We get Chester

I got a call from Leslie, Chester's owner June 1st telling us that the Vet said the pups could go home after that Sunday, unfortunately I couldn't go up during the week to get him so the next Saturday would have to be it.

June 9th Cassie and I head up to Salem to pick Chester up. We decided to stop at the pet shop to get him a collar, leash and bed. After checking out the beds we decided to let Chester pick it out so off to pick up my new baby.

Well, turns out Chester was the last one to go. The others had been picked up by Wednesday so after 7 brothers and sisters to play with, poor little Chester was all alone with just his mom. He did act happy to see us either that or just someone else to play with.

Off we went to the PetSmart. We got the collar Ben & I picked out before and then to the beds. We put a couple on the floor and let him decide. We picked the one he kept trying to shake. We put the back left and the front passenger seat down. this way we could lay the bed down and I could see out front. We didn't figure he'd be happy in the back by himself so I decided to sit with him.

I got him a stuffie call Lamb Chop to keep him company on the way home. He looked so cute laying there not a whole lot bigger than the toy.  The drive home wasn't to bad. We stopped about half way there to stretch our legs and to let him out to go potty.  He liked playing in the grass. About 45 minutes from home he decided he didn't want to sleep in his bed and was really whiny so I decide to hold him.

Look at those paws.. they are huge. He is definitely going to be a big boy but that's what I wanted.  Well we brought him in through the garage to introduce him to the girls.  Tootsie was more interested in him than Chase. She really didn't want anything to do with him but then it took her a month or so to get used to Tootsie and she was a little over 2 when we got her.. Now she has to deal with a puppy.

Tootsie does show a lot of patience with Chester and they really get going pretty rough but for as big as she is hasn't hurt him. No more than an extra nip now and then..but I'm sure Chester has done a lot more than nipping.



I think what he has wanted most of all was to just have someone to snuggle with. After all with as many siblings as he had he has to be missing them. Once the girls let him snuggle he settles down. Chase has been the hardest to convince this is all he wants.   He does like to be close to me too. When I'm in my quilt room he wants me to sit with him but has been really good about laying by himself.

Of course I have to make sure he isn't cold too. He stayed like this for quite a while..until Tootsie barked and woke him up then he had to go check it out too.

next....our frst week

My new puppy.

I'm changing my blog from all quilting to include the Life of Chester the Dobie...

I thought it would be fun to write about my new puppy as he grows up.  We have two Labs Chase & Tootsie.  We got Chase when she was 5 1/2 weeks old, the runt and as sweet as can be. Her mom had a little golden retriever so she has ended up a red lab with the feathers on her tail, legs and tummy and is soft as can be. W adopted Tootsie about 4 years ago or she would have been taken to the pound. She has been Ben's running partner ever since.

A few years ago I became friends with some really great Doberman people when I started looking for a pup. I had been working with a breeder for about a year and a half but her breeding's just didn't take, I decided not to wait any longer and started looking else where. I wasn't in a real rush but I stared looking.

 I finally found a litter born April 16th. What was neat was that it was a litter of 8, 2 of each red, black, blue & fawn. All boys except the blue.

I had decide I wanted a red one so I called. Usually when I found pups they were already spoken for but got lucky this time. Cassie and I drove up to Salem. this was May 6th. Chase had been the runt so I thought I'd pick the little red one but then I picked up the brother. Looked into his sweet face and I was lost. 

I had been holding him in the middle of my chest when he fell asleep. After a few minutes he just sort of fell over. I figured this had to be him if he trusted me enough to fall over like that. So Chester because one of the family.   Then Ben and I drove up again on Mother's Day so he could meet Chester too. He had started to eat really food by then and you could tell they all were starting to get a mind of their own.

The kids and I drove up the next Saturday. The family was really nice and said we could come up every weekend if we wanted to but a two hour drive up and back for a 20 minute visit was just to much. 

At 6 1/2 weeks the kids and I went to visit again. Figured Ethan would want to visit his summer buddy. he was a little rascal, already getting into things. We had a great visit but decided not to go back up until it was time to bring him home. Which was another two weeks on June 9th.

I had been planning on getting his ears done. I spent about a week and a half checking int a Vet who would crop and wrap...boy what stress. After looking over all the pictures we'd taken Ben said he was just as cute without his ears done as he would be with so I decided since we weren't going to breed or show him we'd keep him with the natural look.

Next...the pick up date.

Sister's quilt show

this was a great show. Spent several hours walking around. Browsed through several shops. The weather was great while we were there but they had to shut down several hours before usual because of a thunderstorm. It started to rain while we were in Bend and by the time we were back through Sister's about 3:30 they had all the quilts down and almost all the other street vendors were gone.

this was a shot east through town. it was really a nice morning.

Farmers Market top done & foot problem

Well I finally finished the top today and the change in green worked great. I thought the broccoli would have been to much so after getting help from my husband we found the right green. Funny thing is it matches the green in the outer border. It really needed something and I was even thinking of a thin black border. Now I need to find a backing that goes with it to finish it up. This was a really quick top..lots of straight stitching. Cut & sewed the blocks one weekend. Stitched blocks into a top the next and then the borders this morning. Not bad. It' 68 x 58 so it will take me a bit to have a table big enough to pin.
Saw the doctor and he couldn't find anything wrong. What we are doing is a stronger inflammatory and a trip to a nerve specialist. I refused to get cortisone shots. To me it's a quick fix only...besides I don't like needles..

Another step closer to completion...

Well after spending last weekend sewing, I woke up Monday morning and my right foot was just miserable. It was so puffy that I couldn't get my shoes on. I ended up wearing my slippers to work for three days before I was able to get my tennis shoes on. They are a little looser fit. Would you believe sewing caused my foot to swell. I did sew a lot of little squares together, then into blocks.

Saturday I finally felt comfortable enough to work on the quilt layout. put all the rows up while Ben was at his run so when he came home I got him to help switch them around do not all one fruit or veggie was  in one section. Took us a while but this is what we decided on.

Surprisingly it didn't take me that long to sew all the rows together. It turned out pretty good. Now all it needs it the two borders. One is of broccoli and the outside one is seed packets.. Still trying to decide what to put on the back to finish it up.

Sometimes it pays to put off what you can do another day....or a couple years.

My weekend project.

I bought a fruits & vegetable quilt kit for my birthday summer before last. something I'd been wanting to make for a long time. The pattern is in a book called Six Halves Make a Whole and it's called All Shook up. My quilt will really look nothing like the book quilt. Well, I finished two small quilts and a table runner so I decided to do this one. When I first took out the book and started reading the pattern I thought I'd bit off more than I could chew but once I started it has gone pretty smoothly. I ironed the fabric Friday night and started the cutting Saturday morning. I just finished putting all the blocks together a little before 11 tonight. Now to get the blocks all sewn together. It will probably take me to next weekend. I seem to get very tired after dinner anymore and can fall asleep in my chair. here's a picture of what my blocks look like.

there are 6 sets of 6 different blocks. You should have seen my table. I had 8 piles of all the sizes with post-its to tell me the size. I hadn't done one like this is a long time. It turned out pretty fun. The kit also came with fabric for two borders. the inner border will be broccoli and the outside one is seed packets.
Well it's getting late and I do have to get up for work tomorrow. I'll post more pictures when I'm got the top finished.

finished it..

Well I finished it this evening. Turned out pretty good.  
It was a good weekend to stay inside. It rained most of Saturday and today off and on but very windy.
I finally took my Christmas Card holder,y advent calendar I made and my Christmas wall hangings down. We put up a couple different ones too. Ben also took down all the Christmas lights outside too.
 He also ran in a race yesterday. It was one that you guessed what your time would be. He and Tootsie were a minute faster.
So it was a very productive weekend.

My current project

This is my latest project. It's from Quilters World, Dec 2011. I wanted something to work on before I started my next big quilt. Didn't realise that this would be such a challenge. I'd never done anything with a border like this.  It was a little rough to begin with but decided I need to keep going.. I quilted the runner first and then attaching the flowers and stems. That's not how they showed doing it but since I'd done my last one that way figured I'd give it a try. So far so good. I have the two single flowers attached and just pressed the lighter one a couple nights ago. I'm hoping, if my weekend doesn't get to goofy on me to finish it by Sunday night. Once I start the stitching it seemed to go pretty fast. So one pressed, ready to sew...three more to go.  Because it is my first attempt at something different, It will probably stay with me.

Are they not the sweetest couple

This is a picture of my Cassandra and David..her new sweetie.  Told her this is what happy looks like and it was about time too.  This was taken at the beach this past weekend. They have been together a little over a month and she says she is still on cloud 9..   What's nice for her is he loves the ocean too so she will have company when she makes her drives to the beach multiple times during the summer.

We are going to all go out to dinner at the Rogue Pub Friday night. What will be fun is it will be Trivia night. This guy gives three questions and you have to write down the answers really quick, take them  up to his helper. They have three sessions and at the end of each he gives raffle tickets where you have many chances to win  dollars to use on you bill and other stuff.  We usually do pretty good and have lots of fun.. Especially after you get a couple beers into Ben..he's a real hoot.

being sick didn't last long

I was really surprised that I didn't stay sick longer. Ben brought home some Alka Selzer Plus and it worked great. by the weekend my runny nose had stopped and only a little bit plugged. I do have a little bit of a cough but not not much.  I'm always afraid when I catch a cold it will go back to when I had them before. They would hit and stay with me for what seemed like months. So glad it was just a quick one.

getting sick

I was feeling pretty good this morning. The right side of my nose was a little stuffy but I could still breath.  By lunch time I was so plugged up I couldn't breath out of the right side.  I had to help our temp and she had the heater on and it was blowing on me for about 20 minutes.. by the time I went back to my office my nose was starting to run and it hasn't stopped. Good thing it's garbage day because I keep needing a Kleenex. I think I may sleep on the love seat tonight..probably sitting up. Because of my vertigo I sleep on my right side and right now it is making me so miserable.
Not the way I wanted to start the new year..

Happy New Year to All

The New Year's celebration was no different than most.  Ethan and I sat up and watched the ball drop with Dick Clark...boy is he looking old but still going strong after his stroke.  The last couple years Ben has run the 6 mile midnight New Year's run.. He got home about 2:30am.  Then he got up and went back for the 10am  morning 6 mile run. Ethan went with him this time.. They hit the mall and brought home Cinnamon rolls from Cinnabon. We only induldge once or twice a year. They are too rich to have more often.

The good thing about today is...I still have tomorrow off. So a little relaxing today. Laundry is done except the dress shirts and folding so I can still relax, watch a movie or two and fold.  Monday Ben had to work but only until about 1 so he can be home to watch the Ducks in the Rose Bowl.. I will be in my quilt room..I'll still know what's going on because he isn't very quiet when he watches. The dogs, especially Tootsie comes up with me..she doen't like yelling and he can get quite excited.

  Whether I'm sewing or just telling how my week went, I'm going to try and update my blog weekly.  Why have one if you don't use it right!

So everyone have a great first day for the New Year.

busy holiday vacation

Well, this year for my Christmas vacation I sort of took it easy.  I just kicked back and rested my feet and did a little sewing.  I wanted to do some quilting and it's nice to sew during the day and show some progress quickly.  We go to Barnes and Noble Saturday mornings off and on. We usually pick up a few magazines and sit and have a coffee. It is just to expensive to buy them all so I can check them out and if I run across any I really like I buy it.  I've tried to be really choosy. I found one a couple months ago and another a couple weeks ago.   I made two small wall hanging from patterns .. One for Christmas and the other Valentines day.  

the Dreidel Delight was from the McCall's Quilting Nov/Dec 2011 issue. We aren't Jewish but I've always wanted to make one and just never found one I liked. I love the blues and it was a pretty simple pattern. We put up all kinds of holiday stuff at work.  I have a couple Jewish co-workers so thought this might be nice next year so we could all enjoy the holiday..

This one I recently found in McCall's Quilting Jan/Feb 2012.  This is one of my favorite magazines, Quiltmaker is one of the others. Thought it would be fun to make. What was a first for me was that you put it all together including the machine quilting and binding. Then you put the Hearts and stem. I always thought it would be a great way to put a wall hanging together.  It would be so much easier when you are doing the background quilting. Instead of quilting up to the pattern, stopping and going to the next line.  I think I'm going to try this with my next wall hanging if possible. No one sees the back so except to read the label the extras stitching won't matter.

This is an up close shot of the heart. The little hearts are double sided and attached down the center..sort of like butterflies..  It was a lot of fun.  The back is the same color as the border squares.    Making the wall hanging over my Christmas vacation was fun..Usually I don't get to anything I had planned.. this one was a success..

I also wanted to go to a couple movies. During the day it's a little cheaper but only managed to see one and it was great.  War Horse. I was a little sad in parts but it was done so well.

Chirstmas is over

This was our Christmas tree this year. I decided I didn't want one as big as before. With the fireplace on one side and the girls bench on the other it really squishes the corner. It was still a nice Douglas fir, almost 6 foot tall.  Would you believe we bought it at our local hardware store, Jerry's for $9.94....funny but that was the price of the wreath for the door too.  We've bought our tree there for the last 3 years and they have been beauties and not cost less than $20 dollars.  What's nice is, is it is right next door to Walmart where Ben has his optomety practice so the kids and I drive over and meet him after work.  We make it a family thing...and it's fun. Funny thing about this one is that it fit cross ways in the back of the KIA instead of on top..we definitely went compact this year.

Our Christmas was pretty good.  After we went light looking we put the Christmas Vacation movie in and had fun opening the presents.. Ethan started to hand out the presents and Chase went crazy. She is a paper nut. As soon as he set the package down in front of Cassie, Chase ran over and snatched the bow off and had it in pieces in a heartbeat.  We decided to give the girls two presents first thing.. They are hilarious watching them open them.. 

The big box to the left of the tree was for Ben.. I couldn't find anything else to wrap it in so I just took a big box... It was a big can of Almond Rocha. Of course it was on the bottom so when he opened the box all he pulled out was paper..lots of paper.  They all know, just because it's a big box doesn't mean the gift if big.. Keeps them guessing and makes gifts under the tree look like more than there really is. 

I made out pretty good. I received a pretty blue table cloth, ornament and a bar of chocolate with hazelnuts from my friend in Germany. Ben gave me speakers for my TV (it's a small flat screen but it sounded so tinnie, not is sounds great) and a T-shirt folder. We watched The Big Bang theory and saw Sheldon folding his shirts with this neat folder thing.  Since I have a tone of T-shirts to fold, told Ben I wanted one of those. So the silly man went on-line and found one.. of course it had a section that was of other things people bought too.  I've got a big basket of cloths to fold this weekend so I'm hoping to try it out.  Cassie and Ethan went to Brush Fire and made me a bowl and a tea cup and saucer.

Cassie had made me a really neat bowl with a pour spout and handle a couple years ago and I loved it but it was broken this summer.. She tried to make me another but they didn't have it anymore so she did the bowl instead.  It looks big but it's really just the right size. Not sure if you can read the bottom but the plate says Moose 2011 and the cup Mama.. He even painted the moose by hand.  Ethan also gave me a mini moose pillow. I'm sure you've seen the commercials of the big pillows. you just unhook the Velcro and it flattens out from an animal to a pillow. The little moose is so soft and cute..  I have to tell them to stop giving me stuffed moose's, I'm running out of places to put them.. but they are so cute..

I fixed a pork roast for Christmas dinner and it turned out really good. Cassie made a Chocolate silk pie for desert..very rich but oh so yummy.  It was a really nice quiet Holiday..