Housetraining the Puppy

     We are in the final stages of housetraining Zoey the beagle puppy.  All of the pee pads have been

removed except 2...kitchen and TV room...but she seems to be skipping them and choosing to use the living room and my bedroom floor!  This morning when she woke me up...at 6:45am...we walked quickly to the door and went outside w/o any mishaps.  Both dogs were out there for about half an hour when Fanny let herself in.  Jeff went out and got Zoey about 15 minutes later.  The dogs and I went back to bed for a nap and when Zoey got up again...about 8:30am...I followed her and caught her using the living room floor.  Jeff disciplined her and put her outside again.  When she came in she checked the backyard from her window perch next to my computer then stretched out for a nap in the chair.  A little while ago she got up, played with Fanny, ran into my room and got on my bed.  I just walked into my room, saw a small puddle on the floor and said "oh, no" when Zoey jumped off the bed and dove under it to hide!  Jeff came in and pulled her out and disciplined her (again) and put her back outside.  She's inside again and he's trying to 'talk' to her.  I sure hope she decides to listen soon.  I'm getting mighty tired of the smell of "Mr. Clean".

The Royal Wedding...and Other things

   Fanny got me up about 5am on Saturday because she 'had to go' so while the dogs were outside and the coffee was brewing, I turned on the TV...BBCAmerica, of course...to watch the wedding.  The hats and the colors the guests were wearing sure put American women to shame!  But the color combo I like the best was being worn by the Queen!  Her lime green and purple outfit looked great...so I dug into my yarn bag and found what was left of the Apple Green Red Heart worsted that I used for one of the shrugs and sat down and started a hat.  I had just enough yarn and thought it was close enough to be called lime!  There was plenty of the Dark Orchid Red Heart for a knit rose but I had to really scrounge for a couple of days to find something to use for leaves.  Ended up finding just enough Forest Green to make 2 small leaves. 

I got the hat finished yesterday and I'm very pleased with the results.  Hope someone else likes it as much as I do and buys it!  I managed to find some raspberry yarn to make another rose for the 2nd hat I did Saturday...that one was in

Red Heart's Pond.  I was really trying to use up what was left from the shrugs.  Both of these hats are slightly bigger than the usual baby hats.  They will fit little girls up to 2 years old.  Hats are the only things that I've been selling at the shop so I want to keep the display full.  Gray's been a good seller so I did

another gray hat...this time a baby hat.  I was thinking of doing a Baseball Hat to fit a 2 year old but I'm not sure it would sell.  (It ended up being today's project.  I just finished them!  8:45pm, 5/24/18)

I'd like to take the hats to the shop tomorrow or Friday morning ...after all, nothing sells from my knitting bag hanging on the back of a chair in the kitchen. 

Life Goes On

My shrugs compliment Sharon Gibbons' sundresses

   I finished the shrugs I'd been working on and took them to the shop with plenty of time for Spring Fling this past weekend but the weather did not cooperate and it rained.  Sales on Saturday...when the parking lot was suppose to be full of spring flingers...was not what we were hoping for.  Oh, well, there's always next weekend...Memorial Day!  I've been working on some toddler-size hats as well as the baby-size I

usually do and plan on taking them down this week to fill in the spaces in the hat display.  Sweaters have not sold at all this spring.  Very disappointing.

   Zoey's been perfecting her 'thief' skills.  The other day I went into my bedroom intending to get the card wallet out of my purse but the pocket it was suppose to be in was empty. 

The outside pocket was empty!

 The zipper had been opened and Zoey was lying on the bed chewing away!  Luckily, she hadn't been able to chew thru the layers and damage any of the cards (driver's license, health insurance cards, credit cards, etc.) except my library card.  And that card doesn't have to be scanned or run thru a machine, the numbers just have to be legible.  The library aide and I had a good laugh but now I have to make sure the zipper is totally closed when I hang my purse on the closet doorknob!

   Zoey has become our 'Early Canine Warning System'.  She sits on the chair in the window of my room peeking out from under the curtain...looks like Megan Markel's wedding veil...and announces when someone is turning into our driveway, going past our house, driving on Smallsbush Rd--going down the hill, etc.  She takes her job very seriously.  Fanny use to be like that, too, but as she got older I think she decided it wasn't worth the effort to announce every car or person who went by.  It's still new to Zoey and she must find it exciting.  I usually remember to tie back the curtains because I'm just not sure she won't pull them down by accident some day. 

   Jeff got bite by a tick Saturday.  After rolling around trying to work on the Cub Cadet I'm not surprised!  He checked Fanny and found one on her head and I had to use the tick comb and remove it.  Zoey enjoys being checked for ticks (Fanny doesn't) when they come in from playing outside.  So far I haven't found any on her.  I suppose once I do...and have to remove it...she won't like being checked anymore.  Another fun activity living in the country.

    Jeff had to prune one of the old lilac trees my mother's oldest sister's husband, Frank Fiala, gave her when my parents bought this house in 1962 because it was badly damaged in that last weird storm we had this year.  I didn't think any of it would blossom this year but he just cut these blossoms off from the broken branches!   I really don't have any

idea how old the tree is but my aunt was 20 years older than my mom and they had been living in their house on Bellinger St for as long as I could remember.  Mom always loved this lilac and so do I.  I think I'll put this bunch in my bedroom...high above Zoey head...wonder what it will do for my allergies?  Aw, it'll be worth it!

Saturday in the Shop

   I worked in the shop on Saturday and had these 2 girls' shrugs finished to take with me.  They were made to coordinate with the sundresses by Sharon Gibbons.  The top shrug is a size 4-5 hand-knit with Red Heart Flamingo, a 100% acrylic yarn on US7's.  The bottom picture is a size 2-3 shrug done in Red Heart Genadina , also a 100% acrylic yarn on US7's.  I didn't get the 3rd shrug finished but hope to get to it today.  It's a size 4-5 done in Red Heart Pool, a 100% acrylic deep teal.  I also have a skein of Spring Green and Dark Orchid waiting to be made into shrugs, too.  Hopefully, I'll have them done by next Monday when I work in the shop again.  
   I also took a Baseball hat and it sold to a lady visiting from Louisiana.  It was going to be part of a christening gift (with a crocheted baseball and bat rattle).  I'd like to do a couple more BB hats before Monday.  They sure go fast!! 
   My friend Maggie stopped in on her way home from work at the Farmer's Museum and we got to visit for awhile.  It's sure nice to be able to talk with an old friend, isn't it?  It really perked me up!  Friday night had been rough here in the little house in the little woods.  We were under a tornado watch and the wind was strong most of the night.  Branches kept breaking around us and every time there was a loud bang Fanny, the older, larger dog, would wake up barking, and run thru the house looking for a safe spot to hide.  Zoey would then wake up and take off after her baying like crazy.  Did not make it very easy to sleep.  Jeff had gone to town and until he came home Fanny kept her little routine going.  I was not a happy camper by the time he did get home.  I think I ended up with 4 or 5 hours sleep.  Not enough to work in the shop properly.  I know I screwed up the closing.  I couldn't get the cash drawer to add up the same way twice!!  Finally I just left it and hoped I wasn't too far off.  
   This morning our friend, Tim, sent me some photos of his daughter's wedding in Florida and I copied and pasted them to send to Maggie so I decided to try and paste one or 2 here.  I don't know how long they'll last because they're coming off of Facebook.  Oh, well, Lauren was a beautiful bride and I hope this photo lasts a couple of weeks at least!

May the 4th be with you!

    May the 4th be with you!  I can't believe it's May 4th!  What happened to April?  Ok, it wasn't very remarkable...a lot of the same old, same old... lousy weather, car problems, dogs needing to see the vet, trips to the doctors for the humans...but I thought it was never going to end!  And suddenly it's May 4th!  WOW!  Talk about time flying!  
   I've had the windows open the last couple of days and Zoey's been sitting on the cedar chest next to my computer in front of one.  One corner of the screen is now pushed out of the frame and I don't know if she did it or not.  I even found her sitting there last night...around 11pm...in the dark with her nose against the screen!  It had just started to rain hard so I was up shutting windows.  I don't think she approved but she didn't complain.  Fanny was laying next to Jeff's computer...I think she heard/felt thunder in the distance...and was ignoring me.  Zoey just came to bed with me and curled up...she didn't seem to be bothered by thunder or rain.  When I woke up this morning both dogs were on my bed so I guess Fanny got over her nervousness eventually.
   I've been trying to fill up my space in the shop with something that will sell.  (My total sales for April was 1 Baseball Hat.)  It was suggested that I make some little girl shrugs to coordinate with the little girl sundresses that we carry. I've done that in the past so I agreed.  Sharon, the crafter who sews the dresses, sent me the fabric samples and I took them with me when I went shopping for yarn.  I found several colors that were new this year that picked out something from those samples.  I've finished 2 shrugs so far...one each, a size 2 and 4...and have another size 4 on the needles.  I hope to get another size 2 done before I go to the shop to work on Sunday.  (Got to get some of those Baseball Hats done, too!  If nothing else, they sell!)  Here's the size 2 shrug done in Red Heart Grenadina, a
100% acrylic yarn that is
machine wash and dryable.  And that's the
fabric sample pictured with it.  They matched rather well, don't they?  The 2nd shrug is a size 4 in Red Heart Flamingo and the size 4 on the needles with Red Heart Pool, a deep aqua. I've got a skein of Red Heart Spring Green in my stash somewhere that I had to hide from Zoey (she kept stealing it out of the Walmart bag as it hung on the back of a kitchen chair!) and now I can't find it.  It's there, just got to dig a little!