A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself. ~ Josh Billings

The cold from hell continues. I am improving, but it’s been slow. My week has been spent working and when I’m not at work I have been on the couch coughing. (I can do a wicked impression of an 80 year old chain smoker). I have not knit all week and there will be no visit to the park this weekend.

Sadie has been keeping the couch warm for me during the day:

And she’s been looking after me at night:

(Excuse the crappy phone picture. It’s tough to take a picture when there’s a 100lbs. dog on your chest.)

Kishka continues to taunt Sadie by flipping her food bowl and then not eating:

Hopefully next week will bring pictures of knitting and the park.

EDIT:

Kishka would like it known that she’s taking care of me, too. Shortly after I posted she jumped up on the couch and stretched out on top of me:

“I take care of Mom, too. Don’t let that blonde vixen get all the credit.”

One of the most sublime experiences we can ever have is to wake up feeling healthy after we have been sick. ~ Rabbi Harold Kushner

There are no park pictures to show in this week’s post. That’s because there was no visit to the park this weekend. This weekend (and the entire week) has been spent on my couch. The nightmare of a cold that’s going around struck me last Sunday and has knocked me flat for an entire week.

Instead of the park this weekend, there was the couch. It wasn’t all bad, though. A certain furry friend of mine loves to snuggle.

Here she is on my legs:

And here she is in full snuggle mode…sprawled on top of me:

Being sick sucks, but having a loyal friend at your side on top of you makes it a bit better.

I was too sick to knit for most of the week (the horror!), but over the past day or two I’ve knit the heel flaps, turned the heels and started one of the gussets on the Film Noir socks:

I pulled on one of my favorite pairs of socks this week and discovered a problem:

The stitches from the heel flap have totally pulled away from the gusset. Once I’m feeling better, I’ll try to fix it and save the socks.

For now, I continue to rest.

Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say and not giving a damn. ~ Gore Vidal

After a week of cloudy weather, the weekend arrived and so did the sun.

It was a nice day to enjoy the park.

The stream was still frozen in many places:

But there were enough areas that were not frozen so the girls could enjoy the water:

The girls were able to run:

The squirrels were teasing them:

There was barking and wooing:

Sadie watched me from behind the trees:

Kishka kept on eye on Sadie:

Most of all, it was a day for hanging out and having fun:

Kishka even seemed to find a moment of zen:

Fun at the dog park is measured by one thing: mud.

Mud = fun. Sadie always has fun.

The yarn diet of 2010 continues, but I did buy a new project bag and stitch markers:

These came from Annie Purl’s Etsy shop.

I’ve completed the feet on the Film Noir socks:

Learning to live in the present moment is part of the path of joy. ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

Kishka had a vet appointment yesterday and I had him look at her leg. I thought she hurt it at the park last week (she’s had a heck of a limp all week). It turns out she has a severe case of arthritis in one of her knees. It’s so severe that if she were a younger dog (Kish is around 10 years old), my vet would recommend a knee replacement. Because of Kish’s age, it’s about management of pain.

Kish has new food (with lots of joint friendly supplements) and a bottle of pain pills. Her days of fetch are over (too much stress on the knee due to the sudden stops and starts).

The park, however, is still in the picture so we spent part of our weekend there.

The girls went exploring together:

They looked for squirrels:

They were very excited to see that part of the stream was unfrozen so that they could go splashing:

Sadie was so happy that she couldn’t stop barking with joy:

Some of the stream thawed and was flowing throw the frozen parts of the stream:

I sat on this log and took pictures:

Sadie loves to play Chase. Kishka does not play Chase. She never has (Max and Sam used to play it and would try to get her to join them) and Sadie has learned to not even try to engage her.

When we go to the park Sadie always looks for dogs who will play with her. On this day she was successful:

Chase makes Sadie very happy:

Kishka enjoyed exploring the frozen parts of the stream:

Wooing at her sister (she loves to order Sadie around):

And drinking the ice cold water:

We all enjoyed relaxing on the bank above the stream:

I had a comment a few posts ago about how svelte Sadie is looking. Since I see her everyday, her weight loss isn’t as noticeable to me. I know she’s lost weight, but I tend to focus on how much more she has to lose.

I went back to one of the first pictures I ever took of her back in March of 2008.

Here’s what she looked like then:

And yesterday:

Wow. Those 18 lbs. she’s lost have really made a difference! She still has more to lose (which will be made tougher with Kishka’s limitations on exercise), but she has come a long way. Even if she doesn’t lose another pound, she is much healthier than she was when I adopted her.

I’m making slow but steady progress on the Film Noir socks.

I had a question about who makes this yarn. It’s by Sweet Paprika. They have a website and also sell through The Loopy Ewe.   I’m a sucker for self striping yarn and will definitely be buying more colors of this yarn.  It’s even more gorgeous in person and is a joy to knit.

:: cue gratuitous yarn p0rn shot ::

Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why. ~ Eddie Cantor (1892 – 1964)

After some bitterly cold weather this week, the weekend has been warm (relatively) and sunny. The girls and I headed out to our favorite park.

The stream where they like to splash was completely frozen:

There were a few slips (just after I snapped this picture, Kishka’s four legs went in four different directions):

At one point, Sadie jumped out of the frozen stream and when she hit the ice covered stream bank she did nearly a full backwards somersault before landing back where she started. Sadly, I have no pictures of that (she was okay, just a bit startled). As for me, I was doubled over in laughter.

I always love watching how Sadie looks to Kishka for guidance:

I’m so grateful that they’re such good friends. Sometimes I think they only keep me around to earn money to buy dog food and to use my opposable thumbs to open the locked dog food container. Otherwise, they’d be quite happy to kick me out and travel the road of life together.

We did a lot of walking and they did a lot of running. This necessitated a quick nap:

Kishka (of course) did some squirrel hunting. Here she is scanning the stream bank:

And here is her “wait quietly for one to come to the ground” technique:

The quality of this picture isn’t great, but it perfectly captures Sadie’s “I’m so happy I’m at the park” face:

There has been knitting this week. I don’t have a lot of time to knit, but I’m making good progress on the socks:

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. ~ Epicurus (341 BC – 270 BC)

There has been stash enhancement:

I bought this yarn (and the yarn in the last post) in 2009 because I’ve set a goal for 2010: I want to knit entirely from my stash this year and not buy any more yarn.  I have so much gorgeous sock yarn (and it’s all documented on Ravelry if you care to check it out ).  I need to use it and appreciate it so 2010 is the year of Sock Knitting From My Stash.   I’m posting about it here to keep myself accountable.   

One exception:   this does not count my current credit at The Loopy Ewe.    I can spend that credit this year, but that’s it.

After ten days at home I had some separation anxiety when I returned to work on Monday. When I came home I saw this:

Sadie continues her love of being upside down:

I watched a news program at the end of last year and one reporter declared the last decade as the time in history when technology took the biggest leap forward. I agree with him.

I was thinking about this the other night when I was lying in bed browsing the internet on my phone. I have an app on my phone that hooks into web cams around the world. I was watching scenes (live or close to it) from around the world while lying warm and cozy in my bed. I was also able to capture what I was seeing and here are my two favorite pictures from that night.

I watched the sun rise over the mountains in Austria:

And then I watched the sun rise in Paris:

What a wonderful world.

There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden or even your bathtub. ~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

A new year has brought new socks:

I knit them from this blank (received in a sock blank swap):

The colors are a bit more muted that I usually go for, but I do like them a lot.

There’s been stash enhancement (some received as a gift and some bought with Christmas money):

I admit that I was hooked by the name of this color: Film Noir.

The yarn is perfect for a classic movie nerd like me. To make the yarn even cooler, it’s self striping!

I’ve had the past ten days off work. During my vacation a friend and I went to the see the Little House musical. I’m a die hard bonnethead (fan of LH and Laura Ingalls Wilder) so I expected to love it. My non-bonnethead friend also really enjoyed it. The musical was very, very well done. The cast was terrific and so were the songs. I was most pleased that the story stuck to the books (unlike the TV series). If you have a chance to see this show, I highly recommend it.

I spent the rest of my time off with my girls. There’s been bone chewing (them, not me ):

Lots of squirrel watching (again them, not me):

Hanging out together:

And a ton of all around cuteness:

New Year’s eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights. ~Hamilton Wright Mabie

I said this about last year, but I can’t believe I’m already looking back on 2009. It was another fast year and another year full of knitting.

I finished a sweater this year:

Sadly, I haven’t worn it because the yarn grew a lot and it’s just too big. At some point I plan on ripping it out and using the yarn for a different sweater. (I adore this shade of green.)

I knit a blanket for a friend’s baby:

I knit a dog walking hat for a friend’s husband:

2009 was mostly the year of socks. I spent the first half of the year unemployed and I spent most of that time (when I wasn’t job hunting) knitting socks:

I have more socks on the needles.

This pair is almost finished:

I’m anxious to finish these socks because I love the color:

I’m also anxious to finish these socks because I love this pattern and this yarn:

I started this scarf and hope to finish it by next winter (I’m back to being obsessed with socks so it’s taken a back seat):

I started out the new year with my 365 project and the intent to document the year by posting one picture every day. I lasted 139 days before my camera broke. When the camera was repaired I had lost interest in the project. So, 2009 taught me that I’m not as interested in photography as I thought I was. I do like to take pictures, but (if forced to make a choice) I would rather do other things.

When I did my end-of-the-year post on 12/31/08, I had one big wish for 2009: to get through the year without any of my pets dying. I’m happy to say that my wish came true.

Sadie has lost 18 lbs. since I adopted her and has discovered that she loves to run:

Kishka spent a lot of time this year doing the things that she loves most.

Rolling in the grass:

Keeping the tennis ball away from Sadie:

And digging holes (note the dirty nose):

What did Romeo do this year? He bossed around his sisters and surveyed his kingdom.

I’ll end this post (and this year) with one of my very favorite pictures. It was taken in the car on the way home from the dog park. They were both exhausted.

We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet: and, amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us. ~ Maurice Maeterlinck (1862 – 1949)

When I am Old…

I shall wear turquoise and soft gray sweatshirts…
and a bandanna over my silver hair….
and I shall spend my Social Security checks on
sweet wine and my dogs….
and sit in my house on my well-worn chair
and listen to my dogs’ breathing

I will sneak out in the middle of a warm summer night
and take my dogs for a run, if my old bones will allow…
and when people come to call,
I will smile and nod as I show them my dogs…
and talk of them and about them…
the ones so beloved of the past
and the ones so beloved of today…

I still will work hard cleaning after them
and mopping and feeding them
and whispering their names in a soft, loving way.
I will wear the gleaming sweat on my throat, like a jewel
and I will be an embarrassment to all…
and my family…
who have not yet found the peace
in being free to have dogs as your best friends…

These friends who always wait, at any hour, for your footfall…
and eagerly jump to their feet out of a sound sleep,
to greet you as if you are a god.
With warm eyes full of adoring love and hope that you will stay
and their big, strong necks…
and kiss their dear sweet heads…
and whisper to their very special company…

I look in the mirror…
and see I am getting old….
this is the kind of woman I am…
and have always been.
Loving dogs is easy,
they are part of me,
accept me for who I am,
my dogs appreciate my presence in their lives..
when I am old this will be important to me…
you will understand when you are old…
and if you have dogs to love too.

-Author Unknown

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself. ~ Josh Billings

There hasn’t been much knitting around here lately. I’ve been working too much and spend my weekends catching up on chores and spending quality time with the furry family.

When I arrive home from work I often see this:

That always brings a smile to my face after a long day.

We went to the dog park yesterday and Sadie was so happy she couldn’t stop barking with joy:

Kishka enjoyed the fresh air, too:

I recently acquired some new yarn. Now I just need to find the time to knit it: