Me?

I'm not so sure about this one, especially the "mellow" part...

Your Brain is Blue

Of all the brain types, yours is the most mellow. You tend to be in a meditative state most of the time. You don't try to think away your troubles. Your thoughts are realistic, fresh, and honest. You truly see things as how they are. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about your friends, your surroundings, and your life.

What Color Is Your Brain?

Holiday Knitting...or how I won't be done in time

Here I sat thinking I was soooo on top of all the holiday knitting and then it happens...I remember someone I forgot. ARG! On top of that, I'd put some things out of my head that need to be washed and blocked before they can be given and that hasn't happened yet, either. What was I thinking? Where did I think this time was going to come from? How did I think woolen things would dry in just a day in an Oregon winter? Good grief! I should have it all knit, but the things that have to be mailed aren't making it out of here until next week.

That's not the only way the mail has jinxed me this year, either. Maybe the reason I'm behind is also because the things I ordered online either showed up late or haven't shown up at all yet. That could definitely be part of it! I know one person is getting something totally unexpected, because something I ordered still isn't here...let's just say that I'm much faster at knitting socks than I used to be, but I can't knit them if the yarn isn't here yet! In the past, I've been a heavy holiday internet shopper...can't stand the bustle of the walk-in stores during the holidays. I've always had great luck with it, even ordering at the last minute. I think someone or millions of someones, to be more correct, have caught on to my plan and are using it themselves. :} Lesson learned...order in October! :)

Dog content: Not much, which is really a good thing. It means no dramas and everyone is getting along fine. Can't wait to get a treadmill in January! It should help run off some of the stored energy that happens in rainy weather. Until then, we take soggy walks and wipe off bellies. Ethan is back to the very loving, sweet red boy he was as a puppy, though he still greatly dislikes dogs outside his pack...boys, what can you do? Libby, the queen of manipulation, has pretty much guaranteed her position as bed dog for life, so she's happy. And Savannah, just like all little sisters, enjoys thoroughly annoying her older "siblings" in any way she can. Man, that girl can bark, too! But she's also "dangerously cute", as her grammas say, and she's very cuddly when she can manage to sit still. A very loyal girl, for sure!

I hope to get some project pics and some puppy pics over the long holiday weekend...probably figuring I'll have more time than I really will again with Friday being Hubby's birthday...but I'll try!

Savannah Pics from Today

Since it's been so long, here are pics of the Bitty girl...who isn't so bitty anymore. These were taken when we got home today after a bit of tussling with the big dogs in the yard. Talk about fabulous weather this afternoon! Too bad the show wasn't so good for us. Kinda wondering why we do these dang early mornings!!! Backgrounds are, um, rustic, at best, but you get the idea. I'm spamming you with a bunch of pics just cuz we took 'em.













She says she's had enough!

OFFFF (Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival...Finally)

Are old pictures anything like fine wine? Do they get better with time? Afraid not, but at least there are finally pictures of my visit to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in September. I've only experienced one other fiber festival on a whirlwind excursion, just an hour or so long, thanks to a big work event and a dog show all loaded up on the same weekend. It was the Black Sheep Gathering in June here in Eugene. It was fun, quite tempting, but I wasn't blown away. Then there is OFFF. Wow! It's huge!!! So many vendors in so many places, so many classes, so many animals, and so much to see. I even got to pet a camel! Talk about surreal! A camel right where we normally groom dogs for the Canby show.

Here are the camels...a male and a young female, I believe. The male nuzzled a woman as she scratched his neck. I thought he might give her a big ol' doggy slurp, but he kept his manners about him. :) Camel fur is incredibly soft. I expected just the undercoat to be soft, but the top felt just a little rougher. If I won the lottery, I'd have a couple of them, I think, though it's said they aren't big fans of small herding dog types. Hmmmm...




Look sheep in the sheep pens instead of groomers!




That's a funny show ring!



The building in the background is where the superintendents and local kennel club folks normally set up. For OFFF, it becomes one of THREE vendor buildings.



A gorgeous display of baskets caught my eye. Believe it or not, I actually escaped without buying one of those.



And here is the market bag I made specifically to fill with my goodies when at OFFF. This bag grows an amazing amount! It's the Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty. It folds up nice and small into its own self-made pouch. Love it!!!



My friend, Jennifer, came along and enjoyed two spinning classes that day. JC Briar taught a terrific class in multi-directional scarves that I took. I learned a lot and started with gorgeous, bright merino/silk yarn from Dicentra Designs. On clearance, incredibly soft, luscious colors and the perfect yarn for this technique. I'll get some pictures of the finished product to put up soon. I will definitely be sure to go again next year. I can't wait to see what classes and vendors they'll have!

You don't suppose...

...My sister would let me borrow Quinn, Megan would let me borrow Izzy, or Jeri would let me borrow Jack when he's older, do ya? Too funny!!!

I love this cartoon! Be sure to get check out more at the Close to Home website.

It's finally over...

...and the Brandy grandchild may be taking her rightful place as alpha. It's either that or Ef is giving her full sway because he remembers she smells so darn good. A typical interaction now has Ethan following Savannah everywhere, then, when he gets too pushy about being close and sniffing personals, Savannah turns and threatens to rip his face off, at which time Ethan jumps around as if to say, "Oh, that's so cute," and "Holy crap, she's gonna eat me!," all at the same time. I wonder what the settled effect will be this time around. The last heat made Ethan decide she could indeed be allowed to stay in the house and could play with him occasionally. This one, at least for the time being, has made him decide that she is in fact in charge and that he wants to be with her all the time. Hmmmm... If I had to pick which would be top dog, it'd be Savannah in a heartbeat. She listens and obeys far better than either of the other two and knows we're in charge. One can only hope...

Bark Collar - 1, Corgis - 1

Citronella bark collars work well...sometimes. The peace and quiet gained by wrapping it around Savannah's neck has been well worth the price of it! Therefore, bark collar gets a point.

The corgis gained a point, though, when Ethan's turn to try it out came. Can you say, "Totally not phased?!?" Bark, squirt, head shake, back up, bark, squirt, head shake, bark, squirt, head shake. Granted, it decreased the bark frequency, but in this case, the corgi won.

We'll have to see what happens if Libby wears it, but for now, I'm so glad I got it. No more demanding barks from Savannah when she can't go out with Ethan due to her hyper-hussiness! Woot!

Life can only get better...

I'm super sick (as a dog, some would say) and Savannah is in heat. Woot! Updates on OFFF and knitting to come soon, hopefully, if my head doesn't explode from the congestion and I survive a week and a half to two weeks of separation of the intacts at home.

Off to OFFF

Paul gets the dogs and the house to himself tomorrow. I'm off for some fibery goodness at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby. It'll be weird to be there without a dog!!! I've got a class in multidirectional knitting in the afternoon...in the morning I'm gonna SHOP!!!! Woot!!!

You know you're outta shape when...

...your arms have been achy and sore for days and you're embarrassed when you finally think you've figured out the real reason for it. There is a flu bug going around here, as Megan can attest, and I thought for awhile that was it. And we all know I really like to knit. I've cranked out a pair of slippers, a sock, and the start of a scarf over the past week, but I don't think that's it. My desk is about the least comfortable and least ergonomically designed thing ever, but it's always been that way, so nope, that's not it. I've typed quite a bit, too, but still no.

So, what do I think it really is? Can you say, "Throw the ball!!!," or perhaps more correctly, "Bark, Bark, BARK!!!!?" Yup, the kids are getting along so well that tussling to reach the ball first, wrestling it away from each other and me, and annoying me to no end for it are all easily done, even in the house! While this means Ethan has taken some amazing strides in the last month, including allowing me to maul him and hug on him with no grrrrs aimed at the girls at all for that or anything else, it also means my damn arms are about to fall off, because I MUST THROW THE BALLLLLLL!!!! And I must throw it at least 50-100 times a night...probably more! They seem to think I am the only one who can fulfill the deep requirements of ball-throwing, too, because they leave Paul alone and only insist on me doing it. Sure, they might ask him once or twice and then it's back to me. ARRRRRGGGGG!!!! Now I know why my arms want to fall off! :) Okay, so it probably is work and knitting and maybe even the bug, too, but still....

Not the best, but here it is

Here is Savannah's win picture for Friday at Eugene. Two points down, thirteen to go. I wish it was a better picture. The folks at work gave me a hard time for picking it apart so much, but I know you dog friends will understand. The photographer said she was set up great and I knew better, but she was rushing as usual, so I went with it. Would have been nice to at least have her feet lined up straight if I couldn't get her wave to settle a bit across her topline. And she looks like she's taken the weight off her left front foot just as the picture was being shot. And she's too stretched out. Dang it! Not to mention my hand being in a weird place and the dumb grin and scary hair. ACH! Oh, well, we got a point and that's all that matters, right? Just look at her head and it'll all be alright. :)

To blog or not to blog

Blogging is an interesting thing. Once you start, you feel guilty if you don't do it. You waiver over what is good blog material and what isn't. Sometimes you've got tons to blog about, pictures to show, etc., and it all flows very easily. Sometimes you've got nothing. And sometimes you've got lots going on, but it's either not blog worthy or not something you're willing to blog about, at least not yet, so you don't blog about anything. Blogger's block, perhaps. Weird! It's sort of like losing track with friends who you were really close to solely because you don't move in the same worlds anymore. Then, when you're ready to get back in touch, something else in your life keeps you from it. Hmmmm....

I really do need to get out and take some pictures of some of the things I've knitted up recently. I'm also hoping I'll have Savannah's last win picture soon, so I can scan and post it. While I still visit Ravelry several times a week, I've been neglecting it due to those darn pictures. Dang!

Do you think they've figured out I'm a knitter?

I received a mysterious envelope in my work mail box today. It was obviously recycled after having been sent to some big muckety muck across the courtyard from me. The original info was scribbled out and scrawled across it was my name. Wobbly letters, they were...I think she must have been laughing and writing at the same time! It was sent by an infrequent attendee of our twice monthly noontime knitting group and she KNEW how fitting it was. I opened the envelope to see this and laughed heartily myself. I guess this is what my world has come to...what my dear work friends think of me.

Wait a minute! Why are you laughing?!?! Uh, oh, I guess it's not just my work friends, eh? :) Too funny!

Going to the coast

We're headed off for three wonderful days of coastal goodness tomorrow! Woo hoo! I know we'll be muttering about retiring over there some day when it's time to come home. I love that ocean air!!! We got a great vacation rental house owned by a friend of one of my work/knitting friends. Close to the beach, great set up, and they love dogs, so ours are very welcome. Plans include long beach walks, movie watching, game playing, no work talk for hubby, no cell phone for hubby, unwinding time for hubby, and a trip to a yarn shop for me. I'll post pictures upon our return. Woo hoo! Oh, yeah, I said that already, but I REALLY mean it! :)

What flower are you?

I swear I only took this once, even though those of you who know what my favorite flower is may not believe it. :)

I am a Sunflower What Flower Are You?

Savannah at Umpqua

And, here she is, in her first win photo. Not too bad for having a newbie set her up. The first pic is how close Ross cropped it...I'd have appreciated a bit more background, but oh, well. I should have smoothed her topline around her shoulders a bit and pulled her tail out so you can actually see it, but otherwise, I'm happy with it. Of course, I like the bottom one with me cut out muuuuuuccccchhhhh better. I know, I know, it's about the dog, but still! :)

Ravelry, how I love thee!

I know most of you who check out my blog are here for the dogs, but dang, this Ravelry this is soooooo addictive! It's a record keeper (how much yarn and what kinds do I have, what types and sizes of needles do I have, which projects have I made, which projects do I want to make, etc.), but that's just the tip of the iceberg. How do I put this into dog terms? You know all the talk about building a cardi health database? Ravelry to knitters and crocheters is like that database, but only if it could give you all the health information; show you pictures of nearly every cardi that ever existed; link to every sport cardis have ever done and have pictures of them all doing those sports; show you what your puppies would look like if you bred dog A to bitch B; put you in touch not only with all the other cardi breeders now, but let you have access to resources left by every breeder ever; show you all win pictures of every cardi ever alive; show you every shampoo, lead, collar, food, and other product ever used on a cardi and what the results were; and more! It's amazing!!!!

On Ravelry, I put in the name of a designer and, most likely, go to that designer's personal Ravelry notebook that shows what she is working on, what types of yarns and needles she's using, what patterns she's written and how to get them, what books she's got patterns in and how to get those, what groups she belongs to, what her personal blog address is, and so, so much more. Or, say I find a great deal on some yarn, but I haven't a clue what to make out of it. I can put it in Ravelry and it'll show me every pattern any member has ever made out of that yarn. So, not only can I see what the projects look like, I can see what all the other colorways look like, too! And I just started using it, so I'm sure there is way more I haven't even discovered yet.

I joined a bunch of groups based on different knitting podcasts I listen to. While at one of those groups, I saw someone's chosen profile picture...a cardi! So, I went to her Ravelry site (Karen in California with Tango and Dancer), which led me to her blog and more pictures of her dogs. Turns out she was at Nationals and I'm almost positive I spoke with her very briefly. She's an amazing knitter and only has been at it a year longer than me. She bravely tackles stranded colorwork!!! I'm in awe! And that's just one person. So amazing to me!!!!

Gawd, I'm spending way too much time on the computer, I'm having to learn how to use Flickr, I missed handling class (nail appointment was the real reason, not copious amounts of time on Ravelry - RIGHT!), and I'm not even knitting. ARRRRRGGGGGG!!!!!

And if you're ever on Ravelry and looking for me, my username is RichelleCK. :)

We did it!!!!

Savannah was Winners' Bitch and Best Opposite Sex today. Digger won Winner's Dog and Best of Winners. Getting there early made a big difference! She got used to the atmosphere, I cooled off and calmed down, and we pretended it was handling class. Much better! She needs more Petsmart trips to acclimatize herself, though I think she was being a bit ornery on purpose today. She was certainly feeling full of herself when we came home! She was trying to tell Ethan she was boss...and he was letting her! Wonder if she's starting to smell good again...

We didn't get any good show pictures, but we did get some fun pictures of Savannah getting to use her birthday present for the first time. I definitely have a water dog in this one!!! I have a cute video, but it's too big for YouTube...any ideas on compressing it?




On a knitting note, I've finally received my invitation to Ravelry, a new online knitting community that is a BIG deal among us knitting geeks!!! Woo hoo!!!

Poor Savannah....

....handicapped by her handler again! Why do dogs all have to be soooo different? Wait, no, I'm glad they are. Okay, why can't I control my feelings about showing? I really dislike it, I get nervous and can't control my emotion, and I sweat more than flows over Niagara Falls on a wet day! Ach! Today's lesson? Savannah is not Ethan. (Which I'm thankful for most of the time, but...) Savannah needs to be at ringside at least half an hour before time to go in with me sitting calmly in a chair by her. Ethan needs to get to the ring right before he goes in or he'll bark his silly damn head off. Now, the real challenge is me sitting calmly for that half hour. Perhaps I should knit ringside...hmmm....

Anyway, we went reserve again today. I was so out of it I don't even know who won, except she was in open. Kayla came second in class to her. Digger won WD and BOW. Truman won BOB.

Nikki looked terrific in group...poor Carolyn couldn't hear us clapping...well, I guess it was just me and Debbie Berry and Debbbie's goldie friend, but we really were clapping. Tomorrow I've promised to hoot and holler, too. :)

Tomorrow's another day...wonder if socks will calm my nerves....

More dog or more cat?

Richelle is: 50% Dog, 50% Cat

You are a nice blend of cat and dog.You're playful but not too needy. And you're friendly but careful.And while you have your moody moments, you're too happy to stay upset for long.

Are you more dog or cat?