Losing Our Dog Rusty

 Years ago, when I started the blog, I had been stymied for a blog name until my good friend, Pencil Girl, suggested Running With Rocket.

Rocket, our first Lab,  suffered from wanderlust - we were always running after him. My mind is always going a mile a minute, and the name seemed to fit my eclectic creativity. Not to mention the alliteration.

Rocket passed away a few years ago.  Rusty was given to us and for a while, we were a two dog family. They were very different yellow labrador retrievers. Rocket being so smart - he could learn new tricks, dress up, go visit his doggy friends - smart enough to look at that ball you just threw and roll his eyes.
Rusty, by comparison, was quite stupid, with only two thoughts in his brain: Fetch and Eating - in that order.

Rusty lived to fetch, but unfortunately he developed arthritis in his joints and he had to learn not to fetch. This was a pretty big blow to him and it took a few years. As he got older - around 9 yrs, he finally stopped being a high-energy puppy and started learning some tricks.


He learned to roll over but he couldn't do it both ways. He could only do it right to left, not left to right. His legs would flail and he'd get frustrated. Such a funny dog.

 Rocket and Rusty hung out together. The other great thing about Rusty was he wanted to stay home. He would go touring with Rocket, but an hour later he would come dashing home as if to say, "I don't know where Rocket was going, but I had to come home."

This is the picture I sent to have painted. I use this photo as my google id photo too.
The artist  is Sandra Spencer. Sandra is the sister of my friend in Kyoto.

 The Standard Poodle, Faux Pas, a couple of houses away, has 'rich' parents who splurge on these chuck-it balls. We're more of a used tennis ball type of doggie family. Anyway - Rusty would 'borrow' these and bring them home for extended vacations. Until the neighbor would stroll by and pick up three or four of them to take back home.  Rusty loved his Chuck -It, a molded plastic arm that will throw a tennis ball a long ways.

 This girl. Misses him terribly. I took this photo just before she headed off to Central America for a five month discovery journey a few years back. Now she is in Alaska.

 The last couple of years, Rusty developed Pancreatitis - the doggie version of diabetes. He's get into something outside (cat food, compost, etc)  and then he would be in stomach distress. We switched up his food to a non-fat one and he managed to almost get to 15 years old (October).

This is the longest I've ever had a large dog live. My other two suffered from seizures and we put them down around 11 years old. I had high hopes Rusty would die naturally but that last week, you could tell it was inevitable and why put him through the pain.

He suffered a huge pancreatic attack and lost the use of his limbs and stopped eating. Three days later, he stopped drinking water. We carried him outside on a board but he couldn't stand and he wasn't recovering like he did last February, when we thought we were losing him.

Up until that last week, he managed to get around. His muscles in his hind legs were atrophying, especially his left hind leg. He would pull himself up and wander behind us in our indoor/outdoor pursuits. You could always tell if he was having pancreatic attacks if he struggled more than usual to pull himself up.

I took this photo in August, when we had pulled the Stearman outside the hangar to have more room inside to work on the project Piper J-5 airplane.

He liked eating raspberries and cherry tomatoes but not posing for photos.

My son took the top photo above when we were out taking photos of him for his graduation. Even though his hind legs didn't always work for him, he was such a people dog, wanting to be with us, even though we walked a fair piece to get photos with a tree background.

He always had to have his toys nearby just in case he could fetch. In his latter years, we would just roll it a few feet to put less strain on his shoulders and joints.

He died August 25th, 2016, nearly five years after Rocket passed. It is very sad here and it took me a while to figure out some of the emotions. This is the last bit of my children's childhood passing away. Both of my kids have lived away from home since they were 18 but a common thread in our conversations would be about the dogs. It has been very emotional here losing this last link.

I keep expecting Rusty to find me in the garden, or ask for a drink of water as I am watering my plants. Or stick his nose in the bathroom door (just like my kids); "why are you in there and I am out here?"

I don't know if we will get another pet. I am thinking about a parakeet/budgie bird. That way if hubs and I want to go away for a few days, we can carry the bird to the pet-sitting neighbor and just go. Right now, I can't imagine not having another dog, but hubs is another question.

Dogs make life worth living.

Rocket Baby Quilt Finished

One quilt finished. Need to tackle my pink one still.

 A very windy and blustery Pooh day. 
Yesterday was stormier, today we get intermittent sunbreaks.

 The backing is a mini-check flannel. You can see the scraps in the binding.
Which makes my heart sing. That piece will not be added to stash.

I was able to hit FabricDepot yesterday for the backing fabrics after work and a doctor's appointment. There was an estate sale nearby that made driving out there worthwhile. I found some pinking shears that are the coolest ever.

I machine quilted using a wavy line found in my machines' hundred stitch library - very simple. 
Rows four inches apart. I'm not a fan of every inch needs to be quilted. I like the quilt to be more plush and soft.

Inside is Hobb's Heirloom Cotton Batting - another garage sale acquisition and mostly gone making these two baby quilts. Yay!

Rocket Baby Quilt

I sewed this up yesterday afternoon. It's a baby quilt  for a friend of mine.
I was thinking she was having a boy.
She's having a girl.

oh boy!

So this will probably go into my etsy shop.
This first photo is outside - see how the orange is orange?
Next photo inside my sewing room - see how the orange went red?

When taking photos, quilters not only have to worry about lighting more, they have to figure out how to show that the seams are straight. Mine all  look catty-whompus  in these photos. I assure you all my little quarter-inch seams match.


I wanted a blue, orange & gray theme to my fabrics. Since I don't quilt (almost never), most of my prints  --are prints, not solids. It was difficult to find enough 'solids' to offset the definite airplane and elephant theme going on.

Just goes to show you that you can never hope to have enough fabric.






Testing out a binding material. This light and dark airplane material is all over the quilt top in the above photos. I don't know whether to use this fabric.
I'm not real fond of light-colored anything for boys but it seems to work.

This is more of the quilting I like as it was not monotonous figuring out fabric placement in my no pattern sew-as-you-go way.






It's a busy quilt, but then, boys are quite busy.
Right - off to start that girl's quilt....

Check out Gina's Etsy store - she makes the most amazing wedding treasures.

Summer Excess

The Summer of Excess.
Bumper crops on  both the Raspberries and Blueberries and the Fabric.

I may have had a moment at Fabric Depot last night.
I had seen a new line of airplane fabrics when I was there a few weeks ago and I lusted after them.

I already had to go to the fabric store for some thumb hooks to attach a strap to a bag.
The sheer 40% Off All Fabrics overwhelmed me.
There was no contemplation at all of what I will make with these fabrics.

Not exactly what I was looking for but the cheapest. $1.89 each. This is why I cut hardware off bags I find at garage sales.

This is my favorite -- the biplanes and the postmarked letters. Done in my favorite color combo of aqua and orange.

This is a line by Riley Blake in the same color combo featuring old comic book advertising.
----Just because I had a dog named Rocket - which I will never repeat because that dog zoomed off like a rocket.
---just because I like airplanes and other things that fly....

 I covered my blueberry bushes last week and did the first picking this morning.

It's been cool and wet and humid this week. They will reach their peak in the next week or two.

I need to go to the store this morning and buy plain yogurt to make my Blueberry yogurt muffins. I can't eat them but everyone else loves them.
Someday, I might try to make it a gluten-free, no dairy, no weirdness recipe.
For covering, I look for bridal netting at garage sales or buy some at Joanns/Walmart. Secured with clothespins.

 We still have some straggling strawberries to pick.

My final piece of fabric was found at the cutting counter. From wide stripes to thin stripes - she was making a maxi-skirt for her daughter. Having no control at all last night, I bought some too.
It will look good for the 4th of July party.

Sewing

 Weekend sewing.

I was cleaning up my bookmarks when I found this tutorial from 2009!
Most of the saved bookmarks either won't open or have a broken link. Half the time, I can't recall WHY I bookmarked the link.

That's what Pinterest is for. Room for a photo plus the link. I'm not saying that in 5 years those links might not be broken but at least I'll have a photo to jog my memory.

This little cell phone thingy is small. 
We all have honkin'big smarty pants phones now which will not fit in the back pocket.
But still, this little thingy packs a wollop in the pocket department.
 

slightly elasticized Back pocket for cell phone

 And I free-motion quilted that backing fabric (rocket scientist). It gives a little cushion if you were to put a phone in there.

Clear vinyl front ID pocket

Inside - you can see plenty of room in the zippered compartment. Next to the bottom of the photo is the id pocket nestled up against the zipper. Those inside raw edges are all bound with doubled quilt binding - a regular bias tape binding would be fine and less bulky.

 The only thing I changed was to enlarge the id vinyl opening.
The original sizing was too small for my driver's license. I wanted my id # and address to show.

I made these first.
Two more of these reversible drawstring bags from Svetlana's tutorial.
Same fabrics.

 

 I put one "Stuff" label on the Daisy side and for the other - on the Rocket side.

I had some pretty grosgrain ribbons that were near the correct length.

These ribbons were a huge find at a quilty garage sale that actually was selling crafty supplies at garage sale prices. Too often when I go to a sale advertising fabric, the seller is putting retail prices on their half yard of blue. The general rule of  garage sale pricing is ten cents on the dollar. About a dollar per yard - or less.

"Rocket Scientist" - In The Beginning fabrics - Keri Beyer
" Daisy Dreams"  - Michael Miller fabrics

Oregon Monsoon

Another random post of random stuff that is gestating/fermenting in my head:

1. My spring flowers are being beaten to death by the never-ending  monsoon.
2. On a fantastical note, I have discovered how to get a sun break.
3. I stuck  my houseplants out on the patio to get watered and wash off dusty leaves. Two hours later, they were still dry and in danger of getting sun-burned. Try it.
4. Just because it is Spring and just because it was sunny and dry this morning does not mean this is the day to wash some outside windows. As soon as I started, the wind started blowin' and the sprinkles started getting icy. I did five without removing screens and it does appear to be brighter inside.
5. I want to sew but cannot drag my sorry butt into the sewing room.
Too many projects - can't settle on one.
6. My new boss? the one who is n i c e? got sent to another workplace on a work detail probably because it was too good to be true. However, I am working more at the job with benefits.
7. Which means I can pay the hairdresser to 'do' my hair.
8. Thursday at 9:30am
9. Lots of thought-provoking copyright issues out there in sewing land.
10. I'd be interested in what you think.
11. Like this one about Pinterest from DDK portraits.
12. or this one from The Free Motion Quilting Project.
13. Or blatant selling of free sewing tutorials, uncovered by The Selfish Seamstress and her readers, Part 1 & Part II.

14. More on Pinterest and images of children by Made by Rae.
15. I've been contemplating the creative journal (aka THE BLOG) again.
16. The above might have been lurking in my sub-conscience because I am thinking my decision to not post tutorials except in the loosest terms is still holding true. There's another reason too. But I can't find the minimum words to describe it succinctly. It has to do with tutorials posted about how to lower your pressure foot or how to pop your bobbin into your machine and then the blog writer claiming ownership of the material. Simple tutorials for things sewn I recognize from forty years ago but because they are 'written' now, the writer claims ownership of the design.
17. definitely not simple thoughts in my brain this week.
18. Unlike my dog, Rusty, who only owns one thought at a time in his brain. "Ball" and "food". Fetching trumps food btw.

19. Missing my other complicated dog, Rocket, like crazy this week because I read this post. I miss Rocket being the willing model to my creations.
20. The monsoon continues, the rivers are still rising, flooding is eminent. Again.
21. Those people who have the horses (3) by the bridge in Aurora? They now have four horses on not enough grazing land. The Pudding river has flooded several times this winter forcing them to buy hay and NOW they have another horse? More volunteers helping evacuate?
22. Have just read yesterday the Alabama Stitch Book (library). Pretty book. Interesting sewing concepts which I have tried before but would you wear something with thread knots on the outside? With threads dangling?
23.Now reading The Help. Libraries2Go, the e-book resource for Oregon Libraries had my mom at #723 (!) on the hold list back in January for her Kindle. Glad we discovered using my sister's library card in MN got my mom on a much shorter list @ #4. I received an email this morning telling me she can have it from Oregon today. --too late--
24. Monsoon and icy winds - might just finish The Help. Inside, where I can see easier with the winter grime off my windows.
25. Or, I could write a couple of blog posts to post later as I am working full-time this week too.

Rocket

We put Rocket to sleep. He lived 11 1/2 years. He was larger-than-life dog.

As a puppy, he loved to cuddle in your lap. He quickly grasped all the basic dog tricks branching out into some unique tricks as well. He was a super-intelligent labrador retriever.

The kids taught him how to climb the slide and then turn and slide down. When the kids were doing 4-H for dogs, it was held at the elementary school where Rocket liked to show off his sliding skills on the big slide.

He actually dropped out of 4-H for various reasons. One being the leader who raised labs declaring Rocket to be fat. He needed to go on the green bean diet and lose weight. All this did was cause his incredibly sensitive nose to find other food and helped cement his wandering adventures. He had many doggy friends, including, Rocky, the dauschaund who lived across the pond. He could be found in about four reliable places but once left home for four days while some kind family, taken in by his happy attitude tried to adopt him. His nose led him on many adventures.

When we got another puppy, he was happy to include him in his adventures. Rusty had a barking problem so I bought two electronic collars; one a barking collar for Rusty and the other a stronger one to try and keep Rocket home. While the barking abruptly ceased, I can remember hitting the wand repeatedly while Rocket looked back at us and kept on trucking.  He may have felt the collar but it wasn't about to keep him from his appointed rounds. He was adept at maintaining his disappearing act. He could be right next to you on the patio and the minute you turned your back, he was gone. As in, don't know which direction. He was a master at stealth. The kids like to play hide and seek with him. He particularily enjoyed this game and was successful finding them 100% of the time. "It's all in the nose."

He was also known as Houdini. He was the only dog I've known with thumbs. He once caught the spring connector on his chain on his toenail (trying to escape) and had to have a vet cut the connector off. We then switched to a screw-on connector and he was able to unscrew that a couple of times.

His companion, Rusty, was willing and able ( and a little jealous) to go on adventures with Rocket but soon became uncomfortable being away from home. Rusty would show up back at home  long before Rocket.

Rocket's most endearing trait was a love of costume. He loved to dress up for Halloween and occasions in-between. He is a white lab that went trick-or-treating as a Dalmation, Army Dog, Red-Hot Chili Pepper, and SuperDog.

He didn't mind wearing big glasses either.

He liked to sleep on the couch as it was super comfy.

He was smart enough to figure out if you threw the ball, if he just stood there, you would eventually go get the ball yourself.

The last few years, since the kids left home, he liked to be in the jungle moment. He would go through the hedge and turn around so only his head was visible. Then he would lie down. Once in a while, he would pop his head out. He also like hanging out beneath some trees in the front yard with overhanging branches. He liked to peer out at you. He also developed this habit of wedging himself underneath the furnace duct in the garage. He would curl up and sleep there but maybe that was to save himself from Rusty.

This last year, his hind legs started getting pretty stiff and finally a little loose. He awoke stiff and had to go through an elaborate stretching ritual. I used to put both dogs into the laundry room so I could back my car out of the garage to go to work, Then I would close the garage door and put the dogs back into the garage. Even though he was a white lab (Yellow), he could disappear into the night quite easily.

But in the last few months, he would sleep through this morning ritual.

He especially like peanut butter in his Kong - about the only toy he could not chew up. He did like to demolish his toys. He is also the first dog I had who would bury his bones. And remember where they were later. We first saw him bury a bone during a camping trip. Which he loved - except at night, when every little sound caused him to whimper and growl.

He had a massive stroke/seizure on Saturday morning and never really recovered. I had to go in to work for a few hours and while I was gone, he had two more big seizures. It was difficult seeing him in so much pain with no chance of recovery. Our vet came out and put him to sleep. Rocket had a good long life.

I buried a chew bone with him so he would always know where to find it.