"Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either." ~ Elizabeth Zimmerman
Showing posts with label Cable. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cable. Show all posts

11/30/15

Cable Knit Park

I've been trying to write this post for several days now, and not having much luck. We've had a really rough time the past couple weeks here at the Parkarosa. First, we had a storm that knocked out our power for 3 days. It was the worst storm damage to the power grid in this area ever. We had winter temps to go with it. We got our power back, and then a couple days later a real tragedy happened.

Saturday night, the 21st, my beautiful dog Cable went out of the yard out onto the road in the dark. She was hit by a car and killed.



I am devastated. I could hardly function for about 3 days. Then I started to come out of it and go back to living my life, without her. I still hurt so very much though. I miss her more than I can say. We don't know why she did it. We speculate that perhaps she was chasing deer because she was hit where the deer are known to cross the road in front of our place and we've had quite a few of them around lately.



The person who hit her took off and left her dead in the middle of the road. We were unaware of this at the time. A few minutes later a lady was driving by and saw her. She stopped to check and see if Cable was alive, which she wasn't. So she pulled her to the side of the road, then drove up our driveway and knocked on our door to inform us. She gave me a ride back out to the road. I could not believe my eyes. My precious Cable is dead. I immediately burst into tears.



Doug walked out to the road from the house, so the lady stayed with a semi-hysterical me until he arrived. Then she left. I thanked her for telling us what had happened. Doug then walked back to the house to get our pick-up truck because she weighed 60 pounds and neither of us wanted to carry that much weight that far.



I was bawling like a baby on the side of the road holding Cable. Another lady drove by and saw me. She stopped, got out of her car, and asked if I needed help. I told her my husband would be here shortly to take my dog back to the house. She offered me a hug. Initially, I turned it down, but she walked over and grabbed me anyway and hugged me. I bawled on her shoulder. She stayed until Doug returned with the truck. I thanked her for the hug, and for caring.



We buried Cable later that night at the edge of the hill in the backyard, where she liked to lay and watch for wildlife down below to chase away.



The car that hit her suffered some damage. There is broken plastic all over the place. It gives me some small comfort knowing that.



Despite my grief, I am quite touched by the two very caring strangers who stopped by that night. When I think about it, it's really quite amazing. It's nice to know there are still caring and kind people in the world who will stop to help and comfort someone they don't even know.



So I've been somewhat depressed the past few days. It's so different without her. I find myself doing things like opening the door to call her in the house, cooking an extra piece of meat for dinner for her, and making sure I don't step on her when I get out of bed, despite the fact she's not there any more.



I am so glad we were able to take Cable to see the ocean. She loved it there.



And we took her with us on our trip to Michigan. She really enjoyed that trip. She loved riding in the car, looking out the windows, and just being with us.



I know that Cable was a very happy dog who knew she was loved, and I know she loved me. I was very lucky and privileged to have her in my life for the 4 years we did. I wish I had protected her better.

Rest in peace my beautiful girl.


Live long and prosper. \\//

8/27/15

Porcupine

It's been a very busy time since my last post. Never a dull moment these days. Must be August.

Last weekend was adventurous, if nothing else. The biggest excitement happened on Saturday night. We went to Dan and Sues for dinner. While relaxing and enjoying ourselves I suddenly noticed the dogs-Cable and Tripper- were not in the room with us. They were, in fact, outside. Ruth and I went out to call them in. After some time, Cable came running up the steps ------ covered in porcupine quills!



Tripper followed somewhat later, also porcupined. Oh what a nightmare! Thankfully, Cable cooperated while Doug and I removed them with a pair of pliers. She had a lot of them in her face, nose, chest, paws, and even inside her mouth imbedded in her soft pallet and under her lips. It was so painful for her and she bled quite a bit but she stuck it through as we pulled each one out.

Tripper was another matter. He did not cooperate at all! It took quite some time to get them out of his face even though he had less of them in him because he squirmed and jumped and tried to escape the whole time. He is an amazingly strong and slippery dog and he's much more afraid of pain. It took as many as four of us to hold him down while Dan pulled them out. Poor little guy.

I bet neither dog takes on a porcupine again.

Sweet hubby and I spent the daytime hours of the weekend shopping for a new pickup truck. Our Toyota Tundra is 12 years old and showing it's age. So we made the decision to replace it. We looked for something that will handle pulling our camping trailer better than the current vehicle and had a comfy back seat with plenty of leg room for all. We found what we want and 'bought' it. We have signed all the paperwork to purchase a Ford F150 XLT crew cab with towing package in Ruby Red Metallic. It will look somewhat like this (the front grill may be different.)

2015 Ford F150 XLT

However, the actual truck we bought is at another dealership. You see, we found the perfect model on our local lot except it had one flaw. It had regular side mirrors instead of the bigger ones for pulling trailers. Sweet hubby insists it must have the larger mirrors. The dealership claims that to install the larger mirrors on the one in stock will cost more than for them to go get one from another Ford dealer, so they did some research and found one about 800 miles away. They are currently trying to arrange an exchange and trip to that dealership to bring it here for us. It was supposed to be here tomorrow, but there's been a problem. So maybe next week. It's frustrating to go through all that hassle and take nothing home. Urg. And when did pickup trucks get so darn expensive?

I went to the fair yesterday. I'm working the North Idaho Secular Society booth for 3 shifts. I took the very first one on Wednesday morning. Of course, I dashed off to see how my four entries did. I got 2 blue ribbons, one red, and one white ribbon. I will have more details after I get good pics, which I'll be doing tomorrow cuz I've got my second shift in the afternoon. I took my camera with me yesterday, but I forgot to bring it home. Left it on the floor under a chair in the booth. Can't pull the pics off it and put them on the laptop if it's there instead of here at home.

We are still having blistering hot dry weather with thick smoky air. We've had some days of nasty wind too. The visibility has been between 1 and 5 miles for the whole week, with unhealthy air warnings.  It's miserable right now. I almost want winter to come, but not quite. Rain would be good. Rain would be really really good.  I could go for a whole week of rain! They are predicting some rain for the weekend. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Some other news. Doug and I are registered to go on the Star Trek Cruise in 2017! I mean, we are going! Really going! (Barring any unforeseen circumstances between now and then) An email came telling about this cruise. William Shatner is going to host it. Jonathon Frakes (Commander William T. Riker), Mirina Sirkis (Deanna Troy), Robert Picardo (The doctor from Voyager), James Darren (Holodeck character from Deep Space 9), and Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar in Next Generation) are scheduled to go too-so far. They are working to add more.



I have wanted, my whole life, to go to a Star Trek convention but have never been able to. It's on my bucket list. William Shatner is the last of the 'big three' stars of the original series. Deforest Kelly passed away some years ago, and then Leonard Nimoy passed away earlier this year. Time is running out. William Shatner is getting old and I don't want to miss seeing him. When Doug got home from work I told him about the cruise and how much I wanted to go. We discussed it and decided to do it. I am so excited! It will be the trip of a lifetime!

Live long and prosper. \\//

8/6/14

Ellie and Cable

When we got home from our trip, even though it went a week and a half without being watered during one of the hottest weeks of the summer, our lawn was again covered in blooming clover. I had to take some pictures. I also had a doll photo contest I want to participate in. Take pics of Ellie with her favorite dog. Cable obliged. This is the photo I entered.



She was very cooperative. She likes to pose for pictures. The doll bothered her at first, but when she realized what I was trying to do, she settled down.



Best friends.



I made the outfit Ellie is wearing. I've donated it as a prize for a Bingo game I'm participating in being held by the Imagining Ellowyne Wilde group.



After taking these pics, I mowed it all down. Poor little clover heads.

Live long and prosper. \\//

3/19/13

An Apron

Someones birthday is coming up in about a month. In the past I've knitted her something, but I didn't feel like doing that this year. So after throwing several ideas around in my head, I decided to sew something for her. I made her an apron this past weekend.



I used to do a lot of sewing. I made most of my husbands clothes in the first few years of our marriage because it was so expensive to buy him clothes. He's 6'4" tall with extra long arms. Clothing for tall sizes was prohibitive for our meager budget.

After the second daughter came along, though, I ran out of time for sewing. Priorities changed. I know prices came down on tall sizes so it was easier to get store bought. But mostly, I was so busy taking care of 2 little girls.

This apron turned out to be a much bigger challenge than I figured it would be. In this simple little garment I had to quilt (the upper bib), put in darts (the lower bib),



do knife pleats in the skirt part,



and box pleats in the pockets.



 In addition, practically everything is lined. I say practically because the back of the skirt is supposed to be lined but I chose not to do that. There's also supposed to be some rick-rack trim, but I don't see the receiver of this gift as a rick-rack kind of person, so I left it out too.

I'm so out of practice I had a very hard time sewing a straight line, and finding all my tools was problematic. All in all, though, it turned out fine. I hope she likes it.

I love the fabric. I went to our local quilting shop, Bear Paw Quilting, for it. I'd never been in the shop before even though it's right next door to one of our local yarn shops. The fabric selection was jaw dropping. I expect I'll be going there again.

The pattern is a free one I found on the Internet called Pleated Apron. Actually, when I Googled 'free apron pattern' I was surprised at how many there are. Aprons must be 'in'.

I have some fabric leftovers so I'm going to make a couple matching potholders.

There's a little story I want to share that happened yesterday. As y'all know, I recently had a blog contest drawing. One of the prizes was a set of onyx and dalmatian jasper beaded stitch markers. Yesterday I went to pack the prizes in a box to ship to the winner. I'd left them on the dining room table, together. The yarn was there, and the jam, but the little ziplock bag with the stitch markers was nowhere to be found.

The thought came to me that perhaps Merino had managed to steal them. He loves to play with little plastic packages. So I searched the house. Ruth joined in the search. We looked everywhere. Under the furniture, behind the furniture, in every place we know Merino likes to hide his toys and places he wouldn't think of. Could not find it anywhere.

After some more thought I began to wonder if the scenario had more likely been Merino stole the bag, dropped it on the floor, and Cable grabbed and made off with it outside. She likes to chew on small things. Expecially plastic things. We try to keep them out of her reach, but Merino has become her partner in crime.

The guilty party.

I went outside to look around. The snow had finally melted off the back yard and the mess that is there is unbelievable! Little plastic bits of packaging all over the place, along with shredded paper towels, kleenexes, chewed up clothes pins, pencils, pens, missing computer parts, a pair of now-broken reading glasses, and whatnot. Ruth even found the buttons I bought for the lime and black baby cardigan. Everything Cable stole this winter is now showing. Oh My God! What a mess spread over the whole backyard! I began the arduous task of looking for the bag of stitch markers.

As I walked around searching every inch of the back yard it began to snow---hard. It snowed so hard the lawn was covered in just a matter of minutes making the search very difficult. Nevertheless, I spotted the upper half of the missing bag. Yup! She'd chewed it up. There is no sign of the bottom half or the stitch markers. This morning, after the snow finally melted away, I went out and looked everywhere for them. Either she buried them, or ate them. I keep going out to look every so often in hopes of finding them. I hope to laugh at this some day but right now I'm rather ticked off.

I made a new set of stitch markers. Fortunately I had enough leftover beads to do that.

Sigh. Sometimes I wonder what ever possessed me to get fur kids.

Live long and prosper. \\//

2/20/13

WIP Wednesday 2/20/2013

It's time for WIP Wednesday! This is where I am on the Octopus sweater.



It's coming along nicely. I just cast on 5 sts on each side for the steeks. Wheeee!

I've got 3 itty bitty beads done and a 4th one started. No pics of that until after the 4th bead is finished. I know what I'm gonna make with them now. I've got an idea for a necklace.

It was a beautiful, although cold, day today. Lots of sunshine and blue sky. Just too cold to go outside though. Brrrr.

Cable says hello.



Tomorrow is me and sweet hubbies 31st wedding anniversary. We're planning on going out to dinner at the Cedars Floating Restaurant. Yum!





If you're interested in participating in WIP Wednesday, please join us.

Live long and prosper. \\//

1/16/13

WIP Wednesday 1/16/2013

I have finished the body of the baby cardigan.



Next is the sleeves. Hmm, I have sleeves of 2 sweaters to do now. They're starting to pile up.

We had some sunshine today. Cable was enjoying it while out in the front yard laying in the snow chewing on her new bone. In her opinion, the only proper way to chew a bone is while laying in the snow.


Silly dog.

One more thing. I took new pics of the Treads mitts. I like these much better.







If you're interested in participating in WIP Wednesday, please join us.


Live long and prosper. \\//

11/11/12

Flat Spiral Challenge

It has been a busy week. I even missed Caturday! I'll get it next week. I did sit down for a couple hours, though, and worked on this months Seadbeadersters Challenge project-a Flat Spiral bracelet.



I used 6mm and 4mm Picasso firepolish glass beads in a mottled pale grey and brown, and some amber gold-lustered size 11 beads.



Here is a link to a tutorial on how to do this: Flat Spiral



It is a super super easy pattern!



I wore it last night.



We went to see the new Bond movie, Skyfall, than dinner at Red Robin. Skyfall was fun. I really enjoyed it. Dinner was great too. I had the Banzai burger. I always have the Banzai burger. It is awesome. That and the Berry Limeade. Mmmm...tasty!

I have been knitting some. I'll post about that hopefully tomorrow.

So what was I doing all week? Running around. It was the first week of the month. So I had lots of places to go. Tuesday was voting, and Rathdrum Knitalong, Wednesday was Knit Wits, Thursday was Yarnies, Friday was the second session of the glove class. Between all that I have to do the usual house cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, etc etc etc.

On top of all of this, sigh, winter arrived---with a WHOMP! On Thursday it turned very cold and by that evening it was snowing. It snowed all night. It didn't stop snowing until Saturday morning. We got a total of 7 inches by the time it was done. The temps have not been above freezing since Thursday evening.

Thursday, after I got home from Yarnies, I filled up the bird feeders and set out some suet blocks because it felt like it was gonna snow (the Doom was thick in the air). I'm waiting for the birds to find it now. So far, I've had finches and a Flicker. The kittens are fascinated by them. They spent a couple hours on the windowsill this morning watching them.

Cable was beside herself with excitement over the snow. I think she must have really missed it a LOT! She ran in and out the doggy door. When she was out, she rolled, danced, ran, nose-plowed, and played in the snow. She laid in it, rubbed herself all over in it, and ate it. My goodness! It was quite a show. I think she spent pretty much the whole day on Friday out in the snow. Daughter was worried she was getting cold when she was laying in it snoozing. I figured if she got cold, she'd come in to warm up.

Cable running in the snow

So, I've kicked into 'waiting for spring' mode now.

Live long and prosper. \\//


10/6/12

It's Caturday!

Caturday 10/6/2012


Probably planning something naughty.


HEY! WHAT ABOUT ME????




Love cats? Care to join in the fun? Go here: Tanya's Caturday

Live long and prosper. \\//

9/21/12

Pink Fancy Flossy




Pink Fancy Flossy Shrug

Pattern: Fancy Flossy Shrug by me

Size: Ladies, 56 inches from cuff to cuff.

Yarn:  Bobtail by Schoeller+Stahl in shades of Pink (discontinued)
Content:  58% Polyester/42% Acrylic, bulky weight.

Yarn: Caron Kolormatch in White (discontinued)
Content: 100% Acrylic, worsted weight

Yarn: Red Heart Supersaver in Rose Pink (this color is discontinued)
Content: 100%  Acrylic, worsted weight 

Needles: Addi Turbo Circulars in size 10 and 15.

Cast on: September 5, 2012
Bound off: September 16, 2012

Comments: Took less than 100 yards of furry yarn. I carried one strand of Rose Pink throughout, except the cuffs which are one strand of White. Made it just a little longer than usual. Some people have longer arms.



Of course, I made this for Knit Wits.


~~~~~~~~~~

I had the oddest experience this morning. I heard Cable outside barking at something so I went out to see what was going on. Down the hill was a big doe. Cable was a few feet from her barking her head off. The doe didn't seem to be bothered and actually walked toward her, so she jumped back and barked some more. This went on for awhile. Then, Cable charged at the doe. The doe charged back, so Cable turned around and ran straight for me. The doe took chase. So there I am with a dog and a large doe running full blast straight for me. Needless to say, it scared me.  I knew I couldn't outrun her so I dived behind a small tree so there'd be something between us. As soon as I did that the doe suddenly turned and ran off into the woods. It was almost like my movement scared her.

This is not the first time I've seen this doe chase Cable. What I can't figure out is if they are playing together, or if she's just really aggressive (the doe, not Cable)? Are she and Cable friends?

Is this the deer whisperer?

Did she not notice me come out of the house? Is that why she didn't run off right away? Usually the deer are afraid of humans. I hope to get some answers to these questions.

There is never a dull moment on the Parkarosa.

I am keeping myself indoors pretty much. Wednesday the smoke had cleared up quite a bit, so I took advantage of the opportunity to have the doors and windows open and I shampooed the wool Moose area rug and runner in the living room. My vacuum cleaner is a Kirby that converts into a shampooer (among other things). It's the first time I've shampooed since installing the rugs. They look brand new now.

Thursday the smoke moved back into the area. It's worse than ever now. So I'm hunkered down in my house. It's also very warm. In the 80F's today. Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the low 90F's. Hello air conditioner!

Live long and prosper. \\//

9/10/12

It's Green Now

Had a good weekend. On Saturday Ruth and I went into Spokane Valley and visited Hobby Lobby, Joann's Fabric and Craft, and Barnes and Noble. I was somewhat disappointed in Hobby Lobby. We went there in search of sport weight washable yarn in navy blue, or denim. I would have been happy with that. No such luck. They didn't have much of anything in sport weight, unless you want baby yarn, which I didn't. I did find and purchase some white, black, and brown sport weight acrylic which I intend to turn into Knit Wits projects.

I didn't find anything I wanted at Joann's. All they had was baby yarn in sport weight. All in all, a rather frustrating endeavor.

I did find something I wanted at Barnes and Noble though.



Showcase 500 Beaded Jewelry contains wonderful photos of 500 beaded jewelry projects made by beaders all over the world, some famous, some not. No patterns. Just pictures. Looking at them gets my creative juices flowing, though, and inspires me.

The Japanese Beadwork book has some very intriguing and beautiful projects in it that I hope to make some day. Sonoko Nozue uses lots of crystals in her work. Very sparkly. I like sparkly.

After returning home, we had a Star Trek TOS marathon the rest of the evening.

Our mailbox has been getting more and more beat up looking. Well, it has been hit by several cars over the years-before they took the curve out of the road in front of our house. And paint doesn't last forever. The black paint was peeling off in huge chunks, so I decided on Sunday I was gonna spruce it up. My plan was to try and bang some of the dents out, scrape the loose paint off with a wire brush and some sand paper, then spray paint it dark green and paint the address numbers on with lime green glitter paint. Sweet Hubby decided he was gonna help me. It was one of those situations where I appreciated that he wanted to help, but at the same time he was frustrating the heck out of me.  It didn't go at all the way I wanted. He made it so much more complicated, and, of course, had to use power tools. Urg.

Couldn't get the dent above the flag out.

The green glitter paint ended up on the pole instead of the mailbox. Don't ask. It'll just make me frustrated again. I drove into Coeur d'Alene to visit Home Depot to buy some reflective mailbox stickers for the numbers instead. It was just sooooo much less hassle. (Don't ask!) The important thing is by the end of the day the mailbox was spruced up all nice and green. It looks almost brand new!

After taking the pic of the mailbox above, Cable came over and asked me to take a picture of her too.



Isn't that a happy face? She has the most wonderful smiles. Have I mentioned she's herding the kittens? It's so funny. I've been leaving the back door open in the evenings to cool the house. Occasionally one, or both, of the kittens will go out the door and down the steps. She dashes out and herds them right back into the house. She's very gentle about it, bumping them with her nose to get them to go where she wants them to.

Last week I'd ordered some yarn from Knitivity. A couple of his Blog Reader Specials. It arrived on Saturday. I don't need them. Not even sure what I'm gonna make with them. I certainly didn't need anymore purple sock yarn, and yet....



I also got these matching skeins of Lace weight yarn. Mine!



That's my weekend, in a nutshell. Now for some kitten cuteness.

Merino hangin' on the back of the couch. They are growing so fast!



When we first brought them home I could hold both of them in one hand. Now it's one hand apiece, and they hang over from both ends. Cashmere was snoozing on top the cat tree.



He is quite the little jumper and climber. Quite a bit more advanced than Merino.

Merino decided to join Cashmere in the nap fest.

Squee overload! 

They are learning their names, and come when I call 'here kitty kitty'. They are also learning what 'NO' means, and they've been introduced to the squirt bottle which emits water only if they get up on the dining room table or kitchen counter. They are pretty smart little boys so they're learning the rules fairly quickly.

Live long and prosper. \\//