via @ResPres

I just "buzzed" across this today and literally did a spit take with my coffee. Dogs with staches rule!
Really clever concept for a dog toy.

Thanks to Jason for sharing.

UPDATE::  Sorry I forgot to include the link to where you can grab these. Go get one here.

--Ff--

Vendors sought for WNC festivals
SMN

International Festival Day

The Haywood County Arts Council is seeking artists and food vendors for its 25th annual International Festival Day to be held Saturday, July 31, in Waynesville.

Food vendors and artists in all media are encouraged to apply. International artists living and producing art in the United States are especially encouraged to apply, as are food vendors selling International cuisine. All art must be original work to be juried into the show. There will be more than $1,000 in prizes awarded. Booth spaces are 10 by 12 feet and all are corner spaces. Loading and unloading is easy and convenient. In 2009, more than 110 artists and food vendors participated in the event, which was attended by over 15,000 people. The deadline for artist and food vendor applications is Monday, May 3.

International Festival Day is one of the highlights of Folkmoot USA’s two-week celebration of International folk dance and music in Western North Carolina. On International Festival Day, musicians and dancers from Folkmoot USA perform on stages at opposite ends of Main Street throughout the day. Artists are nestled along the street between stages where visitors can browse for art as they move along the street to watch performances. Food Courts are provided at each end of Main Street.

Interested artists and food vendors can download an application from the Art Council’s website at www.haywoodarts.org or request an application via email at info@haywoodarts.org or by calling the office at 828.452.0593.

Whole Bloomin’ Thing spring festival

The 8th Annual “Whole Bloomin’ Thing” Spring Festival Committee is now accepting applications for this year’s event, to be held on Saturday, May 8, in Waynesville’s Frog Level. The committee invites local growers, artisans, and wellness & nature-related professionals to request an application at froglevelfestival@yahoo.com or by calling 828.734.9777.

Greening Up the Mountains

The 13th Annual Greening Up the Mountains Festival is currently accepting vendor applications for those who would like to participate in this year’s festival. Interested vendors may visit www.downtownsylva.org and click on events to download an application. The next deadline for applications is April 2, then booth prices will increase. The last deadline for applications is April 15.

Greening Up the Mountains will be held Saturday April 24, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Sylva. This annual spring festival, named for the way spring creeps up the mountainsides, began over a decade ago as a celebration of Earth Day.

greeningupthemountains@gmail.com or call 828.586.1577.

Inaugural Mountainside Art and Music Festival

Is your art a celebration of Appalachia? The Cherokee Historical Association will present the inaugural Mountainside Art and Music Festival hosted in the beautiful and historic Mountainside Theater. The Festival, which will be held May 1, will feature up to 50 local and regional vendors and a day of music from across Appalachia.

The festival is an excellent opportunity to share and sell any kind of art.

Visit www.cherokeehistorical.org or call 828.497.2111 ext. 202 and speak with Program Specialist Linda Squirrel.

Whole Bloomin' Thing in Frog Level, Waynesville (May 8) and the International Festival Day in Downtown Waynesville (July 31).

A top sporting property in Western Montana listed at $14.5 million. Wonder if they need a caretaker?

I have always been intrigued by horses that don’t fit neatly into the category of roan as described by the American Quarter Horse Association, The Jockey Club, or the Arabian Horse Registry of America. Often these horses are not related to roan horses, yet their coats are mixed with white hairs typically around the barrel, at the flanks, and/or at the base of the tail. Sometimes, as in the case of the legendary running champion Go Man Go (photo), they are registered as roans. Most often, as in the case of all-time leading cutting sire High Brow Cat, they are registered as a solid color horse.

“Roaning” is a common term for this coat pattern, although The Lyons Press Horseman’s Dictionary refers to it as “rabicano,” and defines it as “a coat color in which a few, scattered white hairs appear amid a darker-colored background, usually on the hindquarters and dock.”

Roan, as defined by AQHA, is a “more or less uniform mixture of white with (red, black or bay base color) hairs over a large portion of the body, but usually darker on the head and lower legs…”

The difference between rabicano and true roan is that in the true roan the color is evenly distributed over the entire body, often with the exception of the head and lower legs, while rabicano roaning varies in intensity, sometimes spreads with age, and is usually limited to barrel and hindquarters. Rabicanos also often have “skunk or coon” tails, while true roans do not.

*****Read the rest of the article here.*****