Brit Knitter

Yet another bite...

2011-11-26T13:34:00.000-05:00

OK, so my last post left off talking about the seagull incident. I didn't mention that there was another bite that same day. Not another seagull. Not another mouse. This time was a feral cat.

Remember this post about the feral cat colony in Fortescue? My sister and I were feeding the cats, hoping to catch some of them and get them neutered, but of course we were not fully prepared. No cat cage, no gloves... nothing but a bag of cat chow and high hopes of saving a life or two.

To make a long story short (I have to get ready to go to work), I ended up getting bitten by one of the cats. I didn't get a picture of it, but it looked something like this:

It wasn't the cat's fault. The poor thing was scared. Still, I ended with some kitty fangs in my hand. You know what that means... The next day I called my doctor's office to see if I needed an antibiotic. The nurse told me that they send all cat bites to the ER. Seriously? The Emergency Room? I told her that it wasn't serious at all, definitely NOT an emergency. She said that is standard procedure. I insisted on seeing a doctor before being sent to the ER, so they reluctantly gave me an appointment.

The nurse who came to the waiting room to take me back to an exam room looked at me and said "You're the mouse girl!" What have you gotten into now? After briefly explaining, she said "I want to follow you around for a week. You must have a fascinating life." Fascinating? Yeah, right.

The doctor agreed that it wasn't serious, and gave me an antibiotic but told me that I had to be seen again in a week. Even if it was completely healed, I HAD to go back and let them see the wound. I figured that was better than going to the ER, so I agreed.

One week later, I go back to the doctor. After the routine blood pressure, pulse, temperature check, she examines the seagull and cat bites and then says that even though everything was healing nicely, she wanted me to get a rabies antibody test. Apparently I had a fever. Great. There was no way I could have rabies. I figured she was just being overly thorough. I took the paperwork, "filed" it in the glove compartment of my car, and figured she would never know if I got the test or not.

A week goes by, and I am really feeling like crap. Tired all the time, headache-y, stiff neck, eyes hurt. All of the classic signs of a fever. I took my temperature. It was 100.2. I take some Advil, and get on with my day. Next day, feeling like crap again, temp was 99.9. Holy crap, could I have rabies????

I dug the paperwork for bloodwork out of my glove compartment and hauled my fevered self to the lab. Two (feverish) days go by, then three, then four. I don't hear a word. I call the doctor's office on day 5. I am told it takes at least a week for a rabies test, sometimes two weeks. Then there was the Thanksgiving holiday... I tell the nurse I still have a fever, she wants me to come in right away. I put her off, figuring there is no point in being seen without the results of the bloodwork. At this point I'm thinking rabies is a possibility...

Fortunately, the nurse called yesterday. NO RABIES!!! Yay! Time to do a happy dance! Since I still have a fever, they put me on another antibiotic. The third one in as many months. Let's hope this one knocks the hell out of whatever is wreaking havoc with my body!

Another bite.

2011-11-23T18:28:00.000-05:00

First things first... Happy Thanksgiving to all! Yes, I know it's not until tomorrow, but I am working tomorrow, and don't know if I will get a chance to blog.

Yes, that's right. I am working. On Thanksgiving. Glitter World is open, so I will be putting on my happy face and ringing up tons of glitter-covered-crap that people just can't live without and feel the need to buy on Thanksgiving Day. It's not so bad, really. It's just another thing to be thankful for, right? A job. Two jobs, actually. So many people would be thrilled to be working tomorrow, or any day at all, that I don't feel as though I can complain about working. At least I don't have to cook a Thanksgiving meal. Cracker Barrel, here we come! Yet another thing to be thankful for!

What else am I thankful for? Emma, Tara and Cooper, of course. Although they have their cute little noses out of joint because their little mousey brothers Stevie and Carlos got their pictures in the last blog post. Was there a single picture of the dogs? Nope. Sure, the dogs were mentioned in passing, but apparently that wasn't sufficient, and their egos have taken a hit. So, without further ado, I give you (drumroll, please)...

Cooper, Emma and Tara!

I wanted to get a picture of them doing something cute, but this is what they do 99% of the time. This photo is unusual in that all three babes are in one photo--a rare occurrence! I am so thankful that they are happy and healthy, particularly as Cooper and Emma would technically qualify as "seniors", although both can still act very much like puppies on occasion.

Here is another picture of the babes from today when I ran home from work to let then out at lunchtime.

That's Tara and Cooper. (Emma was camera shy.) It was raining, and Tara and Cooper hate getting their feet wet. I was standing out in the rain, getting soaked, cajoling and pleading with them to "come down and do pee pees". They are doing their best to ignore me. Notice the closed eyes... It kills me that the think that if they can't see me, I can't see them. Silly babes.

At the risk of doggie overload, here is a picture of Cooper and Tara from last week.

The chicken on the gate? That's Hanna. She is (or was) the neighbor's chicken. She has been living here for a couple of years. Notice Emma is not in this picture. She's afraid of Hanna. I know, I know... a bird dog who is afraid of a chicken. My dad says I have single-handedly ruined the breed by coddling my sweet babes.

Anyway, Cooper quickly lost interest, but not Tara. She and Hanna had a standoff, and I was about to be late for work.

The only thing I could do was "shoooo" Hanna off the gate.

Oh my, look at that ugly scar on my hand... We'll come back to that later.

Hanna decided she didn't want to be "shoooo'd" and found somewhere else to perch. On me.

She stayed on my arm until I walked to the woods and found a tree limb for her to perch on. Silly bird.

Back to the scar...

Ugly, isn't it? It's about six weeks old now, so it's actually looking a LOT better than it did. How did I get it? Another bite. It was more like a rip, really. My sister and I were on the beach at Fortescue, and a woman down the beach was fishing, and a seagull got caught in her fishing line. How? I have no idea. I've never seen that happen before.

Of course, I go running down the beach to lend a hand, and the seagull bites the hand that frees it! It wasn't his fault, though. The poor thing was terrified. The fishing line was wrapped around both wings and both feet. Between the three of us we managed to get him free and he flew away (thank-you-baby-jesus) leaving nothing but three happy women, and some blood on the beach. My blood, not his.

Fortunately, the seagull was not harmed in any way.

Fortunately, I now have a house a Fortescue, so was able to go and wash the wound with antibacterial soap & wrap it up.

Fortunately, I recently had a tetanus shot, (you know... from the mouse bites) so I feel protected from any heebie jeebies that seagulls might carry.

Unfortunately, I have an ugly scar, despite the use of Vitamin E cream.

Unfortunately, seagulls creep me out now. This is what I imagine every seagull is saying to me:

Unfortunately, the seagull incident was not the end of my adventures that day...

Stay tuned for another bite. Literally.

At long last...

2011-11-21T18:52:00.005-05:00

Finally, a blog post! I appreciate the emails and Ravelry messages I've gotten over the past couple of months, but want to assure you that everything here is fine. Mom and dad are doing great. The dogs are all happy, healthy and always looking for trouble. I've just been so busy, working at the museum and at Glitter World. I have so much to get everyone caught up on that there is no way I can do it in one post. In the first place, I would be up all night working on it, and in the second place, it would bore you all to tears.

Have you ever heard the joke about "How do you eat an elephant?" Answer: One bite at a time. Anyway, I have a big ol' elephant of stuff to share, and will be writing "bites" until I get caught up. Now for the first bite. No pun intended... You'll understand this later on.

A couple of months ago, my niece who works at the local PetSmart posted a picture of a blind mouse in need of a home on her Facebook page. Apparently this little guy came into the store for sale and was missing an eye and she was afraid it would become "snake food". It's bad enough for these little mousies to be sold for food (yes, I know about the circle of life and the food chain and all that, but I don't want to see it or allow it to happen on my watch, you know?) but this poor little guy would never see the snake coming at him and have no chance at all to get away.

Well, since I am not using credit cards, I had to wait 3 days until payday to go at get little Stevie. (I named him after Stevie Wonder, being blind and all) Not having had any caged pets since I was a kid, I needed the cage, litter, bottles, dishes, food, etc. and had to wait until I got the cash. So, on payday I went to PetSmart and bought this:

It's not just a simple cage, it's an apartment tower of mousey-fun! I went with the super-size accommodations, because Stevie was in a cage with two other mice, and I didn't want to buy just Stevie and have him miss his little friends. Of course, I couldn't choose which of the other two mice to buy, and if I only bought one, the other one would be all alone, so of course I had to buy all three mice.

Admittedly, I had no idea what I was getting into, and I don't recommend anyone purchase a pet if they do not fully understand what the care of that pet entails. In fact, I have never had any great fondness for mice. Really, I hate the little suckers. Correction... I USED to hate the little suckers. Somehow I managed to convince myself that little Stevie was going to be snake bait and I was his only hope for survival. So, I just jumped in with both feet and am in this for the long haul...for better or for worse.

Better: There is a Rat and Mouse Club of America and the people on the forums there are very helpful to newbies like me.

Better: They are all boys, so there will not be any additional mice.

Worse: They are all boys, and boys will fight to the death as they mature.

Worse: I had to purchase two additional cages to prevent mouse homicide... or mouse-icide????

Worse: Boy mice are notoriously stinky, and one boy mouse smells as bad as five girl mice.

Worse: My laundry room immediately took on the odor of 15 mice. We're talking really, really stinky.

Better: My sister's secretary took one of the mice off of my hands.

Worse: The laundry room still smelled like it had 10 mice. Still really, really stinky.

Better: There is a product that you add to their water bottles and it helps to neutralize the odor of mouse urine.

Worse: It takes several weeks to get the odor down to a manageable level.

Worse: Mice bite. They bite and hang on with a vengeance even when you are screaming and trying to shake them off of your hand.

Worse: If you are bitten by a mouse (or two, or three) you need to get a tetanus shot and an antibiotic. Just add the co-pay and prescription to the cost of the mice, cages, litter, food, water additive, etc., etc., etc. Also, the doctor has to call the county board of health and then tells you to monitor the mice for any non-mouse-like behavior. Rabies, you know.

Better: I have two new little souls that it is surprisingly easy to love. Here is little Stevie:

And here is a picture of both Carlos Ruiz and Stevie Wonder:

My stinky boys. Priceless.

Stay tuned for future bites. Literally.

After the Storm...and the Earthquake.

2011-08-28T17:37:00.000-04:00

Hurricane Irene has come and gone, but rest assured that everyone here in BritKnitterville is fine. I hope everyone reading this is safe, too. Irene was downgraded to a Category One hurricane by the time she made landfall in New Jersey. Oddly enough, this is just the third time in the State's history that a hurricane made a direct hit. This was the first time that we boarded up the windows of the Museum where I work.

Irene caused the evacuation of Cape May County (yes a whole county of people!) and most of the shore communities on the coast. Fortunately my little house in Fortescue is on the Delaware Bay side of the state, but I would say that just about everyone left the island for higher ground, even though evacuation was not mandatory. My sister and I drove down there this morning to check on things, and there were lots of trees and wires down (and no power on the island), but fortunately not a lot of property damage. My little house survived with only the loss of one of the window shutters. Whew!

Not only did we have a Hurricane this week, we also had an Earthquake! In New Jersey! Ok, so technically it wasn't centered in New Jersey, but it sure felt like it! I can't imagine what it was like in Virginia. One minute I was sitting at the computer at in the Museum's library, and my chair starts rolling. I look up, and the hanging lights are swinging. We ran out into the museum (a GLASS museum, by the way) and the ginormous chandeliers in the lobby are swinging. Being in a glass museum in an earthquake is not my idea of fun, by the way. An earthquake in New Jersey...very strange.

In other news, I have a fourth dog. Well, HAD a fourth dog. For 24 hours. He wandered into the yard last Sunday and started eating the cats' food in the garage. He had a collar, but no tags and I named him Russell. Why? He's a Jack Russell Terrier, so what better name for this sweet boy?

To make a long story short, I will never take another dog in to the local SPCA to be scanned for a microchip. I will wait until my Vet's office opens and let them scan the dog. The local SPCA took Russell from me to scan him (no chip, by the way), and wouldn't let me take him back home! I told them I would give them all of my information in case the owner turned up, but they said they couldn't legally release him to me since I wasn't the owner. I never heard of that before. I took Cooper there three years ago to be scanned and they released him to me. Not Russell. They said I could come back in 7 days and fill out an application for adoption. Let me tell you, I was a mess. I was crying, which got another woman crying, and then two more women came to see what we were crying about and they started crying. Still, I had to leave without Russell... I posted his picture on Craig's List and Missing Pet.com, and hung posters in local stores. In the end it was the posters that reunited Russell with his owner. No more SPCA for me!

I'm sharing this picture just because it's so cute:

That's my dad, with his hair all messy and dirty knees. Doesn't he look great? Especially considering that he has had a rough year with two cancer surgeries. (Still cancer free!!!) He is working on a ramp for the shed at Fortescue. He is happiest when he has a project, and the Fortescue house is an endless source of projects for him. Endless, until the money runs out, which it does on a regular basis. I just made my second mortgage payment, and oddly enough it still doesn't feel like it's MY house. I still have that "trespassing" feeling when I walk in. This helps, though:

It is a picture of my first Brittany, Scarlett. My sister had an artist friend of hers do it for me shortly before I lost my sweet Scarlett. Now, every time I walk in the front door, this is what I see:

Yep, that's my house alright. Scarlett watches over it for me while I am away.

I'm still here...

2011-07-26T17:34:00.002-04:00

Yes, it’s been a while. A looooonnng while. Between working 7 days, and working on the house in my “spare” time, I’ve been neglecting every other area of my life. Rest assured that all is well here. Mom and dad are doing fine. Emma, Tara and Cooper are all great. Ornery as ever, which is always a good sign. Recently we even passed the three year anniversary of the day we found sweet Cooper McLooper. I think he's happy here, don't you?

Anyway, the house is coming along nicely. Ceilings have been painted, fences have been put up, shed doors have been rebuilt, electrical stuff has been rewired, and lamps have been hung. Of course, none of this could have been done without help from dear old dad. Here is the electrical engineer, himself:

Yes he is, indeed, modeling a “chick magnet” T-shirt. My dear, delusional, dad.

Mom has been very helpful, too, with lots of design advice. Here she is on moving day...

... ~~napping on the sofa~~, umm, contemplating color schemes and curtain styles. Of course, when I say “moving day” I use that term loosely. I haven’t actually really and truly moved. First I had to get the fence installed for the dogs, but then there were some problems with installation, and the company hasn’t come out to fix it yet. That’s a story for another day, though.

Then there was the problem of a place to sleep. I almost envy the cave dwellers, in their lack of decision making when it comes to decorating and finding a place to sleep. In the civilized world, this is a multi-step process, involving first buying a bed (as I will still have a bedroom at my sister’s house). Done. Then choosing a bedroom. Done. Then picking out a paint color that wouldn’t clash with the carpet. Done. Then actually getting that paint from the can onto the walls.

Not done. :sigh:

Maybe this weekend when I get off work from Glitter World, but maybe not. The painting has to be done before I can arrange for delivery of the bed, because who wants to climb over a bed while trying to paint? I also wanted to replace the (old, nasty, ugly) ceiling fan in that room but it looks like that will have to wait. All spending has come to a screeching halt. My checkbook needs life support after hemorrhaging money over the past month. However, I am proud to say that I have not used a credit card since August 13, 2010. Shocking, isn’t it? If I can’t afford to pay cash for it, I don’t buy it. Living within my means...a concept Congress can’t grasp.

Never fear, though. There are still plenty of no-cost and low-cost things to be done, and first on my list was hanging this lamp:

Isn't it lovely? Mom and dad made this lampshade. Actually made it! Cut the glass, wrapped the pieces, and soldered it all together. They made several cut glass lamps back in the 70s. After this one was finished, they decided they didn’t like the shape, and it was on its way out to the trash. Yes, the trash. Growing up, if a thing wasn't useful or was perceived as lacking in some way, it was put out for trash day. I often wonder what would have happened if any of us kids was handicapped or had any learning disabilities... But I digress. I loved the lamp and couldn't stand to have it tossed out, and even though I didn’t have a place for it at the time, I rescued it from the trash and stowed it under my bed for safe keeping. When I moved in with my sister, I hung it on an enclosed porch, but now it has a place of honor above my dining room table. I knew I would have a place for it someday... I just didn’t know that “someday” would take 30 years, or be so far from civilization!

I know that some people (most of my family, that is) think Fortescue is the ends of the Earth... the back of beyond... but I think it’s just perfect. I’ve met several of my neighbors already, and two of them are knitters! Everyone is so friendly and laid back. If you’re looking for what are traditionally known as the “finer things” in life, like internet access, marginally reliable cell service, trash pickup, mail delivery, or more than 5 television stations, Fortescue is not your kind of place.

If you are looking for a peaceful spot to relax and decompress with a walk on the beach, and don’t mind driving 20 miles (or more) for a gas station or a grocery store, I have a gem of a spot for you.

The people here are so friendly, and everyone has time to sit and chat over a glass of iced tea. The best thing about being here is asking someone for directions to, say, the dump, or a farm stand to buy some corn and tomatoes. You get answers like:

"Head out over the bridge, and go inland for a couple of miles. Make a left at the yellow house with a pool in the back yard. Keep going for a bit, and there will be a deli on your left (that they neglect to mention has been closed for more than 40 years, just in case you were hoping to get a sandwich and some chips), and then a pasture on the right where the cows are always wading in the creek. Make a right, and stay on that road until you see the black lab hanging out on the porch of the brick house, and then make the next left. If you come to the big oak tree that lost a limb a few winters back, you know you’ve gone too far."

Seriously. It is so funny. It makes me want to ask someone for directions even though I don’t need to go anywhere!

OK, enough for this post. For now, I’ll leave you with a video of a new song by the Zac Brown Band. This song perfectly describes the Fortescue way of life! Enjoy!

The sign says it all...

2011-06-23T16:25:00.003-04:00

Yes, the population at Fortescue increased by one yesterday! I've already met three neighbors, and two of them are knitters. I don't have telephone service or internet down there, and even cell phone service comes and goes. It's wonderful!

More later, with pictures. For now, I am headed back to Fortescue with another car load of stuff.

Lots of News, All of it Good!

2011-06-20T19:35:00.003-04:00

Almost a month since I've posted... I'm a very, very bad blogger. It's been a month of ups and downs, and generally nerve wracking episodes pretty much daily. Today, however, was an "up" day. Way, way up. Dad went back to his surgeon for a follow-up visit today. He had his thyroid removed on June 8th, and after a pretty rough recovery, he is doing better now. The best, most important news from his doctor visit today is that the biopsy report was clear! No cancer at all! What a relief. Dad is still pretty sore from the surgery, and has limited neck movement, but after another week or two he will be back to his old self.

We traditionally make him his favorite meal - hamburgers with all the fixin's for Father's Day, but not this year. Here's a picture from a couple of years ago:

Can you see how big that burger is? He piles everything on his burgers. Cheese, bacon, tomato, lettuce, green pepper, onion, pickles... so much stuff I don't know how he eats it all. Maybe by this weekend he will feel up to the traditional Father's Day burger fest.

More good news: Mom is doing really well after her surgery last week. She had a botox injection into a muscle at the base of her esophagus, and she is eating much better now. It may have to be repeated every 6 months or so, but that's a small price to pay for being able to eat without the discomfort she has been experiencing for years now.

More good news: I've got mail!

Yes, it's all junk mail, but it's mine. Ok, none of it has my actual name on it, unless I want to change my name to "Occupant" or "Current Resident" or "Box Holder", that is.

So what's the big deal about getting mail? This mail was in my very own Post Office Box. Mine! At Fortescue!

Why would anyone get mail at Fortescue unless they lived there? They wouldn't! I will be closing on my house on Wednesday! Yes, that was another good piece of news today. After a nail-biting four days in which the bank and the homeowners/flood insurance company were going back and forth about the wording on the insurance policy (of all things to hold up a settlement...one sentence in an insurance policy!), they finally came to a compromise, and in a mere 36 hours, I will be a homeowner! Me!

Does that mean I'm a grown up now? I hope not.

Pass the Marshmallows...

2011-05-24T18:09:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I was feeling like I was going nowhere with my get-out-of-debt plan, so I decided to figure out how much I had paid off since my last bonfire. I removed the chains from the Chain of Shame, it made a tidy little pile.

Time to break out the matches...

...and celebrate...

...and then go deeper into debt:

Yep, the Fortescue house is now officially under contract! Woo Hoo! All I need now is the mortgage commitment, which should come through by June 10th. That will keep everything on track to have the survey, inspections, certifications, blah, blah, blah, done by the settlement date of June 30th!

It looks like June will be a big month around here, with Dad's thyroid surgery on the 8th, and mom's esophagus surgery on the 14th. Fortunately, dad is already stocking up on supplies in anticipation of spending time in Fortescue in the next couple of months.

What supplies?

BUG SPRAY!

Too Many Red Flags

2011-05-20T13:50:00.000-04:00

Man, it's been a while. Yes, I've been busy, but that's not the only reason I've been away from the blog. I've tried a couple of times to write, but it has never come out right, so I hit DELETE instead of PUBLISH.

First things first...

Good news: Dad is doing well after his surgery in March.

Not-so-good news: He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer a couple of weeks ago. We are told that it is completely unrelated to the prostate cancer. He has to have surgery to remove the thyroid, and then a couple of weeks after that he will have to be re-admitted to the hospital to take some very weird meds. Apparently, within 3-5 days of taking these meds, he will glow in the dark. (Not really...at least I hope not.) Next week we will find out more details on the surgery and post-surgical treatment.

Other than that, everything is pretty much the same. Mom is doing well. She is scheduled for Botox next month.That's right, Botox! I can't stop laughing whenever I think of it. She's not getting it for wrinkles (if she had any, that is). She was recently diagnosed with esophageal achalasia, so they are going to relax the muscle at the bottom of her esophagus with Botox. I keep telling her that once you start with the plastic surgery, it's just a slippery slope. Pretty soon she will be getting a butt lift and a boob job!

The dogs, assorted cats and chickens are all doing great.

OK, I think I'll end this post right here.

Thanks for reading.

Goodbye.

See ya.

Go on now.

You're still here?

You're asking about the little house at Fortescue from my last post?

The house I have been drooling over for two years now?

This cute little house with tons of character?

Why yes, I did indeed put in an offer on this house!

I know the house is small; the bedrooms are barely big enough for a twin bed, let alone a full or queen; the bedrooms and bathroom are up a narrow, winding flight of steps; the outbuildings are practically falling down and are one high tide away from being washed into the marsh. I know all that, and I love the house anyway. The deeper I got into the house, though, the more red flags started popping up.

The house has been vacant for over three years? That just proves that it needs someone to love it. Termite damage? OK. I can live with that. Leaky pipes? No problem. That's what plumbers are for. An owner who is reluctant to sell? That's a little harder to deal with, but that's what real estate agents are for.

And then came the big red flag. Do you see that outbuilding behind the house? Inside the building, there is an old, unused shallow well. You open the door, and there is a hole in the ground, about 2 feet in diameter, full of water. No lid or anything to keep you from falling into it. No big deal. Make a lid for the well, secure it so no one can fall into it, and viola! Well problem solved. At least we thought it was a well. Turns out, it's the septic. Full of water. No lid, because apparently it fills up so often that it has to be pumped out once a month. Estimate to get a new, properly draining septic system? $15,000-$25,000.

Big red flag. Huge. Big enough to cover the whole state of New Jersey. Granted, New Jersey is one of the smaller states, but still...

This house is just not an option for me, and will henceforth will be referred to as "The Money Pit".

But... behind every dark cloud there is a silver lining. When God closes a door, He always opens a window. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I could go on and on with pithy sayings, but you catch my drift.

I now present.. (drumroll, please)... the Silver Lining:

Longtime readers might recognize this as the house we rented last summer when an old friend came to New Jersey for a visit. This house is also in Fortescue, and while it doesn't have the charm of ~~my house~~ the Money Pit, there is something to be said for three bedrooms, a bath and a half, and actually being able to flush the toilets.

So, am I just teasing, or did I actually take the plunge?

Hand me a towel, because I am soaking wet!

I was afraid to post about this earlier, afraid I would jinx it, but I made an offer, it was accepted (after some back and forth), the contracts have been signed, the attorney review period is over, and an independent house inspector only found two things wrong: it needs GFI outlets in the kitchen, and the front porch is missing lag bolts. Easy stuff.

Now I'm just waiting for the mortgage to come through, but have been assured that it will go through without a problem. Famous last words, right? I'm not counting my chickens before they're hatched, but I'm starting to think that I might actually be a homeowner very soon.

How's that for a silver lining?

Working, working, working...

2011-04-23T07:05:00.002-04:00

...and more working. Mom and dad are both doing good, the babes are all excellent (health-wise, not behavior-wise, of course), but between working at the Museum and Glitter World, I'm feeling like a zombie. I keep telling myself that this won't be forever, and I just have to keep my eyes on the goal. What is my goal? Get out of debt! Pay off all credit cards and my car, and become totally debt free. I can't imagine how that feels, but if all goes according to plan, by June of 2013, I should be able to tell you. Seems so far away, but I am determined to do it. Absolutely determined.

No deviation from the plan.

None.

At all.

Unless...

Wouldn't it be fantastic...

If it were a possibility...

That this could be mine?

So, on one hand I could be totally debt free in approximately 26 months.

On the other hand, I could go deeper into debt for approximately 26 years.

Sounds like a no-brainer, right?

:sigh:

Updates in the near future.

For now, you guessed it, I am off to work.

:-/

2011-04-03T10:09:00.003-04:00

Quickie post before I go off to work at Glitter World... Our store has been targeted as a [queue deep, echo-ey voice] Store of the Future. As a result, the dress code has changed. This is after I already bought three pair of khakis and half a dozen black shirts, of course. I'm not sure what the whole Store of the Future thing means, really, but I do know that I am no longer a lowly cashier at the bottom of the pecking order who occasionally teaches knitting or crocheting. Nooooooooo. I am now a Yarn Expert!

True, I am a Yarn Expert who is really just a lowly cashier at the bottom of the pecking order who occasionally teaches knitting or crocheting, but now I get to wear a cool T-Shirt!

Good News. Not Great, but Good.

2011-03-31T16:13:00.004-04:00

I've been delaying posting because I was soooo hoping to have great news regarding dad's cancer. All I have is good news, but good is better than terrible, or even mediocre news. Below is the email that Mom sent out to their church's prayer chain. I just cut and pasted it for the blog because Mom said it so much better than I could.

Good Evening Everyone,

Today was the first post-op visit following Don’s surgery for prostate cancer. He was relieved of his “buddy bag” as he called it and is now allowed to drive. That is the immediate good news. Many biopsies were taken at surgery. They confirmed that his is an aggressive cancer and indeed all biopsies came back clear/negative but one. When the pathologist was bisecting the prostate he found that one capsule of the cancer had penetrated though the lining of the prostate therefore his Stage 2 cancer was upgraded to Stage 3. He will be followed with every 3 month PSA tests and if the numbers start to climb he will then be evaluated for probably radiation therapy. Whatever happens whenever is all in God’s hands and we would appreciate your continuing to pray for him. Thanks so much for your faithfulness.

In Him Because He loves us all,

Joan

Pot Pie, Anyone???

2011-03-19T09:03:00.001-04:00

Thanks again, everyone, for keeping dad in your thoughts and prayers. He came home from the hospital Thursday night, and is already ~~driving mom crazy~~, ummm, up and around. You can't keep a good man down! The next milestone is Monday the 28th when we go back to Fox Chase for the full biopsy report and removal of the catheter. Ouch.

In other medical news, the babes all had their annual checkup at the evil Vee-Eee-Tee, (a.k.a. the WonderVet) yesterday. As I was getting my little car ready for the onslaught of three big brits, look who decided to help.

Yes, that is one of the neighbor's chickens. In my car. A chicken in my car.

I opened all of the doors and ran from side to side, trying to shoo that bird out of my car. At one point I might have been heard to threaten her with the stew-pot if she left any chicken poo in my car. Eventually, I did get her out of my car without having to act on that threat, and was able to get the babes into the car. By myself. I took all three hooligans, by myself, in my little Prius. What was I thinking? I have no idea. Here are a couple of shots of the babes in the back seat of my car

They were a little squished, but not for long. Emma jumped right into the front seat and planted herself in front of the air vents. She loves the feel of the air conditioning blowing right in her face, so I turned it on full blast. Big mistake. It felt like a meat locker in my car, but every time I turned the fan down, Emma would whine. :sigh:

Luckily, I had an early appointment and it wasn't too crowded in the waiting room. As soon as I got the babes into the office, they took off in three directions with me in the center holding the leashes. I felt like the hub of a wagon wheel. After much tangling and untangling of leashes, I managed to get them signed in and seated.

Then the vet's three-legged cat wandered out from behind the counter. Now, my babes hate cats, but a three legged cat? They figured that was easy prey. There was much whining and woo-wooing on the dogs' part while the cat calmly sat just out of reach, yawning, while I was pulling on the leashes with all of my strength, saying "we love kitties...kitties are our friends."

At that point the vet techs saved my arms from being pulled out of their sockets by calling us back into the exam room. God Bless the Vet Techs!!! I tried to get a photo of the babes, but this was the best I could do. Notice the leashes wrapped around my legs...

It was all worth it, though, as the WonderVet pronounced all three babes to be beautiful, healthy, happy and frightfully undisciplined. Who could ask for anything more? :-)

Dad Update

2011-03-16T07:44:00.003-04:00

I can't thank everyone enough for your support yesterday. I felt the support as I was waiting, knitting, waiting, knitting, waiting, knitting, and knitting some more. It was a long day, as you can tell from this picture of mom and my sister Donna.

Dad's surgery went well. There were some complications, and it took about an hour longer than expected, but that just made us extra thankful that we chose Dr. Viterbo at Fox Chase Cancer Center. I don't want this to sound like a commercial for Fox Chase, but everyone there was wonderful. Not only did dad get the best of care, but they treated all of us who were waiting, waiting, waiting with kindness and patience. No question was a stupid question, and if you were wandering around in a stupor with a blank look on your face, someone always stopped and said "You look lost...can I help you?" (Don't ask me how many times I was lost and wandering around with an (allegedly) blank look on my face.)

I've got to go now. I'm getting ready to pick up mom, go to breakfast, and then drive to Fox Chase. Anyone familiar with Philly driving knows this is no small task. This country girl will be crossing a bridge, driving on I-95, and braving the road construction and crazy drivers on Cottman Ave. Ugh.

Catching Up

2011-03-14T16:15:00.005-04:00

I can tell this is going to be a jumbled post, just because my brain is only functioning on half power. Last week mom had Mohs surgery for squamous cell cancer on her head, and tomorrow dad has his surgery at Fox Chase Cancer Center. (If anyone has a spare moment tomorrow, I would sure appreciate some prayers/thoughts/good vibes sent in the direction of BritKnitterville.) I took off from both jobs for the rest of this week so I can be available to take mom back and forth to the hospital. It's just as well I am not working, because of my aforementioned brain function deficit.

Today at work I was mounting labels, so I carefully marked the cutting lines, sandwiched the layers, and as I was putting it into the heat press I then noticed a misspelling in the label. Arrgh! I went back to the computer, made the correction, printed out a new sheet, carefully marked the cutting lines...again, sandwiched the layers...again, and then put the labels into the press. I went back 10 minutes later, and that stupid press still wasn't hot. It's an ancient beast, and it does take a long time to heat up, but this was ridiculous. Then I saw the problem. I didn't plug it in. Stupid. I've been doing stuff like that for weeks now. Hopefully after dad comes home from the hospital and is on the road to recovery my brain will recover, too.

Anyway, I wanted to thank everyone for your suggestions for the wedding afghan. I have just about given up hope of combining a Celtic and dog theme, so am pretty sure I will be going with either this one or this one. (My apologies to those of you not on Ravelry-- you probably can't see those links.) I'm just waiting for both patterns to arrive and then I will decide. Or not. Maybe something else will strike my fancy in the meantime.

Just because no post is complete without photos, here are a couple of shots of the sea glass I found at Fortescue over the weekend.

Pretty, huh?

Desperate Cry for Help...

2011-03-08T09:37:00.002-05:00

OK, knitting peeps... I need help. Big time help. I need a pattern and have been searching Ravelry off and on for a few weeks, and nothing pops out at me.

I want to knit an afghan and need a pattern. Not just any pattern... just the right pattern.

For a couple getting married. Not just any couple... my favorite couple.

That's right, two of my favorite people in all the world are getting married. The WonderVet and the WonderNanny are becoming one, which make me think that everything is right with the world! Seriously, could there be a more perfect union?

Now for the pattern... WonderVet is very Irish, so an Aran-celtic-cable-y pattern would be fabulous. Both are clearly animal lovers, (even going so far as raising a sheep in the house...remember this post from a couple of years ago?) so some kind of paw print or other animal-related-thingy incorporated into the design would be a plus. They have lots of dogs, so washable and durable are very important.

Is that too much to ask?

Any suggestions?

Oh, and because no blog post is complete without a photo, here is a seldom-seen shot of all three dogs in one photo! That's Emma peering over the back of the sofa doing her impersonation of a vulture, with Cooper and Tara on the big doggy bed below. Enjoy!

Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.....

2011-02-22T08:55:00.000-05:00

First of all, thank you, everyone, for all of your support. Dad read the comments, and they are really appreciated!

The residents of Britknitterville woke up to more snow this morning. Ugh. Enough already!!! Yeah, it's pretty, but I refuse to take any more picture of the nasty white stuff. The good part about it is that work is closed until noon today. Yay! So, in between laundry and paperwork and scratching bellies, I am finally getting in another blog post.

Do you remember my little house at Fortescue? Well, not really MY house, but I consider it mine.

Hopefully some day, but more on that another time... Anyway, the little town of Fortescue has been in the news lately. This article on the feral cat colonies at Fortescue was in yesterday's paper. How can some of those people be so unfeeling? These cats are not hurting anyone. In fact, they are keeping down the rodent population on the island. Sheesh!

Here are some photos of the cats. We go down and feed them at least once a week. Aren't they beautiful?

The blue tubs are cat shelters. They are a tub within a tub, stuffed with insulation in between, and the "porthole" allows access for the cats while keeping the inner tub (stuffed with straw and blankets) nice and cozy.

Here is a recent photo of dad working on one of the tubs for the cats! Who knew he was a cat lover?

Tara says those cat shelters may be cozy, but she'll stick with her big doggy bed.

I'm back with a PSA...

2011-02-14T19:04:00.001-05:00

Confession time: It's been a while since I have blogged, and I (shamefully) haven't read anyone else's blog in months. It really feels weird to be here, but for now I am back, checking in, letting everyone know that I am still alive. The hooligan Brittanys are in fine form, too. No health problems, just the usual orneriness that is inherent in the breed, but that just tells me that they are perfectly fine, healthy and still very puppy-like, even at their ages.

Just for fun, here is a little video I took of the babes this morning. They each had a special ketchup heart on top of their breakfast for Valentine's Day, and they loved it!

So, why have I been away for a couple of months? I have lots of excuses, all of them quite lame...

the dreaded holidays
working two jobs
getting classes started at Glitter World
making samples for the classes (4 knitting lessons and 4 crochet lessons, 2 samples per lesson for a grand total of 16 projects)
knitting a kajillion samples for my Craft Yarn Council teacher certification
stuff that I haven't been able to think about, let alone write about without my head exploding, which would make quite a mess with all those pieces of brain matter splattering the walls

Yep, it all boils down to that last one, so now for the real reason I've been MIA.

My Dad.

Dad has cancer.

I couldn't say that for weeks. Couldn't think it. Could barely get out of bed when the results came back from his biopsy. It is prostate cancer, which is one of the best kinds of cancer to get, if there is any such thing, but dad has an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

This past week we went to Fox Chase Cancer Center, and we all feel as though he will be getting the best of care there. (Nothing but the best for my sweet dad!) I won't go into details here, but the doctors at Fox Chase exuded confidence, and dad's surgery is scheduled for March 15.

Now for my PSA: Ladies, made sure your guys get their PSA checked. Right now I know more than I ever thought I would about, ummm, boy-parts... and, again, I won't go into detail here, but please make sure your husbands, fathers, brothers, boyfriends... heck, even the pizza delivery guy... make sure they all get tested regularly.

OK, enough for now. I was going to get started reading some of your blogs tonight, but my head is feeling like it is getting ready to explode, so some knitting therapy is in order. I WAS going to sit in my knitting chair, but look who has beat me to it...

Mr. Cooper McLooper. He's a silly boy, but I love him!

Note to self: Ask WonderVet about getting Cooper's PSA checked.

Chills... in a good way!

2010-12-09T12:09:00.001-05:00

I heard about this today on NPR. It gave me chills, and still does every time I watch it.

In Which The Chain Of Shame Gets A Little Smaller...

2010-11-30T18:28:00.001-05:00

It's been just three months since I buckled down, got the lead out, put the nose to the grindstone, shoulder to the wheel, (and various other idioms) and began the long, looooong road of getting out of debt. You may remember this visual aid from a previous post.

It's the Chain of Shame I made to represent the amount of debt I have. Sickening, right? Well, today it got a bit smaller. I removed a pretty big (actually pretty small, when you consider the whole chain, but we won't go there) section from the chain, and had a little fun with it.

Yes indeed, I made Tara parade around the house wearing the section removed from the Chain of Shame! Lots of fun for me, but not so much fun for Tara... After I was done ~~making her suffer~~... er, taking photos of her, I took the chain representing three months of hard (glitter-filled) work....

...and added it to a bunch of leaves and pine needles in the outdoor fireplace...

...and set that baby on fire!!!!

What a good feeling!

My Attempt at Some Very Lame Excuses...

2010-11-27T17:29:00.001-05:00

Contrary to popular belief, I am still alive and well. Neglectful of the blog, tired all the time, and after working 14 hours in a day I feel like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest (to quote the late Captain Phil of the Cornelia Marie), but I am still alive. Everyone here is just fine, and I hope you all are doing well, too. The babes are all happy and healthy, and mom and dad celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary this week. 55 years! Sheesh! I haven't read a single blog since Halloween, but promise to get caught up with everybody this week. I hope. Between both jobs, today was my first day off this month. I even worked Thanksgiving day, but the way I look at it, I should be thankful to have a job. Well, two jobs.

I can't mention the name of my second job since all employees had to sign some kind of legal document saying that we wouldn't mention the name of the company in any "social media", but I didn't sign it until after I had already mentioned it in a previous post, so I figure I'm OK. That might be flawed logic, but I can't worry about it. To refresh your memory, my second job is at a big chain of craft stores... you know the one... it starts with an "M" and rhymes with... well, it doesn't really rhyme with anything. You can scroll back a few posts, if you really care, but from here on I will call it "Glitter World", which is a much more descriptive name for the place, anyway.

Other than the masses of glitter that I end up with all over my clothes, in my hair, in my eyes, etc. (I am sooooo sick of glitter!) it's really not bad. Everyone I work with is so nice, and the customers are great. Hey, we're all crafters, and crafters are wonderful people, right? I have even managed to NOT buy a single skein of yarn. None! In fact, I haven't bought a thing in my two months at Glitter World. 100% of every paycheck has been applied to my Visa card, but that's really a post for another day.

For now, I will just leave you with a couple of photos I took this morning. You might ask what I wanted to do on my first day off in a month. No question about it, I wanted to go to Fortescue. It was too cold and windy to walk on the beach, but I did manage to snap a couple of photos of the water.

Of course, I had to drive by "my" house to make sure it is still for sale.

It is... not that I have the money to buy it. It's nice to know it's still there, though.

Dogs on Thursday, Halloween Edition

2010-10-28T05:39:00.001-04:00

Hey, blog buddies...It's Emma, and I am hijacking the blog. Our momma has been so busy working two jobs that she has been seriously neglecting us, not to mention the blog, so we decided to take matters into our own hands. I mean, what are the chances that she would have gotten her act together and written a Dogs on Thursday post? Slim and none, I would say. So, without further ado, I present this humble offering, and wish one and all a Happy Halloween.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Cast, in order of appearance:
Mad Scientist.....................Emma
Frankenstein.....................Cooper
Vampire..............................Joseph
Bride of Frankenstein........Lizzie
Werewolf...........................Tara

Inspired by.....Emma
Written by.......Emma
Directed by.....Emma
Produced by....Emma
Casting by.......Emma

Video Dogs on Thursday

2010-10-14T12:22:00.003-04:00

Yes, I know I have missed two Dogs on Thursday posts. No excuse, other than the fact that I am obviously a very bad dog mommy! To make up for this lack of attention to the dogs (and the blog), I am including, for your viewing pleasure, a clip of the babes eating their breakfast this morning. It might be weird to some people that I filmed the babes eating, but I happen to think that the sound of dogs enjoying their food is one of the best sounds in the world. I just love the slurp-slurp-slurp sounds. It shows that the food is good, the babes have a hearty appetite, and for them, all is right with the world.

Enjoy!

Where Did My Comfort Zone Go?

2010-10-12T11:40:00.002-04:00

Just a quick post to thank everyone for their good wishes for my new part time job at Michaels. I had training on Saturday and worked the cash register on Sunday. It went well, I think. I was a bit out of my comfort zone, though...starting my first new job in 20 years. Sheesh, do I feel old.

At the risk of revealing my advanced age, the last time I worked a cash register, that's exactly what it was... a cash register. You actually had to punch in some numbers and do some math. Not any more. Now they have these new-fangled things they call computers and with fancy hand-held scanners. Amazing!

I managed to resist temptation and didn't buy a single thing. Not a skein of yarn, no needles, nothing. That doesn't mean I didn't come home without anything, though. After working the register all day on Sunday, I was covered with glitter. Yes, indeedie, glitter! I can't tell you how many of those holiday garlands, swags and bunches of flowers I had to separate and scan, then wrestle into shopping bags. Those things are covered with glitter, and as a result, so was I. I had glitter everywhere. On my clothes, in my hair, in my eyes... I think I even ate some glitter. I even took a picture of myself when I got home Sunday night:

Now that's a lot of glitter!

GOOD Post #2

2010-10-05T06:15:00.004-04:00

It's been almost a month since my last Getting Out Of Debt post. What has kept me from updating? I've been waiting for something good to report. After doing the math, I realized that at the rate I am going, I will be out of debt in approximately a gazillion years. Give or take a few kajillion years. It's true. Math doesn't lie. Given this unsavory reality, I had no choice but to buy a boat-load of yarn. Nope, just kidding. Really, I went to a spa and for a massage and a mani-pedicure. Gotcha again!

Seriously, several weeks ago I applied for part time work at several local stores. Eight to be exact. A week went by, and no one called, begging me to come and work for them.

Very curious...

Then two weeks went by, and still no calls.

Very depressing...

Three weeks went by, and what do you know...a phone call! I was interviewed over the phone (while doing the dance of joy) and asked to come in for an in-person interview.

Very nerve-wracking. This was my first interview in 20 years. How old do I feel?

That was last week. It went well, I think, and I was told I would hear on Tuesday.

The phone rang last night. It was the store manager. I wasn't supposed to hear until Tuesday. I'm getting the call on Monday. Is this good news? It can't be. Can it? I've had no other calls in response to my applications, and now this place (which just happened to be my first choice of a second job) doesn't want me. What now? Will I ever get out of debt? No. I will be a homeless old woman, living in a chicken coop, surrounded by my dogs. I will be muttering things like "If only I didn't have so much debt" and "Why didn't I plan for retirement?"

But wait, I'm still on the phone with the store manager. I had better pay attention to what he is saying...

What do you know... I got the job! I start on Saturday! Woo Hoo! Where will I be working?

Michaels... and I'll get a discount on yarn! Hmmmm. I don't have a "yarn" category in my new budget. No problem. I'll charge it!

Oh, no... What have I done?

Dogs on Thursday on Friday, again

2010-09-24T06:24:00.002-04:00

Yes, it's Friday. I didn't manage to post Dogs on Thursday on Thursday again this week. It might have something to do with lack of sleep. We had a major thunderstorm move through the area late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning. You know what that means... Cooper was in a panic.

Cooper's pills we got from the Vet don't work, his Thundershirt isn't working, and his herbal calming collar isn't working. The poor boy was pacing and digging and pacing and digging for hours. HOURS! He gets a glazed look in his eyes and there is nothing you can do to calm him down. Of course, when he gets like that, no one gets any sleep. When the storm is finally over, he takes about a half hour to calm down and go to sleep. Unfortunately, it takes me a lot longer!

The good new is that my poor boy didn't have to get up and go to work in the morning. He managed to drag himself out of bed to eat a hearty breakfast, then stumbled to the nearest soft spot and collapsed.

If there is such a thing as reincarnation, I want to come back as a dog. I think it's time for another trip to the Vet to get something stronger. Valium maybe? I might share some with Cooper, too.
:-)

Dogs on Thursday on Friday...again

2010-09-17T13:48:00.004-04:00

Dogs on Thursday completely got by me this week. No excuses. No good excuses, anyway. I'll try and do better next week. ~sigh~

Anyway, remember the neighbor's chickens from this post? The ones that have been taunting the dogs? One of those not-too-terribly-bright chickens decided to make a nest and lay some eggs. Now, it's not the nest that I object to, it's the location of the nest. It is so close to the fence that the dogs can taste those eggs. Literally.

Not too smart of that silly chicken. Here is a video that I took yesterday of the dogs and chickens.

The real fun part is that Spartacus (the rooster) feels the need to hover around the nest and display his machismo whenever the dogs or I are out in the yard.

It wouldn't be so bad, except that he is not content to simply flap his wings and cock-a-doodle-doo. He feels need to chase you, which can be might inconvenient when you need to get to work in the morning. I've told him he's going to end up on a rotisserie, but I think he knows it's just an empty threat. Maybe I should play him this video clip from Cold Mountain. It's one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies:

Take that, you floggin' rooster!

Need a laugh?

2010-09-15T09:13:00.002-04:00

Watch this. It's the funniest commercial EVER!

GOOD Post #1

2010-09-10T18:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to GOOD Post #1? What is GOOD? I'm glad you asked. GOOD is my acronym for Getting Out Of Debt. Recently, a good friend told be about Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover.

I read this book, and it has changed the way I look at money...more specifically the lack of it. My previous retirement plan was to die young. That's right. Live for today and hope tomorrow never comes. Or at least hope that I won't have all that many tomorrows to worry about. There seems to be a little problem with the execution of my plan, though. (No pun intended.) I haven't died yet, and I no longer consider myself "young." Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it looks like I will be on the earth for a little while yet. ::sigh::

OK then, time to take the proverbial bull by the horns. I'm sure there are lots of ways to do it, (robbing banks? prostitution?) but I decided to do it legally, the Dave Ramsey way. Below, I've broken down his Baby Steps into an uber-simplified version. If you want to know more, ask me. No, wait... I'm hardly an expert. I'm following his plan with the blind faith of a sheep following a shepherd. Baaaaa. If you have any questions, buy his book, or get a copy from your local library. In a nutshell, here is Dave's Plan.

Baby Step 1: Save a thousand dollars. This is your Baby Emergency Fund. It is there so that while I am busy getting rid of debt, I won't go further into debt if WHEN something goes wrong.

Baby Step 2: Pay off your debts (except mortgage), putting every spare penny that you can on the smallest debt, while paying minimums on the rest of them to keep them current. When the smallest debt is paid off, you can pat yourself on the back for being so hardworking and clever, and then move on to the next smallest debt, adding what you were paying on the first debt to whatever spare cash you have to pay off debt #2 until that is paid off. Then, congratulate yourself for being so hardworking and clever again, and move on until all debts are paid off. This stage is called the “debt snowball”.

Baby Step 3: Increase the Baby Emergency Fund until it’s a full fledged emergency fund of three to six months of living expenses. Wow. Seems like a lot, but I'm determined to do it when I get my debts paid off.

Baby Step 4: Start putting fifteen percent of your income into retirement savings. This is on the assumption that my initial plan of dying young is not going to come to fruition.

Baby Step 5: Save for kids’ college. WHEW! This is just reason #2,498,589 why I never had kids. No college savings. Although if I did have kids, they would be in college right now and I would be totally screwed. Or rather THEY would be totally screwed. Hey, I paid for my own education, so any mythical, imaginary kids of mine can do the same thing!

Baby Step 6: Pay off the mortgage. Mortgage? You have to have a house to have a mortgage, right? So I guess I can check this one off... In place of steps 5 and 6, I don't see why I can't substitute my own:

Baby Step 5&6: Save for my dream house. Do you think this one will still be up for sale?

Yeah, I don't think so either...

Baby Step 7: Continue to grow wealth. Give some away, have fun with some. Live like no one else. If I live that long.

So there it is. I've been on this GOOD journey for not quite a month now, and it came to me last weekend that I needed a visual representation of my debt. I channeled the inner School Teacher in me, and I made a paper chain.

Nice, huh? All those years of college getting my degree in Elementary Education didn't go to waste after all!

Each link in the chain represents $100 of debt.

Holy cow. That's a lot of links. That's a lot of money!

How did this happen?

After finishing the chain I wanted to cry.

And then throw up.

And then go to bed and never get back up.

And then pray for a Comet to come and smash into the earth to put me out of my misery.

After I indulged myself by acting like a child for a good 10 minutes, I decided it's time to put on my big girl panties (so to speak) and deal with it.

I'm determined to do this thing.

I will be debt free.

I WILL.

So anyway, from time to time I will be blogging about my journey out of ~~hell~~ , umm, debt. The silver lining to this black cloud of debt is that if I never make another yarn purchase, I have enough sock yarn...

...to last me a good long time!

Saying Goodbye

2010-09-09T05:17:00.002-04:00

This is a very sad Dogs on Thursday. Yesterday we said goodbye to an extended member of the family. Her name was Honey and she had the good fortune to live with my friend Kris. Kris has two other brittanys, Maggie and Ashley (in addition to a husband and four kids), so Honey had a life full of love and laughter and lots of food dropped from toddlers in high chairs.

Here is a picture of Honey the last time she and her sisters and her human siblings came down to Britknitterville to play with Emma, Tara and Cooper.

Sorry, but that's the best shot I have of her. You can imagine the chaos of six brits running around-- no one was interested in sitting for a picture!

Goodbye, sweet Honey. We will see you on the other side of the rainbow bridge. In the meantime, enjoy this time you will be spending with all of the beloved dogs who have gone on before you.

Dogs (and Chickens) on Thursday

2010-09-02T15:00:00.003-04:00

Cooper here!

I'll be your host for this week's Dogs on Thursday. For the second week in a row, we have been invaded by evil pests just in time for the DOT post. Last week it was evil cats, this week it is evil CHICKENS!

Momma calls them Spartacus (for the bad-boy rooster) and Hanna and her Sisters. She can't tell the hens apart, so they're all either Hanna or Sister.

These pesky strays are always hanging around. Momma isn't sure where they live, but the certainly like to visit us. They eat the birdseed out of the bird feeders, and the cat food right off of the cat's plates. Guess what their favorite flavor is... Chicken! Stupid cannibals...

But I digress. This morning, Spartacus came right up to the fence and started pecking at us through the gate! The nerve of that feathery beast! Doesn't he know that Brittanys are bird dogs?

We had no choice but to teach that bird brain a lesson! That's me there, on the left, with Tara and Emma. I figured I should hang back and let the girls take the lead.

Eventually Tara got bored, but Emma was nose to nose with that evil bird. Again, I was a strong back-up.

Yeah, that's right... Get on outta' here, you flea bitten bag of feathers.

Run away, just like the chickens you are!

My work here is done!

Knitting Content!

2010-08-30T06:37:00.000-04:00

It's been a loooooong time since I published any knitting content on the blog. I scrolled back looking for anything knitting related, and the blog is all dogs, dogs, dogs. Humans and geese are interspersed here and there, but it's mostly dogs. No apologies for all-dogs-all-the-time, but knitting content is long overdue.

So, what have I been knitting? Socks. 95% of my knitting is socks. Pretty boring, I admit, so I'm lumping all of the socks that I finished over the weekend into one photo.

Nine pair! Count 'em...nine pair! Of course, when I say I "finished" them over the weekend, it just means I finally got around to tackling the basket where I throw all of the socks that are done except for the weaving in of all of the loose ends. Can you tell that weaving ends is not my favorite part of sock knitting? Detailed information will be on my projects page on Ravelry in the near future, for all who care.

So, if 95% of my knitting has been socks, what about the other 5%? Over the winter I worked on Wendy Johnson's Order to Chaos Shawl. Big project. Scary-big for someone who has never attempted a lace project that large, but I kept plugging along, and I am so happy with the results. The most fun had to be the blocking. OK, it was a tiny bit tedious, but what a transformation! Here is a shot of it before pinning:

And here is a shot after pinning!

What a difference, right? I should have included tape measures in the photos, 'cause this sucker is huge! Here a detail shot of the center. That neat little hole in the center makes me so happy!

Detail shot of the edging. So cool!

Here is a shot of it draped over a bench at work.

I did the blocking on the floor of the museum. I spread a tablecloth out over the carpet, dampened the shawl, and stretched and pinned the heck out of that sucker. I left it like that for a few days. This was when we were closed to visitors, of course. Although I guess I could have just put up barriers and labeled the whole thing as an art installation... Just a thought...

I know some of you might be wondering why I didn't do the blocking at home. Well, there are three certain somebodies at home who would LOVE to be helpers in blocking a lace shawl, but that kind of help I don't need. I can just picture these little hooligans walking all over the lace, digging at the knitting, eating the pins...horrors! I certainly wouldn't point fingers or name names, you understand...

Then again, maybe I would.

Dogs on Thursday

2010-08-26T18:59:00.004-04:00

It's me, Emma, taking over this week's Dogs on Thursday. I like to think that I'm as tolerant as the next dog, but these stray cats around here are getting my knickers in a twist! It's one thing for them to hang around OUTSIDE of the fenced-in yard, but when they venture INTO the yard, that's another thing altogether. Take a look at what we saw this morning:

Mom took that picture of me (in the middle) with Cooper and Tara. Outside on the ramp to our deck...do you see what that is??? A cat! An evil cat!

I begged mom to let us out into the back yard so we could teach that evil cat a lesson. She refused! She let us out into the side yard, but there was a stupid fence between us and the evil cat.

Wait a minute... Look a little closer... There are TWO evil cats on the ramp!

Mom calls the gray one Lizzie and the black one Joanie. I call them both evil. Mom says we have to be good to the strays because they're hungry and have no place else to go. I've got news for her... I can tell them where to go!

I'm still alive...

2010-08-22T11:49:00.001-04:00

I can't believe it's been so long since my last blog post. It's been since July? How can that be? I haven't even read anyone else's blog in weeks. I am so behind! In my last post I said I ...have lots of excuses... and ...just need to get my act together. Clearly, that did not happen. This has been a month of ups and downs.

Seriously, totally, incredibly high "ups". But you know what they say... "What goes up must come down," and boy did I come down. So here is the question, is it worth it? Who can say? More on that later.

Where to begin? Everyone knows I have been yearning to buy a house in Fortescue. You remember... this tiny, totally adorable, impractical one:

Well, on one of my weekly "visits" to the house, which I of course refer to as "my house", we found this house:

It's not so tiny, with 3 bedrooms and a bath and a half. As an added bonus, you can actually fit a double size bed in two of the bedrooms, unlike "MY" house where you can just (barely) fit a twin bed. This not-so-tiny house also happens to be for sale, but as an added bonus it is also available for rent. I have come to the realization that the only way I will ever live in Fortescue is on a rental basis, since the only house I can afford to buy looks something like this:

Anyway, we got permission for the dogs to stay at the rental house, and just like that, we were going on vacation! Even though it was only about 30 minutes from home, this was the first time since 1997 that we planned a week's vacation, so it totally counts as a bona fide vacation.

As it turns out, the dogs are much happier in their own fenced-in-yard. Especially Emma. She views the leash as a punishment. Here is a shot of the babes on the beach at Fortescue.

The dog clinging to my sister's leg? That's Emma. She is never on a leash unless she's going to the Vet, and nothing could convince her that being on a leash on the beach was supposed to be an enjoyable experience. Most nights we just stayed at home and then drove to Fortescue during the day. It was great to have the house to store the boat and kayaks so we didn't have to trailer them back and forth each day.

So back to the ups and downs.... One day last August, I answered the phone at work, and had the shock of my life--it was a really great guy who I last saw the day before he left to join the army in 1987. He found me thanks to the museum's website. (God Bless the Internet!)

The seriously high "up" is that he flew to New Jersey and spent 5 days here.

The seriously low "down" is that he left to go back home.

Dogs on Thursday on Friday

2010-07-29T16:21:00.006-04:00

Well, another week has come and gone, and all I have managed to post is another Dogs On Thursday, only this one isn't on Thursday, it's on Friday. My excuse for this negligence? Well, I have lots of excuses, but none of them are any good, really. I just need to get my act together.

Anyway, when I stopped at mom and dad's yesterday on my way to work, mom gave me her copy of a recent Orvis catalog of dog products. Look at this little face:

I don't know if you can read it, but in the upper right hand corner, it says "Cooper questions authority." Cooper!!! Another brittany named Cooper, and he shows up in a magazine! My Cooper wants to know why they always picture the sweet young puppies to sell products. He says he can question authority as good as that young whippersnapper!

Just take a look at this face!
I'll buy anything this sweet boy is selling!

Quickie Dogs on Thursday

2010-07-22T18:37:00.000-04:00

This is a quick one, so forgive me, but remember Cup o' Joe from this post and this post? You know, the teeny tiny poodle my niece fostered? He needed surgery for a broken leg.

Good news - he got medical clearance and went to his forever home this week! Another successful rescue! Good job Jen!

Working Dogs on Thursday

2010-07-15T18:34:00.004-04:00

For this week's Dogs on Thursday, I give you a real working dog. Cooper!
Yes, Cooper came to work with me one day this week, and he was a big help. He had a very busy day. He tried to get a banana off of my desk.
He "surfed" around to the other side of the desk, knocking books and papers onto the floor.He tried to help with shelving books, but only succeeded in un-shelving them.
After all that, he needed a nap...
...and so did I!

And yes, my desk really IS that messy. I can't blame that on Cooper.

Hot Dogs on Thursday

2010-07-08T10:33:00.000-04:00

No, not this type of hot dog...

...or even this type.
Does anyone else find that image disturbing? It's not as bad as some of the things I found when I typed "hot dog" in the search box for Google Images. Geesh!

Anyhoo... we are in the midst of record-breaking heat, which makes for some very hot dogs! Luckily the dogs are in air conditioning, but they still have to go outside for certain, "business", shall we say. They certainly don't linger outdoors, that's for sure. As soon as they come in, they spread out on the cool tile floor and enjoy the breeze from the ceiling fan. Here is Tara getting every square inch of her belly on the cool tiles.

Cooper likes the tile, too. He learned that spread-eagle position from Tara. It maximizes the cooling effect.
Emma likes to lay on her back and let the breeze from the ceiling fan cool her belly. She refused to let me take a picture of her this morning, so I'll leave you with a picture taken a few weeks ago.

Emma says, "I am being mistreated! Stupid BATH! This is cruel and unusual punishment! Send help!"

The Dog That Changed The World

2010-07-01T16:02:00.004-04:00

For this week's Dogs on Thursday, I bring you The Dog That Changed The World! Well, my world, anyway...
That's my Scarlett, the first dog that was mine-all-mine. I brought her home June 30, 1991, and things have never been the same! She wormed her way into my heart in about 2 seconds, and I have been head-over-heels for brittanys ever since.

She had that classic "brittany" look, and aged oh-so-gracefully.

Scarlett was outspoken, ornery, demanding, and had no patience for fools, either two-legged or four-legged. I miss her every single day.

Dogs on Thursday, Extreme Bravery edition!

2010-06-24T13:00:00.000-04:00

Remember this Dogs on Thursday post from a couple of weeks ago? It was Cooper and his, shall we say..."issues" with thunderstorms? I have never had a dog who was so terrified of thunder. This poor boy goes berserk and just paces back and forth and digs, digs, digs, trying to get away from the thunder. I've tried"babying" him, ignoring him (THAT was hard!) and finally meds from my WonderVet. Nothing helped. Not even a little bit. So, several weeks ago when I read about the Thundershirt on facebook, I decided to give it a try. They offer a money-back guarantee, so all I had to lose was the cost of shipping.

It arrived, and I have to day I wasn't very hopeful. It just looked like a light-weight doggie coat with velcro flaps. Big deal. How can that help? Bring on the thunder and lets test this baby out... We waited, and waited, and waited, and no thunder! Weeks went by, and still no storms! I was starting to think this shirt had some kind of special magic -- just buying it can keep storms out of the area! Best purchase I ever made!

And then came this past Tuesday... The sky was dark and menacing when I got home from work. I logged on to the weather.com and this warning was flashing:

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT TUESDAY EVENING FOR NORTHERN DELAWARE AND NORTHEAST MARYLAND AND SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY AND SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

Here comes the test for the Thundershirt! I put it on Cooper, and snugged it up really tight (thanks to Chan for that tip) being careful not to catch his little "winkie" under the shirt. (Cooper says "Please don't refer to my winkie as 'little', OK?") I turned on two television sets, set them to different channels and turned the volume up on both. I debated on giving him one of his doggie tranquilizers, too, but they really don't work for him, so why bother, right?

Before long, the thunder moved into the area, and I knew this would be a good test. I have to say, I am impressed with the shirt. Cooper was surprisingly calm. It's like he was a totally different dog. He was a little uneasy a couple of times, but as soon as I told him everything was fine, he just went back to sleep. That's right...SLEEP! He took a nap during a thunderstorm!!! If I had any money at all, I would invest it in the Thundershirt company. After paying off my credit cards...and buying that little house I am dying for...and donating a large chunk of money to several animal causes...and then I would invest in the company.

I don't know how this shirt works, or why it works, but it sure does work for Cooper! All in all, Cooper gives his new thundershirt two thumbs up. Or at least he would if he had any thumbs. Cooper says, "When I am wearing my new shirt, I am no longer a cowardly lion...I am the king of the beasts!"

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T14:00:00.000-04:00

Today is a very special day - Father's Day! I consider myself the luckiest daughter in the world, because I have the world's best father! He has always been there for me...always. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from over the years.

Here he is when I was just a year old. Doesn't he look like a baby himself? Way too young to carry the responsibility of a family on his shoulders.
He gave the best piggy back rides...
..and still does!
He has always been an animal lover---or loves to torture animals, I'm not sure which. Here is he making Sammy "smile for the camera"!

Here he is giving Cleo (the first dog I remember) a bath in the sink.
...and again giving Abby a bath in the sink. Yes, he is a clean freak. If there was an animal in the house, it had to be clean!

Here I am sharing some important tidbit of information with him when I was 6 years old. He was my go-to-guy then...
...and has been throughout the years.
Finally, here is a picture from last night. He is enjoying his favorite meal, which we make for him every Father's Day...hamburgers. He's not hard to please...he would rather have a burger than just about anything in the world.

Happy Father's Day, dad! I love you more than words can say!

Dogs on Thursday, Red Bandanna Edition

2010-06-10T05:46:00.000-04:00

Sue from the Portuguese Water Blog declared today, June 10, 1020 as Red Bandanna Day! The dogs were so excited when they heard the news, they went right out and bought new red bandannas and graciously offered to pose for photos. Well, perhaps "excited" and "graciously" don't describe exactly how they feel, but at least I didn't have to hog-tie them or shoot them with tranquilizer darts for them to cooperate. All it took was copious amounts of cookies and lemon cake. Look at the resulting group shot, though! Tell me it wasn't worth all the trouble to get these three beauties in one photo!
Head on over to Sue's Blog and check out all of the other participants in Red Bandanna Day!

In the meantime, I'm including some of the blooper shots for your enjoyment. Here is Cooper doing his best pirate impersonation. Personally I think he looks more like a biker. A biker from the movie Wild Hogs, at that!
If you have never seen that movie, do yourself a favor and rent it. I think it's the funniest movie I have ever seen. No matter how many times I see it, it still had be falling-down laughing at so many of the scenes. Every time I see a motorcyclist "of a certain age" on the road, I giggle a little bit.

Here is Tara saying, "You're not going to pull this thing over my ears and make me look like a granny again, are you?"
Yes, Tara, I am!
Here is Emma saying, "Don't you dare do that to me. It's bad enough I have to wear this silly thing, but if you pull it over my ears and make it into a granny scarf you'll be sorry..."
Here is Emma refusing to acknowledge my existence.
She is currently plotting her revenge.

Dogs on Thursday, Thunder Edition

2010-06-03T18:54:00.003-04:00

Cooper got a package in the mail today, just in time for Dogs on Thursday! What is it? A Thundershirt. It's a doggie coat-type shirt that is supposed to help relieve anxiety for dogs afraid on thunderstorms, fireworks, etc. That's Cooper, alright. I've never had a dog who is so very afraid of thunder. I read about the Thundershirt on Facebook last week, and since they offer money-back guarantee, I figured what have we got to lose, right?

As soon as I got home from work, I put Cooper in his new Thundershirt, and then had him read the instructions.
Lookie here, Cooper--it says that "...Thundershirt’s gentle, constant pressure has a dramatic calming effect for most dogs if they are anxious, fearful or over-excited."

Cooper says, "If you say so, but I'm not convinced."

Well, I'm not convinced either, but I'm willing to give it a try. Only time will tell. Time, and a thunderstorm, that is! This is a perfect time to sing along with one of my favorite Jo Dee Messina songs. Happy Dogs on Thursday!

Dogs on Thursday, Joe Update

2010-05-27T18:17:00.000-04:00

This week's Dogs on Thursday is all about Cup o' Joe. Remember him from this post? He is the little 4 lb. poodle with the broken leg that my niece's rescue, Joa's Arc, has been caring for this past month or so. He needed surgery to put a plate in his leg so it would heal.

Well, this week, Joe got his cast off, and his leg is in great shape!

It's in great shape on the inside, that is. It looks a little like a flamingo leg right now, but his hair will grow in and in no time he'll be as good as new! He will soon be going to his forever home. His new momma and daddy are very excited about welcoming Joe into their family.

In the meantime, he participated in a fashion show for for Talk Philly, a Philadelphia news show. The show will air sometime next week, but in the meantime, you can go to this link and watch a segment of Web Extras.
Full disclosure: I still haven't met little Cup o' Joe in person. All photos have been stolen from my niece's blog. I just can't bring myself to meet Joe. I still get teary about having to give up Bob--there is no way I could get to know little Joe and not be able to bring him home with me. Can't do it. No way, no how.

Bob's Story, Continued

2010-05-23T20:41:00.004-04:00

The last time I updated everyone on Bob, it was Thursday night, the end of an exciting day. Bob had fallen off a roof that morning, landing belly-up on asphalt, and he wasn't putting any weight on his right leg. He was kind of wobbling around, which make me think there was some kind of head injury, and I really wasn't sure he would make it through the night.

Here he is snuggled up in his plastic tote with his little friend. It's a stuffed animal we put in there so he would have something to snuggle. He had a heat lamp over him, and all I could do was hope for the best.
Miracle of miracles, he survived the night! OK, now I have a baby goose and three bird dogs, and I have to go to work. That's clearly a disaster waiting to happen, especially when I caught Emma going through cookbooks and bookmarking "Roast Goose" and "Foie Gras". The only option was to take Bob to work with me! No problem, I just loaded up the Prius with Bob's essentials, and off we went!
First stop was mom and dad's house. They were amazed that Bob was alive. Not only was he alive, he was walking all over with nary a limp! Here he is with Bessie. Bessie is saying, "Go ahead, give me five minutes alone with this bird. Five minutes. That's all I ask."
Needless to say, I scooped Bob up and we were on our way to work. I set up his baby pool on the museum's back porch, and Bob had a grand old time!He was swimming like he was born for it! Which, I guess he was, but still... After thinking he was going to wake up dead (so to speak) and he was alive, every little thing he did was a miracle!I took him to the lake and tried to find his family, but there was no sign of them. I did find some other geese, and put Bob down with a pile of goose food, but the other geese didn't want anything to do with Bob. So, at the end of the day Bob came back home with me. Friday night we took him to my niece's house--she has a pond on her property and has ducks and geese, but the same thing happened. They weren't at all interested in Bob, and he is just too tiny to leave him out there with no family to protect him. Back to Britknitterville where Bob enjoyed another night of pampering.

My sister called a couple of wildlife rescue organizations, just to make sure we were feeding him correctly & such, and both encouraged us to allow them to take Bob in and allow him to be raised as a wild goose (instead of as a child with feathers) and released to live the life a goose was meant to live. They also mentioned that it was against the law to be in possession of a Canada Goose, but that had very little to do with my decision to take Bob to the wildlife refuge. He was clearly imprinting on me, thinking I was him momma, and my head knew that wasn't the best thing for Bob, even though my heart wanted to keep him with me forever and ever.

Anyway, the next day we took Bob and his little bedtime buddy and headed north to Medford, New Jersey.There was a pit stop at a local Wawa mini mart for some much needed coffee, where Bob was a big hit with the employees and customers. People were taking pictures of us with their cell phones! Bob took it all in, posing for pictures like a movie star!All too soon we were on our way again, and an hour later, we arrived at Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge.
They were very nice and let me have all the time I needed to say goodbye to Bob. There might have been a few tears shed, I'm not sure. Ok, ok, I cried like I was losing my best friend. I'm certain the girl who did the paperwork thought she had a real nut case on her hands, but to her credit, she just smiled and assured me that this was the best thing for Bob. She took Bob from me and he went with her without a backward glance at me. That hurt, Bob...that really hurt! Typical man...

We wandered around and took a look at the facility, and Bob really lucked out! It is like a wildlife heaven. I took lots of pictures, but most were out of focus, probably because I couldn't stop crying. Click on their link and take a look at Bob's new home. Nice...very nice.

Dogs on Thursday

2010-05-20T17:51:00.001-04:00

For this week's Dogs on Thursday, Emma, Tara and Cooper would like to introduce their new brother.
Isn't he a cutie? He is a baby Canada Goose and his name is Bob. I don't know why, he just looked like a Bob. His ~~incredibly stupid~~ momma goose built her nest on the roof of the Stained Glass Studio at work. Yes, just like this family from a few weeks ago. Fortunately, the roof of the Stained Glass Studio is only something like 7 or 8 feet off the ground, as opposed to the museum's sky-high roof. Stupid, stupid geese!

Anyway, the rest of Bob's brothers and sisters made it off the roof just fine, but Bobby Boy jumped off onto the asphalt walkway. He was found belly-up, and unable to walk, but alive this morning. Who do they call? The crazy goose lady. After making sure that there was no way he would survive on his own (his momma, daddy and siblings left him...LEFT HIM! Stupid geese), I bundled him up and brought him back to the museum and put a little bit of water in one of our wash tubs for him.
He perked up, and started to put some weight on his foot. I think his right leg is sprained, but not broken. That's my opinion as a crazy goose lady with no medical training whatsoever. The way I see it, I had no choice other than to take him home and nurse him back to health. I know I can't keep him forever (yes I can) and am only planning on getting him healthy and then setting him free (no I'm not). I think once he is walking around on his foot, he will be able to join one of the geese families in the lake at work. (No he won't. He is mine, all mine, forever and ever.)

Here he is bundled up in a towel, riding comfortably in my car. We made a few stops, and he was a very well behaved little goose in the stores. Hey, I needed goose food and a baby pool, and I was NOT going to leave Bob in the car...

I also bought a bucket to make it easier to carry Bob around without drawing so much attention to the fact that I am walking around with a baby goose. The first residents of Britknitterville to welcome Bob were the neighbor's chickens.
That is as close as the chickens came to the bucket. When they realized it wasn't something for them to eat, they wandered off. Fickle chickens...

Here is Bob enjoying a little time in the sun.
When my sister came home, she helped me carry the baby pool closer to the house so that Emma, Tara and Cooper could give their new brother a proper welcome.
Tara says "Hmmmm, I'm feeling a bit hungry. Oh, I can't eat him, mommy? OK, then I'll take a cookie instead."
Emma, however, said, "You go ahead and get a cookie...I'm gettin' me some GOOSE!"
She just wanted to give him a kiss!
We thought it would be a good idea to get Bob out of Emma's thoughts, so we took him for a ride to Fortescue. He liked his first trip to the beach!
On the way home we stopped at mom and dad's house to introduce them to their new grandson. Bessie liked meeting her new little cousin.
Dad said, "You know you are going to be labeled certifiably insane, don't you?"

My sister, always helpful and supportive, said "Well, it's really more like a re-certification."

Har-de-har-har. Funny, funny people in this family of mine...

Dogs on Thursday, Birthday Edition

2010-05-13T10:11:00.001-04:00

For this week's Dogs on Thursday, we are celebrating the May birthdays of past and present residents of BritKnitterville. First up are Katie and Scarlett, born May 13, 1991.

Aren't they just the cutest little things? Those heads look huge compared to their little bodies. They were litter mates. Mom and dad brought Katie home, and the next day I went and got Scarlett. Eventually, Katie was so very bad for mom and dad, that they were at their wit's end. Katie ate holes in rugs, furniture and clothes, and even ate a pin cushion, and the pins! When she was almost a year old, she started climbing over the fence and running around the neighborhood. In short, her behavior was less than acceptable, and Katie needed a new home. She came to live with Scarlett, and never did another bad thing after that. I think she just missed her sister.

A few years later, Mellie came along. She was born May 12, 1997. See how light she was at a pup? That's why we started calling her Mellie Vanillie. What a good dog she was.

Here is a picture of my three May birthday girls. Left to right, that is Scarlett, Mellie and Katie. this picture was taken in 1998.

Notice the right edge of that photo? That's Mellie's handiwork. She was a chewer. She loved, loved, LOVED paper. This is a rare shot of all three dogs together, so I couldn't throw it away. Besides, I think the chewed edge add a little something to the photo, don't you?

Believe it or not, the next brittany pup added to the household was also born in May. May 12th, 2001 to be exact. That would be my beloved Emma. Here she is, all tuckered out after playing with her big sisters. She loved to lay on my garden shoes.
Not just my shoes - any old shoes would do.

Quite a coincidence that these four girls were all born in May! Emma is probably the last brittany whose birthday we will know, as I won't be buying any more dogs from breeders. Nothing against these sweet girls, but with so many homeless dogs out there, I'll always choose a rescue organization over breeders.

Oh, and there is one other resident of BritKnitterville with a May birthday... Me!

Yes, I was born May 12, 19-::cough,cough,sputter:: Excuse me--tickle in my throat. (Thanks everyone for your birthday wishes sent through Facebook yesterday.) Emma says she doesn't mind sharing her birthday with me, as long as it is clear that she is the #1 focus on that day.
Well, truth be told she has to be the #1 focus on her birthday and on every other day of the year!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T12:07:00.004-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there! It doesn't matter if your children are two-legged or four-legged, you're still a mother and should celebrate today!

I want to wish a special Happy Mother's Day to the best mom I know. Fortunately, that just happens to be my mom! She is a practical, no-nonsense, kind of mom, and we always knew that there was a line you would never cross, and if you happened to get too close to that line, there would be consequences. We had what many would think was an impossibly restricted childhood. Yes, it is true. Want some examples of this "cruelty"?

We were taught to say "please", "thank you", and "excuse me".
We wore our Sunday Best on Sunday, even though my Sunday Best was more likely than not hand-me-downs from my sister's Sunday Best.
We were grateful for new clothes and new shoes.
We did chores around the house.
We were given an allowance (75 cents a week), and taught how to manage money. (Sadly, that lesson didn't really sink in with me...)
We worked for extra spending money. I started babysitting when I was 11 years old which greatly contributed to my decision, made at a very young age, that I never, ever, ever wanted to have kids. Ever.

As you can see, I survived a shockingly severe childhood. I am thankful for the upbringing I had, and for the fact that I have always felt my mother's love. Too many kids today do not have that kind of strict-but-loving mom, and I believe our communities, and indeed our country, is the worse for it.

As I was looking for pictures of mom to post today, I realized that a large percentage of the picture of mom are when she is holding a baby. I don't know if it's because she is always the one taking pictures of everyone else, or if it's because she manages to snatch any baby in her vicinity and snuggling a baby is just about the only time that she sits still. Probably a combination of the two. Anyway, here are a few of my favorite pictures of the best mom in the world.

Mom holding Colette, 2005

Mom holding Sophia, 2009

Mom holding Mellie, 1997

Mom holding Lexie, Emma "helping", 2007

On this Mother's Day, what would I wish for? World peace? An end to hunger? No more homelessness, for people or pets? No, my wish is for everyone to have a mother like mine. That would accomplish the first three wishes, and so much more. I love you, mom.

Another Dogless Dogs on Thursday

2010-05-06T19:43:00.004-04:00

It's Thursday again, which means Dogs on Thursday, but here I am without a doggie post. That's just not right! Especially since I've been feeling like crap all week because of the baby geese, and my sweet, funny dogs are the main reason I have managed to get out of bed every morning.

So what is the reason for another dogless post? Geese. Or more specifically, one goose. Have you seen this goose?
At first glance it looks like every other goose in the lake at work, but he swims kind of funny, and when I saw him out of the water yesterday, he was hopping on one foot. His right foot looks like it was bitten by a turtle or something. (Warning: Don't read the next sentence if you are eating right now.) The foot is all mangled and there are bloody bits hanging from it. (Hey, I warned you!)
I normally don't scrutinize the geese at work, but I've been looking for the last remaining baby from the geese on our roof. No luck. Can't find him anywhere. Anyway, I called our office manager when I saw the hurt goose, and she called a local wildlife sanctuary/rehab place, and they said that if I could catch the goose, they would pick it up and care for it.

No problem! With my sister's help, I developed a plan of action for catching the goose, and assembled the necessary supplies:

Yes, coffee is a necessary supply. The only thing missing in this picture is the goose. He is nowhere to be found. I took several drives around the grounds today, saw him in the water one time, but my net wouldn't reach him. I really need to get him on land so I can catch him. Until I find him, I'll be wandering around the grounds several times a day, calling "Heeeere, Goosey, Goosey!" No, I don't feel like an idiot, why do you ask? OK, I do feel like an idiot, but that's not going to stop me from trying to find that ~~damn~~ goose.

Down to One...

2010-05-03T19:21:00.002-04:00

I went to work bright and early this morning and headed right into the courtyard of the museum to check on the four remaining baby geese. Unfortunately, the first thing I saw was a dead baby goose. I can't tell you how that made me feel. The babies were fine the night before! They had plenty of food and water, and it was a warm night. After looking around, I found another dead baby. The mama and daddy geese were settled down in a flower bed with a live baby between them, but I looked everywhere and couldn't find the last baby, dead or alive. I couldn't believe we went from 5 babies down to 1 baby in 24 hours. How is that possible? I was shocked.

The first thing to do, of course, was to sit down and have a good cry, and then I buried the dead babies. I marked the graves with pieces of glass cullet so that no one accidentally digs them up when putting in spring flowers.

After that, it was time for another good cry, and then something had to be done. I figured the remaining baby would have as good a chance, if not better, for survival in his natural habitat as opposed to staying another day in the courtyard-of-death. The only problem with that is that the only way out of the courtyard into the outside world is through the museum. The shortest distance is around 75 feet through the museum's lobby.

At this point I realized I needed help, so called the administration building for reinforcements. Jimmy, Steph and Tara (the only other people at work that early) came to the rescue. After much discussion, we decided we had to catch the remaining baby and hope the mama and daddy would either fly over the wall or follow us through the museum to an outside door.

No problem, as Canada Geese are notoriously docile creatures, right? WRONG! They can be mean SOBs, especially when they are threatened. Well, since no one else volunteered, and I like to think I have developed a rapport with the geese over the past few weeks of checking on them daily on our roof, it was up to me to catch the baby. There was much hissing and flapping of wings, but it was surprisingly easy to corner the baby and pick him up.

At this point, I had the presence of mind to ask Steph or Tara to take some photos. Here I am holding the baby, trying to coax the mama and daddy into the museum. That's Jimmy holding the door. Well, he's either holding the door or hiding behind it, I'm not sure which.

Mama and daddy were not about to go peacefully into the museum...... so I handed the baby over to Jimmy after much kissing and telling him what a good boy he is. The baby goose, that is, not Jimmy.

Jimmy headed through the museum, and I shooed the mama and daddy in. At one point I was asking myself if this was really such a good idea. I mean, those geese could have taken off flying all over the museum, crashing into all kinds of things. Fortunately, they just followed Jimmy and the baby and the sounds of his peeping. Again, the baby goose, not Jimmy. :-)

I know what some of you are thinking, and yes, the geese did indeed poo on the carpet. Big deal. Goose poo is good for the carpet, right? Anyway, the geese made it out the front door and were reunited with their baby out in the big (bad) world. I followed them with my camera to make sure the baby was doing OK. I knew they would head toward the lake.

It was a long walk for the baby....
...a very long walk...
...in which the baby needed several rest stops...
...but they eventually made it to the lake.

The sweet little baby never hesitated - he just walked right into the lake and started swimming.

Goodbye baby goose.
Come back and visit some time.

Goose Update

2010-05-02T15:53:00.003-04:00

I worked yesterday, so was able to keep an eye on the baby geese on the roof. It's a good thing, because it was hot, hot, HOT! Throughout the course of the day, I carried a little over 12 gallons of water up to the roof. Here are a couple of videos I took yesterday.

Today was very sad, though. My sister and I drove down to work a little after noon, and apparently sometime during the night the goose family decided to vacate the roof. A smart goose would herd their babies to the outside of the museum, where they would (hopefully) have their fall broken by a tree or shrub, and then land on a nice soft pile of leaves or pine needles. Of course, if the goose was smart, she wouldn't have built a nest on the roof at all.

No siree, no smart geese around here. These crazy geese must have herded/pushed the babies off the roof into the interior courtyard of the museum. No cushy piles of leaves to land on---just bricks. Very hard bricks. Sadly, one of the babies did not survive, and another one is limping. It's a miracle that the other three seem to have landed without trouble. We buried the baby under a clematis vine.

After some discussion, we decided to leave the little family in the courtyard for now, especially since one of the babes is limping. I'll keep an eye on them, and if it seems as though the babies would be OK out on the lake, I'll move them. Somehow. I'm not sure how to do it. The only access to the courtyard is through the museum. I guess we will have to catch the babies (easier said than done!) and take them out. Hopefully the mama and daddy geese will be able to fly over the walls of the courtyard. Don't geese start molting soon? If they don't go over the wall, we'll just have to catch them, too.

Do I sound confident? I'm not...

Babies! We Have Babies!!!

2010-05-01T06:42:00.002-04:00

Five baby geese! They hatched on Thursday! I checked on the mama Thursday morning, and she was still sitting on the nest. I went up to the roof again after lunch, and found mama and daddy goose, and five babies!
I made a frantic phone call for help to our office manager. I don't know what I expected, but certainly nothing less than the Coast Guard flying in with their rescue helicopters and those baskets they lower into the ocean to pluck people out of the Bering Sea like they do on Deadliest Catch, right? They could swoop in and load this little family into the basket and whisk them off to safety--somewhere that is NOT on top of a 2 story roof!

That didn't happen. After the office manager consulted with our grounds manager, they decided that I might be over reacting just a bit. Both of them said the mama and daddy goose know what they are doing, and that they would probably have their babies off the roof by morning.

Reluctantly, I went home Thursday evening, but if I didn't have to go to a funeral that evening, I might have stayed on the roof all night! Friday morning, I was back at work and went right up onto the roof of the museum, hoping to find the little family had vacated the premises.

No such luck.
After another frantic call to the office manager, in which there was much laughing on her part, I decided I was pretty much alone in my quest to take care of this little family. No problem. I made several trips to the roof with buckets of water and made some nice puddles in low areas of the roof. Next I pulled up some nice, tasty shoots of grass and took a couple of buckets full of that to the roof.

Then, I called in some people I can always count on...my sister and my niece! There was no laughter...only "What can we do to help?" Isn't that great? Within an hour they arrived...with provisions.
They brought a chicken feeder, a big waterer (not pictured) and bags of chick food and poultry food! My heroes! Here is Jenny on the roof. Yes, they even climbed the two flights up to the roof to see the little family!
I am still taking up buckets of water for puddles, and grass for some fresh food, but I feel so much better knowing they have a supply of food and water on the roof.

It's hard to tell from this picture, bu the babies are all sitting in the food!
Fortunately, I have to work today, so I can check on them throughout the day, and if they are still there on Sunday, I'll be riding down to work to replenish their puddles then, too. I may be the subject of laughter at work, and some might be wondering about my mental state, but nothing is going to happen to those babies on my watch!

Dogs on Thursday, update edition

2010-04-29T09:26:00.000-04:00

This will be a quickie Dogs on Thursday post this week. With really nothing new to say as I am slogging through April, I thought this would be a good time to revisit old posts and give updates.

First, remember our unofficial mascot Shea at work? I first wrote about her in January. Here she is as a sweet little ball of fluff the first time her daddy brought her to work.

Here she is now! Look at how long she is! She was "fixed" last week (even though she said she wasn't broken) and she wanted to show off her belly. She loves belly rubs!

What a sweet little girl! I told her daddy that Shea can spend the day with me in the library any time!

Now for another dog from past DOT posts... Remember Maverick - the dog I help transport to his foster home back in February? He was the sweetest little boy - freckles all over, and full of kisses.

All of us who were involved in his transport that day received an email this week with some very good news... Maverick has found his forever home! He will be living in Virginia with his new mom and dad.
Don't they make a cute family?

Even though this is really Dogs on Thursday, I have to sneak in an update on the goose on the museum's roof. She is still up there. No babies yet, but I check on her every day.

Silly goose!

Dogs on Thursday

2010-04-22T09:38:00.004-04:00

For this week's Dogs on Thursday, we have a special guest. Meet Cup O' Joe, pictured here with my lovely niece Jenny.
Jen works at a shelter, and a couple of weeks ago someone brought in this adorable little 2 year old, 4 lb. chocolate poodle...with a broken leg. Jenny brought him home for some extra TLC and specialized care, and will be looking for the right home for him after he is all healed up. Isn't he just the sweetest little thing? He just wants to cuddle up on your lap and be loved. Or so I am told. I haven't seen little Joe in person. Can't do it. I know that if I see this little boy, he will be mine. (I've already given him a name - it is "Edward" after Edward Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility.)

Notice how his leg is wrapped up? The Vet tried to splint the leg, but after a week or so, an x-ray revealed this:
Yeah, the splint wasn't working. So it was off to a specialist, and a very expensive surgery, which the vet generously discounted, but is still around $2,000. You can read more about it at the Joa's Arc website or in this article by the Philadelphia Animal Advocate Examiner. (Joa's Arc specializes in fostering and adopting special needs pets in southern New Jersey.)

Here is little Joe the morning of his surgery. That purple bear is his best buddy. The two of them are inseparable! The nice people at the Vet's office allowed Joe to have his buddy with him during his stay there.

Here is Joe and his buddy back at home after the surgery.

See the collars that Joe and the bear are wearing? They were put on at the animal hospital - just like people get in people hospitals. The collars read "Cup of Joe" on the Joe, and "Cup of Joe's friend" on the bear. How sweet is that!

Special thanks to my niece for all of the photos. I stole them from her website and facebook page without even asking! I'm a bad Aunt! Without them, though, this would have been a photo-less post, because I just can't bring myself to see sweet Joe (or "Edward", in my own mind) in person!

I'm weak.

And a sucker.

And I can't afford another dog.

And I want this little boy so bad I can't stand it.

How do you like your eggs?

2010-04-19T20:03:00.000-04:00

You can probably just make out the goose in this picture, but apparently this silly girl likes her eggs high...really, really high.
She was spotted yesterday on the roof of the museum where I work, and she was there again this morning. Of course, I didn't have my camera, and the photos with my cell phone came out like crap. Fortunately, today was one of my days to go home at lunchtime to let the dogs out, so I grabbed my camera and brought it back to work, hoping that Goosey Girl would still be on the roof this afternoon.
I was in luck! So, in the interest of sharing this with all of my bloggy friends, my co-workers and I trudged up onto the roof of the museum to get some better photos.

Here she is on her nest. Fortunately the Daddy goose was nowhere to be found. (I had visions of him chasing us off the roof, and it wasn't pretty!)
Silly girl. Sixty-some acres here, and she has to choose what has got to be the most inhospitable spot to build her nest. What is she going to do when those babies hatch? That's like a 20 foot drop. Sheesh! Watch that first step - it's a doozey!

Speaking of eggs, remember these eggs that the neighbor's chickens have thoughtfully deposited in the wagon in the garage?

Guess who is helping to incubate them...Joseph!

What a weird cat.

I can see him showing some interest in the eggs after they are hatched, or more accurately the fluffy, feathery, cheeping, contents of the eggs, but before? Just when you think you've seen it all...

Lobbying for an 11 month calendar.

2010-04-15T06:40:00.005-04:00

For this week's Dogs on Thursday, I've decided to start a campaign. Abolish April! It's no secret that April is my least favorite month. Why? Do I have something against spring weather? Daffodils? The Easter Bunny? Ha. It's because I lost these two lovely girls in the month of April.

Scarlett and Mellie, May 1997

Yesterday was the third anniversary of Mellie's crossing over the rainbow bridge. Rough day. Rough week. Rough month.

Melanie, aka Mellie, Mellie Vanillie

May 12, 1997 - April 14, 2007

The month of May can't come soon enough.

It's that time again...

2010-04-11T12:41:00.003-04:00

Yep, the birthday fairy paid his annual visit--this time he showered my sister with birthday wishes. Her first choice of things to do, as always, was to go to Fortescue and go fishing. It was on her birthday last year that she caught her first Striper of the season, and we decided to see if her birthday luck would hold again this year.

Last weekend we went to Fortescue, and it was lovely weather. Shorts and T-shirts and toes-in-the-sand kind of weather. This weekend? Not so much. More like jeans and sweatshirts and two jackets and mittens and multiple pair of socks in rubber-boots-in-the-sand type of weather.

Here is a shot of my niece all bundled up. That fishing pole has to be 3 times as tall as she is!
Perseverance (or stupidity?) paid off, and we caught five (count em...5!) Stripers! Here is a picture of my niece's boyfriend (isn't he adorable?) with a fish he caught. I think it was his first time fishing, ever.
Those fingers in the lower right corner of the picture...those are my sister's. You might notice blood on her finger. That's not fish blood---that's human blood. She cut her finger on the fish's gill plate. It wasn't just a cut, it was a laid-open-gaping-hole of a cut which necessitated a trip to the ER.
Yes, indeed. Needed stitches and everything.
Fortunately it was a slow day in the ER and we were in and out in less than 2 hours. We did manage to liven thing up a bit while we were there... the nurses in the ER were all singing, "Give me back that Filet-O-Fish! Give me that fish!"

For her birthday next year, I'm sure we will try for another Striper, but hopefully there will be no trips to the ER!

Did we miss it?

2010-04-09T13:08:00.003-04:00

Did we miss Dogs on Thursday? Yes we did! I've been a little "off" all week long, and completely spaced on DOT. I had Monday off this week, and when I have off during the week, it throws off my whole sense of...everything. Fortunately, the babes are not suffering from my lack of attentiveness.

The ever-clueless Cooper says: "Thursday? What's a Thursday? Is is something to eat? Time to Eat! Gimme something to eat!!!"

Tara says: "Who cares what day it is as long as I get my regular naps."

Emma says: "I don't give a rat's rear what day it is, just get this friggin' bandanna off of me or so help me DOG I will poo in your shoes."

Easter Bunny?

2010-04-06T06:15:00.005-04:00

I had a visit from the Easter Bunny this weekend! He left me a present in the garage!

The practical side of me says it might have been the neighbor's chickens who left me these little presents....
...but I don't think so. Easter weekend...Easter Bunny!

It was a beautiful long weekend here in southern NJ. The Star Magnolia was in full bloom...

...just in time for the anniversary of sweet Scarlett's crossing the rainbow bridge on Sunday.

Scarlett c.1994
my first Brittany

May 13, 1991 - April 4, 2003

The weather was so very nice that we went to Fortescue every day. Look at who greets visitors on the road into Fortescue:
Can't quite make him out? Here's a closeup:

Spiderman...Spiderman...Friendly neighborhood Spiderman! He is wearing bunny ears, no less! Love it!

Yesterday, I even took my bicycle down to Fortescue and rode all around. My first stop, of course, was "my" house. Still vacant...still for sale... :sigh:
I should have realized that the recent nasty weather (high winds and record flooding) that brought lots of treasures up onto the beach......also brought lots of sand up onto the road. It was pretty deep in some spots. Here's a tip: Sandy roads and bicycle tires are not a good match. Can you see where this is going? Down. Yup...I completely wiped out. I'm all scraped up, bruised and sore... Ugh. Bikes are for kids.

Dogs on Thursday

2010-04-01T04:47:00.002-04:00

For this week's Dogs on Thursday, I would like to introduce Emma, Tara, and Cooper. Not the big Emma, Tara, and Cooper dogs that we all know and love... the MINI Emma, Tara and Cooper dogs. I admit it... I added them to the Wii! I made Miis of the dogs! That's not crazy, right? Nope. Everyone does that. Not crazy at all.

Here is mini Emma:
And mini Cooper:
And mini Tara!
You can choose the coloring and ears and tail, and even put different color collars on then. It is so much fun to find one of the dogs while you're cycling or running or on the Segway on the beach! Maybe in future versions of the software you will be able to add bandannas or bows or sweaters to the dogs, but for now, they run around nekkid.

I also put mom and dad in the Wii, along with my sister and niece. Absolutely not crazy, though, right? Guess who else I added to the Wii...

Colin Firth!
Harry Potter!
Alan Rickman!
Mark Harmon!
And Jane Austen!
Any suggestions of other Miis to add? I'm thinking Hugh Grant, Ciaran Hinds, Liam Neeson and Clark Gable. Still not crazy, right? Everybody does this, right? Please, please, please tell me everybody does this...

OK, gotta go now. Time for my morning work out with my Miips. Get it? My Mii peeps? Mii peeps are Miips???

Yeah, I'm crazy.

Definitely crazy.

Send Haloperidol.

Breaking News....

2010-03-30T02:41:00.000-04:00

Remember my niece's little lambykins from this post? Here is a picture of Olivia with her twins that were born a little over a week ago. Look how they have grown!

Olivia is a real cookie hound! In this picture she has just knocked over one of those big containers of animal crackers that you can buy at a wholesale club.
Olivia loves them! That's actually what I give Emma, Tara and Cooper as treats instead of doggie treats. They love 'em, too. If you look closely at that picture, you can see Mellie in the "momma and baby" pen with the heat lamp. You know what that means, right?

Mellie is a new momma! Here she is with her new little boy!

Well, he's not really little. He's a big, black boy, and momma and baby are doing fine. He is so big that none of the baby coats I made fit him. I had to make some bigger ones! (Poor Mellie...ugh!) No names yet for any of the new additions, but I'm just as proud as an Auntie can be!

In other news...Tara went from this fluffy-with-perpetually-bad-hair-days puppy...

...to this sleek, svelte little beauty!

Well, maybe sleek and svelte don't accurately describe her. Especially since I did her haircut myself with a pair of scissors, but she really doesn't like the sound of clippers, so scissors are less traumatic for her. Oh well...she thinks she's pretty, and she will be a lot cooler, and that's all that matters!

Dogs on Thursday

2010-03-25T12:47:00.004-04:00

Happy Dogs on Thursday from Emma, Tara and Cooper. It's only a little after noon, but it has been a roller coaster of a day so far. For the dogs, that is. I'm having a great day! I'm off work, and I got to see one of my favorite people. That person is, unfortunately for the dogs, my Vet!

Here is how the dogs' day has gone so far, according to Emma:

Good: Breakfast, chased chickens, had a little nap.

Good: Tara and I got to go for a ride in the car, and got to leave that stupid boy Cooper behind!!!
Bad (for Cooper): Cooper was left behind.

Good: After about 5 minutes of barking at the door, Cooper forgets what he is barking about and takes a nap. "Dumb as a Bag of Hammers" isn't always a bad thing.

Good: The car pulls into a Dunkin Donuts and the nice man at the window gives us a bag of bagels and muffins.Bad: The bagels and muffins are not for us.

Bad: The car pulls into the evil Vee-Eee-Tee's parking lot.

Bad: Mommy makes us enter the evil Vee-Eee-Tee's office.

Bad: Mommy gives them the bag of bagels and muffins. She tells them it is an apology in advance for our bad behavior.

Good: They accepted the bribe, so we get to act as bad as we want.

Bad: A gigantic Bull Mastiff named "Spartacus" comes over and sits down next to us.

Badder: Spartacus growls at us.

Good: I give Spartacus the evil eye, and he stops growling.

Bad: Spartacus tells me he likes a girl with an attitude. I think Spartacus he is having lustful thoughts.

Good: They call our names and we get to go into the torture chamber.

Bad: They call our names and we get to go into the torture chamber.

Good: Our Nanny is here, and she makes a big fuss over us and tells us how sweet we are. Yeah...tell me something I don't know!

Bad: The Evil Vee-Eee-Tee is here.

Good: Mommy distracts the Vee-Eee-Tee with a hug and a kiss. Maybe we can sneak out without him noticing us.

Bad: We weren't able to sneak out.

Badder: Evil Vee-Eee-Tee pokes and prods us, and listens to our heart and tummy, then gives us two (COUNT 'EM--TWO!!!) needles. The indignity of it all!

Good: He tells us we are gorgeous specimens and perfectly healthy. Again, tell us something we don't know, right?!

Gooder: We break out of the torture chamber, and finally get to leave! Yipee!

Gooder: We go for another car ride!

Goodest: We are rewarded with Lemon Cake when we get home!

Tara says "Mmmmmm, lemon cake!"
Emma says, "Give me that lemon cake right now or I will bite your finger off at the knuckle and people will forever call you 'Stubby'!"

Cooper says "Lemon cake, lemon cake, lemon cake."

Not much going on in that boy's brain, but he loves his lemon cake!

Spring has Sprung!

2010-03-21T16:26:00.002-04:00

After a long, cold, long, snowy, long, long, long winter, Spring has finally come to New Jersey! How do I know? Look that the stork dropped off at my niece's house:
The mom is Olivia, a Baby Doll Sheep, and she has twins! A boy and a girl! Here is a closeup of the yet-to-be-named little girl:
Oh, that face! I need a sheep!

Another sign that Spring is here---Robins, and lots of 'em! Emma found a Robin in the backyard, and tried to, ummm, welcome him with kisses. Yeah, that's the ticket...she was trying to kiss him.
Fortunately, the "kissing" didn't do the poor Robin any permanent harm, other than being scared out of his whits, that is!

After a little rest on the outside of the fence, he was perfectly fine. Emma is still a little peeved at me for taking away her new friend, though. If you look closely at this picture, you can see a feather sticking out of the corner of her mouth.
That's all she has left of her new friend. Poor Emma.

Dogs on Thursday

2010-03-18T06:09:00.001-04:00

This week's Dogs on Thursday is all about sweet Tara! Five years ago yesterday, my dad, sister and I drove to Princeton to pick up Tara. Around here, March 17th is no longer St. Patrick's Day...it is St. Tara's Day! Little Tara had been traveling for three days, making her way from Arkansas to New Jersey, and we had no idea what to expect. We only saw one blurry picture of this little sweetie on the American Brittany Rescue website, but what a shock when we saw her in person! Skinny, scrawny, trembling...we fell instantly in love with that pathetic little creature.
Here is a recent picture of Tattie. What a difference a little love (and some nutritious food) makes!
Speaking of nutritious food, here is a picture of their St. Tara's Day breakfast:

See those little yellow squares? That's lemon cake. The dogs have recently discovered their love for lemon cake (thanks to an episode of Cooper pulling it off of the counter and sharing it with his sisters). So, as a little treat, I put some on their breakfast to kind of spice it up. I know, lemon cake on top of turkey meatloaf sounds gross, but the babes didn't think so! Here is Tara saying "Stop taking pictures and put the food bowls on the floor or as Dog as my witness I will go for your jugular vein."

All Aboaaaaard!

2010-03-15T16:16:00.000-04:00

My family has been conspiring against me. Yes, I drive a Toyota Prius...

... and yes, Toyota is having some, shall we say "issues", but I have faith in them. I know that Toyota will find out what is causing the crazy-fast acceleration, and that they will fix all of the cars involved. In the meantime, I am extra cautious. I am hyper-aware of my vehicle, leave additional space between me and other cars on the road, and try to have a "plan" for whatever road I am on, just in case my car decides to "get speedy."

My plan was working up until last week when various family members started to go nuts-o."Get rid of that car!" "It's not safe!" "You'll die in a fiery crash!" Blah, blah, blah... I love my Prius and won't consider trading it in, so what is the alternative? Park it in the backyard and wait for Toyota to find out what's going wrong? Fine, then how am I going to get to work? Oh, I know, buy another vehicle, right? WRONG! Unless you are a millionaire, and I am not, that's just a one-way ticket to crazy-town!

So, on Saturday as I was heading off to work, my sister said she was going to go out looking at used vehicles to buy to replace my Prius, so I had her call the most level-headed man I know. Dad! He will be the voice of reason, and make my sister see the absurdity of her half-baked plan. Right?

Wrong.

He jumped on board the train to crazy-town.

Look what I found when I got home from work tonight:

Crazy, crazy, crazy, but it's nice to be loved...

Who on Thursday?

2010-03-11T06:01:00.002-05:00

The Dogs! So who better to write this week's Dogs on Thursday post than us...Emma, Tara and Cooper! Well, really, me--Emma! The choice was easy since Tara is a pushover and will do anything I say, and Cooper is, well, not exactly the brightest bulb in the chandelier. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Oh, hell, let's not sugar-coat it. That boy is just plain dumber than a bag of hammers. Fortunately, I, Queen Emma, have been blessed with beauty AND brains.
So, let's get right to it. We want to wish a very happy birthday to one of our favorite humans--Our Nanny! She doesn't have a blog, and doesn't know that our mommy has a blog, so she will never see this post, but we thought it was important to send birthday lickey-face-kisses her way, anyway!

Our Nanny has come to visit us three days a week since before I was born, and that's a long time, since I will be 9 years ~~old~~ ...er, young in May. We love when the Nanny visits, not only so we can go outside and, umm, attend to our business, if you know what I mean. We love the Nanny because she brings us some exotic scents from the world outside of Britknitterville. Sometimes she smells like cows...

...sometimes she smells like sheep...
...and once she even brought us a sheep of our very own. Then she took it back, but that's OK.
Sometimes, if we are really, really good, she will bring her two human offspring. Those are the visits that we like best of all!
Those tiny humans are very generous with the treat jar. Mom says she always knows when the Nanny's boys were here, because the treat jar is empty!

So, please join us in wishing our Nanny a very Happy Birthday!

Blu-uuu-uuuu-uuu-uuuue

2010-03-07T15:57:00.000-05:00

If I were at all web-savvy, I would have LeAnn Rimes' song "Blue" playing for you right now, but it's not gonna happen. You know the song, though --

"Blue, oh, so lonesome for you,
Why can't you be blue over me,
Blue, oh, so lonesome for you,
Tears fill my eyes 'till I can't see."

That the song that was going through my head while I was walking the beach at Fortescue this morning. Why? Well, lookey what I found:

Blue glass!!! Lots of it!!! This is only a portion of today's haul. There was a boat-load of clear and brown glass, but I'm only picturing the blue and green here. Oh, and that one piece of white milk glass at the bottom of the picture. I have never, ever, ever found cobalt blue glass on the beach, but today there were several pieces of it, one piece of medium blue, and lots of light blue!

Of course, while I was there, I just had to check on "my" house...
No activity yet. I'm really hoping that it doesn't sell and the seller gets desperate and lowers the asking price. It's either that, or I have to win the lottery. I guess I should buy a ticket, eh?

By the way, observant readers might have noticed that the sea glass is sitting on the Wii Balance Board in the photograph. I needed something big and white for the glass to show up in the photo, and the BB was handy. I have to say that I am still loving the Wii, even though some of the games in Fit Plus really kick my butt. I have, however, mastered the Obstacle Course, thank-you-very-much! Just to know you what a Wii Geek I am, I took a photo of today's high score! On the Advanced Obstacle Course! It says I'm a "calorie incinerator" but it really means that I am "Queen of the World and Ruler of All Things Obstacle Course-like".

As much as this thing can pump you up, it can just as quickly dash your ego and send you into the depths of despair. Whenever I try to do the bubble ball, I inevitably end up with this:
Unbalanced! The nerve of this stupid game! I just hope it is referring to my physical and not my mental state...

Cooper says, "I am not impressed."

Two Special Guests for Dogs on Thursday!

2010-03-04T17:57:00.002-05:00

Remember sweet little Shea from this post a few weeks ago? She was back at work with her daddy today, and guess who else was there...her brother!
Shea is on the left, and her brother Mack is on the right. One of the other ceramic artists who works here got a little boy from the same litter. These two lucky pups have regular play dates!

When I found out that they were both in the pottery studio, I grabbed my camera and headed down there to get some puppy photos. Just for the blog, you understand. I didn't go down there because I want a puppy of my own so bad that I jump at any chance to hold one of these furry little souls and look in their puppy eyes and kiss their puppy bellies and get my face licked and my fingers chewed on by those needle-sharp teeth. Nope. That's not it at all. It was just for the blog.

Don't they look like the are on the prowl for mischief?

It was really hard to get photos of these two little fur balls of energy! Here is Mack sitting on Shea...
...and since turn-about is fair play, Shea "attacked" Mack! But in the end, all is well.
I need a puppy! Or two!

Even more white stuff.

2010-02-27T11:04:00.002-05:00

More. White. Stuff. Ugh! Here is a recent picture of my house at Fortescue. Well, not MY house, but it would be if I were rich and knitters with dogs ruled the world.
See all that white stuff? Hateful. Even people who like it are so very sick of it this year. Have I mentioned how much I hate it? That's all I'm going to say about it.

On to more pleasant topics. Here is a shot of Cooper and Tara relaxing while I'm on the Wii.

Emma is nowhere to be found. As soon as I turn on the Wii, she takes off. For some odd reason, she doesn't like the Wii. It might have something to do with me shouting at the TV like a crazy woman every time I get knocked off of the obstacle course, or ride my bike off a cliff, or crash my plane into the side of a volcano. Who can say for sure?

Look at Cooper's back legs. They're twisted! That can't be comfortable!

This boy just cracks me up!

Dogs on Thursday

2010-02-25T12:54:00.002-05:00

This week we have another special guest for Dogs on Thursday. A little puppy named Oso.

I hope I'm spelling his name right. It is pronounced "Oh-So" and is Spanish for "bear". I work with Oso's grandmother (and it's her birthday today - Happy Birthday Beverly!!!) and Oso's mommy and daddy brought him in for a visit.
Oso is part English and part French Mastiff, and yes, he is still a puppy. He weighs approximately 160 lbs, and is only 12 months old. He is still eating puppy chow, and won't go to "big boy food" until he is 18 months old. He is eating 120 lbs. of food a month, and will probably grow to be around 220 lbs. Let me tell you, that is one biiiiiig dog.
He's the sweetest natured dog, though, and is even a little skittish around strangers, especially men. Such a gentle giant!

In other news, it's snowing again. Yes, again. I've lost track of how many inches of snow we have had this year, but we are expecting another 12 inches or so before this storm moves out sometime tomorrow night. Have I mentioned how much I hate snow? I do. I really, really do. The only good part about it is a snow day off from work. Woo Hoo!

I got up this morning and after a nutritious breakfast of coffee and Doritos, got right on the Wii Fit. Before I knew it, an hour went by. I'm loving this new toy! It is totally kicking my butt, especially the Obstacle Course, but I'm having soooooo much fun!

Off to get some knitting done, now. There are three babies due this year, so I have two blankets in progress at the moment, with yarn for another blanket and a sweater waiting for me to get around to casting on the needles. So much to knit, so little time...

Oh, right...the dogs...

2010-02-19T06:24:00.003-05:00

I totally missed yesterday's Dogs on Thursday post! Ooops! I can only claim extreme butt-kicking as an excuse. This week I finally found this in our local Wally World.

Yes, the Balance Board for the Wii Console. This thing is sooooo worth the money. I have never had so much fun in my own living room! (Sad, isn't it?) Anyway, who would think you could ride a Segway on the beach...
...run an obstacle course...
...and do tricks in a skateboard park all from the comfort of your living room!
I'd be back on the Wii right now if I wasn't so sore from last night's ~~play~~ err, workout session. Yeah, it's a workout, and it is kicking my butt.

If you came here looking for Dogs on Thursday, you might want to see this post from earlier this week, and here is a gratuitous shot of the babes.
Enjoy!

Too good not to share...

2010-02-15T09:34:00.002-05:00

I've never been a big fan of this guy, but this segment from yesterday's CBS Sunday Morning is just too good not to share!

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T09:30:00.006-05:00

My Emma got a Valentine!
From Fudge!!! How sweet is that? No pun intended!

Emma says she would be happy to be Fudge's Valentine!

She also wishes him a very Happy Birthday today! Fudgie Wudgie (that's Emma's lovey nickname for Fudge) is 5 years old today!

One question, though... if Fudge is 5, and Emma will be 9 in May...does that make her a cougar?

Happy Birthday Wishes!

2010-02-11T11:24:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday to my mom! How old is she? I shouldn't say, but here's a hint. We celebrated her Diamond Jubilee this week! Oh, heck, I'll save you the trouble of clicking on the link and just tell you! She is 75 years young. Here is a photo from this past summer at Fortescue.

Love you mom! That photo was taken this past summer at Fortescue. Notice the lack of snow in that picture? I'm beginning to think we will never get rid of the hateful white stuff. We got dumped on again this week.
Terrible stuff. Absolutely horrible. I don't know how many inches we got yesterday (in addition to the blizzard from last weekend) but our total snowfall for the year has surpassed all records, and they've been keeping track of this stuff since the last Ice Age. I am so very sick of snow. Even the dogs are getting tired of it. They go out and "do their business" and come right back in.

The only good part about this snow is that Cooper has gotten in touch with his "inner artist" and delights in, ummm, decorating the snow. I call him my little Pee-caso! I was going to post some pictures of his "artwork" but one of his pee paintings looked a bit like the Virgin Mary, and I didn't want any nut-jobs flocking to the house to pay homage to a pile of snow.

Emma and Tara have been busy guarding the house from Juncos, Cardinals and Chickadees.

Emma says "Hey, do you see any songbirds in the house? No! You're welcome!!!"

Cooper is taking a break from his artwork. It's hard work...or at least dehydrating work. Oh, how he suffers for his art...

Me? I'm taking a break from the snow right now. My sister and I cleared mom and dad's driveway this morning, then our own, and then dug our cars out. Well, my car isn't exactly free of the snow yet. It just kept spinning wheels and getting deeper and deeper in the snow. I don't think it will move again until May, or maybe June. That's ok, though, because look what I got!
Yes, I treated myself with my income tax refund. I couldn't get what I really, really, really wanted with my refund, which is this:

Isn't that just the cutest little house? I love it.

More White Stuff

2010-02-07T08:24:00.003-05:00

Here we go again. More of the awful white stuff. Hate it, hate it, hate it. Have I mentioned that I hate it? I do.

Here is a shot from my cell phone. I took this yesterday afternoon while walking back from taking care of mom and dad's driveway. It's a terrible shot, but do you see the fence? No, you don't, but it's there. The snow is almost half way up the 4' fence, and this was hours before the snow was finished falling. Ugh.

This is a shot from this morning. That big lump in the center of the photo? It's my car. I don't think it's going to move from that spot until Spring.

I don't know what we would do without this beast, though:

It's a giant snow thrower, and it just eats up and spits out anything in its path. Snow? Gone. Driveway stones? Gone. We'll find those stones all over the grass after the snow melts. Next summer, while cutting the grass, those driveway stones will be sharp little missiles shot out through the lawn mower's grass chute.

There is one thing, however, that has the power to bring the mighty beast of a snow thrower to its knees. At first glance, it looks like something that was once alive....

...but after closer inspection...

...and much elbow grease...

...all is revealed. It's one of the dogs' ropey toys.

What will I be doing today? I won't be going outside anymore, that's for sure. There is a big pot of rice on the stove for making dog food, and I'll be working on this:

The long-neglected Sock Yarn Blankie that last made an appearance on the blog over a year ago. I have no illusions (or delusions?) about it being finished any time soon, but this seems like a good day to knock out a bunch of squares.

This next shot is for a friend of mine that I haven't seen in 20 years. He found me on the Internet recently through the museum's website, and has since complained that there are no pictures of me on the blog---just the occasional foot while modeling a sock. So, in addition to the photos of my arms getting that ropey toy out of the snow thrower, here I am, using the beast...
You're welcome!

Not again...

2010-02-05T11:08:00.003-05:00

Issued by The National Weather Service
Philadelphia, PA
10:30 am EST, Fri., Feb. 5, 2010

A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 7 PM EST SATURDAY.

A STORM SYSTEM DEVELOPING OVER THE GULF COAST TODAY WILL PASS OFF THE CAROLINA COAST TONIGHT AND THEN CONTINUE TO THE NORTHEAST ON SATURDAY. SNOW FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL OVERSPREAD THE REGION FROM SOUTH TO NORTH THIS AFTERNOON... THEN CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF SATURDAY. SNOWFALL TOTALS OF 12 TO 18 INCHES ARE EXPECTED NEAR THE DELAWARE AND CENTRAL NEW JERSEY COAST WITH UP TO 22 INCHES POSSIBLE OVER SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY AND THE CENTRAL DELMARVA. STRENGTHENING WINDS TONIGHT AND SATURDAY WILL CREATE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WHICH WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO UNDER ONE QUARTER OF A MILE AT TIMES.

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS... MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS FROM YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

I wish I was a bear so I could crawl into a fetal position and hibernate all winter long...

Dogs on Thursday

2010-02-04T05:39:00.001-05:00

We have another special guest for this week's Dogs on Thursday. Meet Maverick:

Isn't he just the most beautiful boy? He is a year or two old, and was found running on a highway in northern New Jersey, narrowly avoiding getting hit by cars. Fortunately, a kind person picked him up and contacted American Brittany Rescue. Last Sunday, he hopped a ride on the brittany express to his foster home in Alexandria, Virginia.

I love doing transports, but it's never easy letting these sweet dogs go, even after just an hour or so in the car. I want to keep every one of them and take them home and love them and keep them safe and warm. My ride with sweet Maverick started out just like every other transport, but somewhere between New Jersey and Maryland, I fell head over heels in love with this boy.
He is such a lover, and I really thought we had something special. Then we got to the meeting place in Maryland where he would start the next leg of his journey, and he just tossed me out like yesterday's rubbish and went into the next driver's car. He gave the next driver kisses...KISSES! In front of me!
I feel so used...

Luckily, this bunch of hooligans was waiting for me when I got home.
Who could ask for anything more?

Dogs on Thursday

2010-01-28T10:02:00.002-05:00

This week's special guest for Dogs on Thursday is a new baby girl addition to our work family. I am so happy to introduce sweet little Shea!
She is the sweetest little Golden Retriever puppy--just like a little blond teddy bear. Fuzzy hair, kissable belly, and those extra-pointy-needle-like-teeth that are sharper than Ginsu knives. Here she is in her daddy's arms.

You might remember him from this post, or from this post where he made dog bowls for my hooligans. Here she is all tuckered out laying on my foot. I need a puppy!

Welcome to our corner of the world, little Shea!

Antiques Roadshow!

2010-01-25T14:19:00.003-05:00

Remember these pictures...

...from this post?

It seems like eons ago, but it was just last June. The Antiques Roadshow segments that were filmed while the crew was in New Jersey last summer are finally going to air. The NJ shows will be on for the next three Monday evenings, beginning tonight! I'm not sure which week the museum will be on, though. Hopefully tonight!

You can go the the Antiques Roadshow website for information and a local broadcast schedule for your area. It's worth watching just to support fellow knitter Mark Walberg. The fact that he has those incredible blue eyes doesn't hurt...

**********************************************

Edited to add:
Here is the link of the segment filmed in the Museum

Here is the link of bonus footage of Mark Walberg making a paperweight

Enjoy!

Wild and Wacky South Jersey!

2010-01-24T21:53:00.000-05:00

One day this past week I became an "Adventure Girl"! That's the label I give myself when I go wild and crazy and go down a road I've never been on before just to see what's there. Pathetic, huh? Anyway, while on one of these "adventures", look what I found:

We saw a Bald Eagle a mile or so back, soaring over the marshland, looking for a snack. Could that be a Bald Eagle's nest?

Yes it is!
It is on a little road in the back of nowhere on the way to a little town called Seabreeze. Town??? Not really. Not even close. More like a cluster of houses on the edge of the bay. I just had to take a photo of this one.

Very well cared for, right down to the plastic flowers in the blue barrels and that unique fence. What kind of fence is that?

Yes, indeed, it's a fence made from kitty litter containers.
No 50 million years in a landfill for these babies. Nope. They are put to good use. The final irony?
You can't make this stuff up!

Dogs on Thursday

2010-01-21T08:00:00.005-05:00

Happy Dogs on Thursday from all the Brits in Britknitterville! This morning I was able to get a rare photo of all three dogs together:
They're not exactly together, but at least they are close enough to get in the same shot. Emma, of course, is in her little nest that she makes in the sofa cushions. Here is a shot from the front on the sofa:
She smooshes the cushion down into a comfy little hollow, and she will stay there all day! What a life!

I've been off this week and a lot has been going on, mostly involving taking care of the sick! Mom is doing better, but still gets very tired after any kind of activity. She went to church on Sunday and it wiped her out for two days. We've been making meals and taking them over, and mom always greets us with a chorus of "Meals on Wheels!" The only problem is that mom and dad are not vegetarians and they think a meal isn't a meal without MEAT! Blech!

Dad also celebrated his 74th (!!!!!) birthday this week, and I took pictures of him building the perfect burger, but they were taken with my cell phone and were impossibly blurry. You'll just have to trust me that it was a work of art. A (not-so-heart-healthy) half-pound burger with lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles, bacon, onion, green pepper, and anything else he could possibly fit into a bun. Yuck. I made my yummy broccoli spaghetti casserole, and to my surprise both mom and dad tried it, and liked it, even though there wasn't a scrap of meat in it. I just might turn them into vegetarians yet! Then again, maybe not.

Anyway, to make up for the lack of a birthday picture of dad, here is a recent shot of mom and dad from their trip to Vermont a few months ago.
And here is one of my favorite pictures...that's me with my head on dad's shoulder. Can't you just feel the love?
I'm incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful dad!

Dogs on Thursday and Good (???) News

2010-01-14T06:35:00.000-05:00

First for the good news. Mom had a heart attack. I know, I can't quite wrap my brain around how that can be good news, but her cardiologist said it is good news, so I am choosing to believe him. The cardiac catheterization shows that the damage to the heart is minimal, and it's in the "best area" for a heart attack to happen. Or at least the "least worst" area, I suppose.

I feel as though I should give a shout-out to the hospital. We went to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center for the catheterization, and it was a great experience from start to end. The staff was wonderful, from security to nursing to, well, everyone we ran into. Food was not so great, but they had Wawa coffee and a salad bar, so I was happy. Dad wasn't thrilled with his choices, but hey, it's a cardiac hospital! If they are going to offer greasy breakfast sandwiches and pizza and onions rings, you can bet that they use non-fat cheese and one of the "good" oils for frying and such. But I digress. If you have to have a catheterization, I'm thinking that Penn Presby is the best choice. Or at least the "least worst."

Selective Reality - it's a good thing. :-)

In other news, it's still cold here. They keep promising that we are going to warm up, but so far, just cold, cold and more cold. These pictures were taken at Parvin State Park a week or so ago.

Brrrrrrr..... It's not fit for man nor beast out there! Joseph says he is staying under his heat lamp until the daffodils bloom again. Seriously, I think it would take a crow bar to pry that cat out of his cat bed.
Cooper says "Who would want to be outside when you can snuggle up in the cushions of a big comfy chair by the warm pellet stove?"
I still haven't caught up on my blog reading. Truth be told, I haven't read a single post in weeks. My bad! Soon...very soon.

It's been a while...

2010-01-09T10:16:00.006-05:00

What has come and gone in the two weeks or so since I last posted? Christmas, New Year's, Sophia's christening, a couple of Dogs on Thursdays, snow (and then more snow), ice, lots of knitting, lots of worrying, which leads to more knitting, knitting, knitting. Not much blog reading, though, and my "Google Reader" is at a new record high (for me) of unread posts. Must get caught up...one of these days.

Anyway, I managed to finish my Christmas knitting in time for New Year's. Heh. Here is Emma helping me take a picture of the three baby dolls I made for my nieces & my mom. Yes, one is for mom. She fell in love with the first baby doll I made, so I surprised her with one, too.

This picture is from Christmas Eve at mom and dad's house. Bessie was more interested in the wrapping than in her presents. Typical cat!

This is mom and dad on New Year's Day. Mom is holding her newest (honorary) granddaughter, Sophia. Pay no attention to my messy knitting corner in the background.

I don't have any pictures of Sophia's christening because I operated the video camera. Sophia's big brothers (7 and 5 years old) both had a part in the ceremony, while her big sister (2 years old) sat quietly munching on a bag of mini marshmallows. Not her usual snack, but she was having a melt-down in the church, and "any port in a storm," right?

Next the snow, snow, snow. And ice, and more snow, snow snow. Hate it. Hate it all. Enough said.
Now for Dogs on Thursdays... all of the brits are doing just fine, after a couple of trips to the vet.

Tara broke a nail on the frozen ground late Monday night. Blood everywhere. Everywhere! During a semi-frantic call to the Nanny early Tuesday morning, she told me to just head into the vet without an appointment and Dr. WonderVet would see her right away. God bless my the WonderVet, and the Nanny! After a needle in the butt and 10 days of antibiotics, Tara is doing just fine.
When I got Tara home, it was too late to head into work, so I stayed home on Tuesday and got some chores done...and watched Emma limping around. Yes, Emma hurt her leg last Sunday by jumping off of the sofa, and had been limping off and on, so I called the WonderVet and asked if I could impose on them without an appointment twice in one day!
Emma didn't limp at the vet, of course, but Dr. WonderVet said it's not uncommon for the adrenaline to take over and negate the pain. Anyway, she is on Rimadyl for a week, and will have X-rays next week if that doesn't help. So far, both girls are doing just fine.

As far as the worrying, I'm a natural worrier, and someday hope to get a gold medal in the Worrying Olympics. The only way to do that is to practice, practice, practice, and family and friends have graciously provided me with new and dizzying things to worry about. At least I have my knitting to help me through. That is, until yesterday when I closed my finger in a door. No knitting for a while. Back to full-time worrying.

Snowy Dogs on Thursday

2009-12-24T06:00:00.003-05:00

Happy Dogs on Thursday everyone! Today's DOT is all about the dogs enjoying the massive amounts of snow we got last weekend. How much snow did we get? The National Weather Service recorded 23.5 inches here. That's 3 inches more than our average annual snowfall. Yikes.

I hate the stuff, but the dogs love it. I took several (dozen) pictures and quite a few videos of them enjoying the dreaded white stuff. I'll only bore you with two videos.

The babes say "Thanks for watching, and Merry Christmas, or whatever you happen to celebrate."

Making a list...checking things off.

2009-12-23T15:56:00.002-05:00

It is now 4:00pm...do you know where your day went? Ever notice how quickly a day goes by when you're off, and how sloooooowly it goes by when you're at work? Why is that? I had big plans for getting lots of stuff done today, but haven't even made it through half of my list.

One thing on my list was to upload snow pictures from the camera. Here is a shot of the back deck last Sunday morning.
This is my sister using the snow thrower. See that big lump of snow in the left of the picture? That's my car. Completely covered with snow. It's a Big Ol' Snowman of a Prius!

There hasn't been much melting, since the temps have been quite chilly all week. It is supposed to be in the 40s this weekend, so here's hoping for lots of melting!

Another thing on my to-do list was to finish up the Brown Bag Sock Yarn choices. I never did November or December, so I tried to talk Emma into choosing which yarn should go with which month.
Emma says "Who cares? There are only two to choose from, and you're going to knit both of them, so what does it matter?" I have to admit there is a certain amount of logic in her argument, but it would still have been nice of her to play along. I finally gave up and unwrapped both skeins, and look at the colors!!!

Red and green, I kid you not! How funny that the last two skeins of sock yarn are Christmas colors! I'll have to think of something special to knit with them, seeing as I am so full of Christmas spirit this year, thanks to Sue. Notice the tree? Yes, I did put up a tree this year. No ornaments, yet, but I think the sock yarn looks pretty good on it. Maybe I'll just decorate it with sock yarn!

Snow? What Snow?

2009-12-19T14:02:00.006-05:00

Everyone who knows me knows how much I hate snow. Hate it. With a white-hot-hatred. When the white stuff is falling, I tell myself it's not snow...it's volcanic ash. Oddly enough, the thought that a modern day Mount Vesuvius is about to turn my world into Pompeii, The Sequel is more comforting to me than snow.

So, when weather.com calls for "crippling snow from Mid-Atlantic to Northeast" and "rates of 1 to 3 inches an hour" and "snowfall is expected to be 18 to 24 inches" and "the highest amounts are expected in parts of southern New Jersey" I would normally be curled up in the fetal position, sucking my thumb, praying for a comet to hit the Earth and put me out of my misery.

Not today! In between taking the dogs out to pee...

...and telling them not to eat the snow and then coaxing them back in the house...
...and then letting them out again because they ate so much show that, you guessed it, they have to pee...
...I've been knitting, eating cream cheese and olive sandwiches on little tiny slices of pumpernickel bread, and watching The Holiday. Do you see all that snow? Totally unheard of here in southern New Jersey. But, at least the worst is over. Oh no...that's right. The heaviest part of the storm is going to hit between 3:00 and 9:00pm. What time is it now? 2:45pm.

Who cares, though, because the dogs are happy and healthy, I still have a job (which might change any day now but I can't think about that today...I'll think about that tomorrow) and I have wonderful friends. Friends who are kind and thoughtful and can brighten your day even though you have never met them in person. Yesterday, one of those friends totally blew me away. Sue, dear, sweet Sue sent me this:
It is unbelievable! Sue made me a counted-cross-stitch pillow...of a BRITTANY! It is absolutely beautiful! So thoughtful! She even included some treats for the babes. Emma, Tara and Cooper say "We Love Auntie Sue!"

So today, even with the snow, not only am I NOT in a catatonic state, but I think that my shriveled up, Christmas-hating Grinch heart is beginning to grow, and I might, just might be getting into the Christmas spirit!

Sue, you are a miracle worker!

Dogs on Thursday

2009-12-17T06:25:00.003-05:00

Funny thing happened this week... The sun, moon and stars must have all been aligned "just so". I "met" another Brittany mom on Ravelry, and she just so happened to have rescued a brit from American Brittany Rescue, and her brit just so happened to have come from Arkansas, and her brit just so happened to have been fostered by the same person who fostered my sweet little Tara! Tara and I call her Momma Judy. What are the chances??? It must be a Christmas Miracle!

Tara the week we brought her home.

I've tried over the years to contact Momma Judy and send her photos of little Tara, but the emails have always been returned, so I asked the brittany mom I met online if she had any contact information for Judy. The next day I got an email with Judy's phone number!

Tara modeling knitwear.

As soon as I got home from work, I dialed Judy's number, not really knowing what I was going to say. I started babbling about "my name is Dianne" and "I have a Brittany" and "Is this Judy? I hope this is Judy?" Fortunately Judy gave this crazy woman on the phone a chance and didn't hang up on me, and I explained how I got her number from another brittany mom and that I have one of her fosters and have been trying to contact her. Turns out, Judy's computer died and she hasn't replaced it, which is why my emails have been returned!

Tara modeling more knitwear.

After a nice long chat, and I thanked her repeatedly for saving my sweet Tara's life by taking her out of a shelter five years ago. Most of all, though, I thanked her for selflessly giving up Tara and allowing her to come and live with me. I can't think of any greater act of love than that.

Tara saying "Give me Judy's number...maybe she will take me back..."

Hijacked Dogs on Thursday

2009-12-10T18:05:00.008-05:00

For this week's Dogs on Thursday post, Cooper decided to strike an artistic pose.

Speaking of artistic, New Jersey's arts organizations need your help. (How do you like that segue? Pretty smooth, eh?)

I don't talk much about work, but I work for an arts organization in southern New Jersey, and we depend on state grants for a large portion of our operating budget. Since New Jersey's state budget is in the red, today they announced a freeze on payments to the state's arts organizations. Back in July, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts announced grants of $14.4 million for more than 160 groups (something like less than 10% of those groups are in the southern portion of the state...I'm just saying...) but only $2 million has been dispersed so far. Basically, we have been operating on the hope of the promised money being distributed for 5 months now.

For more information, you can go to this article from the today's Courier Post newspaper. If you are a New Jersey resident, I would really appreciate it if you could please go to this link and tell your legislators that the arts in New Jersey are important to you. That is, if they are important to you.

Emma, Tara and Cooper say "Please support the arts. That's what buys our dog food and treats and cookies and snacks and pays our Vee-Eee-Tee bills, though we could certainly sacrifice and cut back on the visits to the vet."
Nice try, babes! As long as I have breath in my body, you three are getting regular check-ups!

Epinglez?

2009-12-06T14:02:00.003-05:00

I have come to a realization that I will never find the perfect handbag. After years of looking, and many months of unsuccessful handbag shopping, it's just not going to happen. Or at least, I will never find the perfect handbag, again. I already found the perfect, and I mean PERFECT handbag. When I say it was perfect, it really, really was. Is. Would be, if only I had bought it. No leather, not too big, not too small, not too old-lady-ish. It was simple, tapestry-ish fabric, top kind of flopped over, and there were these clippy type things on the inside on each side to kind of keep it all neat and tidy, but you could unclip it to search for those darn keys that always dive the the bottom of your bag when you need them. In the words of Goldilocks, it was juuuuust right. Except for the price.

My solution? Make it myself! I know my way around a sewing machine. I'll just buy some fabric, slap it together, add some clippy things, and Bob's Yer Uncle! Handbag!

Part 1, fabric. It took some looking, but I found the perfect fabric. Maybe not exactly perfect...not as nice as "The Perfect Handbag" but not too bad. Kind of pricey, but I'm making it myself, so that's a savings, right?

Pattern? Who needs a pattern? I know what I want so just point me towards the clippy things and I'll be on my way. Only I can't quite remember what the clippy things looked like, or how they worked. Never mind. I'll figure that out later.

Three weeks later: I'm tired of staring at the pile of fabric, scissors in hand, too chicken to actually cut into it without a pattern. Back to the fabric store. Purchase pattern, thread, 16 skeins of cord to braid Kumihimo-style into the strap, rectangle things to attach the strap to the bag, bias tape, fusible web stuff, and a zipper. Look around for the elusive clippy things, but nothing looks like it will do the trick. No problem. I'll figure that out later, right? I leave the store with the realization that I have now spent very close to what "The Perfect Handbag" costs, and still have no clippy things, and still have to make the freakin' thing.

Obvious solution? Give up. Return what I can to the store (they don't take back fabric, especially pricey fabric) and go and buy "The Perfect Handbag". Great, except that I found it at the Festival of Fine Craft we have at work every October. There are something like 200 vendors there, and I have no idea what the name of the artist who made "The Perfect Handbag" is, or how to contact her.

So, this morning, I sat down to make my own handbag, and it's going to kick "The Perfect Handbag's" butt. Except for the fact that I screwed up the cutting and won't be able to add a zipper. And I ran out of bias tape. Oh, and in Step 2, can anybody tell me what the hell is an Epinglez?

Dogs on Thursday

2009-12-03T06:32:00.004-05:00

For this week's Dogs On Thursday, I'm bringing back this photo of Tara from a few months ago:
She is modeling some knitting-in-progress. Anyone remember what it is? Here is some more knitting-in-progress:
Any ideas what it might be? Here's a hint, it's not a skanky bikini for a doll! It's light bulbs!

My friend Pat and I made a string of knitted Christmas bulbs for one of the trees at work. The theme for the museum's display this year is "A Handmade Christmas" so we've been working on all kinds of handmade ornaments, and of course we did a tree of knitted ornaments! Thanks to Ravelry, we had no shortage of patterns. Take a look at these teeny tiny sweaters.
Here is the completed knitted star that Tara was modeling.

And here is the tree of knitted ornaments in all its glory:
Working on this tree is the most fun I've had at work in a long, long time!

Knitting Report

2009-12-01T06:17:00.000-05:00

Since the name of this blog is Brit Knitter, and there have been way more Brits than Knits lately, I figured I should share some recent projects. First is a project I started a while back for my new niece Sophia. The fact that she came three weeks early, and then had to be re-admitted to the hospital on Thanksgiving Day and spend 2 nights in the NICU had everyone in a tizzy, but thankfully all is well with Sophie and her mommy. Sophie's daddy and two brothers and one sister (yep, that's four kids, FOUR! Plus three Brittanys. Yikes!) are all happy to have Sophie home and everyone is being a big help with the new baby.

Anyway, what does every new baby need? A baby blanket! A while ago I found the Woolly Thoughts' Basketweave pattern on Ravelry, and knew I had to make it. Here is it in all it's finished glory:
It turned out to be a skooch larger than I had planned. Truth be told, I didn't really plan all that much. I just bought the yarn, cast on, and kept knitting and knitting and knitting. And knitting. Before it knew it, the "baby" blanket was big enough to cover Rhode Island. Well, maybe not quite that big, but here is a picture of it with a recent copy of Spin Off magazine for perspective.

Yes, indeed, that is one big baby blanket!

While the sun was shining, I also took some pictures of Sophie's big sister's Christmas present. I bought the book "Itty Bitty Toys" by Susan B. Anderson for an adorable puppy pattern, but when I saw this little Baby Doll, I knew I had to make one right away.

She was so much fun to make! Braids attached to her hat, ruffled panties, even a belly button! You know you want to see her in her birthday suit, so here she is in all her nekkid glory:

Fortunately, I had some helpers for this photo shoot. Daughter of Ducky was wandering around...
...while Joseph supervised from the back of my car.
Yes, the hatch was up so he helped himself to a comfy spot. No sense in walking on those driveway stones, plus being higher up, he had a better vantage point.

So much to be thankful for...

2009-11-26T11:23:00.003-05:00

I have so much to be thankful for, but I have sweet potatoes to make so will make this short and sweet. I am so very thankful for...

My new niece! Meet Sophia (being held by my mom). Sophia was born on Tuesday, a couple of weeks early, but mama and baby are doing fine. Sophia is a little bit jaundiced, but they are checking her bilirubin level twice a day and hopefully it will resolve itself without having to go under lights.

Sophia was a little bit fussy, but mom worked her magic and calmed her right down.

I'm also thankful for three mischievous, out of control, badly behaved, but happy and healthy dogs! (Especially the "healthy" part)

And last but not least, I am so very thankful that 54 years ago today, these two "kids" said "I do."

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! I love you more than words can say!

Ever Wish You Were The Turkey?

2009-11-25T08:17:00.000-05:00

In which we are failures...

2009-11-22T20:10:00.003-05:00

Look at this sweet face. Who would believe that this innocent little creature who can't weigh more than a couple of pounds could turn the whole household upside down.

Little Olive is really a sweetie, and I'm sure that Cooper and Tara would accept her, eventually, but Emma is another story. Emma decided that Olive would be HER baby, and that no one else could go near the cage. Emma turned on Tara and Cooper, and at various points was snarling warnings and raising her hackles at them. When Emma attacked Cooper's haunches and had Tara by the neck, we decided this was not going to work. Olive went back to my niece.

Touching good-bye scene? I think not. While the humans were fighting back tears, the dogs just had their eyes on the prize...

New Arrivals

2009-11-21T16:30:00.004-05:00

Lookie what arrived in the mail today!
I won this cute zipper bag from Chan's Big Blessed Bash. Isn't it adorable? It was made by Piddleloop and it's the perfect size to hold some knitting notions to keep them from getting tangled up in my project bags. Much classier than my usual ziploc bag, too. Thanks Chan!

Speaking of knitting, I finished a couple of projects this week, but can't post them here yet. Soon, so keep watching...

Now for the newest resident of Britknitterville. It's not a Brittany. It's not even a dog. It's a cat, but not just any cat. Remember little Olive who wandered into our garage a few months ago? My niece Jen took her as a temporary measure. She has been socializing Olive, took her to the vet for shots & spaying, and has been trying to find her a loving home. No luck yet. Since Jen already has something like a bazillion cats, and has lots of company coming this week for Thanksgiving, she can't keep Olive any longer. So, Jen lent us a huge cat cage, and Olive is settling in nicely.
The plan is for Olive to patiently wait in the cage while the dogs get used to her. Eventually the dogs will grow to love their new little sister, and Olive will be able to leave the cage and everyone will enjoy a long and happy life together.

It's only been three hours, but I think it's going well. Cooper is barking incessantly, Tara is howling like a beagle, and Emma just stands "on point", trembling and licking her lips while staring at Olive. How much longer can this go on? I've got to go and look for any Percoset left over from my back surgery.

Anybody want a kitty?

Dogs on Thursday

2009-11-19T06:36:00.000-05:00

I read my first book by Dean Koontz this week. I know, I know, everyone but me has read something by him. What can I say.... I'm late to the party. A friend lent me her copy of Koontz's "The Darkest Evening of the Year." I laughed, I cried... well mostly I cried. I would recommend it to any dog lover, especially Golden Retrievers, or anyone involved in rescue.

I won't give away the story line (because that's one of my top 10 pet peeves) but one paragraph practically jumped off the page and said to me, "Hey, you there...are you paying attention to this? Read this again and again, and share it with everyone you know," so here it is:

"Dogs' lives are short, too short, but you know that going in. You know that pain is coming, you're going to lose a dog, and there's going to be great anguish, so you live fully in the moment with her, never fail to share her joy or delight in her innocence, because you can't support the illusion that a dog can be your lifelong companion. There's such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love while always aware it comes with an unbearable price. Maybe loving dogs is a way we do penance for all the other illusions we allow ourselves and for the mistakes we make because of those illusions."

I am so very thankful that my babes are all so healthy, but every day --every single day-- I look at Emma and Tara and Cooper, and know that the unbearable pain of losing them is coming. I can't help it. I also know that I will welcome another soul into my life when the unbearable pain becomes a little less unbearable, and the cycle will start again.

Scarlett c.1994
my first Brittany

May 13, 1991 - April 4, 2003

Nor'Easter Debris

2009-11-16T06:45:00.002-05:00

Over the past couple of days, we had quite a storm in this part of the world--one of the worst in New Jersey history as far as flooding and beach erosion goes, so you know what that means... Sea Glass!I'm not immune to the suffering of those who have sustained extensive property damage, but then again, look at this loot! Gorgeous greens and a couple of aquas, some really big pieces, plus a strange looking lead sinker/dipsy there in the bottom right corner of the photo.
It looks like a alien fishing gear!

Socks Experiment

2009-11-10T13:44:00.005-05:00

People have often asked me how long a pair of hand knit socks will last. I've always said I have no idea. Now I know! Back in March of 2007 (while we were all going through a rough time during sweet Melanie's final weeks of life), I made this pair of Jaywalkers as a little experiment.

Back then, there was some discussion at the online sock knitting forum www.socknitters.com regarding using reinforcing thread in the heels and toes of your socks. I mentioned that I use sewing thread to kind of beef up the heels and toes. One of the knitters mentioned that she heard that sewing thread can actually increase the wear and tear on the socks because of the rubbing of the thread against the yarn.

In the interest of scientific experimentation, I knit up this pair of socks using Grumperina's Jaywalker pattern and Knit Picks' Simple Stripes yarn and included plain old cotton-wrapped polyester sewing thread reinforcing the heel and toe of one sock, and one sock without. I've been wearing these socks, summer and winter (my feet are always cold!) for 33 months now, waiting and waiting and waiting for a hole to develop. While I was folding laundry this weekend, guess what I found? A hole! Jackpot!!!
On closer examination, you can see that this hole developed non-reinforced sock, so I guess the thread helped! For this pair, anyway. In the interest of full disclosure, though, I should add that the reinforced sock shows wear, also.
Maybe I should darn the hole and continue to wear the socks so I could keep track of how many additional wearings it takes until a hole develops in the reinforced sock!

Maybe I should continue to knit every pair of socks with reinforcing thread in one sock only and track the wear of socks made with different yarn content or types of reinforcing thread.

Maybe I should have my findings published in the Journal of Sock Knitting and earn a Nobel Peace Prize in Sock Knitting! If either existed, that is.

Maybe I should get a life...