Missed it by a day

I THOUGHT I’d get another post done in August, but I guess not. A day late and a dollar short – could describe much of my life.

Anyway, you won’t see any weaving in this post. I’ve done some but don’t have pix yet, and if I waited for that, who knows when I’d get to the laptop to post? So what have I been doing that’s fun?

Well, my daughter lost her 13-year old Tibetan Terrier some months ago and was waiting to get another TT. Then suddenly, instead of a 2-month old, she got TWO 5-month old sisters. They had out-of-town overnight plans, so I’m sharing some puppy sitting with my son. I’m here from mid-day to this evening. Making tacos to enjoy with my son for dinner, then will head home with Jack while their uncle spends the night here. He has to leave in the morning for a commitment, and I’ll head back here for some hours tomorrow till the family returns.

They’re very cute and sweet. Already taller than Jack, but surely weigh a bunch less. Still definitely in puppy mode, with periods of zoomies and followed by heavy napping.

Interestingly, the smaller one (Dolly), who was the last born and a full two pounds smaller than Dee, who was born first, is most definitely bolder and braver. She’s the one leaping from the steps here. Maybe she had to be more assertive to get the attention and food she needed?

They definitely understood Jack. They were interested and did a lot of sniffing and checking him out. When he’d had enough he gave them a bit of a growl, and when they didn’t back off he gave a sharp, loud bark. They got it and have given him an appropriate amount of older dog respect.

In other news, I took a class at the Weaving & Fiber Arts Center on making felted wool slippers. It was a full day of lots of work, and I left with very wet blobs of wool that still needed quite a bit of work to turn them into slippers. Here’s a shot after I’d spent another 90 minutes or so at home – on the right slipper. You can see the big difference between the two.

After spending a similar amount of time on the left slipper, they’re once again the same size.

I’m guessing they’re about 80% done here. I have to re-wet them and do a bit more felting to both to make them just a bit smaller. Then after they’re fully dry – again – I can do my needle felting decorations. But I haven’t had another uninterrupted hour or two to spend on them in the past week. They’re not going anywhere, and as long as I let them sit in the open, they’ll be fine when I re-wet them.

This next bit didn’t take huge amounts of my time, but it brings me great joy. Back in June (I think) my son sent me a photo of something he’d seen on Facebook. I loved the concept and decided I had to do it at my house. Life intervened, and I didn’t get mine started until around the first of August. The concept? A rock snake. Here’s my sign.

One grandson painted his gorgeous head, and between the two of them they contributed the next 2 rocks. I painted rocks 4 & 5.

Rock 6 was one of my kindness rocks that someone moved from in front of their house to here. Then more rocks started arriving. It’s unfortunate that some of the paint/markers used really fade in the sun. Rock #8, the black cat, has Bruce’s name on it. Next to him, #9 is a pig that was just adorable before he faded to almost invisible.

FYI Falstaff is the next street over, and I love that Falstaff friends left me rock #10. I did #11 with sharpies, which clearly don’t last anywhere near as well as paint. #12 & #13 were very nice rocks that kids painted.

Several of them from #14 to #22 were done by kids. YAY! Emma was obviously proud of hers since she signed it.

I think I know who painted the sweet flowers on #23 & #24, but I haven’t bumped into her lately to ask her. #25 was another child, and #26, with all the little stones glued to the top and a found bracelet around it was a couple I see and talk to walking regularly. No clue where the nice tree #27 came from. I was walking Jack one evening, going up one side of the street. Coming down the other side was a little parade, 7 or 8 people, apparently at least 3 generations of a family. I said hello, and they told me they were headed to Sssid with their rocks. How great is that?! They placed the next 4 rocks, #28-#31, which must have been done with sharpie like my #11, because they faded quickly. One was a smiling face, one was a whale or shark, and I honestly don’t remember what the other two were, although they were clearly identifiable when they were placed.

#32-35 were more kids’ artistry. #36 was a decoupage leaf, so that was cool. #37-40 were done by my grands and my daughter.

I don’t know who gave me #41 & 42 – Love & Peace, but I love them. Then there’s #43 – that husky. O.M.G! That is quite a piece of artistry. I see several people walking huskies in my neighborhood, so first I asked the woman I thought was most likely. Nope. Then I asked the man who I thought was least likely and was surprised when he said yes. There’s a bit of a story with that one. The mother of a friend of his apparently paints beautiful rocks and just puts them around in various places in her neighborhood. He asked his friend if mom would paint one of his dogs for him, for a fee. No, mom won’t take orders or consignments. But then one day this beautiful rock husky showed up on his porch. And looks EXACTLY like one of his dogs. He said he held onto it for a few days before he brought it over; he liked it so much he hated to let it go. But then he realized he’d asked for it so he could gift it to Sssid, so that’s what he did. He sees it every day when he walks his dogs.

I don’t know anything about #44-47, but it appears they were a combination of kids and adults. They’re small so don’t show up well in the photo. Several days later #48 showed up. I’m hoping you can see it well enough in the photo.

It’s a pit bull wearing a pink tutu and a bow tie! SWEET! And I don’t have a clue who, and don’t see any gray pit bulls being walked in the neighborhood so it’s a real secret. Next to that is #49 – Eat your veggies. 🙂 Then comes a sort of scary bloody skeleton-type dude at #50. I can’t help but smile that someone put the next rock down – #51, a smiley face – right next to scary dude. #52 is another very cute dog, this one at play, that probably doesn’t show up well in the photo, followed by #53 & 54 – a stained glass window and a clown fish both placed the same day.

#55 & 56 also showed up on the same day – a very good rendition of the Buffalo Bills logo and a nice ladybug. #57 & 58 also came together; I think the green stripe is just a snake part that goes with Sssid’s head, and the brightness and happiness of that red smiley face is adorable. Last to date is #59 – Love your neighbor.

All of this happened in just under a month. Most days saw no new rocks or just one. This concept has generated more interest and more conversation than I could ever have anticipated. It is all WONDERFUL!!! Do feel free to start something like this in YOUR neighborhood – although now you may want to wait until spring if you’re in a northern climate.

I just made the sign, had Staples print & laminate it, and the community did almost all the rest. Oh yeah, I had to use my edger to create space between the sidewalk and the grass, and I have to manually remove the leaves that fall and do a bit of weeding to maintain it, but it is SO worth the time invested!

Time to get those 2 puppies back outside to go potty and get treats for same. Hopefully I’ll be back soon with some weaving. And some finished slippers.