Dogs on Thursday

Tara is such a good little helper. She likes to help with the dishes. Whenever she hears the dishwasher door opening, she comes running. Fortunately, the door makes a mighty loud "CCRREEEAAAKKKK", so she can hear it from wherever she happens to be at the time.

Now, I am from the school of thought that dishes need to be pretty clean before going into the dishwasher. Maybe not with dish soap (unless they're really cruddy) but I can't put a dish in there unless it was been scraped of any stray food particles and gotten a good rinsing with hot (and I mean HOT) water. Tara apparently agrees with me, and has taken it upon herself to do a thorough pre-wash inspection of any and all plates. (She ignores bowls, pots and flatware, though.) Such a good little helpy-helper. Look at how well she does her job.



What does Emma do while this is going on? She just sits there waiting for a treat. Any treat will do. Peanut butter heart....animal cracker...carrot...anything...just give me a treat, will ya'!

No Food with a Face!

I don't talk about work much on the blog. Not because it's not a good idea (which it probably isn't), but because it's rare that something really blog-worthy happens at work. Until yesterday. I work in a museum at a cultural center. It's a pretty big complex, offering artist demonstrations in glass, pottery, woodworking, etc. I had heard that our big electronic highway sign was in need of repair. Not too exciting. Certainly not something to share here. Until, that is, my boss' husband called in around lunchtime. He drove past the sign, and instead of offering "GLASS DEMOS", we were apparently offering "ASS DEMOS". I kid you not. That prompted a quick phone call to have the sign changed.

Of course, I had to drive by it after work, hoping against hope that it wasn't changed yet. I'm sick, I know. Sadly, it was. All I saw was "SIT OUR MUSEUM" (instead of "visit").
I wouldn't have even shared it with you all if I hadn't waited around for all of the messages to cycle through and caught this next one. Who wants to "meet our artists" when you can...

Pretty disappointing when you're hoping for "ASS DEMOS", but I thought it was worth a chuckle.

Poor, Neglected Dogs on Thursdays

Emma and Tara told me that their feelings are hurt because for the last two Dogs on Thursdays, there was nary a picture of either one of them. Sure, maybe they were mentioned in an off-hand sort of way, but that doesn't count. American Brittany Rescue was definitely worthy of this post on Dogs on Thursday, and who could forget last week's little Chihuahua? Good causes, both of them, and the little boy was thrilled with the eye patch for his Webkinz. But really, lets get our priorities straight.

Just look at Tara, the dejected little Tatters the Tata Dog. She could barely muster the energy to jump on onto "her" chair. She is saying "Wake me when there's a picture of ME on the blog."

Here is Emma giving Tara kisses to try and console her. What a good big sister!

Soon to come, some actual knitting content. I've been working on a baby blanket for a friend's daughter who is expecting, but I've been doing almost as much frogging as actual knitting. Grrrrr. I've gotta find out when that baby is due, then buckle down and get that thing done!

Happy Dogs on Thursday everyone (especially Emma and Tara)!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to my favorite guy! Yes, it's my dad's birthday! I won't mention how old he is today - that just wouldn't be right. I will tell you that he was born in 1936, and if you care to do the math, that's up to you. Here is a picture from a few years back:Well, you can see on the picture that it was taken 40 years ago. (That's me in the high chair.) Hmmm, the caption says it was his 32nd birthday. Well, I guess the secret is out. He is 72 years young today! Whew!

Here is a picture from this past summer.

In case you can't read the shirt he is holding, it says "Dad's Rescue Service", and there never was a more fitting shirt for him. I am lucky enough to have a man in my life that I know I can count on, no matter what. He will always love me, and I will always love him. He will always take care of me, and I will always take care of him. Happy Birthday, Daddy! I love you billions!

Dogs on Thursday

My sister S is the principal of an elementary school, and with over 300 kids in the school, something hilarious is bound to happen each and every day. This week, a little boy came in to the lunch room from recess, and instead of eating his lunch, he sat down at the table and hung his head. S asked him what was wrong, and he said he couldn't eat because he was too upset. After a bit of coaxing, he told S that while he was outside on the playground, his Webkinz lost an eye. He and his friends looked everywhere for the eye, but no luck. His Webkinz was ruined.

S tried to tell him that everything would be OK, and that he should really eat some lunch. Nope. Since his Webkinz was ruined, life was not worth living, or at least lunch was not worth eating. Well, the school district's preschool handicapped kids are in this particular school, so S pointed out that just like the Webkinz without an eye, there are kids in the school that face similar challenges every day. The kids are doing just fine. In fact, they're doing great. If those kids are OK, the Webkinz will be OK, too. S offered to take the Webkinz to a "spa" overnight to be fitted for an eye patch. That perked the kid up quite a bit. The Webkinz happens to be a Chihuahua, so for this week's Dogs on Thursday, he will be our special guest.

Here is the little Chihuahua as he was admitted to "Spa Brit Knitter":



Here are the tools of the eye patch making trade:

And here is the final result:

Not bad, eh?

I am...

...Anne Elliot?

In honor of The Complete Jane Austen on PBS' series "Masterpiece" (which starts tomorrow, by the way, and I am soooo excited about it) I took this quiz that I found on the Ravelry's Austentatious Fiber Artists Forum.

Take the Quiz here!

As it happens, Persuasion is the first of Jane Austen's novels that will be broadcast in the series. I absolutely love the 1995 version of Persuasion starring Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root, but that's not the one they will be broadcasting. I can't imagine anyone other than Ciaran Hinds as Wentworth, but I'm trying to keep an open mind. Hey, even a poor adaptation of a Jane Austen work is much better than an excellent adaptation of anyone else's work.

So tune in to your local PBS station on Sunday evenings, starting tomorrow, and revel in all things Austen!

Hmmm, if I am Anne Elliot, at least I get Captain Wentworth, right? Come on, Captain.....I'm waiting!

Dogs on Thursday (on Friday)

I was having trouble with my Internet connection last night, so this week's Dogs on Thursday post is a little late. This week, I bring you all of the dogs of [insert drumroll]...

American Brittany Rescue

In 2007, there were 658 brittanys adopted

through American Brittany Rescue,

and 67 were seniors (8+ years old)!

Kudos to ABR and the wonderful work they do.

My wonderful niece Jenny and very special friend Binell both made contributions to American Brittany Rescue as Christmas gifts for me this year. What better gift can you give someone than supporting a cause that is near and dear to their heart? The teachers at the school where my sister is the Principal also made a contribution to ABR.

Just about every breed of dog that you can think of has a rescue organization (or two, or three) dedicated to helping these little souls find loving forever homes. I happen to support ABR because that is where we got the lovely Tara almost three years ago. I volunteer with ABR, transporting dogs on their way from shelters to foster homes, and from foster homes to forever homes. I would love to be able to be a foster mom, but I grow attached to the brittanys I transport in the hour or two that I have them in my car. I have been known to cry once or twice when parting with the dog...OK, truth be told, I cry every time. There is no way I could take a dog into my home, love it, and then give it up. No matter how good a forever home is, there is just no way I could part with a fur baby after it crossed the threshold into my door. Just like there is a special place in hell for people who abuse dogs, there is a special place in heaven for foster moms and dads. Do you hear me, Michael Vick???

New Year's Eve meme

Yes, I know it is way past New Year's Eve, but I've been lax in blog reading for the past couple of days. I use Google Reader so I don't miss out on anyone's blog, but still it can take quite a while to read everybody's posts (I think I have about 55 blogs in my Google Reader account). My computer is in the old living room, and the heat is kept way down in that part of the house, so I don't linger too long on the computer when it is really cold out, because my fingers get stiff and icicles drip from my nose. Well, maybe it's not quite that cold in the house, but it's close.

Anyway, Jennifer of Yawn Over tagged me for a New Year's Eve meme, so here goes:

New Year's Eve -- do you like to stay in or go out?

Stay in, always. I don't drink, am uncomfortable in crowds, absolutely hate being on the road when there are others who have been drinking and driving.

Do you like to stay up or just go to sleep?

I usually stay up a little later than usual, but can't remember the last time I saw the ball drop in Times Square on TV.

Any special plans this year?

Nope, no plans.

What's your favorite New Year's memory?

One year my sister and I stayed up until midnight and made those frozen soft pretzel things and ate them. I think I was around 11 or 12. We tried to wait until close to midnight to cook them, but couldn't do it. It was a real treat - I think they were a new item in the grocery store that year. Dad was working (shift-work) and mom had gone to bed, so it was just us girls.

Do you make New Year's Resolutions?

Nope. There is enough disappointment in life without setting myself up for more.

Feel like sharing them?

See above.

Do you do anything special on New Year's Day?

When we were kids, mom and dad used to take us to Longwood Gardens on New Year's Day. They still had the Christmas decorations up, and it was so beautiful. We would all pile in the car in our nicest Sunday clothes, and we would be there when they opened in the morning. It was never very crowded, as most people were probably sleeping off the "celebrations" from night before.

I guess I won't tag anyone since it's already the 4th of January....unless someone reading this really wants to participate. Knock yourself out!

Dogs on Thursday

Emma and Tara were hostesses again this week. Their little friend Alexis Sophia came to celebrate Christmas. Here is mom holding little 6-week-old Lexi.

Lexi also brought her brothers Zach and Danny, and of course her mom and dad. Here is the long-suffering Tara, sharing her chair with the boys.


Where was Emma while all this fun was going on? In the dining room. At the table. In a chair. This is the first time (that I know of) that she has climbed into a chair at the table. Notice the horrified look on mom's face.


I just laughed and grabbed the camera. You just know mom is saying to herself "I never allowed at dog at the table....where did I go wrong..."

Here is Tara after the company went home. Ahhhh, she has her chair all to herself again. Life is good.

Stress Relief

Hmmm, almost a week since my last post. If I made New Years resolutions, I would have to make more frequent blogging one of them. Along with about a million other things that I know I won't do, so why set myself up for disappointment, right?

Anyway, a few days ago, my sister and I made our yearly after-Christmas trek to our local LL Bean store. Is "local" the correct word? It's about an hour away, but that's a whole lot closer than the 10 hour drive to Maine! We both got LL Bean gift cards from Santa & Mrs. Claus (a.k.a. dad & mom) so we just had to spend them. It's great - lots of stuff is on sale after Christmas, and when you have a gift card - it's like spending Monopoly money. What could be more fun? Last year I bought myself a winter coat & a couple of tops, but this year... a present for the kayak! We each bought a set of Thule kayak rack thingies.
I read that kayaks should be stored on their sides instead of on their tops or bottoms - something about less stress. Well, I'm all for reducing stress, and between the after-Christmas sale, and the gift card - these racks were practically free! With dad's help, we adapted them to fit on the trailer we use to transport the kayaks. The trailer is much easier than getting them up on top of one of our cars. Of course, when I say "with Dad's help", what I mean to say is that he did most of the work all of the work while we stayed out of the way offered moral support.

Look at how happy our kayaks look. Completely stress free. They look like they just got back from a day at the spa, don't they?

Aaaahhhhh.