Crafty Madness

Some recently completed crafting projects that I absolutely love. In fact, I'm feeling so good about my skills I may be ready to try a full-fledged knit sweater. Whoa!!

Ocean Purls Cardigan in Elann.com Endless Summer Luna in a gorgeous raspberry color. Modified the underarms slightly to use a half double crochet stitch to make the transition flow more smoothly, and this has the best underarm comfort of the four crocheted cardigans I've made.

Anna's Shoulder Wrap in gorgeous purple acrylic/wool blend. Just a big rectangle, but I love it because of it's versatility. I plan on making another in a summer-weight yarn.

And I love this Aspen Infinity Cowl I made for a swap out of a bamboo/silk mix. It's so soft, and the orchid color is such a beautiful, saturated purple.  I wish it were colder here so I could make one for myself.

 

I had taken some outdoor photos, but oh dear, oh me, oh my! Where did the crepey middle-aged neck come from? I've been slathering on my Oil of Olay for years.  I'm trying the L'Oreal Revitalift this month to see if the firming action they claim actually happens. Oh my, what a shocker that was. Okay, I'm in a confessional mood. Here's the photo. This is what nearly 50 looks like. Nearly 50 with work- and play-related sun damage. Sigh.

Don't look at my neck, look at the color of the yarn.

Dang. I'm going to  have to start wearing flowy scarves and cowl to hide that old lady neck. No disrespect to old ladies intended at all. Ya'll are beautiful. My neck? Not so much.

DoodleBug Gooses a Really Big Stuffed Animal

DoodleBug and I did a 5K on Sunday. Not a big deal, we normally walk 2 miles every morning. But the organizers were a bit disorganized and we started 1.25 hours after the posted start time. You can imagine how DoddleBug was going stir crazy, waiting nearly 2 hours for his daily constitutional. He amused himself by flirting with everyone, charming some little babies in strollers, and goosing the largest stuffed animals he'd ever seen, a.k.a. the university mascots. I have no idea if he thought these were huge stuffed animals or really big golden retrievers, but he did sneak up on them from behind to launch a surprise DoodleHug.

Echt

Echt: something authentic.

Roger Cohen has a lovely opinion essay on authenticity of experience in today's New York Times.

Half-Hearted Training and Urban Nature

Mr. Big's rear end weakness/degenerative myelopathy has resulted in him having accidents in the house. The effort of standing up sometimes causes him to lose some bowel control, and he'll poop in his sleep sometimes. I don't mind, really, I don't. After twelve years of unconditional love, the least I can do is clean him up and clean up after him. At least it's not diarrhea, I kept telling myself.

But females in heat often have diarrhea, and yea, you guessed it, Pipsqueak now has diarrhea.

My whole house smells, despite vigorous cleaning. Twice a day, per dog, right now. Big sigh.

And I have out-of-town visitors coming to stay for a week on Sunday. That'll be nice for them, huh?

Backyard birding:

lesser goldfinch
house finch
Gila woodpecker
and the evidence of a hawk's dinner in my front yard (an eviscerated pigeon)

DoodleBug and I saw another coyote on our morning walk, too. He was in good shape, after a fairly rainy summer and thus a good supply of food. I've been slowly adding a little distance to our walks since DoodleBug and I are doing the SAAF AIDS Walk in mid-October, and while it's only 5K, it's a slow 5K because of the crowds, which means it'll take twice as long as 3.1 miles would for us on a regular walk, and will run later and it'll be sunny and hot halfway through the course. Yesterday we did 1.9 miles. The mornings are, at last, a little cooler, so these walks are becoming very enjoyable again.

On Raising the New Puppy

Pipsqueak, the puppy also known as Z, is the great-niece/cousin X-removed of my beloved Pupgirl. That's where the similarity ends. Oh, they look similar. And they're both troublemakers. I haven't white-washed Pupgirl's puphood on my memory. She earned her nicknames of Stinkerbelle and Pestica.

I have done some things better this time around. I am crate-training her, to keep her out of trouble while I'm at work. So Pipsqueak has not replicated Pupgirl's list of chewed-into-oblivion household goods. Ah yes, I remember the two television remote controls, the cell phone, the numerous shoes, Pat's out-of-print monograph from the Royal Ontario Museum (I confess I let him die without knowing she'd chewed up that book I borrowed), the futon (pad and frame), the industrial carpet... Pipsqueak has directed her energies into digging up my rosebushes. She's on rosebush number 3 right now.  First the Harrison's yellow, then my Perfumed Delight, and now the unknown white climbing rose that came with the house. Although she's happy to grab a runner of the Tombstone rose and make off with that instead of a real cane if she has to.

And what energy! I swear, her energy level is Pupgirl's times 2 or 3. Steroidal. Exponential. She can leap over DoodleBug from a standing position. I've seen her fly through the air. At 30 miles an hour. She's as fearless as Pupgirl was, but faster.

She is growing up. She went into her first heat last night, and nearly ripped DoodleBug's ear off, because he was innocently standing behind me while I tried to wipe her tuchus. Today she got a clean bill of health. The severe medical crisis of this summer, when her liver shut down and her kidneys started to be compromised and she almost died, has completely cleared up, and she's gained the 5 lbs she lost as a 7-month-old puppy back and added another 4, for a total of 46.8 lbs, with adult fur coming in on her back. Pupgirl was at 42 lbs at 10 months, but I think Pipsqueak is a might taller than her aunty.

Maybe Pupgirl's terrible teen months were easier because she was an only dog. Mr. Big didn't arrive until she was 10 months old. He came specifically because she was bothering my beloved cats so much, trying to get them to play with her. But her first heat came and went and she was neutered before Biggie arrived, so I didn't have to run interference between her hormone-induced crazniess and a poor unsuspecting eunuch boy. Pupgirl and Mr. Big did play insanely, and wrestled all over my house. I have the photographs to prove it. And DoodleBug and Pipsqueak wrestle insanely, too, all over the house and outside.

I have been very lucky to have had dogs that actively like each other and get along so smoothly, I know that. I know people that have to keep one dog gated apart from the others, because it doesn't get along with them. And rather than re-home it, they take turns with who gets to be inthe living room at any given time. I am so glad I don't have that problem.

I guess that's worth a rosebush or two.

Backyard Birding

I was very excited to see a male Anna's hummingbird at my feeder on Sunday. He's been hanging around a lot lately, so I think he's displaced the black-chinned who used to live nearby. He's quite the handsome guy, despite being a bit dusty.

Fritters and Rainbows

Dinner the other night was the hummus fritters and Mediterranean salad from Cooking Light--delicious, healthy, and fast. Definitely on the re-make in the future list (albeit with spicy hummus).

We had 1.6 inches of rain last week. On my way to lecture Monday night, I drove past a double rainbow. Sadly, the lighter of the two didn't show up in the photos, but I present them to you for luck anyway,