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Lauren | Conway + Mishka + Lana

@thescrufflife

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Happy National Black Dog Day! 🖤

What is National Black Dog Day? On October 1st, we celebrate black dogs and raise awareness of “black dog syndrome,” a phenomenon where people may perceive black dogs as being less friendly, harder to photograph, or less desirable simply due to their color. National Black Dog Day aims to challenge those myths, celebrate their beauty and unique personalities, and help more black dogs find their forever homes!

This really comes from the heart as someone with not one, not two, but three black rescue dogs. I clearly have a type, and I love sharing their cute and quirky personalities. Hopefully inspiring more people to consider the overlooked black rescue pup at their local shelter. You won’t regret it. 🥹🖤

📸: @willieoelrich

#nationalblackdogday #blackdogsofig #blackdogphotography #blackdogday #blackdogsyndrome taken in Minnesota by @thescrufflife

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a year ago

I meant to share these ages ago…

I was saving them for holiday cards, so they would be a fun surprise for everyone. Here are some of the portraits with the pups from our wedding day which was somehow already FOUR months ago?! @laura.muus captured this day perfectly and I love looking back on these moments and remembering all the fun details.

One of my goals for our wedding was to include the dogs. This might not seem like a big deal for some people, but it was important to me and also presented a big challenge. Not only do we have three dogs, but Conway is reactive to strangers (both human and dog). This meant that we probably wouldn’t have a big wedding (which we didn’t want anyways) and we’d have to make plans for dog accommodations and helpers.

We ended up doing a very small destination wedding to the tropics. Just kidding, we went to @cascadelodgemn in Lutsen, MN. Our guests had cabins or rooms on-site and we had a cabin right next to the ceremony location, perfect for the dogs on the big day.

We also had helpers! Conway’s bff Mandy was enlisted to keep Conway in line for the afternoon and we had family helpers for Lana and Mishka. Overall, the dogs were involved in some pre-ceremony photos by the lake and the short ceremony and that was all. They had a nice, quiet place in the cabin for the rest of the time and it went well!

The anticipation leading up to this day lead to many sleepless nights for me, just wondering if Conway was going to be okay. If it would all work out. If I was making a mistake by including the dogs. You know, reactive dog mom stuff… but, it worked out. The planning paid off.

I don’t really have any advice, but if you want to include your dogs in your big day — it can be done. You just might have to adjust your vision to be realistic for your dog(s). 🧡 taken in Lutsen, Minnesota by @thescrufflife

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2 years ago

Adding this one to my “favorite places” folder in my mind. 💛

Did you know: The tamarack (Larix laricina, aka larch) is the only conifer in Minnesota and Wisconsin that sheds its needles each year in the fall? This makes it a deciduous conifer, which I found super interesting when I first learned about them. I thought you could only be one or the other!

They are common in marshy, wetland, boggy type areas in central and northern Minnesota. If you’re not sure what kind of tree it is, just wait until late fall, as tamaracks will turn a magnificent shade of golden yellow before they lose their needles in the wind.

📸: @willieoelrich by @thescrufflife

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a year ago

A little bit of fall color and a little bit of Mishka.

We took a lunchtime walk earlier this week, because it was such a perfect chilly overcast fall day after a weekend of unseasonable heat. I just really needed this walk in the woods, okay? 🍂

📷: @ricoh_gr_us // Ricoh GR IV HDF

I cannot express enough how much I love this little camera. It fits in my pocket (really) and just makes every scene so magical. I love it. taken in Chisago County by @thescrufflife

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15 hours ago

It’s time for the final update of this series for the year! 🐝

Fall is really truly here and the native plants are all winding down for the season. Focusing on the upcoming winter and hibernation. There are still quite a few late season bloomers in my gardens — asters and goldenrod, of course, but also coreopsis, rudbeckia, white snakeroot, and harebell!

I’ve seen fewer insects buzzing around, but there are nectar sources for those that are still out and about. It’s important to have native plants that bloom from early spring to late fall to support these important critters all year.

I hope you enjoyed a little peak into my native plant gardens this year! I’ll be back with a spring update next year! 🌱 taken in Minnesota by @thescrufflife

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2 days ago

And a moment for my trusty little hiking buddy, Mishka! 🧡

Mishka is the lucky duck of the house and comes on the most hikes, but that wasn’t always the case.

I initially got into hiking with Conway and we went on tons of hikes together. Unfortunately, his reactivity got to a point that I would spend the entire hike looking around the corner, looking over my shoulder. I was in a constant state of fight or flight and he was, too. Hiking felt like the thing I was supposed to do with him and I wasn’t enjoying it.

Fast forward to now, Mishka is my main hiking buddy. She is very neutral to other people and dogs. She’s easy to pick up if we are rushed by off-leash dogs. She’s easy. I mean, aside from her whining on the drive because she’s so excited to be included, but that’s a minor complaint.

Conway might not hike much anymore, but he is living his best and most chill life in our super cool backyard. I’m grateful to have a space where he feels safe 99% of the time and his nervous system isn’t constantly being ramped up to a zillion.

Lana had a great hike last week, so I’ll have to bring her out again soon and get her into the regular hiking rotation before it gets too cold for her tiny chihuahua feet.

Thanks for reading my rambles about hiking and dogs. ☺️🥾🧡 taken in Minnesota by @thescrufflife

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2 days ago

On Saturday, October 10th, Mishka and I woke up early to hit up some peak fall color parks, including one that we hadn’t been to before — Savanna Portage State Park in McGregor, MN!

This park is over 2 hours from where I live and sort of in the middle of nowhere..? It’s not close to any major freeways or highways, so I hadn’t been there in the last ~5 years of working on my passport and password books (IYKYK).

There were a couple of pockets of beautiful fall colors on the 5 mile hiking club trail, but it was already very past peak IMO. I have a sort of love hate relationship with the fall color finder… 🥺

It was a beautiful day for a hike though and I’m glad I finally made the trek out to this remote state park! I’ve heard it’s terrible for bugs in the spring and summer, so it was either going to be fall or winter.

Have you been to Savanna Portage? What did you think about it? taken in Savanna Portage State Park by @thescrufflife

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4 days ago

It’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day!

Here are 19 books by indigenous authors across North America that I can personally recommend. 📚

There’s fiction and non-fiction. Books with exclusively words. Books with mostly pictures. Short books. Long books. History books. Books about language revitalization. Memoirs. Mysteries. A series of mystery books. Short stories. Award winning books. Young adult books. Books about plants. Books about moss. Books about reciprocity with the nature.

I could go on and on, but please… Pick out a book by an indigenous author and dive in. Even better if you visit your local indigenous owned and independent bookstore to find one (I’m lucky to have @birchbark_books). I also frequent my local library.

Braiding Sweetgrass was my foray into this expansive world of books. What will yours be?

Do you have a favorite book by an indigenous author that I haven’t included here? Please share in the comments! I’d love to add it to my list to read. 🧡 by @thescrufflife

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4 days ago

If there’s one thing about October, it’s that I am in a constant state of FOMO. 🍁

Early Saturday morning, Mishka and I hit the road to explore a couple of state parks that were listed as “peak color” on the fall color finder map.

This is Father Hennepin State Park in Isle, MN on the shore of Mille Lacs.

We got lucky with this one since it had just been flipped from 50-75% peak to 75-100% peak the day we visited. It was a hot (87°F) hike along the shore of Mille Lacs and through the mixed wood forest.

I had been here before, so no stamp needed, but this was my first time hiking the hiking club trail (IYKYK), so I finally got the password! 🥰

The map is already showing that it’s past peak here, so it lasted all of two hot blustery days… but Mishka and I were there! taken in Father Hennepin State Park by @thescrufflife

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5 days ago

It only took four years, but I now have a complete set of fall fern photos of my dogs. 🥹

Lana’s photo is from this week. Mishka’s is from last fall. Conway’s was the start of this from 2022. I didn’t set out to get that photo, but the ferns were so delightfully orange and the scenery was just perfect. It’s still one of my favorite photos!

These are all from the same place, too! I love each of these images individually, but it’s also very special to see them together as a group! 🍂 taken in Minnesota by @thescrufflife

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8 days ago

Scenes from my favorite time of the year… featuring Lana! 🍂🥹

She doesn’t go on hikes much, but she did really well. I might have to bring her out more often for some shorter adventures. She’s very treat motivated and an incredible little shadow. I did take a few photos with my professional camera too… so stay tuned for the reveal of Lana’s fall photoshoot.

📸: Ricoh GR IV HDF // @ricoh_gr_us taken in Minnesota by @thescrufflife

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9 days ago

Esker (es•ker) — a long narrow ridge or mound of sand, gravel, and boulders deposited by a stream flowing on, within, or beneath a stagnant glacier.

The hiking club trail at Scenic State Park follows along an esker that juts out into the lake for quite a while. I had never heard of an esker before seeing the interpretive sign for it, and it’s clearly stuck with me.

This was our third hiking club trail of the day — no photos from Schoolcraft (ope, I was feeling lazy) — and we were really trying to crush these miles quick so we could sit down and eat some dinner.

It was a really cool hike though! Despite camping at Scenic, I feel like there’s so much there to explore still. We spent the majority of our two full days driving to other parks, so I’d love to go back and just hike the various parts of Scenic in the future and chill a bit more. taken in Scenic State Park by @thescrufflife

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15 days ago