If you're a dog around here...

...you gotta take a bath!

This was a big week for both Timber

and Olive.

Cheers to you, good hounds.

Long-Awaited Relief, Curtains!

I'm at home after a day of rain, listening to the new Gigi lp (thanks Chris!), glass of wine in hand. This is how a night should be.
Latest sewing update. I finished my version of 2588 from the earlier post on Michelle's version, but I still haven't taken any pictures. What I have taken pictures of are the curtains I made in the front room! Below you will see the room before.

You might notice how freakin' dark it is in the middle of the day, therefore I was not concerned about blocking sunlight--there is no light to block.
 As you may know, I have wanted to make curtains for a long time but balked at spending ~$7/yard for a kicky fabric when you need approximately eight yards/room. I also have a tendency to buy fabric I lovelovelove, spend a solid four-six months working up the courage to use it, and afterward I have some really oddly shaped fabric remnants that I cling to because I still lovelovelove the fabric. Periodically I take those remnants out and try to figure out if I could destash my collection and sew them together in a way that wouldn't look like "Quilts Gone Wild" footage, but I never came up with something I thought I could work with until now.
Granted, this isn't the best idea for a scrap buster, but it is pretty spot on for those awkward long strips I have in abundance.

This room was a bit of a trial run--the other room's will have mix and match curtains that are the same color but with different pattern accents. They will all have wonky seams.

Also, I don't know why the curtains are rumply. I even starched those beasts. What is their problem?

YES! Now we can run around naked!

Timber, meet snow!

You've met Timber, right? The most perfect dog in the world?

Well, this is Timber. I've always fancied him to be a snow dog, pulling a sled across the tundra (most likely chasing some form of snow cat), but to my knowledge, puppers has never seen, much less ran across, the snow.

Last weekend Chris and I traveled to South Lake Tahoe and Timber finally realized his true calling.

Meet Timber, SNOW DOG!

Upon first contact of his paws to the powdery snow, Timbertoes rejoiced as all happy dogs smile: open mouthed.

The powder was a touch difficult for us to manage, since Timber would sink up to his torso with each step. *We broke into a golf course for this picture, by way a broken fence someone had crashed through days before.

Timber's walking-through-snow face is even more amusing than his I-don't-do-reverse face.

Don't we look like we belong?

I need to take Timber back up to the snow this year or the next. He has never been so happy! Unless there was pork involved.

Lamb tails!

The annual terrifying event known as "lamb tails" occurred on February 15th. Dad kind of sprung it on us last minute (February 13th around 7:30pm, to be specific) but Michelle, Chris, and I were still able sever woolly appendages. All in all, it went pretty well. There weren't any hospital-worthy injuries, Chris developed a new technique for catching and passing horned lambs, Michelle was the champion of the bench (I tried holding lambs on the bench one time this year--then I fell off the bench because my legs couldn't reach the ground), and I didn't get killed. All around success!

Dad displaying his sorting skills.

Perfect little lambs in a pen!

Would someone PLEASE tell our father to stop buying and breeding horned rams?! They are a hazard! Though I must concede, the horns are a good defense against predators.

Chris taking a lovely lady to get her hooves and tail done.
(Gotta get my tail done! Gotta get my hooves done! Gotta look good tonight! Cuz I'm going to the barn tonight!)

The end of the day, that time when you finally have the excuse to cuddle two lambs at once! How do you think they feel about it? They look conflicted...

The damage done: 78 tails.

The twins pose proudly, knowing their good deed shall not be undone!

ah, winter

One of the joyful parts of winter, if you ask me, is the surfeit of wonderful lovely citrus. I wish we still had all these oranges (I took this picture last week), but I ate them all in a streak of vitamin-C seeking joy. Over the course of a few days, natch.
If the winter continues by way of this rain, I'll start working on some form of dress this weekend. I purchased a mess of fabric last week at Stonemountain and Daughter in Berkeley last week and I'm anxious to try Simplicity 2588 again, though in my size this time. Which really only leaves one question: does anyone know how to pre-treat stretch wool?

Birthday Party Recap, Fashion Glimpse

The colors of the evening: red, pink, and purple.

Even Chris and Bryce played along
What shoes did you think I would wear?
I say that Vanesa won "Best Outfit" for the night. Sadly, this picture doesn't do her adorable purple dress justice and you can't even see her festive tights, but still...

Birthday Party Recap!

Ah, Valentine's Day Birthday! Michelle has been raising ten kinds of a ruckus, demanding that I put a picture of the cake on the internet, so here it is. Mmm, cake.

It was your basic yellow cake with four berry jam in the center and vibrantly colored frosting. It is powerful cake, there is still a small bit in the kitchen. But not for long!

Here is Claire in front of the craft carnage. She opted to wear the apron (last remaining evidence of the mac 'n cheese we tore through earlier) for most of the night, in spite of wearing our theme colors with her chosen outfit.
Here are three of our mailboxes, hanging out together on the table. You can't tell, but they are heavy with valentine loot. You probably can tell that glitter still rules supreme in our house; I get concerned when I think about how much Timber has consumed in the past few days.

A sampling of the valentines. Most excellent!