You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'lottie' category.
Buckaroo Cowgirl, Abe Lincoln and Andy Warhol….. and……
A little hen. Oh the humanity!
While babysitting last night for some friends that went to a concert, we realized we talk to Lottie a lot. Not in a commanding sort of way, more like she’s just hanging out with us. We also realized we need to get out more often.
While I fed a very sad, teething baby girl I was thinking about this article and ran through a list in my mind of words Lottie understands (am I the only one who gets crazy-tired while watching a baby fall asleep? It’s so contagious… the droopy eyelids, the crying, the eye rubbing, the zonking out). Aside from the usual Dog Lexicon of sit/down/shake/stay/heal/no, English words Lottie fully understands and we have to be mindful of:
Lottie
Potty
Dinner
Lunch
Treat (s)
Cookie (s)
Mommy
Daddy
Grandma (!)
Paul
David
Night-night
Bed
Gentle
Kittycat
Birdy
Meepers (she knows about 75% of her toys by name and will retreive them if asked)
Bye-bye
Collar (this word will send her under the couch)
Wait
Good girl
Cozy
Additionally, she fully understands human laughter and gets a kick out of making me laugh (when she’s feeling mischievous). And ANY word involving or relating to f-o-o-d must be spelled or she goes into a frenzy. It’s ridiculous, really.
We had a three day weekend and it was outstanding.
Friday started off tense and wrapped up relaxing. Sometimes those are my favorite days because you feel like you lived two days in one. And since lately I can’t help but feel time is completely beyond my grasp, it was a refreshing change. I finished the yellow dress but it was very rainy and dark, so I didn’t get any good photos…. I will try again this week.
Saturday we installed the [bent] blind and it has completely transformed the space. The light is so different… now when we are in the kitchen the glass wall is illuminated in a soft glow. Really, it’s changed the entire feel of the loft and we can’t believe we didn’t invest in this little project sooner. Saturday night was The Concert and it was outstanding. Our tickets were in the 25th row, and they had to move us to accommodate a disabled patron, so they moved us to the 6th row. So. Close. Neko was funny and charming, and she can really play guitar.
Sunday was spent in Rhode Island, a beautifully sunny (though cold!) day. Lottie loves it there. She runs through the yard….. runs…. runs…. runs….. all by herself, just for the pleasure of running. We just sit on the deck and watch, eventually she plops down next to us to watch some of the birds. It’s good to know someone would watch her at a place that makes her happen should I ever bring myself to travel without her. Gasp.
I tried.
So hard.
To curb my fabric purchases.
I made it 4 months without a purchase. Pretty good, I say. Though the goal was to make it to May with no new purchases.
This is what happens when it is 60F, sunny and I’m running errands with the sunroof open. I get carried away. I did buy two new patterns, and I limited my purchasing to mostly fabrics for immediate use (10 yards of muslin for pattern making, 3 slub linens and 1 cotton batiste). Sort of. I’m going to make a tunic (for me) and a dress (for me). And who knows what else!
In other news: We borrowed the best dog ever to join us on our walk and Lottie did great. I think it’s his complete indifference to her that she likes. She apparently likes a dog that play hard to get. There was no playing (yet), but there was side-by-side walking! That’s a huge leap forward.
I’m not above bribing a young couple with a new baby and GREAT dog (quite possibly one of the best dogs ever) to get to know them. We’ve offered to take their pup for walks with Lottie to help them out (wink, wink!) but the truth is this is the first dog in Lottie’s entire life that when approaching her has not caused her to either A) squeeze herself under the nearest piece of furniture, B) scratch at my legs furiously to be picked up, or C) curl into a ball like an armadillo until said dog goes away. I know none of these options are typical dog behavior, but it’s what we’re working with over here.
Lottie is almost 2 1/2, and her intense fear of dogs (all dogs, all sizes) is not getting better. She was a single pup, and rescued at 4 weeks old by a caring Chihuahua breeder. She was hand raised and is more comfortable around people than dogs, or cats. But she’s quite an introvert, and some days I think she’d be content to never leave the house. Still, we make her go, and hope with calm socialization that someday she will make a friend. The one, consistent exception to her fear is old dogs. Large, old, slow-moving, sight-impaired, non-barking dogs she will tolerate- as long as they don’t make any sudden movements. Or look at her. Two weekends ago at the park, a large Border Collie mix on crack was running wild (against park rules) and made a b-line for Lottie, plowing her into a snow bank and pinning her there while Lottie yelped, I screamed and the other dog owner ( a cool ‘dude’) LAUGHED and said “he’s just playing”. Sigh. Stuff like that sets us back weeks, if not months. I can’t think of a more perfect dog for us, but I wish more than anything she just had a little more confidence & understanding in normal dog settings.
All I’m saying is, if it takes a few handmade treats to break the ice, I’m game. Maybe we will even make some human friends in the process.
Sorry about the little unintended break in the action. I had a trip scheduled to visit my father in North Carolina and I find the time leading up to my visits with him cause a certain amount of paralysis for me. I find I get a maudlin outlook on everything because my mind wanders back to the memories of my childhood and my Dad; it’s very, very difficult to slowly lose a parent before your very eyes. I’m in the phase where I am still absorbing what I saw and heard, slowly processing the state of things and what it all means. So, I promise not to drag the internet into it. Instead, I will tell you why I love dogs by way of a funny story sure to go down in family lore.
It all started innocently enough with a late afternoon walk. Just a little fresh air and potty break for the dog. I took Fin and Floria with me and MP straggled behind. My father lives in the mountains of western North Carolina, and the scenery is stunning. Lots of forests, nature and wild animals: a neighbor had a mountain lion in her driveway! Walking along, Fin noticed something in the woods and we went in to explore. It was an old tree fort that was too tantalizing to an 8-year old to resist. We hung out and let him explore to exclamations of “I can do it/ climb it/ reach it” among the loose boards and rusty nails, taking photos and laughing.
I discovered the fort owners had a very cool firefox and Fin volunteered to test it. The drop was- at most- ten feet, so I figured why not. It looked sturdy and I could not say no to his massive grin. Good fun, all around…. that spilled over into the house (much to Milo’s envy) when we returned.
The next day it was all the boys could talk about: Milo wanted in on the firefox action. So, during Floria’s nap I stayed behind with my father and stepmom while Floria slept and everyone else when to play in the woods. And by everyone, I mean Lottie the 8 pound Chihuahua went too. And what did I say at least 400 times as everyone was walking out the door? Internet, I said PLEASE WATCH THE DOG. I said it to any and all that would listen. Now, keep in mind we are in a strange land with strange smells where Lottie has never been. And keep in mind that while she is clever and tough (she is not a little purse-dog), she is still a tiny city-dwelling specimen. Cut to my stepmom and I sitting quietly at the kitchen table talking for about 45 minutes when we hear rustling and commotion. I of course assume Little Miss is awake & into something and so we chose to ignore the sounds hoping she would go back to sleep. But it does not let up and I decide I need to go lay down the law and tuck her back into bed. As I am walking past the front door I hear definitive scratching, breathing and crying. I open the door and there is Lottie: trembling and losing her mind. How she found her way (Half a mile! Uphill!) back I do not know. But she did. My stepmother and I are stunned and staring at each other with an awkward laugh/smile…. and then I realize that this might be a Lassie moment (trouble at the old mill!). I mean, the only way she could have found her way home alone down a road surrounded by forests and mountain lions was if something terrible had happened to the exploration party… leaving all of them incapacitated… and they sent Lottie to deliver the message. Because why else would this little dog be back at the house in the mountains all alone? Right? Are you with me here?
If you’re me you decide that’s the only logical reason and you put on your shoes to go help them. And that’s when you find your husband running up the hill, out of breath and laughing/freaking out that he lost the dog. But you’re holding the little dog, the dog you love like a child and center your days around. That dog.
Then it dawns on you that no one was watching the dog at all. People were having fun and she became frightened about something (my guess is the echo of a distant hunting rifle) and found her way back by smell or memory or just that magical dog sense we humans don’t understand. But, she found her way back. Alive and unharmed.
The best part of the story for me…. once I got over the dark, disturbing ‘what ifs’… was the awkward fear on everyones’ faces as they were telling me their horror of noticing Lottie was missing in the middle of the woods. Not so much for Lottie, but for themselves and the reality that I would most likely kill them if anything happened to the dog. None of us can get over the image of a tiny black Chihuahua in the middle of the very foreign Blue Ridge deciding that the woods are no fun and she wants to go back to the house. Screw the tree fort! She wanted dinner! And so she heads back, all alone, at the edge of a strange road until she comes to the correct house… where I happen to be.
Additional info here.
Another set of 3: pillows that I’ve put off for a tremendously long time. I’m still not sure this is the fabric I’m looking for – but I had to get the pillow forms off the floor and onto our bed. I made the pillows in lieu of working on things that should have been done months ago, but at least my procrastination was productive.
Someone is having a hard time adjusting to the lack of attention around here. She went from a constant, raptured audience to a passing glance.
You know, the weekend started off well enough. The heatwave has given way to a nice ocean breeze and everyone in the Habitual Household has been a little less crabby for it. MP was at the wood shop the entire weekend working a project, so I felt free to craft and watch movies and catch up on stuff.
I did a little shopping to fuel up for the weekend and I scored: new razor-edge scissors 50% off, denim 50% off, a couple of Vogue patterns for $3.99, a couple of Burda patterns for $2.99 and best of all, soft organic cotton that I got for $6.99/yard (on sale).
Understandably, I came home from my excursion and rolled around in all the new fabrics and tried to figure out what I would make first. While I was thinking about it Jules mentioned Biscuit needs a new sunhat -no problem- here ya go!
After MP returned home we had an amazing dinner of homemade pizza and beer and a movie. A perfect Saturday. But Sunday…..ooooh Sunday…..not so good. I thought I was going to sleep in and read and relax. Oh wait, I did do that…..It was once I got up and started my next project, things slowly went downhill.
The project started off okay, little herringbone denim cargo pants and a blouse for Biscuit. I took my time, and took a few phone calls before I got down to business. After I cut all the pieces out, I noticed a nasty storm on the horizon and could hear distant thundering, but I didn’t really pay attention to it.
Now, Lottie has never – ever – reacted to a thunderstorm, in fact she usually stretches out and sleeps through them. Not this storm. Crafting came to an immediate halt when I looked up to see Lottie trembling- practically convulsing, pacing, panting, and throwing up. I bundled her up in a quilt, curled up on the couch and tried my best to calm her. We sat like that for about an hour. Just when I thought the storm was moving off, another bolt or burst would barrel by outside the window.
Speaking of windows: The entire perimeter of the building was recently repointed. The large, metal windows are sandwiched between the concrete frame of this old factory and over time, leaks formed. Well, when you repoint a building, it’s supposed to STOP the leaks. Unfortunately, while I’m rocking Lottie on the couch, I hear: drip…….drip…..drip…drip..drip! Water is pouring in. POURING. IN. While I scramble for towels, Lottie scuttles under the bed for safety. Have I mentioned the amount of windows we have? It’s a lot. And every one was leaking. I stuff towels into all the seams and sit down with a sketch pad and promptly draw the plan and elevation of our loft and pinpoint all the locations of the leaks for the workers. This takes some time, and it’s still storming……and when I go to find Lottie, she’s under our bed, jammed between storage drawers.
It seems she’s emptied her entire bladder and lower intestine under the bed (she’s never even had a potty training accident!) and is now beyond terrified. I manage to get her out and call MP, he must come home NOW. No more Man-crafts at the wood shop. He came home and I swear – the clouds parted and I think I even saw a rainbow.
After cleaning up the aftermath, I finished the little cargo pants and started to upload some photos to Flickr before moving on to the blouse when the Cable, Internet and Phone all go out. The perfect ending to a mess of a day. I never made it to the blouse. That will have to wait for another perfect weekend.
