It's a dog's life

Ok - this brings new meaning to couch potato...



My boys like to be anywhere I am and if I leave a perfectly good pillow laying around it just calls to them.

- Enjoy!
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Love my Subaru

I love my Subaru. So do my dogs. However, my Papillons are too short to drive. Subaru has a new marketing campaign that is just too cute with dogs driving my new Forester - check these out!

Enjoy,

What is the "Red Power Roundup?"

Ok, I'm not off my rocker, but here's a photo from the tractor show we went to two weekends ago - the 20th Annual Red Power Roundup in Madison, Wisconsin. It is a gathering of Case/Farmall/McCormick/International tractor/truck owners from around the U.S. of A. who get together to show off their "stuff." Hokay? Maybe. But fun? Yes. A nice group of people! This couple were driving around the grounds checking out the tractors on their ATV with their dog, who didn't look altogether thrilled with the event on the back. They definitely had the right idea, though. We walked around, and it was a lot of walking! See this post for a pic of our tractor. We didn't bring it, though. No trailor to haul it - yet!

Enjoy,

Lost a Good Friend Today

I know I said I would try to keep this as cheerful as possible, but today that is just not going to happen. This week, our beloved dog, Guinness, suddenly became dreadfully ill. Our vet tried for a couple of days to diagnose what was wrong through x-rays and blood work, to no avail. Yesterday, his condition rapidly deteriorated and he was admitted to the local emergency veterinary hospital for dehydration, pain management and to try to figure out what was happening to him. They knew he was anemic, but there was no apparent source of blood loss. Within a few hours he endured many blood tests and an ultrasound test, but at around 1 a.m. this morning, his big heart could take no more. Little Buddy, you are so missed by me, Marc, Jac and Bean. We regret most of all that we did not get to say goodbye to him... At least we know he is at peace with his Grandmother, Dyna. She will take care of him.

Photo credit to: Pet-Personalities.com. Guinness was happiest of all doing his agility. I want to thank Janet McKallor Beck for bringing Guinness (and Dyna) into my life. He lived life to the fullest in his short 10 years and 10 months.

Peace,
-Roberta

winter solstice

peace be to you on this winter solstice. i have not left the house all day today. it is dreadfully cold. below zero. it never even reached above zero all day. and the wind has just been gusting all day. i made cookies in anticipation of christmas dinner at our home on thursday. my grandmother's recipe. it's the cookies that my mother used to make for christmas. i did laundry, cleaned out 

half of my closet, and most pleasant of all - worked for several hours non-stop in my studio. i made a card to send to my new stamping friend, jean. i also am nearly finished on the little christmas board book that i'm making. yesterday i discovered a store called hobby lobby in a nearby town. i didn't even venture through a third of the store before i had found all i could afford on my trip so i had to leave. more treasures await my next visit. 

i'm so glad that i fed the birdies yesterday in anticipation of this cold weather. they were out there eating all day. poor jac, he really can't take the cold. he's my papillon and at only 6 lb. his tiny feet get so cold so fast. he has muttluks - dog booties like the sled dogs wear - but he absolutely HATES them. sometimes when i put them on him he will go outside and just lay down and refuse to walk at all. then i have to go out and get him. he is very stubborn. friday it wasn't so cold, but we got 13'' of snow in 12 hours. as a matter of fact, they even closed work until noon the morning commute was so bad. that worked well for me. i was able to get a lot done at home (cleaning up) before i went into work and then when i did go into work, there was hardly anyone there. so, i was finally able to get caught up in work that has been piling up for weeks! these pics are from friday, december 19th. the bird in the feeder is a junco. you can see jac's dilemma regarding the snow - it's much higher than he is tall. that didn't deter guinness though. he saw the kids next door playing and he just had to run over towards where they were. i had to run out there a few minutes later and "rescue" him as he couldn't make it back to the door by then. my boys!

doggies

i am currently working on a thank you card for my friend julie, who will be watching the doggies for a week while we are in wdw. mind you, watching my guys, guinness & jic jac, is not an easy feat. they are two nutty dogs who demand attention. in working on julie's card, i thought it would be appropriate to use a photo of my guys, but decided that a plain old photo would be too boring. so, i doctored it up in photoshop elements with filters and thought they would look most appropriate with hats, which i drew with my pen tablet. i just love the effect.

a follow up on my first steampunk necklace - i had to remove the clasp that i originally put on it as it just wouldn't stay latched. i really hate it when you buy a clasp that does not work. the toggle isn't large enough to stay in the loop for more than a minute. now i know better! i worried about this one not working and i was right. i had to put another toggle clasp on the necklace and now it's working fine.

i've been assembling items for the trip periodically all day. whenever i see something i need to bring, i throw it in my bag. my new suitcase will arrive monday. can't wait to try it out. my calendar is all updated in iCal, so i'll have everything in my iPod nano along with me. that ipod is so handy. i don't know how i did without it. i updated my what's on my ipod list on the blog to reflect links, so if you don't know of a particular band, you can go to their website or myspace and hear them for yourself. i know i have a weird taste in music - from alternative, to mild blues, to new age, to new wave, to techno/electronica, to punk, to - of all things - dean martin! i must admit, most of what i have by deano is christmas music. least i forget world music! i don't have a lot of that listed yet, as i've got so much by various artists. a particular favorite right now is silversun pickups. i'm waiting for a new cd by them. also the black rebel motorcycle club. someday i'll get around to writing up all of the bands i've seen in concert and those i've met. there's quite a few.

all set

i have my doggie sitting arrangements all made now for the workshop i'm taking at valley ridge art studios with beryl taylor at the end of next month. a good dog sitter is sometimes hard to find! this woman has watched my dogs before. never jac, he usually comes with me, but the bed and breakfast i'm staying at does not accept pets. guinness needs jac to keep his attitude up, so this is good that they're together. i wish i could take them both with me whenever i go somewhere, but not is not usually possible. jac does travel well, and has even spent time with us at a swanky hotel at niagara falls two years ago. he's very good at the hotel. he is alert when he hears people in the hallway, but doesn't bark. my dogs and my cat are my babies. my children. they are good critters, for the most part. guinness is 10 and jac is 5. bean is 3. time flies by so fast. that's the one thing with dogs and cats - they aren't with us long enough. i lost my dyna two years ago. dyna was guinness's grandmother. you gotta love animals! they are there for you when you're down. they know when you need cheering up. they can be naughty one minute and so sweet the next.

i've been toying with my blog banner. i had to create a revised banner for my etsy shop and decided to try it on this blog. it's not as "fat" as the previous incarnation, but i do believe it works. i've got my fingers into so many pies right now. i'm learning photoshop elements and all things digital. i love this. at work i do the department intranet - it is not as creatively satisfying as all i do at home, but it's better than a lot of things i must do at work. besides, i just love writing and formating things, whether they be documents, technical manuals, or blog banners! then there's the painting, stamping, cutting (fabric and paper), glueing and all that stuff. i just love it. i hope that someday i'm able to retire some day with marc and we are able to do the things we love - me my art work and he his watches and radios. freedom to pursue one's dreams, that's the way to live. most people never get to do that, which is why i sneak it into my life now. why wait? if you don't do it now, when will you get to do it? that and i give everything i do my best. i manage a staff of 6 people at work. i try to mentor each and every one of them. give them what they need which is someone who listens to them when they need to talk about something important (that could be something that is going on at work or an important aspect of their personal life) and to remind them of the important things in life, just like i just said here. work is a critical aspect of life, but in life, it is not THE important thing. your happiness, your family, these are the important things. we must all work to get along at work and make our respective jobs easier for one another. that is the difficult part. i guess it's just the golden rule for today: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. treat each other with respect. But at the same time respect must be earned. it all comes around. its the karma thing. i'm big into karma. i believe if you do good things, good things will happen to you. it's why i love the show "my name is earl" so much. it shows real down to earth people and how they act and can act when they respect one another. i know that sounds weird. i have known people like the characters in the show. good grief, my in-laws and ex were all like that. except they weren't doing the good things. it was all about what's in it for them. enough about that. i've said before that i'm going to keep this upbeat and not a big downer for you, the reader. anyway, you can turn your life around, no matter how bad it is. you can make a difference in other peoples lives by just being nice, and respecting one another. did you do a good deed today?