The Doggies

Buzz. Well, I guess his full name is Buzz Saw. I believe my husband choose that name for the lovely snoring sounds that this dog is constantly making. The folks who bred the Pug dog were very twisted, in my opinion. "The short nose is humorous - who cares if the dog can't breath?"

Reasons why I should adore this dog -

• He doesn't really bark. He is physically unable.
• He has never "relieved" himself in any of my homes.
• He is as soft as a bunny rabbit.
• He is gentle with my daughter.
• He is beloved by my husband & daughter.
• He really is cute.
• He eats anything I drop on the floor while cooking.

Reasons why I just don't -

• He smells really yucky, as most animals do.
• When he gets worked up & anxious, his heavy breathing/snorting is so aggravating.
• He sheds pounds of hair, all over my house.
• He cries & whines when he doesn't get his way.
• He hardly ever responds when we call.
• He cries & snuffles, waiting for me to have a mishap, & drop something while cooking.

Murphy. He is a terrier of some sort. We thought he was pretty sweet when we first picked him up from the pound....

Reasons I should be really grateful we brought this dog home -

• He always comes when I call. If I call Murphy, Buzz, dog, puppy, stinkhead. He comes running, eagerly.
• He is not a beggar.
• He obeys rules & fears disapproval.
• He lets my daughter pull on him, sit on him, use him as a support when she stands. He is very patient.
• The rest of my family does seem to like him pretty well.

Reasons why I am not -

• He smells even worse than Buzz. Something I didn't know was possible, before we got him.
• He yipes sometimes, waking my child.
• I won't forget all the times he urinated & defecated on the carpet of my first home. Nor the door he chewed straight through, the carpet he clawed through, the wall he dug a hole in....
• He gives kisses constantly on any bare flesh he can find - it tickles & is really annoying.
• He is so needy.
• He drags all kinds of leaves & twigs & dirt clods into my house.
• He just pretty much annoys me.

Scenes from Macdoel

Fields of raspberry plants being harvested.

Our home away from home. The trailer. I am not too educated in trailers. But, I reckon it is a double-wide, since it has two license plates...

The view from our front porch.

Gillian - checking out the view.

Gillian loves going inside here to hear the echos.

Mr. Elk hangs right outside of Gillian's room. She is thrilled to greet him every time she wakes up.

Uh. A tractor.

Sock Toys

I first read about Sock & Glove on the Bluelines. I really wanted to get that book... Going to Macdoel, & needing projects to do, was a good enough reason to buy it.

Now, with the book in hand, I was able to make this great Sock Elephant for baby Peyton. So fun! It was way faster of a project than the knit teddy I made for Gillian.

A Wee Snail

What do I do all day, while stuck in Macdoel for weeks? Projects!

Here is a great snail I made from a Hillary Lang's Wee Wonderfuls pattern. This one will be for my kiddies, & I am working on another one to put up for Auction, to raise money for my sister's school program, Covenant Family Tutorial.

Show & Tell

Gillian is loving exploring outside. She is constantly pointing at things & saying "eh!" or picking up a new found treasure, and shouting "eh!".

Today we also got to see the cows get fed & we got to pet the noses of a few horses. Very exciting.

Macdoel Again

We are up north in Butte Valley again - in the tiny town of Macdoel. It used to be a 1 restaurant town. Now that one is closed. So, it's a no restaurant town. Apparently, the population is 600. But, I don't believe it.

Gillian is having fun, totally wearing me out. She wants to "walk" all the time. But, she can't do it herself. I had the worst sore back last night. Well, not the worst. But, bad for me, I guess. I don't generally have back problems...

The weather is very sunshiny. When we drove up here on Friday, it was pouring rain. Saturday we woke up to snow. Then Sunday was nice & sunny, and it had been since.

Berries in Watercolor

In Santa Cruz county, the month of October is Open Artist's Studios month. We only went to one this year. But, we loved it. For locals - she will be open next weekend, too & is located in Pasatiempo. Follow the signs! Check out the work of Ruth Korch on her blog.

We purchased a print of the Blackberry Pie watercolor. I am headed out to look for a frame for it, right now. We'll hang it in our kitchen. It will go very well with the berry tray that our friend, Faith Salutes, is scouting out for us!

Reno - Baer

I got to make the bouquets & other personal flowers for my friend Emily Reno (now Mrs. Baer), who got married on Saturday. Her wedding was lovely. As usual, I forgot to take many photos of the flowers I did.

Here is the only one I took. The bride's bouquet, almost finished. To finish it off, I glued tiny fake diamonds into several of the little bells on the Bells of Ireland. I think it looked really cool.

The bridesmaid bouquets were hot pink & green.

Anyway. Sorry I forgot to take more photos. You can check later at my friend's blog, The Paper Pony. She did the photography. So, maybe you can see something there...

One

Our baby Gillian turned 1 year old on Saturday. Ah!

We had a great party. She was a very good birthday girl. She loved the decorations, the attention - everything! Scott's parents & sister came, and my parents & siblings came (except David - who was a fire academy). We started the party outside with some food & drink & a game of lawn bowling with squash. I saw the bowling idea in Martha & it was so cute. The only bummer is that now I have 10 butternut squashes to bake up & use!! It was a great fall day. When it started getting nippy, we came inside for presents. Gillian loves all her new stuff! It was very cute.

Then we had cake & ice cream. That was my favorite, cuz her face was SO cute for the birthday candle. She loves candles.

Anyway. Good times...

Helping Daddy

Here's Gillian helping Daddy in the garden beds. She likes to be right in there, helping with whatever chore is at hand. We think she is pretty cute...

She has her bottle almost all the time right now. Here she is, drinking away, while she pats on our new garden piece, purchased at FezQ gardens in Carmel Valley.

It's a....

Boy!!
It looks like we have a little guy on the way! We are very excited. His name is Peyton Michael.