Frankendaisy

Well, it finally happened. I turned into the person who dresses her pets for Halloween. Well, a pet. The only one who really likes wearing clothes. Daisy LOVES dog shirts and sweaters, I think it's because she knows they make her extra cute and people are more likely to fawn over her. She also loves people and is good with little kids, so last night I let her help me hand out candy to the Trick or Treaters.

After seeing Frankenweenie last week, I knew that had to be Daisy's costume. We're pretty sure she has some dachshund in her, she has a more weenie-like build than most corgis and a more narrow face and flatter coat, plus some doxie mannerisms. Plus it would be an easy costume and not too weird and bulky (she may like sweaters, but I don't think she'd do well with one of those costumes that goes over the head, since she has a long neck and big ears).

I lucked out and found a Junior's size grey t-shirt on clearance for $2 at JoAnn's. It was already a pretty good fit on Daisy, just a little too long. So I cut a couple inches off the bottom and then took a little more off the front of the shirt so she wouldn't trip on it. Then I spent 5-10 minutes drawing stitches and patches with a black marker. I wanted to add bolts to her neck but I couldn't find any Frankenstein makeup kits. Still, the t-shirt was good enough. Lots of people recognized what she was supposed to be.

Daisy had a great time making friends with kids, adults, and even one giant werewolf. She was very well-behaved, other than a few times when she decided to start barking at people because they were walking on the other side of the street instead of coming over to us right away. I'd say the night was a success!

We have nothing to fear but fear itself. And drums.

I'm sure I've mentioned here before that Daisy is my crazy dog. Last week, she had to go to the vet because she broke a toenail while freaking out in the bathtub (OHMIGAWD! WATER! I'M GOING TO DIE! RUN AWAY!). Today, my brother came over with his new gigantic truck, and she fearlessly ran under the truck (because there were people on the other side), and then jumped up into the cab (because an open vehicle door is a clear indication that it's time for a ride, even if she's never seen the vehicle before). I'm always amused by the things that do and do not scare her. She'll lovingly lick the vet and the letter carrier on the face, but she's terrified of the Furminator brush.

I've also mentioned that neither dog approves of my zill playing. They'll fold their ears back, look at me with accusing eyes, and slink off to the bedroom to hide. Well, apparently they just hate percussion instruments in general, because Chris was playing a drum tonight and there was Daisy, sitting in the bedroom doorway giving me that sad look that asked "When is the scary drum going to go away?"

That's my Daisy, a dog of extremes.

The Hungriest Pixie Ever -- Hunger Moon Art Dare

The Hungriest Pixie Ever is my entry for FAE Team's February Art Dare. Our theme choices were Snow Moon and Hunger Moon. If I'd had more time, I would have made entries for both themes, but the month flew by, so I only had a chance to make a Hunger Moon necklace. As soon as I saw that theme, I knew I had to use the pomegranate faerie that I'd been hoarding for years, and the little pomegranate charms that I'd purchased to match her.

The pomegranate faerie focal is of course from Green Girl Studios. If you're a regular reader of my blog, you already know that I love designing with their work, because it perfectly fits my sense of style and they're such a nice family. As such, I was pretty peeved when I heard that someone had ripped off many of their designs! For details on this nasty incident, visit Cynthia Thornton's blog. Thankfully it looks like they are making progress on stopping the offender, which is especially important since this person was copying the work of many artists. That's just not cool!

The little poms are also by a favorite artist of mine, Melanie from Earthenwood Studios. Because they work in similar themes (faeries and steampunk and nature), Green Girl and Earthenwood components go great together, and I'm always happy when I can design a piece that combines them (for another example, see Her Airship Sailed Through Time).

It's important to me to continue supporting the bead/component designers I love, especially when they're facing the double whammy of a poor economy and increased design-piracy. I haven't been buying as much as I used to, since I haven't been selling much, but recent events have served as a good reminder that I should be spending a bit more, and giving them a bit more love in my blog!

Closing on a lighter note, the inspiration for the name of this necklace came from my dog Daisy. During the first few months that we had our corgis, I noticed Daisy sitting on the couch, head down, ears back, giving me the big eyes because I was doing something other than petting or feeding her. I declared her "the saddest puppy ever." But because she does everything to the full extent she can, she has numerous "-est puppy ever" moments, whether it's hungry, barky, happy, or something even more ridiculous. I couldn't help but use the same naming convention for the subject of this necklace!

I bought dog clothes

Normally, I am not the sort of person who dresses her pets. I figure, they've got perfectly good fur coats, why should I wrestle them into a garment? However, it's pretty cold (for AZ), and my little Daisy dog has a big shaved spot from her lump removal. So I decided to buy her a doggie sweater to keep her warm until her fur finishes growing back.

Judging from how she and Maggie reacted to the sight of the sweater, I'm thinking they might have worn them before and that they actually liked them. These are the dogs who are not only afraid of nail clippers and baths, but also of doggie hairbrushes. Yet they jumped gleefully when they saw the sweater, and Daisy let me put it on her (though she also hit me in the chin with her head). No attempts have been made to remove the garment, and she's happily going about her evening in it. I may have to buy Maggie one so she doesn't feel left out.

Before I went on my shopping trip, I finished my Queen Anne's Lace bracelet from Marcia DeCoster's class at the retreat. I'll post pictures soon!

Good news, everybody!

Daisy's lab results are already in, and the mysterious lump was benign! They told me exactly what it was, but it was very confusing a wordy. Something like a "Sub-2 mass in the collagen of the nerve something." The important part is that once her incision heals up, she'll be a perfectly healthy girl, no meds or treatments or constant worrying about new growths. She's currently celebrating by snoozing in the sunny spot on the living room floor.

Daisy's Surgery

I just wanted to let everyone know that Daisy is out of surgery and we're going to go pick her up from the vet in about half an hour. Now begins the fun of keeping her from worrying her stitches! Better go get the e-collar out of the pet cabinet.

Maggie seems pretty unhappy about Daisy's absence. First we took Daisy on a car ride without her, then we came home sans Daisy! Her puppy mind must be boggled. I've made sure to take several breaks today just to cuddle with her on the couch.

Went to the vet today

Ah, Daisy. She's my little problem puppy... Totally manic and OCD, always charging into everything, always licking, always desperate for more love, and twice now she's needed her own special trip to the vet.

For the past several months, Miss Daisy-Face has had a little lump on her side. When she had her annual vet check this summer, the doctor said that it might just be a bump from wrestling and to keep an eye on it. Well, it never got better, and it started to get bigger, so back to the vet she went today.

This time the lump got a much closer examination (last time, the doctor could barely feel it). Because it felt unusual and the skin was discolored, she recommended that we have it removed and sent to the lab, and Chris and I quickly agreed. Mysterious lumps are not something you want to mess around with! So Daisy goes back to the vet on the 18th for a little surgery, and will once again have to wear the Cone of Shame (thank you, Up) because she can't be trusted not to lick her wounds.

I don't know how long it will take us to get the lab results after the surgery, but I'll keep everyone updated.

Lest anyone worry too much, let me assure you that Daisy does not seem to be in any pain (though she doesn't like having the lump prodded), she still eats like every meal is her last, and she's always eager to run outside, play, wrestle, or lick our friendly mail carrier. Whatever the lump is, it's not affecting her quality of life one bit.

One year of puppies!

Last year, Chris and I spent the Labor Day weekend driving up to the northwestern corner of New Mexico to adopt Daisy and Maggie. Here's the picture I snapped of them in our hotel in NM -- as you can see by those smiles, they'd already accepted us as cool people, and were clearly prepared to teach us how to spoil them rotten.

Bringing these two cuties into my life is one of the best decisions I've ever made. They cause me so much happiness, with their silly antics, unconditional love, and adorable faces. Here's hoping they'll be with us for many more years!

Happy Daisy Dog!

I decided that since I took a bunch of pictures of the dogs, I'll use them on posts where I don't have any new Cthulhu or other bead-related pictures. So here's Daisy, being cute and happy. For some reason, she puts her ears back when she's happy. I think it makes her look kind of like a seal. This picture was taken between her bouncing up and down excitedly on the couch trying to get me to pet her (which I did) before running over to the other end of the couch to wrestle with Maggie.

Today I had another workout, and I got more advice on how to deal with my ridiculously short Achilles tendons, and I lifted 25lb bars, and I jumped around a lot, and I rowed 500m. Actually, I did that first, but whatever. I don't go back to the gym until the Tuesday after I get back from NY. I will get plenty of exercise while I'm gone though, as I'll spend at least one day walking around NYC and one day walking around a Ren Faire, and I'll probably dance a bit, and practice my squats. I will not be sedentary, that is for sure.

It's dog time, not blog time!

This is my favorite picture of Maggie -- I love that I captured her mid-yawn and managed to get a photo where she's showing her true cuteness, instead of looking sulky.

Today Chris and I took both of the girls down to the vet for their annual check-up and booster shots, in preparation for them being boarded while we're in NY. It was a bit of a stressful ordeal for them -- the vet and vet tech were both very nice, but that only goes so far for a dog when strange objects are being put into their orifices! Maggie especially wanted no part of it, though she still licked the vet's nose while being stethoscoped, and walked up to the vet tech for good-bye petting at the end.

Since then, they've spent most of the day in a post-vet drowsy state, showing the appropriate enthusiasm for food and opportunities to go outside, but otherwise adopting a feline-like system of moving from one nap spot to the next, largely based on where I am. AJ's in the office? Let's sleep on the loveseat or behind her desk chair. AJ's eating dinner? Let's sleep under the table or on the back of the couch, the better to occasionally wake up and make sad, starving eyes at her (they got fed before I did, don't believe them!). AJ's not paying attention? Let's go take a nap on the people bed! Silly dogs.

But when I sat down to write this post, Daisy became suddenly animated, barkingly insisting that she needed attention now, then jumping up to put her paws on my leg and nose her way between my arm and body, so that I'm hugging her. This is a frequent trick of hers, and she seems very pleased with herself for doing it. Now that I've turned down her advances, she's back on the loveseat, wearing her "I'm the saddest puppy ever" face. Guess I should go make it up to her!

By the way, Gossiping Pixies are today's Daily Special. Thought I should tack that on here...

Belly rubs, please!

Ah, dogs. They're rarely shy about letting you know what they want. Here, Daisy and Maggie show us how much they'd like to have their fuzzy bellies rubbed. Actually, I think Daisy is sleeping in her picture, but there's never a point when she doesn't want a belly rub (except perhaps when she's eating dinner, which takes her 30 seconds), so it's still accurate.

Tomorrow we get to go down to the park and start obedience lessons. Both puppies desperately need them for various reasons -- Daisy because she won't stop barking and nipping, Maggie because she doesn't listen. Plus it will be good for them to socialize with other dogs and people, and learn important commands like "stay."

Sorry to have been so quiet lately, life has been crazy with cleaning, renovating, and New Year's Day gift-giving. I'm hoping that by this time next week, things will be closer to normal. Of course, then it will be time to start preparing for gem show!

Where do puppies not belong?

Every now and then I'll forget to shut the bedroom door, and I'll walk in on a scene like this! One or more corgi will have made herself comfortable on the "people bed." And of course, as soon as I walk in, they start acting all cute, because they know they don't belong there, but they just can't help themselves. It's so comfy! And it smells like us!

They also like to help me make the bed. They'll jump up and bounce around on the mattress as I'm trying to straighten out the sheets. It's all very, very cute. (Obviously, I had not made the bed when this picture was taken. I'm a very lazy housekeeper)

Daisy and Maggie turned two a week ago. This is around the time when they should slowly start to calm down, as they're officially adults now. Of course, as herd dogs, they'll always be pretty energetic and bossy. But maybe now they'll start to get the idea that they shouldn't take flying leaps off of the back of the couch onto the floor, and that the kitty doesn't want to play with them, no matter how many times they ask.

Our grand time at the park

I mentioned in Friday's post that we were going to take the girls walking at the park. We did, and it was a good time. We met Chris's friend and former co-worker Clinton, introduced him to Daisy and Maggie, and set out. The girls were pretty hyper at first, because they don't go for walks very often and aren't officially leash trained, but after about 10-15 minutes, and a dog swap (Daisy is too much a handful for Chris, especially when he's talking while he walks), they settled down and really enjoyed themselves.

The path around the park is about 4 miles... it took us around an hour to walk it, which is good, because they say corgis should get 30-60 minutes of exercise a day. Because of their short, stubby legs, a comfortably brisk pace for me is also a quick pace for them, so I'm sure it was a good aerobic workout for them. A dog of their size but of a less athletic breed might have been tired out, but these girls were bred to herd sheep, cattle and horses, so they have lots of energy to burn! They were smiling for pretty much the entire walk.

We had a little trouble, in that Daisy barked and lunged at the first dog we passed, but I kept her in hand and we only had minor pulling the two or three other times that we walked by other dog owners. She also shied away from rollerbladers. Being a country dog, I'm sure she'd never seen anyone on skates. Maggie, meanwhile, was just perfectly content to be out and about and didn't seem to have trouble with anyone or anything.

Because it's such a short distance to and from the park (walking distance, really, but walking there, around, and back would be too much with the shape we're currently in), instead of crating them, I took the center seat in the back and held their collars while they sat on either side of me. They were very well-behaved and didn't even try to get up front with Chris. Daisy seemed a little scared or uncomfortable with the car ride, but Maggie loved it.

After we got home and fed the girls their dinner, they slept on the office chair for five hours. Those pups were all tuckered out!

It was such a success that we're hoping to go on similar walks 2-3 times a week. We could all use the exercise, and the girls need to learn how to walk well on a leash. Besides, it's so much fun when someone walks by, smiles, and says "Aw, corgis!"

My dogs are clean!

Much to their extreme dismay, Daisy and Maggie got baths today. Their white fur is actually white again, instead of a dusty-color. And they smell slightly less like dog. It's quite an ordeal bathing them, and next time Chris wants to try taking them to one of those do-it-yourself groomers so we don't make a mess of our bathroom. Given the bits of dog hair everywhere in the tub, I'm inclined to agree with him.

The girls had to be bathed, as my friend Helen is coming over to meet them, and I thought she'd probably prefer to not be greeted by dirty, smelly dogs. Our weather has been so dry that the backyard is all dusty, and all that dust and dirt gets caught up in their fur... yuck!

Moving on to a much more pleasant topic. I actually managed to finish my brooch before bed last night. I was going to put some fringe on it, but after I finished the edge, I thought that any fringe would just look too fussy, so I'm leaving it as is. I hope to photograph it and list it on Etsy tomorrow.

World: Not quite conquered yet

Looks like I didn't conquer the world today. Or even my house. It was too nice of a day to go out and conquer anything. Autumn has hit Tucson, and we're having lower temperatures (for us) and gentle breezes. The dogs love it, they always want to go outside and chase lizards.

That's right, I didn't blog all weekend, so you get dogs in the middle of the week! This is a picture from shortly after we got the girls. Daisy likes to sleep next to my desk like this, it puts her in the middle of things and makes sure she doesn't miss out on any petting, snacks, or opportunities to go outside. Maggie's more likely to sleep on the Giant Dog Chair. She favors comfort over being in the center of things. Of course, right now, neither one of them is sleeping. They're playing "Follow the kitty around and give him kisses." Poor Topher.

The dragon necklace is coming along well, though it may turn out to be a brooch instead of a necklace. And it won't be my EBW entry, as it's going to have a steampunk story to go with it. Alas, my ancestors were not steampunks. I don't think my great-grandfather the engineer counts, even though they were steam trains.