Just Wanting to Share

Don't have much to say today. I was looking through some of my old photo disks recently. I found this beautiful photo of Morgan and just wanted to share it. It was taken in 2005.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Goodbye Sweet Boy

At 5:50pm today Ch. Willowmeres John Morgan Park crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Rest in peace my sweet little boy. You will be missed. I'm happy to have had the honor of having you in my life and being able to love you.

Morgan is Okay

Yesterday, in preparation for the much anticipated road trip we're taking next month, I took the boys to see the doc for checkups and shots. Tommy is fine, as usual. He's gained a pound, but I expected that during the winter. He'll start losing that pound now that he's running around outside and getting exercise.

The results of Morgans exam surprised me. He is doing better now than he was last fall. Heart's good, lungs good, teeth are even good. He's still blind, and he's got some 'old dog' things going on (new moles, a couple of those small fat tumors he's had before), but other than that, he's gold. I am so happy to hear it. He had such bad days during the winter I really wasn't expecting this nice surprise.

Morgan poses for the camera. I couldn't get him to look up at me. I kept making funny sounds to get him to look up. Wasn't until this morning that I remembered he's deaf and can't hear me.(Clearly, I haven't adjusted to that as well as he has.)

The doctor did take another look at the cyst under his chin. We've talked about having surgery to drain it several times now. She asked if she could try pulling the liquid out with a needle, draining it that way first. I said yes. Unfortunately, it didn't work. The stuff is very very thick, and there's apparently plenty of scar tissue in the way too. (Interesting) We have decided no surgery. It's not hurting him in any way, just ugly. The risk of surgery at his age doesn't make it worth it. So, she gave him his shots and we went home.

Chenille gave him a hug swipe in sympathy for having to go see the mean doctor and get shots.

Tommy was not interested in cameras. He was too busy running in and out the doggy door to track grass into the house.

He managed to track quite a bit in. I guess all that practice makes perfect.

There is a webcam that we have found that is absolutely fascinating. A pair of Bald Eagles have a baby in the nest. I actually got to watch mamma feed baby his breakfast this morning. Be careful, it can be addicting.

The Eagles of Hornby Island

I was going to knit out on the deck after we got home but the city of Rathdrum decided to burn garbage in their dump, which is fairly close to us, and the wind blew all the really nasty smelling smoke toward us. I hate the smell of burning plastic. Yuck! Couldn't even have the windows open and enjoy the scent of the blooming flowering plum out front. I'm hoping for better luck today. The sun is shining. A step in the right direction.

Have a great day.

Sleep-I Want Some

I don't know what is going on with Morgan lately but he's not letting me sleep. For the last 2 nights he's been waking me up every hour for one reason or another. Wants to go outside, wants a drink of water, wants to go outside, wants wants wants...? I wanted to strangle him about 4:30 this morning. He's fine during the daytime hours. So what is going on? I have a mammogram scheduled for 7:30am tomorrow. If I don't get sleep tonight I'm gonna be extra miserable for it.

Yesterday we woke up to a few inches of new snow and ice. It was enough that Doug had to plow the driveway. He got the plowing done-but the tractor broke while he was doing it. It's a MAJOR break. Hydraulic fluid is running out behind the clutch. We are talkin' money and big hassle to fix it. Sigh. Fortunately, the weather warmed up later. It turned to rain. Actually got up to 43F degrees. A lot of the snow has melted. Don't need to plow today.

Had a minor disaster at CDA Yarnies yesterday. I had the first of the fingerless gloves sitting on a table next to my chair as I knitted the second one. I also had a bottle of raspberry Crystal Light on the table. Usually I open the bottle, take a drink, put the cap back on immediately-because I know myself. I blame this on lack of sleep. I forgot to put the lid back on. Next thing I know I've knocked the bottle over and it's emptying it's contents all over the finished fingerless glove. I didn't know I could still move that fast. Anyway-I dashed to the nearest sink and rinsed it out in cold water. That stuff stains like Koolaid, so I lucked out on that one. Thankfully the Crystal Light came out.

For those who need to know, I will not be teaching anything for the next two weeks. No knitting, no beading. Got too much going on those two weeks. I wish my students happy holidays and see you next year.

Have a good day.

First Snow of the Season

Mobster Spock, and Kirk.

As I type this, there is snow falling outside my living room window. Yes, I said snow.


Winter has arrived. Morgan refuses to get out of bed. I don't blame him.


Snow before November. That is something--------cruel. Rumor has it that it will melt off later. Good news.

I've got a busy day today too. I've got my knitting class this morning. With snow I doubt any one will show up, but I have to be there just in case.

After class I'm taking a few things to the down town Coeur d'Alene Library. They are having a fiber/fabric exhibit in November and I am entering a few things for said exhibit. It was kind of hard to decide what to take down there because most of the really fantastic knitting I've done is no longer in my possession. I'm going to take my Pomatomus socks, a lace mohair scarf, a jacket I machine knit for my daughter several years ago (that hardly got worn but did win best of show at the fair that year), and I'm thinking about one of my bead knitted amulet bags. I'll let the exhibit organizers decide if they want any of them or not.

We had a bit of a chew fest in this house last night.


Mmmm, chews.

Have a good day.

I Made Key Rings and Spock

I have finished Ray's key rings. He is pleased. I'll be popping them in the mail to him next week.


I will wait patiently for the sock yarn.

It's been a busy week. I've been working on what I'm calling The Great Purge of 2009. I'm going to go through the whole house and get rid of stuff we don't need any more. I've started with the boxes yet to unpack that were packed for the floor remodel. Most people probably would have had all that unpacked and put away by now, but I've been dealing with the flu at the same time so I've been doing a couple of boxes a day. I've also started going through cupboards. My goodness we've got a lot of stuff we haven't used in years!

One of the things we are getting rid of is the desk that is in the sun room. We don't need it any more and really don't have a place for it now that the treadmill is in it's corner. Right now it is sitting in the middle of the room being annoyingly in the way. I found a new owner for it yesterday. Hurray! Daughter Sarah just happens to need a desk. How convenient! Now, to get it out of my house and into her apartment.

We've moved the piano from the sun room to the dining room, and moved my beading stash to where the piano used to be in the sun room. I am very excited about this. I'm finally getting my craft room. In 1992, when we bought this place, it was the sun room (and the open floor plan) that most attracted us. It would be perfect for my assortment of knitting machines and whatnot. It was going to be my craft room. However, on moving in day, when my brother in law brought the first machine in he said "Where do you want me to put this?" Sweet Hubby pointed to the small bedroom off the kitchen (I call it the 10 foot cube-10 foot wide, 10 foot long). I was pretty upset, as you can imagine. But there was no arguing with him on that particular day. I didn't get my wonderful craft room. Now I do. It's about time!

I did not go to the Yarnies meeting this week. I was sick. I'm not so rude as to pass my sick germs on to my friends.

On Thursday I put out my bird feeders full of fresh new seed. I don't feed them in the summer time because there's lots of wild stuff around for them to eat they usually just ignore the feeders. In October, though, it gets pretty cold at night and I put them out. I've already got a fairly large flock of chickadees that have returned, along with the little nuthatches.

We've been having a very difficult time with Morgan. Sweet Hubby got a cough with his sickies. It's slowly going away, but he's still got a few days of it left, I'm sure. Morgan has developed an extreme fear of the sound of the cough (he's losing his hearing, but he's not completely deaf yet). Every time Doug coughs Morgan runs off and hides. At first he was running out through the doggy door and refusing to come back in, freezing himself outside. I managed to stop him from doing that. Now he tries to hide in the kitchen, or the bedroom. Mostly the kitchen though. We're trying to help him overcome this sudden fear. For instance, giving him treats at the same time that Doug coughs, and whatnot. Trying our best to desensitize Morgan, but we're losing the battle. The cough needs to go away.

There is a Bead Stampede today in Spokane at the fair grounds. Sarah and I are going together and see what we can find that we can't live without. Should be fun.

Have a great day.

RIP Purple Kitty Mug

It's gonna be one of those days. Last night I accidentally broke my coffee mug. My hand-crafted-by-a-local-artisan-so-it-was-darn-expensive-but-oh-so-cool purple kitty ceramic coffee mug. I've been using that mug for my coffee every morning for years and years. So long I can't remember when I bought it. Sigh. My morning coffee just isn't the same in a Hawaii souvenir mug. I see a trip to the Christmas Craft show in Spokane next November in my future-in hope the artist will be there so I can beg her to make me another one. Chances are slim-that she'll be there......phooey!

It's funny how attached we get to things.

I have been a shamelessly bad girl. I ordered 3 new beading books from Amazon to enhance my library. 3 books. I need more beading books like I need a hole in my head. However, they are all wonderful wonderful books, so I won't be sending them back for a refund.

Seed Bead Fusion: This is a brand new release by Rachel Nelson-Smith. It has her famous Ootheca Cuff bracelet pattern in it. There are projects for both wire and thread. I think it's an important addition to my collection of 3 dimensional beading education. The instructions and diagrams are good, and it is one of those books that gets my creative juices going.



The Beaded Sphere by Judy Walker: I'm not sure why I wanted this book so bad, but I did. I think it was the picture on the cover. And what a cool book it's turned out to be. The author, Judy Walker, takes us step by step in great detail on weaving 3 dimensional stand alone geometric shaped objects, sculpture, as well as jewelry. I am very impressed with how good this book is. Definitely a must in a bead weaving library.



The Art of Beadwork by Valerie Hector.This is a good book for learning about the different types of bead work from around the world-both ancient and modern. There are some wonderful photographs of beaded pieces from all over the world. There are projects in it, but the book is more about how to design your own using various ideas and techniques than just being a book about how to recreate specific projects. A good book for inspiring and releasing the designer in a person.


The week has been busy. I've been trying to organize and clean, as well as get ready to empty the sun room so we can rip out the carpet in there and lay more bamboo. I've been boxing up books (my knitting library is in there) and nicknacks, and all the stuff on/in my desk. We have a LOT of stuff! I need to get rid of some of it, and get some cabinets or something to keep the rest of it. I want so bad to have an organized house, but organizing it, then maintaining that organization is one of those things I am not good at.

The padding for our new area rug arrived Thursday, so we've laid it all down in the living room.


This is the matching runner between the couch and the dining room.



This is a close up of one of the moose on the rug.



The boys got all excited when I was taking the pictures. They wanted their picture taken too, so I obliged.

Morgan

Tommy

I've got a lot to do today, so I better get busy. Have a good one.

Chaos Let Loose

I had plans for today's post. Ha! See the below picture? This is my life today. It shows exactly how I'm feeling.

Chaos!

Not much knitting or beading has gone on for several days now.

I was going to post a bunch of pictures and tell you all about this weekend, but I can't find the cord for downloading the pics off my camera. I know it's around here somewhere, but darn if I can remember which box...

You see, I got this crazy idea on Sunday to talk Sweet Hubby into going to look at flooring. I've been wanting to get rid of our carpet for several years now. I was even starting to feel desperate about the whole issue as the years have gone by, and still no new floor. It was Labor Day weekend. There are some really great sales on Labor Day weekend. So, off we went. I didn't really believe that we'd actually buy anything on this trip. I mean, how many trips like this have we gone on and come home empty handed? Lots, that's how many. I was wrong.

We became the proud owners of 33 boxes of bamboo flooring.

Yesterday morning, while I was in the shower, Sweet Hubby (without warning) started moving stuff out of one half of the living room, and before I knew it, all was chaos in our house. Not only can't I find my camera cord, but I don't know where he put the 2 library books that are due either. I will have to spend some time digging in the piles in the bedroom I guess.

We got 4 boxes of the flooring installed in the living room yesterday. Wow, it's a lot of work putting down wood flooring! Sweet Hubby decided to glue, instead of nail. (Now, there is some fun. How do you keep the fur kids out of the glue? Heheheh.) Ruth came up for the weekend and helped us. I am so glad she did. We really needed the help.

I am so happy to haul that gross awful smelly stained worn out disgusting carpet, along with it's padding, out the door though.

The floor is going to be gorgeous, judging by what we've installed so far. I can hardly wait until it's done. I'm getting a big area rug for the living room, and some throw rugs for high traffic areas.

There was some discussion about getting a large rug to put under the dining room table but after careful consideration, I scrapped that idea. It would defeat the purpose of the wood floor-to make pet messes easier to clean up. The dining room is where the most pet messes are.

Anyway, I have pics of what we've done so far, but no way to get them on the computer at the moment.

I also need that cord for all the pics I took on Saturday. We went to the 50th Wedding Anniversary party of some very dear friends-Jan and Ed Murphy. I took hundreds of pictures for them. Gotta find that cord!!

This afternoon I'm taking Morgan to an appointment with a canine eye specialist. We're going to find out if he has Glaucoma or not. Reddish brown spots that look like blood appeared in his eyes last week. I took him to the vet to find out what it is. They've referred me to a Dr. Yates, canine eye specialist. We'll see what happens.

Speaking of Morgan, I also forgot to mention he turned 14 on August 29th.

Have a good day.

Our Anniversary

April 30th is the anniversary of when Morgan joined the family. We celebrated our 9th one last week, on Friday so Sarah and Frank could join us. I rotisseried a beef roast. Morgan enjoyed his share immensely.


Tommy, who refused to sit still long enough for a pic, was a baaaaad boy. Sweet Hubby had sliced up the roast for me and put it on a platter, which he left sitting on top the stove. Tommy waited until no one was looking, then jumped up, grabbed a piece, and ran away with it. He's never actually grabbed something off the stove before. Little turd. We cornered him and took it away. That is not acceptable behavior in this house.

On Saturday I taught the first session of a beaded bead class. It went very well, though I only had one student. Second session is next weekend.

Having taught the class, I found myself in the mood for beaded beads, and since I'm supposed to be making a necklace for a swap, and that swap deadline is coming fast, I thought I'd get to work on it. I have decided to make a necklace with 3 Scaph type beaded beads. I made one of them weeks ago already. So I only need to do 2 more. I made the second one yesterday. Same color theme as the first one. Just slightly different variation.




While diggin around in the pile on top of what I call the craft table, looking for the beads that I needed to make the above bead, I ran across a couple stash enhancements I bought a couple weeks ago but never blogged about.

First, there's this book by Karen DeSousa. I LOVELOVELOVE her ornament covers. This is her latest one. Had to have it. I bought the beads to make the brown one in the lower right corner, only my beads are shades of green.


When Marguerite was here for her visit last month I bought this sock yarn, made by Araucania. It got buried pretty deep on the table.


It's an unusual colorway for me to choose, but I really like it. Bits of lavender mixed in the rust, red, wine, orange, gold and yellow.

My craft table is actually the dining room table. I should clean it off today so I can see the wood again. ;-)

Have a good day.

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The Ice Age Has Arrived

Contrary to popular belief-global warming- an ice age has arrived at the Parkarosa. It started Friday with snow falling all - day - long. By the next morning we had about 8 inches of snow on the ground. Then the wind from the north arrived. It blew and blew. In fact, I think I could safely say it blew about half our snow down to southern Idaho cos we only have about 4 inches now. I know it didn't melt cos temps have been barely over 20F degrees at the most since Thursday.

With the wind came the ice age. At this point, we're thinking in temperature terms of 30 degrees being a heat wave. Well, actually, maybe 20 degrees is the heat wave cos on Sunday, when sis-in-law Sue and I went to Walmart, we saw teenagers wearing shorts, t-shirts, and no jackets. It was apparently a 'balmy' 18 degrees out. (What parents care so little about their offspring that they don't even teach them the proper way to dress for temperatures?)

When the weatherman says the high today is going to be 10F degrees, you know it ain't warm. I'm sorry, but 10F is NOT a high. It is cold. As my daughter might say, it is Butt Freezing cold. (Now I understand why sis-in-law Sue got a car with heating seats. I want! Though I have to admit it was one of the strangest feelings I've ever had.) It's the kind of cold that the furnace can't keep up with, even if it blows 24 hours a day. It's the kind of cold that makes it hard to start my car, and impossible to chip the ice off the windshield. It's the kind of cold that requires a cup of hot cocoa with a dash of whiskey, and an Iggy under the blanket with me. I know, cos that is what I finally had to do to get warm yesterday.

The deep freeze is scheduled to remain all week, with snow in the future. Fun fun!

Okay, I've had enough winter. It's time to move on to spring. (Are you listening weather fates?)

I got quite a bit of knitting done over the weekend. I have less than an inch left to do on Robert's scarf and I'm done. So I expect I'll finish it after I'm done with this blog post.

Morgan is doing about the same. Peeing a lot. He was definitely uncomfortable for part of the night cos he just couldn't seem to settle down much. Kept tossing and turning. Poor little guy. This morning he didn't eat much of his breakfast, though he was a little pig over the weekend. Morgan is definitely losing weight. He's lost 2 pounds since September. This is bothering Sweet Hubby a lot cos he keeps mentioning how skinny Morgan is getting. We still don't know what to do. Or maybe we do, but we're just afraid to make the decision and get it done. We're talking about it. It's so hard to decide to say goodbye to a much loved family member, even if they are covered in fur. We know we have to. It's just deciding when.

Ruthie is home from school. She arrived yesterday, with Lindy. It's good to have her home. Some how it's comforting under the circumstances.

Well, my feet are freezing despite being covered in blankets. I think I'll go get a cup of hot cocoa, an Iggy, and settle down to finish Robert's scarf.

Keep warm today.

Kiwi Green Stulpen

They're done, blocked, and washed. Just need to be wrapped now. I had to soak and wash them twice to get all the coffee out. I got a bit worried for a bit there. Thankfully, it all came out the second time. I've come up with, in my opinion, a clever way to display them for a photo. I made a model of my hand with cardboard. Took all of 10 minutes (most of that time spent looking for a piece of cardboard to use). Now you can see how they look on the hand, and off.

Kiwi Green Stulpen

Pattern: Stulpen by Petra

Yarn: Opal Uni Solid 4ply sock yarn

Content: 75% superwash Wool/ 25% Nylon

Colorway: #1266 Kiwi Green

Needles: Size 2 Addi Circulars.

Cast on: November 28, 2008
Completed: December 4, 2008

Comments: I love these. They look so elegant, but they really were very simple to make. I did make a change. The pattern calls for sport weight yarn. I used fingering weight sock yarn. So, if you wish to do the same, here's what I did.

I cast on 72 sts instead of 60. In the chart, I added 2 purls and 1 knit on each side. I started with Knit 1 on each round. This centered everything nicely. I then followed all the rest of the instructions as written except for where I put the thumb increases. You put them after stitch 36, and before stitch 39 for the right glove For the left its before stitch 1 and after stitch 70. It worked out perfect!

Sweet Hubby asked me to take some pics of the boys by the Christmas tree. Morgan cooperated quite nicely.


Tommy, on the other hand....

I gave up trying to get him to sit by the tree. He was just too excited about getting his picture taken. So I tried to get him to sit in his bed on a chair (in hopes he'd calm down a bit). I got him posed all perfect. Snapped the picture, and got this.

Umm...Tommy?

Several tries later, he finally settled down, and even gave me a sweet smile.


Silly boy!

Have a great day.

WIP Wednesday 12/10/08

This is the garter rib scarf I'm making for my nephew. So far, so good. I'm about halfway done with it (it's folded in the picture).


It does seem to want to curl on the sides, which surprised me with all the garter stitch in it, including the edge stitches. I'm hoping blocking will fix that. Please pardon the white hairs all over it. The animals are shedding like crazy right now.

Now, for a finished project, the hat that matches the scarf.


And my other finished project, the Christmas tree.


If you click on the picture, you'll see a larger version of the picture. Notice the garland on it? I knitted that a few years ago. I made four 15-foot garlands using one strand of S.R. Kertzer Fizz in purple, 1 strand of Fizz in champagne (Fizz is now discontinued), and a strand of Ironstone Yarns Paris Nights-which is a rainbow colored slub novelty yarn that sparkles- all held together. If I remember correctly, I used size 17 needles, cast on 15 feet worth of stitches, knit 2 rows, then bound off VERY loosely. It was, by far, the most expensive tree decorations I've ever bought. Cost more than the tree, because it took several balls of yarn, it weren't cheap yarn, and some major assembly was required before I could put it on the tree.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I talked to our vet yesterday. She was sent the ultrasound pics taken on Monday. She said the tests show no tumors, but the walls of the bladder are abnormally thickened. So, he still may have bladder cancer. We'll just have to wait and see how he does. Since Morgan has been exceptionally feisty the last 2 days and definitely has his appetite back, I have decided not to medicate him for the moment. He seems to be doing pretty good. Perhaps it was just a stone passing, or something like that.

This morning I went to the first meeting of a new knit group that has started. We haven't named the group yet. Need to think about that, but we're meeting each Wednesday morning at Coeur d'Alene Yarn and Fiber from 10am to Noon. All knitters, and crocheters, are invited to join us. We're just knitting and chatting. Nothing formal. I had a good time. It was nice to get away from the Morgan worries for a bit.

While I was away Morgan went 4 hours without peeing. That is something to celebrate!

Got up to just a skiff of snow this morning. They're predicting a major dump on us for the coming weekend, and subzero temps. It's time. I want it to come. Lets get winter over and done with so we can have spring!

That's the news from the Parkarosa. Have a great day.

Rollercoaster

That's what I've been on, emotionally, the past few days. A friggin rollercoaster!

Took Morgan to the second animal clinic for another ultrasound yesterday. I was referred there by the first vet because their ultrasound machine is way better. It could show much more detail of the mass found in the wall of Morgan's bladder.

They didn't find anything. No cancer, no mass, no tumors. His bladder is 'just fine'.

How is that possible? How can 2 vets find such different results?

And what IS wrong with Morgan? He's not over the problem.

I am so frustrated right now, I don't know whether to be relieved, or more concerned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, on the knitting front I have finished the hat for my nephew and I'm now working on the scarf. I frogged the scarf 3 times before I got the pattern to work the way I have in my minds little eye.

One of those frogs was yesterday while I waited to be called in for my weekly blood test. Another lady was sitting in the waiting room with me. I wish you could have seen her horrified look when I suddenly blurted out "This needs an inch of ribbing at the beginning" and promptly ripped out the whole 6 inches I'd done and started over. T'was priceless! I have about 14 inches done now, and I'm happy with how it's working up. I also have to say I'm really liking the Superwash Cascade 220. It's very nice to work with.

I have posted a new pattern on my Beadknitter Patterns site. It's the lacy scarf I made last month. Click here to go to the pattern:

Mohair Lace Scarf

Have a great day.

Shazzbut!

My worst fears have come true. Morgan has cancer in his bladder.

Darn! Rats!

SHAZZBUT!!!

The clinics ultrasound machine couldn't show enough detail to tell how bad it is, so I'm taking him to Kootenai Animal Hospital on Monday for one more ultrasound. They're machine is much better and can give us more details. Like, how long he has left.

There is medication he can take to make the remainder of his life more comfortable. I'll get more details on that on Monday.

Right now, he is beside me, wrapped in a blanket, all warm and snuggly, sleeping peacefully.

My heart aches.

Poor Little Guy

I'm probably going to ramble because I'm stressed and distracted. I had to take Morgan in to the vet this morning. He wouldn't eat, he wouldn't stop pacing the house, he was clearly in pain, in 15 minutes he went out 10 times to pee, and there was blood in that pee. I called the hospital and they said bring him in. They thought he might have a bladder stone, but after a battery of xrays, blood tests, and urine tests, they think he might have Bladder cancer. Ultrasound will tell if he does or not. I'm waiting to hear from the doctor as I'm sitting here typing this.

I was going to hang ornaments on the tree today, but Sweet Hubby has to get the boxes down for me. He hasn't done that yet, though I asked at least a dozen times today. He's out in his workshop building something. He can get as obsessed with his little projects as I get with my knitting and I totally understand that. So I'm just fine with waiting. I'll get him to take them down when he comes in tonight.

Besides, I'm too distracted to think about hanging ornaments right now. This is something we've sort of been expecting, but hoping wouldn't happen-Morgan getting cancer, that is. He's had too many benign tumors in his history.

I don't want him to be hurting. If he has bladder cancer, it's a death sentence. A painful one at that. Sigh. It sure sucks to get old, doesn't it? Even for sweet little dogs. Why does this have to be happening now?

I should be knitting. I did start the hat for my nephew yesterday. It's the first time I've worked with the Cascade 220 Superwash. What a nice yarn! I'm making up the pattern as I go. So far so good.

Well, I can't think of anything else to say. I need to go back to the hospital now anyway.

Have a nice evening.

Sleep Was Not an Option

Didn't get any sleep last night. Something was up with Morgan--well, actually, I was up with Morgan, all night. I swear, that dog is psychic. Somehow he must know I've made an appointment for him to see the vet. It's time for his Rabies shot, and I want to have something done about the cyst that just won't go away-the one he had surgery for early last year? It came back. Gonna have to have another surgery. And since I am well enough to handle taking care of him after something like that now... also, I want the doc to check his eyes again. (Someone suggested he might have Glaucoma, which can be helped with medication.) However, it's not until next Monday afternoon.

Anyway, he had to get up every 15 to 30 minutes to pee. Never seen anything like it in my life! I finally weighed the options:

1. Put his bed out in the living room, open doggy door, and take a chance on a coyote being in the neighborhood.

2. Stand in front of an open door on a freezing cold night waiting for a dog ----all---- night---- long.

I chose option one and went back to bed. Unfortunately, I got to listen to the doggy door slapping shut for the next hour. Then, thankfully, he finally settled down and went to sleep. Around 5 am I fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming about peeing, but it never stops. I'm just walking around, pee squirting out of me continuously. Even when I elegantly flapped my arms and took flight over a city. (The residents thought it was raining.) Totally weird weird weird. I woke up at 6am and decided sleep was not an option for my sanity. Now I have a raging headache.

Morgan seems to be okay now. He ate his breakfast, and now he's sleeping peacefully (the traitor!). If it starts up again (his peeing, that is) I shall call the vet and beg to be squeezed in today.

I finished knitting the second of the fingerless gloves last night. Hurray! I'm gonna wash them before I take pics for the blog. They just don't look all that great with coffee brown spots on them.

Next to be cast on: scarf and matching hat for nephew Robert. I got his name in the family gift draw. This will be the first time we've done this. Usually, we all go practically bankrupt every year in the gift category (my husband has a very large family). When one niece suggested the idea to try drawing one name each and doing just one gift-every one of us thought it is a FABULOUS idea. Especially with some of our family members having lost their jobs recently.

On Wednesday, after Knitwits, I headed over to Coeur d'Alene Yarn and Fiber and got some black Superwash Cascade 220. It is so soft, and I'm sure black is a color that Robert will like. I'm thinking garter rib. Just can't seem to get enough of that garter rib lately.

Have a good day.

Happy Gotcha Day!

We are not doing WIP Wednesday today because it is a very very very special day. Today is Morgan's Gotcha Day! Eight years ago today I met, fell in love with, and brought Morgan home to join our family.

I wanted a dog. Sweet Hubby wanted a dog. We were toying with the idea of adopting a retired racing Greyhound at the time, but the requirements to do so from the local agency were extremely stringent, making it almost impossible to get one. (Adopting a human baby is easier.) We fussed with it for 2 years. I really wanted a Greyhound, but at the same time, I was bothered by the size. Our home really isn't suited for a large inside dog, which any dog I owned would be-inside, that is. That, and the fact I don't really want to own a dog that can knock me down without trying hard. However, the Greyhound personality is perfect for our family. What to do?

One day I was scanning the Nicklesworth, in the pets section, and ran across an ad for an Italian Greyhound. I called, made an appointment to see him. On April 30th, 2000 I met Morgan.



His former owner was a young gal with, in my opinion, a monster for a husband. She'd had Morgan for a year. The husband ordered her to get rid of the dog or he would. Morgan was seriously underweight and scared to death of everything and everyone (though I didn't know about the last item until we got home). All I know is, she was telling me about how he was a retired champion, how she had to get him out of the house TODAY, and that he was afraid of strangers when we laid eyes on each other the first time. Those big brown sweet eyes. Morgan actually stood up, wagged his tail, and moved toward me, much to the owners surprise. He took to me immediately. I think he knew. I think he understood I was there to rescue him.

Soon, money changed hands, we loaded him and his luggage (crate, food, electric blanket, large manila envelope full of show ribbons) into the car and home we went.

Sweet Hubby was expecting a Greyhound when he got home from work. I had neglected to mention it was a tiny one. Heh heh. I wish you could have seen the look on his face when he saw Morgan. "I thought we were getting a big dog?" (Why is it that men want big dogs?) But he fell in love with Morgan just as quickly as I did, except for one little thing. Morgan wouldn't get anywhere near him.

Over the first couple weeks we began to realize Morgan had problems. He started having seizures. The vet figured out he was suffering from severe malnutrition. He'd been starved. I had to give him vitamin supplements for awhile. I also changed his food (the one that had come with him was horrible). Eventually, the seizures stopped and he's never had one since.

I never saw such a scared dog. He was afraid of feet, deathly afraid of men, I couldn't raise my hand in his presence cos he'd run and hide, sticks were terrifying, loud noises made him panic, and don't even think about bringing an umbrella into the room. He even ate in fear, grabbing a small mouthful of food, then running off to hide while chewing it. He didn't act like a dog. He acted like an animal that had the dog beaten out of him.

A few weeks later, some folks came to visit me at my shop. They were Morgans former neighbors. They'd gone to a lot of trouble to track me down. They wanted to tell me about Morgans life.


Morgan is a retired champion show dog. The former owner had bought him a year before from his breeder. One year with her completely changed his personality. He was severely abused. The neighbors told me all about what they saw going on. The husband truly was a monster. Some of it was so horrible I started to cry. How could anyone treat such a sweet little dog that way? No wonder he had problems. I went home and told all to Sweet Hubby.

I did some research on helping abused dogs. We began the task of repairing the damage that had been done to him. Over the years we have given Morgan all the love we can, and that has brought the dog out. He adores his Daddy, loves people, will sneak stuff out of the garbage can, chase birds, bark, and acts all dog now. He even stays by his bowl to chew his food. He's so different from when we first brought him home. He is still afraid of loud noises, and I can't even own an umbrella, but sticks no longer bother him and he doesn't live in a cloud of fear. He's happy, healthy, loving, and loved.

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY MORGAN!
We're so happy you are in our family.

Speaking of family, yesterday I sat down in my favorite chair, the hug, to eat a piece of cheese. See what I have to put up with?


Have a great day.

Great News for Morgan

I heard from Doctor Bloxam yesterday. The results are back from the lab about Morgans tumor.

It's benign.

HOORAY!!!!!!!! (Doin' the really happy dance!)

The Garter Rib sock. Yes. There, on the other hand, is a whole 'nuther problem. The order I placed for the second ball of yarn has been canceled because their web site lied. They do not have that color in stock. What's worse-it's a discontinued color so they can't order more.

I checked all my favorite places to buy yarn and only one place has the color- Patternworks. They claim to have it in stock. I've ordered it. However, Patternworks web site is well known for not being completely truthful so I don't have much hope. Especially since I didn't get an order confirmation in my email box. Yikes!

What's a desperate gal to do? I check Ebay, though when I checked last week there was nothing. Lo! What have we here? ....A gal in Canada has one up for bid in the very color I need-yes, definitely, it says Navy color #15, and what's this? A "Buy It Now" price. Hmmm...much lower than Patternworks price, even with shipping included. I've hit the "Buy It" button....... Hello Paypal-long time no see (Not!). How are you today? Working correctly I hope? Lovely............

If I end up with two balls, so be it. I need that yarn!

In the meantime, I've cast on the I Love Gansey sock-in shades of red. After all, November is ticking away and I need that 'N' next to my name.

Have a good day.

Hangin' In the Bed

He has a long line of stitches along his abdomen, but they don't seem to be bothering him. Best of all NO DRAIN TUBES. I was expecting at least a couple, but as it turns out, they aren't a good thing in this case. Hurray! Doin' the Happy Dance!

Morgan is looking so good. His eyes are clearer. I'm convinced he must have been in pain before the surgery but wasn't complaining cos it was in his eyes. He's hangin' out in his favorite bed baggin' z's right now. So nice to have him home.

So, I managed to get the netted cap done on the Aurora Borealis. What an intense project! But it is going to be so gorgeous when it's done. I'm using shades of green and topaz. I'm taking it to Bead Group today to work on the fringe. I am going to make a substitution for the 30mm bugles and use 2 or 3 size 3 bugles in their place. I have a motive for doing this. I'm going to ask to display this in Bead It. I'm trying to use only beads that can be bought in her shop. All the crystals I've used are the Chinese faceted round ones she carries. I've discovered I really really like these crystals. They are very sparkley.

On the knitting front. I knit back those two rows I'd tinked on the swim suit cover, only to discover I'd knit the same mistake again. So I've had to tink them back again. I think a small rodent sacrifice to the knitting gods is in order. I must have a chat with the cats.

Off to Bead Group. Have a great day.

Morgan's Coming Home Today

Morgan had his surgery Saturday in the late morning. We got good news when the phone rang. The tumor was on his spleen, so they were able to remove it, along with the spleen of course. They also found a bit in the fatty tissue near the spleen and were able to remove that successfully too. He should recover completely.

I went to visit him Saturday evening. Oh, he looked so sad and miserable. They had him on pain killers and some sedative to keep him calm, and he has a big bandage completely around his middle. Poor little guy. I gave him kisses and ear skritches and told him we miss him at home and to be a good boy.

Sunday I could not go visit him because the hospital is closed. But the nurse who takes care of the animals on that day called to let me know how he was doing. Her words, and I quote, "He's doing very well." Sweeter words I have not heard in a long time. He actually went for a little walk, and ate his breakfast with a hearty appetite. I will be able to bring him home today.

On the knitting front, I've actually gone backward. We went to my brother-in-laws house for dinner and cards Saturday evening. I took the swim suit cover with me. I knit one row, then discovered I had a mistake 2 rows down. Had to tink it back. That's where it stands at this moment.

On the beading front, Sarah (and Frank) came over for some beading fun Saturday (Frank watched DVD's with Sweet Hubby and read a novel-at the same time.) around lunch time. I dug out the magazine I had in my stash with the Ogalala lace pattern in it. I was going to start the Aurora Borealis ornament cover from Karen DeSousa's Celestial Series book.

We set up on the dining room table and got about 10 minutes into things only to discover neither of us had all we needed for the intended projects. I was one strand short on the light topaz 4mm crystals I needed (I KNOW I bought 2 strands-so what's the deal?) and she needed one additional item for her lace. There was only one thing to do. Dash down to Bead It and get what we needed. I took the cell phone. Sweet Hubby promised to call me if he heard about Morgan.

We dashed home after acquiring what we needed, and got started. We had a good time, though, in all honesty, more talking went on than beading. I did get the crystal belt done on my ornament, and Sarah got a good start on her lace.

Last night I worked some more on the ornament cover. I got most of the netted cap done, only to discover I've done the whole cap wrong. Arrrghhh...... some times you just don't got it.

Today I'm picking up Morgan, then redoing that cap.

One more thing. My Mystery Socks are being featured on Fearless Fibers Yarn blog as the Monday finished object. Pop over and have a look.

Have a good day.