The Great Dog Search part.1

We have decided we are ready to get a new dog. Our beloved Gypsy Boots and Cosmo are still dearly missed but we need to fill the hole that they left. I have started to search Petfinder.com in order to find a sweet little pup that needs a rescue. The site is fabulous but I haven't found a dog I want that is within close driving distance. Can you have a dog shipped? That doesn't seem very nice. :0(

My son wants another Pit Bull but I get to pick our next dog and I want a Corgi, although I am very partial to Border Collies. I would love to find a Corgi/ Border Collie mix. Now that would be a great dog.

Do you have any advice on where to find Corgi pups that need a home?

The sweet furry face you see above is one of our family rescues...

Pepi La Pu... with my brother many, many years ago. Pepi had been abused and was very scared when we got him but he soon became a part of our family.

My son just brought over his dog "Brownie" who lives with my son's Father... that is how much I need a dog...I have been begging for canine visitors!

Isn't Brownie sweet?! He looks like a mini Husky and acts like a Fox not like a dog at all.

I am so excited about our next new friend... I just have to wait until we get back from our Thanksgiving trip to my Mom's. Then I am finding one!

200 Items

I am very pleased to let you all know we now have 200 items for sale in my shop. I am busy with crochet, embroidery, and quilting projects for 3 new babies in my family, Christmas presents and of course... the shop. This weekend we will be having another Tie Dye session so all the sewing will have to be put away for a few days but it sure is worth it. We have so much fun.

All of the shirts I posted here are for sale along with many more.

We have been trying to think "out of the box" when it comes to new color combos. The shirt above was an experiment that came out beautifully, I think.

I love these two.

For your little goblin...

For the little elf in your life.

There is something about this one the reminds me of The Grinch...

I love Christmas. I was working on a Christmas quilt last year and I ended up putting it away due to indecision. I think I will pull it out and give it another shot. Last night I watched "Nightmare before Christmas" and now I am in the mood! ;0)

Summer Shots

Today I am a bit sad because summer is over and we have had our first real snow storm.
I miss my bees and my cactus flowers...

and the sunflowers.

I don't normally like petunias but I couldn't resist the color of this one.

The hot peppers have been made into jelly and salsa.

The geraniums have been moved into the bedroom...it has the sunniest window.

The berries have been eaten, right of the vine.

Ten months after I started the seeds, we are out of tomatoes.

Oh, how I will miss them. The butterflies and mint are gone.

I still have Jackie-O-Lantern! She will be with us until...

... Halloween! ;0)

On to the next incredible season, Autumn.

The best thing about Autumn around here is the pine needles and the wind. The needles rain down with every gust and when they get warm the exude a fresh clean pine smell that I can't get enough of.

Oh... and the woodstove fires, so cozy.

I love Fall.

Soft as a Squirrel

I have been playing with the squirrels again. I can't resist. This little guy was so hungry he let me get very close.

and then he bolted up the nearest tree. I love his pert little ears.

He couldn't resist my yummy sunflower seeds so he was on his way back in no time.

He is peeking...

Now he is back in action and if I hold very still...

I can get closer.I wish I could pet his soft fur. Look at his sweet little nose.

His fingers are lovely, so long and able.

I bet he is so very soft.

I love nature's little critters.

Webmaster Wonder

I have a new little critter in my garden. She is a bit creepy crawly but completely amazing. I really don't know if she is a she but since she reminds me of Charlotte in "Charlotte's Web"I am goin' with it. She has created the most delicate web between a tomato plant and a pepper plant. It is in the most genius of spots, a wide open space where insects fly frequently. The Hollyhocks I have in the front flower bed often have a fat little bee sitting in each flower and now the unfortunate ones are finding themselves trapped in Charlotte's web.

The Tomato plant is where she spends most of her time but I have noticed a great variety of bugs go from just stuck to completely cocooned like a leftover for later. She really eats a LOT of insects.

While I watched her she noticed a hole in her web, so she ever so efficiently repaired it.

Perfection. Marvelous!

I am Pupless

See that sweet little black and white puppy at the top of the pile of pups? She became this beautiful dog. The best dog ever. She was a Christmas pup for many of our holidays together. She loved to sit on the stairs and look out over everyone downstairs. Her fur felt like velvet.

We had to put her to sleep almost two weeks ago and I haven't been able to blog since. I feel like if I just suck it up and write about it I can move on to blog about other things.

She spent 14 years with us, years I will never forget. I took this photo on our last "fun" trip in the car. She was such a sweet old lady.

My son was only 4 years old when she was born... he doesn't remember a day without her.
We have lost both of our cherished pets this year and we are having a terrible time without them. We feel like something is missing, like the house has a big hole in it. A giant empty spot where they used to lay. Good Bye Girls.

I would give anything to have your hair all over me again.
Good Bye Cosmo, you will always be my Doe'd... my Soul Dog.

Fair Amount of Fun

On Thursday my hubby and I went to the Fair. The theme was "Gilligan's Island, which was very weird. I thought. There were little signs saying things like "Hey little Skipper keep off the flowers". There were silly things like this awesome Professor doll amongst cheap silk leis. That is my hubby back there wondering"why are we here?".

The amusement park part of the fair consisted of the usual vomit inducing sort of fun.

The kind I have no desired to ride anymore especially at the price they want.

The Zipper...this one was THE scariest ride of them all when I was a kid. Oh yeah...it's the same.

Bobsled ride

Ferris Wheels scare me. Disney did it, that Giant SunWheel they have in Disney's Cali. Adventure has swinging baskets that I will never recover from.

Wheee... I can't take any more of this. On to the Quilts!

OK... so this one isn't a quilt. It is an afghan made entirely out of little granny Squares. Fabulous...and it gives me so many ideas.

I have to apologize for my photos of the quilts. I don't know what was wrong with me... I guess I was so in Awe of the quilt work I could care less about my photography. This one had a beautiful embroidered Lady in the center. Love it!

OH how I love crazy quilts. Doesn't it seem like it has a story to tell?

The colors in this one had me spellbound.

I love the use of Black and White in this beauty.

My photos do not do this one justice. Not even close. It was stunning.

It is called My Grape Arbor. I love the way the branches weave through the arbor and the leaves are 3 dimensional.

It was hot so they had fans going which kept this Space Quilt blowing in the breeze so my shot is blurry...that's my excuse ;0)

Oh... this horse wall hanging... just a fabulous work of art. The fabric choices created such an amazing texture.

I love this one... I looks like Home to me!

While I was wandering around feeling like I will Never be able to quilt like these competitors I overheard a conversation between a volunteer woman and a competitor...it tickled me.

It went something like this.

Volunteer- "Susan do you have a quilt in here?"

Susan- " Yes I do"

Vol- "which one is it?"

Susan- " I am looking for it, Oh... there it is... to the right of those painted t shirts!"

Vol- "Oh Susan... there is a ribbon hanging from it."

Susan- " Hmmm"

Then I watched and lurked and waited for her to go look at her ribbon. She slowly walked around and looked at every single other quilt there before heading over to her quilt. Such patience! When she finally did go over to it she calmly looked at the ribbon, made a quiet comment to her husband and left. What did she win? I had to see. So I went over to her quilt and took a look at the ribbon "1st Place" and " Best in Show"!

What did I do? Burst into tears! I was so happy for her! I am not nearly as calm about these things as she is... clearly. I am such a weirdo.

To top it all off, I didn't take a photo of her quilt. It was a beautiful quilt.

This quilt I did take several photos of because this one is MY "Best in Show"
The edges are raw and wonky. There are three Ravens carrying spools of thread, scissors and a tomato pin cushion.

There are 6 skeletons in a quilting circle stitching away on a glorious

Jack-O-Lantern themed quilt.

They look like they are having the best time quilting in the graveyard.

This quilt is genius... inspiring...

and so much more fun than "The Zipper"!