Mindy's First Car Rides

When we brought Mindy home from Leader Dog Headquarters, I held her in my lap. Now she has doubled her weight and she rides on the floor in the front passenger seat. Oh my! she whimpered the entire way the first trip we made and the second.  The third trip I would reward her for sitting quietly with kibble. (Mindy will do anything for food) That night, last night, she had diarrhea and Hubby had to take her out every two hours. Now they are both taking a nap.

Ficus Trees

About 35 years ago my Mom and Dad received a ficus tree as an anniversary gift. With all the moves they have made, I inherited the tree. It has done very well.  We take it outside over the summer and bring it back in the fall. When we took our Master Gardener training, the teacher warned us. If it bothers you when a plant drops its leaves, don't get a ficus. Now that Mom is home from the hospital and I had time to check on my plants, I found the ficus was doing its thing.  Mindy was helping clean up the fallen leaves.

Mom is back in the Hospital

When I went to see Mom on Tuesday, I found she hadn't taken any of her medications all week and she was very dizzy.  I took her to the Clinic and the doctor said she was very dehydrated, her sugar was up and she was quite confused. They called an ambulance but because of the terrible cold and snowstorm we waited 5 hours and then I drove her to the Hospital myself. Today they decided that there was a heart blockage and she will need a heart catheterization but only after her creatinine goes down.  The dehydration had affected her kidney function.  My brother and I have been visiting her and trying to explain to her what is happening.  My brother is great.  I don't know what I would do without him. But I am exhausted and going to bed early.

A Fine Craftsman

My son-in-law, Seth, is a master craftsman especially with working with wood. For Christmas he made this rack for me to hang on the wall and hold all my quilting rulers.  It really does the job well.  In the past he has also made racks for hanging quilts.  I have one hanging in my family room. Last year for Christmas he made triple bunkbeds for his daughter, Kameren's American Girl Doll

Socks

I love fancy socks. I have about 80 pair of socks. I keep them in bags for the different seasons. I have them for Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, 4th of July, St Patrick's Day and Halloween. Then, of course, I have everyday fancy socks with cats, jungle animals, music, fun stripes and dots. It is a sure fire pleaser for me as a gift. I have a Christmas pair with individual toes but they are a little difficult to put on, and I have a pair of wonder woman knee socks which even have capes attached.

House Training Mindy

We have our new puppy, Mindy, which we will be raising for Leader Dog for the Blind. She is a cross between a Labrador retriever and a golden retriever. Our last puppy was very easy to house train and just like with children, when you think you know what you are doing the second one proves you wrong. We set the kitchen timer and take her outside, in the brutal cold, every 15 minutes. Even though she does her stuff outside she still manages to leave puddles in between. The only signals we get are during the night, when she is in her crate, or if she has to poop.  She has been surprisingly easy to teach other commands. She knows her name and comes if you say her name. She is a very eager eater and is now up to 12 pounds.

A Nice Christmas Present

This year, one of the presents Hubby gave me for Christmas was a photo album of all the quilts I have made. I am missing only three, a queen size quilt in the peony pattern which I gave my brother 40 years ago, a baby quilt for my friend, Margie, with embroidered birds on it, and a baby quilt for my sister-in-law, Peggy, which had an appliqued Winnie the Pooh on it. I still have to label the quilt pictures and decide on the year they were made, not as easy as one would think.  The last quilt I finished was one for my daughter, Martha, a sawtooth star.