Never enough time

This past couple of weeks has been busy for me. I am still missing the company of my beagle butt, although of course HOJO the cat and Hildy the skinny bitch are still requiring my attention. I just didn't realize how "needy" the beagle was. Hildy is the smartest and most well-mannered dog. She never begs, and would never let me know that she was hungry. I worry that I will forget to feed her as I became dependent on Murphy to let me know when it was feeding time. She had a built-in-clock. She always went to the "goodie" jar and pushed her nose against it and she was so vocal. She whined and she barked and she cried when she didn't get her way. She always wanted me to get the coverlet and spread it over me on the couch so she could get up and snuggle. Amazing how different the two dogs are. Hildy is such a sweet dog. We were at the mall today and I just had to go see the puppies....so many and so cute!!

I made a quick trip to Greeley the first of the week to take care of some business and I had lunch with Twyla and delivered a carburetor a friend had us pick up for him here in Cheyenne. On Thursday, we had friends from Sinclair stop for supper and a quick visit with us. I had hoped to get down again today to see my sister-in-law, but we were supposed to get snow last night (and didn't). We had at least 4 dumpsters of debris from the basement hauled out this week from the renovation taking place. It has just been busy!

This is the beginning of a quilt I hope to complete in the future. It is going to require a good deal of handwork as I am fusing the light prints to the dark prints and then hand stitching button hole stitching around each raw edge. I am also working on a sun bonnet sue of sorts, not a traditional pattern, but a more modern version with ribbon embroidery embellishment. I am an embellisher. I love to add detail to existing patterns. Will post more of this one later. Not much of a post today, but needed to touch base and get back on the horse.

Mixed feelings

This picture was taken earlier, probably in October or early November. The girls always slept some in the car and were such good buddies. I lost my little beagle Tuesday when the decision to put her down peacefully, was made. Not an easy decision, but a necessary one, I was comforted by my buddy Barb, who was visiting for a few days. Beagle butt had seemed perfectly healthy until last Thursday, and in fact we had just visited the vet last month. After a series of tests and an x-ray, it was apparent that she had multiple issues, two of which were an enlarged liver and a baseball sized growth in her lower abdomen. No symptoms were evident until she lost her appetite and began to vomit. At 11, we didn't feel that she could endure the surgeries and medications and the prognosis was just not good with other results from the blood work.

Barb being here was a great comfort, and my friend Pat came from CO the next day. The three of us have spent a lot of time together and we have weathered many an emotional storm together. But we have had such good times too. So on Wednesday, we hit some antique shops, some flea markets, the bakery, and we had PIE. After a good lunch, we had PIE. We always have room for dessert or chocolate and when you can have both that is even better, especially if it is Chocolate PIE!!. I saw a sign in one of the shops which I have to paint for my porch. There wasn't an author listed for whom to give credit. "If you aren't selling chocolate, get the heck off my porch." I love it!!!

The Mr. and I have had a lot of 4 legged critters in our 45 years together and the unconditional comfort they give cannot be measured or expressed in words really. Unfortunately, they have such a short life-span. The joy they bring with their antics and the sadness that comes with their passing produces mixed feelings, but I know that as long as we are able to care for them, they will share our home with us.

Ol' Timer "Stump"

Our ol' buddy "Stump" won best in show at the Westminster. The lumbery Sussex is such a crowd pleaser and I love watching him. At 10 he is also the oldest dog ever to win this distinction. Hurray for old critters!!! (Both 4 legged and 2 legged). Erica decided to take the Japanese prints. This past weekend my buddy, Sal, and I went to the Cheyenne Botanical Gardens as they were having a stained glass and art glass display. Made me want to get started on a piece, but after voting for a very exquisite 3 piece panel, I realize that I will never be disciplined enough to get to the level as some of those artists. It was however a beautiful display of pieces and the gardens were such a pleasant treat for the senses in this wintery season. Earlier, before Christmas, we trekked to a shop north of town called "Teacups and Twigs." It is open on a seasonal basis, but filled with wonderful cottage type articles and antiques as well as floral displays. One of the thing that caught our eye was a chandelier made with teacups and saucers. So we have been haunting places looking for items so that we can make our own version. As you can see, we found a chandelier and were successful in drilling holes in the china. These particular pieces were only for practice as Sal has her own cups and saucers for the actual chandelier and was able also to find a chocolate pot for the top..(thanks to the sharp eyes of our buddy Bonzerelli.) Progress on this project will be posted as we get brave enough to continues with the real cups and saucers.

More treasures

This Japanese print is one of four that is the latest treasure to surface.
We have started the demolition in the basement of the"recording studio". Look at the egg cartons in the area above the wall. We have lost count of the number of cartons and have only just begun. A dumpster has been ordered for the tons of debris we will have-- old dry wall with particle board glued onto it and all of the insulating foam, which is two different thicknesses. Nails by the dozen in each piece of deconstruction item are going in boxes. But as you will see, we did discover another treasure. At least 5 tall bookshelves of sorts were in various areas of the basement and as one of them was being removed from a wall, a cardboard tube fell to the floor. The Mr brought to me 4 really pretty Japanese prints in pristine condition. From the tight roll it appears that they have never been out of the tube. Each is about 12" X 48 " I think. The colors are exactly the colors I have in my home, the peaches, orangy tones with greens. However, I do not have any desire to have these prints in my home. So if anyone out there would like to have them, please let me know. Erica has updated her site so if you haven't checked lately click on her name and bookmark her. We had some good friends call us on Friday and ask us to go out to dinner. With our moves and retirement and company changes, we had sort of lost touch with some of our old buddies. We had such a great visit and hope to keep in touch a little more now that we are so close to them. Camping and dancing when we were a little younger with our kids still in school, seems like yesterday. However, we are all grandparents now and a little more weight on our bones and grey in our hair reminds us it wasn't just yesterday. We had such fun when the kids were younger, we all camped together, hunted together, we took dance lessons together, had breakfast at 2:00 a.m. after a night out. Some of us even danced in the middle of the interstate stopping on our way to one of those late breakfasts. Much of our time spent together was a party.
"Some say that life is a party. You join it after it's started and leave before it's finished."~~ Elsa Maxwell