Another thing that has me pumped for the fall? Ryan and I are in the process of planning a long weekend trip to Asheville in October and we’re hoping we can convince a few of our out-of-town friends to join us. After checking VBRO.com, we were surprised to find inexpensive rates for cabin rentals which makes the trip even more appealing! (If you’ve ever rented a cabin in the Asheville area and have a recommendation on where exactly we should stay, I’d love more info!)
Lots of fun stuff coming up!
Breakfast
After barre, I grabbed coffee (it will be lovely to have a coffee maker at home again soon!) and headed home to make breakfast. On the menu for today was a bowl of Chex gluten-free oatmeal topped with cinnamon and peanut butter.
And yes, the oats simply served as a vehicle for a big ol’ scoop of peanut butter.
I love that stuff so darn much. And so does Sadie. I swear her hearing ability kicks into high gear when she hears me start to open the peanut butter jar. She’ll be fast asleep on the couch but sprint into the kitchen when she hears that familiar sound.
Other sounds that psych her up? Opening a can, the doorbell, the fire alarm (she howls!), pressing buttons on the microwave and a squeak noise coming from of one of her toys. Sadie is actually kind of goofy about squeaking toys. She likes to squeak them but if Ryan or I squeak one of her toys, she gets this pitiful look on her face (see below) and grabs the toy, carries it into a corner and gently licks it for five minutes.
We’re convinced she thinks we’re hurting it when we squeeze it and she must nurture the injured toy back to health. What a good toy mama.
Question of the Morning
- Pet owners: What noises drive your pet crazy?
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My cats hate the rustling sound of plastic bags or a garbage bag. They run like the wind!
The hoover, the pressure cooker and the doorbell!
My dog is so scared of fireworks! It’s actually become a big problem in the last year or so. We have to put him in the garage and turn the radio on when we know it’s going to happen!
Your blog has made Cody and me want to get a vizsla to cuddle on the couch and take on all of our hiking/camping/trail running adventures. As soon as we graduate we are going to try to contact a dealer to see about getting a puppy 1 or 2 years after we graduate. Sadie is so adorable! I love the nurturing toys things. Too cute!
If you get one, pleeeease send me pictures!! 🙂
Oh I will for sure! I know that our dog will be featured on my blog as much as Sadie is on yours, so I will send you a link to our first post with pictures of her! Promise!
our gsp will wake up from a dead sleep if he hears me get our air popper out for popcorn! thunder or loud trucks/trains that he thinks might be thunder send him up the stairs into a corner with no windows.
asheville is such a cool city, especially if you’re into craft beer. we lived in greenville, sc for a few years (about an hour directly south of asheville) and made a few day trips. check out greenville if you ever get a chance, great city for food and strolling down main street!
Haha! My dog is the same way with any movement in the kitchen. She can be completely passed out but if your feet so much as hit that kitchen tile, she’s right behind you. Another funny thing she does is bark at like crazy at the sound of a doorbell on TV, even though she has never lived in a house with a doorbell. We have always lived in apartments, so I have no idea how she knows that a doorbell indicates company. Obviously she’s just a puppy prodigy.
Hello!
My dogs love their monthly heart-worm treats, so they beg for anything in a blister pack. ie cold medicine, allergy meds…
-Liz
Ps I stared a blog of my own, mostly to keep myself on track and communicate/inspire others to try to live happy and healthy!
1HappySpoon.wordpress.com
That’s hysterical about the squeak toys. I used to have a cat that would hate it if we saw her playing with her stuffed rabbit. If we “caught” her with it in her mouth she would immediately drop it and look away as if she wanted nothing to do with it. The only way we knew she played with it is when we heard her muffled meow and see it shoved in her mouth, but only briefly. I’ll never figure out animals. LOL
My Vizsla Fynn is the same way with the peanut butter jar, just the sound of it opening and he comes running, same thing with the freezer door, because he wants ice and the sound of me pulling the vegetable peeler out of the drawer (he loves carrots!)
I love dog quirks, they crack me up!
How funny your vizsla loves carrots so much! Sadie actually looooves broccoli and brussels sprouts!
My golden retriever is the same way with certain ones of his squeaky toys. We call them his babies because if you squeak them, he starts to whine, and then takes them to a corner and lays with them. So glad it’s not just our dog that has these weird habits!
Pure Barre, pumpkin, oatmeal, peanut butter… You are speaking my language!!
Asheville is fantastic! I lived there from 2009-2013 for college, and am planning a permanent move back in a few months. I would highly recommend Doc Chey’s and Zambra’s–they’re both amazing restaurants. Also, an absolute must-do is the French Broad Chocolate Lounge; literally the best chocolate I’ve ever found anywhere. The wait for all three places will be long, but its so worth it. 5 Walnut Wine Bar is really nice, as are the Wedge and Wicked Weed (local breweries). Unfortunately, no good recommendations for places to stay as most of my friends and family stayed with me at my place.
Oh, and check out the Blue Ridge Parkway! It’s so pretty and there are a lot of beautiful hikes off of it. The easiest way to get there is off of Rt. 70 in Oteen (aka the East Asheville area). Hope you enjoy the mountains!
that oatmeal looks delicious!
lol! She must think you’re hurting it! My cats growing up used to HATE when we would play instruments. If we were practicing and they were in the same room, they’d always give us this horrific look and then get up and make hilarious noises (what I always deemed to be them complaining) as they left the room.
I’ve heard great things about Asheville!! Have fun 🙂
My dog HATES the vaccum and tin foil. He will just sit and bark and bark – I think he thinks the vaccum is going to hurt us and that is why he is barking at it 🙂
Thunder! Our Abbey hates thunder. She’ll even start shaking if it is on TV. Also, she can tell when we’re opening “her cupboard”. Even if it is just to get a fresh roll of… ahem… potty bags. She thinks she’s getting a treat!
Haha. Truckee can’t stand the sound of flies. We call her a Venus Fly Trap because she’ll do everything in her power to snatch them out of the air!
the car lock! They go nuts whenever one of us comes home and they hear the car locking noise. Also any mason jar unscrewing because we keep their treats in mason jars. They don’t care if I’m actually getting a pickle – they are sure that I am actually getting something they want.
I live in Asheville but I’m not sure about cabin rentals here. I definitely recommend walking around downtown. Asheville is know for it’s craft beers and there are tons of places. some places to check into White Duck Taco, The Chocolate Lounge (for dessert), Rhubarb (it was just recently written up in Southern Living).
At Biltmore Park The Thirsty Monk great food and tons of craft beers, 131 Main and there are some cute shops also. Oil and Vinegar is awesome.
Biltmore Village is a great place to walk around restaurants like The Corner Kitchen, Chelsea’s Tea Room, The Red Stag Grill and also lots of cool shopping.
The Biltmore Estate is beautiful but a little pricy. I have a season pass and we go all the time, there are tons of things to do besides touring the house. On Friday’s they have free concerts on the lawn at Antler Hill Village. You can take chairs and pack a picnic. It says you cannot bring alcohol but everyone does. Hope some of these suggestions help. Feel free to ask me any questions. I have lived here all my life.
This is so helpful!!! Thank you, Pam!! <3
Oh man, my German Shepherd goes NUTS when she hears her squeaky toys or any kind of squirrel or coon running around on the property!
My parents (from Baltimore) are in the process of purchasing a townhouse in Asheville because they love it so much and want to retire there!!
my cat hates when i make calls on speaker phone/google hangout, gotta use the ear buds.
make sure you hit the french broad chocolate in asheville. they have a gingerbread ice cream in the fall/winter, so good! it’s from a local ice cream shop but i can’t remember the name. also go back in nov/dec to the grove park for the holiday decorations and gingerbread house contest.
I recently adopted a dog. One of her new toys is a pink, squeaky astronaut. Every time we squeak it or throw it across the room, our pup will whimper and run across the room after it to lick it and make sure it is OK. If our pup thinks it’s really hurt she’ll take it to the couch and try to hide it from us so we can’t throw it anymore. We think she had puppies before we adopted her and she thinks her little toy is one of her puppies!
I’m a big fan of Asheville. I actually did my bachelorette “party” there, which was really just a low key girls weekend. I ended up using Carolina Mornings (http://www.carolinamornings.com/) to find the place that had the amenities/location we wanted. We took a foodie tour one afternoon (http://ashevillefoodtours.com/) that was awesome and had dinner drinks at a tapas place that was on the tour (http://zambratapas.com/) because our sample plate was so good. If you do end up going to the Biltmore, def check out their winery. Also got pretty sloshed during their wine tasting as they were very generous with their pours!
Thanks so much for the recommendations!
I have heard Asheville is a lot of fun! Great place to go for the Labor Day weekend. That oatmeal looks so good. I love topping mine with nut butter too.
Our foxhound/greyhound mix is absolutely and utterly terrified of the vacuum…
My mastiff, Chops, howls for tornado sirens and emergency vehicle sirens. My yorkie poo, Max, goes crazy for squeaky toys and barks at doorbells. Even if there on tv. They both go nuts if they think they are going for a car ride or walk. You say either of those words and they go pyscho!
Ditto on the peanut butter jar opening — our dog can be anywhere in the house and still hear the lid twisting off!
I don’t know about noises that drive him crazy, but… Because he knows I don’t like it when he barks, my Cocker Spaniel, Snoopy, will actually go to the window or door when he sees something with his squeaker ball and squeak. A lot. It’s hilarious.
Also, do you add anything to the Chex oatmeal when you cook it (before toppings) or does it just come out of the bag like that? I’ve seen several other people post about it, but am still trying to figure out exactly what it is.
You will love Asheville! Check out Asheville Cabins of Willow Winds! We stayed there in Dec 2012 and loved it! Affordable, very nice and you feel like you are deep in the woods but you’re only about 10 min from Biltmore Park! The Corner Kitchen there is excellent and The Chocolate Fetish downtown is worth checking out!
Just got back from Ashville, Nc a few weeks ago with our church youth group. My husband and I are leaders and decided to rent a cabin there! It was beautiful! Definitely check out sliding rock and the biltmore estate!
Opening a can is all it takes! The other day I had just started to open a can of tuna and my cat came flying through his kitty door from the garage and made a mad dash into the kitchen and then sat and stared at me. I’m always amazed at his hearing and how quickly he comes running! Crazy boy he is:)
My cat chats at us if we sneeze, and if I open a can of tuna she wakes from a dead sleep and comes scampering into the kitchen to lick the remnants. She will also sit and stare at me until I let her lick the bowl if she catches me eating it.
My vizsla is scared of the noises my phone makes when I get a text or email. I usually have my phone on vibrate, but if I forget to turn it off & she hears the noise, she immediately crawls in my lap & hides her face.
My dog shoots up every time our air conditioning unit kicks on and looks around…poor thing will never be able to see where the noise is coming from!
Ah where did you get gluten free chex oatmeal? I need that!
My poor cat is terrified of the doorbell whether it’s someone at my door or on TV. He’s a rescue so I don’t know what may have happened in his past to make him afraid but I feel like something definitely did.
On a funny note, he’s a total piggy when it comes to his treats and any time I open up any kind of bag that sounds like his treats, he comes running and stands on his hind legs begging!
Asheville is amazing!! I live about 45 minutes from there so I don’t have any recommendations for cabins but Mayfel’s is a great spot for breakfast/brunch. Tupelo Honey is yummy and so is Wicked Weed (it’s a brewery too, newer but has been good the couple times I have been there). They see Biltmore is a must see and if you ever want to travel a little more NW Hot Springs is a fun place for a romantic getaway, lots of hiking trails, natural hot springs, a spa, and a quaint little place called the Iron Horse Inn with good food and good music!
the vaccuum!! the pups are NOT a fan.
Oh my goodness, our vizsla does the exact same thing with squeak toys! She has one we call “her precious,” and when we squeak it she whines and looks really pitiful, then will carry it to her bed to keep it safe. She’s not like this with any other non-squeaky toys, its bizarre!
I live in Winston Salem, which is a little less than 2 hrs from Asheville, so we go there a lot. I recommend visiting Biltmore if you haven’t before, and they have a winery with tasting (its free w/admission). We also love Zambra and the French Broad Chocolate Lounge – they make their own chocolate and have lots of yummy goodies.
“her precious” made me laugh out loud!! HA!
I love your posts about dog quirks, ha! My dog freaks out when she hears the hair dryer, the vacuum, and thunder. We live in So Cal and rarely ever have thunder but did about a month ago and the poor girl was running around the house not knowing what to do, lol!
Too funny about Sadie and her squeaky toys. My dog picks up on the PB jar lid spinning off too…and the vegetable peeler when I peel carrots because she loves them. She haaaates the UPS truck! Something about the rumble? So any truck that makes diesel noises she goes nuts…its rather embarrassing!
Julie, I’m from Charlotte as well and have visited Asheville a couple of times. You should check out a Yurt. Basically a cabin/tent combo. I would highly recommend staying in one. The one I stayed in with 4 other friends was extremely nice and had everything you needed for a fun, cozy weekend!
http://www.skyridgeyurts.com/
Actually here is the exact one a few of us stayed in! http://www.vrbo.com/445766
Thanks so much for the recommendation, Meghan!
My dog always gets interested in food. But in particular, he seems to have conditioned himself to recognise the ‘cracking’ sound made when peeling a banana. He sprints in to get the end of the banana, or any bit we will give him. He has also recently taken to barking at the meerkat character off of the ‘compare the market dot com dot au adds. Pretty funny because he is small and looks like a meerkat himself? I wonder if he thinks he is seeing a relation of some kind? If you want to see what I’m talking about check out ‘compare the meerkat’ the add is so comically popular they company set up a meerkat site.
The sound of me chopping veggies in the kitchen always gets Toby to come running! He knows he can get some slices of nearly every veggie I’m preparing! 😀 Gotta love a dog who loves veggies!