French Open Couch Pooches ....

We enjoyed watching some fabulous matches from this year's French Open but not everyone in our household had their eyes glued to the tv.....

 Most of the time Nicolas was like this ....

 Occasionally he woke up to see if the match was still going .....

 Cleo kept her eyes open but they were glued on us waiting for treats or a walk....

Just Trying to Claim My Blog....

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

and not too sure what I'm doing but trying to follow the directions.....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing You a very Happy Thanksgiving or a simply wonderful thankful day, wherever you may be!

 I'll be making Nicolas and Cleo their cookie treats today!

New Clay

Not much new happening in the studios but I have finally photographed and listed a few new items for my etsy shop ..... and I took a few new photos of Nicolas and Cleo!

Holiday Time - Fun Stuff - In and From the Sewing Room

 These cute little red fruit are from our coontie plant. I had hoped they were edible but apparently not. I found an article that says 'the coontie may be the most primitive plant on earth'. so I displayed them in my 'primitive' wagon dish, from my last glaze firing. 

 

Holidays and cold weather always makes me want to spent time sewing. Elle's post about making bookmarks from her scraps prompted me to dig out some scraps and get busy. The bookmarks weren't totally scraps; I used some fresh fat quarters but the postcard and ATC were sure made from scraps!  I also added some flower petals and lavender to the postcard.

Then for some more gift wrapping. This is how I reused one of those boxes whose advertising on it definitely does not make it a gift box. I used Wonder Under to cover the box with a floral I had bought for a dress a few years ago only to realize quickly that I liked the fabric but to wear it. But it makes a fun Florida Christmas box.

 This is a nifty little cutting tool I don't use often but it is handy at times.

 Nicolas isn't too excited about the holidays yet ..... but I hope you're enjoying yours!

2009 Joey Fund Auction - October 25, 2009

The Cocker Spaniel Rescue of New England will hold their annual auction on October 25th. If you live in the area why not put it on your calendar. You could bid on this vase!Both our two dogs were rescued by a local cocker spaniel rescue group. Neither is a cocker spaniel but they were going to be put down by the shelter; Cleo because of her broken hip and other injuries and Nicolas because he had been so neglected that he had lost his fur and had sores on his body. Mona who ran the rescue, had an incredible intuition when it came to judging the character of dogs and would take on any challenge to save a dog she felt could become a loving companion. When we first met Mona she told us about Cleo and how she was her "million dollar dog". She had already been through two surgeries to correct her broken hip and had spend most of her puppy-hood confined in a cage so that her bones could heal. She was still wearing a boot when we adopted her as there was hope her broken foot would eventually heal. It didn't but Cleo doesn't seem to notice. She runs on three legs as quickly as Nicolas does on four! We often wonder what their lives were like before they were picked up and put into the shelter. Before we adopted Cleo she had been adopted out twice and returned each time. Her separation anxiety was more than what the first people could deal with. We were warned about this but had no idea what it actually entailed. After coming home to a house full of poop and pee and a very frantic dog we set up a video and saw the frenzy that Cleo worked herself into within minutes of us leaving the house. We tried leaving her five minutes, then ten, then fifteen, etc. but that didn't work. We tried confining her to a small space; that did not help. So we decided we would adopt our second dog a little earlier than planned. We contacted Mona and she knew who could do the job. Nicolas entered our lives and he saved Cleo. We immediately noticed a difference in her and although she was still upset when we left she didn't go into her frenzy; and eventually she didn't even run and hide when she saw us heading for the door. Dogs really are pack animals and all she needed was another pack member to stay with her. I can't thank Mona enough for all the work she did while she lived in South Florida saving so many dogs. With these two creatures she enriched our lives so much. I can't imagine these two loving dogs having to be put down; it isn't right. The world can be so cruel but there is such love and caring as well and so I will continue to support these wonderful people and organizations who do so much to save a life. Now I need to go hug my dogs! I'm thinking of printing this photoshopped image of Cleo onto fabric and working it somehow into a quilt. Or maybe print it onto clay?

Nic at Play

No clay or fabric here, but I couldn't resist catching a series of photos of Nicolas as he jumped onto the clean slip-cover as we were about to cover the sofa.



He dug himself in .....
..... rolled himself up .....










































Rolled all about .....


Finally noticed I was snapping photos, so emerged to see what was happening .....













And finally pooped himself out and fell asleep...

Summer Storm

Earlier this week when the cool air came south and met our record breaking heat, the resulting storm downed part of a large tree by our yard. Above photo was taken from the window during the storm. Below is our crumpled fence.



My husband asked if I could make use of any of this in my art. I have collected a few pieces of bark and tree that may fit into a pot or quilt. And some bark photos could print nicely onto fabric.

Cleo and Nicolas enjoyed the post storm.