Shetland Ponies vs. Shetland Sheep Dogs

Everybody knows what Shetland ponies are.  But do you know they were from the Shetland Islands north of Scotland?  Really.
Photo from the internet, could not find the author

They were used by the Scots or pulling carts filled with coal and peat and agriculture stuff, and later for hauling children around showgrounds as the high brows of European classes introduced their children to the show horse and field hunting pastimes.

The sturdy ponies were imported to the us in the 1880's

I remember the photographers comping though the neighborhoods in New Orleans with a little pony in tow, his tripod camera set up, and took pictures of the kids up and down the streets every summer.

I desperately wanted one.  My cousin who lived in Baton Rouge had one named Danny.

photo by Barbara Obrien

Photo by Sally Thompson.

Then there are the issue of those little Shetland Sheep Dogs.......... oh, yes.  They are not miniature Collies. They never were.



Really.  They just look like it.

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! 

Monday Work

I am going to get the Improv Stripes put together.

And maybe get the Dino Panel  I got for Sawyer while I was in North Carolina may get put on the longarm.  It should be a quick finish.

I will keep it here for him, if Carrie gets her hands on it, I will never see it again.

While I was at the CAAWS Shelter yesterday, Julie brought me the painting of McGee she did for me.

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!

There he sits with his Martini and Rope Toy.  Yep, that's McGee!

Here is the Leaves quilt I finished yesterday.  The binding is now done!

All I need is a label, which is what I hate to do most of all.

They call her Iris.  Do you wonder why?

Another Bunny From the Looney Bin

I made one bunny.  Still need to contstruct the onther.  It needed concentration and I had to rip out a misplaced section once, so I knew I needed to concentrate.  I had serious weather issues, well, not me actually, but McGee.

The thunder and lightening boomed and flashed violently for 2 hours while the little dog alternated  between cowering in the laundry room and standing on my compter desk and knocking my iPad on to the floor.

Even DiNozzo was upset by the storm as well.  But he compensated for his manhood by wanting to go outside and standiing in the middle of the yard, in the pouring rain and looking upwards to the heavens,

Hence, I was tending to the looney bin instead of sewing bunnies.

You Mean You Are Not Leaving?

I got up this morning with plans.  Big plans.  But........

At 8:30 I asked him where he was going and what time he was leaving.  He informed me that today was a holiday!  Whereupon I created a list of things for him to do!  LOL

So we went to run errands.   I needed a new cutting mat from JoAnn's and he needed some blue jean shorts for the cruise.  We were heading to Red Robin for lunch but go sidetracked when I saw one of favorite restaurants had opened up a new place!  Bistro Byronz's had the most fantastic cheese covered chips you can imagine!

At home I needed my metal benches touched up and the 75 caladium bulbs planted.  Here you see my snake free caladium bed.  I had sandals on so Frank had to certify the snake free part before I put my hands in there!

And since some of you are still having snow, I wanted to flaunt my back yard awakening from our very mild winter.



 Chloe and McGee spent the afternoon looking for lizards and skinks.  If you look closely at Chloe's face you can see my metal star.

In the background you can see what is left of my driveway, big chunks of cement Frank wanted to keep.  Hmm.





At the end of the patio is a mess of Wandering Jew.  It is almost iridescent in color.  Usually the winter is too cold for it to stay but it always comes back in the spring.  This year it never died down!

The lorapetalum is blooming!  It smells very sweet.  The new leaves are purple.  We always look for colors that will catch the eye in places. 

The fish looks like he has a top hat on!  That is actually what we use to cover the outside faucets during freezes.  McGee takes them off and shreds them if it is left on the faucet.  So it serves as a hat for the fish!




This is the back part of the yard.  It is actually the kitty graveyard.  There are three little statues there, one for each kitty.  The two you can see here are Whitney Dallas (can't name a kitty Whitney Houston when she comes from Dallas, can you?) and Chips the Mean Cat.

And we have wild strawberries all over the yard.





I need to do some cleaning up in the Japanese Rock Pool.    If you look at the rocks, the one standing up is the loon and the round fat one is the turtle.  In a Japanese Rock Pool you always need a turtle and a loon.




The lizard and the ladybug.  Sounds like  story in there.  I was "encouraging" Frank to take the photo, the stupid bug was biting me.  That ladybug was no lady!





And here are McGee and DiNozzo grazing.  DiNozzo ended up at the vet yesterday.  He was tossing all his cookies all day long.

He is better today but I noticed he was not as active as McGee or Chloe today, preferring to lay near me and watch.

It was a  beautiful day.....we got a lot done........and Frank didn't piss me off too badly!

Hot Dogs and Books on CD and the Stash Report for the Week

From the Lazy Pit Bull Blog we get this wonderful and necessary information about the heat of the summer and dogs left in cars.

If you think for a minute, that a child or an animal is safe for even a short period of time in a car in summer, you are dead wrong:

• On an 85º day, it takes only 10 minutes for the inside of your car to reach 102 degrees, and that’s even when the windows have been left open an inch or two.
• Within 30 minutes, the car’s interior can reach 120º.
• Even when the temperature outside is a pleasant 70º, the inside of your car may be as much as 20 degrees hotter.
• Shade offers little protection on a hot day and moves with the sun.
• Pets that are most at risk for hyperthermia (overheating) are young animals, elderly animals, overweight animals, those with short muzzles and those with thick or dark colored coats.

Thanks to our wonderful friends at the Lazy Pit Bull Blog and ASPCA for providing these statistics!  Pass the word, I have known several incidents at dog shows over the years. And it is devastating.

And just to let you know, the library sent me another notice late in the wee hours of the morning......there are THREE waiting for me at the library now..........I see a lot of sewing in my immediate future. (Post note:  I actually had FOUR when I picked them up!)

I chose I Am Malala as my first one.  It is about that girl in Afghanistan who was shot in the face by the Taliban for going to school.   The first part is very interesting because she details how Afghanistan was formed and a bit about how beautiful the country is. It is terrifying how easy it was for the Taliban to take over the country and the people and how no one did anything about it.

I have always enjoyed learning about the things we very often don't take the time to know. 

Stash Report is unexciting.  Just one pieece worked on  for the Fiber Group theme Reflections for July.  I am looking for those mirrors.  Hobby Lobby did not have them but I did get some silver medalians that might work.  I will try something tonight and see.

Still, no purchases and a half yard of scraps used to make the piece!  Going Down!

Used this week	-0.5	Used this month	-12	Used this year	-95.25
Bought this week	0	Bought this month	13	Bought this year	67.25
Plus or minus	-0.5	Plus or minus	1	Plus or minus	-28

 

Whew! A Whirlwind of Life

I was so happy when Suzette and Ray called to say they were going to swing by and spend some time with us.  You know her as Swooze on the internet.  We have met at quilt shops before, in fact we met both her parents the last time they visited her brother in Lafayette.  Swooze, her mom and I shopped fabric while Frank and her dad talked about all kinds of things sitting outside enjoying the day.

Ray was the ultimate Dog Whisperer.  Not one piece of fabric was eaten by McGee when Ray was here!  LOL.  (there were some random bits of paper, but no fabric!)

 Here we are, deep in plans to hit the Red Stick Quilt Shop. 

All through this I was busy working with the nursing home to re-up my mother in hospice. She has been in end stage Alzheimers for the last 4 years.  It was a mess, I suspect the resident doctor in the nursing home is part owner of the OTHER hospice and didn't want to recommend the hospice I wanted.  My choice was the one who took care of my mom for 2 years.  Once her weight stabilized they were no longer able to continue.  But now she is in decline again, and we need to bring them back. 

Then Carrie worked out a mover to move some furniture around between my storage place and my house and her house.  Right smack in the middle of all this! 

But it all worked out, Suzette and Ray enjoyed their visit, the dogs loved the attention, the furniture got moved and my hospice was approved after a few really odd phone calls......but hey, it all worked out.

"Hole" Earth Dogs - Week 16 52 Snapshots of Life

Since my 52Photos Project with Bella is ending I thought I might try another venue.  I found a great site that promotes dogs, duh, it is where I need to be!  At 52 Snapshots of Life the people look fun and I can see the love they have for dogs and dog rescue.  Right after my own heart as President of Capital Area Animal Welfare Society!

They are already into Week 16.  The theme is Earth.  So let me introduce the Bad Basset Boyz to the people of Earth!

I took these guys in a year apart, as cruelty cases.  They both came from the same owner but in a parish that has no Animal Cruelty Laws, and therefore we could not prosecute like we usually do.  Sad.   DiNozzo was emaciated but McGee, the white one, was pretty bad off.  His experiences made him a bit wacky in the head.  He is obsessive about eating stuff.  Fabric, plastic, metal, wood, you name it, it is NOT safe!

The first year we had him he ate a 6 foot silk scarf I was dyeing for the Habitat For Humanity Art Sale.  It cost me $1200 in vet bills to have him x-rayed, sonogramed and bariumed to get it through his inner twists and turnes.  It worked out in the end......LOL (a bit of a joke there!)

But I look into those eyes, and know he was worth it.....even though I was pretty mad at him.  The Habitat people were not so happy either.

DiNozzo is so laid back, sweet and loving.  He sometimes gets pushed to the back burner because McGee is so needy.  But he is never more than 10 feet away from me at any moment of the day. 

When we first got DiNozzo, he would refuse to go for a walk with Frank if I didn't come.  After 4 years he still drags down the driveway, stopping several times waiting for me to appear.  What a loyal guy!

And being bassets, they have this need to be earth movers and dig.  We can see China sometimes!  They are tracking the moles that tunnel through the yard on their way to grubs.  Every time we have one of the holes, we fill it in and add some sod to make it less appealing. 

And don't think they are couch potatoes!  They are heavily muscled, tough guys, who walk at least a mile a day and have a huge yard to run and chase squirrels or each other.  We keep them moving!  The vet always calls about 8 people into the exam room to see the "Basset Body Builders" !!

Oh, yes.  Chloe the Smelly  Basset.  She came to us in the middle of my Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs via the Boyfriend From Hell.  That was 10 years ago.  She moves when she wants to, sleeps where she wants to and commands the best sun rays in which to bask.

She claims Frank as her own.  Her very own!  And that is OK.

Dogs and the Purple Cow!

Some people asked about the dog food tote bags.  You need the type of bag that is like tightly woven plastic.  It was very easy to sew on my Husqvarna 930E which is a strong machine and didn't even notice the difference in the materials.  The bags are not thick at all, they are much like fabric in thickness.  However, the bags are very slithery and stiff so you need to make sure you don't use pins and create holes.  So what did I do?  I have a whole container of all sizes and colors of bullnose clips.  I love them because they are so  useful in many situations.  And they are strong enough  to hold slippery bags together with moving fabric.


I guess you can use the heavy paper type of dog food bag but I have not used that one yet to know how it sews.  there are a lot of really cool looking bags you can use, but if you are using the food for your own dog, be very careful about switching foods out quickly.  It can cause explosive diarrhea.  And you DON'T want that.

3 on a bed trying to stay warm

Dog Tip:  If you want to switch foods (anytime you want to switch foods) save a bit of the old food and take a week to switch.  Start the first two days by using 1/4 new to 3/4 old.  If that  goes well, do the next two days as 1/2 an 1/2.  If  that goes well, do 3/4 new to 1/4 old for 2 days.  And on the 7th day, do 100% of the new.  The whole time supplement with yogurt that has probiotics and live cultures.  You dog should be able tto handle dairy though.  If he can't then you need to get some acidophilus and supplement with that.  I actually give my dogs yogurt daily in their food.

I needed a pick me up today, and we all know I don't need more fabric, right?  But I could not help myself.  I knew the 99 cent rack would be full of cotton since I hadn't been there in a while to pick through it.  And my CRV just went in there by itself.  Really.

My camera battery was nearly out and I just had enough juice to get three photos.  But they will show you what I go for $7.00 total!  Yes, SEVEN.

TWO junior large sundresses.  When I saw these I decide the quilt needed to be in the pink range.   I think I have the pattern in my head as small crosses - four in a block and they sort of float.  i saw it in one of the recent copies of like Quilt Magaziine or Quiltmaker, yes I think it is Quiltmaker.

  

 These are three shirts, I checked and made sure they were 100% cotton and didn't have any spandex or poly in there.  So many of them have it.  I also check to make sure the cottons are heavier and not real thin.  I had to put back three I really liked because they were on the thin side.  If you want make a block with layers or shirring maybe but not for the block itself.

Another plus with shirts is that you get BUTTONS too!  I love buttons.  Just like PattyA, although she uses hers.  I hoard mine!  You need to go check her out and see how she is quilting the music quilt.  I am loving it!

The most wonderful two things were these right here!  The pink shirt is a soft pure corduroy dream.  And the blue is a soft linen feel chambray wrap skirt.  There is a lot of fabric in that skirt because it  is double wrapped and tied.

Aren't the all wonderful??????  Can you see them all together in a girl's quilt? 

I need to clear off my sewing spae in the sewing room and work on this.

I also need to complete the leaves quilt and do a challenge for River City.  the Challenge is to use the official River City Guild Block in someting.  I have the most wonderful idea I know will win the #1 prize, you watch!


No I am not showing it to you!

Cold Heat

I thought you needed to see what cold weather does to Smelly Bassets.  It drives them together, tightly!

 

They are outside sunning because I am inside cleaning up in my sewing room.  If I am going to get all these quilts quilted, then I need space to make more!  LOL

Dogs at the Lake

see the horrible sky behin Frank and the dogs?  We are facing a huge storm later so we thought to take the doglets on a walk around the lake.  They loved it, but the driizzle staarted after we had gone around the lake twice.  Chloe  got  hung up on seeing the maintenence man and wanting him to pet her.

Here are some clips of our short walk.

 we always cause a stir when we go anywhere.......

 People must feel sorry for the idiots who have THREE crazy bassets......

 But when you look at that  face.........

 Or that one that cost $1200 in just one weekend......

 And you can get them all going in one direction....

 It really isn't too bad.

 The red maples give us a spectacular show.

Thursday Work - Finishing Up on Triangles

Court yesterday was odd.  I sat for more than 4 hours watching the dregs of humanity parade their odd clothing and behavior in front of this very patient judge.  In the cruelty case I was there for, his atty asked if he could plead guilty to attempted cruelty, and the Asst DA an I were not happy.  There was no "attempt" at cruelty, it was pure base anger and hatred.  So his atty asked for and got a continuance.  I guess he needs to concoct a story and come to court.

Frank picked out these wonderful kleenex boxes for McGee to eat next.  I wonder if the different colors taste different flavors?  Looks like luscious fabrics to me!

I have one more set of triangles to go for the Taking Names quilt sets.  These are the red/black/white ones.  And I can do those this afternoon and see about getting to the post office tomorrow to mail them off.

I finished the two that had greens as their major color.  One was a batik green and brown and the other was to be earth tones.  I really don't have much of either but I made do.  I think I sneaked in a couple that really didn't go, but I was just being creative!

Check them out.

I really like both of them and realize the need to get more brown and green batiks in my stash.

Remember, there are 8 other people doing 12 triangles each and these will be mixed in with theirs.  I have 5 sets of my grey triangles, so I am waiting on doggy toes to get a crack at them.

Doggy toes?  Well, I figure if Carl Sandburg's Fog sat on little cat feet then I am waiting on doggy toes!
Look how pretty we can sit! All those stories mom makes up about us being so bad.......huh, did you hear that?


Oh wait.......was that a squirrel?