I do believe that BOGO WINS...

I went shopping yesterday.

I found this adorable dog-bed on clearance at TJ Max.

Isn't it adorable?

Bogo sure thought so.

He immediately claimed it as his!

Of course, the very moment that Bogo left the bed to go see what someone else was up to, somewhere else in the house...

JAKE hopped in and made himself comfortable!

I'm glad that the dogs like the bed.

But this could become a problem!

Fortunately for Bogo, he became the very first dog, rescued by Bluff Country Canine Rescue, to be placed in a Foster Home today!  A wonderful couple came to my house this morning and met all of the dogs.  They have a young, female lab cross, that they got through a rescue a while ago and decided that they would like to help another dog in need.  Well, this couple's children are all grown so it's just the two of them and their pup in their home.  Things are SO crazy around my place with six dogs bouncing around, that it's no wonder they were attracted to  Bogo, who  stood out by being so quiet and calm and well mannered.  (not that Cisco was climbing the walls or anything!)

;-)

Pam and Jeff (and "Java" the lab pup) will be giving Bogo a whole new experience of being loved and socialized in a somewhat more "normal" setting.  Bogo will receive one on one care and training that is almost impossible for me to do here, with so many dogs!  The goal is to help Bogo reach the point where he is socially ready to be the BEST house-dog possible so that he is ready to go when his "Forever" home comes looking for him...

I will be staying in close contact with Bogo's foster parents and will still be promoting him as an 'adoptable dog'.  Please send some extra prayers his way asking that this be a positive experience for Bogo and his new foster family and moves him one step closer to 'Forever'!

Thank you Pam & Jeff Key for giving this big, gentle guy a chance at a better life!

Jill says...

"Silly boys! 

You wouldn't catch ME sleeping on no dog-bed, on the FLOOR!"





Long time no Blog!

Sorry about that.  Having six (oh yeah, you guys might not even KNOW about the sixth dog ~ I'll get to him in a minute) dogs in my house and running to veterinary appointments, interviewing Foster Family applicants and potential adopters, and trying to keep up the Bluff Country Canine Rescue Facebook page have kept me running as fast as I can and I never quite get to everything that I want or have to do!  I am proud to say, however, I have managed to keep my house clean!  ;-)

Oh yes, before I say anything more about dogs;  I haven't forgotten that I promised a sheep photo on this blog post.  Here ya go:

Tia and Kahlua are quite content being the only two sheep left in the Bluff Country.  Tia especially seems to enjoy 'playing' with the dogs. through the fence.  The girls are getting super fluffy ~ I can't wait to get my hands on their wool.

As I mentioned above, I am now up to SIX dogs in my house.   Last weekend, a HUGE, beautiful stray was brought to my home, after he had spent several weeks hanging around some kind people's house.  The couple had even placed an ad in the local newspaper but no one claimed this handsome boy:

Meet "Jake"

OMG, I am SO in love!

I think that Jake is a Malamute cross (possibly crossed with Rotweiller) and I fell in love with him the very second that I saw him.  He reminds me SO VERY much of my 'heart dog' , "Rocky" .  Rocky was a Husky/Rotweiller cross and he looked almost like Jake, except that he was black and tan where Jake is black and cream.  I just can't explain the feeling that comes over me when I pet and hold Jake.

More dog news.

This time not so good.

Although Jill has finally recovered from her pneumonia, she has lost her vision.  In only a matter of days, she went from perfectly normal vision to none.  I'm afraid the vet confirmed it on Thursday, Jill is completely blind.  Needless to say, this absolutely breaks my heart.  She is such a sweet, playful, young dog who has had enough bad breaks in her short life!

The one thing that keeps this from being devastating for me is Jill herself.  She is not fearful and trembling.  Sure, she walks more slowly now and bumps into lots of things.  But she's already got the lay of my house down pretty well and as you can see in this video, she has not lost her spunk

 one.  little.  bit!

Have a great weekend Everyone and don't forget to follow the fun on the Saturday Pet Blogger!

Winter is getting SERIOUS!

It is snowing in the Bluff Country and the dogs are having a blast!

Sable, Cisco and BoGo

Jill continues to get better!

The race is on!

(BoGo and Cisco)

"Hey!  Where's everybody going???"

"I'll just wait here until they come back..."

Here they come!

Heading back for the house.

It's COLD out there!

next up:

SHEEP in the snow!



Having Fun with Fiber!

I promised I would share some of my recent fiber exploits.  Somehow, in between cleaning up dog disasaters, training dogs, hauling dogs to the vet, giving medication, vacuuming up dog hair, letting dogs out, bringing dogs in and separating jealous canines when the tension gets a bit too high, I've found time to SPIN...

I'm currently working on some white Shetland/kid mohair roving from my Shetland sheep and Mc Steamy, the white Angora goat wether that I used to own.  It is heaven to spin!

I'm using my "Roberta" electronic spinner.  The truth is, I haven't used my treadle wheel since I bought the Roberta!

"Betty" just spins so much faster and effortlessly than a treadle wheel.  And I can sit back comfortably on the couch while I spin!

I'm in love with the soft, shimmery yarn this roving is making!

This is a damp skein, drying in the sunshine, on the back of one of my dining room chairs.

Heck, I think it even makes pretty pictures!

I've been pre-drafting roving in the morning, spinning in the afternoon (better light) and KNITTING in the evening...

This is a pair of socks that I'm making for my baby Sister, Penny.  It's a Thank You gift for all that she did for me (and my animals) when I was so sick last year.

I would have knit her anything but she wanted wool socks!

This is the first pair that I've made using double pointed needles.

Jill (who is feeling MUCH better!) supervises.

The socks are NOT knit from the yarn I'm currently spinning.  They're from a bulkier, musket yarn that I spun months ago.

I'm going to use the white yarn that I'm spinning as part of these:

And this:

They're the "Drifty" mittens and hat patterns by  Mandy Powers on Ravelry.  Click on either image to take you to the pattern!

What are YOU working on???



Riding the Rollercoaster with Jill...

In my latest Facebook update, I was cautiously celebrating the improvement in Jill's health. 

Unfortunately, as I had feared, the next day Jill seemed worse again.  In the morning, she wouldn't even get off my bed to go outside.  I offered her food (drizzled with bacon grease) right on my bed but she wasn't interested.

Since Jill wasn't even tempted by her food, I had to force-feed her the pain pill that I give her every morning.  Within a half-hour to an hour, she had eaten all her food and wanted to go outside.

Yesterday was a much better day. 

 Jill was still miserable first thing in the morning,

but she ate her breakfast and by noon was clearly feeling better than she has in quite some time!

Here she's shown, trotting off to the pasture with BoGo!

Of course, it almost goes without saying that this morning, Jill doesn't want her breakfast nor will she get up to go outside.

The good news is, Jill does seem to be slowly improving.  Even her bad days are not as bad as they were a week ago.  And on  her good days, I have to intervene to keep her from overdoing things in her celebrations of feeling better!  I will be speaking with the vet again today to see about getting a few more of the pain pills.  Jill only gets a half a tablet, once a day but it really does seem to make a huge difference in how she feels.

While I'm finally posting on here, I want to say a big THANK YOU to the generous folks who have reached into their hearts and their pocketbooks to help fund the added expenses that Jill's illness have brought about.  Many of the people who have donated are actually in the 'dog rescue world' themselves yet still reach out to help others.   What an incredibly kind and generous group of people they are!  Several people have contacted me for my address as they are not comfortable donating on-line.  I've added my snail-mail address to my ChipIn page for those who prefer to send checks. 

Later:  Updates on Spinning and Knitting progress!

Yes, I still am keeping up with my fiber arts!

;-)

For the love of animals...

Why I do what I do:

I could sure use your help! 

(Sheep!) Wordless Wednesday

Sunday Shadows...

Live and learn...

I was not exactly in the mood to film a cute little video like this:

...when I walked in my front door after visiting 'Doc' for a couple of hours  last night.  But I did manage to take a few photos before staying up until  three o'clock in the morning, cleaning up the mess:

That WAS two large bags of roving that I recently paid to have processed!  One of which was a beautiful, honey-gold, mioget color and one black.  In the forefront is the plastic bag that contained one of the batches.

If you look closely, you can see my purse (rust colored) on the left/top side of the photo.  My billfold was destroyed and there was change scattered throughout the house.  They must have played catch with it!  The bright orange object next to my purse is/WAS a cone of CASHMERE, laceweight yarn. .  There are also two DOG TOYS  laying near the mess.

A third bag of (white) roving was laying in the hallway.

What was left of a pair of sunglasses and a roll of toilet paper!

I got everything picked up and the roving separated back into the individual colors as best I could before crashing on the couch so that I could sleep near Jill.  She  was diagnosed with pneumonia yesterday and I want to keep a close eye on her breathing until I know that she's through the worst of it.  Jill is the only one that I know for sure did not partake in destroying my house.  She was too weak to get off the love-seat!   I suspect that BoGo was the bandleader but can't know for sure.  

The dogs let me sleep 'till 10:30 this morning (my couch is pretty comfy!) and I vacuumed as soon as I got up.  One would never even know that there are four dogs who are all lucky they aren't back in the POUND!

Ooops!  I forgot to put my pillow away.

I hope your weekend got off to a better start than mine!

...sigh...

(the reality is, it is MY fault.  I should have put BoGo in a crate as I knew he tends to chew stuff up if I leave him alone.  Thank goodness I put away my books and knitting before I left the house!)