Kate's garden

Kate welcomed the newest dog to our garden today. Turk, so named in honor of Ron's dashound, was a gift from Paulette in celebration of my birthday. He'll be in excellent company in our yard.

The pup above was for many years in the garden of longtime library staff member, Marge Owings. He usually sports a ribbon for the season, so, the next will be a red,white and blue ribbon. I just noticed the orange slice nailed to the tree and asked Ron about it. He said he is trying to attract oriels. Okay. The other pup in foreground was a present from Paulette, too, from several years ago.

This guy came home with us from the Medina Antique Mall quite a few years ago. When we first put him on the porch, Alex tried to subdue him by placing his neck over the statue. It was hilarious! As you can see, we, sadly, did not know enough to take a concrete statue in during the winter. Every year, a different part of his legs falls off. It is really quite disturbing, but, we just can't put him out of his misery and I feel so responsible for his condition. It makes me feel sad everytime I leave the house and see him there.

The Scotty came home with us from the Antique Mall as well. It is metal and has done well in all seasons. I'm sure it was perched on a barn or garage, but, we plunked him near the garden gate and there he watches all who enter.

I think Kate is more interested in the vegetation than the dog, and I have to keep a close eye on what she tries to eat. I am usually taking pieces of mulch from her. There has been no digging thus far this season and I am really glad about that!

Louie is really faking it in this photo. Look how sweet and innocent he looks! He is usually tearing across the lawn, barking in general to see what he can roust out of the grass, trees, alley, etc, etc, etc.
I actually asked him to sit and look at me. Whoa.

I could add to this post with photos of the many dog planters we have, but it will take me awhile to gather them all up, so, I'll save those for a later update. Thanks, Paulie, for adding another lovely dog treasure for the garden this year!

Kate's cool factor

It is Ohio Bike Week! It's actually 10 days, but that's counting both weekends. Last year, more than 130,000 bikers came to Sandusky to have a huge block party. Our house is on the main drag, so to speak, and so we see and hear bikes until the wee hours.....and we LOVE it!!!!

Last night, Ron and I stopped at the Mad River Harley Davidson store in town and got some gear for ourselves and Kate. Two tshirts, a dog leash and tshirt for Kate and a hat for Ron....$150.00! Whew. Biking is expensive. Actually, we ran into a co worker of Ron's from Stein Hospice there. She and her husband are bikers and we asked about the cost of a bike. He said you could get a great bike-used-and loaded--for $8,000-$15,000. We are intrigued.....

I loved the one with the blue lights! Of course, there are hundreds to look at in the store and thousands more on the city streets, so, we headed downtown.

Friday night in Sandusky! Very cool.  We stopped to hear both bands. On huge sound stages. One was country western and the other.....wasn't. It was called Saliva and was really rocking.

Today is the Bike Parade and you can imagine the scene, can't you? Bike guys and gals, thousands of them head into downtown, parking, parking, parking. and then the block party gets underway. We'll be at the parade and then back for a lawn party to watch the bikers go by our house.

Maybe there is a bike in our future for next year! Stay tuned.

Post surgery for Kate

Poor Kate. She is feeling very punk. We were advised to get her in a tshirt to lessen chances of any of the dogs messing with the sutures. We are pretty confident that the cyst is harmless although it was deep into the back muscle.

Both Jack and Louie are pretty bummed that their playmate is shut down for the next 7 to 10 days

On the Road with Kate

This weekend, we took Kate with us on our garden adventures. Mill Hollow Nursery, near Vermilion, Ohio, is one of our favorite places. It it only open from May 1st to June 15. Everything here is beautiful, and limited in quantity! We usually get her much earlier in the season, but, we still managed to find lots of lavendar to plant among our roses in the back yard. Kate is exploring the garden shed.

Jody Freilich and her husband live on the property and the various outbuilding are tempting to explore.

We've gotten all our plants here and most of our garden art. This lovely fairy garden was very sweet!

The living wreaths are my favorite. All you have to do is spray the hose on it everyday and it lasts all summer.

The sun was bouncing off the sculptures and the mirrors on the flip side made dancing shawdows on the stone wall. This one was already sold or it would have come home with us. Jody designed our garden in the front yard and we get compliments from those who walk by.

We took Kate for a ride so that she wouldn't  think the car meant going to the vet. Today, she is having surgery to remove a small lump from her back. We hope it is something simple and benign. It will be a long day of waiting.

Kate's dark secret

It's true, Kate doesn't like the rain. And she would rather do her business, ahem, inside on a rainy day. Actually, true be told, she's only 50% housetrained and I'm 100% ready to try just about anything to improve those stats. Last night, at the suggestion of Samantha, I am giving her a small handful of kibble everytime she goes outside successfully. That worked well last night, but, when she refused to step on the sidewalk and I was in a hurry to get ready for work, she left me a package on the kitchen floor.

I suppose I'll have to crate her in the kitchen for awhile,  but, gosh, that seems pretty much of a bummer. Since she is now 15 months (how is that for parentspeak) she should be well over this by now. Any suggestions would be welcome.

baa baa black sheep......

Yesterday, Paulette and I and two friends from work went to the fiber show in Wooster, Ohio. Our first stop was to the barns to visit the goats and sheep. The man who was bringing the angora goats to the show was a professor from the University of Delaware where he was in charge of the botanical garden. He raises the goats solely because his wife likes the fiber for spinning! What a trooper. Encouraged to pet a few of them, we noticed that the horns were very warm. We learned that horns soak up and then dissipate the heat and that keeps the goats cooler. I remarked that I could use something like that. Oh dear. 

When we got the the sheep barn, there were some interesting sights to behold. We guessed that the coats were used to keep the sheep clean before judging as was the extra trimming going on all around us. The fellow with the shears was from Montana. He mentioned that he brought 10 rams and a few females to show and hopefully sell @ $1,000 each. He left 1,200 sheep at home! Those are raised for their fiber-sold to a commercial site in Texas for wool for carpets, not for any spinners.

He was really patient as I asked more questions about the value of getting a first place in the ring. Turns out that the first place winner is the first to be auctioned the next day, which is an advantage.








We sat in the stands to watch some rams being judged. If you are raising sheep, you only need one or two rams to service, ahem, about 100 females (I can't remember what a female sheep is called) and so you need to be really picky about the ram you buy.

We also saw some cute puppys in the pens right along with the sheep.

Before we hit the vendor booths, we stopped to admire to other fiber animals: angora rabbits and some alpacas.

Ron sent me on a birthday/anniversary mission to select a carder as his present to me next month (June 4/June 13) The one I chose was the Strauch Mad Batt'r. I had a LONG email from my Wise Woman, Bonnie, with detailed instructions on what to look for and what not to get, so I simply handed it to the vendor from Ashland and we went over every detail to be sure I was getting what Bonnie thought would be best! Of course, I really need to have Bonnie show me how to make creative yarn bats, but, I did buy a book, The Ashford Book of Carding: A Handspinners Guide to Fibre Preparation by Jo Reeve.

I also stopped by the vendor where I bought my fleece last year, Promised Land and Livestock Co. of Fresno, OH. Moose, a large female sheep, is doing well and had a ram of her own in March. I showed them the cabled purse I was making from her fleece of last year.

We noted that she is much lighter in color than last year. Anyway, they invited us to their  farm open house "load and go" sale on July 21. Starter flock packages available. They have both Blue Faced Leicester and Lincoln breeding stock. I plan to say hi to Moose and thank her personally for her fleece.

Dance recitals

I know, what could I possible say about dance recitals. Well, yesterday I finally attended one. It was the 31st annual dance recital of the Moving Company. Held at the State Theater, it took place on Saturday and Sunday from 2-5. As Ron and I were driving by around 1pm, we noticed the cutest ever children, dressed in the most amazingly sweet costumes, having their photos taken in the park. Upon asking, we learned about the recital. I just couldn't resist. Warned that it would be crowded with hundreds of parents, grandparents, etc, I got in line for tickets. I just happen to know that the State Theater seats 1,500 and I will tell you that it was PACKED!

There were dozens of 3 minute dance routines, ranging from ages 3 up to 18. Costumes were elaborate and as the same children were in several dances, I had to wonder what the cost to the family added up to, including a year's worth of lessons. Probably a pretty penny, but, gee, it had to be worth it to see this finale.

For some of the older children, there were ballets and for the youngest there were tumbling routines. Almost everyone in the audience had a bouquet of flowers on hand to present to their child, so, I was a bit of a standout to be sitting front and center without anything but my camera.

I left during intermission, reluctant to get back to gardening and other Sunday afternoon activities, but, I am really glad I spent an hour in the world of dance!