I need to hear some good news.

[Runscott]

Our gardening season got started early this year and I took advantage - normally we wouldn't have ripe tomatoes until August. I've already pulled several Japanese eggplants and yellow squash and hoping the collard greens work out.

Favorite tomato so far is the Black Krim with Mr. Stripey a close second.

Another good thing: we adopted a 1.5-2 yr old black and tan coonhound three months ago. He's a very lovable dog. He has some issues that I'm not solving very well, but he's about to go back to a professional trainer, so we are looking forward to a lovable AND manageable dog. As you have mentioned (Ben), rescues don't forget that they have been rescued, but I'll add that it's good to let the dog pick you out at the shelter - if you are paying attention, there will be at least one that informs you that you should be his new companion.

Shelter animals are my first and only choice for pets.

The Whiskey Dick triathlon last weekend was an awesome time with friends. I finished the one mile Columbia River swim in 18:56 almost 30 seconds faster than two years ago , and was fourth overall out of the water. Our three man relay finished second in our age group 40-45; a nearly one hour improvement from our last effort (no event last year due to water level problems from the Colockum Dam). Here's my daughter at the Vantage boat launch before the swim.... "Are you sure you want to do this?"

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Our gardening season got started early this year and I took advantage - normally we wouldn't have ripe tomatoes until August. I've already pulled several Japanese eggplants and yellow squash and hoping the collard greens work out.

Favorite tomato so far is the Black Krim with Mr. Stripey a close second.

Another good thing: we adopted a 1.5-2 yr old black and tan coonhound three months ago. He's a very lovable dog. He has some issues that I'm not solving very well, but he's about to go back to a professional trainer, so we are looking forward to a lovable AND manageable dog. As you have mentioned (Ben), rescues don't forget that they have been rescued, but I'll add that it's good to let the dog pick you out at the shelter - if you are paying attention, there will be at least one that informs you that you should be his new companion.

My last 3 shelter dogs picked me. We had a St Bernard for 13 years, a Rottweiler for 13 years, and our current Pitbull for close to 2 years now.

When getting our current dog I did not want a small dog(under 100 lbs) or a pitbull. Well now we have a 75 lb Pitbull named Bubba that sad puppy eyed me into adopting him and I am darn glad he did.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by bnorth

My last 3 shelter dogs picked me. We had a St Bernard for 13 years, a Rottweiler for 13 years, and our current Pitbull for close to 2 years now.

When getting our current dog I did not want a small dog(under 100 lbs) or a pitbull. Well now we have a 75 lb Pitbull named Bubba that sad puppy eyed me into adopting him and I am darn glad he did.

Yes, if you let them adopt you, you will generally end up with something you didn't plan on. My plan was a 40-50 pound Australian Shepherd or Border Collie - my last dog, Angie, was a 75 pound lovable hound that I carried quite a bit for the last four years of her life, so this time I wanted a dog that would be easy to handle when it got old. So I brought home a 90 pound Coonhound puppy

I blame it on David, as he was there with me and didn't tell me not to. Bad David.