Forever

WOW, I've been off blog for a long time. Let's get caught up -- there has been knitting, visits by Caryl and her adorable pugs, joyous welcoming of the cooler weather and more knitting, contemplation of housecleaning -- but decided to play with the dogs instead and oh, yeah, knitting. The dogs are all fine, fat and sassy. Well, not so fat -- they are trying to lose a bit of bulge, but still sassy and happy. Ho-Tei has a bit of an elbow problem, but seems to be on the road to recovery. Everyone else is great and enjoying the cooler weather. Nothing like a grand game of chasing each other through the leaves to make a dog's heart sing.

I've been working on a reader's wrap fro my mom. It is almost finished, but I have to sew on the pockets. I hate sewing. It will be a bit before the wrap is finished, I'm afraid. Socks, mittens and scarves have also come off the needles. There are a couple of sweaters in progress but they are marinating -- stockinette hell.

Work has been busy. . .Boring, I am so boring. Probably why I haven't blogged. Well, I'll try to have an adventure or two soon to bring more entertainment to blogville. Until then, Happy Halloween!

Quick Update

Hello All. Things at Casa de Pug have been busy. Lots of knitting: monkey socks, hedera socks, toe-up crazy monkey socks, woodland shawl, oooooooooooo and we got fabulous new sock yarn in at River Colors. I am also working on a top down T and am drooling over the new Rowan book. I need more time for knitting!

The pugs have been adorable, as always. They have a new friend, Ike. He is a very handsome Dalmation that lives across the street. He comes for play dates in the fenced in backyard and the boys just adore him.

I still have to post the pics from the recent pug visit. Trust me, 7 pugs being walked by 2 folks down a Cleveland neighborhood streets stops traffic. My neighbors still haven't recovered from the sight of all those adorable pug butts wiggling down the lane.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Me, I'm just waiting for Fall -- it is my favorite time of year. Have a great Monday.

Give all the fur babies a hug and kisses from us.

Today is the Day

Big happenings here at the blue cottage.  I am teaching two knitting classes today:  basic socks on magic loop and the woodland shawl.  I have several knitters in each so it should be lots of fun.  It is also grooming day at Chez Pug and while I am thrilled and excited, the fur kids are blissfully unaware of what this afternoon bring.  Poppy (the honorary pug) needs to be groomed every 6 weeks and I am blessed with a mobile groomer who adores Poppy and they have a grooming/love fest every six weeks.  It is quite cute and Poppy looks absolutely gorgeous after these sessions.  The boys are less high maintenance, but occasionally I like to treat myself and I have Nancy (the wonder groomer) do the whole damn bunch.  Today is one of those special and wonderful days.   Then after grooming our friends Caryl, Susie, Gracie, Kaze and Mimi come for a pug sleepover.  I'm going to need a week to recover from all the fun of today.  I'll try to remember to take lots of pictures.

On the knitting front, I'm working on the Woodland Shawl in JJ Knits sock yarn, color San Diego.  It is amazing, gorgeous, fabulous, yummy.  We just got JJ Knits sock yarn in at the shop and it is wonderful.  Definitely worth the wait.

I'm also working on the Spring Forward socks from the current issue of Knitty.  Shannon Okey traded me some of her fabulously gorgeous hand dyed yarn in exchange for a pair of these socks.  They are looking good and I'm pretty sure once I finish Shannon's, I'm going to have to cast on a pair for myself.  They are fun to knit and just yummy to look at.  Good combo in a knitting pattern.

Well, enough babbling.  I must go do a bit of straightening before our company arrives.  Have a great Saturday everyone and stay cool.  It is way too hot for puggies here in Cleveland.  Hugs,

Happy Thursday

It has come to my attention, ahem, that I have neglected the photo portion of this blog. The pugs are quite annoyed that they have not had their cute little puggy mugs adorning the last few blog entries. In order to bring peace and calm to the blue cottage, I present you with the daily requirement of puggy cuteness.

This is their couch, although I am permitted to sit on it so that they may sprawl atop me and snore.  Myoki likes to perch on the couch back and gaze out the window showing the folks in the living room his amazingly adorable pug butt.  Honestly.  I'm sure you can imagine the pug snot on my windows!  Sigh.  Oh well, clear views are highly over-rated.

This hot weather has been pretty hard on the pups, particularly Woody.  We've had to schedule our walks in the early morning and late evening and keep them short.  It has not been that much fun.  Next week the gang goes to Dr. Scott for the annual checkups.  We love Dr. Scott and his staff and they are all looking forward to the doting, kissing and hugging they get from the doc and his staff.  

Hi, Everyone, Ho-Tei here.  Mommy stepped away from the puter and I decided I wanted to type.  Hehehehe.  Saturday is grooming day for us so expect some lovely photos of clean, sweet smelling puggies.  I hate grooming day, especially the nail clipping part.  I scream and scream, but it doesn't matter.  Still they get clipped.  It is wrong to torture a pug that way.  Does your mommy do that to you?  I bet she doesn't.  Our buddies Susie, Grace, Kaze and Mimi are coming for a sleep over.  7 pugs in one small cottage.  Utter Chaos and Absolute Fun.  Can't wait.  Mommy will take pictures of all the cuteness -- especially me, cuz I am sooooo cute.  She tells me that all the time.  She tells the other guys that too, but I know she is just being nice and I am the bestest  cutest pug ever.  Oh oh, here she comes, gotta go.

Wednesdays are for Doing Good

Greetings blogosphere.  It is Wednesday and I was planning on writing about my dear neighbor, Larry, who passed away on  Sunday.  A kind, generous man, who had plenty of demons, he is already deeply missed.  For Larry, take a moment and call, hug, write, visit someone you care about but haven't had the time to call, hug, write or visit.  Do it now, because they won't be there forever and they leave much sooner than any of us can imagine.

And, on the pay it forward, random acts of kindness path, pugs in need are many.  Benny, Henry and Luna of Owned by Pugs are having a raffle to help Compassionate Pug Rescue.   In these challenging economic times, it is hard to give, but as Owned by Pugs so eloquently stated, every little bit builds to a lot.  Here in Ohio, we have Ohio Pug Rescue and so I decided to give a little bit to both.  So, for the pugs, find your local pug rescue, and if you can't donate a dollar, maybe a towel, blanket, food, treats -- anything to help these sweet pugs in need and the angels who care for them.

Make this a fabulous Wednesday -- be kind, smile, make someone feel loved.

Hugs to you all.

Happy July

Just when you thought I had dropped off the face of the earth, I show up again.  What can I say, I'm just that kinda wench.  Things here in pugville have been busy.  The boys are all fat and sassy, enjoying the cooler weather.  They have all developed a taste for fresh melon.  It is really cute to watch them munch on the melon bites with these silly smiles on their little puggy faces.  Woody is particularly fond of cantaloupe.  

On the knitting front, still working on my Cookie A. monkey sock in Koigu -- it is so yummy.  I also am working on the Hedera sock pattern from Knitty and Spring Forward from the newest Knitty is in the queue.  Love love love knitting socks.  Last weekend I taught a sock class and for the first time in over a year, used double pointed needles -- yuck!  Just reinforced my addiction to magic loop.

On the school front, I am struggling with meteorology and now have new respect for the weather folks.  Who knew it was this intense.  All those little symbols and maps and such.   Yes, I do see the contradiction -- hand me a knitting pattern full of charts and symbols and I am in 7th Heaven, hand me a weather map and tell me to interpret it and I am in utter hell.  Go figure.

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday.

Wednesday Meanderings

Let's begin today's post with a picture of my backyard.  I love this tree.  This tree is the reason I bought the house.  For those of you with eagle eyes, yes, there are lots of weeds along the fence and under the tree.  No, I am not in any hurry to go out in the blistering heat to pull them.  They'll wait.  They'll grow larger.  They'll still be there.


Meet Zoe.  Yes, she is fat.  No, she doesn't seem to mind.  Zoe is really Poppy's cat.  Poppy found her when we were out walking one day and made me bring her home.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  Anyway, Zoe thinks she is a dog, has a delightful sense of humor and let's face it, a tummy that you just want to tickle.  She likes to sprawl around like this and so I felt it was only fitting that it be the pose we used to introduce her on the blog.

Meet my spider wort.  Isn't strange and wild?  I planted one little shoot several years ago and now it is taking over the front flower bed.  Having regaled you with my distaste for gardening in a previous post, it is obvious the plant will have free reign and do as it pleases.  As long as it smothers the weeds, it is okay with me.
Notice anything missing from this post?  Yep, no knitting.  On the needles I have 3 socks, 2 sweaters, 1 wrap, 1 cardigan -- I want to cast something new on the needles.  Obviously I have a bad case of startitis.  And I still haven't played with my new spinning wheel. Meh!

Well, I've blathered on a bit about nothing.  Have a great evening all.  Perhaps tomorrow will bring some exciting blog material.