members pin on their boards. Thus you can see their changing interests as the seasons turn. I've seen a million pumpkin pictures, many many fall photos and more and more christmas themed pictures each day. 

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Some of them make me smile and give me that housy feeling I always get when winter approaches. It makes me want to decorate, cook nice things and invite all my friends for an evening around a fire.

But there's another side to seasons that makes my skin crawl. It's how our society has turned all these natural feelings into an opportunity to go and buy stuff.

Everything in our live is converted into a reason to consume. Christmas, of course is worst of all, because it is so centered around presents. People are made to think that they should find the perfect gift for all their friends and relatives, even if they are people they don't know that well at all, or don't like much.

As a compensation for not knowing what to get for somebody, most people just spend more money, or they go and buy completely useless and ridicculous things that they think are 'clever' or 'funny'.

In weak moments I sometimes smack my forehead with my hand and sigh: „Why are people so stupid?“

But that's not the thruth. People aren't stupid. You are not, and I am not, and you over there aren't, eather. So how come we still get sucked into the need to buy?

The weird thing is that it is so hard to lay a finger on it. It's partly the shops, the corporations, the TV, the ads... but only partly. Mostly, it's society. And who is society, if not you and me, and you over there?

We are doing this to ourselves, without even realising it. And even if we realise what is happening, we can't just stop. The wheels are too big to stop in an instant.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all against presents. I'm against blind and sensless shopping crazes.

I'm again trying to untangle my way through the holiday hype this year and find a gift-giving practise that satisfies my soul, social consciousness, and my ethic standards.

Do you have any hints and tips? What do you do to not go crazy with the presents?

I'll be back with a practical strategy for present-making before long!

Thanks for reading!

Let me show you my favourite movie!

Hello, today I wanna tell you about my newest faaaavourite movie!
We watched this film when we took out my dreads. I have never felt so captivated by the artwork of a movie - not even Lord of the Rings comes close to it, and if I say that, it means a lot.

 

It's called "The Secret of Kells" and tells the story of a young monk named Brendan who lives in Kells - a monastery and a village close to the forest in Ireland of the seventh century. Whilst the head of his order struggles to build a wall around the place to fight off raiding Vikings, Brendan discovers the beauty of the forest outside the walls.

He meets Aisling, a spirit of the forest, and the two become friends.

Then Aidan, an old monk from the island of Iona arrives and brings with him the unfinished Book of Iona. Brendan is fascinated and soon loses his heart to scripture and illustrating. Inspired by his adventrues with Aisling, Brendan continues work on the book under supervision of Aidan.

When the Vikings attack and raid Kells, the two of them escape through the forest and wander through the lands for many years before Breandan finally returns to Kells with the finished book.

The story of the film is intriguing and mixes historic facts with inspired imagination. One can feel the love for the land and culture of Ireland that was the makers motivation for the production.
The plot, however, is not exactly epic. It lacks a certain drive or focus point and since the story also has a mellow ending, it feels more like a snippet from somebody's life (which it is) than a dramatically constructed story.

That means you don't have to spend too much attention on the story and can fully endulge in the fantastic and breathtaking artwork of Ross Steward, an Irish artist and the art director of the film. His character portraits are hilarious and deep at the same time. He uses a very two-dimensional style that makes you feel as if you were looking into a storybook where everything moves. His style is very fantastic and surrealist but at the same time it captures the spirit of a situation or a place in a way that no photorealistic animation ever could.





If you have any sympathies for nature or the old culture of bookmaking and historic Ireland, do do do watch this movie - it's truly absolutely stunning!
You can also watch the official trailers on the website.
Oh, and the Book of Kells - how the Book of Iona was called later on - is real and is on display in Trinity College of Dublin, IR.

All picture credit to Ross Stewart, copyright by Cartoon Saloon.

Thanks for reading!

Let me show you the waterfall!

Three days ago it rained as if some ill meaning God wanted to fill the whole valley up with water. I was lying in my bed watchin TV, trying to ignore the pain in my bladder, feeling the house shake from the thunder, the lightning reflecting on the laptop screen.
Later in the afternoon, Felix came up to have a look out of the window and then said he'd go down into the garage and start the boat. We were all curious and so we put on our wellies and went up to the waterfall.

The waterfall is pretty impressive on beautiful days. It's a little above the village, falling down over two steps in the mountain sides. The cliffs are overgrown with moss and long grass and if you squint and concentrate on the green you can just about make yourself believe you're in a rainforest.
There used to be a mill using the strenght of the river, but the old canal has been closed up and the river merely serves the village people for cold (icy cold!) baths on hot days.

Well, these few hours of rain had changed the river's friendly face quite drastically.

Standing on the bridge you could hear the big stones moving in the water, clacking against each other and making a really odd sound that made you feel like you were under water.

 

It kept raining hard but we still snapped a few pics at the foot of the fall. There's always a draft there, but this day it was like a small storm all by itself, caused by the sheer force of the water falling from the heights.

It doesn't need much for nature to turn its nasty face on us...
The river's bed is deep and we were far from being flooded this time, but it happened only a few years ago and it's not pretty!
This time, luckily, it was only impressive, a little bit creepy, and very, very beautiful! :o)

Have you ever been really scared by nature?







Wanna know more about my life? Let me show you!

Let me show you my housemates!

Since you've seen our space already, let me now introduce you to my fabulous housemates. I adore them because they are the cooles guys ever. These are some rough (very rough) sketches I did of them. I thought it might be a fun way to introduce you to the people I sometimes mention in my posts.

Jojo is the one who brought us all together. He did the cooking in our yurt course last year and that's how we met him. He co-owns a longboard shop in Zurich, works for a project called "Schtifti" that teaches teenagers about fun sports and healthy eating and he initiated the beeschool project (which you will hear more about in another "Let me show you..." post). He's going back and forth between these jobs and all their locations constantly and only drops by a few days a week before he heads off to more great deeds. :o)

Felix is the guy you will meet most on this blog, because he's always here. He teamed up with Jojo for the beeschool project. He also does a lot of work around the house, gardening and building. He knows a lot about plants and he likes to take pretty pictures of flowers and insects. He is such a fun guy and I really love having him around. He's very interested in ecological lifestyle and has recently quit his job as an engineer to do things that he finds more fulfilling. It's so inspiring to talk with him.

Next on is the boy who's never here. So he's basically like our house ghost.You can call him Barto. He's working in Jojo's shop in Zurich all the time so he prefers to stay there. He's an avid skater and snowboarder and he likes to take pictures.
I haven't seen him since we're here but I know him a little bit from last year's yurt course (he had dreads back then). Since his room is always empty we often give it to Woofers. It's the nice room next to the balcony.

Hansjürg is something like our daddy and our kidlet at the same time. He's the oldest of us and taking care of a lot of stuff. But sometimes we also need to take care of him or clean up after him because he is like a human tornado with his energy and his gazilion ideas. He runs "Hansjürg Hess Humanitarian Foundation" (3hf), a charity project that helps people build schools and water systems mainly in India and Haiti .
He is also the owner of Tschumi.
As you can imagine, you need a lot of contacts for this job and so he  is always on the run, meeting important people around the globe, connecting them with each other and his foundation. He never stays in one place very long and you never know when he's showing up.

What a fun bunch, don't you think? I will miss them once we leave this place! Apart from our 'accidental' flatshare with three other people in Trev's last home I have never lived in a big shared place and I really enjoy it. The house is very different from a flat, if you go to your room you are much more 'for yourself' since you're on another floor than the other people and not just separated from them by a door.

Have you missed my last "Let me show you..." posts? You can read about our house, our room and the dog so far, and there's still more to come. See you! ;o)

10 Birthday wishes by Keveen!

Hi everyone and happy weekend! I hope you have great plans! ;o)
I had a strange night because I just couldn't sleep and ended up staying awake until past 8 AM... I'm used to that, it happens every now and again and I will only feel horrible tomorrow, so I just made use of the time. I spent some hours on google maps pinning all the places I wanna go in Europe and setting a route for a possible trip trough all these places. Then I did something wrong and the whole thing was gone. o.O
I think I need to buy a real life map and pin the things on there.
I'm getting all antsy about going on the road and traveling, I'm really looking forward to it. In the past I used to feel very afraid to go away on my own because the last time I did I spent a looong time missing Trev very, very badly and not really enjoying the trip. But now I feel a lot more secure. I don't really know why, maybe time, age? Or sorting things out in my life? Maybe I'm also just overestimating myself and I'll be glad the next trip is only two weeks. ;o) We'll see about that.

Travel-related, there is something really really sweet and important I want to share with you. It's Keveen' birthday. Keveen is the man behing Korakor - spread your love!, a really fascinating and inspiring project. I met him through a mutual traveling friend and he is just SO inspiring.
He made this video sharing ten things that you can do to make him happy on his special day and they are the best birthday wishes EVER!



So, pick one way to say happy birthday to an admirable man and make yourself happier at the same time! :o) If you do so, drop me a line, I'd love to share your experiences!
Thanks for reading!

Let me show you the dog!

I think I told you that I am looking after our landlady's boyfriend's dog. They are gone to Greenland for some time now and we're having Tschumi for one half of the week. The other half he stays with a family that knows him well and where they have more time for him than we do.

Me and Tschumi are getting along better these days. He was being really bratty and reserved the first few days after his owners had gone. I think now that he might just miss them so much and that's why he reacted very apathic towards me and the boys. Now this week he kept following me around the house, wanting to play with me. He was happy and jumped up when I told him we were going for a walk, instead of just trying to continue napping.

This afternoon, the landlady's parents were here to look after her garden and Tschumi didn't have a problem with that. But afterwards they came over and scorned me for leaving the door open (which I had been told to do by her because else the dog can't go in and out).
When they did that, the dog started to bark real wild, pushing between me and them and I had trouble shooing him down until they left.
I like to imagine that he wanted to protect me. :o)

Of course, he is still about as big as a small calf and if he decides that he doesn't want to listen to me, I don't have a chance. Like the other day when Trev saw a hedgehog upon coming back from a walk and Tschumi went right for it, leash (and me on the other end) or not. He got his fair share though, cause that little friend pricked his nose - serves him right, nosy dog!


I think he is just very intelligent and mostly knows exactly what he is expected to do - but he also knows that none of us stands a chance against him and that his real Master is quite far away. We're lucky he's so benevolent and decides to play 'well behaved dog' most of the time.

I even let him off the leash so we could play in the water one day when it was very hot. Even though his master almost never uses the leash I do keep him on it because there's so many things that catch his attention here and if he runs off and goes hunting after cats - or worse: fawns and rabbits! Everyone in the village will know and we'll be in real trouble.

I often go shortcuts over the fields with him because we both don't like going the same routes over and over. But because I'm not very far sighted (it's a metaphor - my eyes are fine, thank you ^^), we often get in trouble when we hit hidden rivers that cross our path, or fences and other things. One night we had to sneak up on the railway bridge to cross a deep trench. I was really scared that a train would come - just like in the movies. Of course that didn't happen.  And the dog really enjoyed the little excitement. :o)

Wouf! ...err... Thanks for reading!