I'm in love...with a dog. (Part 2) -NQR

Part 1
After moving off J's lap, Sasha wandered over to S and plopped down for a bit. Then to P. When we thought she'd make her way back to me, she headed straight back to J.


While on some level I was sad this 10wk pup just snubbed me, rationally I was okay with it. One goal was to get a pup that wouldn't compete with Buddy for mom's and dad's attention. I wanted a pup that would align itself more with the kids. We left, brought Buddy back to meet her and frankly, they could have cared less about each other. Just wandered around, didn't bother each other, etc. We took Sasha home the same day. Look how sad she looked but how well she and J look together! (PS - another note, the shelter takes the pups in, cleans em up, gives them their first set of shots, etc. She was healthy when we brought her home.)



After a couple days, well, her TRUE nature started to surface. She suckered me right in. She was full of pep and sass and wouldn't venture far from my side. Poor Buddy had competition for attention now. Still, we managed to handle it and we have become quite the family. Sasha still follows me almost everywhere. She still harasses Buddy and she still loves the kids but she has def. become Mom's dog. I look at her and think she's beautiful. I'm charmed by her every day and while I laugh cause she tries to get away with things, I also think I do a pretty decent job of holding her to the rules.

As it stands now, she needs to be challanged and hubby and I have decided to start looking into training her to hunt. I am seriously thinking of starting to hunt also so I can keep growing this bond of ours. It would be nice to be the lead for Sasha on the hunts DH does with the Wounded Warriors. I don't know, we'll see but either way, can you really fault me for falling in love?




And just so you know, Buddy's not just a supporting character here. He's just as cute and loveable!

I'm in love...with a dog! Last NQR before... (Part 1)

my next quilting post, I promise. I really wanted to wait and post on quilting progress before my next not to you but today I just can't help myself and it's because Sasha has decided to snuggle up to me while I type tonight.

"Sasha" is a Vizsla mutt. I suspect Vizsla and Lab but could be V and another hound. I just don't know. Now, despite my family and I owning dogs my whole life, I've always felt a dog was a dog. Don't abuse or mis-treat, but really, they aren't humans... they are dogs. My sister, mom, dad, brother and friends have always been smitten with one or another dog here or there, but not me. As an adult, I've never really understood that, "we belong together" mentality with a pet.

Now I do. Let me take you back to how she came to be with us.

Aside from the children asking me for the better part of 1 year to get another dog (we already have a 5 yr. old cocker spaniel), I've been reluctant. Time, energy, money... all are reasonable considerations and the reason I've held firm. Even when DH (dear husband) joined the fray. Now, it's Aug. DH has given up, kids have given up. Mom drives down the road and sees some labs for sale- and I stop. I check em out, decide it's just too much and walk away. I don't want a lab, too much energy. I mean, they are puppies until the year before they pass, for crying out loud! Not really but still, energetic pups. So I leave and kids are bummed. I go to bed, wake up the next day and check the internet for local shelters. Pack the kids up and we head out. Why? Well, I still don't know why. I honestly cannot tell you, just like I couldn't tell DH why that day and that shelter I chose happened. I can tell you how the day progressed.

3 of 4 kids came with me (1 was grounded, the girl). It was a shelter devoted to puppy litters that had been abandoned. It was so sad. Anyway, the kids were excited and when we went in, pointed to one or another. I declined... too loud, too black (must not show shedding that easily-lol), too energetic, etc. I pointed to Sasha and said I'd like to see her. She showed mild interest in all of us, was relatively calm and had a beautiful red color.

(Taking a moment to insert a shameless plug for this shelter. http://www.preciousfriends.net/home
If you want to donate to a worthy place, this is it.)

They brought her into a seperate room with us. She laid on my youngest's lap for the first 2 minutes. Reached up, licked his chin and settled back down. It's probably important to note right now, J, my youngest, was the one pushing the hardest for another pet. After bonding with J, she got up and wandered over to...

(to be continued tomorrow)

Another NQR post... I'm moving (in a few months)

It's as official as it can be so far. DH is working in TN and we are going to be moving (kids and all) to be with him for the 2009-2010 school year. We will go out sometime this summer and return the next so our house in VA will only be rented. I am praying that's slightly less hassle than trying to sell.

Either way, Clarksville, TN, here we come and I'm excited. My company is going to let me telecommute and there will be some great volunteer opportunities for the family (which hasn't always been that easy to coordinate here in VA due to being a blended family.)

The one other thing I'm excited about, I'm going to start a small container garden with herbs and some veggies and fruits. Tomatoes, strawberries, etc. Hopefully, we'll get something out of it rather than having to purchase all the time.

That's it. Nothing special about this post. I just wanted to ramble a bit about the upcoming move. I'm sure it will start taking much of my time to get organized for it so I'm going to take this next month and make it a priority to finish up some quilting projects. Hopefully, that means you will see a few more quilting posts!

NQR means, Not Quilt Related

Why would I bother to tell you this? Well, because I have found myself feeling the desire to ramble lately about something other than quilts. I mean, I still want to ramble about quilts but there are other things, important things, on my mind, like whether or not to eat a fudgsicle as soon as I'm done typing this post, that I want to write about.

Anyway, for those of you who read all my wonderful, intelligent and insightful posts for the lessons you learn from them or for those of you (likely all of you) who read to laugh at me like I'm laughing at myself while I travel on this quilting journey, I'm giving you fair warning so you do not have to read the non-quilting posts. :)

And there's the why and, if we're truly honest, an NQR post really means it's a, "read only if you are really bored" kind of post!

Today's topic: APPLE BUTTER

oh, mmmm... have you had this stuff? I'm losing weight.

See how I said that?

Not, "I'm trying to lose weight," but, "I am losing weight." If I think it, it will be.

NO! Don't start adding in the whole, exercise so it will be comments, this post is not about that. Maybe tomorrow. Today, it's about apple butter. Were you just skimming earlier instead of reading every word? Geez...

The apple butter I have consists of apple and cinnamon. All natural. Healthy as a condiment. I'm bored with salads, I don't want sandwich bread, so I go for a whole wheat small wrap today. I have deli turkey, 98% fat free. I think... gee, why not? Wraps alone are nasty dry to me. So I add apple butter, turkey, and for crunch and flavor (oh, yeah, and for some vitamins), I add baby leaf spinach, tomato and cucumber.

Oh my, it was good! I forgot black pepper, that would have helped but what a great idea. Now I'm thinking the whole "butter" thing is a good idea... puree a select fruit or veggie as your "moist condiment," add some seasonings or spices and go to town with your wrap ingredients.

Who knew apple butter had the power to turn me onto sandwich wraps? That says a lot to me and now I'm thinking of creative ways to get veggies and wraps together, maybe with some protein.

Not a moment too soon, too, b/c I need to change things up for more variety!

Sewing, sewing, sewing...

This is the first block from the color challenge on OST. It is hand pieced, which was done without any instruction or real experience. Let my just tell you, that is NOT the way to go. I'm all for learning by trial and error, but I will never advocate that for learning to hand piece. The reason why is simple.

After you spend so much time piecing it, it's very disheartening to spend just as much time ripping it out again. And then doing the exact same thing over.

But then again, when you finally break the cycle and complete it, man, it feels good! Of course, that's how you get suckered into starting the process all over again with a new block.

So, like all else with quilting, proceed at your own risk.