February Stuff

Rusty this morning. His hind legs won't bend anymore.

 Hibernation at this time of year seems to fit the bill.  I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now.

Books I have read or am reading? I couldn't put Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah down. This one is set in the Olympic forest on the Washington State coast.  This winter, I've been gravitating to Pacific Northwest writers.

Teresa got me started on Sara Donati - ordering me to read her books in order. I've checked out all of them except the pesky first one which is checked out by someone else. Shhh....don't tell Teresa, but I started in on her Queen of Swords.
Bill Brysons' new book came up in my library queue so I switched over to Road To Little Dribbling which re-visits his treks around Britain. I'm at the part where he mentions Chertsey and I suck at geography anymore but I'm wondering if that's near  where Benta lives?

It's gray and rainy and windy right now. I brought the sunny weather back to Oregon when we got home from Oahu in January but it only lasted a week. At least we aren't buried alive in frigid snow drifts like the midwest and the east coast. I love Oregon and it's soft seasons. However, dreary takes it's toll.

My 14 year old yellow lab, Rusty, is dying. I've always had to put my other big dogs to sleep because of pain, seizures, and incontinence. I am hoping Rusty will die naturally. It's a delicate balance to watch this which is more difficult than I thought it would be. 

Balancing how much pain he is in, making comfort care  as good as I can make it in his last days with the possibility of too much pain, nausea, not being able to take care of his business. Being humane.

My snowdrops last week

His hind legs don't much work - we have to help him get up. He is able to manage his business by himself. But he isn't eating as much, or when the nausea is a bit too much, not at all.

I've stuck another balance point by giving him one pain pill every 8 hours - which  means they overlap a bit in dulling the pain. He's been eating a bit more and walking a bit more but his care is using a lot of my brain right now - thinking of ways to make him more comfortable.

Valentine plant from my Mom & Dad

I can usually create and sew despite living in my typical chaos. UFO's are UnFinshed Objects. WIPs are Works In Progress. I think I've reached my personal limit because I walk into my sewing room and walk right back out.

Today, I walked in, walked back out, but came back with several ziploc bags. I proceeded to bag up five projects from my sewing table where my machines are.

I hid them in a corner.

I dusted down my table and instantly came up with a pillow project that I finished. Mostly. 

 Rusty always has his ball nearby. 

The ball he 'borrows' from FauxPas - the poodle, three houses away.

After I finished two pillow covers, I found some small stains on the upcycled hobnail bedspread that I had not noticed when cutting them out. I had been focusing on the hobnail pattern and didn't think to look on the other side.

So - a little soaking in the washer was in order. I'll see if the stains 'disappear' or are at least more faint and then pronounce them done.

Back to work tomorrow plus a lovely doctor visit to discuss what else I can be doing for my SIBO auto-immune.

Last summer on the patio

Mail Count Half Over

Flying airplane with chickie pilot - Love it. Looks like our old Cessna 170A.

Fukuoka:  Special postcrossing postcard for different regions in Japan. Vintage castle postcard.

Scandanavian Crocheted Heart - you can find how-to directions on the sidebar of Teresa's Blog:

A fellow Postcrosser: Over 4000 cards sent and she lives 20 minutes from me!!!

Benta sent a fabric postcard for my mail carrier too!

Fumikou - Japanese letter sachets. I can make my own now.

Sweet pile of February fun.

Today's outgoing mail

Taking photos today of some of the postcards I've received. So far.

My carrier is super happy with how much mail volume she has received. Normally, during count, mail volume vanishes. ** As in, everyone suspects the PO of holding back the mail, somehow. Not this time. Lots of packages, lots of hours, lots of first class. Three routes are being counted out of six rural routes for my city of Canbyland. We have five city routes which get figured differently (I know!). So complicated - it's the government at its best. I love being a federal employee (sarcasm!).





I came up with a giveaway for everyone who reads this blog - you can tell your friends too.
To win this chicken pot holder, all you have to do is send me a postcard (or a letter). It must be postmarked between Feb 7 - 24, 2015). My address is in the original giveaway post.

This helps out my amazing mail carrier with more mail volume. I will draw randomly - seriously- the best postcard photo, the best joke, the best drawing, it will be my favorite card.

International peoples are welcome, I will post this chicken hot pad to the winner at the end of February.
Rural mail count goes from February 7 - 28, but I chose to end this giveaway on the 24th so I can receive your entry during mail count.

***You might get extra points if you state on your postcard or in your letter how many other stamped pieces of mail you sent out during this time.
***Or maybe you know some good chicken jokes.
***Or, you can sketch flying airplanes, with chickie pilots.

Chicken Giveaway

I dumped my tea kettle for this very efficient water kettle. It boils water, like in 2 seconds (lol). My chickie doesn't really care for being perched so high.

Much better on my Desert Rose teapot.

I came up with a giveaway for everyone who reads this blog - you can tell your friends too.
To win this chicken pot holder, all you have to do is send me a postcard (or a letter). It must be postmarked between Feb 7 - 24, 2015).

This helps out my amazing mail carrier with more mail volume. My address is below.
I will draw randomly - seriously- the best postcard photo, the best joke, the best drawing, it will be my favorite card.

International peoples are welcome, I will post this chicken hot pad to the winner at the end of February.
Rural mail count goes from February 7 - 28, but I chose to end this giveaway on the 24th so I can receive your entry during mail count.

You might get extra points if you state on your postcard or in your letter how many other stamped pieces of mail you sent out during this time.
Or maybe you know some good chicken jokes.
Or, you can sketch flying airplanes, with chickie pilots.

I told you it would be a random pick.














***For the next three weeks, my rural postal route is being counted (Feb 7 - 28).
 
I have the best carrier and I like to support her so I will be posting extra letters and packages this month from my home to help her out.
Counting rural routes determines a carriers salary - an evaluation.
Mail volume has re-bounded since the recession with first class mail up over 1.5%.

Her route has not been counted in four years so she should see a huge boost in salary for the long days she has been putting in. She starts her day at 6:30/7am and ends it around 5/6pm. She generally works five days a week with a sub on Saturdays.

I've written about mail count before:
1. How your rural carrier gets paid.

2. Letter Writing.

3. Who to write to.

A lot of rural routes are being counted this month, not just mine. Whether you live on a rural route or know someone who does, I would like to encourage you to write more snail mail, especially this month.

Hot Pad Thank You

At work Monday morning, I received  a surprise package. 
Once home, I opened it to find some Insulbright from a customer who had ordered a couple of handmade items off my etsy site.

 I immediately cut and sewed four hot pads with this cool postcard fabric so I can send two her way as a lovely thank you for the supplies and acknowledging that I can always use Insulbright.

For those that don't know what Insulbright is, it's a foil punched batting that withstands heat making it great to insert into hot pads or anything that gets near the heat.


***For the next three weeks, my rural postal route is being counted (Feb 7 - 28).
 
I have the best carrier and I like to support her so I will be posting extra letters and packages this month from my home to help her out.
Counting rural routes determines a carriers salary - an evaluation.
Mail volume has re-bounded since the recession with first class mail up over 1.5%.

Her route has not been counted in four years so she should see a huge boost in salary for the long days she has been putting in. She starts her day at 6:30/7am and ends it around 5/6pm. She generally works five days a week with a sub on Saturdays.

I've written about mail count before:
1. How your rural carrier gets paid.

2. Letter Writing.
3. Who to write to.

A lot of rural routes are being counted this month, not just mine. Whether you live on a rural route or know someone who does, I would like to encourage you to write more snail mail.

Postcrossing has talked about going off-line in February and committing to just writing letters.
They have a Month of Letters Challenge up right now for February.
I have noticed when I conscientiously turn off my laptop for longer periods, I get more done on the sewing front.

I love getting mail - above post - surprise package in my mail. Who doesn't like finding something beyond circulars in their mail box?
Here's an easy way to post more letters. Add a teabag to your card and ask the recipient to have a cup of tea with you. I swear I could hear smiles while my friends opened up that envelope. It will cost  a bit extra for that tea bag - as long as it's under a quarter-inch in thickness, it should be 70 cents (49 cent regular forever stamp plus 21 cent non-machinable stamp).

I would love it if you would send me a postcard (February 7 - 28, 2015):
Kathy
24463 S. Skylane Dr
Canby, OR 97013