cold - it's very cold here and we are a bunch of cowards...i know it's far colder in other places...but the 5 palm trees outside our back door have down coats on. we had mini ice rinks on the puddles left over from the rain earlier this week...and a very hard freeze last night and the temp never got above 30 on the car temp thing this morning on the way in. we are nothing but wimps...and i'll admit it.
the puppies are all sleeping in later and later - blankies all around them...and i must get a picture of them...trying to get them up in the morning is quite the chore.
annie's raider dog (a beautiful golden retreiver rescue) went shopping last night for his little girlfriend daisy and annie delivered a very pink and quite plush dogger bed for her at the shop...she loves it and has done some serious nesting in it this morning.
we are doing the last final steps in preparation for the holidays and i have at least 5 orders to get in before close of business tomorrow...so i had better shake it and get moving - all i hear is "tick/tick" before the end of the year.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
there will be a question at the end of this story...
once upon a time there were two doggalas - one who was 14 months old and one who will be a year old on january 8th. it was a wednesday - daddy was gone in orange county and mama had taken the baby to work with her in the morning - and although mama had left the heater on, the light on in the kitchen and the dolly crib full of toys as well as the favorite blankies for those boys...apparently it was just not enough. nobody came to visit them on that wednesday...the garden guy lee comes on thursdays, the contractor never came either...so, left to their own resources...and with an inordinate amount of time on their paws...so began the day to remember.
they finished up their dinner from the night before - apparently mama made more than the three of them were interested in eating - but something "snacky" in the morning was not so bad - especially when they had started their morning out with chicken strips from the cookie jar. what better than leftovers from dinner to complete the morning snack routine they asked each other?
almost every toy in the antique baby cradle had to brought out and inspected. when that inspection was finished, said toys had to be carefully placed throughout the house, starting in the front living room and festooned throughout the living room, down the entry hall and into the family room - ending most strategically right at the hearth. once the doggala toys were dispersed with care, they then decided that their fleece blankies also needed to be festooned around the family room...draped over their woofie pillows. what is a woofie pillow you inquire - easy to explain - mama bought them huge pillows covered in red fleece - and imprinted on the red fleece are the words "woof" - thus the large pillows became the "woofie" pillows and they are just the most fun. they are particularly useful to doggalas when they are used as a "stop" at the end of a very large race around the house...and if you slide with abandon into the pillows - it stops you softly right up against the fireplace on the hearth.
now, all of the above probably took a little bit of time...but there was more time to fill before mama came home with daisy girl and the roughhousing began in ernest. wait...mama has a stack of brand new, beautiful fresh, perfectly put away in piles, daisy puppy pee wee pads in the laundry room and for heaven's sake...i, nickolas can reach them...is life any sweeter? i, nickolas have helped myself to one that happened to be left on the floor by accident, but i, nickolas have never actually helped myself to any from the pile in the laundry room and my big brother gatsby is encouraging me and has promised me that he and i will stand up to mama when she gets home...
you guessed it...and now comes the question. just exactly how many pieces and how far and how much like snow can two doggalas with more time on their paws than they know what to do with, strip, rip, tear and destroy two puppy peewee pads full of stuffing and batting and blue plastic - basically a disposable diaper but flat?
the answer to that question was discovered last evening when i arrived home at 6:45 p.m. and let me tell you that the amount of pieces was beyond description and counting them would have been beyond description ...and it looked much like it had snowed inside my house and the two boys just couldn't understand what could possibly be wrong...and why i was laughing and why the broom, the dyson and the dustpan were brought out to control their beautiful work of art.
can life be any sweeter? the doggalas don't think so!!
they finished up their dinner from the night before - apparently mama made more than the three of them were interested in eating - but something "snacky" in the morning was not so bad - especially when they had started their morning out with chicken strips from the cookie jar. what better than leftovers from dinner to complete the morning snack routine they asked each other?
almost every toy in the antique baby cradle had to brought out and inspected. when that inspection was finished, said toys had to be carefully placed throughout the house, starting in the front living room and festooned throughout the living room, down the entry hall and into the family room - ending most strategically right at the hearth. once the doggala toys were dispersed with care, they then decided that their fleece blankies also needed to be festooned around the family room...draped over their woofie pillows. what is a woofie pillow you inquire - easy to explain - mama bought them huge pillows covered in red fleece - and imprinted on the red fleece are the words "woof" - thus the large pillows became the "woofie" pillows and they are just the most fun. they are particularly useful to doggalas when they are used as a "stop" at the end of a very large race around the house...and if you slide with abandon into the pillows - it stops you softly right up against the fireplace on the hearth.
now, all of the above probably took a little bit of time...but there was more time to fill before mama came home with daisy girl and the roughhousing began in ernest. wait...mama has a stack of brand new, beautiful fresh, perfectly put away in piles, daisy puppy pee wee pads in the laundry room and for heaven's sake...i, nickolas can reach them...is life any sweeter? i, nickolas have helped myself to one that happened to be left on the floor by accident, but i, nickolas have never actually helped myself to any from the pile in the laundry room and my big brother gatsby is encouraging me and has promised me that he and i will stand up to mama when she gets home...
you guessed it...and now comes the question. just exactly how many pieces and how far and how much like snow can two doggalas with more time on their paws than they know what to do with, strip, rip, tear and destroy two puppy peewee pads full of stuffing and batting and blue plastic - basically a disposable diaper but flat?
the answer to that question was discovered last evening when i arrived home at 6:45 p.m. and let me tell you that the amount of pieces was beyond description and counting them would have been beyond description ...and it looked much like it had snowed inside my house and the two boys just couldn't understand what could possibly be wrong...and why i was laughing and why the broom, the dyson and the dustpan were brought out to control their beautiful work of art.
can life be any sweeter? the doggalas don't think so!!
Friday, November 28, 2008
and so...turkey day has come and gone...and i'm safe in my shop...while others are braving the hazardous duty of the malls today. not this kid... there are a couple of places advertising 4:00 a.m. openings...my mother and i were laughing last night - we would get up at 2:30 - shower and be ready to leave the house by 3:30 to get there in time for the 4:00 a.m. opening...and we both looked at each other and said there is absolutely NO WAY!!!
our steaks and steamers worked very well indeed - we actually had prime rib cut into steaks...and we grilled them...and when we were finished eating...the pups had quite a feast...all the goodies mixed in with their regular dinner...plates were absolutely clean as a whistle.
got quite a bit accomplished yesterday and it felt good - and now the lists are getting longer again but it's okay. the worst part is sitting down at the computer to do something and totally forgetting what it was that i was supposed to do - i HATE getting older...i truly do hate that part of the process - thus - the notepad strapped to me at all times - or certainly within "finding" distance - if i remember where i put the list.
did some research on the almond trees. did you know that the "shelf life" of an almond tree is approximately 25 years? the ones that got ripped out in the orchard belonging to our favorite fruit stand were 31 years old so they really did need to be ripped and they are going to be replaced...good thing. it breaks my heart to see huge orchards ripped out in preparation for houses...and then, given the state of everything - no houses are built - and the trees are all gone. i think it will be a very, very long time before anymore houses are built around here - so many are standing empty - nothing is moving...except it seems for businesses that are closing their doors around here. oops - not going let this head into that subject matter - so, turning around and heading the other direction.
doodles has changed her place of choice in the evenings. she is back on my desk chair again and i come in to giant "tufts" of dixie that she has cleaned out of herself in the time between me leaving and arriving again. this morning - the equivalent of a small cat was waiting for me on my chair.
am working on some fun things for the shop - am working on getting in some vintage pincushions that are absolutely stunning...and some boxes...pretty stunning too...and of course making lists of things to order and the list of "to dos" seems overwhelming right now...but i'll slug thru those too.
so...if you braved the crowds in retail land today - god bless you one and all - you are far, far braver than i am...and if you didn't brave the crowds...by sunday afternoon it should be fairly reasonable again...
hope you all had a wonderful turkey day and are able to enjoy a long weekend. off to hit the web site and see if i can play on that one too!!! be safe...the world is revving up for december and sunday is the end of november... i won't even ask where it went!!
our steaks and steamers worked very well indeed - we actually had prime rib cut into steaks...and we grilled them...and when we were finished eating...the pups had quite a feast...all the goodies mixed in with their regular dinner...plates were absolutely clean as a whistle.
got quite a bit accomplished yesterday and it felt good - and now the lists are getting longer again but it's okay. the worst part is sitting down at the computer to do something and totally forgetting what it was that i was supposed to do - i HATE getting older...i truly do hate that part of the process - thus - the notepad strapped to me at all times - or certainly within "finding" distance - if i remember where i put the list.
did some research on the almond trees. did you know that the "shelf life" of an almond tree is approximately 25 years? the ones that got ripped out in the orchard belonging to our favorite fruit stand were 31 years old so they really did need to be ripped and they are going to be replaced...good thing. it breaks my heart to see huge orchards ripped out in preparation for houses...and then, given the state of everything - no houses are built - and the trees are all gone. i think it will be a very, very long time before anymore houses are built around here - so many are standing empty - nothing is moving...except it seems for businesses that are closing their doors around here. oops - not going let this head into that subject matter - so, turning around and heading the other direction.
doodles has changed her place of choice in the evenings. she is back on my desk chair again and i come in to giant "tufts" of dixie that she has cleaned out of herself in the time between me leaving and arriving again. this morning - the equivalent of a small cat was waiting for me on my chair.
am working on some fun things for the shop - am working on getting in some vintage pincushions that are absolutely stunning...and some boxes...pretty stunning too...and of course making lists of things to order and the list of "to dos" seems overwhelming right now...but i'll slug thru those too.
so...if you braved the crowds in retail land today - god bless you one and all - you are far, far braver than i am...and if you didn't brave the crowds...by sunday afternoon it should be fairly reasonable again...
hope you all had a wonderful turkey day and are able to enjoy a long weekend. off to hit the web site and see if i can play on that one too!!! be safe...the world is revving up for december and sunday is the end of november... i won't even ask where it went!!
Monday, November 24, 2008
cold and getting colder
musings in the orchards...
i must love autumn because i was born in it. the browns, golds & oranges are very warm and inviting to me...and make me feel comfortable in my own skin. the puppies and i went for a mile walk yesterday (a mile is a very long way if you have tiny little legs like daisy) and her brothers taught her how to jump in large piles of leaves that line the curbs of our town right now. if you rake all the leaves off into the gutters - the city comes around and sucks them up and removes them. this usually works okay if they get the huge piles sucked up before the rain - and we are expecting a storm tomorrow i believe. if the leaves are still there - we turn a great many of our streets into lakes...and that makes navigation quite interesting - to say the least
the peach trees are now standing in pools of golden leaves around the base of their trunks - quite beautiful - and our japanese maples in the yard are red and the leaves falling off. we cut back all the peonies yesterday but the new sprouts are already starting to come up - will have to remember to protect them from the freezes when they happen in january or we will have frozen little nubs.
the microchip in our oven has died with no time to get it fixed before turkey day - so decisions have been made and although it might be unconventional...steamers and new york steak will be the thanksgiving feast this year. my mom is going to be spending the day and she will be in puppy heaven as bruce spends most of the day with football raging quietly around our ears.
am hoping to get some puppala coats cut out sometime this week since i am now as free as a bird with all the finishing done and completed and shipped off to it's rightful places around the country. huge weight off my shoulders and it also frees up my brain to start planning and making lists and checking them twice...and focuses me on other things that i need to get done for the following year.
as far as puppala coats are concerned - i think miss daisy buchanan will be wearing a little slicker that i have left from when the boys were puppies...she's 14 weeks old now, smart as a whip and is getting a bathie this afternoon in preparation for her final puppy shot with dr. michael tomorrow morning at 9 and then she will be already for her rabies vacine and then we won't have to darken the vet's doorway with the puppies until the almond blossoms burst in late february because she will be needing her surgery by then.
i have had some wonderful ideas in the last few weeks about things for the shop - exclusives to us and i'm very excited about them...and am making a run around some websites to start gathering goodies for the shop goodies. this is when the brain really goes to town...and since i am already SO sick of the holidays - because somehow they started in july this year...
watched andy rooney on 60 minutes last night...he's tired of them shoving thanksgiving aside and i can't say that i blame him. it's kind of sad when halloween starts in june and christmas in july and by the time both events happen - they are already talking about valentine's day - just makes me a little bit crazy.
anyway - this is supposed to be my day off - fat chance - i still have a very long list at home...that seems to get longer by the minute...and since there is no rest for the wicked...and i am very, very wicked (obviously) i'm heading to parts unknown and to fill up my gas tank at $1.89.9 which we haven't seen in years - last time i filled up it was $2.23.9 and i thought that was sweet. as bruce says - you can do it all for $40.00 now and still get change back... is the worm finally starting to turn? we hope so...the pollyana in me is making my cheeks hurt ::)
i hope to be back either here and/or www.elegantstitch.com before the turkey day event...so plan those chores, make those lists and for heaven's sake - try to stay out of the grocery stores on wednesday - it could be dangerous to your health :)
great week everybody!
i must love autumn because i was born in it. the browns, golds & oranges are very warm and inviting to me...and make me feel comfortable in my own skin. the puppies and i went for a mile walk yesterday (a mile is a very long way if you have tiny little legs like daisy) and her brothers taught her how to jump in large piles of leaves that line the curbs of our town right now. if you rake all the leaves off into the gutters - the city comes around and sucks them up and removes them. this usually works okay if they get the huge piles sucked up before the rain - and we are expecting a storm tomorrow i believe. if the leaves are still there - we turn a great many of our streets into lakes...and that makes navigation quite interesting - to say the least
the peach trees are now standing in pools of golden leaves around the base of their trunks - quite beautiful - and our japanese maples in the yard are red and the leaves falling off. we cut back all the peonies yesterday but the new sprouts are already starting to come up - will have to remember to protect them from the freezes when they happen in january or we will have frozen little nubs.
the microchip in our oven has died with no time to get it fixed before turkey day - so decisions have been made and although it might be unconventional...steamers and new york steak will be the thanksgiving feast this year. my mom is going to be spending the day and she will be in puppy heaven as bruce spends most of the day with football raging quietly around our ears.
am hoping to get some puppala coats cut out sometime this week since i am now as free as a bird with all the finishing done and completed and shipped off to it's rightful places around the country. huge weight off my shoulders and it also frees up my brain to start planning and making lists and checking them twice...and focuses me on other things that i need to get done for the following year.
as far as puppala coats are concerned - i think miss daisy buchanan will be wearing a little slicker that i have left from when the boys were puppies...she's 14 weeks old now, smart as a whip and is getting a bathie this afternoon in preparation for her final puppy shot with dr. michael tomorrow morning at 9 and then she will be already for her rabies vacine and then we won't have to darken the vet's doorway with the puppies until the almond blossoms burst in late february because she will be needing her surgery by then.
i have had some wonderful ideas in the last few weeks about things for the shop - exclusives to us and i'm very excited about them...and am making a run around some websites to start gathering goodies for the shop goodies. this is when the brain really goes to town...and since i am already SO sick of the holidays - because somehow they started in july this year...
watched andy rooney on 60 minutes last night...he's tired of them shoving thanksgiving aside and i can't say that i blame him. it's kind of sad when halloween starts in june and christmas in july and by the time both events happen - they are already talking about valentine's day - just makes me a little bit crazy.
anyway - this is supposed to be my day off - fat chance - i still have a very long list at home...that seems to get longer by the minute...and since there is no rest for the wicked...and i am very, very wicked (obviously) i'm heading to parts unknown and to fill up my gas tank at $1.89.9 which we haven't seen in years - last time i filled up it was $2.23.9 and i thought that was sweet. as bruce says - you can do it all for $40.00 now and still get change back... is the worm finally starting to turn? we hope so...the pollyana in me is making my cheeks hurt ::)
i hope to be back either here and/or www.elegantstitch.com before the turkey day event...so plan those chores, make those lists and for heaven's sake - try to stay out of the grocery stores on wednesday - it could be dangerous to your health :)
great week everybody!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
this is new for me and they always wonder about teaching old dogs new tricks...well, here we go for the new tricks and the old dog...and getting older by the minute, especially after sunday when another "anniversary of my birth" goes into the annals of history. and i really don't feel a day over 75 - i really don't.
i'm going to work this into the web site - do the updates as normal - but use this as part of the what's going on in our world here and in general. it will make cleaning up the website a little bit easier as well.
i drove into work this morning thinking how interesting it is to live in a farming valley/community and watch the subtle changes of nature take place right before our eyes. our favorite fruit & vege stand has taken down an entire orchard of almonds over the last two weeks - the entire corner and parcel of land looks so sad and vacant right now - all the remains of the trees dry and brown and all the piles of firewood cut and drying - getting ready for sale. i haven't had the opportunity to ask if they are replacing the trees - i only hope - i'm sure there is a shelf life to an almond tree and it's production. but, a little bit further down kiernan...all the little peach trees have now shed their heavy cardboard trunk protectors that have encased the trunks for well over two years now, protecting from the winds and bugs, etc. - and so life and nature move along.
the world seems to still be at odds with each other. businesses are declining, there are commercial vacancies all over the city here and many, many houses in foreclosure - we are in the top 3 counties in the country as far as foreclosures are concerned - not something that defines us well i'm afraid.
my saddest concerns are media (either television or newspaper or magazine) - everybody is crying and wringing their hands and talking so much doom and gloom - there doesn't seem to be even the slightest bit of hope around...and i truly believe that all the "d&g" just brings more d&g and pretty soon people are so beaten down that it's just hard to get out of bed in the morning. it all makes me very tired and sad - to be sure - and every morning i have to slap myself upside the head and remember my life is good and productive...and although i wish life in general was a little bit happier at the moment...i can make-do with this until the earth tilts on it's axis a little bit the other way.
and so...thanksgiving in thursday - later this year it seems - and then, can we actually believe it - the holidays are right behind. we all keep saying the year has flown by - but i believe 2008 was launched with rocket fuel and blew by me sometime in june and i never saw it coming and i really truly didn't see it leaving.
so...the little girl daisy buchanan needs to go for a little stroll around the building, the leaves are turning beautiful reds and golds and yellows and dropping in flurries of color across the skies...and fall is here and winter is coming very, very quickly so off to gather my nuts and get my nest ready...
as soon as i figure out how to post pictures, etc to this (remember the learning curve here) i will start doing some personal postings.
thanks for visiting...enjoy your weekend and preparations for turkey day - even if the preparations only consist of picking out the pair of pants with the best elastic :)
i'm going to work this into the web site - do the updates as normal - but use this as part of the what's going on in our world here and in general. it will make cleaning up the website a little bit easier as well.
i drove into work this morning thinking how interesting it is to live in a farming valley/community and watch the subtle changes of nature take place right before our eyes. our favorite fruit & vege stand has taken down an entire orchard of almonds over the last two weeks - the entire corner and parcel of land looks so sad and vacant right now - all the remains of the trees dry and brown and all the piles of firewood cut and drying - getting ready for sale. i haven't had the opportunity to ask if they are replacing the trees - i only hope - i'm sure there is a shelf life to an almond tree and it's production. but, a little bit further down kiernan...all the little peach trees have now shed their heavy cardboard trunk protectors that have encased the trunks for well over two years now, protecting from the winds and bugs, etc. - and so life and nature move along.
the world seems to still be at odds with each other. businesses are declining, there are commercial vacancies all over the city here and many, many houses in foreclosure - we are in the top 3 counties in the country as far as foreclosures are concerned - not something that defines us well i'm afraid.
my saddest concerns are media (either television or newspaper or magazine) - everybody is crying and wringing their hands and talking so much doom and gloom - there doesn't seem to be even the slightest bit of hope around...and i truly believe that all the "d&g" just brings more d&g and pretty soon people are so beaten down that it's just hard to get out of bed in the morning. it all makes me very tired and sad - to be sure - and every morning i have to slap myself upside the head and remember my life is good and productive...and although i wish life in general was a little bit happier at the moment...i can make-do with this until the earth tilts on it's axis a little bit the other way.
and so...thanksgiving in thursday - later this year it seems - and then, can we actually believe it - the holidays are right behind. we all keep saying the year has flown by - but i believe 2008 was launched with rocket fuel and blew by me sometime in june and i never saw it coming and i really truly didn't see it leaving.
so...the little girl daisy buchanan needs to go for a little stroll around the building, the leaves are turning beautiful reds and golds and yellows and dropping in flurries of color across the skies...and fall is here and winter is coming very, very quickly so off to gather my nuts and get my nest ready...
as soon as i figure out how to post pictures, etc to this (remember the learning curve here) i will start doing some personal postings.
thanks for visiting...enjoy your weekend and preparations for turkey day - even if the preparations only consist of picking out the pair of pants with the best elastic :)
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