Snowballs!

Oh dear --- the quilt history story is NOT happening again this morning. A bit pressed for time, and I want to do some more research, so we'll have to hand tight on that one. 

I think I will have to shop for a pair of jeans. I knew the thigh part was going to start to have holes, and I saw the first one poking its head out. YES -- I know having holes in your jeans is fashionable, but I'm OK with no holes. But that means a shopping trip, which is not one of my favorite things to do. I must check my drawer to see if there's anything I can dig out. I must have another pair of pants somewhere!

Yesterday was a "traumatic" day - well, morning with the girls. We had snow the day before, and of course, they all LOVE to traipse in the snow, including the little guy. He seems to thrive on it, except for this. It's hard to see because his fur and the snow are white, but he was covered in snowballs. 

SNOWBALLS

His legs (up to his tummy) were covered in snowballs! So I brought him in the house and put him in the kitchen sink, where I tried to remove his sweater, which didn't work well since the sleeves were tight, and it was hard to get the snow through the sleeves. I dropped the sweater in the sink of warm water. But all was saved, and Bear was snow-free; although he was wet, he didn't care. 

Then, it was Murphy's turn for a walk, and the same thing happened. However, I'm not putting her in the kitchen sink, so it melted, and I cleaned it up. 

More snowballs

And then there is Lexi, who comes in clean as a whistle regardless of the weather. I swear she prances around the house, pointing that out to the other two. 

No snowballs

But dogs are like kids. Where will they walk in if there is a clear sidewalk or snowbank? The snowbank, of course!!!

Then Murphy got to go for a car ride. It's not her first time, as she had to go to the vet a while back for her shots. I put a blanket over the back seat and put her in the cargo area. I LOVE this as I had to put the seats down in my other car, and well, it was a mess. This keeps things pretty clean. 

MOM -- I can see people, and they are smiling at me! 

I mean, how cute is this? Oh, Murphy!!!!

MOM -- you're a long way away!

And when she got home, she was all pretty! Yep -- she went to the groomers. 

MOM - -they cut my hair off! 

She even got a personalized bandana!!! 

I have been very hesitant about taking her to a groomer, but she desperately needed it. Previously, we have been asked not to return or to come first thing in the morning, and she would be rushed through. Why? Because she barks all the time. 

I was leery, so I arrived at the shop with great trepidation. Of course, when she got into the store, she barked. I started to tell her to be quiet, and the groomer came out and said, "Murphy is feeding off your energy; you need to relax." And that DAMN dog listened to her and stopped barking. Oh, Murphy, you made a fool out of me. 

She was quiet the ENTIRE time that we filled out the paperwork. She did bark when another lady came in to get her dog, but I left. When I arrived back at the groomer, I did NOT hear Murphy. This lady is fantastic, and Murphy was happy as a clam. Guess who is going to the groomer regularly? And guess who else is going to go? Yep --- all three of them!

Of course, when Murphy came into the house, she ran right to the water bowl, and there was a butt-sniffing thing going on as the other two didn't know what happened. 

MOM -- who is this clean-smelling dog?

I had to drive DH to the train station, and this is what was in the window when I returned from the gym. 

MOM -- can you see us? We're guarding the house! 

Yes -- there is a little white head on the left of the center window and a big golden head on the other side. They are so funny!!!

OK -- and now for some quilting stuff. During Monday's Sewing, I finally unpicked the borders for my Green Tea and Sweet Beans. 

Hated the vine border on this quilt

I will make the applique border, but I didn't like the wonky vines. Some vines were stitched down, but I took it all apart yesterday. 

Taking apart the vine border

There was glue and green bits from the stems and, of course, my stitching marks. 

Looks bad

Oh shoot, I didn't take a picture, but I returned to the kitchen sink with the four border pieces this time. I soaked them for a couple of hours, and I'm not sure it got rid of the WATER SOLUABLE glue -- how can that be? Anyway --- it's as good as it's going to get, and I'll just wash the quilt when it's done. 

I will try something new for the applique on the borders, and I need to work on that. So now that everything is apart, it should be easy to assemble it again. I'm OK with wonky things, but those vines were too wonky for my taste. 

I finally unpacked that suitcase that I brought home from the farm. Some of it is going to our journal-making retreat for the next couple of days. And some of it is staying home, and I'll deal with it later. But look at the treasure I found. I had this darn box in my hand in September, but I left it on a cupboard. Yep -- those are paper dolls, and they are from BEFORE my time. 

Paper dolls

They are well-used and beyond being of any value except sentimental value. I have some original clothes and tons that were handmade. I remember playing with these as a kid. 

Paper doll clothes

And, of course, there was my helper! He is everywhere! 

Grandma -- I can be the helper dog! 

My contact list is still a total disaster. There are old email addresses for some people, and I'm trying to delete them. I just figured out how to get the list in alphabetical order, and I really need to be ruthless and just DELETE anyone to whom I currently do not send emails. Somehow, the list they recovered was from when I worked at Northcott, so all my old contacts were recovered, not any of the ones I use today. How did that happen? 

Anyway, I sent an email to the Machine Embroidery group this morning, so if you want to be in that group and have yet to receive an email from me this morning (two, as a matter of fact), please email me. I've been sorting emails and seem to have lost some of the recent ones. So help me -- email will be the death of me! Hopefully, I got everyone. 

And I also sent a note to those people on the Many Blocks quilts. This is for the insane people who signed up for one of those massive daily block quilts or something like Dear Jane. Let me know if you are currently working on one of those big projects and want some motivation from others. 

I think everyone in the UFO groups got an email last night, so if you want anything to do with UFO, you should also have an email. 

I will acknowledge and finalize the digital cuter list by the end of the weekend, so if you haven't paid yet - be sure to do so. The last group is Out of the Box, and if anyone wants to give that challenge a whirl, it's a great way to be creative and not necessarily with fabric!!! 

I will be glad when this email mess is over. I can only thank my lucky stars that it happened when it did- the timing was perfect for an email catastrophe, and I am equally fortunate that the number of groups it affected is the fewest it's been in years. So suck it up, princess -- you're almost done!

I think I have all of you or some of you at least to thank for moving me beyond murder mysteries to read. I get recommendations all the time, and I put them on my reading list. Sometimes, when a book comes in, I wonder why I ordered it or what it's about. Because of these recommendations, I have learned to branch out from the usual genres!! Thanks, Torry, for the new recommendation. I've got it on hold. 

On that note, I have to get myself organized and get out of here before the bad weather arrives. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!