Heart Of My Heart

Valentine's Day I got a text message from my niece that was this picture of these guys.

Lisa and her husband have two beautiful golden retrievers, but their first babies were doxies. Two  little girls named Madison and Sadie. They both lived long doggie lives, but that just never seems long enough.

Lisa loves her new big dogs, but has wanted another dachshund. Valentine's night, Steve showed up, not with flowers and candy, but with these new babies.

It was love at first site, as is appropriate for Valentine's Day, right?

The only problem was that they were supposed to fly out of Birmingham Thursday for a long weekend in Florida. The plan was already that they would come down with their girls and spend the night with me Wednesday night. Anyone who knows me has no doubt that I was going to offer to keep these new babies. I mean, they had just left their momma. They just couldn't go to a vet for boarding.

They all arrived last night and the fun began. My friend Katie is dog sitting her sister's beagle, Layla. She grabbed up Jake (her brown pit) and Layla and came to meet the babies too.

It was really funny to watch how dogs react to puppies. Either they run from them and want nothing to do with them (Jake, Sam and Sister fall into that category), or they are obsessed with them. Roscoe and Layla loved them and seemed to be interested in taking care of them. I set up a little playpen type area with one of the gates that I have here. Every time I looked around, Roscoe and gone into the gate, or was patrolling it, making sure that the babies didn't come through the rails and get stuck or run away.

The baby boys arrived with no names. When I started calling them Rufus and Rex, Lisa decided that she should pick names quickly, or it would be settled by the time they got back. Thank goodness Ronald and Reagan were eliminated, as were Jeb and George. I suggested the previous Rufus and Rex, and Frick and Frack. Other names were Cain and Able, Romulus and Remus, Galahad and Lancelot. (Yeah, I was the only one that liked most of those.) Steve wanted to name one Melvin. (And y'all thought my names were bad.)

Lisa really liked the name Blue for this guy. He has the most striking blue eyes. I think the spelling is still up for debate, but the name has stuck.

That left this one.  See those little front legs? They reminded me on a famous singer and producer, but Lisa didn't really like calling him Cee Lo.

Orange didn't really work (blue and orange ... Auburn's colors). Aubie wasn't right either. Tiger was met with silence. There was a brief discussion on changing Blue to War and this guy becoming Eagle, but that was gone as fast as it was mentioned.

Finally I suggested Covey, for my grandfather (her great grandfather). When I said that, Lisa said ... what do you think about Bailey. We all looked at each other, and then at that face. Bailey seemed to work.

So welcome to the family Bailey and Blue. We're happy to have you.

 You are our Valentines.

Smile!

I took a picture today that made me laugh and got me thinking. Now, I am not a great photographer, although some of these were taken by friends who are. But it is hard not to smile back when someone smiles at you. So "smile, it makes people wonder what you are thinking." (unknown)

Little Old Man ... Happy Birthday Sam!

Four years ago I got an email from a dog trainer that I know letting me know about a poodle that she had been called in to evaluate. The owners had disagreed with her conclusion that, with a just a little work, he would be a great dog. The owners had decided that if they couldn't find him another home, they would have him put down. (They also had already gotten a golden retriever pup that they were sure was going to be the perfect dog.)
Something about his plight struck a nerve and I agreed to let him come here "for a little while". I couldn't understand how someone could have a dog for five years and decide to put him down.
Four years later, that poodle, now known as Sam, Sammers, Sam I Am, Sammer Rammer Roo Hoo, Frack (as in Frick and Frack), The Chunky Monkey, The Little Black One (as opposed to The Little White One), The Good One (as opposed to The Problem One) has his forever home. There was no real work to be done, he was a great dog when he got here. I couldn't love him more if I had gotten him when he was a pup.
Happy Birthday Sam! Roscoe and I could not imagine life without you.

Cleaning Up

I have several friends that I wanted to make a little something for this Christmas. When I was making the baby blanket for my friend's little boy, I got the idea of knitting dish cloths for them. There are so many patterns available to choose from, and they make quick little projects to give you a break from some of the more time consuming undertakings.

There are lots of sites with free patterns. I always start with Ravelry , but have also found nice ones on Knit A Little Store , and Knitting Pattern Central . If you have something specific that you want to do and you can't find them here, just Googling usually will find a free pattern on someone's site.

Part of the fun is thinking about the person and the things that they love. My friend Amy loves hummingbirds. Her lake house has hummingbird feeders visible everywhere and some of the closest to tame hummingbirds you have ever seen. One of the nicest mornings I've had there was spent watching a momma hummingbird bring her baby to the feeder. She would show baby how to drink the sweet liquid and then back away to chase the other hummingbirds away while the baby fed.

Hummingbird Pattern

Anyway, picking a hummingbird for Amy was a logical choice.

My one major learning curve on doing these was in selection of yarns. I picked a bunch of Sugar'n Cream cotton yarns in a variety of colors before I started these projects. Most of them were multi-colored, patterned yarns and the patterns would kind of interfere with the ability to see the image that I was knitting.  But you live and learn. I still found these fun to make and hope people find them useful.

Terrier Pattern

My friend Leigh Anne loves her Jack Russell Terriers.  Bailey (no relation) and Bama are adorable, sweet dogs who are spoiled with all the love that every dog should enjoy. So with a little digging I found this pattern. Now, I know that the creator called it border terrier, but I don't know exactly what that is. You look at her dogs and tell me this doesn't look like her cuties.

Bama and Bailey

Dog House Pattern

In keeping with the dog theme, I found this little pattern for a dog house. (Not that her dogs have ever seen one, but her husband Steve might be familiar with the idea.)

And then, just because initials always work, I did this one for their surname. When I started doing the baby blanket, I had purchased patterns for all letters from the Knit A Little Store , so I used the pattern for K.

I decided to do no border for this one.

Harley pattern

My cousin, Susie, and her husband have recently purchased a Harley Davidson. It took a little digging for these, but I finally found a pattern for a logo.

Motorcycle pattern

Yeah, her kitchen isn't lime green, but she loves lime green.

And I have to get my use out of my letter patterns I bought.

Owl Pattern

When my youngest girlieques saw what I was making, they decided that they wanted their own cloths. So I let them pick their pattern and colors. The oldest loves owls and the youngest kittens, so ...

The owl pattern is called Whoo Loves You Baby.  Isn't it adorable? They have a pattern for making a baby bib with it too. I see that in Cruz's future.

And I couldn't resist this kitten for Caroline. After all, she has my heart.













So now I'm back to other projects, but I love knowing that when I need a break I have a supply of cotton yarn and a stack of patterns to match with a surprising number of people who like them.