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- July 23rd, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Flashback to BlogHer & Musings on Internet "Fame"
Remember, on the Internet, no one knows you're a dog.I left BlogHer '08 early, based in part on my disappointment with Day Two. But it seems BlogHer doesn't want to leave me. I outlined my disappointment especially with the session I attended that in
- July 22nd, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Hydrate & Save the Earth. Get a Penguin.
Okay, BlogHer recaps and reflections all done now. Time to get back to stuff. And my favorite stuff these days is Green. But Easy Green. Like the Amazing Penguin Water Carbonator. Seriously, this is the most incredible gadget I’ve bought since. . .
- July 21st, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
The Tree We Couldn't Save
I few months ago, I posted about a mature Coastal Live Oak that was growing smack in the middle of what will be our house at Two Terrier Vineyards. We needed to get the grading done and it quickly became clear there was no way to save it. We even inv
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Confessions of a BlogHer Dropout
After a great first day, I went back for the second day of BlogHer '08 expecting another action and info packed day. Sadly, it was the inverse of the first day, where I expected nothing and was blown away. Now I was expecting the moon and was disappo
- July 18th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
(Almost) Live From the BlogHer '08 Conference
I wasn't expecting much from the BlogHer '08 Conference. Just by the nature of Blogher -- "The Community for Women Who Blog" -- which is basically an advertising network. I thought I'd be surrounded by Mommybloggers, Craft Bloggers and "women's issue
- July 17th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Marathon (Wo) Man
Since I quit full time office work and started this experiment in farming my schedule's been all over the map. And now that our crops our coming in, I can see myself tied to a work schedule dictated by fruit and vegetables. Tomatoes ready to pick? Dr
- July 16th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Pick a Peck of Perishable Peaches
Peaches. Peaches. More Peaches. Surprisingly, our first crop hasn't been grapes; this is the first year we'll get usable grapes although we will have to drop fifty percent of them and for the rest, I'm warned, the juice will still be thin. No, our fi
- July 10th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
The Brown, The Green and the Composted
File this one under, "sounds like a good idea, but still to be proven." Since we have no garbage disposal in Sonoma (we're on a septic system) and we haven't yet arranged for garbage pick-up service, we've suddenly been confronted by the amount of tr
- July 9th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Attacked by an Angry Swarm of Bee. . .Keepers!
Have you been reading about how honeybees are disappearing at an alarming rate from "Colony Collapse Disorder"? No one knows for sure what's causing it, but it's starting to look as if it's a combination of viruses, pesticides, perhaps global warming
- July 8th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
The Clueless Farmers Contemplate Their Peaches
It's the same story, different crop as we attempt to segueway from people who have never even owned a lawn to productive farmers.We're playing it safe and getting expert help in the beginning. So we had our landscaper put in a small orchard of fruit
- July 7th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Oscar and Lucy Turn "Terrier"
Our first Smooth Fox Terrier, Charlie, was all terrier all the time. True to the breed, he allowed no varmints on his watch. And his definition of "varmint" extended beyond rats and foxes to the very smelly homeless, teens in the park smoking pot and
- June 27th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Top Ten Reasons to Love Sonoma
There are way more than ten reasons, but these are the very top reasons that come to mind. 1.) It's not Napa. Sonoma is larger, arguably has more great wineries, but is a world away from the glitz and glamor of its trendier cousin. Sonoma is more Wi
- June 26th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
School DAZE Part Deux
Into my second week of my second class (Beginning Photoshop) at CCSF (Community College of San Francisco) and I'm finally hitting my stride on this Photoshop stuff. The first two classes, I stumbled out of each FIVE HOUR CLASS (twice a week!) eyes gl
- June 25th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
A Paeon to Pants
Those of you who know me know I hate shopping. I'm dragged kicking and screaming out shopping once a year WHETHER I NEED IT OR NOT! One of the reasons I hate shopping is that clothing manufacturers do not design clothes for my figure. A figure that I
- June 24th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
WE'RE GOING TO THE OLYMPICS!!!!!!!
Only a few weeks ago, I put together my "Bucket List" of things to do before I kick it. Some of the goals were doable, some were probably just pipe dreams. Like "Go to the Olympics".Then yesterday, Andy announced that his partner in Taiwan was being
- June 23rd, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
And He Dined with Jesus, the Easter Bunny and the Abominable Snowman
Taking my semi-regular power walk in Sonoma this weekend, I had a chance to check out some of the sights off the square that I usually drive past. One of the things that caught my eye was the historical plaque on The Blue Wing Inn, one of the oldest
- June 22nd, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
The Tree We Moved: Update
In spite all of our bumbling and ignorance and "Green Acres" naivite about country living, one of the things I'm most proud of with our Sonoma project has been the fact that we seem to be leaving the land better than we found it. Part of that is resp
- June 21st, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
When Gardening, Always Work to your Limitations
Here is Andy laying fast draining gravel paths between my three raised beds. Oscar's contribution was to growl and lunge at the shovel. Then jump in the first bed and stomp on the tomatoes. We'd planned the netting as deer-proofing as we have only fe
- June 20th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
"108 Degrees and I Ain't Moving"
Friday Sonoma was 106 degrees in the Square and 108 up at our ranch. And suddenly our terriers, who are usually in perpetual motion, started resembling those Southern hound dogs. You know the ones that lie around on the porch and watch Cletus clean h
- June 9th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Grape Progress
After getting off to a slow start, the grapes at Two Terrier Vineyards seem to be taking hold. First off, we had an odd spring with lots of rain, then no rain. Then the grapes, when planted 2-1/2 years ago, were planted late due to an odd and rainy f
- May 29th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Things to Do Before I Kick It
Checked into Mighty Girl, a blog I tune into occasionally, and Maggie Mason had posted a sidebar full of witty "To Dos", her "Mighty List". She challenged readers to do the same, so I'm taking that challenge.So my to do list, like hers will be posted
- May 24th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Tweakin' on Twitter
Let me first make an admission. I'm frightened of falling behind in tech literacy. It has something to do with the fact that, on my mother's side, I come from a long line of Luddites. My grandmother had just barely came to grips with the dial teleph
- May 23rd, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
School DAZE
The last day of my Photography class was yesterday. (For the scant few of you who aren't avid readers of this blog, I've been taking Beginning Photography at City College of San Francisco.) All I can say about the experience is that I got my $85 wort
- May 22nd, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
BOBCATS!
Not only has the Mountain Lion been sighted recently on our land. But now one of the workmen has seen not one, but two bobcats hanging around our front gate. We're becoming the Hip Happenin' Spot for Western Wildlife.
- May 15th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Long Live Our Multi-Cultural City!
I've got one foot in Sonoma, but this is why I still love San Francisco. From living in other major cities when I was a kid (NYC, LA, Washington DC, etc.) I came to associate heat waves with three things: 1) firemen would open a hydrant or two so kid
- May 12th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Thinking About Pigs
When I told an old high school friend about our movement back to the land, I admitted to him that we were possibly thinking about chickens and goats, then awaited his shock. He was understanding: "Sounds good. Chickens, goats, horses. All normal. I t
- May 7th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Just Call Me "Belle Starr"
Having dinner with our friends Rob and Susi the other night, the conversation turned to the most recent sighting of our Mountain Lion (affectionately known as "Leonard".)Andy revived a new argument."I think we should get guns.""We have a gun. My fath
- May 5th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Our Mountain Lion is Spotted
Just got a call from one of the guys finishing up work on the barn, and he had a close encounter with Leonard, our Mountain Lion.Apparently, George showed up at about 6:30 or 7 AM, started to open the back gate near the barn and saw a huge Mountain L
- May 3rd, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
In Which We Discover We Are Almost Biodynamic
We've spent a good part of our week in Sonoma, going to small wineries to try and pick up workflow and equipment ideas for Two Terrier Vineyards. We were especially interested in seeing how organic and Biodynamic wineries were handling things, as we'
- May 2nd, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
A Tale of Two Sonomas
Sonoma is a special valley, and those of us who love it, love it because it isn't Napa. Napa gets all the press and has all the multi-million dollar wineries and art galleries and tourist buses. Sonoma is solidly a farming county. Sure we've got our
- May 1st, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
This is Your Brain on Cormac McCarthy
Since we are immersing ourselves in Western Living this week, I brought the entire “Border Trilogy” of Cormac McCarthy, who is probably best known as the author of No Country for Old Men. Now that I’ve read all three, including All the Pretty H
- April 30th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
Goats and Wine: Notes from the Barking Dog
Back at the Barking Dog Cafe, ("More Bark, Less Bite") the only place I can find in Sonoma with free Wi-Fi. I tell you, it's like being in the Old West trekking two miles into town to hook up the old laptop and start uploading! With a bunch of chores
- April 28th, 2008
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doglington has posted a new entry on: Left Coast Cowboys
So Near Yet So Far
It’s been so long since we had a vacation that Andy’s own company had to tell him that, even though he’s CEO, he can accrue no more vacation until he uses some. But with business at a critical juncture, taking off to the Caribbean or trekking i
