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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Another spoiled Schnauzer

During the summer I adopted out Rudy and Cody. They came into rescue together and had been living together for 5 years. Rudy is 5 years old and Cody 9. Rudy was the boss, Cody let him. Well, they were separated and adopted out to two different homes and both are doing very well. They are getting the attention they each deserve. Often times when I make the decision to separate two dogs that come in together, I wonder if it is the right decision. I know they often do much better because the dynamics change and they blossom into a different wonderful dog.

This morning I received an email with an update on Rudy:









"...I just thought I’d send some photos of Rudy. We want to thank you again for allowing us to adopt him. He is such a delight! We can’t believe how lucky we are to have such a great dog! He’s adjusted quite well to his new home. He initially had separation anxiety issues, but we’ve sorted that out. He enjoys car rides (as you can see from the pictures) and we try to take him whenever we’re able. We go on long walks every day. We’re fortunate to live near a park and sometimes we’re able to walk with a neighbor and her two toy poodles. You can see that he’s also made a friend with Blizzard, who lives across the street. Rudy quickly figured out that Frank is the cook in the family.


...We took him for a haircut when folks started mistaking him for Toto! He’s been great around our family and friends, including their kids. He has such a great personality!"


I love the picture of him smiling, happy to be going for a ride. I love when adopters let me know how well everything is going and that everyone is happy (it usually makes me tear up.) I love happy endings, especially when I'm not quite sure how long a dog will be staying with me, and in Rudy's case...would he ever get adopted? he was with me for quite a few weeks. But then, someone always comes along and it ends up being perfect.



Thank you Terry and Frank for giving him so much love.


Have a great day everyone!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Beach finds and dead things

I took pictures of some shells gathered from a couple different beaches on Nantucket but my camera (or me) is not producing good photos, but here's one I thought you'd appreciate...YUP! that's a baby snapping turtle carcass. It has it's front 'hand' around a bone that looks like it got stuck in it's throat....I like to collect dead things, I prefer it when it seems they died of natural causes...but I still like dried up dead things.



The possibility of how he died doesn't surprise me. There are inlets with bridges across that people throw chicken pieces out into the water whilst it is attached to a string so that the turtles can grab something to eat, but also to give us a show of themselves. Some are quite large and it is amazing to see them so close. Well, after boredom sets in, people leave the chicken attached, hanging from the bridge so the turtles can continue to feast, which seems like a very nice thing to do, I thought. Sometimes they are able to chew the chicken from the string...I'm thinking that might have happened to this little one. I have to admit, I know this because I participated, not seeing any harm in it...BUT! I won't be doing it again. If you really think about it...there's not a way that these turtles would get themselves a chicken without human intervention. We are selfish and stupid sometimes.

I was at a picnic recently, with a pond nearby and a 14 year old boy got himself a frog...stabbed right through it with a sharpened stick. He held it in front of me all proud of himself that he caught it for his friend that wanted one. I asked, "oh, is he going to eat it?" (I don't get as horrified if it's not a wasted kill) and he said he didn't know. The frog was of good size, his poor little limbs just splayed out....I said, "so, you killed it just for the fun of it?" I told him how I thought it was not right, that he shouldn't be proud of himself and that it was just MEAN, just MEAN. I think it was a look of shame that came across his face (I hope so) or a "I gotta get myself out of here before this lady goes crazy on me." I was so sad for the frog that was just living his life. I told this story to a male friend and he said, "he's a boy, that's what they do." I said, "it doesn't make it right, to kill something just for the fun of it." We have to teach our children to respect living creatures. Apparently, he had not learned this.

Have a great day.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Help

things have changed on posting with blogger and you may have noticed that I have huge spaces between paragraphs and I can't figure out how to make them smaller. I have mentioned that I am computer technology disabled, right? well, here's some more proof. It's probably easy to most but it's all jibberish to me when I go around blogger info. to find out how to change it. Maybe someone out there can give me clue?

many thanks!!

Grannie Square and Afghan-mania

I regularly check out a blog 'RetroRenovation' owned by Pam, it's a site I happened upon a few months ago and I love it! 
Here's why:
1. I love retro/vintage
2. Her site has a plethora of retro information for those re-doing their homes in that flavor
3. Her reader's comments give more stuff to consider
4. I love retro/vintage (oh, did I say that already?)
5. It's a very friendly welcoming site of sharing information


which brings me to why I'm talking about afghans...
Mainly Pam explores the interiors of homes of the 50's and 60's, but occasionally brings up the decor aspect. Grannie squares and afghans made their way to the site and got everyone excited remembering who grannie square-made ponchos, hats and afghans came from. (If you are interested, she's putting together a slide show of readers' pics. Go here to find out how you can join in the fun.)


I do wish I still had the GS hat mom made, it was quite silly and gave me the look of cat ears (which, I was regularly teased about) but it brings back memories of all the things she crocheted for me and how she taught me how to crochet. Wish I had the ponchos, too.


While she was sick, and before her passing, she was making a full-size bedspread made up of squares that had a wonderful pattern on them of popcorn stitch. She was making it out of the cotton thread/yarn....lots of work. She didn't finish it before she died so my Aunt (who's terrific at everything anyway) took it and finished it. My brother got it. I don't know how that happened, and now it no longer exists. Makes me sad to know how much she loved making it with the plan that it would go on her and dad's bed and she never got to enjoy the completion of it. Makes me sad that I didn't get it to keep and treasure and protect. 


Oh CRAP! how'd I get down that path?


anyway, I have an afghan she made for me, a huge grannie square. I took it out the other day. I always had remembered it being so big and when I took it out to take a picture to send to Pam, I laughed because it's not huge. 

It's funny how things stay with you from when you are a child and the size difference as you are taller and older.


I have no idea who made this afghan, someone in the family line on mom's side. It's not big, maybe it was made for a crib, a lap, or just to look nice on the back of a sofa. It's heavy, made out of wool.








and then there's this one I recently acquired, also made out of wool but the yarn is thinner, making it a lighter weight.






and then, although this is not crocheted but knitted instead...I've included it because my Memere made it and Pepere gave it to me shortly after she died along with some of her costume jewelry when I was 10.





This one looks great on my bed with the turquoise walls. I think it must have been a new knitting project for her because some of the stitching is not quite right. Doesn't matter, I'm glad I have it. 


Have a beautiful day, and pull out your handmade goodies and revel in the memories and wrap up in warmth. 

I'm not lost, just couldn't be found

If you've been checking up on me, I've been away and since back, catching up with things. Five weeks on vacation...the best 5 weeks weather-wise of the whole summer. Oh, how the sun shone and the air was warm. 5 weeks you ask? oh, yes... Don't think it was all glamorous on an isolated island somewhere...only one week was like that, the rest was in the Mountains of the Berkshires prettying up a newly acquired camper and campsite. 

Who knew I'd ever be a camper? Actually, it's quite beautiful and only an hour and a half away from home so if for some reason you need to fly back for something, it's not too much of a problem...especially when we have the motorcycles with us. It's a beautiful ride on the bike. 


It's quite peaceful and relaxing and just far enough away so all those thoughts that go on in your head when you aren't home...about the house, work, etc....are gone. Even though we're working around the site, it's outside, the weather was great, and we all work as a team. Like on this....

Well, R. did the work, we just put a rock in now and again to fill up a space and help it's structure. He's been doing all the heavy lifting....and loves it. But, his girls and I are proving ourselves as wonderful assistants....and food makers. Hey, a man has to eat in order to keep working hard!


One week was spent on Nantucket, though. We visited with friend's there that own a home about a half mile from the beach. I've been there several times during the Winter months to do artwork on their walls, but this was the first time during the summer. They have such a wonderful feeling home and 3 of my traveling co-horts were instantly comfortable. The weather was absolutely perfect for us. We spent time on the beach and collected many seashells. We took early morning walks to the beach and saw 'Mr. Seal' bobbing his head up every once in awhile checking out to see if we were still there. We had wonderful dinners together at night and enjoyed reading and relaxing all day. Town Center can be a little crazy so we only ventured in for a few hours of window shopping and, of course, got an ice cream cone. Love ice cream. AND, we happen to be there the weekend of the Nantucket Demolition Derby. We watched 3 heats (I learned that that is what they are called) and it was kind of exciting. We all picked a car to win, I think it was that that made it exciting -- the competition -- well, for me anyway. Although, you couldn't really help but shout something out when you saw a good hit.


So, I'm back, getting back into the swing of meeting with clients, working on some jobs and the forever on-going task of house stuff. Maybe it will be done before I die -- I'm thinking there's a better chance it won't be -- and I don't plan on dying anytime soon.