The Diabetic Dog….

 

   Obie has been showing signs of something being wrong, off and on,  for the past week. Life over here on the plains has been quite busy and today is finally the day we try to solve what’s happening with him. My house has been partially under construction. Hubby and I have had doctor’s appointments galore, and I had the pleasure of spending a day with Dawn and her daughter Nikki from C & G Design!!

She is the kindest, most wonderful mother and lady, and Nikki is a beautiful, talented child that any mother would be proud to call their daughter! We had a lot of fun especially since we brought my mother in law Alice along! She is a riot. More on that at another time….but trust me….it was a blast!! Dawn and Nikki are super nice people and I can’t wait to see them again!

   Obie has had a leaky bladder. Here and there he leaks and sometimes it is more than that. We are doing a lot of mopping and bleaching! One night he’s good and the next he’s up all night going outside. Today is my day to catch a cup of urine to take to the vets. Have you ever chased a dog around the yard with a plastic drinking cup trying to catch some of the yellow stuff?? Unfortunately, he had gone out so many times, he had none left!! Any other time I would be mopping it up lately! But oh not when I needed it to fill a cup! Arggggg!! Ok….so I ended up with 1/2 teaspoon and some dribbles…..is that enough?? I call the vet. “How much of it do I need?”….I ask. “You need about 2 tablespoons”….they say. So….I am playing the waiting game now…..I wait until his bladder fills up and I can catch a cup of the stuff later on. He had a urinary track infection about a month ago and was on meds for 2 weeks twice a day. Now I don’t know what it is? He is fine one night and sleeps right through (I don’t) and then the next night he is wandering around and needs to go out. Last night my husband got home before me. I looked in the window and saw him mopping the kitchen floor and all the rugs were on my deck. I had taken Obie out twice before I left and it was only 2 hours later. I also had only left about a 1/2 cup of water in the bowl for him. I am wondering now if he is having kidney failure. He is on 10 milliliters of insulin twice a day. He gets no snacks but he eats a measured amount of food twice a day and has a plain rawhide to chew on, which is allowed. Poor Obie….yesterday was his tenth birthday!! My brother who lives in Nashville, has Obie’s brother Ziggy and he left a message on our machine wishing Obie a happy birthday yesterday. He also has another Jack Russell named Zoe. Here is a recent picture of the two of them… That’s Zoe on the left and Ziggy on the right. Don’t he and Obie look alike? Ziggy has a dot on top of his head and a larger one on his back….so cute. Well….it is time to try and catch some more of that yellow stuff. Wish me luck. I hope our Obie is alright. It’s so hard when you have an animal that you love. They are just like kids. I can’t imagine life without Obie and don’t even want to think about it but I may have to start. I will talk to the vet today and write more when I know. Meanwhile I hope all of your loving pets are well….

Her Little Island…..

   My cousin Margaret turned 80 the other day. I am so forgetful lately, I ended up phoning her because I had not remembered to get her a card. Some days that really bugs me and I think I am the only 50 something person that feels like they already have Alzheimer's. I am sure I am not alone but I do hate it. Anyway….my cousin Margaret, is a very talented lady. She lives on one of our very cool islands here in Maine on Casco Bay. The above picture is one of the Ferry’s that take you to her island. I have been there many times. She is an artist and a sculptor and a musician and a poet and a writer of stories and songs, just to mention a few of her talents. She has a little shop on the island where she sells some of her creations to islanders and tourists. Her house/cottage is right next to it and it has a tall foundation wall. She decided years ago to paint that wall with flowers so it looked like a flower garden growing up the side of the house. After a few years it started to fade some so she had to touch it up. Here’s a photo of her doing that…. Not an easy task for someone who cannot walk. She rides a scooter throughout the house and uses canes. She also makes sculptures out of polymer clay and sells them in her little shop. Here is a photo of one of her creations…. They are usually quite animated and fun! See those flowers? All done by hand with her own homemade tools and baked in a little toaster oven. You just wouldn’t even believe it.

Here are some other figures above.

She also draws on the computer with an art program. Here is one of her flowers she made in the paint program….

This was all done digitally…..can you believe it??

Here is another digital painting and it is one of my favorites!…I just love the coloring. Another craft she does is hand painting mussel shells. She has someone collect them for her on the shore of the island and she hand paints the inside of them with ocean scenes or holiday scenes or whatever suits her fancy at the time. And lastly……my absolute favorite digital she did is this island house lined with flowers and that purple roof!! Love it!! I will revisit her again at another time and show you more of her talent. You ought to see the arthritic fingers she uses to make all of this!!!

Still Alive & Kicking…..

Well we got through Easter and we all had a great time. I was so busy I did not get many photos. My mother in law got some, so, the Easter file for 2010 will not be empty. The kids were tired after going to separate gatherings the night before and were “under the weather”….well that’s probably a nice way of saying HUNGOVER!! Yup….MY kids…can you imagine?? Well…I guess I was probably doing some of that when I was 25 and 27….oh well. I did get a photo of my son Kyle reluctantly cutting the ham…. poor baby had a slight headache….awe….that’ll teach him! Then my daughter kept going outside to sit in the sun with her guitar… What mom?!….I am just trying to get some sun! Can’t Kyle help you with that!? What? Did you hear my phone ringing? Note the water bottle on the table….trying to rehydrate the brain…Oh I teased the two of them!! All and all we had fun. By the end of the day she was playing and singing Bobby McGee. It was also hubby’s 49th birthday!!

I thought I would show you the latest things I have been working on and what a friend of mine gave me recently!!! My friend Chandra’s grandmother died recently. I never met her but I am told she was the sweetest woman and loved to sew. My friend Chandra does not like to sew. She mentioned she had a little bit of embroidery thread from her grandmother she wanted to give me. I wanted her to keep it or hand it down to her girls but none of them wanted it. This is what I came home with!….. These nine containers plus two more I gave away to my mother in law Alice on Easter. I tried to get her to take more but she wouldn’t!

Can you believe it? She neatly organized her colors into these plastic containers. All the colors of the rainbow and then some. A couple had little sewing dodads and material as well. Those browns and golds always come in handy for branches or twigs and such. She even had a small container of variegated thread that is very pretty above labeled. Here is what they look like with the lids off. What color!! Deep rich tones and those purples are to die for! Love those passion pinks. This one above is an odd lot with quite a few pieces of metallic thread….very nice.

Here is the variegated above….gorgeous….every one of them! And last but not least the blues and grays.And lastly she had a coca cola tin, filled with Dresdan Plate cutouts and a Dresdan pattern. That should be fun to learn how to quilt that? Boy do I feel lucky!! I don’t think I will be buying any thread for a while….what do you think? I am going to have to do something really special for my friend. I have already given her many things, made her things and so on but this was really kind. I’ll think of something special. Meanwhile, while recuperating from my heart attack that I had the day after Christmas, I have been trying new crafts. OH OH OH!!!….NEWSFLASH!!!!!! Just thought I would toot my horn here a little more than I already am….sorry…..it is ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE (105) days without a cigarette today!!!! Yay!!!! What a flipping miracle that is now let me tell you. I absolutely LOVED to smoke! Now…..I eat too much and continue to constantly diet. I’ll get there eventually. I am also trying to walk a mile at least 3 times a week and plan on increasing that. Hubby is starting to walk with me but a wrench got thrown into that….more on that at another time. So here’s some of the crap I am trying to make…..Different kinds of needle cases….for pins and needles too. All done by hand so don’t look too close. It’s my first attempt. The blue floral one is not done. The one that says needles is my first and closes with a pink ribbon. All but one are lined and of course have material sewn in to hold the pins and needles sort of like pages in a book. Some are embroidered a bit. My husband had some spare velcro so I did the one in the top left with that. In my travels, I picked up an old button box that had a snap gizmo that applied snaps. The one at top right closes with a snap. Bottom left has the pink ribbon and bottom right is unfinished. Got a little carried away with these pages but don’t the pins look cool as a flower center?

I lined this with a striped material and sewed a floral material on one of these pages….I think it looks stupid….my father in law liked it! The idea was a flower pot on the left and a square to put scissors in on the right….needs some work. Close ups of some of the others…. Inside of the velcro one. Outside says pins and needles. Hubby said I should have embroidered “Don’t Walk On” The back side of it!! This one is the pink ribbon closure. I sewed a little piece of pink felt on either side on the inside to hide the ribbon. No lining on this one. …And here’s the outside.

Next….I took a bunch of old earrings and buttons and glued some magnets on them. The light blue, the gold, and the pink ball one and earrings…the rest are old buttons. I had no magnets when taking this photo in my room so I put them on my bird house handle!! It gives you an idea of what I mean I think! Here they are turned over. So don’t ever pass up ONE earring at a yard sale again!! When you can recycle it into a magnet!! And last but not least, I made my first hat. Not perfect but kind of cute and it’s a child’s size….maybe for a 8 to 10 year old? It is sooooo soft you wouldn’t believe it! I just love holding it! Not too shabby for a novice crochet person! So that’s what I have been up to lately………Be back soon. I know Dawn….it took me long enough to show you what I got!!! Argggggg

Happy Easter……….

   There are so many cool blogs out there making some really amazing things. One blog I just started following features a way to do Easter eggs that I have never seen before. It involves rubber cement and the effect is really something. Check out this girl’s blog as you will not only love the eggs but her blog is the coolest! The blog is called Crap I've Made and you will read about why she called it that. She’s a hoot and her blog was noticed by a magazine and was recently put in an article there. After reading that story, the next one will be the egg recipe!

   Next, I found a cool giveaway at My Little Cottage In The Making . She is linked with an Etsy store called Cupcake Social and the giveaway is from this place. Oh you will be drooling over this giveaway if you love cupcakes and all that entails!! I have never seen such loveliness in the name of a cupcake!! Be still my heart! Well here is an example…..just feast your eyes on these gorgeous cup cake liners…. I would never want to take the cupcake out of the liner….well I guess I would have to take it out to eat it now wouldn’t I….but could I throw this paper liner away??? I’m not really sure?

Happy Easter Everyone and may you all have many blessings bestowed upon you. Live it up a little and get right back on the diet on Monday…what the heck! I heard those Jolly Rancher Jelly Beans have fruit in them…don’t they?? Maybe they are fruit flavored…not a problem………enjoy!!