It was just about 9 years ago when we brought this little sweetie here to our home.  It was clear from the very beginning that raising an English Setter puppy was a completely different game than raising a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy….

Right from the start it was a battle of wills of who was going to be the boss, but once she realized that I meant business, she learned to respect that……most of the time.

English setters are relatively easy to train as they are very intelligent, but they do have a very stubborn streak and they rarely forget if you have been harsh with them.  It took a while for Maggie to understand that she is not the alpha girl here, but her stubborn streak has always made me secretly smile.
When I call the dogs in from the yard, she frequently is perched on her favorite rock and looks at me..then purposely turns her head away letting me know that she will come in when she is good and ready.  Some days I will just smile and wait and other days, she knows when I mean business and pays attention.  A true red head for sure. 😉

2 weeks ago I gave Maggie a pre spring clip.  Normally I would have done it a bit sooner, but the winter here has been frigid so I left her coat on a bit longer than I usually do.  She had her last clip just before Christmas.  When I clipped her down this time, I felt a large lump by her groin and a few small ones around her mammary glands that were not there in December.  Needless to say she was immediately brought to the vet to be evaluated and was operated on a few days later.

I was sick with worry, but I knew that these lumps had only grown visible in the last 3 months, so I tried to stay hopeful…but one of those lumps was very big, so I was trying to be realistic as well, especially given that she will be nine years old next month. 😦

The vet called me yesterday and read the pathology results to me and they were good! 
The large lump if it had gone undetected much longer was heading in a malignant direction, but the report said that the Vet had removed the entire encapsulated group of tumors and they were all still benign, thankfully.  My vet told me that he was very surprised after removing and observing the tumors.  He felt that the result would not be favorable, but we both were relieved.

I will need to be diligent in watching for any new ones, but today she is ok and on the mend.
I want to thank all of my facebook friends for their support, prayers and friendship.

A true Friday Sparkle!!

It's been a while since I have played with some still life shots and lightroom presets, so I thought I would give it a go with a new finished headband.  I love the dreamy look the preset gives to this picture…so soft.

This headband is going to a good friend in Texas and purple is her favorite color, so I came up with a new shade of purple just for her.  It is actually a vibrant purple as seen in this picture, but I had fun playing around with different presets on this dreary, snowy day, to create some photo art.

I need to come up with a name for this colorway now…hmmm. 
Perhaps I will run a contest next week. 🙂

I did have the afternoon free today and I spent it behind the loom.  So far so good, the towels are weaving up nicely.  Every time I look at this sunny yellow cloth it makes me smile.
It makes me think of Spring and Daffodils. 

It will be a little while before any daffodils show their happy faces here, but my sedum buds are popping up, so I know that Spring will be here soon in spite of the 3 inches of snow we received here last night.

It's been a very long winter for those of us in New England, but it looks like we are going to be gifted with some beautiful, warmish days next week.  w00t!

 

Our Easter weekend was a smaller and quieter one than in past years, but it was very enjoyable!
Ashley traveled home without Brian as he was camping with friends, but she brought Hannah, who is in school the next town over, so it was good to have the both of them home.

Stacey and Jeff brought their little cutie to dinner and as you can see, Ashely just ate him up.
Those curls that are growing now that he has hair just slays me!  I think he is going to end up with a full head of ringlets.  Such a little ham…all you have to say is "Are you cute?"..and this is the face that you get…LOL!

It was also nice to spend time with my parents and an older dear family friend.  Life passes by so quickly and every day spent with family is precious, isn't it?

I did manage to squeeze in some time behind the loom and a little knitting time with something purple that I will share with you on Wednesday. 🙂

I hope that you had an enjoyable Holiday weekend as well!

 

Today's Ten on Tuesday's subject is 10 favorite sandwiches.  The two things that make me gain weight most are wine and bread, so I don't eat sandwiches often these days with summer looming ahead, but the links on Carole's page have some inspiring sandwiches…go take a look.

Today I thought I would talk a little about what I did this weekend.  Remember when I shared with you that I had ordered and brought a new loom home?  Well sadly it has sat in my studio unused.  There has been so much bathroom construction material in my shop that I was very uninspired.
It's strange.  I am ADD to the nth, but I really, really need my work space to be clean and orderly otherwise I have a hard time focusing on the work at hand.  So there it sat, all new and shiny…and undressed. 

Finally some of the construction material has moved out of my space and when the first day of Spring rolled around and I took all of the winter decorations down, I became inspired to weave again.
A few days of sun and a cleaner space was all it took, so out came the weaving books and I searched my weaving cupboard for some cotton thread for much needed dishtowels. This thread made me think of sunshine, which is perfect!  I decided to weave towels that I have successfully woven a few times in the past, as a gentle re-entry into weaving again with something familiar.

It's been a while since I have dressed a loom, so I went back and forth, do I dress the loom front 2 back, or back 2 front?

Ken had built me a trapeze which is a wonderful set up for dressing a loom back 2 front with proper tension for someone warping the loom alone, but it is buried under a stack of wood neatly along the wall.

However, after watching Madelyn Van der Hoogt's loom on dressing front 2 back, I thought I would give it a try again.  I know it's not a perfect video, but personally I do love holding the cross in my hand as I thread the reed comfortably at my kitchen table.  I also love threading the heddles,there is a quiet rhythm to it especially on a sunny day with some good music on.

  I have learned over the years that it's all a process and now I take my time and enjoy each step.  With almost 400 epi, I spent one afternoon threading the reed and 2 afternoons threading the heddles as I was dyeing yarn in my studio.

Next comes the part that I dread most….winding the warp onto the back beam because this can make or break even the best of intentions.  After making the commitment to dressing the loom front 2 back I decided to invest in a set of Angel Wings, which adds tension as you wind the warp onto the back beam and I will use slats instead of paper.  It's good to be familiar with both warping methods as each has it's place, but it's always nerve wracking for me.  The Angel Wings will be here Thursday, so I will beam the warp on Friday.  I'll let you all know how it goes.

As a side note, I want to say that the customer service from the folks at Purrington Looms is outstanding!

I know, it really doesn't look very sparkly does it?  What it does signify however is that the plumber has finally made it to our house after almost 4 months of waiting on him.

This Rinnai hot water heater has replaced the old tank hot water heater that had started leaking around Christmas time, which meant we had to shut the hot water valve off after every shower or dishwasher run and only use cold water to keep the pressure off the tank trying to prevent a full blow-out.  Washing your hands or your face in ice cold water sucks, just sayin'.

He will be back on Monday (hopefully) to finish the plumbing for the washer and dryer's new home and we will push to get all of the structure work done quickly to get him back to get the tub, toilet and sink plumbed before summer when I know he takes breaks.
He's a very good plumber, knows what he is doing and does it not only right, but neatly. However he is just close enough to retiring and not as hungry for work as when he was younger.
Sadly there are not that many good plumbers up here either.

So my Sparkle this Friday is having on demand hot water and NO leaky hot water tank!
It's the little things sometimes. 🙂

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Photos Courtesy of Anne Podlesak and Elizabeth Green Musselman

Pattern:  Kellygnow Shawl
Designer:  Anne Podlesak
Yarn:  The Woolen Rabbit Opal
Colorways:  Myrtle and Mystic Mountain Pine

I promised today to share a little more about my collaboration for these patterns with Anne Podlesak and Elizabeth Green Musselman.

Anne and I, as you know have worked together many times over the years.  I love her designs and I love what she does with my yarns.

Late last year, Anne approached me about doing a sample run for a company that she and Elizabeth Green Musselman were creating, called Stitch Definition.

I wasn't quite sure what it was all about at the time, but Anne sent me a mood board
(I love her mood board ideas…just sayin'!)
…and based on her Woodsy theme, I sent her the 2 shades of green seen above for a shawl and another 2 skeins of a brand new yarn, called Sporty Opal, went to Elizabeth in a deep pussywillow.

Pattern:  Bettina Cowl and Mitts
Designer:  Elizabeth Green Musselman
Yarn:  Sporty Opal
Colorway:  Pussywillow

The way Stitch Definition works for an Indie Dyer depends on the package that you choose.  Basically, the dyer would get all the layout done with their logo- all the coordination with designers, tech editing, photography – and the ability to offer copies for sale (the option to have print rights versus PDF rights will vary based in what the yarn company wants).  Yarnies would get the finished samples.

I think it is a FABULOUS idea!  So many of us who dye yarn, are too busy dyeing those yarns. Finding that extra time in a day to knit fast enough to keep up with new ideas and trends can be challenging for dyers. 

Stitch Definition definitely will help indie dyers fill a gap by offering pattern design, layouts and the finished item.
Go take a peek.  It's not just for dyers, but also for designers as well.  They also offer a la carte options for logos, photographs, etc. 

Such a great idea….Best wishes Anne and Elizabeth for a very successful venture!!

 

In my last post I alluded a little bit to what Sunday Morning held in store for Ashley and I, so here is the story.
  As I mentioned, Ashley came home for a photo shoot for some items that were knitted with my yarns by a designer that I have grown to know and love.

Now mind you, it has not just been a little cold up here this winter, it has been downright frigid…and there has been snow….lots of it.  Yes, it's been a very long winter up here.

So when Ashley said she would travel up to do some pictures I had a certain place in mind, but it would mean walking across a long open field behind the Jr. High School that would lead to the Swift River.  A beautiful place for pictures….but it was a crazy windy day here on this Sunday.

You can get a sense of the wind here in this picture, even though we were not at the spot that I had planned.  Ashley being the mountain woman that she is, knowing that we did not have snow shoes, pointed out to me that we were going to have to poke through all of that untouched snow as we couldn't walk on top of the snow and it was a BIG field. 
Thank goodness for her common sense knowledge.

So we traveled a bit down the road that I take my daily walk down and we decided to head into a portion of the National Forest.  Oh, and did I mention that it was cold….it was SO cold with the wind chill.  Cold enough that I made her put her coat on in between pictures and I was bundled up in a down coat, a wool hat and angora mittens…brrr!

Ashley God bless her heart was not so concerned about the cold as to what she should do with her hands as she was feeling awkward.  I love this picture…it perfectly captures her free spirited personality.  When we do a photo shoot, she pours all of herself into it and I am always gifted with amazing pictures.

In spite of the crazy wind and the frigid cold weather I think we got a few good pictures.

The shawl pattern designed by Anne Podlesak is Kellygnow.
The Cowl Mitt pattern designed by Elizabeth Green Musselman is Bettina Cowl and Mitts

I will be sharing a post tomorrow about our collaboration and the new venture that Anne and Elizabeth have created.  It's a very exciting link in a hole that helps Indie dyers.
Come back tomorrow for more information. 🙂
~
Thank you so much Ashley for your patient spirit!

It was an unexpectedly busy and fun weekend and it all started with this one little wallet and pictures.
A few weeks ago I asked Ashley if she was up for a photo shoot.  I had a few items that I wanted to photograph and she always throws her full self into a photo shoot, which is why I love it when she has time to do one with me.  She was busy last weekend, but offered to come home to take pictures this weekend as she wanted to see my parents and little Asher. 

A while back when she was home at Christmas she showed me the very dirty state of the wallet that I had made for her about 3 years ago.  Oh my goodness it was in such a sorry state that I told her to go pick out a few fabrics from my not too small stash and told her I would make her a new one. She chose the fabrics above and truly I never would have put these 2 fabrics together, along with the turquoise zipper, but I love how it came out and they suit her perfectly!
Knowing that she was making the effort to drive an hour home, I thought it would be a kind gesture to get this done for her.  She was very excited.

 

So I spent Saturday morning getting a bunch of yarn re-skeined and out to the post office and then I settled in to prepared for Sunday's company, that quickly grew into a family gathering of the best kind.  Homemade chili (thanks for the recipe Jeff!), quacamole and lemon custard squares to quiet my parent's sweet tooth…ha!
Little Asher spent a good part of the afternoon entertaining us with his antics, as you can see here in this video that Hannah took.  I love that both of my grandsons really love the dogs here.
How darn cute is this??
(Oh…and the hamper isn't usually in the kitchen, but that is another long story for another day.)

Sunday afternoon was spent entertaining family, but I will wait to share what we did on Sunday morning on Wednesday….ey yi yi
Never a dull moment..ha!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend as well!

This week's Sparkle is brought to you by the word "Spring"!

Hello blackbird hello starling
Winter's over be my darling
It's been a long time coming
But now the snow is gone
Josh Ritter

NO, the snow is NOT gone, but you can surely tell that Winter is over.  You definitely can smell Spring in the air for sure..whoo hoo!
The spring birds are chirping in my yard and have chased those nasty pigeons to where ever they live until next winter.  Hoo-Ray!

I hope that you enjoy some warmth in your weekend.
It promises to be in the 40's here tomorrow, a virtual heatwave. 😉

 

~ Leave a little Sparkle wherever you go ~

I have missed sharing my Friday Sparkles and actually this was meant for a few weeks ago, but that little thing called work just got in the way. 

This little purse signifies so much of the sparkle that I have really been embracing in my life.  The sparkle of friendship!  My good friend Carole handed this to me while I was getting my booth set up for SPA and it made me smile.  Definitely on the outside, but even more on the inside, as I realize how very blessed I am to have such dear friends who are always there for me.

These friends have been the sparkling gems that have made my life that much richer for having them in it! 

Have a wonderful weekend and think about a way you can bring a little sparkle into some-ones life along the way too. 🙂