Write (a blog)

Since the Halloween costumes were so easy to make, I wanted to make the puppies some winter coats for those few *really* cold days in Florida. They may not be entirely necessary, but if I can, why not?

They’re made with the same fabric I made their collars, leashes and harnesses. Yes, matchy-matchy!

Hex thinks it’s cool, Jinx is not thrilled. She kinda walks like she has tape on her feet… it’s funny. But when she’s distracted, like with a treat, she walks around normally. So I guess she just needs to get used to it.

They’re embroidered with their names, and they double as harnesses, so they don’t have to wear a harness AND a coat. The underside is a soft fleece.

They’re super easy to make. I’m thinking maybe I should put some in my shop? I dunno about that yet though because I tend to fill my plate with a lot of things to do, and I’m pretty busy as it is. But they’d be cute… would you buy one? Would you buy a collar, leash and coat set? Small dogs only, I don’t have the hardware for big dogs, plus the construction has to be a lot more sturdy for larger dogs.

Now, what ELSE can I make?? teehee!

No words… just… love love love.

See more in the puppy gallery!

You know I’m crafty, so it really shouldn’t be a surprise that I made a crate cover for the babies’ home.

Oh wait, first of all, I didn’t tell you that we settled on their names! The little girl is “Jinx” and the little boy is “Hex”. We had lots of ideas for names, but these won out in the end. Jinx & Hex are sure to be a little bit of magic and mischief mixed into one.

Anyway, back to my craftiness. I’ve been preparing for their arrival by buying all the necessities including their crate. And instead of buying one of the three or four generic colors of crate covers, I figured heck, I’ll make one.

That’s how I roll. Why buy when I can make, and customize and personalize as I want?

It’s put together like a quilt with a cotton batting. The fabric is black with little cream colored paw prints (the black and cream match our decor). It attaches with velcro and is machine washable. Personalized with their names embroidered in metallic silver thread.

Ok, maybe they’re gonna be spoiled… just a little bit.

But the best thing of all? They had their first puppy food meal and if all goes well with weaning, we can bring them home this weekend!!!!! *insert happy dance here*

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In other news, my herb garden has passed it’s prime and I started over. I am trying to save 4 of the 7 herbs and transplanted them into pots. We’ll see how it goes. I know the transplant was traumatic for them because they’ve never been in dirt, and to make matters worse, their roots were all tangled and matted into one big mass under the Aerogrow growing surface so I had to tear them apart. But here they are after a few days, and they seem like they might be ok. But I’m not holding my breath.

The basils (on the left) look much better than the cilantro and parsley, but the basils have always been bigger, healthier looking plants.

If they die, eh, it was worth a shot. You’re not *supposed* to transplant them, but whatever. They just want me to buy more herbs. Which I of course did anyway, and have replanted my Aerogarden with seven new herbs. It’s a selected mix from the “Herb Chef Pack” and the “Italian Herbs” kit. I still have 14 more herb pods to plant after this session.

The new herbs include cilantro, savory, lemon basil, sage, epazote, garlic chives and napolitano basil. Come back for updates as they grow! And um, what is epazote anyway?

Guess who’s coming home with me in three weeks?

Chihuahua puppies!!  The tan/white is a girl, the black/white is a boy. They’re just 5 weeks old right now, so they have some more growing to do before I can bring them home. But we went to see them tonight and it was all I could do to not put them in my pockets and smuggle them home tonight!

Please excuse the crappy pix, my cell phone is no Nikon. But there will be lots more pix when they get here!

I have some name ideas, but I’m taking suggestions…

Mom, the kids and I were on our way home from visiting my sister in Atlanta (Mom needed a baby Hannah fix), and the drive home was pretty normal with all the usual pit stops and whatnot. I was happily listening to an audiobook, totally unaware of what was about to happen.

When we were a few minutes from home, I beeped Pierre to let him know we were close, as I normally do. And asked him to come out to help carry in stuff. I thought it was weird that he came out the front door, and not the garage. I asked mom where my garage door opener was and she conveniently ignored me and just got out of the car. Ok, whatever. I grabbed a few bags and walked up behind Pierre as he turned around to face me, with a camcorder in hand, and pressed the garage door opener.

As the door opened, inside was this….

I stood in total shock, crying like a baby, and unable to say anything. I seriously thought I was dreaming. Did I fall asleep on the way home? I didn’t think my book was that boring! No, it was real. And there was my bug. The car of my dreams.

Pierre said “Happy Anniversary” with a huge grin. All I could do was cry. And hug him, and shake, and cry.

For those of you who frequent my blog or know me on knittinghelp.com, you’ll know that I’ve been pining for this car for months now. Not just pining, but DREAMING, envisioning, waiting and whining. But he has been coyly putting me off, saying “I can’t afford one right now”, or “maybe when my Element is paid off”. So I resigned myself to the long wait ahead.

But sneaky him… he didn’t wait.

Our anniversary isn’t for a couple more weeks, so this was a complete surprise. 16 years, by the way. 16 wonderful years.

Here’s the dealer page, if you’re interested (I don’t know how long the page will be up, since the car is now in my driveway!) Oh, and in the details, there’s a mistake. Mine has heated leather seats too. Hee!

After a very long hiatus from spinning, a few days ago I just *poof* got the urge again. And oddly enough I’ve been more productive this week than I can ever remember. I finished two yarns am and working on a third. Wha?

I’m sure it won’t last, because I can not stay focused on one thing for too long or I hurt. But behold the pretties!

First is “Black Magic”. It’s a mostly black wool with flecks of bright colors and I added just a smidgen of angelina fiber for a bit of bling. Not too much, but when it catches the light, it’s magical. And it’s for sale in my shop.

Next is unnamed, maybe it’s just too pretty for words. It’s a single of 100% pure white angora and a single of handpainted tussah silk. Together they made one gorgeous yarn, and I think this might be my favorite to date. It’s also for sale.

And I’m now working on a merino and tussah silk blend that’s mostly green. All I can think of when I see it is the VW New Beetle I want that’s almost the same color. So I’m gonna call this yarn “Bug”. Hee! I’m thinking I’ll ply this with an undyed wool… BFL probably cause that would be YUMMY!

(No, it’s not a gigantic amigurumi bear. It’s a miniature bug. Sadly, because a giant pink amigurumi bear would be awesome… and kinda scary.)

In other news, as you know my sister recently had a bundle of sugar… I mean, a baby girl. I crocheted a binky for her (er, blanket. Darn you baby talk!) I’d show you pix of it, but c’mon, it’s all about about the princess. So you’ll have to try to look around her… if you can.

GAH. She’s just so cute. Luv luv luv!

Ok.. so that’s all the pix for today. I’m gonna go spin some more Bug while I wait for a Skype call. *pssst* I’m being interviewed for a knitting podcast. Woot!

My herb garden is still producing hand fulls of fresh herbs every week. Despite how much I give away, I have had to start freezing my own because I can not seem to use it up fast enough.

I had to throw some away. eep!

Here’s another typical weekly harvest:

The Harvest
After Pruning

Sadly, Chives seems to be nearing the end of it’s life. It’s not doing so well and seems to have developed some mold or something around the base. Everything else is doing great, so I don’t know what is causing it or what to do about it. They’ve never really done exceptionally well, so maybe it was doomed from the start.

Everything else is beautiful, and so tasty. Cilantro especially! Such a bright, robust flavor, I wish I knew more ways to cook with it! It’s great on fish and in salsa though!

My mini roses (from Valentine’s Day) are doing ok too. I’m not sure though. I think I may have over watered them recently. Or maybe I under watered. Or maybe I under THEN over watered.

They look OK, but don’t seem to be doing much. Some of the buds just died off, and some of the foliage is looking bad. But then, there’s new foliage sprouting here and there so I don’t know. I told you, I do not have a green thumb. I’m trying though.

And something I haven’t shown you, is my own real English Lavender plant. Which I had to replant in a larger pot just yesterday because it’s growing quite well and ran out of room. I’ve placed it by the front door. I know you’re supposed to put lavender by your garden gate, but I don’t have a garden gate, and my “garden” is on the kitchen counter, so the front door will have to do.

While it doesn’t have many buds, it does smell divine. I think I need to prune more often to get it to bud more. *shrug* I really don’t know. I can knit the heck outta a sock, but gardening? Um… er… any advice, oh wise readers?