Over .....for now

One of my friends Suzi M posted on her facebook page, well, folks.  We can breathe again until the next one, because we know there will be a next one, right?



I am  pretty sure I will need big time meds to get through any more of these.  I guess I need to go see a a PTSD specialist.  This was so draining that I am still exhausted.

I put the stuff in my sewing room back down where it is supposed to be.  I vacuumed all the nooks and crannies that don't normally get attention.  And I cleaned out the EyeVac that picks up all my stray pieces of fabric when I drop them.  Wow, what a pile of dirt!





The Sewing Room is nowhere even close to neat and tidy.  I need to clear up about 40 things I have started and are languishing in various stages of unfinished-ness.














I have a trip coming up to the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham England in a couple weeks.  I might just sleep until then, get on the plane and lose myself in the clouds.

Today is Make My Dog Happy Day!

we went to Sam’s this morning to reload on chocolate chip cookies, I saw this alligator in the dog food aisle.  We used to have tons of squeakies laying around when we had Chloe and the 2 Swissys, Bonnie Doon and Dutch.  They LOVED squeakies!

But when I acquired the Basset Boyz they destroyed all the squeakies in mere seconds.

So for years we didn’t have any.  Chloe really missed having Squeakies.  We would say that she always packed her bags when we went for our nightly walk because she would collect all her squeakies and bring them with her.  I would end up carrying one or more at some point,  but she always wanted to take them with her.

Bonnie Doon would fall asleep with her huge hedgehog in her mouth every night.

Recently when we had a CAAWS event, Subaru donated a box of their car squeakies and I took some home with the idea of handing them out in the neighborhood.  DiNozzo got hold of one and played with it without immediately destroying it.  After several days he killed the squeaker, but he plays with it every once in a while.

So I brought home this gator today.  He was in dog heaven!  He carried it for hours!

I made my dog happy today!

ADiNnd that makes me happy!

Candace the Therapy Dog and A Bit of Good Fortune

My house looked like this December, a year ago in 2017.  This fairly rare snowfall lasted all day long.  Here in Baton Rouge we have snow about every 6 or 8 years.

The Basset Boyz were totally amazed at the white stuff.








Today the beaver was in my next door neighbor's yard munching down on some acorns.  The tree there is a huge oak.  I odd to have a beaver rambling around here.  We are used to opossums and rabbits and armadillos.





At the hospice today, Rodney's son Chad brought Candace Marie, his Certified Therapy Dog.  Chad and Candy work with Autistic kids.  She is able to calm them.


He brought her here to visit his dad, who is struggling to breathe since he is in what they call Transition.  I didn't read the book they gave Diane, but I imagine they mean between life and death.








I did have about an hour or so this morning to work on The Good Fortune Mystery quilt.  I chose the oranges, and then stripped them.

I made about half of the needed pieces.  Since Bonnie requested about 3 times the amount of orange I used, I am thinking that there will be another use for the color.  

I will spend some time tomorrow at Hospice with Diane and Rodney again.  I am hoping for peace and calm.  We spoke today of letting go.  That is the tough part.

Now since the Talisman class I have been looking for things to collect.  This looks like a snail shell, but it is really just a rock.  But man, what a rock.  It is one my mother would have loved for sure.

Maybe it was her hand that placed it in my path after that class opened the channels through the mediation.   It was just sitting there on patio yesterday!

Now it is in my collection box.  I need to get a "BOX" .  You know, not just a box, right.


I have no idea why this computer now turns some sentences black.  the following sentence reads:  Remember a few days ago when I was working on a book project?  Making DiNozzo sleeping on a bed?  Well, I wasn't feeling it much.  So I decided to rethink my choice.

  Remember a few days ago I was working on that book project?  Making DiNozzo sleeping on a bed.  Well, I wasn't feeling it a much.  So I decided to rethink my choice.

Here is my stepped up version.  I changed my book to Lisa See's The Tea Girl From Hummingbird Lane.  She kills that tiger who is killing her husband.  He deserves to die, but still.

And it turns out that she has a head for business, when girls are not supposed to be worth anything.  She brings prosperity to her poverty village by selling the P'ua or exotic black tea.

Finally, a use for all those tea bags I saved...…




I wanted take some photos of Sawyer today in the yard.  His outfit was so cute.  But that kid LOVES water.  Frank turned on the sprinkler and you can just see the moment I lost him!

What's the Buzz?

I spent the weekend working on bees. 

I love paper piecing.  And I love these bees. 

So I decided to make nine of them, just because I love bees.  And because the quilt just seemed like it might need nine bees. 














After I made all nine, I put them on the design wall and thought I should have made twelve.  Oh well.  Nine it is!  LOL.



I had a Quilt Meeting tonight, not modern, more of a traditional bent.  But a lot of people there are doing modern and we may be hijacking the meeting!  LOL. 





These faces say Mom, we love you more than life itself....because you have your hand on the dog bone jar.

Happy Valentines Day from the Basset Boyz

We staffed the CAAWS Kissing Booth last weekend and had some pretty good kissers up there.

The Boyz offered a double delight; two for the price of one!  (I brushed everyone's teeth before they went so no baloney breath.

The event made over $250 for CAAWS and was supported by Subaru.  They even had one of their RED cars there for people to check out! 

SNEAUX

Yes, that is snow in Cajun Country!

This is what we look like this morning at 6:30 AM.

Ohhhh!  Sorry.  That is the mendenhall glacier in Alaska........it is hard to tell us apart.



Here is Baton Rouge Sneaux!

As it is getting lighter the flakes are getting larger.  They are predicting abour 4 inches this morning.

Of course, the entire city shuts down.  Yesterday they cancelled school and government offices at the suggestion we would have snow.

The last time they thought we would have snow was last year when I was living in the Camper From Hell.



 The last time we actually had snow was 2008 when we had 4.5 inches.  It was Christmas Eve.

We had gone to Carrie's for present opening and were walking the dogs around the block.  I had my two beautiful Swissys, Bonnie Doon and Dutch, and Chloe.

Dutch was not impressed with the snow, even though he came from a long line of alpine dogs who were bred to herd and draft in the Alps with the nomadic shepherds.

Bonnie Doon on the other hand, loved to be cold.  She is buried n the far corner of my back yard, and loving the snow.  My most favorite picture of Bonnie Doon is of her standing back there while the snow is all over her strong black back.

MGee seems totally unimpressed with the weather, which he considers to be an extension of rain.  He doesn't get his feet wet.  DiNozzo went out, slipped on the icy stepping stones, and sniffed the white stuff. 

Cold South Louisiana

It is a bit chilly here this week.  Finally.





So we thought we'd take the baby out without a coat.  He was a bit concerned  about his first swing outing.













But after he realized his grandma was not going to kill him, he started enjoying the ride.

On the other hand, we made sure the dogs were covered up so they wouldn't be cold.

McGee is in the large dog bed  covered with a towel because he is using his Transformers blanket for a pillow.  Who knew dogs needed pillows?

DiNozzo has a faux fur throw.  Swanky.  He is also using a pillow, I see.  

I love that all the feet are sticking out of the blanket!

Burning Question of the Morning

We were working on Sit/Stay.

The question was posed to me:

Hey, why do we have to sit HERE exactly?  I think we could sit outside as well.  And we would self-police........

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

This is what the dogs got Frank.

Sewing for the Dogs

Certainly you have seen that Pinterest photo:



Well, this seems to happen a lot to beds that McGee sits on.

When I run the Roomba, I move the dog beds to the sofa.  It was perfectly fine.

When I looked at him yesterday afternoon, the foam center was showing.

Huh?  And he happened to be on it at the time.

So I decided to replace the cover since it is a bed that Chloe likes a lot.  And the darn thing was not cheap.  Why are dog beds so expensive?

When I got to taking it apart, I decided to just replace the bottom portion.  In McGee's defense, it did seem to rip easily.  But, hey.  McGee was on it.  You know.

He is the one who cannot have a crate pad in his crate because they are prone to exploding as well.

You can see why this fabric was 50 cents a yard.  LOL   Great for dog beds since it is just mis-pinted on that one line.



It is now in the washer getting washed before it goes back on the foam pad.

And here is DiNozzo modeling the Hoodie I made for GrandDog Hugeaux.  He wears one when he dines here at my house.  But at home, Carrie has to clean his ear hair after he eats.

It is technically called a Snood.  And McGee and DiNozzo each have their own Hoodie when they eat.  But try to put one on Chloe, you might get yourself bitten!  She does not cater to that!

I think it makes a nice preppy statement for an up and coming Spaniel.


I am going to link to NinaMarie's Off The Wall Friday.  So go check out what other great artist are doing this week!

And Its Only 9:30......AM

This is from yesterday..........

What a lousy day.  Carrie had a Sesame Street book called Grover's Bad Awful Day, and I think I am having one.

For Christmas, Frank gave me the full, most expensive detail for my 2006 CRV from Benny's Car Wash.  He told me I could get a new vehicle, but actually my CRV is fine.  It just needed to get rid of the last 10 years of dog hair.  I'd be willing to bet I still had some Swissy hair in there.

We brought it in Monday morning and I got the call to get it at about 2 pm.  Wow!  5 hours of intensive beauty makeover.  When I lifted up the floor mat, dirt.  The very back space still had leaves from my oak tree.  When I looked at the side, the splashes of road grime were still there.  The shift supervisor said, leave it and I will have it redone.

When we got there this morning and looked at it.  Still the same dirt and leaves.  I was bummed.  Another day without my wheels.   What happens if I have a fabric emergency?

Aughhhh!  I have no problem paying top dollar, but I want top service in exchange.  This was not.

Then when Frank dropped me off at home, Frank drove off to meet customers and I walk inside.  The alarm has malfunctioned.  Not bringing-the-police malfunction, but just not-doing-right malfunction.  So it was a bit eery walking into the house, even though I knew there was nothing wrong because Chloe was perfectly normal.

I go to make a cup of coffee and look out the window to see DiNozzo with a squirrel hanging out of his mouth....on the back porch.

OMG!  He finally caught a squirrel.  His life's mission ----  mark it accomplished.  And of course, like the rest of my life when stuff happens, no Frank.


I knew I had to get it from him.  (So I went to the bathroom first just to steel myself.)  I walked toward him and he moved out into the yard.  Further and further back he went until we were at the back fence.  I asked him to drop it, and miraclosly he did! 

After DiNozzo dropped the squirrel I realized it was which was mostly dead at this point.  The interesting thing was the other two dogs were up on the back patio  just sitting and watching.  Alert, but just watching from a distance.    No one came close to bother DiNozzo and his kill.

I wonder what Code of Dog that is.  Respect the kill, maybe.

I got the still barely alive creature over the fence where no one would bother him.  I don't think the squirrel doctors could help him.  I felt awful.  DiNozzo was soaring proud.  

The dogs kept wanting to go outside, and scope the squirrel out again.   Do you remember the last squirrel episode?  The Big Fight?  Frank getting hurt? I brought each boy out individually on leashes, but I let Chloe go unfettered.  She immediately finds the squirrel over the fence, stakes her claim and starts digging out.  I rush the unwilling boys  inside, run back out to stop her from finishing her hole.  bassets are might diggers, those little short front legs are pretty much suited to digging out.

I spent the rest of the day taking dogs who SWORE to me they had to pee out on a leash.

Oh, yeah, when I finally got the squirrel over the back fence and out of the yard, Frank finally returns one of the 15 frantic phone calls I made to him.

Whew.........and it was only 9:30 AM.

DiNozzo's Not So Perfect Nose - It's All About That Face!

So much so that it necessitated a trip to the vet.  Which didn't bother him so much, he loves the trip, the people, visiting everyone who comes through the door, smelling all the food for sale.  And the treats!  Oh, the treats he gets offered when he cuddles up to one of the ladies!

They think he is all for them, but he is an attention slut.  It doesn't matter who it is, if he can cuddle and lean, he is there!

So the nose was in trouble.  Muzzle, really.  In all my years of Dog, I have never seen anything like it.

Vet thought it might be a bite.  Snake?  I asked.  He said no, more like a bug.  But he took the scab off to  expose the underneath red skin and thought he saw two holes like a snake bite.  A poisonous snake's venom would cause the fur to slough off, so if it was a snake it was not poisonous.  Thank goodness.

He aspirated it and found no cancer cells, with our history of mast cell tumors that is an important thing to do first.  I hold my breath until he comes back in with the news.

He said there was lots of other cells though.  Red blood cells, white blood cells, fungal cells, and some others I can't pronounce. 

So the decision was to apply a salve three times a day and that he could keep his nose a bit longer!

And to stay away from snakes..........yikes