Dogs on Thursday Post

The Many Faces of Dew...

Happy DOT's ya'll!

Good Morning!

A little reminder for the pups and I of our early morning walk that will cheer us all through the day in the office. Just thought we would share!

Dye Day

I had a great time on Saturday. Our monthly meeting of the Woolly Wonders Fiber guild met at members Dave and Patty's house for a day of dying our yarn, fleeces, or other items with natural dye derived from plants that are all around us everyday.

I tell you I have always admired what most people call weeds if they had a flower on them. But after Saturday I am looking at them in a whole new way. We had dye made from black walnut, queen anne's lace, jewel weed, sandalwood, yarrow, indigo, and some even made from female beetles (which I can't remember the name, but I was impressed!).

Here are some pics from the day. Let me apologize in advance for the quality as they were taken by cell phone. (Once again I forgot my camera, aaaarrrrrrggghhhhh.)



Dyeing pots.

This was a view from Dave and Patty's front porch.

Dave bringing out some more colors he had made up ahead of time.

Yarn and fibers soaking before dyeing.

Members enjoying lunch and the view during the break.

Yarns drying in the sun.

Look at all those different shades!


This is how mine turned out! The white up in the right corner, actually has a slight green tint to it. I think we had too much in the pot and the dye had been absorbed. I am going to re-do this yarn hopefully this week.

So much to absorb in a short period of time. In the meantime I am going to do some more research, it has definitely caught my interest!

Oh yes...the garden...

Someone has been enjoying the garden...

You can see cabbage, squash, corn, lettuce, eggplant, tomatoes, ...

Guess what you can't see...

BEANS!!!! Or at least not much left of them...

Guess who is going to get fired if he doesn't start doing his job!

My husband the softee thought he might not like getting wet so he lent him his rain coat....men....

The deer even ate the top of the cucumbers...although we have had a few cukes already.

Some zucchini coming on....

even some tomatoes hiding in there...

the acorn squash is taking over and taking prisoners if they want to survive the corn better get a move on!

Last but not least a nice place to enjoy those veggies after all the weeding is done or what is left of them anyways!

Slobberfest 2009

Let me just say right off that HoneyDew was the smart one on this day. She had the best seat in the house. From that level she could actually see all the action in the ring and it was kind of funny to watch her head go back and forth. You can even tell how interested she was by the wrinkle in her brow!

Sampson on the other hand wavered between wanting up on our laps like the other dogs were doing or flirting with the nice young lady in front of him that thought he was the sweetest boy ever!

Some of these pictures you should really blow up just to understand the level of devotion and enthusiasm this breed and the cause generates. I mean who else would be crazy, I mean devoted, enough to sit outside in a storm complete with thunder and lightening with it raining so hard it was blowing in under the tarps side ways!

In this picture, behind the lattice work fence, were quite a number of bassets for fostering or adoption...

There were quite a few attendees around a hundred bassets complete with owners attended, which was down from last year as there were around 200 then. Still there were attendees from as far away as LA, California and Florida, as well as New York, Ohio, Kentucky, PA, and New Jersey.

The games consisted of the longest biscuit toss and catch, the fastest basset to cross to the finish line in response to the owners' call to come ( I know, quit laughing!), yep this one got a little side tracked...

the cutest basset bum contest, the most original hat contest, and the cutest costume contest.

After this last picture, my batteries died, but I hope you at least caught a glimpse of some of the fun we had even though the weather was not at it's best. I hope maybe some other basset owners might mark it on their calendar to plan to attend next year! It would be neat to meet up with some of you in person, we are definitely planning on going again.

Happy DOT's!

Time that matters most...

...is the time spent with family.

Me and my mom, look at that smile!

My husband this year surprised me early, with a gift intended for Mother's Day. It was a round trip plane ticket to go and visit my mom.

It was truly a visit that I will treasure forever. We had the best of times. We visited, worked in the strawberry patch, the herb bed, fed the rabbits ( you should really check out her rabbit blog here), cooked together, visited an antique place, an herb farm, etc.,we shared ideas on our latest projects, our chickens, vegetable gardens, ate sushi!, shared about our jobs, went to church and so on.

Mom at work.

We didn't have any agenda, or big plans, we just let them happen as they would. It was absolutely great and I can't wait to go back or for them to come up.

It has been at least five years since my mom and step-dad moved south. I never thought that another place would feel like "home" so to speak (even though I am grown and have a place of my own I am sure you all know the feeling I am referring too). But I was wrong.

I think it is just my mom's talent of creating an "at home" feeling no matter what setting she is in. Touches such as...

or

Mom and I split a tea cup set so that we can each make our cup of tea in matching mugs and go sit on our respective front porch and have a catch up chat. Although the miles between us may be many, the distance never is.

Time that matters most, to be con't...

Meet Miss Mary...

The pups have formed a bond with a wonderful groomer named Miss Mary that they go to faithfully to have their pawdicure. As some of you may know from the comments I have left on your blog about this subject, Miss Mary does not accept pay for this service. No, she will however accept a donation on behalf of the Humane Society (what a neat idea for a fundraiser and what a big heart she has!). She also volunteers her services to the Humane Society too!

Upon arrival, I asked if I could get some pics to put on my blog for our "Dogs on Thursday" post. She was a little shy at first, but she finally gave in graciously ( I did tell her the bruises from the arm twisting would heal! JK ;)!

Here is Sampson already sniffing around trying to see what he can get into. He is pouting a little because I told him to stay out of the trimmings from a previous visitor.

Yesterday we went out at 7:30 her last appointment of the day (she started at 8:00 AM!) was supposed to be there. They were late. No matter, she set about doing the pawdicure for the pups. Shortly after they were finished and we were having a gab fest, her last appointment of the day arrives.

A cute little Pomeranian, which right before the visit had rolled in manure!!! So before Miss Mary could "do whatever you do with a Pomeranian grooming wise" (as her owner put it), she had to bath her to get rid of the smell and the residue (yuck).

After bathing and drying the poor thing. Miss Mary started the grooming. She started to brush out the dog only to find the undercoat severely matted. So she tried picking out the mattes, combing them out, only no matter how careful she was, she could tell it was hurting the pup (who had never been to a groomer) pulling on the skin and she was not making any progress to speak of. After awhile of trying the above methods, she finally gave in and called the owner to discuss the situation, and offer her some options. The owner decided to have the coat cut down. This is what Mary found as she started the process...

feel free to blow up the pictures to get a real good look at this...

words simply cannot describe...

the coat was so matted that it actually came off in one piece...this picture is pretty close to the end of the trim. Mary was so sad that she had to take the coat so close to the skin, but there was simply no way around it. It was matted to the skin.

When the owner came to pick up the pom, Miss Mary was apologetic, explained about the matted undercoat, showed it to the owner how badly matted it was, it literally looked felted. The owner was not pleased, was not happy and told Miss Mary that when she baths the pup she "pics" the coat up. It was pretty obvious that she did groom the outer coat but was not getting to the under coat. Miss Mary also offered advice to protect the pups skin until the coat grew in a little, such as wearing a light weight t-shirt on the pup. The owner paid her fee and left.

Truly, I felt a little annoyed with the lady and sorry for Miss Mary who tried to do the right thing for the pup. This pup weighed maybe a couple of pounds and took well over 2 hours for this whole thing to unfold. As Miss Mary explained, this situation could easily have been avoided with daily grooming and some breeds simply require that dedication.

I really wanted this to be an upbeat happy post. However if something good comes out of it such as educating someone who might read this and be considering a longer hair breed, this might be beneficial. As Miss Mary says "everything happens for a reason"!

Here is a happy picture, this pup is Miss Mary's Standard Poodle, Eddie and is a joy to be around and very friendly. Miss Mary keeps him in a short clip because it is a farm dog with all sorts of things to get into! I am sure he will bring back memories for my Aunt Rose, he certainly reminds me of Andy...

According to Miss Mary, Eddie was saying "Ok, now ayou can take da picture, dis is my bestest side!"

"No, seriously, look at dis aruistocwatic pwofile! I could sell de collars wif dis face!"

Miss Mary left me with one other clean house hint today: Furminator people! You can find @ Kmart for $30 for those hounds that insist on heavy shedding through the summer! I tried it out while I was there. IT WORKS BIG TIME! It got out that bunny undercoat! I am purchasing one my next pay! And the big test (drum roll please) Sampson loved it!

Go here to check it out!

Happy DOT's all!