Kelly vs. Patton vs. The Dremel Tool

Patton HATES his nails trimmed. He hates his feet touched, period. He had corns on one paw, so badly that we had to amputate a toe, so he's always been cranky about his feet, since they hurt him. Poor guy. So, whenever its time to trim nails, he turns to Cujo. He has to wear his basket muzzle, or he will bite you.
I've tried. I've tried to soothe him without a muzzle, and as soon as I touch his feet he jumps up, screams, and bites. I have already had quite the impressive bite bark- a perfect outline of his teeth as a bruise in my arm. That was lovely. Now, don't freak out, greyhounds wear their basket muzzles all the time while on track - it keeps them safe - their skin is very thin, a little nip could turn into a tear requiring stitches.
Anyway, I have to muzzle Patton, and now as soon as a grab it, he bolts. He's having none of it. He turns into a quivering bowl of jell-o. At first when we get outside, he's all billy bad ass with me- little snarling, won't listen to me, trying to get away. Once he lays down, he realizes he's not gonna win, so, he turns into a quivering mess. I use a dremel tool to file down their nails, since its easier for Patton. Although clipping them with the clippers is faster, he's more terrified of the clippers than the dremel, and he loses his mind when he sees the clippers. Go figure.
So, once a month its me and the dremel vs. Patton. I always win. :)
Sherman? He's the angel dog. He sleeps while I dremel his nails. Angel dog.

Well, maybe he wins, since then he gets smothered with love and pigs ears. Who has who trained?


Cherry (fawn), Patton (brindle) and Sherman (black) rockin' the muzzle look.

Patton does it in 3's

This dog is a knucklehead. I love him to pieces, but he's crazy and OCD. I was watching him this morning trying to get in through the dog door, and realized EVERYTHING is done in 3's.
Dog door - he pokes his head through the flaps, 1, 2, 3 times, and then barrels through the door like a bat out of hell.
Eating, chew, chew, chew, walk away, repeat.
Drinking - slurp, slurp, slurp, walk away, repeat.
Laying down, he turns, 1, 2, 3 times, and then lays down. God forbid he loses count, or gets distracted, 'cause he'll start all over again. We've seen him repeat this process 5 times before he settles.
He has the attention of a flea. He focuses on NOTHING. Everything distracts him, except barking at the dogs outside.
He's an idiot, I have no idea how he focused in racing school, learning how to race. But he did it, retired, and now he's our sweet, crazy P.
The 85 lb greyhound who's terrified of Max.

Ludicrous Speed

We bought my nephew a Lego train for Christmas. Its awesome! You build it out of Legos, and it's actually a remote control train, so when they are finished, they can race it around the track. I'm telling you, we were in the Lego store, and the place is insane. I cannot believe all the things you can make out of Legos!
Well, Becca called, and said it was finished, and the thing goes to ludicrous speed! Ah, yes, love the Spaceballs reference. My nephew (who is 6) is in the background yelling, 'ludicrous speed, ludicrous speed!' in the background. I couldn't stop laughing. I can't wait until he's old enough, so 3 generations of Reitnauer - Sterners can enjoy the silliness of Spaceballs. Its one of the favorites of the Reitnauer clan, and concidered a classic.

Greyhounds are sugar junkies.

Greyhounds are sugar junkies with a sweet tooth. After a race, they get a marshmallow. If they win, they get a twinkie. Seriously.
Every night I like to have a little bit of pudding. I like a little shot of whipped cream on top. One night, I have the dogs some, and they LOVED it. I look at those faces, begging, and can't help myself.
Now, every night, they know the sound of me grabbing a little container of pudding, becuase they haul ass into the kitchen, ears up, begging for whip cream. Every night. I created whip cream loving monsters.

You should see them lose their minds when they get a twinkie. I've never seen a dog actually inhale a cupcake!

Summer's coming!

I am lovin' this weather, but its like Fall back East- I love the time of year, but know the hell that is summer (or winter, at home) is coming.

Although I think 110 w/ 2% humidity is better than 90 with 90% humidity.

Sherman does not care. He'll sleep in the sun for 10 minutes, overheat, and then come inside and lay on the cold tile for 45 minutes. Then he'll repeat all day long! He's crazy.

Its Feb, and my AC is on.

We're having some warmer-than-normal weather right now, and we are starting to see the 80's. That means we needed the AC at the end of the day, just to cool off a little. Oh boy, summer's coming. Meh. We'll be inside for 3 months straight, but at least it will be sunny. And, that means monsoon will bring some wicked storms! :)
I've never seen an inch of rain turn streets into rivers, like I have here!

What's for dinner?

Yarn!
Larry asked me yesterday morning, what's for dinner? He saw the crockpot was out and steaming. Hee hee, I told him, yarn!
I learned how to dye yarn in my crockpot with food coloring. I am all about fix and forget it, and easy!
I took Lion Brand's Fisherman's Wool, (cream color,) and pulled out a 4 oz hank, and a 2 oz hank, and tried my hand at a little dyeing.

Before dyeing:


I first tried neon food coloring, and tried to get a multicolored yarn-



Next, I tried to get the same effect with regular food coloring, with a red-orange-yellow multicolor effect. That didn't work, it turned into hurt-your-eyes orange. Still, it was pretty cool.



I'm trying kool-aid next.
Then I'll try plain old acid dyes.
I have a pound of fleece (natural, unprocessed wool) that I want to run through the drum carder, and then dye.

FYI - this is the drum carder, (not mine, but I picture from another website- I have the same one.) I LOVE my drum carder.

Baby Surprise Sweater is FINISHED

My first sweater, the Baby Surprise Jacket. I tried the smaller one first, since a sweater is a new experiment for me. It turned out HUGE! It is a very old pattern - from the early 1960's by Elizabeth Zimmerman- she's one of the pioneers of knitting. Its quite a feat of engineering, if I do say so myself. It's knit in one piece, and when folded together, and seamed, surprise! its a jacket.

I think I will try another one, before I try the adult version.
The orange yarn is a commercial yarn - 100% soysilk. The multicolored is my hand spun, and also 100% soysilk.

The buttons are ceramic, and from Joann's Fabric


The sleeves originally ended at the multicolored hand spun. I did not like the length, so I picked up the stitches and lengthened the sleeves with the orange.

Knitta, please

Ah hahahaha.
This is actually a group name for a new craze called, 'guerrilla knitting.'
Basically, people are knitting items to place over unsightly structures to cover them up and beautifyy them.
People knit cozies for trees, stop sign poles, door handles, anything they can.
I think this is great, but I have waaaayyy to many other projects in mind before I knit a cozy for my tree in the front yard. Besides, my HOA would fine me becuase it's a non-approved yard decoration. Bah.

There is actually a website for this- Knitta, please

Photos from article, "Craft Bombing"'

The greatest knitting project. EVER.

Of course, I will be trying it!
This is from KnitPicks One of my favorite online shops. Its a SOCK MONKEY!

I love the fact he has jammies and a robe!

The Furminator = trouble.

Whoo!
We got the FURminator! The furminator is the billy-bad-ass of all dog brushes. Apparently, it is supposed to reduce shedding by 90%. I'll do anything to reduce shedding!
So, the dogs love the brush, and I have really been able to clean up Sherman's coat, since his is so soft, and he does shed quite a bit.
Then, it was on to the cats. They loved it too, purring, and allowing me to brush. Well, apparently there is a warning to not over-brush, since it does remove a lot of fur. I wasn't paying attention, since Max was tolerating the brush, and purring at me, I didn't watch what I was doing.
The result? She has 2 bald spots. That thing really works! Too well!
I'm sorry Maxie - please do not pee in my shoes.

I need more time.

I just got the new "Interweave Knits" magazine. There are so may pretty knitting projects I want to try, with such little time between all my other open projects (6).
And, that does not include my spinning. Or dyeing yarn.
I need more time.
:)

Book Sale and the upcoming Family Festival

Last Sunday, Jen (SecondhandPages Bookstore) & I went to the annual VSNA booksale at the State fairgrounds.
WOW what an eclectic bunch of people and books. Lots of books, and lots of people. Jen scored a ton of new books, for a great price! Yay!

The 2nd annual family festival is upcoming up, we talked a lot about that. I am the MC of the affair. That means I am in charge of making sure everything runs smoothly, all the featured acts are on time, and where they are supposed to be, and take care of any possible issues.

I decided that I need these things for that day:
1.) A bullhorn. This is essential for being heard. I get to yell in it all day long.
2.) A clipboard. So I can keep everything organized.
3. An airhorn. Just becuase.

Jen said I could have have a post it pad, and a child's karaoke microphone. I think that sucks. I want my airhorn. Maybe Amber will help me get them.
:)

Smokes & the stock market

I curse them.
That's all.
Grrr.

And, I'll bet the stock market's going to the 6000's. That's no good.
Yikes!

Why I love Tony Stewart

Because he is CRAZY! Yay! So much fun to watch!
Tony's meltdown at Daytona.

He's the BEST!

It does snow in Arizona

One of the things I love about AZ, is that we are several hours away from a major climate change. If it gets too hot, we go north. Or, if we want to see the snow, we head north!

We were in Prescott, AZ yesterday. We decided for a road trip with the boys in the new truck. (We got an Expedition several months ago!) The new truck has so much more room! The dogs can stretch out and relax - and they are further in the back, so they are not drooling on our heads!

Anyway, we were prepared for cold, but we were NOT anticipating snow!

Well, we had a fun day, but short, since we were freezing! I know back in the day, in the middle of winter 45 degree temps were great, but since we've been in AZ 6 years, we cannot handle the cold anymore!

We also hit up my FAVORITE fiber shop in Prescott - Studio Three. I picked up some gorgeous alpaca/wool & alpaca silk blends- for a wrap I want to knit for myself... ... and, some pencil roving- which is a dream to spin!

The white is for dying. I am working on my technique of dying in the crock pot with food coloring!

The black is a bamboo blend, which is simply soooooo soft! I am not sure what I want to do with it, but I'll figure it out. I couldn't pass it up!

































I bought about 3 pounds of fiber! Yay! Well, at least I am sticking to my New Year's resolution of not buying yarn, and only knitting out of my yarn stash! I never included fiber! :)

First!

Well, here is the first post, more to come!
Here's a picture of Patton doing what he does best ... ... ... begging.











And Sherman... ... doing what he does best - sleeping