Rooted in Mississippi

While I was out yesterday, I bought a cute squirrel dog toy. I knew that the dogs would love it and I try to have lots of dog toys scattered around to avoid any ruckus over toys. Rudy really took to the squirrel, but so did Princess. I just could not get Princess to let me take her picture with the squirrel, because she is camera shy, like her human mom.

Roscoe came home from the vet today and immediately found the squirrel. He likes to make it squeak and carries it around with him, even during a ruckus.

Roscoe was clipped and chipped, plus he got his teeth cleaned, but you would never guess that he had anything major done, because he is as playful as ever. I got that sense of dread yesterday, I just knew I was going to have to one of those talks with the doctor in the examining room. Unfortunately my intuition was right and poor little Roscoe has heartworms, but we can not start treatment for a few weeks. He has to fully heals from the surgery first. So right now I am debating whether or not to hold off on having Louie treated for a few weeks. They have to remain calm and sometimes crated after treatment, to keep bits of the dead worms from breaking free and infiltrating their pulmonary system, which could kill them. It might be easier to have both dogs going through the treatment and aftercare at the same time. We have a lot to think about before Monday, which was when Louie was scheduled to begin treatment.

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The color coding works this way:

• Oscar = red dachshund with white face and black collar
• Princess = black & tan dachshund with pink/black collar
• Louie = black & tan dachshund (mixed with gray) with black collar
• Roscoe = black & tan dachshund with purple collar
• Rudy = chocolate & tan dachshund with red/white collar

When they are outside, everyone gets along, even Princess, although she does not stick with the pack the whole time, because is slow and desultory. Since she refuses to walk on a leash, this is the most exercise she ever gets!

Roscoe is pretty darn cute, especially when he sticks out his tongue…something that Princess also does periodically. I included a photo of him doing that, even though it is a little out of focus. In the last shot, you can see that all of his vertebra show, even in his tail, which is missing a good bit of hair.

Rudy sure looked cute at the door standing on top of the dachshund welcome mat. Of course Roscoe is cutest when he is asleep.

Today, Roscoe is at the vet getting clipped and chipped. I just called to check in on him and he is doing well. The decided to go ahead and do his dental cleaning while he was already under anesthesia. I get to pick him up tomorrow, after 3 PM.

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Even if you do not like dogs, this is a cute series of photos. Notice Roscoe’s purple collar, it makes spotting him across the yard and in photos much easier. Although he is smaller, younger, and has bigger eye spots, it is easy to confuse him with Louie when there are five Dachshunds romping around. Roscoe really is the spitting image of Louie when he was a pup, but he definitely has his own personality. Louie does not let him get away with much.

Roscoe really enjoys being outside; I would not be surprised to find out he had been primarily an outdoor dog. It takes him a long time to get settled down and go to sleep when he is around the boys. He also has yet to spontaneously go to the door when he needed to pee, but that might be because he is intact. It makes me giggle when I recall the word “calm” from the initial email I got about him. Maybe with bigger dogs, but not among a pack of miniature dachshunds…he has been acting more like a puppy mill stud, if you know what I mean. Roscoe will be neutered tomorrow when he gets vetted. I am sure that there is a dental cleaning in his future too, since he really does have a lot of tartar and calculus for such a seemingly young dog.

I decided to include a few photos of the pack doing their thing in the backyard. Tomorrow I will post more photos from today’s backyard photo shoot, including some close-up shots.

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My mom had five kids, so I suppose it is not so crazy that I now have five dogs. Of course, I could not turn away that dachshund in need. As his photos from the previous post suggest, he is spunky, funny, and young! We are not sure what his actual name is, but the family who adopted him out accidentally discovered that he responds to Roscoe, but not other O names like, Bingo or Crisco. This afternoon I discovered that Bosco also gets him going. He is a little smaller than the rest of the pack, but holding his own.

Actually, he is fitting in surprisingly well, especially since he has spent most of the last few hours trying to hump all the boys. He and Rudy have really been jumping around and tussling. They appear to be close in temperament, plus they both started their stay at Casa de Root by trying to mark all over the place. If I had to guess, I would say Rudy is glad to have another young dog in the pack. Princess is not sure what to do with him, but Louie has worked to establish his dominance. As with Rudy, he wanted to make sure that the newcomer knows who is the alpha.

The new dog looks so much like Louie that it is really hard to tell them apart when they are moving quickly. I will definitely have to get him a special colored collar, so I can distinguish them from a distance. Right now, he is wearing one the boys old collars, which probably lends to the confusion. I plan to take him by PetSmart before his big visit to the Vet on Thursday.

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I will be demonstrating Needlefelting at ROC Day 2008. This year it will be held at the Mississippi Craft Center (in Ridgeland) and my local spinning and weaving guild is sponsoring the event. I am still debating whether or not to be a vendor at the event and I only have a few days to figure it out.

I have too many things started that I need to work on: The BeeKeeper’s Basket, a knitted sheep, my crazy quilted hip belt, binding my sheep rug, or working on the pumpkin rug. Oh and there is the spinning I started before I left to visit my sister. All of this and I still have not emptied my bags from said trip.

My bellydance teacher sent me an email with the most adorable photos of a Dachshund needing rescue. They know absolutely nothing about the dog, except that he is friendly, was probably crate trained and feed table scraps (something the vet mentioned during an exam), oh and he was never neutered. Of course, my husband and I were immediately smitten.

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Charlotte over at casa de Charlotte della luna tagged me for this meme. The rules are as follows:

· When tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you.
· Then post the rules before your list, and list eight random things about yourself.
· At the end of the post you must tag and link to eight other people

I will play along with the first part, but I hate to tag people, especially when I am so far behind in reading blogs because of my recent trip to California.

1.  In general , I do not like to talk on the phone. However, there are exceptions. I genuinely enjoy talking my sisters and my mom. I also like talking to my oldest and dearest friends, especially those who live far away and do not instant message or email reliably. I think there are some valid reasons for this peccadillo… I am really only comfortable talking on the phone when there is no forced or stilted conversation and no requisite meaningless pleasantries. Plus, with those closest to me, awkward pauses that beg to be  filled are rare and when there is nothing more to say, we can easily end the conversation without hurt feelings.
2. Maybe this should be 1a…I hate cell phones.  Text messaging is the greatest thing to ever happen in the history of cellphone technology.  I would much rather get a text, than try to actually talk on a cellphone.  OK, it has its good points and I do sometimes talk on my cell, but I would much rather text! There is just something awkward about a cell phone.
3. I am not someone who generally likes romance or SciFi books, but I really enjoyed Parallel Attraction and Parallel Heat, two novels by my old friend and high school classmate, Deirdre Knight. I think they are officially classified as “Paranormal Romance,” but it is definitely “Cliterature.” That nomenclature is not meant to cast any aspersions on the genre, I just think it is a funny and accurate description. I am anxious to start the third one and looking forward to the soon to be published fourth title.
4. Even though I never wanted children of my own, I adore my many nephews and one niece.  It was so pleasant to spend more time with Janice’s boys this past week…they are smart, funny, and incredibly handsome…talk about triple threats!  I can not believe that they are all graduating…one from law school and the other two from college…this year.  A bit of Auntie bragging here… the youngest is just nineteen and he scored really high on his LSATs, so he has been getting offers from every major law school in the country and has his sights set on Harvard, but he is talking about taking a year off to do something to expand his horizons.
5. I have an addiction to totes and project bags.  I bought a new Mackinac Moon Rolling Yarn Tote at Ben Franklin Crafts in California.  I thought it would be OK to carry on the plane, but it does not fit in the overhead, even when you empty the front pocket.  The stewardess found room for it in the closet on the first leg our flight and I was able to stow it using the valet service on the puddle jumper to Jackson.
6. I have a weak immune system, due to the Hashimoto’s Autoimmune Thyroiditis.  Despite using Zicam nasal gel every day and washing my hands like crazy, I picked up whatever virus my sister and her husband had.  She was hesitant to have me come out there, because she knew this would happen, but it was a small price to pay.
7. I love a luxurious bathroom, especially with a cool tub.  My sister has an extraordinary home, but what REALLY impressed me was the master bath.  First, it was huge, but it was also downright opulent.  The shower was made from glass bricks and had shower heads on both ends of the space.  The whirlpool tub not only has a view, it shares a fireplace with the bedroom.  Can you imagine?  Taking a long bath and reading a good book by the light of a fire?  And here I thought I was being decadent having the perfectly functional light fixture above our tub replaced with a ceiling fan.  ROFL
8. I loved seeing my sister’s quilts displayed all over her home.  I did take pictures of some of them, but I have not uploaded anything from my camera yet.  I always have one of her quilts on my sofa and one on my bed, plus one hanging on the room divider.  It is just nice to see her doing something she clearly loves and watching her progress over the years.

I am not going to tag eight people, mostly because I suck, and many of my friends seem to be on a blogging break.  So feel free to list your eight in the comments or post a link to your blog post if you decide you want to play along.

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I have really resisted any thought of teaching needlefelting, because the needles are sharp and barbed. Plus, people always stab themselves. That said, it might make for an interesting class. I suppose I could put a sign up sheet in a local knit shop to see if there was any interest. If I were to go ahead with the class, I would need to require a signed liability waiver or hold harmless agreement for students.

If someone offered a needlefelting class in your area, would you be interested? Would you just want a basics class, like felted beads/balls and surface design? Or a project oriented class, like a mouse? If you are uncomfortable answering in the comments, please send me an email. I am genuinely interested in your responses.

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Today is both Thanksgiving and my wedding anniversary. This message was written a week ahead of time, then posted today through blog magic, so I am not sure what kind of day it will be, but I have high hopes!  With luck, we are all enjoying a lovely meal with family in sunny California.

I have a lot for which to be thankful.  Luckily, I remember to celebrate that fact more than just one day a year.  I wish each of you a beautiful day and for my fellow Americans, have a very happy Thanksgiving…may you find as many reasons to be thankful as I have.

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I really wanted to title this Grapes of Wrath, but I have no wrath. (That is a Big Bang Theory reference).  I could not resist doing something with the cheviot wool that I dyed with Grape Kool-Aid two years ago but did not enjoy spinning, so I made these cool needle felted grapes. I had forgotten how much work actually goes into needlefelting and how often I stab my fingers. Just a suggestion, but if you handle raw wool and use sharp needles, you probably need to stay current on your tetanus vaccinations.

The leaves are from a small bit of roving from Pug Knits. They sure turned out pretty…the colors are fabulous in person. Churchill did send me photo of the mice, but neither they nor rabbit photographed well, because auto-focus really does not work well on all white, especially when the flash is used. Since I am still working on the rabbit, I have plenty of time to try again.

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