Spooktacular!

Happy Halloween!

This year it was much better than so many years prior; the biggest change is not having a noise phobic dog - that adds 110% of the stress! I put a bunch of decorations around the yard and on the house - not a lot but definitely more than my neighbours (not that I'm competing) - it seems people just don't get into it like they used to. And even though firecrackers are against the law in my community  - that doesn't stop all the bangs and pops and flashes that occur weeks before tonight. But now that's not so bad because my happy lab just don't care! And that means everyone is the house is much more relaxed.

I took Eco for a walk a lunchtime today, past the primary kids at the elementary school - lots of Cinderella's and Belle and Wonderwoman and Fairies, not too many boys this time. But then a little policeman came up to say 'hi'. It was the little boy who lives next door - so cute. I'm always a little worried talking to kids on the street because I don't want anyone to think I have bad intentions, but I have to tell you the kids always approach me!

When I could finally break away from the group of kids,  we continued on our walk until we came across a house with fabulous Halloween decorations - there are fog machines and motion sensored creatures, and lights and all sorts of ghouls. My favorite is the mermaid skeleton - I have no idea why I like it so much but I really do! The homeowners were outside putting up more and more decorations and we talked for a little awhile about their decorations and all the things they are still going to do but soon Eco was getting restless - we'd been out for almost an hour but had only walked for about 10 minutes - so when the man brought out a 3' tall skeleton which Eco barked at and didn't seem to like, so we wished them a good night and continued on their way.

After work I added a few more decorations to the yard and when the trick-or-treaters started to come I turned up the scary music which could be heard outside. For years I used to have to deal with a freaked out dog and wait for Jp to come home because he'd be out with the kid but now the kid is old enough to go with his friends and Jp's at home and the dog is nice and calm and it's a nice night weather-wise and so it's  actually a pretty good Halloween.

How was your night? What happens where you live?

Halloween Tea Towel

This is what I have been working on for the past couple of days:

It's done on a tea-towel and the word is stitched with glow-in-the-dark thread. It was part of a Stitch-along, and you can see other people's interpretations here. The ghost's face was stitched in white which you can't really see in the photo but I left it that way as you'll see it in texture when you look at it in person.

This makes me sad + mad

Have you heard this one? Women will get a chance to box in the 2012 Olympics but apparently the Boxing Federation wants women boxers to wear skirts. You can read more here.

This is just completely ridiculous. As far as women's rights and equality has come, it's still not far enough. I understand rules about clothing to cover areas that the majority may be offended seeing, or wearing gear to prevent injury but the difference between boxing shorts and boxing skirts makes no sense to make it a requirement. If men or women choose to wear skirts in boxing that's their choice - don't you think? And to say that it's so we can tell the male and female boxers apart is complete ludicrous.

What do you think about this rule? 

There Goes the Toes

Remember last June when poor little Eco had to get surgery on her foot to remove a lump (hamartoma-normal tissues growing abnormally) ?

Well either the dang thing grew back or she grew another one. The problem is it's between her toes so it's a difficult spot to do surgery, especially when there's very little skin in that area in the first place. Apparently their existence is pretty common, but they are usually on parts of the body where they can just exist without interfering with life - such as the shoulder or neck or back.

My vet posted photos of it on a veterinary forum across Canada and the United States, but it seems that  our only option is to remove the toe. We can't inject it to stop the growth and radiation is not recommended because of it's location and sensitivity. She could wear a special orthotic boot - but for the rest of her life? An active young labrador?

 So it looks like amputation is our only choice. And the vet says recovery time is only 2 weeks. I'm really sad about this but there doesn't seem a lot I can do about it. It's possible that we remove the toe and life goes on and we never give it a second thought.

Wow, I just googled "toe amputation in dogs" and was surprised to see all the entries. I guess that's making me feel a little better about it. But still, I don't like my poor little baby losing body parts!

Any suggestions? What would you do? 

Wee Pumpkin

This morning before we went out for the family lunch, I just had to make this cute little pumpkin to add to my Halloween decorations:

The pattern came from here. The yarn was in my stash. There are only so many things one can do with orange yarn, so Halloween is a perfect time to use it up. (Did you notice my last post contained a project using the same yarn? Two points for you if you did! )

For lunch, Jp and I packed up everything including cutting boards, knives and electric griddle to make his signature Grilled Cheese Sammiches for his sisters and mom. He did a fabulous job and everyone seemed very pleased with the yumminess - I'm sorry I did not take a photo of them, next time he makes them, I'll show you.


Instead, a have a cute photo of Eco - just because.....

Kill Comic Sans Game

For all my friends who hate the font Comic Sans - try out this game!
I didn't do so well, so unfortunately the font will probably still be around for a little while longer.

And if you like fonts and want to know some more about this, check out this site. 

It's Sunday Night Already?

Yesterday was a nice sunny day, so I spent most of the day in the garden putting away plants and ornaments and getting things ready for winter.

Then we were off to Jp's sister's house because we were  lucky enough to have a second Thanksgiving dinner, it's good to get the family together and enjoy yummy food. And one of the best parts was that his sister gave us the turkey carcass and leftover meat so we could make some turkey noodle soup! Yummy, guess what I'll be doing tomorrow.

I also worked on two little projects this weekend. The first is a little cuff to go around my thermal coffee container which sometimes dribbles if I don't dry the threads or the lid well enough, so I whipped up this little cozy using some leftover yarn and a crochet hook: 

I know I am solving the wrong problem - maybe I just wanted an excuse to crochet. 

And, I also did some embroidery as hand stitching is one of my favourite things.  I really liked these cute little Halloween bunnies plus I wanted to use my glow-in-the-dark thread: 

If you'd like to stitch one up too, the pattern can be found here. Be sure to tell me where I can see your photos in my comments as it's so much fun seeing how other people stitch things up! (In case you're wondering what's wrong with the Dracula bunny, my disappearning ink from my transfer pen didn't disappear fast enough and/or I didn't want to wait any longer for it to disappear! )

Now to watch TV - Boardwalk Empire and Dexter tonight.

Turkey Aftermath

Well the turkey came out great and we had a really good Thanksgiving dinner last night. The only thing that wasn't so great was the gravy - only because the recipe called for wine. I knew Jp doesn't like foods cooked in wine but I really thought it would cook out of the gravy and I wanted to follow the recipe - unfortunately he could taste it and didn't like it. Dang, I knew I should have left it out! All was not lost however because after dinner we put in back on the stove added some more broth and continued to cook it until the detectable wine flavour was gone, and now the gravy is even better. So much better that we had it for our "Thanksgiving brunch" which was fried mashed potatoes with bits of the turkey meat in the gravy. With cranberry sauce. Yum.

I learned something else while cooking yesterday - there are two things that I need a lot of on hand when I cook a turkey  - paper towels and dish soap. Since there was some handling of raw poultry surfaces had to be cleaned frequently, and the turkey needed to be dried off and such, I had to use several paper towels. Then after the meal there were a few items that needed hand washing and extra soap to remove the turkey fat residue. Wow, I sure went through a lot of both item - and I'm one who likes to conserve and avoid waste as much as I can. I guess it's all part of the cooking process.

Today is a rainy day, and I've been keeping my eye on the sky to see if the rain slows down so Eco and I can go out for our daily walk. Otherwise I plan to take it easy and do some sewing and reading and enjoy the day off. The fridge is pretty full and Jp knows how to cook so we'll share the cooking task today.

Did you have your Thanksgiving yesterday or will you have it today? Did you have turkey or ham or something else? 

Thanksgiving Already?

I can't believe it's already Thanksgiving weekend! It's interesting hearing all the different things people are doing this weekend. One person I know  in the Toronto area is going to their trailer for Saturday and Sunday - because it's expected to be 30 degrees! (that's a crazy warm temperature for October ) Another is cooking two turkeys for 17 people! Wow. I am not doing anything like that. I will be cleaning up my yard and working on my messy workroom/office. And Jp and I will have a quiet dinner  on Sunday.

I didn't think the turkey we bought was too small, until the cashier called it "cute". Oh well, we will eat well and we are thankful for the opportunity for good food and a warm house and a chance to rest and relax. I also better get some time for some embroidery or knitting too - it's been so long since I've picked anything up, especially since I was away all last week. I'd really like to make some Halloween crafts - it's time to start decorating for that.

What will you be doing this weekend? 

Construction Zone

At the end of our hallway was several small shelves that held a collection of JP's; he decided he'd take a break from seeing the collection daily, plus we wanted to put of full-length mirror in it's place. So I wrapped and boxed everything up and put it all in storage, while in the attic I took several old boxes out and sorted them out for donation or recycling or garbage. Then I took the full length mirror that we had and put it against the wall so he could help me hang it. That's when he informed me that we were to get a different mirror for the end of the hall and the 5' tall mirror we had was staying where it was.

So I put that mirror back but  now it looks  like a construction area at the end of the hall as I will have to remove  all the anchors from the shelves and repaint the wall (which I was hoping would be all behind the mirror and I could skip it for now) If I had known we didn't have something to replace the blank area, I wouldn't have taken everything down... (sigh) oh well I guess it had to be done eventually.

That was my Saturday (along with doing laundry). Today I'll be at my desk tidying up all the bills and papers from when I was away plus some computer work. And, hopefully some crafting time. No wait - I will definitely take some time for some crafting today! I must not always postpone it since I enjoy it so much - don't you think?


What are you doing today?