Special Needs ~

I'm sitting here wondering what I've gotten myself in to. I guess I need to start at the beginning. I got a phone call this morning at work asking if there was any way I could pick up a pug at a kennel in Cleveland today and could I possibly foster her. The only thing I knew was that she was an eight to ten year old fawn female who needed to get to the vet ASAP because she had very bad dry eye syndrome. I'm not sure I was ready to foster so soon and I REALLY liked not having a dog to walk at 6 am. OK, so I agree to foster her. The first thing to decide is a name. No two pugs coming in to Ohio Pug Rescue are given the same name so after many hundreds (thousands?) of pugs, names can be somewhat of a challenge. Lately, they have been picking a "theme" each month and naming accordingly. Last month was cereal month, so we had Chex, Kix, Apple Jack (AJ), Kashi, etc. The month before, rock stars ~ Cher (Eema's pug sister), Bon Jovi, Aerosmith. Get the picture? Well, this month is fabrics. Suggestions were Taffeta (Taffy) or Polly Esther. Polly wasn't too bad, but I thought something to do with my hooking might be good. I was told Wool(ie) sounded like a boy, so when I suggested Linen (since I hook on linen), they loved it. I guess it's a good thing I don't hook on monk's cloth (monk-ie?)! So I figure she will be my Linnie.

Anyway, back to the story. I leave work early to pick her up at the shelter. The first thing I am given is her eye ointment for her dry eyes and told she is blind from it having been untreated. OK, I guess I can handle that. I have heard from many people how well blind dogs adapt. I carry her to the car for the drive home. If you know anything about pugs, you know that they shed ~ A LOT!!! By the time I got home, I was pug hair head to foot. I'm sure it was partly due to stress and partly due to the fact that she is a pug.

So Fritz takes her to a grassy area while I run in the house. Now I find out that she has problems walking. What else could be wrong? At the vet, I find out. An ear infection and really bad teeth and severe arthritis in one hip.

She's had a bath and smells so much better. It was good to get rid of the awful kennel smell.

She has paced the house this evening (as my mom would have said "more nervous than a whore in church"...lol!) running in to walls and stuff, but she already knows where to find the food and water. She's finally worn her self out and is sleeping contentedly on the couch next to the computer desk.

If you've stuck with me this long, let me introduce my Linnie.

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading about my new foster. I will get on my high horse once again and ask that your PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER buy an animal from a pet store. There are too many dogs (cats, skunks, horses, etc) just like Linen looking for someone to love them and get them out of those awful kennels.
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Cat and Dogs ~

That's Sam the office cat. He works for mice! From my understanding, the building I work in is not a nice place to be without a resident mouser. The picture above is him chillin' under my desk. The pictures below are him hammin' it up on the spare office chair.

Here's a couple of pictures sent to me by Eema's new mom. Two pugs so snug on a rug soaking up some sunshine. That's Eema on the left and her new pug sister Cher on the right. Cher's ears always look "perky".

Saturday Eema and Cher went to a Howl-O-Ween party with their mom. She is helping to collect signatures supporting a ballot campaign to ban dog auctions in the state of Ohio. Aren't they just too cute? I swear Eema is smiling at the camera. Doesn't she look terrific? I do believe that is one happy pug :)

I love this snaggle-tooth picture of Eema. She had seven teeth pulled when she came in to rescue, and every once in a while her few bottom teeth stick out.

It's been so long since I've posted pictures of my Loocie, I thought it was about time. I think she has been feeling left out. She spends most of her time with Daddy (the flyboy), but tonight he was teaching so he dropped her off on the way to school. The poor thing was so tired I could not get her to wake up for a picture!

Now that is a tough life!

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope your week is off to a great start.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Maiden Voyage!

Well, today was the day. The FAA finally signed off on all the paperwork and it was a perfect day for flying. My DSO Fritz was ready to take off - the culmination of over 1000 hours of construction time, 12,000+ rivets (I put one rivet in!) and nearly two years of work. Fritz lives in a condo and built the entire plane in his garage. His experimental light sport Van's RV-12 kit plane was ready to take to the skies!

Here he is leaving the hangar. I am excited but a nervous wreck!

This is rather disconcerting - duct tape. He says it's to hold the wings on! Actually just a stop-gap measure until the plane is painted.

On the taxi-way.

That is him! It really flies. I had no doubt, but it still is mind-boggling to think that HE built it.

This picture says it all.

I am so proud of him! Love you, Sweetie!

Thank you so much for allowing me to share this momentous occasion with you.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

My Winnings and a Couple of Rugs ~

Welcome one and all. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my blog!

In today's mail, I received my give~away goodies from Becky at PrimitivesnStitchin. She grubbied up the votive ~ it smells wonderful ~ and she even sent me the little vintage tin. She also stitched the sweetest little pumpking mat.

Check out this witch crow!!! Isn't it just the most wonderful creation? I just love it and of course my photo does not do it justice. Thank you so much, Becky. Stop on over at her blog and tell her the pugs sent you! (Even though I am still pug-less.)

Tuesday evening was the monthly hook-in a the library. Here's Karin, Lisa and Polly hard at work. Carole, Mitsuko and Deanna were making sewing rolls but I failed to get any pictures of their handiwork. Candie and Andrea were also there but no pictures :(

This is Carole's rug. As always, just magnificent and so close to completion.

Lisa is hooking a Wendy Miller pattern she purchased at Sauder Village. You can't tell by the picture, but she hooked the rooster in a very nubby-looking manner. It is going to be a wonderful rug.

Here's Deanna doing her Wilson impression from Home Improvements.

That's it for tonight. It's about time to fall in to bed, though I probably won't get there for another hour. I'm just not smart enough to get to bed at a reasonable time. I guess I'll just never learn :-)

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Congrats to...

If you get the chance, stop by Cathy's blog. She is hooking an amazing rug that is HUGE! I think it is something like 4' x 4'.

Thank you to all who entered. I'd love to send everyone a prize, but there just aren't enough hours in the day or days in the week to punch that many things. I really do appreciate each and everyone one of you and I thank you from the bottom of my pea pickin' little heart :)

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Mystery Revealed ~ ~ ~

Am I the only one who hates to turn the furnace on for the first time in the fall? I feel if I turn the heat on I am giving up on warm weather and I am definitely a warm weather person. I really don't think I belong in northern Ohio ~ especially from November through May.

It's currently 49 degrees here on the north coast. I am sitting next to my little portable heater and when I go to bed tonight the electric blanket will be on. But will I turn on the furnace? Not just yet :)

I thought I would reveal the give~away goodie. It's a little punch needle mat. The cat and sky were taken from a freebie design by Robin at Bird in the Hand Primitives. The drawing is tomorrow so you still have time to enter. You must leave your comment on the September 29th post or drop me an email with give~away in the subject line. The drawing will be tomorrow evening, a little later than I originally said because tomorrow I'm going hookin'.

Thanks so much to all my followers. I am so excited to be up to 108. I really do appreciate each and every one of you. I had no idea so many people would be interested in my blatherings :)

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Whole Lot of Nothin'

To say I didn't accomplish anything of importance this weekend is an understatement! Yesterday BFF Belinda and I planned to go to the outdoor fall antique/craft festival. The weather was less than ideal for an outdoor show, so we passed on it hoping today would be a better day to attend. Today was much worse! We've gotten some much needed rain, but along with it came 50 degree temperatures and strong winds. I feel sorry for all the vendors who spent so much time and money getting ready for the show. It had to be disastrous for them.

I did get lucky on Friday by winning a give~away on Becky's blog, Primitives n Stitchin. Speaking of give~aways, I have been feverishly working on the mystery give~away. At least it's no longer a mystery to me! Check out my previous post to enter.

I've also been working on some cross stitch this weekend. I really did forget how much I enjoy it. I find it so relaxing. I will share it with you soon.

It's back to work tomorrow. I am thankful to have a job but the weekends sure don't last long enough. There's just not enough time to play!

Thanks so much for dropping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren