Still There Are Two

I still have two puppies though it has not been without struggle. My little boy wants to live and this has saved him so far. I'm still holding my breath for him and hoping for the best. Dottie looks good doesn't she?



My vet and I agree the little boy was born premature. He is lacking some hair on his head, which you can see in the above picture, and also on his feet. His hair is growing in. I am so amazed he is with us. Of course I understand problems might yet develop but I am in awe of his will to survive and have decided I will help him however I can. You can see he is less than half the size of his sister. I am supplementing him but less and less each day. My "little" girl is a chub isn't she? Hurray for her.

If you have any name suggestions for my premmie boy, send them along.

Belated Happy Birthday To Me



Yesterday was my 55th birthday. Geez, I'm old! I was so busy with work and helping Dot with her puppies that I didn't celebrate much. I received many nice cards and gifts.


Knitting


Have you seen this pattern of the Autumn Cardigan?



You can find it here. I just love it. I even ordered the yarn.



The picture does not do the yarn justice. I have no idea when I will start this project, I just know I had to have the pattern and yarn as soon as I saw it. Perhaps I'll start this winter.



The Autumn Cardigan will be a difficult knit for me and honestly, once I complete the Traveling Shells Cardigan, I will be happy to work on a few simpler projects for a nice break. I have not had any time to knit since my last post. I surely hope to finish the Traveling Shells cardigan soon. I'm not much of a stash person, but look at the lovely sock yarns I have waiting for me. A few simple socks would be a great break.

Twenty Four Hours

Actually, almost 36 hours old now and both puppies are strong and doing well. My little boy is still quite small but he is a fighter and gaining strength with time. Mother Dot is doing well though she wishes I'd turn down the heat in her new bedroom. Sorry Dot, not until the puppies are a few days older.

I'm exhausted. I did manage to make my roasted tomato sauce though. Here's the conglomeration before it went into the oven for an hour.



Fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, a little carrot, thyme and basil all coated with oil olive. It was delicious over a little pasta on a night I didn't feel like cooking much.

I'm exhausted but will set the alarm every 3 hours tonight to check on Dot and the puppies. It was a beautiful weekend outside, wish I could have enjoyed it more. I have so much yard work to do...heck, I have so much knitting to do!

Blue Sky

At least I think that's what this is called. We've been so long in the rain and fog and gray I may have forgotten the correct name for the above. It's an absolutely beautiful day today and my house managed to stay dry through all the rain so I'm trying to enjoy the day as best I can.

My dog Dot had three puppies by C-section this morning. Things aren't going perfectly. We lost one large, beautiful male. My first litter in 2.5 years. It was disappointing enough to be a small litter and to lose one of the three was very sad.



I have one strong female and one weaker, smaller male. I'm helping the little boy and he is able to nurse from a bottle so hopefully I can keep him going until he's able to nurse from mom and until mom's milk comes in stronger. A puppy's survival is always touch and go for the first few weeks but especially after a C-section. Send good thoughts.

I won't make it to the State Fair this year but Susan of The Rainey Sisters posted pictures of her own and a few other winning items. Gosh, those Rainey sisters sure can knit.

Jeanne also did some winning and has photos on her blog. These will have to be my vicarious State Fair experience this year. Next year I'm going to set a goal to enter an item or two.



Speaking of my own knitting, I thought it was time to bore you with the sleeve progress on the traveling shells cardigan. I've completed 1.5 pattern repeats, only 3.5 to go before sleeve completion.



I had hoped to make roasted tomato sauce today but instead will spend my time hovering over Dot and her puppies.

Catching Up

Nothing particularly new today. I am making slow progress on the sleeves of the traveling shells cardigan. I truly hope to finish by the end of the month - but we'll see.

Both Jeanne and Guinifer asked about my bluebirds so I thought I'd expound a bit. I found the "Bluebird Man" through my sister and her husband who live on the other side of town. As it turns out, he is actually my county's coordinator for the Bluebird Recovery Program, of which I am now a member.

One thing the bluebird man insisted on was that I take down all the bird houses which were attracting wrens who are the enemy of bluebirds he told me. Now I do not like being a bird bigot and the first day we took down the houses the wrens complained all day. By the second day, the wrens were gone. It made me sad, I love to hear those chatty wrens. Still, I must say, by the third day my yard was filled with bluebirds. They visit every day now, especially in the early morning and early evening. They do love the bird baths and it is so fun to watch them play in the water.

Here's a link to the Second Wave Clapotis KAL. I can't decide if I can't wait to get started on my Clapotis or if I can't wait to finish my Traveling Shells Cardigan!

Clapotis KAL Second Time Around

I'm about to join my fist KAL (Knit Along) and we will be knitting the Clapotis. The KAL will start September 23rd, the first day of autumn. I'm excited about this new knit. It will give me the impetus I need to finish up the green traveling shells cardigan. It's being organized by Bridget. Send her a note if you would like to join.

I've already purchased new yarn for my Clapotis. I couldn't wait, I haven't bought new yarn since May. I told Bridget I would put a picture on my blog of the new yarn on Thursday but I had a few interruptions which prevented that.

Thursday afternoon started my a/c problems. My air conditioner is a fairly new unit and I was not expecting problems so soon. I had the HVAC folks out on Thursday afternoon and then again on Thursday evening (spendy!). The problem was not completely put to rest until I paid a plumber to come out this morning. Finally I can say the dogs and I are cool and comfortable in our air conditioned house with a dry basement floor. (A side effect of all this trouble is a very clean and (finally) dry basement floor.)

Despite the problem plagued Thursday I sat down Thursday evening with full intention of blogging about my new yarn only to discover the batteries in my camera were dead and I was out of replacements. Geez, when it rains it pours.



So, after all that, here's a photo of my new yarn. I tried several different backgrounds and none do the yarn justice. It's Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb in color Vera, very autumnal colors, burgundy to dark pinks, brown to light khaki, olive green to paler green. I know it is hotter than the blazes right now but this will be an autumnal KAL and I love the rich colors. I've knit a lot of pastels lately and am looking forward to the change.

Still blogging...

I'm still blogging, just been busy. I haven't even had a chance to knit since last Friday evening. Sometimes Life gets in the way of the life I want to have. I hate it when that happens.

The I35W Bridge

I've checked all the Minnesota blogs I read and everyone seems to be fine but like most Minnesotans, I know more than one person, my nephew included, who traveled the bridge on a daily basis. I wish they would publish the names of those injured so I can rest easy no one I know is on the list but I understand the privacy reasons for not being able to do so. Such a tragedy.

Knitting News

None actually. I'm still plugging away on the green traveling shells cardigan. Lack of time has seriously curtailed any real progress. I have one half of the shawl collar completed and hope to start on the second half this evening.

Dog News



A bit of pleasant dog news to share. Remember Junior? Junior and his owner/handler Linda managed a High In Trial award from the Open A class. This is a fantastic achievement. They are quite the team.

JJ managed to complete his championship this past weekend. Hurray! Of course I'm happy about his championship however I'm ever so happy JJ never has to go in the show ring again. This is a boy who can see no sense in making silly circles around a show ring when there are other, much more fun activities like obedience and especially HERDING, to do.



Whisper went to the shows this weekend also and was Reserve Winner both days. I call this the "Best Of The Losers" award. Pictured above is Whisper on Monday morning, exhausted from her weekend efforts. Sorry for the X rated photo but I thought she was pretty cute. Wish I could relax like that!

Bluebirds

The "bluebird" man came out and helped me put up a few new houses and take down houses which were only attracting wrens and tree sparrows. We will put up additional houses next March. A few days after his visit I had 9 bluebirds in my yard early in the morning and late in the afternoon. They had a blast in the bird baths. It was so much fun to watch them. They've since moved on. Hopefully they will be back to visit my yard on a frequent and regular basis. I hope so.