Leeloo does Grand Thing V

I just couldn't motivate myself to get to the sewing machine and create myself an outfit or two from the fabric I have on hand for Grand Thing V. After reading Eulalia's blog, I found some food inspiration for things to take with us though. I found Chyche's and tried it out. They came out pretty good, and Eulalia also gave them thumb's up. Since there was no specific recipe for these, I just made sure that I didn't use non-period root vegetables. Whole Foods helped out with the supplies of parsnips, turnips, and golden beets for the Roasted Root Vegetable Medley.  The Chyche's:

Rachel loaned me a snuggy for Leeloo's use and I used it all weekend. The rain started as we were leaving town, so things were pretty muddy. When we arrived, we spotted friendly faces in the Murphy's and Brandon obtained an invitation to join their space in camping. We setup tent and new canopy alongside and spent time with Michel and her son.

 One of the mud bogs Friday afternoon.

We found out that not only was it wet, muddy but also cold when tiny little Leeloo started shivering. All dog sweaters owned were for larger dogs. I had brought a tiny t-shirt picked up after the holidays that didn't fit Nessa or Norbert and only a little big for Leeloo, but that wasn't going to be enough. Brandon and Michelle made a Walmart run and they were able to find newborn onesies in girl colors, so she went through them over the weekend. They fit her perfectly:

With all the rain there was of course mud and I didn't have shoes that were going to hold up, thankfully one of the vendors was selling leather boots for $10 a pair. With Brandon's help, I was able to find a pair and after looking at the other vendors, went back to let Michelle know about the awesome boot deal. Vendors and if you look you can see the boots:

(Can you find Leeloo?)

I didn't see as much of the events going on as I would have liked. I think the chiropractic neck adjustment caused the migraine I had Friday and Saturday and into Sunday. It sucked big time. I had planned to go to a Nalbinding class but sent Brandon and Michelle off to the Mead making class:

So instead of sharing the Roasted Root Vegetable Medley at the Grand Feast, we ate with Michelle and Matt with her beef kebabs and gravy. I did have lots so was able to warm them and bring them along with the Chyche's to the pig roast that Svava had invited everyone to at Revels for Sunday evening. The pig:

Leeloo's nap schedule had been thrown off during the weekend and by Sunday afternoon she was a typical whiny toddler. I want down, I want to go for a walk, I want something - I don't know what, you figure it out. She'd just settled down for a nap (she likes how the bodice creates the perfect puppy perch) when Petunia the Pig was served. She quickly woke up and decided that she could get used to eating pork:

Early evening on Saturday I had Rachel's loaned Ashford Traveler with me under the canopy and I was getting some good practice on doing a long draw spin. Leeloo was in the snuggy napping and I was spinning. All very nice, except that the wind was picking up and the light was waning. The candle light that Brandon had setup for me was blown out by the wind. While I could have spun by feel, I still preferred the ability to see what I was doing. It was great to have a wheel with me that was somewhat period in looks. Had one kid give a 'wow! cool!' that I was creating yarn.
 
If I'm known by anyone at the event, its because of Leeloo. She had everyone wrapped around her tiny paws and greeted everyone with kisses. Had to watch out when she was out walking that she didn't roll over in the mud to present belly (she did get one onesie dirty that way). She's a little too submissive that way, but must be a tiny thing as a 'please don't hurt me, I'm small.' I had several people recognize her when I had different outfits on. Michelle wants to make her a period tunic and Svava's mother Raphaela thought her onesie looked period. I think she'll definitely need a little capelet after seeing Raphaela's dog in one. There were lots of dogs of all shapes and sizes to be seen and sometimes heard in the wee hours.

Brandon has found plans to create a caravan on top of our 4x8 trailer that could possibly used for future events. Well if we were to become vendors have a little more leniency for it not being period. I have clothing ideas after seeing all kinds of garb. Now to finish up some knitting projects so that I can do some sewing projects. ;-)

Things found at Goodwill & Salvation Army

Friday night we were in search of a canopy to use for camping and on the way to Big Lots stopped in at Goodwill. We were hoping to find some wool blankets that can be made into cloaks. We didn't find any wool blankets but did find some rolls of fabric - a couple rolls of corduroy that Brandon can make into pants, some sea green velour that I might be able to do a skirt or something.

His best score was two panels of brown velvet curtains that he can make into a nice cloak, he'll just need to find another fabric as a liner. They were all only $4 or $5 each. I found kind of a poncho/shawl out of a black wool:

It might get use out of SCA events.  I also found a sweater 70/30 wool/alpaca in a nice worsted weight that I plan to unravel and I think will be more than enough to make Brandon some socks to wear with his boots. 

Tiggywinkleknits had shared last Saturday her deals at Salvation Army with me. They were supposed to be having 50% off sales these two Saturdays. Turns out that the next one is on Monday, so our buys weren't on sale. The sweaters were only $8, sweater vest $6, blanket only $6, skirt $5, and dress $8.

The sweaters are a nice neutral color of a light brown. I'm sure they'll over dye well. They're also a nice worsted weight-ish. I don't have a specific plan as yet that I want to use them for. I guess I really need to find out how much yardage I end up with to decide.  The neutral sweaters and vest:

(vest) ETA: The sides were cut and then seamed together so lots of cut strands - I'm going to try felting and see what comes out.

There were a few nice angora/cashmere/wool blends in a very tiny lace weight. They were tempting but I settled for one cashmere/wool sweater in a slightly heavier but still towards the lace weight. 

I won't bore you with the picture of the blanket. Just imagine a beige cotton woven one and you'll know what it looks like. ;-)

A dress was found that I think can double as a chemise. It's a pale pink and I have an inclination to dye it another color or bleach it out. This is what the dress looks like - awful flashy pictures, and a husband that couldn't get up off his knees from working on his grandfather's laptop - it was raining or we would have used some natural lighting:

This is what it looks like with the green Irish Dress that Brandon got for free from Lady Catriona:

At Faire in the Grove I did pick up a nice cotton chemise from a lady, but I'm worried about staying warm next weekend at Grand Thing V. We have been chilly this spring, unusually chilly in fact. It's so white, that I'm tempted to do a tea dye. What do you think? This is the Irish Dress with the chemise:

I still need to fix the lacing edges. The metal boning has worn through the top on one side, so I'm going to sew some ribbon to keep them in place. Just need to get that done before Friday. This does give me two outfits. With the grey wool bodice and a 'sweetheart' black chemise and black skirt, I have another. I want to come up with another skirt or a surcote type dress.  Just have to get Leeloo to cooperate in her napping so I can sew. ;-) Ironing the chemise will also be a nice thing. 

Need to check Whole Foods and New Seasons to see if they have some Parsnips or Turnips. Our last name falls in the 'vegetable' category for the feast on Saturday. I thought either or both of those roasted should fall into the authentic category. Any other suggestions? 

Two months

Today it has been two months since I lost Nessa. She's still in my thoughts almost daily. There are fewer tears and I can laugh at memories. We sometimes mistakenly call Leeloo, Nessa, but its in a good way.

Nessa is with us in spirit and I think parts of her have come to stay in Norbert and Leeloo. Nessa loved her rawhide chew sticks and didn't mind my leaving the house so long as I left her with one of them. Norbert would also get one, but he was usually more interested in returning to his nap than chewing on it. This allowed Nessa to often steal his chewie stick.

These days its Norbert and Leeloo taking turns stealing the chewie sticks from each other. Norbert comes up on the bed looking for Leeloo's, so while he's up on the bed, she's down on the floor checking out his hidey-hole in the bedroom (in the closet, behind the rocking chair) looking for his. I have to pay attention that they each have their own or that they seem fine with the switch.

They take turns channeling Nessa in regards to food. If Norbert is eating it, and Leeloo wasn't sure about it, she'll eat it after watching him eat it. Norbert was this way and had to see Nessa eat it before he would trust it was good to eat. He sometimes still decided she was crazy and would spit things back out. There have been a few times that Leeloo has been able to get him to try a food.

Before we lost Nessa, it took Norbert almost eight years to figure out the whole food-kitchen thing. Nessa would hang out in the doorway ready to scoop up anything that fell on the floor, or I would toss her way. Norbert had finally started to show an interest in food and was hanging out with her. He's still doing that and now Leeloo is joining him there.

Now if only they would both channel Nessa in eating when I put their food bowls down. They both have a tendency to be picky eaters of their own food. Norbert is more than willing to eat puppy food, but it has chicken/turkey in it and shouldn't be eating it. Thus far it doesn't seem to have triggered an ear infection. Leeloo will eat her food, but if given a choice she'll eat Norbert's first. So I'm back to feeding separately and having to watch both.

Miss you baby.

Leeloo Videos and a few photos

We have this soccer ball toy that Norbert never really got into, so it languished in the toy bin. I washed all the toys a few weeks ago and remembered the ball. I needed something to distract Leeloo from attacking my feet, so pulled out the soccer ball and was kicking it around the back yard. I think its funny how she runs to and usually flips over the ball to get it. It took her a few times to figure out how to grab the ball and bring it to me. Its good for laughs and since she's making me laugh, that's great. She's much better about bringing the ball back than Norbert. Doesn't do it all the time, but that's fine. We both get exercise going around the yard that way. Leeloo and her soccer ball:


I mentioned on Facebook that Leeloo's little 'roo-roo-roo' bark always brings a smile to my face. I also usually laugh and roo-roo back at her. Tonight she was playing with Brandon on the couch, lighting is a little low, sorry about that. It's also a little long at over three minutes, so I'm going to include a link to it. That way if you don't want to, you don't have to watch it.

While I was in class on Saturday, Brandon was in charge of Leeloo. He took the camera out with his tripod and took some photos of Leeloo at her level. These were the best of the lot.

I worked on the Burnside Winter Twilight Mitts in the morning MAX rides to class. Both afternoons the trains were full/busy, so difficult to do stranded knitting. I'll get more work done on them tomorrow, either at spinning or at Whole Foods. I'm at the thumb increases, so the flow is rolling along. I'd like to get these done so I can pass them on to Susan.

Finished Footies

I finished them last week and used them during my Reflexology class this last weekend - they're great. They used my hand dyed yarn from my dye class with Pico-Accuardi.

I ran half an inch short of finishing with the dyed stuff, so finished with the black. Other change to pattern I made was to do an extra repeat of the pattern before starting the short row heel. Pattern is YMMV Footies.

Gardening fun

Saturday afternoon Leeloo, Brandon and I went to the Tualatin Valley Gardeners' Association Plant Sale at Washington County Fairgrounds. Brandon found an awesome cart to collect our plants on and soon there were tomatoes - Sweet Golds (yellow cherry tomatoes that are supposed to be sweet like candy), Beef Eaters (I think is the name) and Romas (for salsas), four kinds of chilis - jalapenos, sweet banana, anaheim and a new one -telica ; four kinds of squash - green zucchini, patti-pans, delicata, and buttercup; a few herbs - chives, dill, and parsley; daisys - yellow, cream, and two fancy purple ones; a little lavender shrub, a Colorado Columbine to go with my others, and a new viola to also go with the others; a couple of hostas and another shade loving shrub for under the front window.

Leeloo insisted upon walking around and meeting people there. She has a preference for meeting men, the little flirt. She got to see a pug, a chihuahua, and a beardie. She was also outside helping to get everything all planted until my migraine got to the point I needed to take a nap, so she joined me in bed for that.

Leeloo is helping me get lots of yard work done by going out into the back yard to get her some exercise between downpours and while out there I've pulled weeds, trimmed trees and shrubs and figured out empty spots. Hence the additional daises for the spots under trees that still get some good sun and the need for another Columbine. I still need an oregano and another yarrow. I'd also like to get some carrot seeds to put in the vegetable box.We're also getting Norbert outdoors a lot more than he used to do. He likes to keep an eye on what Leeloo is doing but also is doing a lot of squirrel watching, checking out the edges of the yard for squirrel access and being dive-bombed by a kamikaze Leeloo biting at his butt and legs.

Leeloo is twelve weeks old today. Monday she had her second vaccination injection and a couple hours afterward she's crying in pain whenever she moved. She cried until 2am when things seemed to settle down. Thankfully, I still had some pain meds from when we went to Dove Lewis, so gave her one of those to help get through the experience. I'm going to make sure we come home with some for the next one and definitely making sure that she doesn't get her rabies at that same visit. Weighed in at 2 pounds 14 ounces. I think it was 12 or 14 weeks that its been said you can double that weight for their adult weight. This hopefully means that she'll weigh in over five pounds and we might be able to do the laproscopic spay. 

Wednesday I made it to spinning, Leeloo came along since Lily was under the weather and so Kim thought it best to skip the planned visit. I brought knitting and actually got a few rows done. Leeloo got to eat a few of Hazel's dropped Cheerios and lay on her blanket, but napped on her fuzzy blanket at my feet for the most part. Leeloo stayed home and was puppy sat by William so I could go to the Wednesday night Whole Food's knitting group. It was Tiggywinkleknit's birthday and it was nice getting to talk with people I hadn't talked with for a few weeks. More knitting on the footie!