Puppy Found !

Our application to adopt Mr. Mike was
accepted and I'm hoping to pick him up
next weekend! We are very excited!

You can see photos of Mike and his mom
Mona and all his cute siblings at the
Three Woofs and a Woo website.
Most recent photos are in the dec 28th entry.

A Little Like Christmas

I have all my christmas shopping done. All my
packages to family and friends sent. Just have
to wrap up some homemade soaps for co-workers
and pick up one purchased present for my daughter
(which is lying in wait at a secret location
because it is too big to wrap) and I will be done.
We got a little baby Christmas tree this weekend
and put lights up around the front window.

Did not get our lights up around the front fence
due to early and near incessant snow. Next year
I think we'll do it at Thanksgiving.

It's beginning to feel a little like Christmas.
This photo helped:


















Last night I dreamed that Nosey and I were riding
cable cars around SF for more Christmas shopping.
This morning I wanted to talk to him all about our
trip but unfortunately, he didn't have the same
dream.

Nosey Learns to Sign

So I've been using signs with Nosey - getting
ready just in case the puppy I applied to adopt
is deaf though now it appears he may not be deaf
after all. But it's amazing how fast Nosey has
caught on to this signing business. He now knows
"treat" and "Go for a drive". Easy to teach
because they are two of his favorite words / phrases.

Here's a site where an owner of a deaf pup talks
about her experiences teaching him, the adorable
Cricket, his first signs.

Deaf Dogs

One of the puppies we are hoping to get
may be deaf so we’ve started using hand
signals with Nosey for the things we
usually use only words for and have been
reading up and trying to learn a few more
signs. You can find out more about deaf
dogs here.

Some deaf dogs come from having double
merle breedings. These pups, who also may
have eye malformalities as well, are sometimes
referred to as Lethal whites - lethal because
they would be killed at birth or soonafter.

Some double merles are almost all white.








Some have more color to them.









Mike, the pup we've applied for has
more color than the top photo, but less
than the one above. He's just right.

Puppy

We are looking for a puppy. The right puppy.
I have applied to adopt one of the Brady Bunch,
a group of australian shepherd/lab/? puppies
who were born in a BC pound and taken in by
a compassionate woman who runs a border collie
rescue. You can read more about the Brady Bunch
here on her blog which also
has the best dog photos I have ever seen.

Since she wrote about the puppies on her blog,
I think they must have gotten lots of applications
so I'm not sure if we have a chance at Mike (or
Bobby or Cindy)

We want a mixed breed dog rather than a pure
bred. We have one pure bred and that's plenty.
And we want a puppy rather than an older dog.
Nosey was about 6 - 7 months old when we got
him. Not old exactly but out of that puppy stage.
And when we got Fergus from the pound, no one
was sure how old she was though everyone guessed
she was about a year (which would mean she died
at 15+). So now we would like to get a puppy.
Wish us luck!

The Glen

I was looking for a good Glen photo to illustrate
a snow and leg issue I was going to write about and
came across this site.

It’s always a little hard to explain when people
ask me what kind of dog Nosey Flynn is: Glen of
Imaal terrier doesn’t sound like an Irish dog or
Irish place so I usually explain that the Glen of
Imaal is a place in Ireland like the Glen of
Killarney ...













The site says:

“The Glen of Imaal is a picturesque homeland in
West Wicklow rich in culture and saturated in
history. The famous 1798 rebel Michael Dwyer was
born here and in 1998 a trail was developed
depicting his life and involvement in the
rebellion.” Maybe that’s where Nosey gets his
rebel streak.

“More recently it is visted by the increasing
numbers of hillwalkers who attempt the third
highest peak in Ireland - Lugnaquilla Mountain.
The Glen of Imaal is enveloped in a ring of
mountains Brusselstown Ring, Kaedeen, Ballineddin,
Slievemaan, Lug... Lobawn, Sugarloaf and Church.
Hence the Ring of Imaal a walking route to
challenge all levels of hillwalkers was born.”















They really take their walking seriously. Theres
the Ring of Imaal Walking Festival held every 2
years. The Wicklow Annual walking festival. And
the Wicklow Hills Endurance Festival which covers
equestrian treks throughout local hills, forests
and lands.

A New Necklace Hanger

Back in July I wrote about necklace hangers here.
I have a weakness for jewelry - like many people
do for shoes, and like a shoe collector, necklaces
can be a problem when it comes to keeping and
displaying them. In July, I converted an old oak
coat tree to a necklace hanger.

I’ve now found a very cool necklace stand that
could hold quite a few necklaces while taking up
less room than a coat tree. It’s a small silver stand
with an owl on it - available at Urban Outfitters.















I'm adding it to my "buy after Christmas maybe"
list.

Robinson Park

We try to get to Robinson Park every weekend
and this time of year it is beautiful there.

There are steps which lead up to a nature trail.
















There is a creek that borders the park and a small
stage with benches going up the hillside.



















We almost never see anyone there but apparently
people bring wood and have fires in the firepits.
Then they leave their leftover for the next
person who needs it. Wwe did met a couple with a
Welsh corgi pup named Boo there once. Boo and
Nosey got along famously. But I guess they weren't
local.

Scotties

I visited Chrysanthemum today and was reminded
of this cute Scottie pattern:










You may remember me mentioning this dog
pattern back in June when C-mum had made
a cute grey one and I wanted to make one
with a slight ear adjustment so it
looked like Nosey Flynn. See a comparison of
the real dog and the stuffed one here.

But, I never made one. Now I am re-inspired. You
can find the pattern for this Scottie dog at Allsorts.
Quite a few people have made versions of it.
I think it can be changed a little to look like many
different types of dogs. Here is one by Sweetgaldecal
that could be a West Highland Terrier.













So I’m determined to give the pattern a try - maybe
make a couple for christmas presents for some of
my dog loving friends.

A Good Rescue

I've been looking for another dog to
add to our family. Somehow, the Spokane
Craig's List led me to the Three Woofs
and A Woo blog which led me to a Border
Collie Rescue in Vancouver, BC. I've been to
a lot of rescue pages lately and the one
in Vancouver is really a cut above the rest.
They are really well organized, spend
an inordinate amount of time of their
dogs and have gorgeous photos - which I
can't share with you due to copyright.
But I recommend the two links above if you
like dog art.

And here are a few of my doggie photos
to hold you over.

Here's Fergus and Bonnie in their prime and
looking quite noble I think:















We miss them.



And here's Nosey Flynn, enjoying the cool grass
(really, that's his enjoying expression!):

Snow Memories

This week's snow has brought on a new
wave of missing Fergus. She loved the snow.
We really miss her.















Nosey Flynn is missing her too.

Snow !!

We've got S N O W ! ! !
It's very pretty. Here'a a photo
of my house in the snow. Don't blue
and white look pretty together?

















Here's another Moscow snow scene, looking
a little like Disneyland:

Friday - Thank you! Thank you!

Very hectic week at work, I think we will
change our office name to Bedlam. We have
a case going to the Supreme Court and everyone
is all in a tizzy. I try to de-stress by knitting.
I am making 2 scarves, a hat and a ripple blanket.
Knitting has become my nail biting equivalent.

Here's a look at the yarn I am using
currently:













It's got little twinklies in it. Thank
heavens for the calming properties of yarn.

A Nice Morning Off

I love it when a day off and an energetic mood
hit at the same time. It is 9:30 in the morning
and I have already made blueberry muffins, done
the dishes, started a load of laundry, started
to clean the oven (the initial part I did - the
rest is up to my self-cleaning oven) and taken
Nosey for a walk down to East City Park. It was
cold and breezy with the last of the leaves
swirling around us - perfect morning for a walk
and we got home just in time as it is now sprinkling.

Here's a photo of Moscow's East City Park:

Back from Boise

November is the perfect time of
year to drive from Moscow to Boise.
Beautiful the while way down though my
photography skills don't quite capture
it.

Here's a creek I stopped at when I got
tired.




















I liked the town of Riggins. It reminded
me of Dunsmuir in Northern California, near
Mt. Shasta. Lots of good river views from
before riggins to McCall, another nice little
town though more touristy than Riggins. There
is a great yarn shop in McCall called Keep
Me in Stitches. I didn't think to take a photo
inside the cute little shop but on the way back
I took this photo of their patio outside the
front door. They have a beautiful selection
of natural fiber yarns and the owner is friendly
with just the right sense of humor.
















and here's the not so pretty part - the prison
where I had to go to visit clients. a very very
depressing place.

Best of Boise

Off to Boise tomorrow for work. In the evening
I plan to do a little city shopping thanks to this
article from the Best of Boise edition of the
Boise Weekly. I'm especially looking forward to
going back to Lux Lounge which has a great vintage
collection.

Two More Days

Two days left in the old job. I start the new
one on November first. I will be in the same
office, but on a different "team" and in a
different position. I am moving from a paralegal
position to an investigator position and will be
working under a different attorney.

The attorney I work with now let me do occasional
investigator work but now I'll be able to do that
full time. I'm really looking forward to it.

I head down to Boise on Thursday for client visits.
Yippee!

New Job and a Photo

I recently got a new job so you'll have to excuse
the sporadic posting while I 1) finish up at the
old job and 2) get started at the new. Details will
follow but one nice thing about my new job is the
more frequent travel. Here's a place I'll have to
visit (This photo was snitched from Arbitrary and
Capricious. Isn't it lovely!):

Barbie Girls

Only a very short period of my childhood was spent
on Barbies. I quickly moved on to trolls,
spirographs and other more mature pursuits. But
when I stumbled upon a huge Barbie collection on
eBay I felt a pang of nostalgia. This woman kept
everything in beautiful condition. She even has
shoes and purses and other accessories.
















And you can tell they are from the sixties by the
heavy eye liner look on most of the Barbies. There
are nine days left to this auction and I’m curious
what it will end up going for.

Astrological Influences?

It's been an eventful week. I had some really
really bad news. And then today, some unexpected
good news, though with a slight negative twist.

Weeks like this make me wonder about astrology.
For example - they say Jupiter is the planet of
good luck and that the 10th house repersents one's
career. Could Jupiter have moved into my 10th
house?

I'd delve into this more but my daughter just
found Last of the Mohicans on tv and I've got
my priorities: Uncas !

Just My Imagination

I got an email from my imagination today. Here’s what she
had to say:

"This is your imagination. I know work, school, and general
craziness have been keeping us apart lately. But there's
something we need to do together this November.

It's called National Novel Writing Month. For it, we'll bash
out a 50,000-word novel, from scratch, in 30 days. You and
me. Writing a book. Together. I need you to sign us up.
Because I don't have any arms.

http://www.NaNoWriMo.org

Love,

Your imagination"

Of course I signed up. I can't remember the last time
I got an email from my imagination . . .

What's Different About Idaho

I’ve been asked a few times by Californians how the
people of Idaho are different than them. I’ve found
two major differences.

First, Idaho natives don’t have the same skills at walking
in groups of other people. In the grocery store for example,
people don’t know how to walk without being in someone
else’s way. I think this is because Idaho has a small
population and thus people here don’t have the experience
of getting through moderate crowds from a young age. (I
couldn't find a photo of people bumping into each other
but the image below sums up Idahoan's body space issues
pretty well)












Based on the Standard Model of the interactions of
fundamental particles, Collision II shows a time-lapse
view of two particles colliding.


Second, Idaho natives don’t care about fresh food. I thought
about this for the 238th time today after eating a piece of
very stale banana nut bread purchased from Bucer’s Coffeehouse.
It isn’t just Bucer’s. I’ve gotten stale food at almost every
coffee shop and grocery store in Moscow. Once I got a sandwich
for lunch at Wheatberries. One girl grabbed a bag containing 1/4
of a loaf of bread, frowned at it, then smelled it. She called
a co-worker over and had her smell the bread too. They still
weren’t sure about the bread so they called over a third
co-worker to help their investigation. At this point I jumped
up and told them I’d changed my mind about what type of bread
I wanted on my sandwich. When I did get my sandwich the lettuce
was wilted and turning brown and the bag of stale tasting potato
chips was actually 5 weeks past its “use by” date.

Grocery stores here are just as bad but this post is making me
nauseous AND homesick so I think I’ll stop now that you know
how Idahoans are different than Californians.

Twinkling

I’ve become slightly obssessed with vintage
yarns with metallic thread in them. Below are
two I purchased from eBay.



































I also purchased some metallic silver yarn
that I thought I could spin into another yarn
to make my own metallic yarn mixture. Not
that I’ve ever spun yarn before So I’m
doing some research. Have found this
Knitting information site to be helpful
but still have a lot to figure out.

I also came across a beautiful yarn store
called Dublin Bay. I went to their front page
but am afraid to enter because I think I may
be forced to spend lots of money there.








.

Giving via Kiva

I made my second loan through Kiva this week
(made it before I knew I would have
to pay $200 to the vet!). This time I loaned
to a woman from Azerbaijan:
















“Agila is a 40-year old divorcee with one child.
She lives with her family in Gardili village in the
Salyan region of Azerbaijan. Seven years ago she
started her own business and she now needs a
loan of $725 to to improve the harvest of her
orchard.”

I’m thinking of making a loan each month. It’s
$20 and you get to see who you are helping and
you get updates.

Foggy, Foggy Dew

We're headed up to Coeur d'Alene this morning
and instead of fall views - we've got the first
foggy days of the year.















Damn. I'm taking my camera in hopes it clears
up once we get closer to our destination. There
is actually a chance of snow today.

I Owe my Mittens to Christopher Columbus

I took a vacation day tomorrow which gives me a
four day weekend and a huge appreciation for
Christopher Columbus!

My daughter also has a four day weekend so we
are headed up to Couer d’Alene tomorrow for our
annual fall trek to Target to buy gloves and
mittens and hats.

I knit all our scarves myself, and I make a lot
of our hats, but I have never tried to knit
mittens or gloves. They seem daunting. I did
find some beautiful mittens online at
Baabaazuzu but at $46.00 a pair
I think we’ll happily settle for Target mittens.
We’ll get mittens + a pretty fall road trip for
the same price as two pairs of mittens from
Baabaazuzu , though I might buy a pair of their
mittens for a Christmas present.

First Stew of Fall

First stew of fall! I made stew this weekend!
I love stew! Started it Saturday morning -
ate it for dinner Saturday night - reheated
Sunday (second say stew is the best) - and
then divided what was left in two. One half
for the freezer - the other half to use tonight
for a sort of thicker mexicanized stew with
tortillas. For the third night we add chilis
(or chili pepper flakes) and a little tomato
paste, thicken it up with flour and serve with
corn tortillas. I love that i can get four
meals out of one day of cooking.

I bought a new pot for this stew - a $50 pot
which I justified by the thought of all the
soup I am going to make this fall
and winter after the book below arrives:

Flower Power

I am knitting my daughter a yellow scarf for
Christmas. Yellow is her favorite color. But
it is looking a little bland so I need a way
to liven it up and I think I found the
perfect thing at lisaghove’s etsy shop.

Aren’t these pretty?


















I have a feeling they are easy to make. Anyone know how?

Me and the USSC

Brief due today in the United States Supreme
Court. I always sit straighter on days like
today and since I am busy with the Supreme
Court, I obviously have no time for the likes
of you people!

Goodnight Moons

Things were crazy at work on Monday and Tuesday.
Incredible hectic. Someone mentioned it must be the
full moon. I thought it couldn’t be that - they aren’t
crazy on a monthly basis - so maybe this week’s moon
was a Blue Moon (the rare occurrence of two full
moons in one month OR the Third full moon in a
season with four full moons) but nope - it wasn’t that
either.

This week’s moon is the Harvest Moon - the full moon
closest to the Autumnal Equinox. This month’s moon,
and next month’s moon, rise about 30 minutes faster
than the other moons (something to do with the narrow
angle of the sun’s eliptical path) so there is no period of
darkness between sunset and moonrise. Next month’s
moon, the Hunter’s Moon, will be similar: Rising early,
appearing extra large (an illusion) and appearing more
colorful (due to being seen through lower portions of
the atmosphere, e.g. pollution).











It turns out that every month’s moon has a name:

November = Snow Moon
December = Winter Moon
January = Wolf Moon
February = Ice Moon
March = Storm Moon
April = Growing Moon
May = Head Moon
June = Mead Moon
July = Hay Moon
August = Corn Moon

Next Purchase: Used Boeing 747

Make has a good question going here.
What would you do with a used Boeing 747?
(apparently they are about to go on
sale as they are put out to pasture).

I would use one as a bookmobile
or make a long teardrop trailer out of it.










If I used it as a bookmobile I could quit
my job and just drive around and share books
all day.














I could do it until I was 90 like
Myrtle Peel.

And I could drive by people who have the bass
in their cars turned up really loud and, as
bookmobile librarian, I could shush them.












And in the five minutes it took me to
come up with those ideas, I've started
to really want a used Boeing 747

Moscow Night Life

Woke up too late to post this morning and
it's busy at work today so thought I'd give
you this photo of Moscow night life to ponder
till I have time to post.














I found this postcard online and it really
was taken in Moscow Idaho, but in 1954.

Joann's Fabrics and Cia's Palette

I’m not a big fan of Joann’s Fabrics. They are
stingy with their fabric for one thing. I always
feel like I am getting shorted an inch or so on
the yardage I buy. They also have a surfeit of
surly employees. At the Joann’s in Moscow (the
only fabric store in town) there is one nice lady
with an accent; everyone else is surly.

Then there is this story:

“Jo-Ann Fabrics Refuses To Let Customer Use Bathroom,
Even As She Suffers Diarrhea Right In Front Of Them”

Luckily I found a great fabric store online: Cia’s
Palette.

I received my first order this weekend and the
fabrics are great.

My favorites are this paisley floral:









and this cute dog print:













She has a huge selection of very cool fabrics.
And very nice service to boot.

Brocante Home's Reading List

Brocante Home has a great reading list on her blog.
She lists the book and very considerately gives us
a sentence or two about the book and/or the writer.

Her list includes:
Sunbathing in the Rain by Gwyneth Lewis
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
What Do I Do When I Want To Do Everything?
by Barbara Sher


I am currently reading The Club Dumas by Arturo
Perez-Reverte. On deck are two interesting non-
fictions: The Historian As Detective and The
Children's Blizzard.

First Edition

I'm a book lover. And I have a couple of nice
first editions that I am saving for my children's
inheritance. Nothing hugely valuable - not yet
anyway. I'm am also a Joyce lover* so my dream
is to own a first edition of Ulysses - or any
Shakespeare and Co edition.

So I was very pleased to find this first edition
on eBay for $4.95.

















That pretty Greek flag blue of a Ulysses first
edition. This one, which arrived yesterday is
the size of a quarter. It's a mini first edition.


* (you can read more about that at my blog Nosey
Flynn which is readable but having some graphics
problems).

Envirosax

My Envirosax arrived yesterday ! I first
heard about them on Not Martha's site. ( I think)
They come all rolled up on a card like this:



















You just unsnap them and off they come. Unrolled
they look like this:




















On the back they give directions on how to fold the
bag back up to its tiny snapable size:

















My favorite part of getting this was when I took
the sack off and saw that they had tied it on with
STRING! No plastic holders. I love string!!



















Envirosax come individually or in packs of five.
I bought three individually because I liked several
from each of the sets, but no set in its entirety,