Valerean

There was one piece of fabric in the vintage bundle I bought at the Coop that was perfect for a much-needed quick project, so I took that and a piece of yellow print that worked with it and made a mat for my nephew's dog's food and water bowl stand. I just sandwiched the two pieces of fabric together with some batting, and machine quilted it in a diamond hatch pattern that followed the lines on the print. It turned out to be good machine quilting practice for me, something I really need to do every week now. I've been using placemats for this bowl stand so I'm glad to have a nice new mat for it. I might make a few more since we seem to be dog sitting quite a bit lately.

I took this pic two days after we brought the puppies home. I took this one about a month and a half later. They're getting big. :)

I had to use my camera's flash to get a shot of Shadow to come out clearly, but here you can finally see his cute little face and pretty markings. :)

As threatened, I took some pics when we cleaned Beau's ear with the anti-fungal/anti-bacterial ear wash the vet gave us. To do this she uses a cosmetic pad. You soak the cosmetic pad with the ear wash first. You then use the pad like this to clean the ear. This is so much better than directly squirting the wash into the ear and having it drip everywhere, and far less messy. I think it's also more comfortable for the pup.

We made our first visit to the vet with the boys to get their next round of shots and see how healthy they are. This is when I think they finally realized they're not at the puppy toy store place. They were a little scared but otherwise well-behaved. Everyone loved them, of course. The vet said they're both quite healthy, and administered their twelve-week shots. Beau has the beginnings of an ear infection, though, so we had to get some stuff to treat that. The vet also showed me an easier way to clean the puppies' ears. I might share that if I can get some pics when I do Beau's ears this weekend.

The boys like napping under our dining table best. I think it's because the tile floor is cool, and wearing a fur coat in summer means you're always hot. So cute. :)

Beau smiles while he naps. The size difference between the boys -- Shadow is starting to catch up to his brother now. The first time the boys obeyed my sit command. They're still not sure what the camera is. :)

One more pic of our new puppies. My guy took this one. The boys have very different personalities. Our sable Beau seems to be fearless; he throws himself into everything whole-heartedly. He barks at everything and gets in your face and can be grabby with toys and food. Whether he's eating, walking, or playing, just get out of his way. That's why I gave him Bulldozer as a nickname. Our tri-color Shadow is the exact opposite: quiet, standoffish, and sneaky. He's only barked once since he came to live with us. As the runt I thought he would be scared of everything, but he just watches everything for a bit before he decides what to do. Then, when he jumps in, he's fast and precise. That got him the nickname Baby Shark (also he loves it when I sing him that song while we play.) They're both really lovable, and each in his own way is very affectionate. It will be so much fun to watch them grow up.

We're house training our new puppies, and it's working out well. Beau and Shadow have the run of the house during the day, and only go into the crate when we're sleeping or if we have to leave the house to shop or run errands. They've already learned to wake us up in the morning when they need to go outside. Accidents in the house are minimal now, too. Shetland Sheepdogs typically aren't biters, but I discourage the puppies (who are teething like babies) from gnawing on me. Kisses are fine, biting is not. The pups stay with me most of the day in my home office, which I've transformed into a play room for them. They nap there whenever they're tired. When I leave the room they always come with me. Because we're in a rural area with lots of wild life we always take our dogs out on leads. They're a lot faster than we are, and there are a couple of farms around us with working dogs who might attack them if they get loose and trespass...

Beau is a born photobomber. If he's awake and sees me trying to take pics of Shadow, he dives right into the shot. Life for me has changed again (this time, in the very best way.) Thanks to our new pups I go to bed every night too tired to toss and turn, and sleep without waking up. For someone with insomnia, this is as close to heaven as it gets. I miss my quilting a little, but for right now bonding with and training the puppies is more important. I've waited a long time to have dogs in my life again. Once I have them house-trained I know I'll get back to it. Not all change is good, but this time it is. This time I am grateful for it.

Because you can never have too many, right? This shot my guy took shows Shadow's face and markings. Except at night we let the boys roam free -- I've puppy-proofed the house -- but we don't leave them unsupervised. They stay in the office with me while I work. Like all babies they sleep a lot. As a new mom (at my age!) I'm timing everything I do according to their sleep/wake patterns, too. House training is going well, too; we're old pros at that, and have them on a good food and water schedule. Once they figure out how to bark or whine to tell us they need to go outside, we'll be set.

Our new puppies have moved in with us at last. This is our sable, Beau. He was the largest pup in his litter, and the feistiest. I've always wanted to name a dog Beau, and he's very good-looking so it suited him. Shadow is our little tri-color, although he's mostly black and white (and also hard to photograph.) He was the runt of the litter, and the sweetest. He stays behind his big brother, like a little shadow. The boys are eating and playing well, and Beau is already barking. Shadow is still a bit skittish, but he's warming up to me. Expect more pictures. :)

Our two new puppies are coming home with us today, so we went shopping yesterday to get everything I needed for them. Which ended up being over three hundred bucks, but I invested in a couple of things I really wanted for them. I also had to buy the same food the breeder is using right now for them so I can gradually switch them over to the brand I prefer. I spent a little extra on this Sherpa pet carrier, too. I never like having puppies lose in a car; even on leashes they can get bounced off the seats too easily. It fits pets up to 22 lbs., and since our little runt probably won't get very big he'll likely fit in it for life. I'll reveal their names tomorrow, so stay tuned. :)

I relocated Kat's birds to the living room, where they can see us more frequently and look out the window at the back yard. I think they'll be happier here versus alone in her old room with the rat cage.

I'll apologize in advance for the poor quality of these photos -- none of the subjects wanted to sit still for their pic. While Kat is off being a scientist I'm pet-sitting her two birds and two rats for her. You might recognize the white bird in the back of the cage; that's the one that I used to play with on my desk. She's forgotten me, and she's very unfriendly now, too, so no more desk visits. On the other hand Kat's male cockatiel happens to be pretty friendly, which is nice. He and I are quickly becoming good pals. The two rats are senior citizens, and very skittish. One allows me to pet him; the other shies away from me. Transferring them to a holding cage so I can clean their big cage is a bit challenging, but so far we've had no mishaps. We're ready to bring a new dog into the family, but we're having trouble finding any in our area that are suitable for us. We won't buy from a puppy store, and all of the local reputable ...

Today, a little chuckle: Found it in the phone pics Katherine sent to me. :)

Our pup Cole is doing very well after his surgery. The vet had to extract two teeth and drain the abcess, which is now almost gone. He's on four different meds, but the infection is under control and he's not showing any sign that he's in pain (but we're giving him Tramadol just in case he's being brave.) No collar of doom this time, thank heavens. Last night he ate for the first time since he got home, so that's all the Christmas present I need. I can't seem to sleep or stop quilting (definitely due to nerves) so I took an orphan block I bought from Jen at KnJ Studio and bordered it with a cute bunny print to make the front of a gift bag for Oliver's car seat quilt. I quilted the patchwork with three colors of holographic Sulky, and tonight I plan to finish the bag.

Over the last week Cole's face started swelling on the left side, with the bulge going up and down. We went to the vet this morning to see what was causing it. I was pretty sure it was an infection (cancer isn't that fast). Sure enough he has an abcessed tooth, possibly two, so antibiotics now and surgery to pull the tooth/teeth and drain the abcess next week. Then he'll probably have to wear the collar of doom until New Year's so he doesn't scratch at his face. See what I mean about my rotten luck during the holidays? At least it's fixable, so I'll consider that a gift from Santa. Added: The day after my car battery died we found out we have to rebuild the transmission on our pickup truck, leaving us with one very old vehicle to use until the 20th. On the 19th my guy also has his next round of skin cancer surgery. Dear Santa, please stop with the bad luck now, that's all I want for Christmas, thank you.

Here and there over the last week I worked on the little quilted piece I made from scraps purchased at the county quilt show. To keep it a true scrap piece I also used some silver and black binding leftover from another project to finish it. It's always hard to photograph how the holographic Sulky looks, but it added a nice icy sparkle to the patchwork. Fits perfectly in Skye's crate, too, so she's all ready for the holiday season. Another idea has distracted me (more on that tomorrow), so I think this is the last piece I'll make for my Winter series.

Last night I dug through my scraps, and found the white-on-white fabric leftover from my mom's birthday quilt. It was just enough to back my frosty window piece and add two strips on the ends (it needed those to fit in Skye's crate.) Then I pulled a scrap piece of batting from my leftover batting bag that also fit. I love when that happens. Since I'm giving it to the dog, I'm not going to do any fancy embroidery. I'll just quilt it with silver and light blue holographic Sulky for some extra sparkle.