Mr Greenjeans Progress

I'm making progress on my Mr. Greenjeans sweater though progress has been slow of late. This is one of many pictures I've taken and none do justice to the color which is much more 'jewel' like in person. I'm happy with it, so far it fits great and I hope I complete my Mr. Greenjeans while there is still time to wear it.

One reason for the slow progress has been a wicked case of, ahem, loose stools in the puppies. It was actually considerably worse than "loose stools". I think words such as "liquid" and "projectile" should be include but I wouldn't want to gross anyone out! I purchased not just rolls and rolls of paper towels but packages and packages of rolls and rolls of paper towels. My wash machine ran continuously, I think I wore the finish off my kitchen floor from the constant washing and I was so exhausted from all the cleaning and bathing of puppies.



Finally a few days ago we achieved hard stool stage. Life is so much better. Aren't they clean and sweet here? (...and quiet and asleep!)

The little gals are eight weeks old today and went to the vet for first shots this afternoon. Time to start making decisions as to their future, who goes where and who stays. And time for individual introductions.



On the left is Splats and on the right is Fussy.



This of course is Tinkerbelle.



And this is Necklace. Twosie didn't want to wake up for a picture so she's missing here. Maybe next time I blog.

And I can't leave out Fame.



Is this my best side?

Knitting, cooking and puppies of course

The blogs I enjoy the most are the blogs updated regularly. Unfortunately, that's not what I seem to be able to do. It is always my intention, just not my reality. I hope the regular bloggers I enjoy reading will keep it up. Meanwhile, I will work at not feeling guilty for my own irratic blogging.

Knitting



I am making good progress on my Mr Greenjeans. This picture is not very flattering. I can't seem to get a photo which shows off the lovely colors of this Dream In Color yarn. I've made more progess on the cable and rib pattern than shown here. It's a fun project.

I also blocked my Clapotis and re-hung it on the back of Dottie's chair.



Before Christmas I bought this yarn at my LYS to make the Fiber Arts Paws To Remember scarf. I decided to start this scarf in addition to Mr. Greenjeans. I am hoping it will turn out nice enough to send to a friend. The only problem is...this scarf requires size 7 needles and I am currently using my only size 7 needles on the Mr. Greenjeans. Oh oh, I sense a need to visit a yarn store!

Vegan Day



I am not vegan, heck, I am not even vegetarian. However, I do enjoy cooking and experimenting with new cuisines. A few weeks ago we held a Hot Dish Lunch at the office. One of my work mates brought a recipe based on this. I don't think this dish qualifies as a Minnesota Hot Dish, still, so delicous! I made it today and it was very good. I stayed with the basic recipe since it was the first time I've made this. Next time, I'll taste and add salt and a bit of sugar as needed. The worst mistake I made today was roasting the sweet potatos before the rice was ready. I love roasted sweet potatos and ended up snacking too much while waiting for the rice. I had to roast a few more potatoes to round out the dish.

Since I was into a vegan experience today, I made chocolate cupcakes filled with peanut butter cream from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. OMG! These are so good. I will definitely be making more cupcakes from this fun little book. I think I make excellent 'regular' coconut cupcakes so I'm anxious to try coconut and lime cupcakes from the book.

Dogs And Puppies



This picture is already a week old. I'll have to work at getting some new shots. The puppies are doing great though I can't say the same for the beating my kitchen floor is taking. The girls are having visitors for the next few weekends. That will be a lot of fun for the puppies and I'm anxious to show them off.

Fame, always my Wild Child. Fame had agility lessons today. Agility is definitely her sport but she needs to learn to listen and "chill" a bit. Fame tagged along to obedience class on Friday also where she was a big hit. I thought my friend Heidi was going to steal her away from me.

My Life For The Near Future

It's a girl fight!



We need to get out of here!



Oh my, our human mom says it's above freezing and we can be outside for a few minutes.



We do not like this at all, please take us back inside!



Ah, this is better.



We think we'll stay here until spring.



Our human mom says, "Please God, could you hurry up spring? What did I do before they invented these?"



Meanwhile, she tries to take comfort in the progress of her Mr. Greenjeans.



And remembering, this is what it is all about - a Pembroke who can not only excell in the show ring but also in performance events! Yes indeed, when you are washing your kitchen floor for the 5th time in a day, the picture above is definitely what keeps you going.

Finished my Clapotis

I completed my Clapotis since the last time I blogged. I finished it the last day of January. It still needs a good blocking but the only space I have to block such a large item is currently filled with the puppy whelping box (alias, large size Kiddy Pool). I think it will look much better once it is blocked but that project is going to have to wait another week.



Meanwhile, blocked or unblocked, Dot approves of the new adnornment to her chair.



I started a new project, the Mr. Greenjeans pattern from Knitty. I'm using one of my favorite yarns, Dream In Color Smooshy. The colorway is Blue Lagoon and so far, this knit is going quickly and I'm enjoying it very much. I hope to complete the sweater in time to wear it yet this season. The way this winter has been going, it should not be a problem at all!



The puppies are doing great. Don't they look cute here? You should have seen them a few hours earlier as they pooped and peed their way through my kitchen. Maybe someday it will warm up enough they can actually go outside. I have to go into the office tomorrow and can't imagine the mess I will come home to! I've raised Pembrokes for 28 years and only worked from home the last 3 years, yet, I've somehow forgotten how I did this while I was commuting. In all seriousness, these girls are as cute as they can be and I'm so happy they have all made it to this age and are healthy and strong.



And the best news of all, Fame thinks the new puppies are the best! She loves them and plays with them very appropriately. I'm so happy to know this as Fame was basically a singleton and it's great to see she has such good dog manners.



Good night!