Countdown

Halloween is coming! This year's theme is Mad Scientist's Laboratory. I've got some ideas and have been halfway searching yard sales for props, but the search starts in earnest now.

I'm looking for odd and large jars and bowls for specimens. In a month, I'll start carving apple faces to dry, but not sure what else I can use for body parts.

Also on the list are some old lab coats--the more stained, the better. And maybe old rusty yard tools.

I'm hanging bones from the trees this year, but I think I need to buy another bag. Anatomical Chart Company used to sell them pretty cheaply, but their prices have gone up. Ebay has some, but those are mostly foam, and the plastic ones are pricey, too. This might require some real searching.

Maybe I can get some old lab equipment and old x-rays from work, as long as no names are visible.

What do you think? Suggestions welcomed and appreciated!

Judy L's Labor Day Challenge

Judy at Patchwork Times is hosting a Labor Day Challenge quilting session--and I am finding it particularly challenging.

It looks easy enough, doesn't it? Just wonky squares inside other squares.

It's the wonky that's doing a number on my head. I am a traditionalist and it's making me crazy to deliberately have crooked lines in my squares.

This is my focus fabric--strange fabric. I don't remember where or why I bought it, but it's perfect for this project.


I cut it into wonky squares, as instructed.


And here are the coordinating fabrics:


Except it's taking more than I thought, and I'm not sure I'll be able to come up with enough in my stash that coordinates with the colors in the focus fabric. And HORRORS! We can't have fabric that doesn't coordinate, can we?

These are the 12 squares I made last night:

See the orange one? I goofed and had to piece the outer square because I didn't have enough fabric to remove that side and sew on another one.

This has definitely sent me out of my comfort zone.

Now, back to bed.

Tandi Update

My Tandi-Tot is feeling much better today; the meds are working. She didn't want to take them at first--she licked the peanut butter off the chewable and spit it out, but took it a little later. For the probiotic, I rolled it in a bit of sliced American cheese, which she managed to unroll and separate from the pill. Clever little girl. The second time I smushed it better and it went down.

I made another run to the store for paper towels and vinegar, but didn't need them. Only one bout of the poops today, but my carpet is now in dire need of cleaning. As soon as I can bring home some boxes and pack away tapes and books and figurines, I'll get our carpet cleaner over to do the whole living room/dining room/hall area. I don't dare have anyone over til then.

I have never seen a dog who loves her toys as much as Tandi does. I keep them in a basket on the floor so she can pull them out and design her own obstacle course whenever she wants. Her favorite is a squeaky football with little spines that looks like a toxic strawberry that I got for a whopping dollar at the grocery store. She carries it around in her mouth and squeaks it when she's particularly happy, sort of like a four-legged Clarabell the Clown.


Second to that is a squeaky frog I also found at the grocery store.


She felt so bad this weekend, her toys stayed in their basket, until I heard a famliar squeak tonight. She's almost back to her old self, though she still tires easily.



Oh, and the rains started. Hurray! I know Florida is weary of Fay, but we in the mountains are setting an extra place at the table for her. It started raining last night and has continued all day today. It's supposed to keep raining through the night, then begin to slacken off during the day tomorrow. This weekend is the Apple Festival so we're hoping it's dry and pretty for a while before Gustav stirs up a little moisture our way next week. I wish I could go, but it's Crappy Schedule Week, so I'll just have to hang my apples by the front door and just dream of the Honey Crisps, because they won't last the weekend.

Movie Trivia Answer 8/23

We have a winner! Lori in South Dakota guessed correctly; It was Dark Victory.

If you haven't seen this movie, grab a box of tissues and prepare to be wowed. Bette Davis did a terrific job. Makes me bawl every time. Remember this scene?



New question on Saturday!

But the Vet Doesn't Have to Live Here

(Warning! If you are not a Mom, if you hate dogs, or if you are known to swoon at the mention of body functions, scroll on down past the second picture of Tandi.)

I had such high hopes for the 5 nights off. My list was up to the elbow with things I wanted to accomplish, which should have alerted me right then and there.

Saturday night, after the Olympic highlights went off, I decided to scrub the kitchen floor. J-Man was in bed, Tandi was in her crate, and hey, it was only 1 am or so. And the floor was in dire need of attention, water conservation aside.

Tandi woke and whimpered and scratched to be let out, but I thought it was because she heard me up and around, since she generally stays in her crate 8-10 hours at night. But she persisted and I let her out, threatening all sorts of rudeness if she danced across my newly cleaned floor. She was sincere, and after coming back inside, I heard her snoring within a few minutes. It was 4am when I finally went to bed. I missed the second alert that this was not to be a satisfactory weekend.

(Last chance to back out of this post with your dignity intact.)

By 2 pm Sunday afternoon, Tandi was going out every couple of hours. Now she was straining and bleeding. Her nose was still cool and moist, she was only a little mopey, and her appetite was good. I left a message on the vet's office machine about 7 pm, thinking someone might come in to check their boarders and call me. They didn't. Thinking they might need to examine her under anesthesia, I took up her food and water by midnight. Sometime after 2 am I fell into a fitful sleep on the couch, with one ear open in case she needed to go out--which she did, several times.

About 7:15, J-Man woke me up to ask me why I was asleep on the couch.

He has had few such near-death experiences in his lifetime.

The vet's office called me about 8:30 and said they could see Tandi this afternoon, but the gal must have heard the concern in my voice, because she let it be known that Dr. M would be starting his surgeries around 11:30 and they couldn't take walk-ins after that. I had my gal in within 20 minutes. The vet kept her all day.



It's my fault. I bought one of those rotisserie chickens from the grocery store Saturday for supper, and for the first time, gave her some of the chicken skin. Dr. M said since that part of the chicken was highest in fat and protein, it upset and inflamed her gastrointestinal tract and gave her a mild case of pancreatitis. She had bloodwork done to confirm it, got IV fluids, and was put on a special diet for the next 3 days, along with antibiotics twice daily. If she's not better by Thurs, I'm to call him.

"Oh, yes," he told me. She's probably going to have loose stools for another day or so. I could give her something to stop it, but my feeling is she needs to get it out of her body."

Just when I thought it was safe to sell my stock in the paper towel company. And white vinegar.

You'd think I'd have accomplished more than I did, while she was at the vet's. I kept watching where I stepped, because she likes to hang out in the sewing room when I'm busy--especially beside the ironing board and the cutting table--and I usually have to be careful not to step on her. As freely as I could move in there today, it just didn't seem natural, being in there without her. I didn't get much done until she got home, and then we headed in there together after supper.

She was all tuckered out and fell asleep almost immediately. I was all tuckered out and tried not to.


So this is what I worked on today:



Our little quilting group is doing a BOM and since I've missed several meetings, I am way behind. Today I finished two more blocks, making that 3 of nine that are done. There will be 3 more blocks handed out next month, as Oct. is a field trip, and Nov. we will discuss assembling it.

I've had this fabric for years; don't remember when or where I bought it, and I don't care for it much anymore, but since the blocks only require 3 fabrics, I decided these would do. (The color isn't quite right in the picture--that's more of a dusty rose and country blue.) I'll probably make it a community quilt anyway, and there is bound to be someone out there who is into pastels.

After making the first 2 blocks, I realized I didn't like the color placement very much, but didn't want to go to the hassle of redoing them. So I calculated--there are 6 different options for color placement, and there will be 12 blocks; ergo, I can make two in each set. I'm not sure what I will do for sashing, but I'm thinking the pale cream will not look good as an outer border, so I may make 3 in each of 4 color placements. Any opinions?

Well, my eyes are about to cross and I am anticipating another night of sofa-sleeping, so I need to call it quits.

I'm hoping the vet is exaggerating the timeline.

And J-Man better be a fast learner.