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.

Ralph - my hero - managed to fix my cable for the camera, so I can upload pictures again (he also "fixed" the cable so Koori doesn't chew on it again, we hope! The cable is tucked out of the way.) Here is Koori in her preferred fashion for getting a drink. She has also learned to open the screen door (that we closed to keep a wet dog out of the house). I was at Walmart yesterday, and got her a chew toy, and a huge Nylabone for Jasper. The next thing I know, Jasper has the little toy, and Koori is chewing on the bone - go figure!

I have the cutest picture of Koori with all four feet in the water bucket, but I can't get it off my camera. Someone decided to chew the cable that I need to download the pictures from the camera! So far, that is the only casualty of the puppy (besides a couple of doggie toys she and Jasper have chewed up between them, but that is what they are designed for). I looked at the paperwork from the camera, and for $50.00 I can buy a new cable and cradle. I am hoping I can get just the cable for a lot less, but the website is down for maintenance, so at this point, I am stuck! I will make a phone call later today, and see if I can get what I need for less!

One thing about a puppy, you are up at 3:00 a.m. to see the lunar eclipse! Pretty cool! I wasn't planning on getting up for it - Ralph and AJ were, and they did (that may be why Koori wanted out.) It was quite a sight!

So far, no messes in the house for Koori. I haven't seen her go outside on her own, but she follows Jasper in and out, so is out frequently and "does her business" outside, so far! Henry is become used to her, and because Koori is crated at night, he is able to come in and sleep on the bed with me. Now to get Lucy and Willey adjusted!

Things are settling down now as far as the routine for school. I am back into the routine of making Alli's lunch after dinner, and AJ is getting into the routine of using an alarm clock to get up and get ready. I am trying to get up early in the morning, so I have time for the blog, so there may be more entries in the future than there has been in the past! Of course, because we are getting into the routine of school, there isn't as much to write about - everything is now pretty normal!

The new addition is now Koori, instead of Lindy. Koori is an Aborigine word for "native people". (They didn't like the term Aborigine, and internally used Koori, according to Wikipedia.) I was looking for something to tie to the Kelpie (Australian Cattle Dog) part of her, but she looks like a German Shepherd to me! (We shall see how she grows up. She may be a "Shatzie" yet.) I took AJ to visit a friend of his today, and they have a shepherd mix, and the markings are identical. She doesn't answer to either name yet, so no biggy to change it. She has a couple of bad habits already (begging at the table and jumping up on the table), but she seems to be responding pretty well to training. She rides well in the car, but doesn't do well on a leash yet. Good thing she is cute!

We survived the first night with a new puppy! She has a already been started on crate training, so we decided to continue with it. It worked out great! I put her in her crate just before bedtime, and I got a little "yip" when I left her alone in the room for a minute, and a couple of "whines" when I came back, and then she went to sleep. I got her up about 3:00 this morning and took her outside, and there were no messes for me this morning! As you can see, Henry was checking her out while she was sleeping. None of the cats are very impressed.

Well, I'm now the proud owner of a new puppy! They delivered Lindy this afternoon, and after jumping through all their hoops, she is ours! (Ralph would tell you she is "mine", not "ours"). They were guessing at her parentage, so we have no idea what she really is. They are guessing that she is Kelpie (Australian Cattle Dog) and Miniature Pinscher. She was found abandoned in Orland a few weeks ago. She and Jasper are great friends already - not that I worried about Jasper! They are both sleeping right now, having worn each other out playing. I also got some pictures of Henry trying to check out the sleeping puppy with out getting too close. I just didn't get those loaded yet. Maybe tomorrow!

I made fajitas the other night for dinner, and went to get a red pepper from my pepper plant, and it was occupied! Evidently, there are a lot of bugs out by the pool, as there are at least two frogs that have taken up residency on my pepper plants. We made do without red peppers in my fajitas!

It looks like I may get the puppy, Lindy, on Saturday now. I have an appointment with the Rescue Group Leader and the puppy current foster mom to bring her over and do a home inspection. The only thing that may hold me up now is that Ralph is working on Saturday, and they want to meet him, too. He is going to try to come home around 1:00 for a minute or two, and then go back to work.