Schwan Song

I'm not sure I should be admitting this (especially after seeing all the yummy recipes my friend Keri has been posting on her blog lately) but today I placed my first order with the Schwan's man.  Or rather the Schwan's website.  Part of it was nostalgia--my Grandpa always ordered stuff from Schwan's and now I have a deep, deep fondness for the Gold 'N' Nugit bar (pictured above).   If you think it looks a lot like a Snickers ice cream bar, well, it tastes a lot like it too.  But I also thought I would try a few things out of practicality.  A lot of their stuff comes in individually wrapped portions.  Hopefully  this will give me a little variety without a lot of leftovers.  We'll see...I only ordered a few things to see if I like it or not.  Hopefully the Gold 'N' Nugits will be as good as I remember!  

My backyard

One of the pros/cons (depending on your viewpoint) of living in a townhouse is that the extent of grass in your "backyard" is this.  Which works if you just want to let the dog out quick to take care of business, but isn't the most ideal for any greater exercise.  Well, recently Toby and I were pleasantly surprised to discover that the wooded area surrounding our community or subdivision-whatever you want to call it--on 2 sides contains some very nice walking trails.
Here is a view at the edge of woods, looking back at the closest townhouse (ours is 1 block over) so you can see how close it is.
Of course the best part about walking these trails rather than streets or sidewalks, besides the shade the trees provide, is the fact that I can let Toby off the leash.  He loves that part because he is free to take his time sniffing stuff and/or scouting the trail ahead, and he is very good about not running off and keeping track of where I am.
Here Toby is checking out the creek that runs through the woods (perhaps the same creek in my address--I couldn't find the name of it anywhere on the internet).  I was surprised how much the width and flow of the creek varied.  This was one of the widest spots, but sometimes it was just a little trickle over a few rocks that you could jump over easily.  
Some have asked how Toby likes our new place, and I have to say overall there is less for him to watch out the windows than at the apartment.  So I know he is a little more bored at times.  But I could never let him off the leash when we went for walks at the apartment, so maybe this will make up for it some.  Doesn't that look like the face of a happy dog?