Birthday Girl

 Abigail Jane

13 years old now.

 

 

She claims not to like Beau.

But, now that there are only 2,

she lays on his bed most of the time.

 

Silly girl!  

Thankful Dogs

*~   Dogs in good health

*~   Friends

*~   New Recipes (strange thing to be thankful for, eh?)

*~   Weight watchers (yes, I'm following the plan again)

*~   A supportive husband - I'm lead to believe that not all husbands will cook from a ww recipe or eat anything put in front of them.

*~   Surgeries that went well

*~   Beauregard James

*~   Abigail Jane

*~   Lucy

*~   Real life friends

*~   Blog friends (if you don't blog, you don't know how real they are)


*~   Enough

White Light

Today is a big day.  My friend Sissy is having surgery today.

Please send her lots of white light and good wishes.

It's also The Princess' (I'd link to her blog, but she claims to be too busy to update!)

25th birthday.  So write on her wall, send her an email, of load her blog withs comments.

Finally - The Musical One passed an important work test.

We are very proud.

Abigail Jane

Abigail joined our family in January 2000.  She was born on December 1, 1999 - so you know what that means, right?  Today the old gal is 11!  I'm pretty impressed - she's had a hard time or two in her life.  She has a slight bit of arthritis in her left hip, but she's doing well on the meds - no long term kidney damage or anything else.

She had a bit of a rough time with the loss of Dudley - but she's finally starting to snuggle up with Beau or Lucy (usually Beau) every now and again.

Here's to another 11 fabulous years with the grumpy gal!

Pedigree

Pedigree is giving bags of dog food to local shelters.  It's easy and a good thing.

Rules are Here.  Hope I'm not too late. 

Best First Dog Ever!

**Warning - sad post ahead**

Last Thursday when we got home, Dudley wasn't doing so well at all.

The glands in his throat were the size of softballs and he didn't want to do anything.

He wouldn't even eat his all time favorite treats.

and he missed dinner.

First thing Friday morning we were at our vet. Where she listened to him and said that his lungs where no affected by the cancer. He ate a can of stinky wet TD and enjoyed every bite. We agreed with the vet that it was the right thing to do for him. He was no longer having fun. He wasn't being a dog. He was miserable. So, we said goodby and helped him over the Rainbow Bridge. I miss you buddy! You were the best first dog ever.

What You've All Been Waiting For

an update on our Old Man.

He's doing great. He had 4 teeth pulled but he handled being put out just fine. In fact - he came out of it so well that the vet's office was anxious for him to go home so it would be quiet again. He does not like being kept in a crate.

He's already taking Lucy on for squeaky toys - which is quite funny to see as she could totally take it from him, but won't. He walks around grumbling with the toy and she follows and tries to get somebody to take it from him so he can have it back.

We've been giving him the prescribed narcotics at the low end of the prescription. He's such a stoic man that it's hard to know if he's in pain or not. We were joking yesterday that since he doesn't need any stinkin narcotics he was headed out to the street to sell them. Good thing he doesn't have pockets - huh Thor?

Thanks for the all well wishes, support and understanding - it means a lot.

Goldilocks

First I want to thank everyone who stopped by and sent well wishes for Beau. It's helped, he's home now and doing better - but it's still scary. The worst part now is he's starting to feel better and still has to be kept quiet. For anyone who didn't read Fudge's report - Beau had bloat. He had surgery last Wednesday and came through fine. Now we are dealing with recovery. Before last week's crises, I had been sewing. I'm still in craft sewing mode and that's okay. I had seen some little rectangular knitting bags at my LYS and decided I wanted to try making some. I wanted a bag that would hold the necessary supplies for knitting two socks at the same time. As you can tell - I was feeling a bit like Goldilocks. The first bags I made were too small. They would be perfect for holding one sock - but not a pair. The second bag was a bit too large - I think it would be perfect for holding a lace project or possibly a scarf - but there's a bit too much room for the yarn cakes to roll around and get tangled in the bottom of the bag. I made a third bag - which I think is just right, but it didn't get photographed - of course. These next couple of bags were made for Golden Tracks. She had seen some similar bags on a website and thought the idea was great. She wanted a couple of bags to put in her big knitting bag to keep things from getting tangled. The inspiration bags had weighted bottoms. Because GT lives in a dog house I wanted the bags to be washable - so I made bean bags that fit in the bottom. Hopefully they are the right size and will do the trick.

Finally - all three bags together.

I do like the size of the one in the back - the Daddy bag if you will. I will use my Baby bag and I mailed off three others so hopefully they will get used as well.

I have a few more crafty things to get out of the studio and then I'm ready to start making clothes. I wasn't in the mood most of the summer - but I'm itching to get back to garment construction. I think my weight is probably stable - whether I like it or not. Hopefully my life is stable for awhile too.

My Heart Broke Today

Fudge wrote all two fabulous posts about the morning that Beau and I had. It was a very tough morning, but the good news came about 11. Beau came through surgery just fine.

This is one of my favorite photos of Beau - he just looks so confused. He's my heart. As Golden Tracks said today "I would do everything I can for any of my dogs - but I would lay down and die for him." (She was referring to her Nut.)

I'm so glad you are going to be okay my stinky, goofy, slobbery boy.

plugged in

last weekend was the first time I had even plugged my sewing machine in since the Spring Retreat. All I could manage to get done was this huge stack of fleece dog beds. I have a lot going on, but I'm hoping to be able to finish up some old pre-cut projects. Like the 2 jean style jackets that have been cut out for eveh! But just now it was easy to do something simple, mindless and that didn't need to fit. Plus I know that there are some dogs who will really enjoy these. The fleece and batting I had purchased a couple of years ago. I bought the end of the bolt of 2 different dog printed fleeces. It took me long enough to get them done. Now to get them delivered!

Lazy Easter Sunday

It was a very, very lazy kind of weekend. We had the Anderson Renewal people in to give an estimate on the new windows. Absolutely beautiful product - outrageously expensive! I'm not sure we can afford it. Saturday I had ASG - fabulous meeting. We got to look at some couture clothing made by a highly respected teacher at Seattle Central. She's retired now, but still sewing. She brought in wonderful garments she had made through the years using tailoring and couture techniques. We also took the big dogs (Beau & Lucy) down to the bathe them yourself spa. We didn't take any photos, but it was easier than bathing them in the house. JB brushed another dog out of Beau and he's still shedding. We promised to take them to the dog park on Sunday so they could show off how beautiful it was - but it rained all day. Just dumping down rain - I didn't leave the house all day. JB baked cookies for the dogs - these were from a mix that JD2 bought me a couple of years ago. Finally got around to getting them made. They had to bake for 2 hours! They are very crunchy cookies. There were also snickerdoodles for the humans. All in all a very low key weekend. How about yours?

This One's For Jess

Jessica who's been to my house asked for a picture of the deck from the pond/patio. I don't think she meant when everything was covered with snow - but that's what I've currently got - so that's what you're getting! First photo - from the deck looking at the patio. On the left side of that photo you can see a table - that's the patio. This photo was taken from just above the table. Looking down onto the house and deck. You can just see the outline of what we call the upper deck. Because there is a step between the two levels.

In this <----- last photo, JB was standing just under the patio. Our back yard is all levels. From this view you can see how long the deck is and how deep the snow is. Yes for Western Washington that's deep!

The lower deck is 10' from the edge to just under the upper deck. The upper deck is 38' from that edge to the far edge. So - it's large. And of course because Beau is the best boy around he was out with JB running and playing in the snow.

Maybe I Didn't Tell You

but earlier this year when Miss D and I went to Madrona, I bought a kit that had been put together by a yarn store fairly close to my house for the felted hedgehog. This same store also had the felted dog bone on display but had sold out of the patterns. Well the hedgie kit has been taking up space in the studio since last February. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to throw it into my bag and take it along to knit night. Even though it involved counting - I was able to get most of the body done that night at knitting. When I got home, I finished the little contrast feet but had to wait until I could get a new needle to finish the back. About that time, I decided I was ready to start the bone. I had thought I could download the pattern on ravelry - but I was wrong! I called the same store I got the hedgie kit and had them ship me the pattern. Tuesday evening I finished hedgie and started on the bone. Friday I dumped them in the washer with some of JB's jeans. The bone is almost dry and ready to be finished. Hedgie will take a little bit longer. The top picture is pre-felting. The bottom is post-felting. The bone ended up a little distorted, but I think it will be fine. I'm not positive I'm going to give it to Lucy though. I have decided it's probably not the best idea to give a dog a felted wool toy in a house where wool lives.

Silly Boo

Can you see her? She likes to walk under the new deck.

Occassionally she'll pop up through the deck to see what's going on.

check out all the other Dogs on Thursday

Prince Mugsy

My friend Chan had to make the hardest decision of her life this past weekend and say Good Night to her Sweet Prince Mugsy. This is a very sad time for her - but I am so proud of her for making such a difficult decision. My heart is with you.

The Dog "Party"

The Princess is home visiting for a minute (well, 5 days really, but it feels like a minute). Yesterday she was hanging with her dad (not JB) and went to Three Dog Bakery. She brought home 4 little pupcakes for the a late birthday treat.

So, here are all the dogs lined up on beds and The Princess is holding all 4 pupcakes over their heads. They all had to do a trick before they got their treat. The trick was dependant upon the dogs ability.

Lucy spoke and then stood up to get hers. She put the entire cupcake in her mouth in one bite and I think she might has swallowed it whole.

Beau did off. He's really good at this- especially considering this is a tasty treat and there are other dogs in the house. His cake is between his front legs and he had to wait for two things - 1) for JB to take the photo; and 2) he has to look at the person who put him in "off" not the treat he's suppose to be ignoring. He does this well. There is no photo of Dudley getting his pupcake, but he's behind Beau eating it. Abby did dance. The poor girl really had to work this trick. Because the camera wasn't firing fast enough to get it. She would go down and the shot would take. But dance she did and then she got a cute little pupcake.

After filling the dogs with a sugar high ~ she left again. Not for good, just to go out with her friend. She goes home before dawn on Thursday morning - see, so really we only had her for a minute.

Happy Birthday Little Man

Dudley Dog is 10 today

It's the "Twins" Birthday

This was their first birthday and Lucy was really unhappy with the hat.

She ate it later :)

Father's Day

I figured out that in my family when it's mother's day or father's day that means you get to do all the work! For example - it's Father's day - the Musical One wanted eggs benedict for breakfast - and that's one of his dishes. So he cooked breakfast. Then dinner was BBQ - I don't cook outside. So he got to cook dinner too. See, Father's Day and the Father did all the work. We spent the day at the horse races. It was the first really beautiful day in Seattle. As soon as we got home, we leashed up the big dogs and headed out for a walk.

We were less than 5 minutes from home, when a young kid on a motorcycle who claimed to live in the neighborhood and have a 3 year old of his own - came flying down the road toward us doing 50+ with his front wheel in the air. The noise of his bike scared Miss Lucy, who darted into the road. JB got her leash locked and got her safely out of the road, yelling at the kid on the bike to slow down. He slowed down all right. Slowed to a completely stop, then turned around yelling at JB and giving him the universal hello sign - if you know what I mean.

I put Beau into a sit-stay and we waited where we where while JB and Lucy went back to talk to the kid on the bike. He was mouthing off and words were exchanged. The kid called the cops and we spent the next 30 minutes or so waiting for the sheriff to show. After all was said and done - the young man will be cited for Reckless Driving. Moral of the Story ~ don't drive like an idiot in my neighborhood. The cops will be called (even if you do it yourself) and you will end up in trouble. fun times!!

I Ain't Got Much

But this little fake fur bear to show for my efforts today. This is bearrit from Carol's Zoo. I started making this bears as dog toys several years ago. When I realized I could purchase replacement squeakers and fake fur for much less than I could buy a soft toy at the pet store.

Because it takes me about 45 minutes to make one, and it only take Beau 5 minutes to kill one, I don't make bears for my guys too often any more, but when I make them as gifts for other - Lucy just sits and drools, waiting to get her chops on it.

I also managed to walk the dogs, vacuum the floors, work 6 rounds on my baby pinwheel blanket, make another dog toy and cut out 4 swing bags. Tomorrow plans to be much of the same - dog walking and sewing :) Good times!