Dog Bone Pouches

 I made these as a thank you to our vet and his staff in helping with our dog over the past few years.

They can use them as treat bags, or whatever bags.

I lined them with a laminate fabric from Ikea  - orange polka dots. Easy to wash.
The outer fabric will remind them they are from the lady at the airpark.

I used a selection of yellow and orange zippers from stash.
Now to fill them with some nice chocolates or something.

 I also mis-placed my template pattern from the last time I made these so my notes here include the dimensions;

From pattern file: cut bone out of printer paper. About 8" x 4" with four rounded knobs.
Fold pattern piece in half and cut  with 1/4" SA -  two linings, two outers. Cut two battings at actual size. Install zipper as per usual. Add pull tab.
Because of different zipper widths, Cut the backings after you finish the front. One back, One lining, one batting/wadding less SA.
Open zip, sew all the way around with 1/4" SA. Turn. Top-stitch.


My sixth one is not top-stitched. I literally ran out of thread - not only at the spool but also on the bobbin. I had about a yard left on the bobbin and six inches on the spool!

I took that as a sign that six is enough and no one will notice that one is not top-stitched around the edges.
Possibly I was tired of making six. Done.

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.

Route 66

 


 


 My host-sister, Maria,  is visiting the USA from Finland. She and her boyfriend are running motorcycles down Route 66 - from Chicago to LA.  She's been to the states before but never to Oregon.

She's coming in September and I am way past due on getting something out to her in time. One of these pouches is leaving Monday trying to get to her in time to use on her trip. On a good note, my last three international packages took only five days to Europe and Japan (faster than the normal 8 - 10 days).

I was an exchange student to Finland back in high school for an entire year.  When I visited Sweden and Finland a few years back, I stayed with both of my host-sisters.

 I sewed the turquoise atomic age bag first and then cranked out the two Route 66 pouches. I raided stash for everything except the Route 66 fabric. I bought this two months **cough** ago.

Unlike the turquoise Atomic Age bag, the Route 66 fabric is clearly not my normal colorway so I jazzed it up with pink candystripe lining and pin zippers.

One to mail and two for the etsy shop.

 Out in my garden this morning BEFORE it got hot, I weeded and watered and took these photos of one of my Swan Island Dahlias and my favorite rose; Just Joey. My great-aunt Ruby swore this was the best-smelling rose of all-time, so when I found one,  I jumped on it.


The Swan Island Dahlia Festival is cranking up for it's Labor Day festivities with Fun Runs and Photo competitions and etc. If you're nearby Canbyland, this is a wonderful, free event. You don't have to wait for the festival - the flowers are blooming their heads off already.

I tried to get Rusty to pose and he barked at me- telling me to stop pushing him around.



SALE continues in my friend's Etsy Shop;
CraftyTokyoMama on etsy. Use Coupon code AUGUST20 throughout the month of August to get 20% off your purchase.

Don't forget about Etsy Love - even if you don't buy anything - just hover over the heart on each listing and tap on it. (thanks!)

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

Ella's Hat & Lunchbag

I managed to get Ella's Bucket hat and Lunch bag done today.
I'll finish her sister's Lunchbag tonight.

 Ella wanted Ladybugs of which there were only three different cotton fabrics at Fabric Depot.

I found a small airplane logo fabric while I was there and I added a patch to the gingham side so they remember their airplane auntie.

 Sophea's choice of little chicks was more difficult with about 30 choices.
I'll post her hat and bag tomorrow.
Got to finish her bag first.

Bucket Hats

My reluctant model, Rusty  -- he's so humiliated. 
He would rather eat this creation than wear it.

But Rusty is old and arthritic and can't get up easily so I won.


I saw this Bucket Hat recently on one of my sewing blogs and thought it would be nice if my great-nieces each had one for summer. This is a free pattern from Oliver & S.


I added a loop on each side to hold secret notes, flowers, pen, whatever.



And --- like all good kid's hats, it's reversible.

This pattern is a PDF pattern and I could not for the life of me, manage to get the 2" square to be 2 inches. I did all my usual computer tricks to get the pattern to print at the designers scale but failed.
The pattern kept printing out at 1 7/8". I upped the sizing trying to get a 21" circumference but even with 3/8" seams, the hat came out at 20 1/4" circumference. The pattern calls for 1/2" seams when 1/4" seams would have worked fine.

There is a lot of easing to be done to fit the sides to the top which could be because I couldn't get the proper print size or because there really is a lot of easing to  be done to attach the sides to the top. Which means a beginner sew-er would probably, inadvertently, get some small tucks going to disrupt the smooth oval of the top piece.

It's a short pattern at only 6 pages so it's not as irritating to me to print out in the usual pdf pattern way of having 49 pages  -- to arrange, tape and cut out.

I also changed the sewing order as the instructions had you do hand-sewing to attach the 'cap' to the brim when finishing. :-(
I made each hat - outer & lining, and then sewed them RST together at the outer brim leaving a hole to turn. I closed the hole while sewing the endless circle top-stitching.

But it's cute.
Even if my reluctant model is embarrassed.

It's being mailed today to do a head check for fit and then I will sew up two real bucket hats for my favorite practice-grandkids.

I just found this video. 
It's not so much funny as it's by guys who  are self-taught sew-ers.
How to do extra steps to make a bucket hat....
I especially like the "Sew 1mm away from edge..."
I swear they are sewing with a buttonhole foot....

Since you're still with me - you  might as well read the comments under the video (Youtube) to get a languagelingo lesson. "...Thanks, it's pretty dope!"

Balloon On The Runway

Heard the familiar propane burner this morning.

One lonely balloon landing on our runway.





The ground crew was already waiting to help pack up the balloon.
Big heavy rose festival cloud cover this am.
Might not rain - dealing with a tiny bit of humidity that makes Oregonians cringe.

Some other random morning photos: