Sally the dog, 2005-2020

Sally, our gorgeous Pointer Lab mix (we think), died yesterday afternoon. She was 15.5 years old (at least) and was suffering from kidney failure. She was uncomfortable and not eating or drinking anymore-it was time. She was at the vet to be examined, but when we arrived, she wagged her tail and let us know—she was still ready to leave right away. (She hated the vet!)
**
Sally was alert, loyal and the perfect nanny. Although our twins arrived when she was 6, she adopted them right away. She told us about every dirty diaper and kept everybody from falling off beds or couches. She chewed up anything sharp or plastic (toy) she found on the floor, and left it for me on the bed to show she was ever vigilant, keeping her small humans safe. Sally was born in Kentucky (we think), we adopted her at about a year old, and she became a Manitoban. No day was too cold for a walk, and she kept us all on schedule. RIP to a truly special dog.

This is mostly a repost from my Instagram account.) I do have more things to post in a long format here, but we've been nursing a sick old dog, keeping a young dog busy, and home schooling/keeping twins busy.  It's been hard to find time to write cogent posts about much of anything.  Stay well.

Welcome Sadie!

We brought home our new Gordon Setter mix dog, Sadie, yesterday.

  She is about a year and a half old and weighs around 60 lbs (27 kilo).  She's just gotten fixed so is requiring a fair amount of attention, as any new dog should!  Winnipeg Animal Services Agency said she was a stray.  We know nothing other than a birthday,which may be a guess.

Potty training--yes, I think she was, but I do not know what words were used. I tried all the likely English ones and a little French. She could have been trained in Cree, Ojibway-Cree, or Mandarin, for all we know.

Crate training was clearly not a strong suit.  She has already bent some wires, torn up sheets and puppy pads and raises heck when crated. She even sings (not just barking) like an opera singer. (Common bird dog trait, especially in young lively ones.). She does settle down eventually.  We did not sleep a ton last night. :)

She is quiet and clingy when loose in the house with us.  She wants to be near her humans and cuddling with them all the time.  I am the top favorite, but she definitely likes her male family members. too.  Sally, our 13 year old pointer mix, is mostly ok with things.  She missed Harry, our dog who died, and seems glad for company.  She does get annoyed occasionally (who wouldn't!?) and lets Sadie know it.

Sadie is currently resting next to me in my office...she is extremely worried about losing me (entirely understandable, given her recent shelter experience) and stays close all the time.  Last night the Professor had a dinner meeting.  I bathed both boys in the bathroom by myself with the new dog in the room, too. Crowded!

She is a gorgeous big dog, very gentle, and really loving.  Not good at all walking on a leash yet, that is something to work on.  It's hard to see in these photos, but she is very narrow, tall and long.  A 42" crate was the right size.  

After the boys were in bed, Sadie helped me do chores in the kitchen.  She helped move around a dish towel that we used to clean up after she had a big drink of water and dribbled everywhere.

It was very hard work.  Here she is,in the middle of our (not very big) kitchen.

Please join us in giving Sadie a warm welcome home.

When you need a boa

Yesterday, we got a new blast of snow cover in our yard.  It snows slowly on the prairies when compared to an east coast kind of storm.  We did not end up with lots of accumulation, but it sure did blow around.  I was happy to stay indoors, aside from the dog walk, as the temperatures have dropped quite a bit, too.  It was about -16C (3F) this morning.
One thing that keeps me happy while wearing winter gear is to rotate the mitts, scarves and hats.  I also try to maintain a happy selection of colors.

Way back in 2006, I did a pattern or two for the (now defunct) Magknits.  It was an online magazine.  That pattern, the Alpaca Ruffle Boa, went off-line when the magazine did.  I got a flurry of concerned notes from people who still wanted to make the design.

Sally the Pointer does her stuff...

I spent some time revising it, and then posted it again.  It's been available on Ravelry ever since,  It's a steady presence there.  I've knit this pattern a few times, and even included it in a box I sent to my family one year for Hanukah...I couldn't be in Virginia with them, so I made a huge pile of knitted things and sent it along.

Sally expresses her inner diva

I'm not really a person who is into ruffles or boas, but there is something about a bit of alpaca luxury and glamour that can really do it for your inner diva when it's cold.  AND....this is pretty fast to knit, so well-worth considering if you've got a few skeins of sportweight on your hand and a deadline approaching.
In this light, I recently updated the details of the pattern on Loveknitting.com so now you can buy the pattern and the yarn at the same time, if necessary.
Note: No Sally dogs were harmed (or even asked to get off the furniture) in the taking of these photos.

12 years and counting

Anniversary Alert:  My blog is now 12 years old.

In November, 2005, I started this blog with a few test shots.  There was yarn:

There was Sally:

And I am so grateful that these two aspects of my writing life are still with me.  Sally and I are definitely a bit older and grayer in the muzzle.  Harry the dog (RIP) is no longer with us.  But the professor and I keep on keeping on, and while things have changed a great deal, that part is the same.  We now live in a different country (Canada) and have twins, but, well, I am grateful for all that's gone by.

It's been a challenging week...what with twins having the stomach bug.  They got better, while I had several strange work set backs, one after another.  Things felt a bit...umm...black.  I've definitely had a few missteps.  My books took a ride to a book fair--but did not sell a single copy.  My new pattern hasn't really taken off.  (at all.)  It was one downer after another.

I even was prompted to consider whether I should be writing patterns at all anymore...has my career shifted?  Am I doing other things now?  I've been writing about fiber arts and designing knitwear for about 15 years now, and this seemed like a bleak, big choice.

Then something funny happened.  I predominantly sell patterns these days on Ravelry.  I checked out another place where I sell designs...and it turns out things were selling just fine over there.  OK then.  That is good news...

And the Professor had a paper come out.  (I'm linking to an article about his paper...not all of us do genomics & evolution and development...)  So, things are improving.

I'm planning on taking some time to sit on the couch, drink tea, and knit this afternoon.  I've got a roast chicken and roasted root veggies ready to go for supper, and I'm making applesauce in the slow cooker.

Some anniversaries are quiet ones...but if you've been reading the blog for a while (or are brand new!)--I'd love to celebrate with you.  Please leave a comment and say hello and tell me how long you've been reading?

Running for Harry

Harry the dog: 2004-2017.
Harry died on Friday, September 29th.
Rest in peace.

Harry was a laidback, playful, loving and opinionated member of our household, much like his namesake, from the movie "When Harry Met Sally."  To read more about our beloved bird dog, you can find him throughout many of my blog entries.

While caring for Harry, who died last week at 13.5 years old, after suffering from lymphosarcoma, we found ourselves becoming Canadian in many ways.

On September 26th, the Professor and I became Canadian citizens.  We're now dual citizens (US & Canadian) as our twins were all along, since they were born in Canada to parents who are U.S. citizens.  Or, in their words as they explained it to a vet tech friend at the animal hospital,
 "On Tuesday, Mommy turned Canadian."

On Friday, I went to school early to pick up the boys to be with Harry. We all wore orange for Orange Shirt Day to support reconciliation, because every child matters.

I participated in the boys' Terry Fox Run, which helps raise money for cancer research.  I walked, holding hands with several kids who needed a breather as we went around the school fields.

Every kid wore a sticker.  This is what one of my boys wore.

Thank you to everyone who has ever laughed at Harry's antics here on the blog, or played with him in person, or greeted him at our front door---for helping us celebrate Harry's life.  We miss him very much.

woolly weather and one 10 year anniversary

My article, Embrace Sweater Season with Local Wool, went live yesterday on the Manitoba's CBC online!  I am so pleased by this one, because it is a chance for my writing life and my fiber-arts one to merge.  Rare to have this overlap....when I started this blog, (ten years ago this month!)  I didn't realize how often my writing/storytelling exploits and my knitting/designing ones would diverge.
On to other news...this is a big month for the blog.  Ten years ago, at the end of November, I started this project.  I hope to do some celebrating towards the end of the month, but first, another big anniversary.

On November 1, 2005, we brought home Sally the dog from a rural shelter in Kentucky.  Yesterday, we celebrated Sally's 10th anniversary of her "coming home-forever" day.

Nothing much happened.  She got her usual walk, her normal number of cuddles, and it was peaceful and warm and safe in our house.   That is how it should be--a huge difference from when we first got her.  When the blog started, I wrote a lot of dog stories, particularly about Sally.  To read a whole mess of Sally stories, check out this search, which lists them in no particular order.  If you'd like to read how we got her, or the squirrel story, or Sally's special nurturing skills (two different posts!) or how Sally's foot got stuck--may this never happen to you-- well, it turns out I've written a lot about our girl.  In fact, there's a lot to say.  She has turned into a truly delightful and amazing family member.  Here's to many more years of celebrating our Pointer-mix, Sally, and her coming home-forever- day!

Passover snapshots

The last few weeks have been a real blur.  Two weeks without preschool, a major Jewish holiday, a really helpful and valued visit from Didi and Bop (grandparents) and a few medical issues, too.  Here's a shot of our table, all set up for the first Passover seder.  This year, we hosted two seders.  They were not big or lavish, and it certainly was a lot of work!  However, both of my boys had a fabulous time.  They recited the four questions and were fabulous participants.  They loved the seders and were truly disappointed when the first two nights were over.

I have a love-hate relationship with Passover, but here's a link to my Jewish Post & News column about that:
Culture Clash, Pesach, and Why We Do It

Note: Yes, there are two cups on our seder plate.  They are both Elijah's Cups because both boys made one at preschool.  There's only supposed to be one cup, but I have twins.  Oh well.  Maybe next year one will be for Miriam instead!

Didi and Bop came to visit and brought lots of beautiful handmade gifts.  Didi wove me a new shawl for winter out of some of my handspun.  (I spun it and gave it to her so long ago that I cannot remember it...but then, I don't sleep much since having twins and can't remember anything anyway!)  She used her triangle loom--I love these shawls, this is my second. I aired it out on the porch in the sunshine.  Warm sunny days are such a novel thing right now that everyone has to be photographed and enjoyed...

We had lots of fun outings, good food, and playtime with grandparents, and both boys were thrilled.  Having the extra adults around has been very helpful for us, too!  We will miss you, Didi Bop!



Over the last few weeks we've had a bunch of medical stuff, and it has reminded me of the respite we had this winter.  (thank goodness for breaks in this stuff, it is stressful.)  The good news is that everything is fine.  I've had a couple of growths removed from my arm--resulting in a pretty big Frankenstein scar that the boys remain vigilant about.  Sally the dog has now racked up about $2000 in vet bills--she also had a growth removed, plus what seems like an ear infection.   She is doing ok, but it is a little reminder that our dogs are getting older.  We need to take care of them now; they take very good care of us.

Finally one of our twins had a minor surgery.  He is doing very well and started right back at preschool this week.  Hurray!

Last but not least, I came across a couple of really good articles on parenting.  One is about twins, and while our situation was not so severe and our twins were not born premature, it expresses a lot of the struggles that we have faced...and it is a beautiful piece of writing that includes bugs, the professor's favorite, so here it is:
The Loveliness of Ladybugs

Here's the second.  This is a very good analysis piece about mothering and its depiction in the media.  It's particularly relevant to me because many people have urged me to write more about my experiences.  Yet, when I do, I can't get anyone to publish it.  It seems as though nobody actually wants to hear about the real nitty gritty when it comes to any difficulties in twin parenting.  This article indicates that I am really not alone...and again, it's a good read.
Glass Half Full

Hope you are enjoying sunshine and some signs of spring!