Yup. We’re having one of those days again…yet it is going to be 58 by Monday. Can we please get the weather some lithium?
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While you are under the blankets you can read a copy of Poopiter! Poopiter shows the illustrated lives of two Cairn terrier brothers.
Poopiter is available from Amazon.
The question we have to answer is not only “What do we do with a drunken sailor?” but “What do we do with leftover fabric?”.
Over the years, I have acquired a number of different fabrics. Some are still usable in small amounts for things like patchwork quilts. Others really aren’t good unless you have enough for a garment. In my case I have anywhere from 1-2 yds. of different pinstripe wools and suit weight linens that are still nice fabrics, but there isn’t enough for me to make anything for myself.
Since there isn’t enough for me to use, I would like to get them out of the closet, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to simply toss them. I would like to donate them to some individual or organization, but I haven’t found any that need fabric. They all seem to need yarn.
I hate that my desire to clean is being stalled by a fear of being wasteful. On the other hand, I hate to burden someone else with that which is useless. That is, after all, how I ended up with so much fabric…I inherited it from other seamstresses who were cleaning out their closets.
Hey, when you’re done cleaning that closet, can we put more biscuits in there?
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To take your mind off mid-winter closet cleaning, pick up a copy of Poopiter. Poopiter follows the adventures of my two pups as they spend their first year together.
Poopiter is available from Amazon.
If you’ve known my boys for any length of time, you know that they are very communicative – from both ends. It is easier to read their missives in the Winter because snow gives them a fresh, clean canvas on which to write.
Toby started our week with a perfect capital “W”. In real life, it was much nicer and looked something like Times New Roman. I played around with Photo Shop to try to create one, but mine looks more like caramel or butterscotch.
Geordie was next with a cry for help. At least the Photo Shopped version looks a bit more like chocolate.
Toby’s latest creation looked like this . I am just hoping that Michael Eisner never finds out.
To read more of my pups’ unusual lives, pick up a copy of Poopiter. (In it, you can read their story, The Lao of Poo.)
My weeks before Christmas were busy with projects. In this case, I was making Memory Bears and Memory Pillows for a woman whose husband had passed.
Memory items are typically made of the deceased person’s clothes. I can make them into teddy bears (similar to the one below) or pillows. With the pillows, I try to incorporate pockets, buttons and sometimes collars from the shirts used. With the bears, I often use the buttons from the shirts as the bears’ eyes. Some bears get bow ties. Some get long trailing ribbons.
The lady who ordered these gave them to her grandchildren for Christmas. She told them that whenever they wanted to hug Grandpa, they could hug their teddy bears.
Of course, the challenge was making sure that my playful pups didn’t think any of those stuffed animals were for them!
You sure that’s not for me, Mom?
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Don’t forget to order your copy of Poopiter. Poopiter “illustrates” the first year that Bitey Dog and his pesky little brother spend getting to know each other. A fun read for any dog lover!
Pretend there is a bunch of snow on this tree.
Toby and I went for a walk, and he wanted to visit the sideways tree. (Turns out he is just at happy peeing on the bottom as the top) The tree was covered with several inches of snow, so I thought I would be safe from spores. Wrong! My idea to play bouncy-tree and rock the trunk in order to scare Toby backfired. While he was mighty scared, I ended up having an allergy attack. Keep in mind that you never want to startle a pup. The universe will get even with you. After all, karma is a bitch.
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Don’t forget to pick up your copy of Poopiter. It is available at Amazon. The book tells the illustrated tales of my boys as their friendship begins.
Normally Toby likes sleeping in his kennel. He even has a performance he puts on when he wants to go in at night. For some reason, last night was an exception. He cried and whined as soon as the lights were turned out. I opened his door to see what he wanted. He didn’t go to his dish. He didn’t go to the door. Instead, he ran to the bedroom where Geordie was sleeping in the laundry.
Toby isn’t usually allowed in the bedroom because he is still young enough to be a destructive force of nature, but last night I made an exception. While Toby fussed and investigated all the corners, I decided to leave for a few minutes and let him figure things out on his own. When I came back, I found this:
He had found some lap blankets and made a little bed for himself.
Geordie was less than thrilled to have The Usurper in his own private room. (Geordie and I have arguments over whose room it really is.) He huffed and puffed and made discontented noises all night to let me know he was not happy.
Life’s the same
We’re sleeping in stereo
Life’s the same
Except for the toots.
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Don’t forget, if you still have any Amazon gift cards from the holidays, a copy of Poopiter would make a great gift for yourself!
Whenever we have a dry day, I try to go down to the sideways tree to help it sneak back into the woods. This is my progress so far. At the point you can see here, the trunk split into four branches that grew basically vertically. I got all of them cut off and moved near the trunk in the wooded area.
I have also been digging up branches that have been buried under very tall grass. In this picture the grass has fallen over, but it is mature enough to have gone to seed. What amazes me is that the grass I cut in December is already turning green and growing.
This is what the tree looked like in late Summer before I started helping it.
I really enjoy bringing order from chaos, but no good deed goes unpunished. Our dead tree friend is covered with fungi which cause me to have an allergy attack every time I work around them.
These orange fellows bring some color to the day, but I am hesitant to handle them.
These white “clam shells” are everywhere, so it is hard to avoid brushing against them.
The color is a little off on this picture, but this fungus has a blue-green cast.
This can give you an idea of the diameter of the trunk of the tree. Its not huge, but it is surprisingly heavy.
As I was taking pictures, three deer crashed the party. You can see one of them as she runs away.
Toby likes to come with me when I work down here. He digs holes or eats dirt and grass. It is little puppy heaven.
Aw, can’t we go to the tree today?
If Toby is upset about no longer being able to pee on the top of the tree, he hasn’t said anything. Perhaps I should check my slippers before putting them on just to be on the safe side….
For the final act of 2018, Toby managed to get into the bathroom and grab not just the end of the toilet paper but the whole roll. “Gnaw, gnaw, gnaw” went the Toby.
And how did 2019 begin? With Toby throwing up in his bed at 4:00 a.m. “Yark, yark, yark,” went the Toby. But, dog puke is auspicious, isn’t it?
And so begins our new year….
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Did you get an Amazon gift card for Christmas? Then consider ordering a copy of Poopiter for yourself!
Poopiter tells the illustrated tales of my boys during their first year together. Sure to bring a smile to your face!
Whee! The boys and I got lucky. Our Christmas presents arrived early! They received reflective leashes and collars, and I got a reflective harness to go with my bands and my flashlight.
I hadn’t realized how much we would enjoy night walking, but it is wonderful! I love the peacefulness and the quiet. People in the area go all out for the holidays and decorate with tons of lights and lawn ornaments. You really get to appreciate them as you stroll by in the dark.
It is great no longer being restricted to daylight hours to get our exercise. If I had known how much fun we’d have, I would have asked Santa for reflectors much sooner!
It’s hard to judge from the photo just how big this gentle giant is. He is huge!
If you could peek through the trees a few feet, you would be able to watch the Keystone Pipeline being put in. Workers pushed over the trees in this wooded area to make a place for the pipes. Part of me would like to blame the workers for knocking over healthy wood, but these trees were nearly all past their prime and should have been thinned long ago. Over the years when the pups and I have walked by, I was struck by how many trees were still upright simply because they had died leaning against a fellow tree.
One day during a bad storm, this giant of a tree was knocked over. Even though he was down, he continued growing and put out a full display of leaves that first year. By the second year, his spirit flagged. As you can see in the photo, his leaves were thin, and he looked tired.
At the end of the Summer, he finally gave up and died. He had had enough. What is sad to me is that he has had to lie there for all of those years while the township mowed around him. Again, my photography isn’t good, but there is an island of unreasonably tall grass as large as the outline of the tree.
Toby and I walked past the tree last week. I brushed against a branch, and it was so brittle it easily snapped off. Inspired, I broke off more and more. On several more days (sans Toby) I went back to the park and broke off all the branches that would snap. I even dug through the snow to reach the ones buried under the 30″ tall grass.
This is fun for me. I like the work, and I like making that public area look better. I am planning to sneak back with a saw and keep hacking the tree into pieces that I can drag into the woods. I am wondering how long I can do this before someone decides to yell at me. You know, because after nearly 3 years of ignoring the problem, the township is suddenly going to develop an interest in it.
I hope that the parts of the tree I have returned to the woods will decompose and become fertile ground for new life. Season by season we can watch that stand return to its former glory.
I can’t believe you are getting rid of my chance to pee on the top of a giant tree!
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Christmas is right around the corner. Order your copy of Poopiter for yourself or for someone you love!
Poopiter is available at Amazon.
The Adventures of Bitey Dog 