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The third medicated bath for Jack, that is.
I start by moving my little space heater into the bathroom to get it nice and warm. Then bring in Jack, set my timer, and soap him up. He has to stay in the tub with the shampoo on him for 10 minutes. That’s the hard part. He’s okay with it as long as I massage him for the whole 10 minutes. And I’m okay with that.
Like all dogs I’ve ever known, after a bath is crazy time. Run around faster than a speeding bullet. If possible, go outside and roll on the ground. A close second is rub your body against every upholstered surface in the house. Here’s a photo of Jack during his wild-man phase, carrying his fishy toy back to me so I’ll throw it again. I know the photo’s really fuzzy, but I like the way his ears and legs are clearly caught in motion.
Between the shampooing and the probiotic, Jack is definitely getting healthier. I didn’t notice any oiliness or smell to his skin during the past week, and his ears are clean, too. Just one more weekly bath to go, and then we’ll hopefully be done with this particular task.
As for his toileting issues, I’ve spoken with a local man who’s a very well respected animal behaviorist. He made some common sense suggestions that I’ve put in place. We haven’t had an accident in more than a week. I do have to walk Jack 3 times a day as he hasn’t yet ever asked me to go out, and staying out in the yard doesn’t mean he’ll either urinate or defecate. The morning walk is 1-2 miles (the vet would like it to be shorter, but it takes Jack that long to do his business); the afternoon walk is about a mile, and the evening walk is about 1/2 mile. I’ll be taking him for dog training in November, and I’m hoping that he’ll gain confidence and I’ll learn how to train him to ask to go outside.
I’ve been working on the weaving for the seat cushions. Here’s the fabric for the 1st seat:
And the 2nd transitioning to the 3rd:
And finally the 3rd to the 4th:
The weft for the 1st 2 cushions is a variegated cotton; the 2nd 2 are a 2-color twisted cotton-linen blend. I got the fabric off the loom and into the washer & dryer. I have to buy the cushion material, and then I’ll change the seat cushions out. I hope. That is, I hope my material is dense enough and strong enough, and that I can actually replace the seats without too much difficulty. I’ve never done it before, but you know that’s never stopped me.
…you don’t succeed, try, try again. If you’re still not succeeding, it’s time to change the plan.
I wanted to do a Bertha Gray Hayes miniature overshot pattern for the chair fabric. I planned to use doubled 5/2 cotton for the pattern weft, with the warp and the tabby weft both 8/2 cotton. So I tried with the dark green cotton.
Those motifs are supposed to be square. I was beating hard, but SOOOO not square. A more experienced weaver would know instantly if my sett was too close or too far apart. But the reality is I didn’t want to re-thread the heddle. Not because of the time involved so much, but more because I need the fabric to be this wide. My loom won’t accommodate wider and the my chairs couldn’t handle it narrower.
So I tried with two other wefts. First a thicker and softer purple cotton, just to see how it work work. Then a thinner variegated cotton used for both pattern and tabby weft.
Nope and nope.
I tried other things, none of them successful. So it was time to change the plan. I changed to a standard 4H tie-up (1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-1), and treadled the same pattern as I’d threaded. I like the pattern. Its floats are longer than desirable for upholstery fabric, but I decided I would proceed anyway. My photos of the upper side of the fabric didn’t turn out well, but here’s the under side.
I will likely change treadling pattern and/or weft color for the other 3 cushions.
Today I took the leap. Went to Home Depot and bought a stove and a microwave. I really kind of had to, since someone was coming to buy my electric stove this afternoon. I knew the stove wouldn’t be able to be delivered immediately, and couldn’t function for even a few days with just a toaster oven. I could eat cold food and/or order food or go out to eat, but not being able to make tea for 3 or more days? Untenable. I made the decisions for both appliances using info with a one-month subscription to Consumer Reports. Frigidaire stove, GE microwave.
The nuker is sitting on a folding table for now. I still need to make decisions about a cupboard or two in the kitchen. I did move the frig to the nook and I LOVE it there! The kitchen seems so much bigger. This is the last room I have to deal with and I have made lots of progress, so I don’t feel too bad about the fact that it’s still in transition.
How is it possible that an entire day is gone and I’ve got so little to show for it? I spent — it felt like wasted — hours researching gas ranges. I’ve tried for 2 months to like the really nice ceramic-top electric stove that came with my house. It has lots of really nice features. But the only part I can say that I like is the oven. The stove top? I rather hate it. I have cooked on gas since college and can’t accustom myself to the differences in electric cooking. So it’s time to make the switch.
But which stove? How much am I willing to spend? What features are critical to me (4 burners including 1 low powered and 1 high powered, digital display and controls for the oven, ease of cleaning), what desirable (storage drawer), what don’t I want (convection, grates covering the entire top of the stove, griddle)? What does Consumer Reports recommend (mostly stoves that are at least twice what I’m willing to spend)? Today isn’t the first day I’ve spent on this research, although I spent by far the most today.
The bottom line? I don’t know! I’ve got a few ideas and now I need to go to the store, armed with my mobile Consumer Reports reviews, and look at some stoves. But I did get photos and description of my nice electric range taken and it posted on Craigslist. I also figured out the order that things need to happen: (1) put at least some energy into selling the electric stove, (2) buy and install and under-cupboard microwave, (3) go look at stoves and make at least some tentative decisions. If I have to, I can live with a microwave and my toaster oven for a short time. If the electric stove doesn’t sell, I’ll donate it to Habitat for Humanity or similar agency that will come and pick it up and give me a tax deduction receipt. Better than simply letting the people who deliver my new stove take it away and doing who-knows-what with it.
What else? I went through the dozens of photos I took, picked the best 6 or 7, cropped them, and sent them to the bride from yesterday’s wedding. It’s obvious from their cake that this couple are farmers, isn’t it? It was so cute, and so fitting for the people and the setting.
I stripped the bed, washed the sheets, and remade the bed. I watered the new plantings and vacuumed. I ordered the yarn for my next 2 warps of baby wraps, wraps for LM, ARO, RH, and RBG. That job always takes close to two hours.
I spent more time than seemed reasonable talking to support at PayPal trying to figure out why Australia shipping addresses wouldn’t print on the invoices for LY & EK’s custom baby wraps. I got their wraps in the washer and the dryer. I pressed them and labelled them. I updated my required postcards with my new address, printed and trimmed them. All I have left to do is put them the wraps in their respective bags and a box and take them to the post office. (In the photo above you see LY’s wrap, with a natural cotton weft on the left, and EK’s with a lavender silk weft on the right.)
I’m hoping for a more productive day tomorrow.
After some days of less-than-stellar productivity I’ve finally finished weaving EK’s custom baby wrap. That’s hers and LY’s all wound on my cloth beam, 11 yards of evidence of my hard work. I’ll cut their wraps off the loom this afternoon and start the off-loom finishing process. I could have them ready for the mail on Monday, but since it’s Columbus Day the post office won’t be open, so they’ll be mailed on Tuesday.
So what have I been doing? Paying attention to Jack (who’s doing well, thanks), cooking, doing the home energy audit (I can give you details later), working with moms who are planning their own custom handwoven baby wraps, knitting (more on that in a future post) and creating a Pinterest account and boards. The last may have been a big waste of time. Mostly I did it because for months I’ve been frustrated at not being able to see things other people posted on the site. But once I created my account (a few weeks ago) my obsessive-compulsive self couldn’t let it just sit there, so I spent hours creating boards and searching for things that interested or inspired me.
Tomorrow I’ll be going to the wedding of friends back down in the Southern Tier. I’m looking forward to sharing their happiness.
I’ve been successfully balancing weaving and not-weaving in the past few days. I’m now halfway through E’s wrap with the lavender silk, so it’s all downhill from here!
I have a home energy audit scheduled for this afternoon. They apparently take 3-4 hours! I expect I’ll be able to do my own thing for most of that time, so plan to do more weaving. I’m really interested to see what they say about my home’s energy usage and how to minimize it.
I know some people are reading to hear about Jack, so here’s an update on that score. After the day that he didn’t feel well (no clue what that was about), Jack & I have had some issues. He’d spend an hour outside and then come in and pee on the carpet. Not typical or acceptable. Cleaned up after him 4 times in 24 hours, and had to figure out what the heck was going on and how to address it.
Here’s my analysis. Jack was really unhappy about being stuck out in the yard and having to watch me go for a walk without him. One might say he was pissed off. So he came inside and told me that in the only way he had.
I’d explained that this was doctor’s orders, and was to get him healthy. More than once told him this. He didn’t care.
So this morning this is what we did: I got up, did my yoga, put his harness on (which means going for a walk), put him out in the yard, and went for my walk. Walked as quickly as I could to maximize my mileage and minimize the time away. Came home and attached the leash and we walked around the block – about 1/2 mile – despite the fact that this is 2 days earlier than prescribed.
We walked slowly, with no pressure to move along on my part. Jack was clearly very happy, with his feathery tail wagging most of the time. We came home, he ate breakfast, and we played. It’s already early afternoon and there’s no indoor peeing.
I had to choose between Jack’s emotional health and his physical health. He doesn’t care what the doctor ordered, or the fact that this might not be the best for his little body. I believe I made the right decision. And that this is the pattern we’ll follow for at least the next several days. If he can only do 1/2 mile long term, so be it. I can do the rest of my walk alone, and can get it done much more quickly than if I’m with him anyway. We can live with this.
I’ll talk to the vet more next time we have to go in for something, but since we came home from hearing her mention his “unusual confirmation” I’ve been paying a lot of attention to his body – how it looks and how it moves. My current analysis is that he has a form of doggie dwarfism. His really stout body, especially his front legs and feet, his bowlegged walk-especially if he’s moving quickly-fits. He doesn’t have a large head or overbite, also typical symptoms, and the vet may disagree with me. But I already know she’s concerned about arthritis and joint problem potential in his future. I’ll have to carefully watch his weight, and the next time I buy dog food will get the type designed for this, but he is what he is. We can’t change that.
We can, however, be happy with each other, and with our lives, and do what we need to do to manage symptoms as they present themselves. Quality of life…that’s what we all want, two-legged and four-legged alike.
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