Sad Day

Today we had to put our chocolate lab Miss Maddie to sleep. Wednesday night she was no longer able to fully use her right leg and today her left paw would twist inward when she tried to walk. But she showed no sign of pain. Today was the first appointment we could get to see the veterinarian and she suspected degenerative nerve damage due to Maddie's age (she turned 12 this past Oct. 25) and the posturing of her paws. They offered us pain reduction regime, but also said the nerve damage is not curable and would only get worse.  So we made that hard decision.

I was afraid this might happen so before we left the house I cut up  some cheddar cheese for her (her favorite) and the vet tech checked to see what they had in the lunch room, because why not spoil her now? The refrigerator had been cleaned out, so all she could find was some whipped cream! A first time for Maddie and she thought it was GREAT, cleaning the plate! They also made a paw imprint in some plaster like stuff  that takes 48 hours to cure which is in a nice display box with the Rainbow Bridge Poem and place for her photo.

We stayed with her and I gave her ear rubs, belly rubs and gentle petting as she went to sleep. It was hard, but she had not been able to move around and was not able to do all the fun lab things she did before, even simple things like rolling over for belly rubs, patrolling her yard, greeting visitors, etc.

This is one of my favorite photos of her, she is very perky because I have a piece of cheese in one hand. If you look closely you can see a little bit of anticipatory drool on her right whiskers! I call it "Cheese Please"

Miss Maddie

10/25/2004 - 11/26/2016

Rescued by us 7/5/2008

UPDATE on Autumn Sewing

Now that it has cooled down here a bit, we were able to do some work on boxes in the garage and storeroom. I found some of my fall decor which included two stuffed pumpkins. The smaller one fits great in the center of my folded wreath so I think I will go with this look instead of a candle.

I still want to get some pumpkin buttons for where the tips meet.

That is all for now!

Autumn Sewing

I took a class given by my quilt group and made a pretty fall decoration - it could be any combination of colors, but I wanted fall since my Thanksgiving decor is limited. It was TONS of fun to make.

I started with three fabrics

I sewed them into these 12 squares.

I then sewed the squares together to form a circle. 

I then sewed the top points together and wa -la! 

A Folded Wreath!

I may sew some pumpkin buttons where the tips join, not sure yet.

I plan to find an LED tall candle for the center as soon as I get to town to shop!

Display Case Plus a Little of this and a Little of That

I have been doing a little bit of this and that lately.

 First is a card I made for a beader who is moving away. :(

I finished the stitching on this in 2014, but just now finish finished it into a flat fold. The hat fabric is what I used for the finishing. I hunted through all my stuff and can't find any information on the designer, I will keep looking and do an update - unless someone knows and can tell us in the comments. I think Lizzie n Kate, but not sure.

I have a fair number of "smalls" that I had in a bookcase with glass doors, but we did not move it with us to Arizona, so I had to figure out something else. Well this is it! The first photo shows two of the display cases on a bookshelf and there is room for one more. They open from the top and you can see the clasp to "unlock" and open the case. It has two dividers and it is meant to be hung on the wall. Basically what I am using as dividers is meant to be a shelf. I removed the saw tooth hanger from the back so not to scratch the shelf.

 Below are photos of each case with my small items in them. All items were made by me except the mailing envelope in the lower right of the bottom box. I lined all the wood with acid free material so that none of my textiles is touching wood.

I got the cases at Michael's a couple of days ago with their buy one get one free sale. It is called Studio Decor display case and they are 8.625 inches by 5.125 inches on the inside (according to the label). I almost did not see them on the bottom shelf in the store with all the other shadow boxes.

I got in the beading bug and finished a couple of items I have had since I lived in North Carolina and we moved in 2007!!

I must apologize for this one's orientation, I keep rotating it and saving it, but it will not sit up straight!! It is called Peyote Pendant for Donut with Netted Rope and is designed by That Bead Lady at  (www.thatbeadlady.com). 

Finally this a kit I bought and is a Red White and Blue version of a project in the August 2000 Bead and Button magazine called Abstract art pendant by Beth Stone. It uses different sized beads and combines peyote and brick stitch in places and was quite fun to make. I may make a beaded necklace to hang it from, but for now this rat tail cord works.

I think that about covers it for now!!

Halloween 2016 - BOO!

Here is my display for Halloween 2016. 

Look closely it is a devil candy corn. 

The box is a Mill Hill Kit and I do not recall the others, but probably blogged about them in the past with more detail. Maybe a search for Halloween will pull them up.

I think the center one is a Sweetheart Tree design. I know the stand ups are Bent Creek designs.

I do not recall all of these, but the candy corn is now in the ANG Chapter Project Notebook

for ANG Chapter use.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays to stitch for and my stuff has grown beyond the table. This is Witchy Hats by Caela Tyler a Foothills EGA project from last year.

That is about all for now!

Where to begin??

It has been a busy summer, with ups and downs. My father in law passed away at 93, but we moved here in time to share three nice months with him. We miss him, but know he is in a better place. 

I did get some needlework etc., done, during this time. First is Witchy Poo designed by amy bruecken Designs and adapted for canvas by the late Caela Tyler. The canvas is a lavender that I just can't get to photograph well. This was a fun project.

I played with paper crafts and made this birthday cake card for one of my sister-in-laws, It is a pop up card that designed myself.

I am trying to reduce my stash and working on projects I have had around for a while. This is an EGA Petite Project from 2007 called Square Stitch Beaded Halloween Bracelet designed by Bonnie Marshall. The finished size is 6 1/8 inch with out the clasp, so I had to add a few extra rows at each end to make it 7 1/2" without clasp.

  Our Twisted Cereus went nuts with blooms one night! It turned out 12 total overall, each about 6 inches in diameter!

Finally, I found this little gem (?) at Tuesday Morning this afternoon. It is supposed to make twisted cord. I have not tried it yet, but the instructions seem easy and provide the number of strands and lengths need to make up to an approximate 18" cord (as long as you "turn the gear properly").

When I play with it I will report back, or if you have used it you can comment about it.

That about covers it for now, other than to say I have joined the ANG and EGA guilds in my new area and look forward to sharing some fun projects with you!

Birds!

One of my other non crafty interests are birds. I have been a "birder" since about 1986. It depended on where we lived if I had bird feeders or not,  how serious I was bout looking for birds and if I participated  Cornell Lab of Ornithology Feeder Watch.  Which was a lot of fun. Not sure I will put up a feeder here other than for humming birds.

Well two have showed up on our patio or courtyard with out much effort on my part. We leave our porch lights on and have acquired a few dead insects and probably a few still living around the plants. We have since put in yellow bug lights and the insects seem to have reduced quite a bit!

But this little fellow stopped by yesterday and today. He (or she) has been doing a fantastic job a cleaning up all the insects, even checking in the cracks. I had to take its photo through our greenish tinted thermal windows, but you can tell it is a Cactus Wren. On one hand it is one to add to my Life List, if you only count ones on your list that you have seen. I had heard this wren in So. California, but not seen it until now. Funny but it seems to be elusive in the hills of So. Calif, but I have seen them here and at other places in our community. Maybe that is why it is the Arizona State bird?

Also seen, but not photographed and another Life List addition was a Gila Woodpecker. Other birds I have seen are a road runner fighting it's reflection in a neighbors sliding glass door - not sure who won that battle.

Maybe I should explain to any non birders out there what  Life List is just in case you are interested. Basically it is a list of the birds you have seen (and some add heard) during your life time.

Some long tailed crackles seem to be in the area along with a phoebe like bird I have not been able to identify. We eat fairly often at the Indigo Grill here and I have seen house sparrows there (as well as the Cactus Wren and Grackles. Also a humming bird that whizzed by too fast for ID.

Well that is the Sunday birding round up. Hope you are having a fun day!