The Third Annual Christmas Quilt

Two posts in one day, WOW! I have some catching up to do, that's for sure!!

Anyway, as seems to be my December tradition, I made my third quilt this December.  Of course, I have to show you the journey.

Yes, it's a rag quilt. They are easy and relatively quick. Plus, I had tons of old jeans to use up.  Here's the intial laying out of the patterns.  Bu the way, you can see my foot in that pic- you can see my lovely new Alpaca slippers. They were a pricey Christmas present to myself, but I have a new found fondness for Alpaca fibre and I had a moment of weakness at a Christmas Craft Sale. So comfy!

I made it in 9 patch blocks, each with one pattern and jeans. Then, I stitched the blocks into 5 blocks by 5 blocks. I had 4 cozy flannels, yes again in pink. This one is for my couch and the size ended up smaller than the last two, but perfect for a TV watching blanket.

The dogs overseeing the process. Maggie was still here then. :)

Hmmm, comfy! Sophie as always HAS to lie on the quilt, mid process.

Anyway, the finished product, all washed and ready to go. It frayed up lovely and I am very pleased with the results!

I won't be waiting another year to make another quilt, I can tell you that. There's going to be some heavy duty sewing in my near future. :)

Change is A Comin'

It's been a hectic month around here at the Black Dog Blog! School wrapped up for the holidays and none too soon.  As a junior high teacher, I understand when kids have had enough. And, they were clearly at enough the beginning of December.  So, we wrapped up and Spike and I headed to my parents for Christmas. Sophie and Murphy stayed with Rebecca at The Poop Guys, and Maggie went to another kennel.

Maggie has not moved home yet- she's still staying at my friend Joanne's place. I miss her terribly, but Maggie was used to being an only dog. She had some serious jealous issues going on- especially with Murphy. Her way of showing it- BARKING. All the time. Loudly. Until my neighbours complained to the town and I received a warning from the Bylaw Officer. So, in the interest of maintaining my sanity, my dogs happiness and Maggie's ability to be comfortable, she's staying where she is at for now.  I am not sure if she'll move back- she might, but only if I can find a humane way to control her barking. In the meantime, I'm taking an extended break from fostering- I need some time just with my crew.

Other than that, I've made some pretty serious decisions about my future and that's a good thing. You'll be learning about those over the next bit- just watch the blog as it changes and morphs into something new. ;)  Yes, it's a tease, but I will be sharing as I get things re-organized and re-vamped.  It's December 31st and I think it's time.

The first big change is the start of my Rattery. I've been in contact with another hobby breeder, here in the Saskatoon area and we've decided to become sister ratteries. This means we'll share a client list, share rats back and forth for breeding and basically help each other out. The first help is thanks to Rebecca, at Mat and Bec's Rats; she is making the trek to Winnipeg and will be bringing back a breeding pair for me. That means the start of my Blue/Silver lines... very exciting! So, stay tuned for litter announcements.

The second big change- I've decided to take a break from Grad School. I've burnt out and lost my drive to finish my thesis, so I just need to leave it for the moment. It's not a bad decision, in fact I believe it's the right decision right now. Rather than dropping out, I'm taking a medical leave for now- with my anxiety and depression diagnosis, I qualify for one and at this point, my anxiety is creeping back up so it's time.

Other than that, for now, I'll leave you with some newly revamped pages.... check them out! :) And, later today there will be pictures of what I've been up to (New Quilt, new projects!)

Happy New Year all!  Here's to a great 2012, full of changes that bring joy.

Maggie has found a home

Maggie had a big day yesterday as she returned to the vet for her followup visit and to get her stitches out. When Dr. Nairn came in the room, the first thing he said to me was "I need to talk to you. I think you need to keep Maggie". I laughed and told him the thought had crossed my mind as I feel pretty attached to her at this point- having gone through 2 big surgeries and everything else, I do feel attached.  He sees her as a special girl who is clearly attached to me, and he wants to see her in the best environment for her senior years. Not sure it should be me, but well, that's a whole other issue.

We talked about her surgery and the results. When I got Maggie, she had 2 lumps. By the time she went for the second surgery, she had 4. They removed all 4 the second round, in an attempt to get clean margins. It's been a rough recovery, and while her stitches are out, she still is bleeding and not healed under her arm put at this point. (surgery was two weeks ago today).  All 4 lumps, even the one he thought was a skin tag turned out to be either a Grade 1 or a Grade 2 Mast Cell tumor. And, she has a new one, this week. I showed it to Dr. Nairn last night, and while we don't know 100% that it's cancer, based on what we've seen so far, it is likely that it is another Mast Cell.

I am devastated. I can't put this dog through more surgery. New Hope doesn't want to put her through another surgery for her sake and the sake of our wallets- she's cost us upwards of $3500.00 as of yesterday.  So, I contacted the powers that be and we have made a plan.

As of today, Maggie will live with me. Mags will live out whatever she has left in my home and be kept as comfortable as possible, until I don't think we can keep her happy anymore. She isn't appearing to be sick at this point, but the cancer is spreading, seemingly quite rapidly. I am treating her with Benadryl and Pepcid in an effort to keep the cancer at bay, but it doesn't seem to be helping at this point.  So, the decision is made: Maggie will come off Petfinder and remain a New Hope dog- but essentially mine.

I am happy to give Maggie as comfortable a home as possible, for whatever time we have- it could be weeks, it could be years. I am being realistic, and I think we have weeks to months together. In any case, if she starts to appear to be feeling worse or the cancer spreads more, I'll have lots of say in determining when enough is enough, and for that I am grateful. And, it just seems like the right thing to do, to see her through to whatever her end will be. She's a lovely dog, and I feel blessed to have been able to rescue her (ironically, after her owner died of cancer) and to take care of her this far- she's showed her quirky, spoiled rotten, only dog mentality to me through this whole time. But, she's also showed me a gentle, wants desperately to be loved side that is endearing.  So, there it is. Maggie is home.

Catching up

I took a couple days of "doggy therapy" to get over the flu I had.  They are VERY helpful you know.... just look!

Maggie is cuddling with me on the love seat. YES, she's wearing a TShirt. She's finally figured out she had surgery and she's itchy. So, there you have it- the latest in post surgery fashion, hehe!

Nap time!! Yeah for Labrador cuddles.

Doesn't she look great in her pretty-in-pink shirt??

Sophie and Guinness spent the day napping on the other couch. They seem to like each other. 

Sophie... I think she's watching TV here. 

Speaking of Mr. Gorgeous Guinness himself, he's moving out tomorrow!! He's found himself a stellar family and I couldn't be more pleased for him!

Murphy likes to cuddle UNDER my blankie, on the floor.   Just her little legs showing, hehe.

Spikey, in his crate. It's his "I want to be close, but it's too hot in here to cuddle, so I'll stick myself in my crate so at least I'm still in the same room" plan. He is quirky, that boy. 

He did come out to watch the street from his favourite chair at least.

In other news, I got the Christmas tree up.  Crossing fingers it won't get knocked down this year!

Oh, and I haven't done this, this year yet, but it makes me feel better about the LONG nights and SHORT days of winter in Canada. I keep thinking, at least the weather has been mild. Anyway, Dec. 1st, this is what it looked like as I was leaving... just mostly dark. The shortest day of the year also happens to be my last day before holidays so I will get a photo to compare. Hopefully I'll have figured out the settings on this camera by then to actually get a decent photo. :)

W-ratty Wednesday: Exploring the dirt box...

Ahhh, yes, I haven't done a Nearly Wordless, W-ratty Wednesday in ages. But, I managed in my "I feel icky and under the weather, should still be sleeping, but I have labs and jacks" kind of state to click some really bad photos of Zander and Giles.  Oh, and a couple of the girls, before I did the bi-weekly total clean job of the cages.

Zander's nose. And, a junky eye that needs cleaning up. He's a sensitive soul, this one and dogs barking (Maggie) stresses him out a bit. Ah well, extra treats and cuddles....

Giles... WOW! New digging tin! COOL!

Get your fuzzy butt outta my way... Zander shoves Giles out of the way to explore the brand new tin.

PIGGY!  Giles has 2, TWO treats in that mouth! 

Smidgy... my word, you ladies are MESSY! lol

Smudge and Dru coming to see what's up.

All three girlies, pre- cage clean... Smidge, Dru, Smudge. This cage WAS imacculate just a couple days ago. The girls are way messier than the boys.

All I hear now is happy rustling as they scramble to see what's new, to work through mounds of crumpled papers to create new nest and to find any hidden treats.  All in all, a good way to spend an icky, sicky morning. 

Update on the Mags....

Good morning all.... it's Monday, isn't it?!?  And, I think I have the flu.  But, that's life; I'm going to head off to work for the day because it's a case of "planning for a sub at this time of day is WORSE than teaching with the flu."  If I'm not feeling better SOON, I'll be in bed tomorrow, cuddled with Maggie and crew. :)

Speaking of Maggie.... she amazes me! She still hasn't seemed to notice she had surgery and she is her playful self already.  She's supposed to be on crate rest, but I figure, what's the difference between chewing a bone on the couch or in the crate?  The difference for Maggie- she's quieter and happier on the couch, LOL.  She is recovering incredibly quickly with no issues. Phew!

And, Guinness, just a quick update too.... he met a family yesterday and as predicted they LOVE my boy!  If all goes well, Mr Guinness is off to live his life with a great family, complete with a 7 year old boy to grow up with.  I am hoping he'll be able to move next weekend- it's a little complicated by the fact that they live in Regina, and need time to drive up and get him but I believe once they get the "ok, the home check is great!"  they'll be in the car heading here to get their boy!

Otherwise, everyone else is happy, content and busy chewing on deer bones. :)  I promise an update with pictures (and maybe for a change, focusing on the dogs of the Black Dog Blog, LOL).

Franken-Maggie

WARNING: Graphic, post surgery pics below.  (just in case you are squeamish!)

Maggie is back home. The vet wanted to keep her last night, but I couldn't figure out a way to manage to get into the city to pick her up, get her home, then back to the city for an 8 hour + day of agility, obedience, then hanging out with the Junior Girls Basketball team at their tournament. I'm supervising the tournament this evening. So, I asked if I could please try bringing her home and was told that as long as Mags is on complete crate rest for the next while, I could. And, I have strict orders to bring her back if anything looks bad or worsesome.

Maggie was incredibly tired and droopy in the car but by the time we arrived at my house, she was already perking up. She hobbled up the stairs, plopped herself in her crate and loudly demanded some dinner. :)  She MUST be feeling ok if she wants to eat, right?!?

Anyway, she cried most of the night, in a low, pathetic moaning kind of way- as if to say, "I'm lonely and I don't feel good! Cuddle with me please!!"  This morning, she just barks. She's decided that she is ready to go and should be allowed to get back to normal.

Sadly though, she can't.  They removed a big chunk of skin, on both tumour sites- one goes up into her armpit and the other is her neck.  Because of the incision in her side/armpit, she can't put full weight on that paw until the skin begins to heal/regenerate.  It pulls on her stitches too much and hurts. But, she still manages to do stairs and limp along bravely, tail wagging, happy to be up and moving. And, crate rest?!? Yeah, she's not too big on that!

Anyway, Maggie is showing big signs that she is going to be just fine! Her prognosis is GREAT! They got it all and have clean margins on all sites. There was no sign of regrowth at the time of her second surgery. So, in a couple weeks the stitches will come out and Maggie will be deemed completely healthy. And, once her fur grows back, you'll never know she had surgery to have cancer removed. And, she'll be back to her playful, happy go lucky self, making me think that all is right in the world again, at least for a moment. She is easily the most resilient dog I have ever seen and she's teaching me loads about grinning and bearing it, and just getting on. Well done Maggie, that's a huge life lesson for me!

Anyway, here's the photo of her neck... it looks awful this morning!

Isn't that awful?!?  Poor Maggie!  Luckily though, she has been a strict diet the last weeks and she had loads of extra skin to make up for the huge patches they took off. So, it looks much, much worse than it is!

I had a hard time getting Maggie to stand still for this, but here's a photo of her side. That's part of her incision only; it continues up into her armput. It looks pretty sore this morning.

You can't see much here, but the yellowing you see is the start of bruising. This was two hours ago, and now it's incredibly bruised- the whole shaved area basically looks like a big, ugly bruise. I was warned that would happen.

Ah well, keep sending the well wishes- Maggie loves hearing that people are rooting for her!!