Another Dog Post

I once read that one of the most boring things you can do on your blog is go on and on about your pets.

Oh, well.  My dogs are so cute and precious right now, I can't resist.  Ruby and Winnie are both doing well.  Winnie continues to lose weight but also to enjoy life.  Ruby, meanwhile is settling in and making herself at home.  She got her stitches out today and she's ready for action.

Watch out, Thomas.  Ruby eats wood.

Nice camera.  Can I have it?

 

Yeah, our dogs are cute.

Frankly, we're all cute around here.

Happy Birthday to Me

I'm 39 today.  I am a big fan of my birthday.  I'm not one to sit back and wait for people to remember me.  Nope.  I'm happy to tell everyone.  I'll even wear a party hat if I need to.  We should all celebrate our births.  It's good to be alive and to rejoice in the anniversary of it.

For this one, I spent the morning thrifting.  Hooray for a surprise half-off sale at Unique.  Happy Birthday to me, indeed.  It was pink vintage linens day throughout the Chicago area.

Look at this cheery crocheted afghan.  I have such a weakness for these in bright colors.

Apparently, so does Ruby.

I guess she approves.

For the afternoon, I have the house to myself to do whatever I want.  Of course, I'm outrageously dull and will spend it finishing sewing the binding on my stashy quilt.  Pretty raucous, huh?

Tonight we are headed out for margaritas.  We have a babysitter and everything.  My birthday is awesome.

Quilt Binding and New Friends

We have discovered the cure for the losing our dog blues: a new dog!

Her name is Ruby and she couldn't be sweeter.  She's a medium-sized mix of something, though likely some chow based on her spotty tongue.  She's as mellow as they come, which is perfect because Winnie can't handle anything crazy right now.  Well, besides her own crazy, which is thankfully still in evidence.

Ruby is nursing her own injuries.  She recently had surgery to correct a bone splinter in her hip.  Although she's on her way to a full recovery, her back leg is very weak and she still needs to take it slowly.  Check out her purple stitches!  They might inspire some fiber art of their own soon.

Hey, what's that?

Meanwhile, I've been making bias tape.  Yesterday, Sarah, Ellis and Ruby headed off to the pet store to get a new tag for the new pup.  Winnie and I stayed behind for rest and craft-relaxation.

I've made bias tape before using my bias tape maker.  However, I lent that to a friend.  I had to kick it old school and diy that bias tape for real.

I used this tutorial for the cutting and this one for the pin trick.  I did melt the plastic head of my pin.  I really need some glass-headed pins.

I will admit that my second batch turned out somehow not cut on the bias.  So it's not as stretchy.  I'm going to use it anyway, though.  Well, I'm going to try it.  Hopefully it'll work.  I'll be sewing it on today.

It was so nice to craft with Winnie.  She slept peacefully next to me.  She's such a good dog and we are going to miss her beyond belief.  I'm so grateful for the time we have now.

Homestretch

The stashy quilt is into the homestretch.  I've finished the quilting and all that's left is the binding.  Of course, I've just realized I've lent out my bias tape maker.

Meanwhile, Winnie is doing okay and has just come into the kitchen to investigate the bacon I'm cooking up for dinner.  I see this as good.

Winnie, the Best Dog Ever

We got some very sad news at the vet yesterday.  We came home from vacation to find our sweet dog Winnie not feeling very well at all.

A trip to the vet confirmed the worst.  She has a very large, fast-growing mass in her belly.  This was doubly upsetting since she had been to the vet just two weeks ago for a well puppy visit.  The vet couldn't feel the mass at that time.  In just two weeks, it grew to the size of a baseball and Winnie lost two pounds.  Given the aggressiveness of the tumor, we have chosen not to pursue surgery.

We are just trying to help her--and us--enjoy what time is left.  The vet gave her some meds that are helping her feel better.  She seems more comfortable and doesn't seem to be in pain.

She's still eating (and eating the best food ever, I must say), going for walks, playing with her tennis ball (which is now allowed in the house), wagging her tail, enjoying getting pet, and barking at the neighbor.  However, we know this will likely go quickly and we are heart-broken.

She's a good dog.  Yes she is.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Mine grows all crazy because I don't get stakes or tomato cages in time and I plant stuff way too close together.

Last year I vowed I would not make the same mistakes again.  Vow fail.

We returned from the lake to find the tomatoes and zinnias all out of control, crowding out and shading anything nearby.  The lettuces were insane-o but not yet bolted.  The arugula had bolted to the sky.

The basil, oregano, and peppers were buried under layers of foliage.  The dill and thyme?  Well, let's just say they will never be heard from again.  My unstaked, over planted pole beans?  My neighbor is laughing at them, I'm sure.  My eggplant grew leggy and ridiculous trying to outpace the tomatoes.

I am happy to report that despite ranging across the whole backyard, my tomatillos do seem to have some fruit on them.  So that's a win.  Last year I was a zero in the tomatillo department.  I planted two seedlings but one got trampled.  I didn't know that tomatillos don't self-seed and require multiple plants within a close space.  The result: lots of greenery and blossoms and no fruit.  This year I planted 3 seedlings.  One is a bit anemic but two are kicking some serious gardening booty.

I pruned and staked and weeded.  I pulled out the bolted arugula.  I tied up the tomatoes with t-shirt yarn.  I uncovered the peppers and reassured the eggplant.

I got a sunburn on my face.  In my own backyard, after a week at the lake with no sunburn on my face.  Boo.  But I feel good about the results.  My garden has order again.  I mean, a Jen level of order, which is good enough for me.

I did have to move my oregano.  This is not the ideal time to be transplanting anything.  I hope I didn't kill it, but it was doomed anyway totally under a sungold tomato plant as it was.  I may have to either move one of the basil plants or just harvest it now.

My biggest gardening surprise is how awesome it is to have a cutting garden.  I'll do more of this next year for sure.

Possibly my biggest gardening heartbreak this year is that I never got my cucumber seeds planted.  I bought lots of seeds.  I didn't get seedlings.  But I miscalculated my soil and pot requirements.  I ran out of potting soil and pots before getting to the cukes.  And I never fixed that.  And here we are.  No cucumbers.  I'm going to have buy my cukes from the farmers market all season.  Which isn't the end of the world--far from it--but it's a lot pricier than growing your own.

Gardening is awesome but the learning curve is a beast.  Lessons you learn during a season can't be applied until next season.  Whole harvests can be lost in the meantime.  For a generally impatient person like myself, it's agony.  My other enemy in gardening is time.  I don't always have the kind of time I need when I need it.  The kind of time I need is time without Ellis.  And I need it when the weather and calendar say I need it.  Usually, however, when the time is right, I have the "help" of Ellis.  My darling child, amazing though he is, turns out to be more of a liability than anything else in the gardening department.  He over plants and overwaters.  He tramples.  He rushes me.  This is the worst.  My best-laid plans get all screwed up because I have to do it so fast before he wrecks it.

This is interesting from a karma-perspective.  I move pretty quickly myself and often rush Sarah when she's doing things.  She's not fast.  Probably, I'm just getting my due for that.  I kind of hate karma.

Up North

When I was a kid, we went up to the lake for at least a week every year.  Now, since I've lived in Chicago, "the lake" means Lake Michigan.  However, in Minnesota, "the lake" means whatever lake is your lake.  You know, we go Up North to the cabin at the lake.  Sure, there are 10,000 (actually, more) lakes, but we don't need to get all specific about it.  In any case, our "the lake" was Lake Winnibigoshish (don't pronounce  the last "ish") and Wolf Lake.  I remember the time spent Up North with greater fondness and accuracy than pretty much anything else in my life.

Our family continues our lake tradition, though "the lake" is now Leech Lake (not leechier than any other lake, really).  Every year over the week of the 4th, my family, my brother's family, my sister's family, my parents and my grandparents (yep, both of 'em, still going strong!) head Up North for a week of family awesome.  It's still my favorite week of the year.

My sister and her family live in Australia, so this week is often the only time we see them each year.  These weeks take on a special importance in that light.  We're lucky to have 6 great-grandchildren among us and they play together the whole week.  I'm not sure if Ellis could even imagine a better day than hanging out with his cousins on the boat or at the beach.

(Gratuitous pic of my niece in her new Thumb & Pinky dress inside the cabin.)

We also do some fishing.  Here Great-Grandpa Mel helps Graham with his Northern while Bait Boy Ellis waits to fetch another minnow.

This year we had a big fish fry of Walleye, Northern, and Perch.  We always eat what we catch and savor every bite.  It's the most local meat we eat all year.

So that's where I've been all week.  I did find time on a rainy day to do some quilting on the stashy quilt.  That project is almost done and I'm excited to share it with you later this week.