Summer Time

Let's see, if I can still remember how blogger works, I can update my long lax blog.

Percy



Percy has pretty much recovered. He still has episodes of phantom pain and will start to attack his tail all the while growling and hissing in such a non-Percy personality I can barely recognize him. These episodes have slowly started to recede but I can't wait until they are gone forever. As my vet told me and I have slowly learned, tails are funny things with cats. As much as I love my Percy, I don't love the almost vicious Percy who appears during his tail attacks.

I'm not sure why Percy his sticking his tongue out at me in the above picture, then again, after all he has been through, guess I can't blame him.



It was difficult for Percy to eat while wearing the E-collar. I finally settled on the large pasta serving bowl from a set of pasta bowls I have. The individual bowls were not quite large enough but the serving bowl worked fairly well. He still spilled cat kibble all over the counter while eating in his E-collar. Glad that phase is over with.

Knitting



I made good progress on my second Mr. Greenjeans before the heat set in and I couldn't bear to knit with wool. I'll finish it soon enough. I've already learned this is fast knit. I'm knitting it in Dream In Color Classy, colorway Beach Fog.



Meanwhile, I started the Drop Stitch Lace Tank using Lana Grossa Point from my stash. Humm...not quite sure what I think so far. This yarn is very similar to Rowan Calmer and like Calmer, I find it difficult to hold gauge with this yarn and it has a tendency to want to split. Most of all, I think it will be a heavy piece for a sleeveless summer tank. We'll see...perhaps I'll frog it all soon and start something else.



I did finish my diamond lace scarf knit in Karabella Terrain. I think it turned out quite nice - other than I finished it in mid June and it was a birthday present for my sister's birthday in May. Ah, those best laid plans!

Dogs

I've been very busy with the dogs. Dusty finished his Open Standard and Open Jumper with Weaves agility titles. JJ has started showing in Novice Agility with some success and Dak managed to pick up one "leg" (passing score) on his Utility title. We're heading to Duluth this weekend in hopes of Dak completing his Utility title. He needs two more passing scores to complete the title.



I had to laugh over the puppy girls playing "The Princess And The Pea" on the stack of dog beds I made a few weeks ago while I was cleaning the floors. Above is Tinkerbelle and below is Rumor, hopping off in order to hide from that nasty flash on the camera.



Birds

Not too much new in the bird arena. Four of the five bluebird eggs hatched successfully and the 4 birds fledged without event. I think they must have been all males as I have a slew of male bluebirds around here suddenly.





My turkey made daily visits for several weeks but now is not to be seen. I was hoping she would continue to return each day and bring her summer chicks with her once they hatched. However, she has not made an appearance for about 10 days now. I hope she is too busy with her new chicks or has simply moved on, but I'm afraid she made have become coyote or fox bait. I miss her.

Hope you had a great July 4th!

Poor Percy

You know it's been a bad day when you sit down to eat supper while Jay Leno is doing his monologue. Definitely been that kind of day here.



My dear Percy is in trouble. Tomorrow he will have at least a part of his tail amputated. It all started so innocently. As you may know, Percy is an indoor/outdoor cat most of the year. He is a fantastic mouser and rabbit-ter. He is also a birder beyond compare and thus spends a few months each spring and early summer confined to the house so the birds have at least a chance to nest and fledge. Percy gets frustrated being in the house all the time and has invented a fun game of hopping from chair to chair under the dining table all the while teasing and taunting the dogs. Percy loves the game, the dogs love the game, it all seemed like so much fun to me.

This morning one of the dogs, and I have no idea who, managed to nip Percy's tail while playing the musical chairs game. I dropped Percy off at the vet where they sedated him and stitched up his tail. When I picked him up later this afternoon they warned me he might lose his tail. I thought that was too silly. He's the healthiest cat I know. It was just a little nip. However, after being home a few hours, Percy was in serious pain. He would circle and bite and rip at his tail. He ripped the stitches out. I had to take him into the vet on this evening and spent an hour or so there. We were able to give him pain meds and a bit of sedation. I have meds to give him again at 3:30 a.m. (hey, who needs sleep). Tomorrow I will bring him back to the vet and most likely he will have at least the tip of his tail amputated. Hopefully not more but the vet thinks probably more. We had a chance of saving his tail before he ripped it apart.

Birds



Before Percy's accident I thought I would start my blog off with this picture. Isn't she fantastic? I caught the turkey feeding in my front yard this morning. I was almost ready to get a picture of her stretching her neck and eating right out of bird feeder when the dogs also spotted her and starting barking up a storm. Naturally, the turkey left when the barking started, but she wasn't in any big hurry to leave so hopefully she'll be back. My sister in KY just laughed when I sent her this picture. She said the wild turkeys in KY are much fatter than this skinny hen. My sister said you can actually eat the wild turkeys in KY. Ha-rumph! The MN winters must be tougher on our turkeys.

In other bird news, I have a pair of blue birds nesting with 5 white eggs. The Bluebird Mad tells me white eggs are somewhat rare but not unheard of and it is not an indication anything will be wrong with the baby birds.

The Indigo Buntings are still here. I thought they had left but I see them at my feeders almost every day. A few days ago I had 3 pair of Red Breasted Grosbeaks at the feeder all at the same time. They are such beautiful birds. The Orioles are back too, along with the Eastern Phoebes, Chipping Sparrows and Wrens.

Oh, I forgot to mention about a week ago I saw my first American Redstart. He was flitting around my crab apple tree. What a pretty little bird!




Now my crab apple tree looks like this. Very pretty, but also very good camouflage for birds. I predict I'll be seeing fewer and fewer new birds now that the leaves are out.

Dogs



A few days ago the puppies came in looking like this. This is Fancy. Tinkerbelle and Rumor looked much worse but I was only able to catch a picture of Fancy. Believe it or not, they smelled even worse than they looked. I don't know what they found to roll in but ... yuk!

I spent my Memorial Day weekend at 3 days of agility trials. We had a blast. Dusty managed to pick up his OA (Open standard) title and 2 legs toward his OAJ (Open Jumpers) title. Dusty is so good, he even makes me look good!

The agility trails were blessed with good weather and we managed to escape the tornadoes. My manager, who lives in Western WI, was not so fortunate. They lost their barn and roof of their house. Luckily, they are all fine as are their horses and cattle.

Knitting

I do still knit, just no recent pictures to show. I'm working still on my lacy scarf and my Mr. Greejeans II.



Send good thoughts to Percy tomorrow. I could not care less what length or look of tail he ends up with, but I definitely want the "pain free" part of all of this. I think it's going to be a long night here.

Is it spring yet?

Gosh, seems like we Minnesotans have waited a long time for spring, and we're still waiting. I hope it comes soon. Actually, I'd be quite happy to skip spring at this point and go right to summer.

Birds

I haven't been posting much about my birds this spring. I think it's been so cold and gray most of the time I just can't get excited about it. But I am excited about this - Indigo Buntings!



Can you spot the Bunting on the thistle feeder here? I noticed a small, gray bird sitting in my large feeder a few weeks ago and thought to myself, that's a female Indigo Bunting. But I figured I must be wrong. I haven't seen Indigo Buntings here for about 10 years. Then, last week I spotted two males sitting in my large feeder helping themselves to the food. Two at once! I tried to get a picture but they flew off as soon as I moved towards the window. I did manage to capture a few, blurry, though the window pictures of one at my thistle feeder. The buntings were around for about 4 days, now they seem to have moved on. I wish they would spend the summer but at least I saw them while they were here.

I have bluebirds again but they haven't started nesting. According to the Bluebird Man, it's just too cool yet. I've heard some bluebirds further north are starving to death this year due to the cool weather and lack of food. Mine seem to be doing great in the food category. All this wet weather makes for plenty of worms for the bluebirds. Still, they have started building a nest on the few warm days but abandon efforts as soon as it turns cold and rainy again. This isn't a very good picture but it is proof of my bluebirds.



I spotted my first bluebird this year on April 14th. That's about 3 weeks later than normal. The first Orioles appeared on Monday, May 12th, about a week to 10 days later than expected.

Knitting



I don't think I have published a picture of my Mr. Greenjeans completed with a button and all. My sister Rita wore it to my nephew's college graduation and my mom tells me Rita was the best dressed of the group. I know moms tend to say these things but I must say, it does fit my sister very well and the color is perfect for her.



So, I decided to start my own, my second, Mr. Greenjeans. I turned a few skeins into center pull balls tonight. The way this spring has been going, if I hurry I might still get to wear my own Mr. Greenjeans before summer comes.

Meanwhile, I'm knitting on my lacy scarf. Here it is as a blob of lace.



And here it is stretched out a bit so you can see the pattern.



I think it will be quite nice once I block it out, but it's so boring. I usually manage one pattern repeat before I'm too bored to continue. I definitely need another project in addition to this scarf. I've used up one skein of the Karabella Terrain. I have three. I will definitely use a second skein to complete the scarf. I don't think I can manage knitting up three skeins. Maybe, but it seems too boring at this point. I think the scarf will be plenty long enough using two skeins.



This weekend I knitted several swatches for a project I bought back in . . . 2002? 2001? I can't remember as this project has been marinating on my back shelf for a long time. It's a stranded knitting project, not only stranded but done in cotton (eek, all my errors will show as cotton isn't as forgiving as wool) and it's not done in the round so I will be stranding on the backside (purl stitch). I can't imagine what I was thinking when I bought this. Yikes! Yet I'm sick and tired of looking at this project and am determined to get it started this summer.

I've made several swatches, more than shown here. I've swatched with different needle sizes, different stranding techniques, you name it, I think I've tried it. I want this project to turn out as nice a possible so I'm taking my time at the beginning. My biggest fear is that I don't have enough yarn for the body of the sweater. Now that will be a big bummer! I don't think I have much hope of finding the same yarn in the same dye lot should I run out. One of the perils of retiring a project for so many years!

I'm usually much more monogamous with my knitting projects but looks like I'll have three going at once for a while here.

Dogs

No new puppy pictures. JJ and Bunny go to NADAC trials this weekend so perhaps something new to show next week.

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!

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.

Happy Birthday USA!

I've had lots to blog about lately, just not lots of time to blog.


I'll start with Sunday, June 24th when I had such a nice visit with my friend Linda who was traveling from her home in Wyoming to Chicago for a family visit. Linda stopped by my house with her great dog Junior. Junior is a Dusty by Dot son and he sure is smart and well trained. He has a bunch of agility titles and is starting to show in the Open class for his CDX. Judging by the beautiful job he did on the signal exercise, he's also well on his way to competing in Utility. It was great to see Linda and Junior and I'm glad they had a good trip and are safely back in Wyoming now.

Bluebirds and Wrens

On Monday, June 25th, the five baby blue birds left their nest while I was at a three hour doctor appointment. Gosh, I was sorry to miss their fledging but I'm happy they are safely out of the nest. My sister gave me the name of the local "bluebird guy" who will actually come out to my property and check out my bluebird houses and put up new houses in better locations if needed. I can't wait! I hope to have a few more bluebird nests next spring.

The forever chirping baby wrens left their nest on Tuesday morning between 6:00-6:30 a.m.. I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat on the patio to watch. Being wrens, it was a noisy affair but so interesting. The parents sat in a nearby tree and called and called to the two youngsters who finally fell out of the nesting box and on to tree limbs below. From there one of the baby wrens immediately took off flying to his parents. The other wren, however, had some trouble and lack of confidence. This bird fell from the tree limb to the evergreen shrub below where it hopped around for some minutes before finally trusting itself to fly.

The wrens were the last birds to leave the nest here which meant my cat Percy was finally able to resume his indoor/outdoor cat life. I do love my cat but the months he is forced to stay inside are difficult months for both Percy and me. I tried to snap a picture of Percy as he ran out the door for the first time since April but he zipped by me so fast I'm not sure you can even find him in this photo. All in all, it was a successful "hatch" this year with 5 bluebirds, 2 separate wren nests of two babies each, about 12 tree swallows and uncounted number of robins, blue jays, orioles, hummingbirds and about every kind of woodpecker found in southern MN.

Family Reunion


The really big event around here for the past 5 days has been the family reunion. My parents planned it last winter. I come from a large family and my immediate family, plus all my first cousins, were given marching orders to be here for the big event. It was an absolutely fabulous reunion. Great planning, perfect weather, terrific food and though we are probably as dysfunctional as the next family, no big family blow ups. It was just a wonderful time.


Here's a lake shot, a typical long Fourth of July weekend. The kids enjoyed the water and the jet skis and then played a very hard fought game of soccer. Gosh, my cousins kids are very good soccer players. I'm glad no one impaled themselves on my dad's anchor while playing soccer.




I'm going to be happy to get back to work tomorrow and back to my everyday life. I've eaten and drink-en and visited and celebrated enough for the whole summer! I suppose I'm offending some vegetarian with this photo but one of several tasty reunion meals was this whole spit roasted pig. Delicious!


One of my brothers has provided a Fourth of July fireworks show for quite a few years now. This year he went all out with a spectacular show on Sunday evening for the reunion and yet another show this evening for Independence Day. I tried to take a picture but failed. This doesn't do justice at all to the great show my brother provided.

My cousin Molly took many professional quality photos during the reunion events and she had a slide show going during all days. There were so many exceptional photos. Perhaps I'll share a few as I receive them. It has a been a wonderful past five days, seeing so many of my extended family members and sharing great meals and great times with them. It's a time which will not be forgotten.

All right then, I'll try to get back to the subjects of knitting and dog training - things I've accomplished little of lately - next blog.

Belated Happy Summer Solstice

A belated Happy Summer Solstice to each of you! I lived in Alaska for 7.5 years and Summer Solstice was always celebrated there. Here, even in MN, it seems to go mostly unnoticed. I love the long summer evenings.

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. Some things in my work life became all consuming. Nothing has changed - yet, but I finally figured out my options and that's made a big difference. I hope to have some news soon.

Knitting News


The green traveling shells cardigan is coming along. I think I would have made more progress but for the work thing which has kept me so preoccupied. I've knit to the arm holes and have started working on the left side. I'm behind my goal for completing this, but that's OK. Knitting is a hobby after all. I'm suffering badly from "start-itis". I so want to start a new project but I am going to finish this first before I move on to something new. My new goal is to have the cardigan completed before my mom goes back to AZ for the winter.

Bird News

I woke up early today with a busy Saturday in front of me. However, instead of diving right into my many chores, I was seriously distracted by the tree swallow babies who left the nest this morning between 6:00-6:30 a.m.. So much fun to watch! The phrase "it takes a village" is certainly true for tree swallows. Besides the parents, a whole flock of swallows flew around the nesting box encouraging the baby birds to get out and try their wings. Three of the four were out of the nest by 6:30 a.m. but one lone baby stayed in the nest for another 12 hours. I was starting to get a bit worried, wondering what to do with a tree swallow who either couldn't or wouldn't fly. But fly the bird did this evening!

The 5 blue birds are still in their nest. I have not opened the nesting box but I've peeked in and can see their blue feathers. I expect them to fledge any day now. Both parents are very busy feeding their youngsters.

I also have a noisy brood of house wrens in a bird house very close to my bedroom windows. (I won't make that mistake next spring!) These babies too look very close to fledging. Soon I hope my cat can become an indoor/outdoor cat again. He's driving me crazy!

Dog News

Shamrock tried for her PT herding title this past Friday without success. She's off to a good start here but she and I hit a snag in the course later on. As the judge wrote on her critique, Shammie needs more schooling. And so do I! We'll get there, we'll keep on practicing and training and try again this fall. It was a nice day to get out with just Shamrock and for the two of us to enjoy each other's company without all the other dogs around.

We went to a show in IA last weekend. It was blistering hot. Addie managed a Best Of Breed one of the days and Dak managed to lie down on the long sit both of the days, thus disqualifying himself after racking up some very nice heeling scores. Yeesh! You can bet I've been practicing the long sit with Dak both at home and in several classes.

Very Sad News


The dryer tried to eat one of my pink tennis shoes and it was irreparably damaged. Bummer! I did love those pink shoes.

Here's the pair of boring blue shoes to replace the pink ones.