It was a rough week - so no postings! We found out Tuesday night that Ralph's sister Jody had died over the weekend, and that was the same day we had to put Henry to sleep. We don't know the specifics really for Jody, but Henry got into something toxic, probably anti-freeze. Here is the last picture I had of Henry - taken while he was checking out Koori.

I had posted pictures of my yard after Koori did some digging, and here is the yard after Ralph had AJ and Dallas move some rocks in.

Back to the work week we go! The weekend went way too fast! I did get a doily finished, and I tried a little "staging" with my picture. The fact that this came out of a book called "5 hour doilies" would make you think it didn't take that long, but...you guessed it - it took me longer than 5 hours! It is about 12 inches across, and done in white and a variegated pink.

Here is a picture of Koori, and her trail of toys! Between her and Alli, my floor is covered in toys. We just have to watch and make sure the toys that Koori has are hers, not Alli's!

AJ and I took both dogs in on Sunday and got them micro-chipped, and she did great on the lead and in the car. She actually got into the car on her own (instead of me having to pick her up and bodily put her in). Having Jasper along might have helped that - Jasper is excited to load up, and gets in the car at any possibility.

My bathroom floors are now clean! Of course, they got cleaned at 3:30 this morning, so I am not a happy camper! I evidently was sleeping too hard. Alli got up around 3:25, and went into the bathroom, turned the water on, plugged up the sink, and proceeded to play in the water. By the time I woke up enough to realize that it was not a "normal" or even a "good" sound, there was water everywhere! I got her dry, the floors dry, the counters dry, and Alli back to bed. She then let me sleep in a bit this morning, to make up for the hassle I think, as it is 6:45, and she is just now stirring. The dogs wanted out at 6:30, so I got over an hour's extra sleep!

Yesterday did not go as planned - surprise, surprise! The "plan" called for taking AJ to Anderson for a flag ceremony for the scouts at 7:00, going grocery shopping, and then going to my company picnic for a BBQ lunch. Instead, we went to the flag ceremony - which the boys did very well, if I say so myself! (AJ was highest ranking scout there, so he got the announcer's job "Color Guard - post the colors", etc.) Then, instead of the whole family going to the BBQ, AJ and I went out to Nash's Pumpkin Patch to help them get set up. According to Mary Nash, the scouts signed up a month ago to work this weekend. According to AJ, they were going out in two weeks. I am sure Mary is right - the Pumpkin Patch opens the weekend the scouts have down to work, but the word didn't make down through the scouts. AJ got a call Friday night, and tried to round up some scouts to help, but calling on a Friday for help on Saturday is pretty futile. We managed to get one other scout for about an hour and half, and then he had a prior commitment. So, it was AJ and I, and another Scout Leader and his 5 year-old grandson (who was afraid of dogs, and the Nash's had the cutest 5 month old puppy that thought that Bryce was just the right size to play with!) We got some work done around the ranch for them, but not as much as Mrs. Nash had planned on, thinking she would have a full patrol of scouts. I never made it to the company picnic! Probably just as well - Ralph has a cold, so he would have been grumpy if he went! (Of course, he is grumpy even if he didn't go, he just isn't around anyone!)

Koori and I went for a walk today, and we made it all the way around the block! This is my second try at walking her. The first time, I made the mistake of having AJ take Jasper on a walk at the same time. After making it just two houses away from home, I sent AJ and Jasper on their way, and Koori and I turned around and headed back toward the house. We did make it up to the corner, but not easily. Koori is very shy around noises, and every time a car came by, she shied away. She even scared herself by stepping on a leaf. She got so freaked out, she was doing back flips when she hit the end of the lead (I had her in a harness.) This time, I went out with just us, and she was much better. She is still very scared of cars, but I think even this will improve. It is just going to take practise! (Yes, that means I will have to take a walk every day!)

Here is a new doily - Eyebright is the name of it, and it is about 13 inches across, done in white 20 weight thread. I need to look into getting more 20 and 30 weight thread - I like the looks of the doilies after they are done with the thinner thread rather than the size 10.

It rained yesterday! I think Fall is here! I know we will have another round or two of hot weather, but it sure felt nice to cool down to the mid 60's. The paper said that Wednesday would be in the mid to high 70's, so I dressed Alli in her normal shorts. On the way to work, the radio said mid 60-'s. I don't think she got too cold, but she wasn't dressed quite right for the day - Bad Mommy! One of these days, I will get it right! Today I will dress her in pants, and it will probably jump up to the 80's!

Remember my "before and after" pictures of my yard? I think I should have waited for my after" pictures. Koori has decided to be a digger, and these were taken after Ralph cleaned it all up! (and put rocks down so she didn't dig there again , and she just dug between the rocks, instead.) Someone has also been playing in the plants - or more likely, sleeping on top of them. And here's a picture of Jasper saying "it wasn't me!"

I finished the birthday present! I think it turned out very nice.

A quiet Sunday morning! Ralph left to go get AJ from camping, and run a couple of errands in town, so it is just Alli and me. Of course, she has not liked any of the movies I have put on in the last hour, so we are on movie #17 I think. This one is lasting longer than the others, so I took a chance to sit down for a minute. Uh oh - I just heard her start whining, so it won't be long before she comes to find me.

I posted a picture of a plastic bag holder I made this weekend. This is now in the bathroom, which is where I use (recycle?) most of these. It is made of cotton yarn, and was a nice change from my doilies. I am using size 20 thread for my latest, but I would like to work on making a bracelet this afternoon, using beads and wire. I need something for a birthday present for tomorrow, so I had better get going!

I was able to (over the course of two days) get pictures of Koori's morning greeting to Alli. Koori just doesn't understand that someone might not want to say good morning! She is up in Alli's face first thing! Alli is very good about not pushing her - she just wiggles around until Koori jumps down. It is very cute!

I am partially kid-less this weekend. AJ is camping with the scouts up at Whiskeytown Lake this weekend. They took the canoes up, and are meeting with some cub scouts and will be teaching them how to canoe. It would be fun to watch! The troop is really trying to get kids into it, the older boys have started dropping out, and we have not had a lot of younger kids coming in. It is time for a recruitment press! For the last couple of years, they have not really been pushing the recruitment, so now - here we go! It changes the dynamics of what the group activities are - like camping at Whiskeytown and spending the day with the cub scouts. AJ is also signed up to do a flag ceremony in Anderson next weekend, and they are lining up boys to help out in cub scout dens.

The weather has changed this week - our highs are in the 80's, not the 100's! It has been very nice. The smoke has pretty well cleared out from the Moonlight fire as well. We had some very pretty sunrises and sunsets, but I am glad the smoke is gone (and the fire is getting under control).

I finished a rather bright doily last night. It is about 12 inches across, and is a sharp contrast to the last couple I have done, which were ecru.

I finished up another doily last night too - this one is about 18 inches across - called Leaves and Flowers.

Does anyone want to explain to me how Alli can tell if it is a morning that I can sleep in? She was up at 5:30 both Saturday and Sunday! Usually, she is up early, but that is 6:00, not 5:30! She should have slept later today - she should have been very tired. We went to Kid's Kingdom for Ralph's company picnic, and AJ and I spent about 2 hours following her around the playground. She had so much fun I feel guilty for not taking her more often!

Now we are really back to normal - scouts are back in session. Last night was the first meeting since July. It was quite nice to take break from the weekly meetings! Back to normal we go! The picture above is from the leader of the Rescue Group "Save a Dog Today" that we got Koori through. She took some pictures before she left of Koori and I, and in this case, Alli too! Alli is lying behind me on the couch.

The weekend was a productive one! I finished up a couple of doilies, a couple of snow flakes, an angel (she is very little), and still managed to clean house, work in the yard, have company, etc. Cindy was here for a few hours - in at 6:00 on Sunday, and gone after lunch on Monday.

Cindy and Rachelle - after Rachelle's bath after camping

The yard before......and after. The roses still need more trimming, but since they are still blooming, I left more than really looks good.

The angel is about 3 1/2 inches tall, and a little over 2 inches wide. The doily is done in a light green called "Spruce" - hard to tell the true color!

So much for sleeping in on the long three-day weekend - Alli was up at 5:00 this morning! I have to wake her up during the week at 6:15 to get her up for school, but when I can sleep in, she is wide awake! Luckily, she is very happy in the morning, so I don't mind (much) getting up with her.

I visited her classroom yesterday, and I am not happy! She has a new teacher, old classroom, and the teacher has almost no supplies! The GREAT Partnership "created" this classroom, but did not get the teacher set up completely. Added to that, the campus changed from a standard school to a charter school, and the charter school doesn't want anything to do with the Special Class, including sharing any supplies (even the photocopier!) with them. The head of the GREAT Partnership is actually in the hospital, and has been for over a week, so that is probably the main problem. I think they can get it going and make it work well, it just isn't pretty right now. The teacher is optimistic, anyway. I'm not too sure I am, but we will see.

I finished a new doily - done in 20 weight thread, and it turned out about 16 inches across.