Tired

Last Friday I made this Blueberries cake, because I have to empty our freezer. There will be a similar cake with Raspberries, and another Blueberries cake soon. This one was very delicious.



Where there's food, there's Denny!



Denny has taken to sleeping in my luggage, which is standing around, waiting to be moved soon. Here he is the morning he had to go to the Vet's. He didn't stay in any spot very long.



But even before that, he climbed in to rest a little.



He knew I was watching, so he didn't chew on the leash for once. He's so much trouble, that I have him on a leash inside, or in his crate. Another funny thing happened at the Vet's. They gave him some Gastro, canned food, which he did not take! They gave him dry kibble, and he ate that! He's the one eating everything, at any time, no matter what texture it is, at home.
On Wednesday he'll be going back for neutering. Until then, he's enjoying several swims a day, and lots of free running.



Happy's checking out his reflection.



We had lots to do this weekend, and it's not over yet. At the end of the day I'm so tired, that I don't even want to look at knitting. Whenever I can I spend my time spinning.

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All is well ....

Thanks, everyone for the well wishes, it worked!

Denny didn't mind going back to the Vet's this morning. He greeted everybody most friendly, and didn't even look back when they led him into the backroom. Very different from all the others, who always made a fuss, and didn't want to be left there.


He slept through the night without any problems, except to go drink some water once. The funny thing was, when my son picked him up, and he thought Denny was still under the influence of sedation, the Vet's staff looked at him with big eyes, because they thought Denny was quite a hyper dog! He did yap a lot while there though. I'm just glad he's O.K. He doesn't know yet, but he'll be back there next Wednesday for neutering. Good thing he likes it there!


He's eager to get down to go for a swim, and romp around the back yard, and so is Happy - always!



I wish you all a wonderful weekend! Ours will be filled with a lot of work, cleaning, and packing, and in between swimming, and sleeping, that's all.

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Mr. Personality

Today Denny spent all day at the Vet's. It started at around 3AM, or maybe it started a week ago. In any case. For a week now, he vomited once or twice a night, but this last night, he didn't stop vomiting, even as I talked with the Vet's assistant on the phone, he vomited twice, so off he went for a closer look inside his tummy.



Susan, it was NOT a stone! I was thinking about you and Cooper all the time! In fact they couldn't find any obstruction at all. They suspected corn on the cob, since he swallowed a piece some time ago, but coughed it up in two sessions. I still have no idea what's wrong with him. He was restless, and whiny, obviously not feeling well. They said he didn't vomit there at all. I hope this means it's all a good sign. He's got to go in tomorrow morning again, for another looksie.

It was a horrible day of waiting, after a LONG night with not much sleep. I'm exhausted, drained, I guess the heat had something to do with this too. We just learned yesterday, that demolishion in our house (in preparation of renovations) will start August 2nd, and not middle of August. That means we've got a ton to do, and all our plans for today had to be moved to tomorrow.

Happy was looking for Denny all over. Whenever we went outside, he patrolled the backyard, looking behind every tree, and bush, always looking at us with question marks in his eyes.

Alright, lets hope this night will be better, and Denny just had an upset stomach, since his middle name is Hoover, and we have to take stuff out of his mouth a hundred times a day.

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Cubist socks done!

The Cubist socks by Cookie A. are finished! Too bad they are too tight around the cuff for me. So I made them shorter at the foot too, and will give them away as a gift. I loved knitting with this yarn, and I like the colorway very much. The pattern is lovely, not hard to knit at all. I especially like the attention to detail, which is true Cookie A. style. Notice how the stitches from the cuff melt into the leg pattern. Just beautiful! If I were to make them for myself again, I would only do two of the three leg repeats, that way the cuff would fit too.



pattern: Cubist socks by Cookie A. (free pattern)
yarn: Wandering Cat Yarns - Alley Cat - Purple People Eater (love that name), merino/nylon, 400yds
needle: 2.5mm
start-finish: June 26 - July 3

Another shot of my hydrangea's out front. They are so lovely.


Some random, older photos of the pups:


This is the hole Happy dug in Spring. Denny was going to expand it, digging two tunnels. It's filled up again, and so far they've left it alone.


The chase is on!

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New Fiber Club!

I just have to share this with other spinners!

Shelby of Spinning Awesome Good is having her first fiber club! I'm very happy about this, because I suggested it to her, and others thought it was a great idea too. I love her dyed flowers, and her very friendly attitude.
Read about the her new club here, and maybe you'd like to join her ravelry group as well. You could win her flowers, since she's having monthly draws if you post pictures of bought flowers, or the handspun yarn you made from them. Here's my first flower, and handspun yarn. So, this week we'll have Handspun Friday early. :o)

Here's a quick description of her fiber club:

"A three month themed subscription for your spinning pleasure!!! ♥
Fiber to include, merino/tussah, BFL/Tussah or Merino/Bamboo
1st months ~ Flowers (I will give you three choices TBA)
2nd month ~ Intuition, Dreamy, Moody
3rd month ~ You send me a picture of a color scheme and I will create a roving just for you!

If you are interested, send me (Shelby) a message and I will create a listing for you!"



This is 4oz BFL/Tussah in the colorway "Fairy Ring".



I wanted to spin it 2-ply and a little thicker. It turned out pretty good, and for the first time I didn't have any left over on one bobbin, because I actually did have left over singles, but wound it into a center pull ball, and plied it on to the rest of the yarn. I'll do that from now on, so nothing goes to waste. I don't know why I didn't do that in the past.
This is 2-ply yarn, 185yds. I thought I'd like to knit a cowl with it, since its soft and squishy.

This morning I noticed the first Lilly of the ones I planted out front, had opened up. It's the shortest of them all, but had her pretty blossom first. The others are taller and will open up soon. Isn't it pretty?


This is also from my front yard. Pretty Hydrangea. I have them in pink, and blue, but this might change with the PH level in the soil. We'll see next year what color they will be. I wont add anything to the soil. I like them no matter what color they are. I took the pictures in the morning, when it was still shady.

Handspun Friday - The Dreaming

They say today was the last day of the heatwave we are having. I sure hope so. Rain would be nice too. But it's definitely good weather for drying handspun yarn! I finished three colorways today. I'll show you one of them today.



This is The Thylacine Club Fiber, June 2010, Shetland/Alpaca blend. It's a little hairy, and it had a lot of guard hair to be picked out. I didn't get it all, but most of it. This was a rather rough blend. It was my last club fiber, and the first I've spun from this club.


I've only used 3.5oz for this. I wanted to see how it turned out first. Seeing it like that, I must say I like it.


It's ~ 249yds, navajo plied yarn, probably good enough for some socks.


We've had fun with the pups. Happy loves to swim now, going in to get out all the toys, for me to throw them in again. Here he's with his Wubba, which both of them like.






Denny is always looking for something to munch on, foraging through the garden. I called him, and he looked at me, but did not come. I only wanted his attention, and I got it.

Pashmina

Yesterday I got this beautiful Pashmina as a gift. Until now, I've only heard of it in an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, when his mother in law brought a Pashmina to a family photo shoot. I don't know how or when to wear this scarf, but I hope there will be the right moment for it. It's so wonderful soft, the tag says 70% pashmina 30% silk. I thought Pashmina is the name of this scarf, which it is, but I didn't know that it's an actual fiber, from a goat as well.



In todays mail was a damaged package, with an apology from Canada Post. I didn't mind, because the yummy yarn inside was not harmed. It's Wandering Cat Yarns. Two of them are dyed to pool on purpose. I'm going to try to knit a couple of scarves with them. I hope I'll be patient enough for that. The other one is called "Baby" and I liked the soft pink color, which surprises me a little. Pink - moi?



The boys alternate between swimming and snoozing. Best thing they can do, since it's sizzling hot outside. I even got to spin some, which makes me especially happy, since it's been a while (a while means at least three days or more without spinning).



Time out on the deck is kept short during the day. Poor guy heats up more quickly than Happy with his brown/black coat.



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Water babies!

Well I guess I've pushed Denny in one time too many. He might have though, "what the heck", since he's got to swim anyway, he can decide for himself when's the right time, and apparently it's always. You can't get him out of the water anymore. He swims from toy to toy, but comes out without any of them.



The little water rat can't leave Happy alone, even in the water!



Poor Happy, there goes his one place where he could relax for a little.

It's incredible hot today, as was yesterday, and will be tomorrow. We watered our lawn/garden at 5:30AM today, because we didn't get to do it last night. I was up at 4AM since Denny barfed several times, and I was wide awake by then. He eats lots of crap when we are outside, I'm just hoping it wont be stones.
Happy didn't like to be disturbed so early, and went into the bathroom (to hide) have his peace, until it was over.
How do you deal with this broiling heat? I'm just glad we have A/C and electricity to use it!

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Oh and my second installment of Year of Lace: June 2010 came in todays mail, looky here:



The pattern is called Abigail by JC Briar. The yarn is my first Blue Moon Fiber Arts - Geisha - a mohair/mulberry silk/nylon blend. The color is not what I would have chosen, but it's nice to touch. I don't like rectangular shawls/stoles much, we'll see if/when I'll get to it. Or I could just use the yarn for something else.
So far I'm not especially wowed by the installments, just hope the next two will blow me away!

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swimming lessons 2 & 3

This past weekend was hot, and it's supposed to get even hotter during the week. Every time we went outside, the pups would run around, and hide in the shade. We've got lots of floating toys for them, and they love them all. On Saturday we pushed them in at the stairs, where they so bravely grabbed whatever washed up near the edge.


This Kong Wubba is Denny's favorite, and Happy steals it away from him as often as possible.


They just go in as far as the first two steps. Happy likes the rubber bones.



Denny was patiently waiting for the Wubba to come close enough so he could grab it. At first he barked at it, when he noticed that it came his way.



Just getting his feet wet to cool off, and also waiting for Happy, because:



Happy had his first swim by himself! He went in after the rubber bone all by himself. He still uses only the stairs, and does not jump in from the sides, but that's fine. He loves swimming, and now goes in every time we are outside. Yeah! But we have to get Denny out of the way, or he wont come out, because the little devil barks, and bites him, making it hard and painful to get out of the pool. First time we noticed what was going on, Happy just turned around and did another lap. Good thing that they are never outside by themselves.



Denny does not go in on his own yet, but enjoys the short, forced swim, and especially the cooling off part. Every time after they were in the pool, they run around like crazies. It's fun to watch.



I've also cast on for a new pair of socks. This is Beaded Lattice socks from the book Sock Club. I'm not using beads though. The yarn is Wandering Cat Yarns in the colorway Campfire. Lovely.

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Handspun Friday - Batts

Remember these batts I got from Susan a while ago?

As you all now by now, I don't especially like spinning from batts, and the last few where not very well blended in my opinion. Susan thought she could make me see, that it's not so bad really, and she did a fabulous job in blending those batts (after dyeing the BFL fiber orange, just because I like orange).

I have to admit that I had my doubts, but it was a pleasure to spin! It was so much fun, that I wanted to knit with the finished yarn at once, and after knowing what yardage I had, I was looking for a small shawl pattern.
The yarn turned out to be soft, and airy, and bouncy, it had a weird feeling when I started knitting with it, it was so poofy, almost like boucle yarn, but not. It is a little fuzzy, and I totally like it!



specifics:
pattern: Prairie Rose Lace Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark, from the Knitter's Book of Wool
yarn: my handspun BFL, dyed and carded by Susan, ~ 460yds
needles: 3.75mm
size: 29" x 56"
mods: I've knit one more repeat of the rose chart, as was called for in the pattern. I wanted to use up all the yarn I had, and I didn't care for the edge chart much, so I rather made the main part larger. As it were I had only enough yarn to knit two rows of the edge chart and that was fine by me. I think it still looks O.K. like that.
start-finish: May 28 - June 4



This was a fun project! I like it when I know what I want to do with the yarn I'm going to spin, which is not always the case. Usually I spin and look for a project afterwards, but this time I knew I wanted to make something lacy. Thanks Susan, for the lovely batts, and the oportunity to give spinning batts another try. :o)

***
As for the pups:
I was moving the old dog bed, which was Biko's the other day, when I set it down for a while, and as soon as it hit the floor, the pups moved in. They really like it, and I think I'll keep it around for now.
Happy was there first.

He's actually wet from a swim (2nd swimming lesson). He was bumped in again, but he swam a couple of rounds and then zeroed in on the stairs and went out quite well. He's still not jumping in on his own though.
Next came Denny, who is doing well with his freedom curtailed.

They are so cute. Look how Happy is tucking in his paws. As soon as I took this picture, Denny jumped down and had to get the rope toy:


I like this picture, because Happy looks so happy in it.

Have a great weekend you all! :o)

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