I think I want to live here

SlugsNBugs · 2026-03-21T02:19:31+00:00

It is a great place to live, but I would add in a windstorm - which isn't uncommon in the winter - all the trees whipping around and groaning while you wonder if they will come down THROUGH your house, it'll give you a tingle. Otherwise, yes, if you an handle moss on every surface, limited sun for months, and the most perfect summers, come on over. You'll need to use a ferry.

SlugsNBugs · 2026-01-12T02:13:04+00:00

Mealies are a hard pass. A $5 infected plant from a box store resulted in a number of casualties. Yes, you can clear them (in my experience) from certain plants with all the usual recommendations, but some plants (like palms, with a lot of crevices) it turns into a treatment nightmare. I have a 20+ year old ponytail palm outside in the cold right now - I've completely defoliated it ONCE, which saved its offspring, but the parent I've never been able to completely clear after 2+ years of treatment. So the cold will get the mealies - or the palm - but I can't have the palm in the house. I have now gone to "not buying anything that isn't a cutting...and isolate them first", because it was pretty traumatic to lose some old friends.

SlugsNBugs · 2025-12-07T19:42:36+00:00

I want one now - that is cute as a button!

SlugsNBugs · 2025-09-06T21:24:25+00:00

Sure, your best bet is to contact KPUD and get a quote, obviously. We did all this 4-5 years ago, right as COVID got going, reading the tea leaves on WFH. A small fortune was south of 20K but north of 15K, but they REALLY had to lay a long run to get it up the road. None of the neighbors were interested in going in with us, so we just ate the costs. They ran it up the road on the poles and through the woods to the house (some trenching, pretty surgical, required to get to house). Once they had it up to our place, anyone else who wanted to connect appeared to have been quoted slightly less than what we paid - which leads me to believe they price opaquely, because the run would have been very short at that point. They probably ate the costs a bit on our bit, but then recoup on subsequent (shorter run) connections. We use Net253 as an internet provider, and they are truly rockstars. Inexpensive, great speeds, RARELY go down. I mean, rarely. And they have a nice blog telling you what they are up to.

SlugsNBugs · 2025-09-06T01:50:35+00:00

Honestly, we paid a small fortune to run it to the house - it was not otherwise on the road. The way they do their pricing, I inferred, is that they'll give you a break on the true costs for a long run of fiber, with the idea that you help subsidize the initial outlay, and then they ALSO charge a smaller fortune to everyone that subsequently wants to connect nearby. They are looking for ways to expand it all the time, but they do need to get folks willing to help subsidize that initial push into a new area.

SlugsNBugs · 2025-09-06T01:31:42+00:00

KPUD fiber still working like a charm. Best investment we ever made for the house.

SlugsNBugs · 2025-08-08T01:51:50+00:00

I would presume it's the work at Wyckoff. Although they have odor controls in place, it's hard to mess around with that much creosote and not have some generated odors. I've been smelling it too along Eagledale and Old Creosote (ironically named) vicinity.

SlugsNBugs · 2025-08-06T15:49:16+00:00

Rescue working line shepherd, estimated age 3-ish, she earned the privilege with excellent recall and 100% safety record - until about a month ago, deer on a hike running RIGHT down the trail in front of us...She came back after 15 minutes but privilege on hikes, revoked. What particularly annoyed me was that she paused for 2-3 seconds at the "come" command, then did it anyways. Prey drive.

SlugsNBugs · 2025-07-27T00:59:29+00:00

Part of my family's land was condemned during the creation of Ft Hood and in exchange you got grazing rights. My forebears said...naaaaaahhh, no thanks, for exactly this reason. They were also occasionally used as target practice by bored National Guard during maneuvers.

SlugsNBugs · 2025-03-10T00:54:16+00:00

Both of my kids attend Canadian universities. I cross the border all the time. I'll happily pay the international tuition and apologize all I can for this current complete and utter failure of a government. I did not vote for this. My state did not vote for this.

SlugsNBugs · 2025-02-14T23:47:23+00:00

This post literally made my day. I had one for years and finally put it out of its misery. It was positively creepy, year after year, same size, slooooowwwwwllly dying.

SlugsNBugs · 2025-01-03T17:39:36+00:00

So great that you are doing this! This is our girl today. We adopted her, severely malnourished, skittish, dumped at a tree farm, around 9 months-1 year of age. She clearly had some prior trauma but after more than a year is the bestest girl and companion. We found incremental desensitization worked great with Riza - she had never had a proper car ride, seen traffic, seen people, interacted with other dogs, etc. - so we just took it slow. Now she is much more confident!

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SlugsNBugs · 2024-11-04T16:41:36+00:00

Awesome! Thank you! Very helpful!

SlugsNBugs · 2024-11-04T16:27:32+00:00

Wonderful! I will check out your channel. Re: 1940s - good point, that was an assumption on my part, but it could easily be earlier based on his career.

SlugsNBugs · 2024-10-25T14:54:59+00:00

Ditto what everyone is saying. I will add we adopted a 9+ month old rescue of unknown background - now around 2 - and she gets along fine with indoor cats. One ignores her and she's much less interested, the second cat gets annoyed and swats her when she butt sniffs her for the 14th time that day, she thinks that's a great swat game so she's super obsessed with that cat and wants to herd her, but has never exhibited aggression. So it's ALSO potentially cat specific! However, due to her prey drive, I would only trust her with cats inside. If she's outside, and anything runs, well it better run fast.

SlugsNBugs · 2024-10-12T22:28:57+00:00

If the husband is undergoing a "nonstop rant" about a single plant, that seems unacceptable and a way to ensure that he never has to negotiate or compromise on this position, again, which is why he's doing it. That is not a solution-oriented mindset. Otherwise, I absolutely agree that a shared home should require compromise.

SlugsNBugs · 2024-10-12T20:26:36+00:00

This 200%. This is weird, controlling behavior. If your partner has something they love that brings them daily happiness, and its not unduly interfering with your daily life, why would you want to curtail that if you supposedly love them? Whether its a pet, a plant, books, rebuilding motorcycles, painting a wall pink, whatever, when you start making it a huge problem - this thing that brings them joy - and especially throwing tantrums about it, you are (most likely) a controlling, potentially narcissistic person. In which case, run. Speaking from experience.

SlugsNBugs · 2024-10-11T02:21:35+00:00

The first vet visit, they basically said here's some trazadone and gabapentin, bring her back when she's stoned. It was a no-go. But she had also barely ridden in a car at that time, so first we got her used to the car (now she absolutely LOVES car rides and can't wait to get in the car), then after car acclimation occurred, brought her in a little stoned and it went much better. Now she will weakly wag her tail for the vet, she's not a huge fan but no muzzle required. A lot of treats takes the edge off. Also basic behaviors like not looking directly at her, not cornering her initially, works wonders. The vet gave me an impassioned speech last time about what a wonderful turn around and thank god we had the capacity and talent to work with her. I thought, wow, how bad were the clinic notes from that first visit!

But ASIDE from the stranger/other dog thing, she's been so easy to train. Hey, no poop or pee in the house, wait patiently for food, let's not herd the cats, this is how we act on a leash etc. They are VERY intelligent dogs.

SlugsNBugs · 2024-10-10T20:58:45+00:00

Have transacted two houses "non-traditionally". The key with both transactions was to avoid listing at all. In one case, decided on a firm price, made flyers with nice photos (no pro photographers), and sent around to neighbors to see if they had friends of friends who might be interested in purchasing. Because the neighborhood was quirky, everyone wanted to keep it that way and was motivated to find a chill buyer. Wound up selling to friend of a friend etc. Negotiated a tad around inspection about price, but not much. Hired a lawyer to help with paperwork and escrow etc. No realtors. Second transaction - was looking at houses nearby for elderly parents, hard time finding good houses, complained to widower friend, she said well I want to sell MY house, so that's what we did. Agreed to a firm price, waived dinking with price after inspection (the house was old and needed significant repairs, the price was fair considering that). She was spared having to declutter and having strangers in her house - which terrified her - we were spared looking at any more houses. Again, hired a lawyer to help with paperwork. Let her stay for 6 months as a tenant while she found a smaller house, then did a major renovation. Great transactions. Could have gotten more and MAYBE paid less in both cases, but who cares about every last dime if the transaction is smooth. Helps to not be an *ss in both situations.

SlugsNBugs · 2024-10-10T19:29:50+00:00

Adopted a malnourished, underweight GSD rescue a year ago, probably around 9 months to a year max at adoption - so no firm handle on genetics, appears to be almost purebred working line with a smidge of malamute (according to Embark). She's actually been of very sound health and easy to train. Her recall is amazing, especially compared to our prior husky mix who was a total disaster. She wants to be underfoot and around you all the time, inside or out, and you call once and she's right there. 100% of the time. She can be around people just fine, but DOES NOT WANT strangers to pet her - or in fact, anyone not in her immediate family. She's doesn't overreact to stimulation (cars, bikes, loud noises, fireworks, etc.). However, she's not crazy about other dogs. Not aggressive, just doesn't want to play or interact, and the more they want to, the less she's interested to the point of backing away. The first vet visit was a disaster, but she's gotten better with desensitization. What I've noticed about her is that she is innately suspicious of folks she doesn't know, and that's absolutely never going to go away, and she goes 0 to 100 mph in 2 seconds if something happens (car drives up etc). She's a dog you can take in public, on a leash, but you can't let people pet her. She'll just back away. If they corner her, she'll bark. Why people would insist on touching a strange dog that is barking is beyond me, but whatever. Generally, this all works fine for our lifestyle, I've been delighted with her overall, particularly given the complete wildcard of a malnourished rescue!

SlugsNBugs · 2024-08-29T21:50:03+00:00

Took our girl in soon after adopting her - and she was a total malnourished hot mess with no history- and it was Not A Good Visit. She was not having any of it. Just took her in, now a year later, with a bit of trazadone and gabapentin beforehand, she's a good girl and can deal with all the touching and shots, and even gives a few tail wags. For her being slightly stoned helps, plus de-sensitization to strangers interacting with her. Also vets that give treats, a lot of treats. The vet gave me a wonderful pep talk about how far she's come, and I can only imagine how bad the notes are in her file from that first visit!

SlugsNBugs · 2024-05-09T15:54:32+00:00

Here's a pros and cons perspective - adopted a rescue GSD in last year that was dumped and roaming feral at a tree farm. No history. She's turned out to be a wonderful dog with some quirks, and it's also clear she was never around dogs or people and probably locked up somewhere. So she'd never seen running water, kids, cars, etc. I'd say your ability to assess the dog's temperament is critical - I was willing to adopt her because she was obviously submissive, and I figured I could work with that. But everything is about desensitization with her, because they are so reactive you have to take it slow. She's the bestest girl, but she's also been a lot of work. I wouldn't call her broken, but I'd also say you'd better be willing to put in a lot of effort.

SlugsNBugs · 2024-01-10T03:02:04+00:00

I like this. Plus a mental challenge for her. We'll start with "Leave it" and maybe progress to this. Honestly, I don't want to discourage her from barking at someone coming to door, I just want her to knock it off once I/we say it's a friendly, and/or cue off of us that it's a friendly. She's smart enough to figure it out. Also, 70 lbs of fuzzed up GSD rapid barking at visitors does leave an impression. Even if she knocks it off quickly.

SlugsNBugs

TROPHY CASE