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Speck Update

January 9, 2013 · by

Thanks to those who have written and asked about Speck.  He’s doing 100% better!  He’s been neutered but he still has those male tendencies . . if you get my drift.  Last night when I picked him up to put him in the bed, he grabbed my arm and was about to try to have his way with me!  I told Vince I’ve never been so happy to see him doing that . . he has energy and he’s feeling frisky but . . no, thanks!   Any time Vince gets a bit too close to me, Speck growls and snarls at him and he did that again last night so we knew he was on the road to recovery.

This morning when I asked him if he wanted to go to the sewing room, he was excited!  Lately, he’s been going into the crate when I tell him I’m going to sew.  Looking back, and knowing what we now know, he’s probably been getting sick for several weeks and we were just attributing it to him getting old.  He had been not having a lot of energy and not getting excited about things that used to excite him but he was still eating well and had not been seemingly in pain til the weekend.

He puts so much effort into getting himself covered up and he never likes it when I help him.

I like our vet so much!  He’s an older guy with not a whole lot of personality and at first, I wasn’t sure I liked him but they’re so good with Speck.  They drew blood and did all kinds of things to him Monday and he never hollered and believe me . . he is a screamer.  If he even thinks he’s about to go through something painful, he hollers!

Whew . . at last . . he’s where he wants to be.  On his pillow, completely encased in a big, old sheet.  He’s right next to my sewing machine and he is comfortable so long as he knows I’m right there close by.

We’re both so relieved that he’s feeling better.  He still isn’t getting as much food as he’d like to get but we’re being very strict about giving him nothing more than the prescribed food, in the prescribed amount . . and Speck thinks he’s starving.  Starting tomorrow, I can give him 3/4 cup per day instead of the 1/2 cup per day.  You can bet that will make him a bit happier.  He’s such a “hound” when it comes to eating . . he never gets enough.

· Filed Under: Quilting · 23 Comments

Quiltathon Starts Tomorrow

January 9, 2013 · by

Remember back when I made several meatloaves to put in the freezer?  One is out for tomorrow’s dinner.  Heat and eat means more sewing time.  Leftover chicken & pasta is on the menu for Friday and ground beef is thawing for a pot of chili for the weekend.  Have you done anything to make meals happen without taking away too much sewing time for the next four days?

My Quiltathon goals (and I don’t even hope to get them all done):

  • Bind Margie’s quilt
  • Load backing for three QOV quilts (I’m going to try to load one big backing for all three tops)
  • Get blocks done for Nicole’s New Beginnings top

There’s a new quilt I’ve been playing around with in EQ and I so want to work on that but I’m not going to let myself until at least the four things are done on my Get It Done list.

Anyone else have goals set for this Quiltathon weekend?

· Filed Under: Quilting · 19 Comments

Knitting Fever

January 9, 2013 · by

So, I stayed strong for almost 9 whole days into the new year.  If you’ve read my blog long, you know that most anything that happens around here, someone else gets blamed.  I try to claim that “it’s not my fault” 100% of the time . . though most, including my husband, no longer believe me.

There are several to blame for my recent fall off the “no buy” wagon but I’ll start with Sheri at The Loopy Ewe.  They have quarterly challenges and I’ve never done one . . I don’t think I’ve ever done one anyway.

Sugar & Cream Cowl

That girl in the picture has the color hair I always wish I had.  Not that it has anything to do with knitting but I love that color!

For the 1st Quarter of 2013, it’s something that uses 1 skein of yarn and has cables.  I chose the Cream & Sugar Cowl because my coat is so scratchy!  Most of the time I have on a T-shirt and the back of neck itches every time I put that coat on.  I’m using Madelinetosh Sock in Graphite. The coat is black and gray but if I like this cowl and since it only uses one skein of yarn, I might make more.

This is also Sheri’s fault, I decided to make Owlie Socks for Nicole. Sheri has this on her list of possibilities for the challenge.

Owlie Socks

That’s not my 1st Quarter project because (1) you can only do one project and (2) I’m using yarn I already have here.  That should count for something, right?

This one is Denise’s fault.  And, if I didn’t want to blame Denise, but I do want to blame her, I could also blame this on the scratchy coat.  Denise sent me the link for this Sweater Shawl.

Sweater Shawl

I look at it sometimes and I love it and I look at it sometimes and I think it’s kinda weird.  It reminds me of a vampire cape.  I sent the link to a friend and said “I kinda like this”.  She wrote back and said “I kinda don’t!”  So, heck, I’ll just blame her too because I think I wanted to make it just to prove to her that it’s going to be so cute, she’s going to want one so . . Judy, it’s your fault too!  And, because of that I’m not sure if I like this or not attitude, I ordered Cascade 220 Superwash for it.  I’d probably like it a whole lot batter out of Madelinetosh Vintage but . . maybe if I love it, I’ll make another one.

And last, I’m not real sure who to blame for this one but if I thought about it long enough, I’d come up with someone.

Ashby Shawl

This is Ashby and on this rainy, cold day, it just looks so warm and wearable.  I’m not going to blame Mother Nature but really . . I probably would not have bought this pattern and ordered yarn if today would have been a sunny, warm day!  I ordered Cascade 220 Superwash for that too.  It’s inexpensive and can go in the washer and dryer . . which usually isn’t an issue because all I do is buy the yarn and pattern and never make anything!

This time it’s going to be different!  As soon as I finish the socks for a friend (which I haven’t started yet), I’m going to make the Sugar & Cream Cowl, and then I’m going to make Owlie Socks and then maybe I’ll make the Sweater Shawl or the Ashby Shawl.

· Filed Under: Quilting · 16 Comments

Thankful For The Rain

January 9, 2013 · by

While my family and friends in southwest Louisiana are drenched and filling sandbags and moving antique vehicles to higher ground, here in central Texas, we’re giddy with all this rain.

Looking Back Towards Implement Shed

Looks like it’s a bit late for any of the grass in the picture.  That’s ok . . it was mostly weeds and cockleburs anyway and I don’t think you can kill a weed or a cocklebur, which I guess is a weed too.

I haven’t ventured out to the rain gauge but if I had to guess, I’d say we’ve had a bit over 3″.  It’s been raining slowly . . no damaging downpours . . for over 24 hours.  It can do this for 24 days and I won’t complain!

Outside the Sewing Room

I’m betting the trees and weeds, definitely the garden, are as happy as are the humans for this slow falling rain.

The Driveway

Puddles everywhere!  I think that blue bucket tends to end up in as many of my photos as do the water hoses.  Who would ever have thought I’d be so happy to see rain that photos of puddles would be blog worthy?

· Filed Under: Home & Garden, Texas · 11 Comments
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