Happy Halloween!

31 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Happy Halloween to all from Riggins and Me!

photo

DogVacay sent out tips on how to keep your guest dogs safe and happy tonight during Halloween festivities.  They don’t just work for “guest dogs” but for your dog as well!  I realize we all know all of these things already but I know not to let a dog bolt when I open the back door and well … that happened.  Doesn’t hurt to review!

Be mindful of escape attempts!
A constant stream of trick-or-treaters means constant opportunities for frightened or curious pets to bolt through an open door. Be sure that pets are kept clear of doors, windows, and gates and that they are never left unattended. To be safe, double check that your Guest pups are wearing their ID collars at all times.

Designate a spooktacular room for your Guest pups to Vacay
Consider using a baby gate to create a designated pup play area. This is a great way to ensure that both your pups and Guest pups stay clear of potential escape routes or gaining access to unknown trick-or-treaters.

Pay close attention to your Guest pup’s body language
Dogs that are normally sensitive and good-natured may find the commotion of Halloween overwhelming. Watch for cues that pups in your care are getting anxious. If they exhibit signs of stress, offer them a Kong with peanut butter, a rawhide bone or a favorite toy to distract them.

Keep furry Guests on a leash and away from busy streets
Frightened pets may try to flee, while playful and curious pets may try to chase trick-or-treaters. Please plan on keeping your Guest dogs on leash this Halloween to keep them out of traffic and out of trouble.

Plan ahead and walk the pups before it gets dark
Take your Guests out when you are unlikely to encounter trick-or-treaters for a nice, long walk. This will also help tire them out – remember, a tired pup is a happy pup!

Source – DogVacay – Jeff Bishop
Director of Host Community & Concierge Services

Scardey Dog

30 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

pizap.com13831847803531I love Halloween.  It is by far one of my favorite holidays.  At one time I’d say it was my absolute favorite.  I love getting dressed up in costumes and all the wacky fun that goes along with.  I’m a hard-core “make your own” costume type gal and always want to go all out.  When I first got Riggins I was SO excited to have another person to dress up.  At the time my boyfriend was already forced into couple costumes a dog just rounded out the theme.  Our first Halloween with Riggins we were living in West Hollywood.  THE WEST HOLLYWOOD with THE WEST HOLLYWOOD Halloween Parade (which isn’t happening this year I hear).  The city closes off Santa Monica Blvd. and it becomes a parade of fabulous wacky fun!  I had never had a chance to go but this seemed like the perfect opportunity.  I put together not 1, not 2 but 3 (insert count laugh here) vampire costumes.  One for my boyfriend at the time, one for me AND one for Riggins.  He was so friggin’ cute.  We proceeded down to Santa Monica Blvd and it didn’t take too long before puppy Riggins was overwhelmed and I had to pick him up so he wouldn’t be stepped or stumbled upon by fellow partakers in Hollywood Halloween madness.  Luckily Riggins was still small because I carried him for MILES that night.  Bringing him was not the best of ideas.  I think it traumatized him for life.

Halloween contains three of Riggins biggest fears/hates:

  1. Children
  2. Crazy people in odd attire
  3. People coming up to the house
  4. People screaming

It is his own personal Hell.  I’ve tried to keep him in the back room during trick or treating hours and that went badly.  I tried to keep him on a leash and that went badly.  I tried to just push him out-of-the-way and that went badly.  Only the bravest of children will dare walk up my driveway and whisper in a shaky voice, “trick or treat” above the menacing barking of a giant black dog.  It isn’t uncommon for a child to stand on the sidewalk looking up at my house and think, “Screw that.  I don’t want that mini candy bar that bad” and just move on.

pizap.com13831850521331I’ve learned my lesson and no longer force Riggins into a costume he doesn’t want to wear (see list below) nor do I even open my door for Trick or Treaters.  It’s easier just to have Riggins bark at them with his hatred from behind a closed-door.  I put out a bowl of candy with a note to take a piece or two.  It is the honor system at my house.  I have faith in humanity and believe one nasty kid won’t come dump the entire bowl in his plastic jack o’ lantern and just call it a night.  The REALLY smart kid would just take the entire bowl.  That is if they dare to come to the porch of the evil barking dog house!

We all make sacrifices for our children.  I sacrificed Halloween for Riggins.  Tomorrow night we will be huddled together in the living room during the small child invasion, and I’ll give him treats and love to try and keep him from ripping down the door with his claws and teeth!

Riggins past costumes:

  • Dracula Dog
  • Broom to my witch
  • Champion wrestler (the year he had a small piece of his ear taken off — that piece is HUGE now due to a dog attack so he could really rock this costume).
  • I was a cat once and he was … a dog

Happy Halloween to all and beware of any black dogs crossing your path!

Happy Ending for Lab Animals

29 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

pizap.com13830707453031I like to live in ignorance.  It makes my life much easier.  I don’t want to know how the chicken I’m eating is raised, killed, or prepared.  In general I don’t want to see the face of anything I’m planning to eat.  If I had to there is no doubt I’d be a vegetarian.  I also don’t like to know what is tested on animals, what kind of animals, and the side effects.  Personally I think testing of certain drugs on animals can be life saving (for us silly humans) and I agree animal testing is an important step in some research.  Just as long as I don’t have to see it.  Testing things like eyeliner on animals?  That’s ridiculous.  I don’t want to purchase any make up that someone in the lab thought, “Hey … this may be toxic.  Before we let women slap it on their face let’s see if Fido reacts to it.”  All that being said animals that are used for experiments, even those I give my reluctant stamp of approval on, don’t have a good life.  In fact I dare say their lives suck monkey butt.

Last Friday the dogs (Riggins, Asscher, Miles & Lulu) and I headed out to go to the Laurel Canyon Dog Park.  We were almost there before I remembered it was closed on Friday mornings.  I grabbed my phone and clicked on my “DogGoes” app to see if there were any parks close.  There was one in North Hollywood, not to far away, that we had never tried before.  I decided to give the Whitnall Dog Park a shot.  When we got there the first thing I noticed was that the park was a muddy mess.  I knew that would make all the dogs happy and there would have to be baths all around when we got home.  Asscher (golden retriever) was in heaven.  It took her no time at all to get muddy.  Mud is her middle name!

pizap.com13830706460351Since it was so moist it was kind of crappy.  They seemed to be working on cleaning out the mud and putting in some sort of drainage.  If it wasn’t for the mud the park would be great.  It’s huge and there is small park just as big (actually it’s 1/2 the size but still way more space than is usually given to the wee ones).  The two parks don’t share a fence like most dog areas, so if you go to the small park just drive a bit further down the street to find it.  There is a lot of grass (swamp land) so I can see how, once dried out, it would be fabulous.  Best of all the people and dogs were nice.

I met this one woman who introduced me to her 3 dogs.  One of her dogs was an older beagle.  She told me his story.  (I don’t remember his name.  Let’s call him Bob.)  Bob had been a lab animal for years.  She adopted him about 2 years earlier from the Beagle Freedom Project.  I said he was a lucky dog and her response was that she was the lucky one.  She said the little dog had taught her so much about trust and love.  When Bob came to her he was very skittish, wouldn’t take treats out of her hand, and would be very hesitant to walk on grass.  He would only sleep on hard surfaces, probably similar to the feeling he had in his lab cage.  She had him sleep on the bottom of a crate and then slowly added towels one by one and then a pillow so that he would be more comfortable.  His dog siblings taught him how to be a dog since he hadn’t had that experience before.  Now he is in a loving home and gets to go to the dog park everyday!

According to the Beagle Freedom Project 96% of animals used in laboratory research are beagles.

“Beagles are the most popular breed for lab use because of their friendly, docile, trusting, forgiving, people-pleasing personalities. The research industry says they adapt well to living in a cage, and are inexpensive to feed. Research beagles are usually obtained directly from commercial breeders who specifically breed dogs to sell to scientific institutions.” – Beaglefreedomproject.org

Although most of their rescues are beagles they do help all animals that they can that are released by the labs, and even recently took in a couple of pigs!  All their rescues are done legally, which I like.  They aren’t suggesting violence or destruction of these labs but instead are there to work with them to help the animals on to the next phase of their lives.  The good phase!  This wonderful organization is always looking for people to adopt and/or foster.  They also have events to help raise money and will be happy to receive any tax deductible donation.  Just visit their site and friend them on Facebook page for more info.

(Pictures are of Riggins, Miles, Asscher & Lulu enjoying the dirty muddy park!)

 

Boo-tiful Dinner Party Table

28 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

photo 1My Halloween table runner has been sitting under my TV since I sewed it.  I’m in that room everyday (watching TV) so it is a good place to put it to let me get the most enjoyment out of it.  A couple of days (weeks) ago I was having a few friends over for a casual dinner and I thought it would be the perfect time to use the runner.  Then I thought it was a great time to use the beer bottles I’d be saving (and as an extra bonus get rid).  That is how the most boo-tiful of all dinner party tables came to be!

Runner – Here is how you can make this 10 minute runner.

Buddha Beer (actually called Lucky Beer) – I found this great beer on sale at Vons.  I’m not a big beer drinker and never purchase beer unless it is for a party but how could I pass these up?  The bottles are shaped like the Buddha!  That’s brilliant!  I love them so much and figured they would make perfect flower vases.  Then I came up on the problem … what photo 2do you do with 6 tiny flower vases shaped like Buddha?  You add them to your dinner table and hand them to each guest as they leave.  How does it taste?  I don’t know … like beer.  It’s a light beer that real beer drinkers wouldn’t be that impressed by but I like it.  The beer is made in Mexico so I suppose it is kinda like Corona Light-ish.

Spooky Wine – I was getting flower for the Buddha Beer vases at Trader Joe’s when I saw this wine.  The wine dude asked if I needed any help pairing wine with my dinner.  Who does that?  I’m pairing the label to my table theme!  Honestly the wine wasn’t great but it was only six bucks (probably why it wasn’t that great) and looked perfect.  It’s also screw top which is my favorite.  I plan to start a petition that demands all wine is screw top vs. cork.  If you want a bigger selection of Halloween themed wine/beer/etc. I suggest going to Cost Plus World Market.  I was there recently to get a friend a birthday present and I spent a long time wandering up and down the Halloween themed aisles just wishing I had a reason to purchase everything.

Candles – I used individual candles because I couldn’t find any suitable big candle holders.  There were fun and are currently upside down in my freezer so I can pop out the dead candle goop.

There you go!  Happy Halloween week to you!

The Great Escape

25 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I apologize for being MIA this week.  I’ve been recouping from the MOST STRESSFUL WEEKEND OF ALL TIME.  Let me tell you all about it …

Miles

Miles

This past weekend I had 3 dogs plus Riggins.  Chief an adorable and loving chocolate lab, Lulu a one year old energetic ball of crazy, and Miles the two-year old lab/golden mix aka “the runner.”  Friday night was like a battle ground.  Riggins and I were curled up in the bed in combat “hit the deck” positions trying to snooze while Miles and Lulu ran around wrestling each other ALL NIGHT LONG.  Saturday morning Chief showed up and we meet Giovanna, her husband and poodle Morgan at Runyon Canyon.  Everyone was pretty pooped out by the time we got home.  I had just enough time to shower and get dressed up for a fabulous music/comedy festival with my friend Dee Dee and her husband Jason.  The afternoon/evening was spent drinking Honey Badger shots (delicious) and listening to the genius of the friends of Tenacious D.  I tell you all this back story so you can understand that by this point of my day I was too pooped to pop!  Upon coming home I opened the back door and like a bullet from a cannon Miles was gone.  When I say gone I mean GONE.  Out the door, down the street, out of sight … GONE.

Dee Dee and I ran down the street like crazy people and she spotted him on a side street.  I came frantically running to get him (mistake I know) and he zoomed right past me and, once again, out of sight.  We did not see that little dude again for about 19 hours.

I ran.  I ran and ran and ran.  AND RAN.  Up and down the side streets of my neighborhood calling Miles name and suggesting we go get some food, dinner, snacks, treats, and any other food related word I could think of to make him pop his little head out again.  Dee Dee jumped in her car and started cruising the hood.  At one point she passed me and I yelled, “call Giovanna.”  Minutes later Giovanna and her husband Jack joined the search.  I was seconds … SECONDS … from loosing my shit.  I actually think I spent the next 24 hours in a state of shock.  How could this happen?????  How??????  I was mortified, terrified, and all other ifieds you can think of.

At one point I went back to my car and started cruising too.  At this time I knew I had to move forward with turning myself into the bad doggie watcher police.  I’m not one to shy away from taking blame and fessing up and it was time to do just that.  I called the DogVacay people who put me in touch with Natalie the Sane (I call her that because whenever I read a message from her or she talked to me she was the voice of sanity and reason).  Natalie’s title is “Trust and Safety Specialists.”  Can you imagine how stressful that job must be?  I have not been shy in saying I love DogVacay and would be happy to work for them beyond just being a host, but there is NOT ENOUGH MONEY ON THIS PLANET to do Natalie’s job.  I sent pictures of Miles to her for a flyer and brought Miles bed, blanket, and stuffed rabbit toy outside per her instructions.  I then covered the entire area with chicken.  Something Chief was happy of every time he walked by.  That damn bunny friggin’ mocked me for 24 hours.  Every single time I came home to grab more flyers or go to the restroom or check on the other dogs I would plead with the universe to have Miles sitting there cuddling with his bunny.  Nope.  Never happened.  That bunny just sat there perched on his fluffy dog bed staring at me.

Natalie the Sane emailed me over a “Lost Dog” flyer which I started printing.  I printed 40 at a time and anytime I came home clicked on “print” and picked up the ones that were ready.  I estimate that my friends and I hung about 160 signs and handed out about 20.  Aaaaaahhhh!  It was all so unnerving.

I had to get a hold of Miles mom.  Unfortunately she was out of the US and did not have cell coverage.  This meant not only could I not call her anyone that got a hold of Miles and read his doggie tags couldn’t call her!  Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!  I sent her a message via Viber (app that allows you to text and send pics to folks all over the world at no cost) and held my breath.  I couldn’t even imagine what I would have done if I had received that message.  Probably forced the poor soul with me to cash out on all his assets so we could afford to fly back to LA STAT!

Eventually my poor friends had to go home and to bed.  Jason was starting a new job on Monday and needed to prepare.  Giovanna was running 20 miles at 5 am the next day to get ready for her upcoming marathon.  Jack was falling asleep at the wheel.  That left me and the dogs to continue the search party.  I swapped out Lulu and Chief and walked the streets.  Around 3 AM Chief and I saw cops trying to settle down an agitated hooker eating her ice cream cone across from the local McDonalds.  I saw two cars in full “bust” mode with driver on the sidewalk and cops going through their vehicles.  Everything was pretty shut down about that time except for Jack in the Box.  I have a real problem with their new stoner commercials but they sure do know their customer base!

Around 3:30 AM I emailed Natalie and Miles Mom to tell them I had to go lie down.  I don’t know why I even tried.  I constantly thought I heard something in the backyard and just wanted it to be Miles so bad.  I may have slept for about 1/2 hour.   Giovanna texted me about 4:30 and asked how I was and my answer was “terrible.”  She cancelled her run and came back over to search with me.

The Search Party (the human participants). Jack, Giovanna, Martha & Dee Dee

The Search Party (the human participants). Jack, Giovanna, Martha & Dee Dee

And that is what we did … searched.  We walked up and down and up and down for miles then we got in the car and drove for miles.  Then we walked some more.  Her husband came to help.  My friend Dee Dee came back (she does not live close) and helped.  My friend, Martha, came over straight from the Getty where she had taken her art students earlier that day.  Even Asscher’s dad got in the car and drove around looking while Asschers mom kept checking the Pasadena Humane Society website for dogs that were turned in.  There was even another friend on her way to take up the night shift with me.  I can’t explain how lucky I am/was to have the support of so many great people.  I joke a lot that I hate people and love dogs.  These folks are definitely the exception to that rule!  I LOVE THEM!  They stepped up and every single one forfeited their time, energy and something important they had to do just so they could be there for me.

Dee Dee was the worker bee.  She would get it done come hell or high water.  Signs hung, signs walked into businesses, anything I asked she was on it in a heartbeat.  Her presence also stopped me from being arrested.  At one point we were in the car together and we pulled up beside a cop car.  She handed him a flyer and asked him to keep his eyes open.  The policeman was a douche.  He didn’t want to help at all and his only response (beyond telling us to go to the Pasadena Humane Society — yah yah genius we got that) was that the picture on the flyer was distorted.  I wanted to tell him if he wanted to see distortion I could ball up the flyer and shove it up his ass.  Luckily Dee Dee was there, more in control than me, and instead of going off in handcuffs we just drove away.  That guy is an asshat.  He was probably unhappy he didn’t have the night, ice cream hooker eating shift.

Jack was the lieutenant grinding away behind the wheel for miles further than I dared even think to drive.

Giovanna was my go to gal.  Giovanna let’s put signs in front of the church because people will be going there in a few hours.  Giovanna let’s put signs in front of McDonald’s because people will be going there in a few hours.  Giovanna let’s put signs by the parks because people will be going there in a few hours.  Giovanna let’s put 5 more signs on that pole that already has 3 just to be safe.  Whatever I said her answer was, “LET’S DO IT.”  She never once told me I was insane.  Which I, obviously, was.

Martha was my voice of reason and stabilizer.   Martha is a very good friend of mine and lives in Philadelphia.  She just happened to be here for this huge crisis and I am so thankful she was.  I had a one track mind … FIND MILES … FIND MILES … FIND MILES.  Everyone tried to stop me to take care of myself and all I could think was FIND MILES.  I refused to come home when they asked me to and refused to think clearly when they asked me to until Martha showed up.  Martha’s voice could cut through my crazy.  Not totally.  But a little bit!  Enough to stabilize me.

At one point the sun was just starting to go down Giovanna, Dee Dee, and I were driving around putting up signs.  At that point I was told that I wasn’t allowed to drive and we were all getting beyond pooped.  It was the first time we were all together in one car and then Dee Dee said, “there he …” AND WE ALL SAW HIM.  Lightening.  Running like a crazy dog.  Giovanna and I jumped out of the car and tried to calmly call him until we couldn’t see him anymore (which took about 5 seconds) and then he was gone again.

It was on now!!!  There was NO WAY I was stopping this search.  We had been amazed that in the HOURS of searching we constantly crossed over each other but none of us had even seen the dog.  Now we had seen him.  We just needed him to stop running so we could coax him home.

Sweet as sugar and as fast as a bullet!

Sweet as sugar and as fast as a bullet!

During this search Miles mom’s friend had been looking as well.  I alerted everyone, Natalie, Miles Mom, Asscher’s Mom, etc that we had seen him.  We all then focused on that one area.  I walked around in circles dropping piles of food in the hopes of keeping him close.  I’m sure the neighborhood skunks enjoyed that later in the night.  Circles walked and walked and walked by all of us.  Then I got a text from Miles friend “I found him.”  At the time Dee Dee and I was heading back to my car to charge up my phone and had just waved to Martha so we were all there.  I started to type back but then looked up and THERE HE WAS … ON LEASH!!!!!!!!!  I almost fell to my knees.  I’d say I was happy but I think I was just deep in shock.  The friends dog, Lola had found Miles.  They are friends and Miles was happy to come talk to her!  I scooped him up, controlled myself from kissing the poor friend and her dog, and ran him to the nearest emergency vet.

20+ hour of running had taken their toll on Miles paws.  All four were blistered and in bad shape.  The vet was wonderful and held him for a few hours to fix him up.  I picked him up at 1:30 AM Sunday night/Monday morning and brought him home.  His front paws were wrapped for a day and then I took the bandages off to heal.  He is still walking a little funny but all in all is back to normal.  He is his happy, loving, wiggle butt self again.

Miles isn’t allowed on the bed or sofa.  I made him sleep by me for the rest of the night on Sunday, cuddle on the sofa during the day Monday and nap on the bed with me.  I wasn’t allowing that little guy out of my sight!  I totally ignored the no bed/sofa rule!

I really can’t explain how horrible that entire event was.  To have a dog lost is heart wrenching to be in charge of someone else’s dog and have him go missing is unthinkable.  I can’t even imagine if he was a human child that I was watching.  Although I have yet to see a toddler who could outrun me let alone a locomotive like darling Miles can.  I’m so happy he is safe and I love him to pieces.  That being said I’ll be happy to hand him over to his mom tomorrow!  He stressed me out!

A couple of notes on this whole ordeal:

As usual DogVacay is amazing.  I am so happy they are always so helpful and thoughtful when I need them.

Signs work.  I had my doubts but we only knew the general area Miles was in because of the 3 calls we got.  2 of the folks said they saw a black dog running 100 miles an hour down the street with a smile on his face …. .THAT’S MILES!

If Miles would have lived here I have a feeling putting his bed and food outside could have worked.  It is something I would not have thought of.

If this happens to you I hope you have a group of brilliant and supportive friends like I do to help you!

All my guest dogs now have another tag with my name and number on it.

I called Miles vet (old and new), where he was adopted from (their info is on his chip) and Miles mom reported him as missing on a dog site whose web address Miles has on a tag on his collar.  Natalie called every vet/shelter in the area and faxed over our “lost dog” flyer.  Although these things didn’t actually help get Miles home they didn’t hurt.  I actually got calls from Miles vet and adoption agency checking on him.

 

 

 

I Like Ike!

15 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

photo 1 (2)When I traveled to India one of the things that I found interesting were the street dogs.  I mistakenly called them wild dogs once and was quickly corrected.  I spent hours on the internet reading about the dogs and what is being done to help stop overpopulation.  Since I had opted out of getting a rabies shot prior to my trip (and because I’m not totally insane) I didn’t come face to face with any of the dogs although all I wanted to do was sit down in a pack and cuddle each and every one.  Since then I’ve had a special place in my heart for those street dogs.

When Ike’s folks brought him to come visit me I hadn’t done any research on his breed.  It wasn’t until after I met the energetic love bug that I headed to the computer to check out what exactly a “Potcake” was.

A Potcake is a mixed breed dog that resides in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas.  They are named after the food fed to stray dogs by the locals, the “cake” mixture found at the bottom of the rice/pea pots.  Exactly what kind of dog is included in the mix depends on where the dog is from but most are short-haired, can be between 25-60 pounds, and a long face.  Brown is the most typical color although their coats can also include a mixture of black, white, red, cream and yellow.  Technically mutts-mixed breeds (my favorite kind of breed) the Potcake is a recognized breed on it’s own by the Bahamas Kennel Club.

On the street Potcakes only live about 7 years and are only about 25 pounds.  Domesticated in a happy home their lifespan is similar to other dogs of their size (approx 13 years) and are a healthier weight.

photo 3Ike is the only Potcake I’ve ever watched but if he is the norm for the breed I’m sold!  Ike is a wonderful dog.  Very energetic so needs exercise but is really smart and very loyal and loving.  Ike did not like it when single men ran by us on the trail.  If they got too close he told them so.  Ike spent all his free time near me and, preferably, on my lap cuddling.  When hiking or at the dog park he always stopped to check in with me, make sure I was close, and that I was alright.  He got along wonderfully with all other dogs no matter age and energy level.  He could easily go nose to nose with Bear who is a vocal and rough playmate.  He was also just as happy sleeping while spooning Riggins (as long as Riggins would allow such silliness).  Although protective of me he never scolded or barked at my other dogs (like Dragon does).  He was part of the pack not the leader and looked to me to fill that role.

photo 2If you are looking to get a dog I always suggest rescue.  If you are looking to adopt, much like human children, I believe there are plenty of loving babies (dogs and humans) close to home that need you.  BUT if you want to reach out to adopt a dog then a Potcake is something to definitely look in to.  From my very minimal research it looks like the loyalty, intelligence, and love Ike showed is typical.  It is like they know you saved them from living on the streets and they are thankful for all you do for them.  They do need someone who can be a pack leader and who is willing to keep them active so definitely keep that in mind.  If you are looking for a mild-mannered lap dog who sleeps all day a Potcake isn’t for you!

Ike’s mom works with BAARK – Bahamas Alliance for Animal Rights and Kindness.  They have a spray and neuter program for the street dogs of the Bahamas and also help rescue dogs and find them homes.  Ike’s mom told me that there are a number of these type of organizations that will help adopt Potcakes to loving families in Canada and the US.  Keep BARRK and Ike in mind when you are thinking of what kind of pooch you would like to make part of your family!

10 Minute Table Runner – Hot Tips

14 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

photo (20)I wrote about the 10 minute table runners before.  In fact before sitting down at the sewing machine this weekend I re-read the blog post to make sure I remembered what I was doing!  The 10 minute table runner really is an easy and fun thing to make.  You can find the how-to here.  After making four of these I feel like I’ve become an expert and can share some important tips with you.

  • Fabric choice is key.  Avoid anything with straight lines or straight patterns.  Why make it harder on yourself.  Random patterns mean you don’t have to worry as much that you cut and sew at a perfect angle!
  • The brighter the better.  Bright colors will distract viewers from looking too close at your sew line and any holes from sew lines that didn’t make it and had to be ripped out with a seam ripper.
  • Have your mom cut your fabric for you with her quilting equipment.  Cutting something so it is perfect is a pain in the butt.  I suggest you don’t do it if you don’t have to.
  • 10 minutes is a big fat lie.  I’d say closer to 30 minutes and that doesn’t count getting the sewing machine out, threading the machine, getting the fabric cut correctly, etc.
  • Pins and the iron are your friend.  This is definitely a project where prep helps you out in the long run.
  • You’ll notice the instructions suggest use of a button while the one I made this weekend has tassels (made by my talented mother as if we were full Amish and don’t buy into silly store-bought niceties).  The button can cover up mistakes with lining up the two sides of your runner while the tassels are easier to sew on (just stick them in, tassel side inward, and sew at the same time you are sewing the sides together).  Pick your poison.
  • photo (19)Cursing usually helps any and all negative sewing situations you may find yourself in.
  • Longer stitches are easier to take out if you make a mistake.  It isn’t like you are sewing the crotch of some pants that need to be sturdy.  It’s a table runner.  It just has to sit on a table and look pretty.
  • It doesn’t matter how long you take trying to make the sides of the runner perfectly even.  They never will be.  Don’t sweat too much over it.  This is the step which usually takes me the longest and I have yet to get those stupid sides as perfect as I want them.

With these hot tips the 10 Minute Table Runner is pretty fun to make.  What are you waiting for?  Head on down to the fabric store and pick out some fancy material!

(Note – My mom found and purchased this fancy fabric for me.  Isn’t it brilliant?!?)

I Heart iOS 7

11 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

People hate change.  When Facebook releases a new look the world is in chaos.  It makes me crazy.  Why the unhappiness?  Embrace change!  In 48 hours you will be happy with all the upgrades and used to the new look.  Take a xanax and figure this shit out!

Stopping Programs from Running in the Background

Stopping Programs from Running in the Background

When iOS 7 became available a few weeks ago my friends were all a tweet and twitter.  How dare Apple go and improve things without talking to each and every one of them.  Let’s assume Apple did copious amounts of market research on their design, colors, etc.  Although wouldn’t it be great if they didn’t?  How do I get that job?  I’d be so good at it.  “A picture of Riggins will be the default wallpaper on all iPhones!  If they don’t like it screw ’em.  Like all those Apple nuts aren’t going to be standing in line for an upgraded phone.  Bahahahahahah!”

I really like the new operating system and I feel like it is getting a bad wrap so I wanted to take some time to tell you about the new things I find nifty. Before launching into that list let’s discuss the elephant in the room.  The “look” of the new system.  Apparently some people think it is too childish and colorful.  Who hurt you?  What do you have against childish and colorful?  My biggest issue was that the pages were now too cluttered when I used my old wallpaper (picture of Riggins and me … naturally).  So you know what I did?  I changed it.  I suggest going in and looking at some of the default wallpapers to see if you like them any better.  The color schemes can tone down the shocking brightness you may be against.  Take a look at some of the static grey options.

Now my list:

Fun with Sharing Pictures

Fun with Sharing Pictures

Pictures – I use my phone mostly to take pictures, to check Facebook, and to get/write email.  Don’t pretend that you aren’t as shallow as me and do fancy life changing things on your phone.  This new system has some great picture improvements.  First of all the continuous shutter is genius.  It makes taking pictures of fast-moving things (like dogs and kids) easier.  Not to mention it’s essential if you are looking to make a well crafted flip book.  It is also much easier to email, text, and post pictures.  Which is, essentially, all I do all day long.  There are now filter choices built in, but they are crap so feel free to ignore them.

The Quick Menu – I don’t know what it is actually called but if you start at the bottom of your screen and swipe up you get “fast” access to some of the things you

The Quick Menu (or whatever it's called)

The Quick Menu (or whatever it’s called)

use the most.  This includes Bluetooth, internet, airplane mode, whatever song/podcast you had been listening to, flashlight, timer, calculator, etc.  I’ve used it to get quick access to the flashlight almost nightly.  Something I didn’t really use before because it was just too much trouble to push those extra buttons to get to it via the app.  This menu also gives you access to one of the iPhones best features, the Do Not Disturb button.  I’m madly in love with this option and use it constantly.  You can schedule daily chunks of time for DND to turn itself on automatically through the settings.  You can also choose which calls, if any, can make it through the DND setting.  Is there anything better than silence?  I think not.

The Other Menu – I don’t know what it’s called either.

The Other Menu (or whatever it's called)

The Other Menu (or whatever it’s called)

You get it when you start at the top of your phone and swipe down.  It tells you about anycalls you recently missed, news reports (if you have those apps and enable that option), your calendar, etc.  I love this since I often get “breaking news alerts” (Genius BTW you HAVE to download news apps and turn on the alerts.  I know who died, who won what, and what state is on fire long before anyone else.) and don’t look at them before I go to the next thing on my phone.  This lets me re-read anything fast.  Remember that one night when we were all jolted awake by the alarm from hell that turned out to be an Amber Alert but we all grabbed our phones so fast and frantically started pushing buttons to make the horrific noise stop, that the message we were meant to read was gone before we were awake enough to concentrate on it?  THAT would have been the perfect time to use the “other menu” and read what that alarm was all about.

Flipping Through Web Pages

Flipping Through Web Pages

Internet – Search is easier.  Just type what you need in the address box and get to searching.  Flipping through open web pages is a ZILLION times easier and more efficient.

Weather – I LOVE looking at the weather predictions.  I can’t tell you why because I don’t know.  The new weather looks so much fancier!  I love the graphics and I love that it tells me when sun up and sun down is (something I’ve actually had to look up more than once). I love the moving clouds and the moving rain and the difference in color from day, night, foggy, etc.  So pretty.  I could stare at it for hours … and may have …

Radio – There is now Apple radio.  I haven’t used it much but it seems very Pandora-ish so great if you are

WEATHER!

WEATHER!

into that sort of thing.

Operations – Stopping programs running in the background is easier too.  Double click home button like you did before but now just put your finger on the screenshot of what you want to go away and swipe up.  It’s like a game!

There you go.  A real wo-man’s guide to why you should embrace the new operating system.  Come join us “early adopters”, upgrade and start having fun!  I promise you will get used to the new “look” and even “gasp” learn to like it!

 

Humpty Dumpty

10 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Earlier this week one of my good friends, Martha, came over for dinner.  Post food while we were chatting over whatever TV we were watching I excused myself and came back with a giant bottle of hydrogen peroxide that I have turned into a spray bottle, pulled up my pants and sprayed down one of my newest scrapes.  Martha’s responses:

photo (17)* “You hurt yourself so much you have a hydrogen peroxide SPRAY BOTTLE?” – Yes.  Well technically the spray bottle’s actual purpose is to make using hydrogen peroxide for house cleaning easier (search on Pinterest will offer suggestions on what exactly to use it on) the fact that it makes disinfecting my tortured body easier too is just a happy accident.  No pun intended.

* “Aren’t you suppose to be all graceful and junk in that class you take?  Aren’t ballerina’s good at balance?” (Perhaps not an exact quote but this is how I remember it.)  Sigh … yes.   First of all let’s get one thing straight.  I’m not a ballerina.  Sure my exercise of choice utilizes a barre but, tragically enough, it is used mostly to help balance yourself while you do near to impossible exercises.  I’m extra clumsy in Bar Method class.  I ALMOST fall over at least 1/2 dozen times a session.  Every class starts with leg raises (just march really … that’s all it is … marching).  Which I constantly fumble at.  After basic bicep and shoulder work you move to a position that was created by the devil.  You stand with your feet parallel then move one foot (let’s say right) back and turn it out a bit.  Then you lean over at the waist, roll your shoulders down and pull them together, align you neck, hold in your stomach, open up your chest, lift your right arm (in this case) above your hip as high as you can while keeping your shoulders and hips level, then straighten your arm as much as possible.  Once you get all that together you spend the next 3 minutes or so going through little arm motions continuing to keep it above your hip and as straight as possible.  You can use the mirrors around you in the room to make sure your back is flat (which is what really kills me) and that your shoulders are level (which they probably aren’t).  Each time I check a mirror I don’t gracefully return my gaze down to a few inches ahead of my toes, as suggested.  I bobble my way back to position barely making it there without tripping over my own feet.  There are a number of times during heel raises (is what it sounds like … raise up on your toes and down a bunch of times) and stretching where you are encouraged to “take a balance.”  Every now and then a nice supportive teacher will call me out and tell me to give a balance a try.  In my head I scoff at her/him and think, “Yah right.  I almost fell over and died when I put my leg on the bar for stretch earlier.  I know you saw that.”

photo (16)So there you go.  I am destined to be covered in bumps, bruises and scrapes.  I have a number of dog related paw sized bruises and nail scrapes but right now my big issue comes from falling down on my hike with the dogs on Tue.  We were coming down the trail from the Griffith Park Observatory.  Wide path.  Very little incline.  No reason at all to fall.  I stepped wrong, twisted my ankle, and fell down on hands and knees.  To add insult to injury NO ONE came to help me and/or check on me.  5 people actually walked by me without saying a thing.  Can you imagine?  Oh well at least I had the dogs.  Nope!  Riggins, who is normally very loyal in these situations, just kept walking down the hill with Asscher following (after she tried to steal my hat when I was down on the ground).  Only little Creature stayed to keep me company as I picked myself back up.  From this incident I have an ankle that hurts and a giant scrape on my right knee.  The burn  and chunk of missing skin on my finger from crafts a couple of weeks ago is still healing and, if hit wrong, hurting.  Then Tuesday as I was dropping off Asscher at home I parked on a steep incline.  I got out of the car and moved to open the back door for her as my door swung itself closed into the back of my head.  That’s right folks.  For the second time in less than a year I hit myself in the head with my own car door.  I screamed, “YOU HAVE TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME.” when it happened.  Then, while cooking dinner for my friend, I casually cut my finger while chopping something.  I estimate this happens about 33.33% of the time I have a knife in my hand.

I suppose the lesson here is stay far away from me and if you do get close make sure you have a first aid kit packed somewhere on your person!

(My clumsy self.  One of my favorite topics was also written about here.  In case you want/need to read more.)

Stuff I Made

07 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I can’t really consider this post a “how-to” since I’m not telling you how to make these crafts.  It’s more of an announcement:

LOOK AT THE COOL THINGS I MADE FRIDAY.

photo 1 (4)More Animal Wine Glasses – First of all we have to have a moment of silence for my Asscher wine glass (honoring my golden retriever daycare baby) that I made for myself.  I used that one the most so, of course, it was the first to be broken.  Boo!  Now that we have taken the appropriate amount of time to mourn that loss to my wine cabinet … One of my good friends, Michelle, had her birthday celebration this weekend.  Luckily for me it was at a winery so I could easily them my gift around that.  Recently Missy had to say goodbye to her photo 2 (5)adorable pug mix, Buddy.  He had a wonderful long and loving life with her.  It didn’t take long for Missy to realize that her cat, Romeo, needed another dog playmate (as did she).  She adopted a long-haired dachshund mix from the newly opened NKLA (No Kill LA).  I decided to decorate her glasses in honor of her current and former pets who have given (and give) her so much joy.  I have written a “how-to” on this already so check it out – here.

photo 3 (3)Doggie T-Shirts – In other dog news my sister and her family got a new puppy!  There were down this weekend to pick him up.  He is an 8 week old weimaraner named Captain Shadow.  My young nephew loves pirates with all his heart (I suggested to get him over that phase we take him to see Captain Phillips but no one else seems on board with that idea) that’s where the “Captain” comes from.  I’m not sure were “Shadow” comes from.  Maybe because he is silver … you will have to ask my sister.  I decided my niece and nephew needed a t-shirt that featured their new puppy!  I hadphoto 4 (3) some left over printable t-shirt transfer paper from a project I did 10 years ago.  I’m sure the age may make the t-shirt design less durable but I had it in my drawer so I used it!  Between clearance and the new Cartwheel app I was able to get grey t-shirts for $3 each at Target.  Woo hoo!  I figured it wouldn’t take me long to whip up a design.  I was wrong.  I decided the dog needed a pirate hat on him I don’t really have great picture manipulating software so it took me a bit to figure out how to do that on paint.  Longer than I care to admit.  Then I had to remember how to flip all the images (you have to do that when you transfer onto light colors).  The entire process took longer than I expected but I finally finished!  I’d explain how exactly I did it but, to be honest, I forgot.  Sorry!

Happy crafting!