Tales of Lotte and Rocky

What a week!

Halloween, the World Series, Common Threads, two deliveries of doll stuff and dealing with a doggie injury. Whew!

DH had bought "Halloween costumes" for the dogs, but they didn't cooperate by wearing them. We tired them on Vroni and Mandy, and they worked pretty well.

When trick-or-treaters showed up at our door, we told them that we were surprised that they dared come to our house, after what we did to the first kids who showed up. They looked at the dolls, their eyes got huge, and then they laughed. One of the older ones even said, "Honey, I shrunk the kids!"

After most of the trick-or-treating had tapered off, the "girls" were allowed to sit and watch the World Series game, while helping themselves to some Halloween candy.

The package from My Doll Best Friend (two pairs of shoes, my prize for having my photo selected to be in their In-Site online magazine) had come early in the day, so Mandy was wearing her new sandals. She was the model for the photo, you might remember, so she got to pick. Vroni was happy with the white satin flats, but they were dress shoes, so she put on Lotte's new dress before she tried them on. The ankle straps are too big, but I can fix that, and they look good without the straps, too. Mandy's sandals must be for the beach, because the soles have little sea shells embossed on them.

I had already finished the dress, coat, hat and turtleneck for Lotte, but Mandy, who modeled it, said she needed one, too. I finished it November 1st, just in time to start the colorwork KAL (knit-along) on the first day we could participate. Here's Mandy modeling her turtleneck.

I made this one with the button/buttonhole bands knitted with the body of the sweater as one unit, to save having to weave in four more tails.

I told Mandy it made me feel cold to see her wearing sandals and to go put on something warmer. This is what she did.

I give up! We discovered that the turtlenecks also made great cardigans.

Common Threads met at Margareth's. She and Karan have been working on wool flannel quilting projects (shown in previous blog posts), and Margareth had made this new project bag, using one of the motifs she had used to make some wool flannel coasters.

She also was working on this bird:

Speaking of birds, Lynda was working on some knitted birds from a book, The Field Guide to Knitted Birds by Arne & Carlos. Very cute and funny!

That afternoon, we found that the gardener had come to prune the neighbor's bushes.

She had a young apprentice with her, probably a family member. They bedded down on the other side of our backyard for the night, so they were there again in the morning. I guess they hadn't finished their work. Needless to say, the pups had a lot to say to them.

Friday, tracking on my big package indicated that it had reached Park City and would be delivered by 8:00 PM. The "girls" took turns watching for the mail lady.

Vroni and Mandy were on hand when the package was delivered.

We could hear whinnying, barking and cries of "Let me out!" I had to get the kitchen scissors to get it open. Inside we found the horses packed carefully on top of Lotte. (She was in her own sturdy box, so was unhurt. It took a while to get to her box. Vroni climbed up to look in, and Mandy asked for a lift.

After we got Lotte out, the "girls" decided they wanted a group photo, but, of course, they all wanted to be next to Lotte in the photo. This was how we compromised. (You can barely see Dolly, but she's the one who is closest to Lotte, so she doesn't mind.)

The horses will be a present for the two grandkids who are learning to ride at their other grandparents' ranch in Texas.

Lotte said her little dog needed to go out, so even though she was dying to get out of her travel clothes, she put on her new coat over her traveling dress, and they went out to the back. I got this photo of her before we came back in.

The girls offered her a choice of pajamas, even though the pink ones were made just for her, thinking she might be sick of pink. She said that she loves all colors, but pink is her favorite. She changed into them right away and had a nice lie down, looking out the window at the trees.

When she got up from her rest, she tried on her new dress:

Then her turtleneck and slacks.

The girls turned in early, because it had been an exciting day, and they were looking forward to more of the same. I think Lotte looks a little zonked.

As often happens, life got in the way of the planned tea party, for which they need me. The "girls" had just gone to bed, when Rocky got up from his nap on the couch, where he had been since early afternoon. I noticed he was limping and licking his right front paw. Closer inspection revealed that it was very swollen and hot. We piled into the car and drove down to Salt Lake City to doggy (and other animal) urgent care. After a long wait (there were other, more life-threatening cases that took priority), the cause was revealed as an abscess between the toes. They kept him to clean it out and sew it up when they had time during the night, and I went back in the wee hours of the morning to pick him up.

Rocky's already doing better, but working his regular medication (thyroid) into his pain meds and antibiotic has been a challenge because some need to be given on an empty stomach and some with food. Some every eight hours and some every twelve. Then we had the time change to deal with. Thank heaven for my iPhone!

Not much sleep for me for three nights. He knows not to lick his injury, but we also have to keep him from getting up on or down off of the furniture by himself, playing with Dusty or using the stairs. 

Wouldn't you know it snowed early Sunday morning. We have to bag up Rocky's foot so he can go out without getting it wet.

With any luck, the tea party will be in next week's report.

What's on my needles: Mandy’s Fair Isle sweater

What's on my Featherweight: Pajamas for Alister and Gabi.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to practice tapes for Park City Singers. Finished Amy Corwin’s novel All She Loves on the Kindle app, but haven’t started another yet. I like this author for a clean romance. The stories are well written and entertaining, and the characters are not just good or evil.

What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec.

What's my tip of the week: A pill cutter is a very handy and inexpensive item to have, especially when the dose is "1 and 1/4 tablet."

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.