What's For Lunch?

Do you ever get hungry for something? Well, it isn't soup weather but I just had to have some potato soup. I like my homemade soup. Here it is ready to eat. It has carrots, celery and onions. And butter of course. Yes, it was delicious. Sorry you missed it.

I also was hungry for banana bread so let the bananas get very ripe and made a loaf. I use Splenda and I think I have posted the recipe before. Lots of walnuts. Served with butter, of course.

And the fruit is just perfect for eating. It is coming from CA and needed a few days in a paper bag to reach this point.

Sorry you couldn't come for lunch. Maybe next time.

What's In The Yard?


Recently I went to the local art fair. They have all sorts of personal crafted things. I bought a couple additions for my front yard. I hadn't seen the frogs before and they are enjoying the sun just fine. The turtle had been there and he prefers a little shade. I wanted some things to put on some wood I put in the garden after cutting trees last summer. This cat was perfect. Butter cups are beautiful. At least that is what I call them. My roses are past their prime just now.

Getting Organized

I decided to get my embroidery floss organized. I used the trusty zipper bags but now wonder if that was a good idea. They are not acid free. I'd never store a finished piece made with the floss in these bags but does it matter? Are there acid free bags like these?

I also did some looking in some of my UFO boxes. Gosh, this one is plastic too. Oh, me. Anyway, I was thinking it contained a nearly finished or at least well progressing quilt. This was it. Should I just move everything back into the general stash? I still like the idea but do I really want to do this. Yes, but will I?

Hope everyone is doing fine and my friends in the SW are keeping cool. What crazy weather.

Favorite Container

I was looking for some small black beads to use for eyes on my applique birds. Well, time to do a little cleaning and sorting, anyway. There had been some multiplying going on behind my back so some of the tubs had to go into a larger ones. It isn't done, but is cleaner and getting back onto the shelves. I'll never use all this. It needs to be sorted and much needs to find a new home. Well, not today.

As for my favorite sewing container - I think it is the drawers on wheels.

Katewind of the Lake
April 19, 1993 - June 14, 2008

Fifteen years ago today, my DS brought home a puppy he named Kate. After being a loyal and loving dog for all those years, she died today.

These are memories I have of her.

Riding home in DS's lap from where she was born.
Wagging her whole body along with her tail.
Running down a dock, sailing through the air to dive into the water.
Appreciating a good meal and a special treat.
Tearing through the paper to get to her Christmas bone.

Traveling so far in the car, with no complaints.
Running like the wind across a field.
Holding her head high as she brought back a pheasant.
Circling around and around to make the best bed out of weeds.
Learning and following so any commands.

Wiggling all over to see me, even if it had been a long time.
Talking with her squeaky ball.
Using her nose to nudge under my hand to ask for just one more scratch.
Sleeping with her head on my lap.
Helping out a cat and another dog.

Being the best mother to a new puppy.
Making valiant recoveries from cancer, cuts and poisoning.
Knowing how good she looked after a bath.
Holding a biscuit on her nose until given the command to toss and catch it.
Helping DS tell a joke.

Kate was a family pet and also a working dog. She was a Springer Spaniel and born to hunt. There was nothing that she loved more than to work back and forth across a field looking and smelling for pheasants. She was the smartest dog I ever knew. She followed so many words and hand signals. In the field, she responded to different whistle messages. Even for a non-hunter, it was very special to watch her work.

Not only was Kate field and obedience trained, she could figure out how to get what she wanted. As I said, she was the smartest dog I ever knew, even if sometimes it got her in trouble. When Kate was a puppy, DS trained her to go to the door and bark once to let him know she needed to go outside. DS was eating pizza in the living room. Kate was never allowed to eat people food and she knew this. She went to the door and barked. DS got up and went to the door to let her out. When he got there, she whipped around and ran to the living room to eat the slice of pizza he had left there.

Kate would take a squeaky ball in her mouth to make many rapid sounds. She would bring it to me and wait for me to squeeze it to make sounds back to her. Then she would talk back to me. We carried on quite a conversation this way.

Kate did not have any puppies of her own but when she was five years old, a puppy joined the family. Kate quickly adopted her, mothered and taught her. When Kate was ten years old, she did this again for another puppy. It seemed like she thought the puppies were brought home just for her.

I remember when Kate was a young dog and was staying with DH and me. This was before Kipper's time. We had a cat and he would go stand by the back door until someone noticed and let him out. If we didn't notice, he would finally come get someone, but Kate didn't know this. Kate started coming into the living room where we were and then ran toward the door. I said she sure made it clear she needed to go out. When I opened the door, the cat walked out and Kate turned around and ran back into the living room to lie down. And she did this for the cat that had taught her, by a quick scratch to the nose, who the boss was.

Once Kate and Tess were in South Dakota hunting pheasants. They were busy running their back-and-forth pattern looking for birds in the deep grass. Suddenly Tess fell off a steep cliff that DS didn't know was there. Tess rolled down and after a bit got to her feet. DS and Kate watched her try to climb back up but it was hopeless. DS was concerned about how he was going to get to her. When Kate realized Tess couldn't get back up, she ran some distance along the ridge until she found a place where she knew Tess could climb back up. Kate went back and barked to Tess to follow her to that area. Tess went along the bottom of the ravine but was too afraid to try the climb. So Kate worked her way down the embankment and got Tess to follow her back up.

Kate liked to play the tricks that DS taught her. DS would have her hup (sit command for hunting dogs), then put a dog biscuit on her nose. When given the command, Kate would toss the biscuit in the air and catch it. DS also taught her a joke. After sitting and looking at him, DS would ask Kate if she would rather be married or die. At the word "die" she promptly fell down to play dead.

During her life, she had her share of close calls. When she was seven years old, she got a lump on her hip area. It turned out to be a very aggressive cancer and even with surgery, the future did not look good. DS took her to a university veterinary school and a marvelous doctor did successful surgery. Once when hunting, she made a big leap right into some barbwire. She was hung up in the air on the wire but she was smart enough not to struggle. She waited for DS to come get her. She had to have many stitches. Once she dug into a heavy sealed cardboard box. Ignoring the other things in the box, she chewed into a new sealed plastic bottle to eat many dog aspirin. When found, she had bloody diarrhea. The vet said she probably wouldn't make it but she did.

Some people don't believe dogs go to heaven. I believe Kate is there and, after a joyful reunion and a good scratching, she is walking down a path with DH heading for the field to again run like the wind.

Gadget Bag

I went to my LQS and made this gadget bag. Mine is utility style. I had a piece of flawed quilted fabric that I used. I also used up some zippers from my stash. No finished edges here. Just a little zigzag. And some ribbon. Other people made nicely finished ones. Mine will work fine.
I did add some string to the zippers to make them easier to pull. I hung it on the refrig to get a pic and think I'll hang it in my sewing room. It will take me a while to get all the goodies I want in it. Of course I should have thought about what I wanted to put in it before placing the zippers. The 6" ruler doesn't quite fit but it is not going anyplace. I think it will be very useful especially as a take-a-long.

What's Kipper checking out? This is the box that the clippers we bought for his haircut came in. Nothing note worthy there. Wrong. The packing peanuts are environmentally friendly. They are water soluble and 100% biodegradable. Just a little water will dissolve them. What a wonderful thing. I try hard not to use Styrofoam products especially cups, plates and boxes. Why can't this be used for other things? They are a bit softer than the bad ones but I'm sure they could adjust the product for other uses. I'll sure buy from Doctors Foster and Smith again.

I bought Kipper and me plane tickets to go to FL next fall. They are already raising prices and expect to go higher yet. I hear that people aren't flying as much. Maybe, but it sure costs to drive too. Well, a lot of the lowest rate tickets, especially for April 2009, are already sold out.

I heard that MI now has the highest unemployment rate in the US. I have a young man who helps me with my yard work on some weekends. He has a minimum wage job which is $7.40 here in MI. Even so, he can't keep up and has been evicted from his very low end apartment. He is going to live in a tent in a park for the summer. Remember those who are struggling.

Rest of the Pics

This is the missing pic for the next post. Keep reading.

All Gone

Kipper hadn't been cut in six months. It was such a cold spring here that he was comfortable but now 90 degree weather is here and he was matting and shedding. This is the first time my DS cut him and the first time Kipper has had all the fur cut off his tail. I did save some on his face and near his ears. DS even cuts the insides of his dogs' ears. DS said Kipper is now naked. That he is but he is also much more comfortable. He actually had a couple places where his skin was breaking down under all that fur. It is hard to tell how dense and long the layers of fur are in the "before" pic. It is very very soft fur and very very thick. The "after" pic was taken in the house and the light doesn't show his true color, but, hey, a little low light is good when naked. haha Kipper looks a little sad but he is just very tired. It is hard to stand and be a good dog for as long as it takes to get a big grooming done. Ever since he had surgery on his paw area, he does not like to be clipped there, so, DS had to be patient and let him relax. Kipper is a very good dog when being bathed and clipped. But then he is a very good dog, period.

I got my sewing machine back from repair and had to try it out so yesterday I sewed the rows of my orphan quit. The machine purrs along beautifully. The quilt needs borders.

Well, I see I have lost the third pic again. I have retyped this, after loosing one of the pics, twice. I'll post it separately this time or I'll never get this post done.

Memories

The People We Love Most
by Shelby Lewis Jones

Some people touch our lives and become a part of us forever.
Even when they are no longer with us, we still think of them as being close.
We feel their warmth, and remember special things they said and did, and times we shared.

Ten years ago today my DH died. He was 60 years old and had been in excellent health until six months before he died from pancreatic cancer. He was cremated and his ashes scattered. He did not want to be buried in a place but to be part of the earth. We used a quotation by Louis Pasteur at his memorial funeral. It said, The more I study nature, the more I am amazed at the Creator. DH ask that when we remembered him, we go into nature wherever we were. Today I did.

I also looked through pictures. There are very few pictures of him as a child but here is one. I don't know how old he was but his siblings always told that his mother wouldn't let anyone cut his curly hair and everyone thought he was a girl. When he was about five years old, his older brothers cut his hair.

After he died, we made a book of pictures representing times during his life. Today I looked at it again. There are pages with his siblings, with me and when he was hunting and fishing. I think ecologist and naturalist are good words to describe him. He also loved and really enjoyed his grandchildren. The page I'm posting is from this book. It is pictures of him with his grandchildren when they were small. There were four grandchildren when he died and now he has two more. Two of them have graduated from collage and one is a sophomore in college. The little one just turned 11 years old.

I put the bottom picture at the end of the book we made. We were walking on a path at a local park. I let DH get ahead of me and snapped it. I think today he's still walking, just ahead of me.

My Yard

You know nothing much is happening on the sewing front when all I have to post are pics of my blooming yard. It is neat to watch one after another bloom. Aren't these beautiful?

My sewing machine is in for a tune up. It keeps skipping stitches and they say it probably needs its timing tweaked. The local area repair person is out of business and this man comes from about 60 miles away when they get enough repairs. I took mine in yesterday and I was number six so he should be here tomorrow.

Hope your day is full of blooms!