L is for Lady Slipper


Note: This post was originally posted on May 21, 2005 titled Blogging the Bogging.

I couldn't resist repeating it for the L entry in the ABC Along. Hope you don't mind.

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A beautiful sunny day in May, the perfect time to go admire the orchids in the bog. Luanne and I met at the Westnedge Street entrance.

Bishop's Bog is the largest (145 acres) relic bog in southern Michigan. Since it's in the City of Portage, the Portage Parks Department has provided a 1.75 mile walkway through the bog. I'm glad I don't pay taxes in Portage, but kindly thank those who do.

The walkway is great. It's made of hollow plastic and is somehow suspended on top of the water. When we walked on it, water shoot up through the holes in the plastic in spurts sometimes as high as our heads. We tried to reduce the squirt effect by not walking together. I'm sure it helped a little.

There was slippery mud on part of the walkway. We went slow and careful so as not to end up on our butts - or even worse, on our butts in the water.

Eventually the water with depth turns into very spongy soil, mostly covered with moss. I don't think it was walkable. We didn't try.

About a half mile into the bog is the Pink Lady Slipper Orchid patch, what we came to see. And we weren't disappointed. We spotted dozens of the beauties, and some were close enough to the walkway so we could see every detail.

We also spotted a few Pitcher Plants, but they were not in bloom. The Pitcher Plants have leaves shaped like a pitcher and they hold water. Insects crawl into the pitcher leaves, get caught by the tiny hairs inside, fall into the water and the plant digests them.

Many of the orchids were still in bud stage, not fully bloomed. I thought the pre-bloom was just as pretty as the full bloom.

There is more information, a beautiful orchid picture, and detailed instructions on how to find Bishop's Bog here.

Followup on Goat and Dumbbell
The Goat
The neighbor goat I referred to as Mr. Goat here, is really Miss Goat.

Maybe now that I've insulted her, she'll stay in her own yard.


Doggy Dumbbell
I wrote a post here, complete with pictures of woeful looking dogs, about how my two little dogs were flunking dumbbell training at doggy school. Both of them hate the dumbbell in their mouth.

Pappy resisted dumbbell with all his will. When forced, he would get so upset he didn't enjoy the rest of the class. He is otherwise well behaved and eager to please.

Pappy is a rescue dog with major scars. He's at least eight years old. We've had him for almost four years. He didn't have a nice life before he came to live with us and I couldn't justify making him do something he hates just to say he could do it.

Or, as my husband succinctly put it, "We didn't rescue him so we could torture him."

Now when Pappy's class does dumbbell, Pappy happily jumps the hurdle without a dumbbell.

Sunny was making a little better progress than Pappy, but she dropped back to the Intermediate class when she was diagnosed with spondylosis. The class she's in now doesn't do dumbbell.

Sunny has not dropped the dumbbell at my feet asking why we don't do it anymore.

K is For Kalamazoo Do-Dah Parade



The first weekend in June (today), Kalamazoo kicks off the downtown summer season with a large outdoor art fair, a Greek festival, and the Do-Dah Parade. The Do-Dah Parade is billed as "a parade of silliness down the main streets of the city", and that it is.

One of the crowd favorites this year was the Briarwood All American Canine Capers starring my Pappy and many of his doggy school friends dressed in patriotic finery and looking pretty silly.

Ramon the standard poodle singing the Star Spangled Banner in the staging area.


Doggy teacher Gail and her Australian cattle dog Favor waiting for our turn to take off down the streets of Kalamazoo.


Pappy is at least eight years old and I was concerned about his ability to walk over a mile on the warm pavement. Plan B was to pick him up and carry him if he started looking weary.

He had a great time and walked the whole way. When it was over, we hustled into the car, turned on the air conditioning and drove to Wendy's where he got his parade reward kiddy hamburger.


Out on the parade route Denise led us in some interesting marching maneuvers. The crowd was too busy looking at the dogs to notice what we were doing.


Pappy has been sleeping ever since we got home. I had a little nap, too.

Miss Manners, Where Are You?
Our neighbor's goat wishes he lived at our house. I don't know why. In this picture he is eating our weeds through the fence.

Our big dog Glory hates it when Mr. Goat comes near our property.

Mr. Goat doesn't care what Glory thinks. He will even stand on his hind legs and drape his upper body over the fence to see if he can make Glory bark.

We're trying to teach Glory good manners. She is not allowed to bark at the goat - and she doesn't when we're close enough to scold her. But when she thinks we're not listening, Glory tells Mr. Goat just what she thinks of him.

This is the same goat who caused the big fight last month. He has a big yard. We really wish he would stay in the other side of it.

Now that I've repeatedly called him Mr. Goat, I have to admit I could have been fooled by the goatee. She could be Miss Goat.

Yes, I do know how to tell the difference. I just haven't looked in the right place yet.


Granddaughter Sydney is learning to enjoy adult food.

She is also learning how to feed herself. She's got the hang of it as long as she doesn't have to use a utensil.

Only two more weeks and I'm headed back to Idaho to give her a big hug and kiss.

Taking a Short Break
I'm taking a week off blogging to do some other things including a trip to St. Paul Minnesota for nephew Mike's wedding to Trudy.

For my US readers, have a great Memorial Day weekend. I wish you all nice weather, safe travel, and congenial companions.

J is for Jade



Over a decade ago during a very intense period in my systems analyst career, I was project leader for a new order entry and customer service system for a major pharmaceutical company that has now been absorbed by Pfizer.

The project needed programmers which at the time were not easy to find. We were a little skeptical when our management decided to bring in several contractors from India to help.

The skepticism didn't last long. We were able to interview and select the best. The Indians were hard working and talented. Once I got the feel for their accent, there was no verbal communication problem. Their written communication was perfect King's English. Their technical skills were awesome.

Padmaja was my favorite. We worked together for several years and I know beyond a doubt she was the reason for the excellence of the project. When there was something impossible complicated to do, it went to Padmaja. She took a day or two to understand it, and then it was created. Perfectly.

Padmaja brought me this jade box when she went back to India to visit.

It's about eight inches by five inches. It's stone. It's heavy.

She brought back heavy gifts for many of her US friends. I believe I received the most beautiful.

I can't imagine how she packed them and traveled with them. Just another example of Padmaja doing the difficult and making it look easy.


Granddaughter Kimmy has been fascinated by this jade box since she was a toddler. Every time she comes to visit she fingers it, opens it, shuts it, admires it. It will be hers someday when the time is right.

Meanwhile I will treasure it and enjoy the memories it brings.

Monday Miscellany
This post may read like I'm whining. I'm not. Having lived 61 years, I know when life is good and right now life is good. Still, even in the best of times there are those little things that happen . . .

Weather News
It's been raining or getting ready to rain or just finishing raining for the past six days. Also, it's chilly. My joints are wishing for some dry weather and sun.

The grass has grown so long it's getting the bottom of my jeans wet when I walk though it and all garden plants have had a large growth spurt - the weeds growing three times quicker than the intended species. The Lily of the Valley is in the weed column. It's currently blooming and smells lovely, but it's growing in way too many places I don't want it.

Nest Box Invasion
We had a beautiful tree swallow nest in one of the nest boxes. There were five pretty white eggs snuggled down in a bed of white chicken feathers. An English sparrow (also called House Sparrow) got into the nest box, pecked holes in all the eggs, and threw the feathers out onto the ground. I hope the sparrows decide to establish a nest of their own in that nestbox because I'll be watching and waiting to get revenge.

It's easy to tell the English sparrow nests because they incorporate garbage in with the dried grass. How appropriate.

If my threats against the "cute little sparrows" upsets you, please read this.

English Sparrows commonly kill adult Bluebirds and other native cavity nesters and their young and smash their eggs. The House Sparrow is partially responsible for the near extinction of Bluebirds in the US. Since they are not native to this country, they are one of the few birds not protected by law.

Status of Barbara Shawl
I only have four more very long rows to knit on the Barbara Shawl and then I can start the border lace. And maybe I can finish the border lace before running out of yarn. The amount of yarn left on the cone is starting to look worrysome.

This is the fourth shawl I've ever knit and possibly the third one to require more yarn than I started with. Even though I'm aware of my tendency to underestimate shawl yardage required, it appears I may have done so again. It's going to be close. Very close.

I think I'll use that as an excuse to ignore housework this afternoon and sit and knit.

Tenth Annual Louise Lunch
Subtitle - Pictures of Mothers and Daughters I love.

Each year on a Saturday in the middle of May, four generations of Louises meet for lunch to celebrate our middle name (Louise), Mother's Day, and Heather's (the third Louise) birthday.

Yesterday was our day, a very special day. It was Heather's actual birthday and we hit the Mother's Day weekend.

Marguerite Louise - the first Louise

Mom's birth certificate doesn't have a middle name. When she was a young woman she was fond of the opera Louise so she took Louise as a middle name.

Here she is opening one of her Mother's Day gifts, a blog word cloud teeshirt.

She blogs at Odysseuse on the Move.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!


Heather Louise - the third Louise

The first time I heard the name Heather was in church. The pastor mentioned his niece, Heather. Heather's dad-to-be liked the name, and I agreed it was perfect for our soon to be adopted baby daughter.

Once we had the first name, we started thinking of middle names. Heather Louise topped the list.

This is Heather Louise with her Opal Chameleon birthday socks. She likes them.

Happy Birthday and Happy Mother's Day Heather!


Kimberly Louise - the fourth Louise

Even with three generations of Louises, I didn't think of it as a tradition. I was very surprised and honored when Heather chose Louise as the middle name for her daughter - my first granddaughter.

When Kimmy was a baby, we started the Louise lunch tradition for our family Mother's Day celebration.

Ten year old Kimmy is not a mother and wasn't having a birthday, but in honor of our tenth Louise lunch she received a pair of Siamese cat earrings that resemble her pet.



Happy Mother's Day Anne!

My Mother's Day picture post wouldn't be complete without a picture of my wonderful daughter-in-law Anne and granddaughter Sydney Anne.

Here they are with my brother Dave at his trumpet shop in Portland, Oregon.

Sunny's Stairs, Pappy's Bravery
Background for why Sunny has stairs and why the mattress was on the floor is here and here.

When we first got the doggy stairs, I put them next to the loveseat where I sit with my laptop and the little dogs snuggle in next to me. I was right there to make sure Sunny used the steps. There wasn't an alternate way for her to get up and down because the steps were in the way. She quickly learned to use them but it took a few weeks for her to like using them.

Last week we put the mattress on the bed and moved the stairs into the bedroom. It took just a little bit of training for Sunny to understand we wanted her to use the stairs to get up and down from the bed.

I'm very pleased with the Ultralite Pet Stairs from Discount Ramps. They only weigh ten pounds so they're easy to move around, yet they're sturdy enough to stay in place. I ordered a second set for next to the loveseat.


Our neighbor has a goat. Glory, our big old dog, does not like the goat. We've been teaching her not to bark at the goat and she knows she's not supposed to bark at the goat, but when she thinks she can get away with it she sneaks in a bark or two (or three or four).

Yesterday I went out for a dog walk with Glory free and the two little dogs on their Flexi leashes. Glory barked at the goat. The goat came running to the fence that divides our property and Glory ran over to bark in the goat's face.

Lady, a large dog that lives with the goat, took exception and ran over to the fence growling to protect the goat. Glory and Lady had a dog fight through the fence. It is farm fence with squares about 4 inches by 4 inches, so they couldn't really do harm to each other, but it looked and sounded violent and I ran over to pull Glory away.

Twelve pound Pappy, who is little enough to get through the farm fence, did. He attacked Lady just like he was a big dog and got his head bitten. Fortunately, Lady's owner arrived on the scene just then - probably because I was screaming - and pulled Lady back.

It was an ugly, scary incident. Pappy is a gentle, calm dog, but he thought he needed to defend Glory. Now he has a hole in his head. You can see it over his left eye.

Botanical Invaders
Have you ever planted something in your garden and regretted it later as it turned into a pest?

One gardening friend claims she had to move in order to get away from the lemon balm she innocently planted one spring. Many of the mints like lemon balm are invasive, but at least they're easy to weed out.

I comfort myself with the knowledge that the most troublesome plants at Violet Acres were not purchased and planted by me. They were here when we moved in, looking tidy and pretty.

My number one pain in the garden butt is Lily of the Valley.

When we first moved in, I was delighted to see a large patch of Lily of the Valley. I'd unsuccessfully tried growing it several times in my previous urban yard with no success.

Unsuspecting the relentless and robust underground runners, I naively transplanted it to empty patches of other gardens. One of my worst gardening mistakes.

When Lily of the Valley is happy, and Lily of the Valley is very happy on my property, it travels underground and pops up where ever it feels like popping up. It sprouts leaves in the middle of whatever other plant happens to be where Lily wants to be, which happens to be everywhere and anywhere.

I can't use Roundup on it without killing plants I don't want to kill. When I dig it up by the roots, each little piece of root that breaks off considers itself the start of a new underground runner.

On bad days, I've considered letting the whole five acres be covered with Lily of the Valley. It would be very pretty and fragrant in the spring.


Cinnamon ferns are another plant I was thrilled to have growing so happily here when we moved in. And I still like them, even though they require stern control to keep them in bounds.

This garden was ignored for too long, and the ferns took over the hostas, hellebores, and an azalea bush.

I'm in the process of digging out the ferns that are in another plant's territory, but it's not a one day project. Once I get them under control, I will be much more vigilant about removing ferns that stray out of bounds.


What grows berserk in your yard?

I is for Idaho





Idaho Facts:

• State Capital - Boise.
  
• State Motto - "It is forever"
  
• State Flower - Syringa
  
• State Bird - Mountain Bluebird
  
• State Tree - White Pine
  
• State Gem - Star Garnet
  
• State Nicknames - Spud State; Gem State; Panhandle State

A Few Famous People from Idaho:

• Ernest Hemingway, author
  
• Lana Turner, actress
  
• Gutzon Borglum, Mt. Rushmore sculptor
  
• Mariel Hemingway, actress
  
• Myrna Stahman, scarf and shawl designer

Looking at Northern Idaho from the air, it's all mountains and evergreens. No deciduous forests like we have here in SW Michigan.



See where it says "Post Falls" just south of the Canadian border?

Next month I'll be spending a week there visiting my Idaho girl.


Here's a memory from my last visit to Idaho.

Come on, Grandma! Get down on the floor and let's play!

Life's Simple Pleasures

I've been tagged by A Cracked Pot.

Name ten of life's simple pleasures that you like most, then pick ten people to do the same. Try to be original and creative and not to use things that someone else has already used.

Having no idea what other people have used and not being very creative, I submit the following list.

I further revolt by not tagging anyone else to do this. It's a pleasant, easy post for a day when blogging seems like a lot of work. If you want to do it, it's all yours!

Life has many simple pleasures. These are the first ten that popped into my head today.

1. Violets in the spring.
   
2. Snuggling with my dogs while drinking my first cup of coffee in the morning.
   
3. Playing "peek" with granddaughter Sydney and hearing her laugh.
   
4. Lunch with a good friend.
   
5. Singing my favorite hymn, And Can It Be, in church with the organ.
   
6. Fresh Michigan strawberries in June with Bisquick shortcake.
   
7. A freshly mowed lawn.
   
8. Waking up without an alarm clock.
   
9. Listening to a good book on CD while I knit.
   
10. Being alive.

What's one of your simple pleasures?

Getting Back in the Groove of Home
I'm home.

I still occasionally find myself singing A B C D E F G. . ., Sydney's favorite song on her Leap Start Learning Table. I'm sure I heard it several hundred times while in Idaho, but each time was a delight as she smiled and danced along with the catchy little tune.

Who needs coffee when a bright eyed little sweetie like this wants to play at seven in the morning?


The Michigan reality is yardwork. There is still much to clean up at Violet Acres and we're working on it old people style - a little each day.

Many little spring flowers are in bloom including my favorite, the blue violets. They grow wild on our property. There's a large patch in the west wooded yard and other scattered "volunteer" plants here, there, and everywhere.

The bluebird eggs hatched yesterday. It's been too chilly to open the box and take pictures, so there are none.

H is for Hands


One of the most memorable moments of my life was being present for the birth of my first granddaughter, Kimberly Louise, in 1995.

Seeing my own daughter give birth to her daughter was awesome, but the very very best part happened about ten minutes later.

Daughter Heather still had post-birth work to do and she called for new dad Tony to come be with her, meaning I got to hold the new born Kimmy. There was a rocking chair in the room. While we sat together and rocked, she grabbed my finger. Ten minutes old and she grabbed my finger.

I know babies do this all the time, but this was MY granddaughter and, therefore, very different and special. Instant bonding. Instant love.

This picture was taken after Kimmy went home. Her little hand in mine. I love it.

I had a mouse pad made from this picture and used it at work for years until the picture wore off.


It was almost ten years later before I was grandma a second time. Granddaughter Sydney Anne was born to my son John and his wife Anne 2000 miles away in Idaho.

I missed the birth, but four weeks later I flew west to meet my new granddaughter.

As you can see, the meeting was a success. Sydney decided her paternal grandmother was OK and gave me the sealing finger hug on our relationship.


Last August I had the pleasure of bringing Kimmy on her first plane trip.

Two of the most important people in my life met for the first time.

The tanned hands of nine year old Kimmy held the baby pink hands of four month old Sydney and declared her an OK cousin.


Writing from Idaho where I'm having a wonderful time with the one year old hands of Sydney Anne.

Countdown to Idaho
Only two more days before I wake up before dawn and head for the airport and Idaho.

I'm in triage mode:

1. Has to be done before I leave - laundry, packing, income tax (done!), clean out purse, books from library, organize sock project, go to bank for cash, pack, post H for the ABC Along.
   
   
2. Would be nice to have done before I go - clean kitchen, clean bathroom, vacuum house, finish raking out gardens.
   
   
3. I'll think about this when I get home - most of the housework, yard work, FLAK, Barbara Shawl.

According to the National Weather Service 5 day forecast for Coeur d'Alene, it's going to be about ten degrees colder there than here in Michigan. The Idaho nights are dipping below freezing and the Idaho high temps are in the 40s and 50s.

Son John and Daughter-in-law Anne have planned a fun week for my visit. They're going to be busy doing things and I'm going to babysit. I'm trying to remember what it's like to feed a one year old. It's been a long time.

I can hardly wait. Now, what do I have to do next?

Updates on Gail, Sunny, Bird Nests, and Rabbit
Gail's Christmas Socks
Back in February I wrote

Gail the dog trainer has a birthday the same day as John and I'm trying to decide if I'm going to knit a pair of socks for the occasion. She got a pair for Christmas which I've never seen her wear, even though she told me she loves wearing them. Was she just being polite? I see her twice a week. The socks should have made an appearance by now. It would give me great pleasure to knit another pair of socks for her, but I don't want to give her something she doesn't really like.

Her birthday was March 18. By the first of March, I still hadn't seen her wearing the gift socks, so I sighed and bought her a book for her birthday.

Then she started wearing the socks. She wore them three times in the two weeks before her birthday. I was so pleased. And now I know what to give her for Christmas next year.

Sunny
Two weeks ago Sunny had back spasms was diagnosed with spondylosis, excessive bone production that occurs between spinal vertebrae in dogs. Two of her lumbar vertebrae are all ready fused together and her entire spine is showing excess calcium deposits.

Sunny is off drugs now and we're working on training her to go up and down the pet stairs instead of jumping on and off the furniture.

Gail the dog trainer had a dog with spondylosis and let me know she can help with good advice on what Sunny should not do. We've had several talks about Sunny and doggy school.

Sunny loves doggy school. When Sunny and Pappy see the treat bag come out they know it's doggy school night for one of them. They sit and watch until I tell them which one is going. The one who gets named jumps around in excitement. The other one goes off to the back room and pouts. It's totally unacceptable that Sunny never gets a turn to go to doggy school.

Fortunately, Sunny's favorite part of doggy school is the obedience, so we're going to switch her out of Advance Hobby/Agility into an obedience class. Tomorrow (Tuesday) night will be our first time to attend.

Bird Nests
It was 59 degrees today. The swallows have returned, the black flies have hatched, and I officially pronouce it spring in SW Michigan.

Mother bluebird peeked out the nest box hole at us during the first morning dog walk. Later I checked and there was the first blue egg. She'll be laying one a day now until she has four or five.

The Mourning Dove nest has been abandoned. Either a predator got into it or the cold killed the naked babies.

Mourning Doves are stupid, clumsy birds. I know most people like them. I like them too, but they're still stupid and clumsy. This pair got confused about nesting season and did it a month early. I'm sure they'll try again.

Jill asked . . .

Any chance you can point out the Mourning Dove nest? Is it really that pitiful stick or two under the bird?

Yes. That's it.

Just spotted this nest on the shelf of an old, unused satellite dish way out in the back field.

It's a collection of coarse weeds and dead, dry leaves. Looks like it would blow away if I sneezed on it. It's just as pitiful as the Mourning Dove nest.

I'm not familiar with this type of nest and I haven't seen the associated birds so I don't know what they might be. If I see them return to this nest I'll report.

Anybody know what kind of nest this is? Want to guess?


The Weight Loss Rabbit on Stitches of Violet Sidebar
In my April 1 post I promised

Next Wednesday I will weigh myself, reset the rabbit if necessary, and see if I can hop him along a bit before I leave for Idaho.

I kept that promise and was delighted to see that I have not gained any of the lost weight back. The rabbit is exactly in the right place.

I do admit to being a bit challenged in finding the motivation for the last five pounds. I'm working on it.

G is for Girl's Athletic Association


1959. I was 14 years old, and an introverted, unathletic high school freshman. My extroverted, athletic friend (the one in the yellow prom dress) talked me into joining the Girl's Athletic Association (GAA).

Why? Because if we acquired 15 athletic points we earned a ticket to the GAA formal dance and we - the girls - got to ask the boy of our choice to escort us.

Unfortunately, earning GAA points required doing athletic things.

Horseback riding was on the GAA list. My friend lived on a dairy farm and had horses. She assured me that three hours on a horse for three GAA points was "no sweat".

I had never ridden a horse before. She'd been riding horses since she was old enough to sit up, so it didn't occur to her teenage brain that I might need a few pointers. I got on that horse and before I could ask what to do next, the horse took off and jumped the fence.

I didn't fall off. She was a little more helpful after I threatened to go home, and we managed to ride for three hours. The next day I was so sore I could hardly walk. Not a good thing, because I had marching band practice.

I was too stiff to raise my knees when marching 8 to 5 (eight steps to 5 yards), so the band instructor pulled me out of formation and yelled at me for having a "tight skirt". He never did let me explain. The skirt was not tight, my muscles were tight. Stupid man.

It was all worth it, though. That's me in the purple formal. I picked a good looking date, didn't I?

Early Spring
As mentioned in my last post, our mild winter didn't translate into an early spring.

We haven't had many mild days and, as you can see in the picture, we don't have much green in the landscape yet.

Strangely, though, the bluebirds have their nest build in the nest box. This is the earliest I've ever seen a bluebird nest.

No eggs yet.


Here is another nest that is way early. According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources

"The mourning dove reproductive cycle begins with egg laying in late April/early May."

So what is with all this early nesting while it's still cold?

This nest is a little above eye level in a large pine tree at the back of our five acres.

Mom and dad mourning dove take turns sitting on the eggs, so they're never unattended. They've been incubating for several weeks now. We should have little ones soon. Hope they don't get snowed on.


The February Gold daffodils are my smallest and earliest to bloom. In Michigan they never bloom in February.

I expect flowers the first week in April. Only a few have blossomed.

Unlike the nesting birds, the flora is a little behind schedule.


Sunday I stopped on my way home from church and bought a much needed new rake.

Monday, the first time I used it, the rake fell off the handle. I was annoyed. I jammed the rake back on the handle and kept raking.

I debated returning the rake, but didn't want to make a special trip into civilization just for that.

I tried to use it again. It fell apart and I finally noticed a screw taped on the back. It's an assemble-it-yourself rake! Whoever would have guessed? There was no clue on the label. There was no clue in the store.


Excuse me while I sound like an old lady.

In the good old days, you could go to a hardware store and buy a rake that came in one piece.

This morning I stopped at an independent hardware store. The owner told me he stopped stocking rakes because everyone bought them cheap at the big chains and he couldn't compete.

I would be willing to pay a little more for a rake if I didn't have to assemble it. Am I the only one?

Spring Things
Doing my income taxes when I know I'm not going to get a refund is completely bothersome.

Just because we had a mild winter does not mean that spring is going to come early. Warm (over 50 degrees F) spring days have been very rare so far this year. And today isn't one of them.

On Wednesday of this week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00am in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06. That won't ever happen again.

Also on Wednesday of this week, Granddaughter Sydney Anne turns one year old. That will never happen again, either.

Her party was last Saturday.

She had her own little cake just in case she wanted to make a mess with it.


She also got lots of presents. One of her favorites was this red wagon from her grandparents in Michigan.

I think she likes it.


For those who want to know more, Dad's blog post about the party is here.

For those who want to see thirty more pictures of the party, there is a Picture Trail album here.

Let Me Answer

Linda asked . . .

Have you thought about those doggy steps?

After checking three different pet stores and finding nothing, I came home and ordered these steps.

If I had read Shelly's and Bliss's comments first, I would have ordered a ramp instead. The vet suggested steps, and I didn't think to consider anything else.

Sunny's x-rays showed spondylosis, excessive bone production that occurs between spinal vertebrae in dogs. Two of her lumbar vertebrae are all ready fused together and her entire spine is showing excess calcium deposits.

Even when her current acute back problem is healed, her jumping and twisting will continue to be restricted.

Much to my sadness, there will be plenty of opportunity to install ramps for her.


Birdsong asked . . .

When is the next grandbaby visit scheduled?

April 19 for a week.

I also have plane tickets for another week starting June 16. Mom/Great-grandma is going with me for that trip.

In August, I'd like to fly into some city west of Idaho and do some driving and sight seeing of beautiful Washington while working my way east to Idaho. Or maybe fly into some city in Montana and drive west to Idaho. I'd like to keep it around 200 miles from Post Falls/Coeur d'Alene. Any suggestions?

I know this is not the knitterly thing to say but seeing God's creation is my primary reason for doing this, not yarn store visits.


Someone asked (but they were too polite to leave a comment). . .

When are you going to lose those last 5 pounds and get the bunny on your Stitches of Violet sidebar through those flowers?

It was so easy to stop dieting and it's so hard to think about starting again.

I think I've maintained my loss, but I haven't weighed myself in several months.

Next Wednesday I will weigh myself, reset the rabbit if necessary, and see if I can hop him along a bit before I leave for Idaho.