quick update

three entries in one day - must be a first! I just wanted to let you know that Shadow isn't here anymore. we found her owners - and her name is Muggy, if I got that right. no, I don't like that name - but the dog was clearly happy to be reunited with her owner:) and vice versa! we found out, that she isn't a Husky mix after all - but an Alaskan Malamute mix! she was only here for 3 days - but I do already miss her. ok, not the chewing on furniture/wool/toes - but her affectionate personality made up for all her mischief. on the other hand I can see that our old dog is relieved - she immediately ran to her favourite place and plonked herself down with a big sigh - and went to sleep. the only problem now might be that she lives right on our way into town and will probably run wild every now and then. but at least we'll know now where she belongs and can ring to have them pick her up if she does follow us again!

 

we'll see how long it takes for another one to make a trip to our animal holiday home here:)

and the rest

so, now you know all about "shadow" (I do wonder what her real name is!). isn't she gorgeous? ok, full of mischief, but adorable, too! I do hope we'll find her owner, even though I'd love to keep her. but then she is still young and full of funny ideas - and our old Dobby is a bit overwhelmed by so much attention. because of her injured hind leg she can't play and fool around for long anymore, something shadow just doesn't understand. and I am sure she's still growing - also a little bit of an elephant (little miss trample....)! we don't really have the time to train her properly just now! the trouble is that she's so cute, that it's hard to tell her off! she just makes this clown face, "grins" at you and shows her tummy - it's not easy to be angry at her when she does that:)

 

I did do a few other things in the meantime of course. I've been crocheting and knitting dish cloths out of leftover cotton yarns. no pictures of those, went straight into use. I also used a few smaller balls of fine cotton, which I found in the recycling center a while back. the colours are "wake me up and do the dishes", right?:)

 nothing special really. just single crochet, half green and half pink, two triangles. I tried to make the edge a bit pretty by adding this 2coloured pattern... simple to do, but quite effective. I have nearly a full cone (1kg) of the green - and nearly 2 full ones (2 kg) of the pink! what am I going to do with the pink especially? I also have a softer yellow, which would go well with the green and tone it down a bit, but the pink I have no idea for. no garment for myself, that's for sure - I don't want to stop traffic on the road!

 

I finally got around to blending and spinning my white to black sequence. the smaller pieces are the top as it came, the fluffy bits in between the blends I made up from them.

 

in hindsight I should have blended one or two more batches with the white, because all the colours flow - just not the white to the first grey. I think I'll try the revontuli with it, probably from black to white, because I have more of the white yarn. not sure if it will be enough though...

 

when I showed my fairy-tale yarns at the last spinner's meeting, one of our members fell in love with "rose red"... she was so enamoured with it that she even wanted to buy it, but of course I still need it for the full project. when I stumbled across the leftover pink and rose tops at home some time later, I thought I'd just spin up the rest and give some to her. it's a bit "greener", because I only had light green soy silk to ply with, no pink silk left. I added a few ribbon roses and hope she still likes it slightly changed (if she doesn't, that's ok - I'll just keep it:)

 

I also finished the first of two baby cardies, the second one is on the needles. simply done, like a ballet wrapover, just with a little frill at the bottom. it's soft and fine sea island cotton - though I have to wash it again now, because Shadow, aka the "uptonogood" dog, had to wipe her nose on it:(

 and I am way behind in the garden - too many other things have to be done right now! and a nosy dog, digging holes in my veggie plot as soon as we get there isn't really helping. though I am sure that she's very proud of herself, fertilizing the plantings and jumping on those ugly small polytunnels to flatten them!

I did wonder about one of my new plants though - I bought two tubers of begonia odorosa. this is one of them in flower. they are a pinky-red on the outside - and yellow on the inside!

oddly enough, the other tuber, supposedly the same, flowers like this. practically no yellow and single, not double blossoms. it's not the odd one out, none of the flowers show any yellow or double petals! and the oddest thing to me - they have no scent whatsoever! why is it called odorosa then??? anyway, they both do look pretty, but it's not the first time I get mix-ups like that in my flower pots!

this is it for now - it's oddly quiet downstairs and given that nobody has claimed shadow yet - I'd better get down and check what she's been up to.... I do hope that somebody rings about her soon - or our house will need a complete makeover:)  

a dog story....

hi guys! I am new here.... I am a girl, teenage age, they say - and I love to play and have fun. well, that's why I am here actually, but more about that later.

 there are three people here (and one old dog...more about that later, too:). they can be fun, but sometimes they are a bit odd. they don't want to play all the time! but I do - and if they don't, well, I won't let them out of the door... simple as that. no attention, no space to move.                                                                         hm, that didn't work out so well - those humans! they just went out the back door! unbelievable! alright, you asked for it. let's see what I can do to get attention.                                                                         

there's a lot of stuff in this house to play with. I found two balls of this - it rolls around, makes loops and knots, you can throw it in the air - and when someone finds you doing it, you do get a lot of attention! ok, the first time I didn't do it right - I ran to the boy to show him what I found. he wasn't too pleased - and took it away from me. but the second time round I got clever - and started to fuzz it up a bit - under the table:) it took them a while to find it - but boy, did I get attention this time! ok, the woman was a bit miffed, she yelled  at me and told me off - and she didn't give me a chewing stick even though the other dog got one! maybe they don't like it, when I play with their stuff?

 

ok, if I am not allowed to play inside - I'll just go off and try the outside... now, where's the old lady gone to? she must be here somewhere; I can smell her!!

righto, there you are! let's play a bit then... come one, don't be lazy... give it your best shot!

she is a bit odd, that one - eventually she gets a bit cranky, so I better give in - truce! (you have to appease her and let her win, even though you could just bowl her over.... she's got a limp and gets tired early - the old ones are funny, eh?)

 

puh, what a day, I think I need a rest - maybe I ate a bit too much? never mind, give me five minutes.... I could shred a bit of cardboard later - or jump on the table again. yesterday I got told off again - there was some meat lying on the sink! it smelled so good that I took it down - which they didn't like! should have put it somewhere else then, ha! and you know what they did? they gave it to the old one - even though I caught it! yep, humans can be really mean:(

the woman said I should behave and look nice for a photo. what's that supposed to mean? I always look nice! alright, alright, here you go then.... that's me at my best. they call me shadow btw. but that's not my real name! because - well, I don't really live here. I just followed the woman, when she passed me on her bike. she was nice and played a bit with me, so I thought, hell, why not have a little day trip! I've been here a few days, but I don't know my way back now! and anyway, it's ok here - maybe I should stay?

 

so, this is "shadow's" story... if this dog belongs to you, please contact me soon. I am sure you must miss that lovely dog (ok, she's a bit like a ball wrecker sometimes, but really sweet, too:) a lot!