Winter has Arrived

Looking out the front door at our first real snowstorm... about a week 1/2 ago. (loving the Colonial Red we painted our house this summer! Looks great in the white snow, just as I'd planned :) Hubby could NOT understand, 'til now.)

The kids are OBSESSED with the characters in this well-loved book. Especially Agustus Gloop and Veruca Salt. I'm loving re-living my childhood through this book and them during out-loud reading time. My preference is the Gene Wilder film version - my vintage. They have not seen it yet but scowl at the Johnny Depp version - it's too scary for them. Depp is a bit edgy for them, I suppose... but I don't mind him at all ;)

Mister Knightley looking tame and mild in the early morning kitchen.

Fabulous mittens, hand knit. I found them at the annual Handmade Parade sale in Spokane... these were worth scratching and grabbing over :) I love 'em, especially on a dog walk.

Looking forward to the weekend... I'm working on a quilt loosely inspired by Jude at Spirit Cloth. It's been a long process, since a lot of months were spent looking, passing by... thinking and putting away. Was unsure of how or what to do with this beginning but, one day I just started adding, slowly... figuring it out along the way. I'll share soon :)

Naughty Knightley at it Again

Ringing in our youngest member of the family's birth month... the naughty Knitghtley is at the pet emergency hospital. He must have swallowed a rock or some foreign body a few days ago and now has a major problem. He'll be spending the big 4th of July weekend as an inpatient.. hopefully passing the 2 objects in his intestines so he can avoid a second surgery for this very problem.
Please, if you have time, say a little prayer for our Mr. Knightley... he'll be 2 years old on July 22nd if he can get past this current crisis. Why is it some pets (and people) are just born to get into trouble?! I'll update you on his status before the weekend is over. Fingers crossed, he'll get through without a surgery. Happy 4th of July!

A New Year's Day Miracle...

Minutes after he returned home...

A complete miracle happened around 9am on new year's day. Knightley found his way home... by himself!!! We still can't believe it. I was sitting, drinking my tea - Mr. Darcy was barking up a storm on the deck. I was conveniently ignoring him ( surely the neighbors were coughing in their coffee) when he began to howl. He NEVER howls. ??? Weird. 5 min later, the phone rang - and after a few grumblings, I got up... missed the call. The message was from Mr. K next door, thought he saw Knightley walking in the street by himself. I ran to the door and saw him in the driveway... flung open the door and called him in (in between squeals which soon turned to sobs). He was looking wild-eyed and wired - he was being skittish for a bit, but as soon as he saw Mr. Darcy - he ran in the house.

We are still baffled by this miracle... according to the humane society, 90% of dogs who are lost are never found. We had a few leads and 'sightings' from the lost corgi posters - but none panned out. We did get a few calls from a retirement apt complex - some ladies saw his photo in the paper and knew it was the dog they'd been trying to coax in, feed and keep him warm. But, he was too skittish. They left a box with a blanket outside and food for him. It had been 0 degrees F. for a few nights and the rest in the low teens and single digits. (Spokane is covered in snow)... We can't believe he survived these temps and found his way home too. He was so tired when he came back... was asleep on the kitchen floor about a 30 minutes later. He was warm, had food and was home!

Prayers were answered and we are so thankful. There you have it - a corgi miracle. It was a great start to the new year.

Knightley Come Home...

That's me petting Mr. Darcy just now as night is falling.

Here's a short but very sad story...The day after Christmas, the corgis were out in the yard. Somehow the gate was ajar (the power meter man?) and they got out. Mr. Darcy came right to the front door and sat there until someone noticed he was out! (they NEVER get out)... but, sadly, Mr. Knightley ran off and was nowhere to be found. My husband and I took turns driving around, calling out his name and searching for him until about 10 pm. He probably got out around 6:45pm and we didn't know they were out til about 7:30pm - so, he could have gone quite far in that time. We are so heartbroken about this, and so is Mr. Darcy. (he is the older brother). After visiting shelters, putting up flyers and ads in the paper and online... the only thing we can do is hope.

Here is Prudence Fat Cat holding my yummy, soft fuzzy scarf in progress. It is the frothiest yarn I've found. (sorry, will have to find the tag to tell what brand it is.) We are in the middle of a big snow storm and are expecting up to 12 inches. We just came in from shoveling. Brrrr it is cold!!

Turkey and the First Snow

We had our first snow on Friday... it was actually quite beautiful and only a small amount. The kids are thrilled with it! They donned all the snow gear and ran out to the back yard to play and chase the dogs. Once inside, requests for hot chocolate filled promptly.

The turkey is felted wool and from a kit. (sorry, can't seem to find the envelope to share the designer with you - will post when found!) It's a smallish penny rug for a table or even to hang on the front door. He's in need of some eyes and a few other bobs and fobs. It's been tough finding Thanksgiving decorations... seems the stores have tons of Halloween and Christmas. We are going to brainstorm and just make our own. Any ideas out there...? We'd love some if you'd like to share. Have a peaceful Sunday.

Happy Halloween!

Believe it or not... these are the first pumpkins I've ever carved! Hubby has always done it in the past but he's workin' this weekend so, it was up to me. Besides the big gouge in my index finger I think they turned out pretty nice. Best part - the kids love 'em :) (the right one is a cat). And here's another shot of the dogs... can't help myself. They are getting along so well, playing a lot and causing all kinds of trouble.

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Birds and Babies

Brothers :)

Our new baby!

It's getting to be Christmas making season already and this morning I finally got started! There's a nice show which happens every year after Thanksgiving at a local gallery. Many local artists make one of a kind ornaments for the shop and there's a big party to go along with it. Usually, I make felted wool ornaments and this year is no exception. So, here are my unfinished owls - just a start to many in the flock. More little birds in the works too.

Some big news to share: Our Mr. Darcy (Welsh Corgi) now has a little brother to pal around with! Mr. Knightly came to us yesterday. We called the # from the ad and upon arrival, realized this was the same lady who had our Mr. Darcy! (she had moved, so we had no idea it it could be the same person) His name comes from the Jane Austen novel, Emma. The friend, neighbor and confidant of Emma... with whom she eventually falls in love. We like to just call him 'Knightly' as Mrs. Elton does in the book.