Our big, baby girl is 3 today. Gosh time flies. What is even scarier is the fact that her life is potentially 1/3 over if you base it on the average life span of 8 years for a Berner. Of course our girl is going to live much longer than the average because she has a great example in longevity….her big brother, Wally the golden retriever, who is 16 years and 9 months old.
She got a giant salmon head for her birthday breakfast treat.
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So far so good. I’ve completed blocks up to Dec 20th. Still on track for completing this quilt top by the end of the year.
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Brodie wants to remind every to stop, relax and smell the flowers …. and then eat them!!! I just hope he doesn’t un-plant all my baskets that I just spent hours planting.
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We had fun at puppy socialization class today. Brodie got a bandage on his paw and he wore the cone of shame with a stethoscope. Nothing seemed to concern him. Good puppy!!!!
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On Friday morning I went to the Enjoy Centre to paint my tile for the Canada 150 Mosaic Mural for St. Albert, Alberta. Our group was tasked with painting a tile for the blue background. I decided to use this picture, from our recent trip to Jasper, as my inspiration.
It has been many years since I played around with watercolours but I’ve never used acrylics. There were some very talented artists there so it was a little intimidating to say the least. Here is my finished tile.
I went back this afternoon to see the finished mural. I was amazed to see how it all came together to make this beautiful 8′ x 12′ mural.
I searched and searched but I couldn’t find my tile. I thought to myself oh no….it was so bad that they couldn’t use it. But alas, I finally found my tile. It is 14 rows up and 7 rows in from the bottom right hand corner.
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Before…..
After….
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No matter what I am doing, Spirit thinks she should be part of it. I don’t know how she managed to sit her giant body on the narrow incline bench and polish my face.
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Today I was able to cross another item off my bucket list. We ran our first mudder in Red Deer this morning. It was a lot of fun and I would definitely do another one. It was a cool rainy day which helped to make the mud even thicker and more slippery. I didn’t lose a shoe and I came out injury free….now that’s a good day! We had mud and grit in cracks and crevices that we never knew we had. It was great to get home and have a long hot shower.
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Our big girl had shoulder surgery last week. The first night she just whimpered and moaned and I felt so helpless. It has been 6 days since her surgery and she is progressing well. It is becoming a full time job just trying to keep her quiet and still. She is ready to explode with pent up energy and frustration. One more week and then we can allow her to go for longer walks and gradually move up to a little bit of freedom and running around.
Linking up to Wordless Wednesday at Blogpaws
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This morning the skinny guy and I completed our 4th (me) and 2nd (Don) Hypothermic Half Marathon. This is the first year that the race hasn’t lived up to it’s name. It was a balmy zero at race start and 4 degrees celsius and sunny when we finished. I forgot my ice cleats at home so I struggled a bit with traction but otherwise it was great. It is hard to believe that the weather is this mild and beautiful for Edmonton in February.
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Finished 18km (-2 degrees)
What a difference a week makes. Last Sunday’s workout was unbearably cold. Contrast that with this morning’s balmy -2. Even though we went 2km further (18km vs 16km) we sure look a lot fresher and less frosty at the end.
Finished 16KM (-31 degrees celsius)
This is what I looked like after spending a couple of hours outside with the temperature at -26 (-31 with the windchill).
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I have managed to keep up with the 365 quilt challenge. I’ve got my first 21 blocks of the year done:
My Quilts of Valour WIP is on the longarm getting ditched while I decide how I want to quilt it.
And finally, I have all the blocks pieced on my baby quilt so I am in the process of sewing the blocks together. I haven’t decided if I am going to add any borders.
Linking up to:
Design Wall Monday @Patchwork Times
Fabric Tuesday @Quilt Story
WIP Wednesday @Freshly Pieced
WIP Wednesday @The Needle and Thread Network
Needle and Thread Thursday @My Quilt Infatuation
Filed under 365 Challenge, FAL, Finish-A-Long, Quilts of Valour, Uncategorized, WIP, Work-in-progress
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.
Here's an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 16,000 times in 2015. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,800 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 30 trips to carry that many people.
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We started making this raised dog bed over two years ago. The various pieces have spent 2 winters on our deck waiting for some attention. Well I’m thrilled to say we have finally assembled it and it has Spirit’s seal of approval. I think she will find it nice and cool to have the air circulating underneath her. It creaks and groans with all her weight on it but it should support her just fine. (Thanks Auntie Patty for finally lighting a fire under our butts to get us to assemble it)
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I decided to make some homemade vanilla bean ice cream for our girls weekend. When I was done I let the “kids” do the pre-wash on the plastic churning blade. Spirit’s big, fat head dominated and she managed to get three licks in for every one my old boy Wally got. If you look closely you can see 3 muzzles as all the dogs try to get their share of the ice cream.
Linking up to Wordless Wednesday at Blogpaws:
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I’ve got my first finish for the 3rd quarter of the finish-a-long hosted by Adrianne at On the Windy Side (here is my original list). It is a lap quilt made with “Scrumptious” charm packs.
Linking up to:
3rd Quarter Finish-a-Long @On the Windy Side
Design Wall Monday @Patchwork Times
Made by You Monday @Skip to my Lou
Fabric Tuesday @Quilt Story
Sew Cute Tuesday @Blossom Heart Quilts
Too Cute Tuesday @Funky Polkadot Giraffe
Handmade Tuesday @Ladybug Blessings
Link Tuesday @Freemotion by the River
LAFF @Richard and Tanya Quilts
Finish it up Friday @Crazy Mom Quilts
TGIFF @Crazy Dutch Bird Quilts
TGIFF @Quokka Quilts
Can I get a Woop Woop @Confessions of a Fabric Addict
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Life has a way of really testing us. The day I published the post about Wally and Bella’s reunion I got a message from her family saying that she wasn’t doing well. She had stopped eating and had trouble breathing. They took her to numerous vets and the prognosis was not good….she had cancer. I had wanted to get Wally and Bella together because my boy was so old and I wasn’t sure how much longer he would be with us. I never dreamed that we would be losing Bella first. Three days later I got the news that my beautiful girl was gone. We are devastated……I can’t imagine how her family is feeling.
I think Wally has now outlived all of the puppies from his first litter. I’m so blessed to still have him. I put together a slideshow of pictures. I hope that it will help her mourning family. It starts with a picture of Misty, Bella’s Mom. It shows the puppies when they were just minutes old and goes up until the day Bella left us when she was 6 months old. Bella was the darkest puppy in the litter and she wore a baby blue grosgrain ribbon collar. Goodbye my beautiful Bella….Tango, Ming and Tasha will keep you company over the rainbow bridge.
Linking up to Wordless Wednesday at Blogpaws:
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Linking up to Wordless Wednesday at Blogpaws:
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This is not exactly a “Wordless” Wednesday post. This weekend Spirit participated in her first dog show. It was the Northern Alberta Canine Association All Breed show. Everything started Thursday night when Coreen (the breeder) gave Spirit her second bath and groom in less than 2 weeks. She was a lot more relaxed and less stressed for this bath than her first one. Even the high powered blow dryer didn’t phase her.
On Friday morning, Jo-ann (the handler) showed her and Spirit worked with her beautifully. So well in fact that she got a best bitch in the 6-9 month old puppy category. She then went on to compete with all the winning female Berners and she got reserve (second best) which gave her two ribbons for the day. Coreen and Joanne were so happy with how well she showed that they nicknamed her “Little Rock Star”. Spirit’s Mom Sophie was amazing in the show ring and her nickname is “Rock Star”
On Saturday morning Spirit won best bitch in the 6-9 month old puppy category again. Then she went on to compete in the winners bitch category only this time she won it beating the dog that beat her on Friday. The win gave Spirit her first two points towards her championship.
I was in total shock. Spirit was absolutely horrible for Jo-ann…the complete opposite of Friday. She constantly sat in the ring and she was just not listening to her. I barely had a chance to digest the win when all of a sudden Jo-ann is handing me the leash and telling me that I have to show Spirit in the best of winners category because she will be competing against her older brother Axl (previous litter) and she had to show him instead.
It was almost a blessing because I had all of about 30 seconds to panic and then I had to grab the leash and run into the ring. I felt like a fish out of water. I kept apologizing to the judge for not understanding what she wanted me to do. The good news is that Axl won the best of winners category and it gave him all the points he needed to finish his championship.
Next came the best puppy in breed category where the girls compete against the boys for the first time. I handled her again. Her brother handsome Samson had won his 6-9 month old puppy category too so that meant Spirit had to compete against her brother. Although she won, it was a bitter sweet victory. It just didn’t feel right competing against her beautiful brother.
Sampson and Spirit NACA 2015
Spirit’s first in the Winners’ Bitch category meant that she moved on to compete in the best puppy in the working group. Since she was so horrible for Jo-ann and worked beautifully for me both times, we all decided that I would show her in the afternoon. She competed against 8 or 9 different working dog breeds and she came in fourth which gave her a beautiful big white ribbon.
Here is her official winners picture.
Sunday morning was an exact repeat of Friday except that I showed her in both rounds. She got a best bitch in the 6-9 month old puppy category and reserve (second best) in the winners bitch category which gave her another two ribbons. In total she won six small and 1 large ribbon.
Here are just a few more pictures of Tailspin’s Berners at the show:
Spirit and Axl
Axl, Spirit, Samson and Bentley (Axl’s brother)
Linking up to Wordless Wednesday at Blogpaws:
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Samson, Axel, Ryder and Spirit
This morning Spirit and I took a Bait and Gait class as a warm up for the mock show this afternoon. She did pretty well for a dog that loves to sit….a big no no for the show ring. Then this afternoon the handler took her and worked her in the mock show. Her brother Samson, her big brother Axel (same parents first litter) and the breeders’ Newfie Ryder were all in the same show. Axl made it to best in show but lost to a beautiful Golden.
Spirit was so wiggly every time the judge touched her and when she tried to look at her bite. She made the cut for the female working dog group but ended up losing to a cute boxer. I think it was a great experience for her that hopefully will have her better prepared for the real show. The handler Jo-ann said she did a good job so hopefully she will do her breeders/grandparents (Steve and Coreen Johnson of Tailspin Bernese Mountain Dogs) proud next week at the Northern Alberta Canine Association all breed show. This video is for you Coreen since you didn’t get the opportunity to see your grand-daughter “strut her stuff” in person.
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Here is my second entry into Amy’s Creative Side’s spring Blogger’s Quilt Festival. I chose Leftovers IV for the original design category. I had tons of left over strips and tiny rectangles after making my Blue Odyssey quilt. So far I have made 4 twin quilts from the leftovers and there are probably enough scraps to make 1 or 2 more. To read more about this quilt and see more pictures please click here.
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I thought I would try something new. Twice a year Amy’s Creative Side hosts a Blogger’s Quilt festival. There are numerous categories and it is open to quilters of all experience levels. You are allowed to enter two quilts and each much be in it’s own blog post. Here is my first entry:
I t is a king size quilt that I made for my Niece’s wedding present. I has 24 unique house blocks (several are reproductions of homes that have sentimental meaning to her) and 25 plain blocks with unique free motion quilting designs. You can read more about this quilt and see more pictures here.
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We all got up bright and early to head to St. Albert so that I could participate in the Run Wild Half Marathon. Spirit was a great cheerleader at the start line and attracted tons of attention. There is something about a Berner puppy. Everyone just wants to meet her and smooch her up.
After the race we had to go to Spirit’s conformation class. Her brother, handsome Samson, was in the same class so we finally got a picture of the two of them together. Although Spirit is about the same height as Samson she looks dwarfed beside him. He also weighs about 13lbs more than her (that’s about 20% heavier).
Linking up to Wordless Wednesday at Blogpaws:
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This afternoon I took Spirit back to the breeder (Tailspin Bernese Mountain Dogs) so that Coreen (Grandma) could see her. I could see that Spirit definitely remembered her and was curious to be back at her birth home.
She was very excited to see her Mom Sophie again….unfortunately the feeling wasn’t mutual. All was not lost because Jake, a beautiful 6 year old Berner, was quite nice and gentle with her. She looks dwarfed by his huge head and 110 pound body.
Linking up to Wordless Wednesday at Blogpaws
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When I saw these pictures I couldn’t stop laughing. It looks like Spirit was trying to give Hope a clear message. In the first picture she is sound asleep with her nose parked in Hope’s behind and in the second one her eyes are wide open and see appears to be pushing her paw against the area that is offending her.
Sleeping blissfully unaware of what is about to happen
OMG….Hope farted in my face
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Last night the breeder called and asked us if we would like to pick up our puppy one day earlier. We have a snow storm coming on Thursday and she was worried about us making the hour long drive out to her farm in a blizzard. Very thoughtful and of course I would love to get Spirit as soon as possible. Well here she is. It was a very stressful ride home in the car. It looks like I am going to have my first puppy who is terrified of being in the car. We’ll work very slowly and hopefully get her more comfortable. We took just a few pictures when we got home and now she is crashed. Hopefully we will have a quiet night. Welcome to your new family Spirit.
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Today I am joining the 2014 Pets on Quilts blog hop. Tilly loves to “help” by sitting in the middle of any and every quilt that I try to hand sew the binding on. She is so darn cute and flirty when she does it that I don’t have the heart to kick her off. Here are just a few of the many quilts her hairy, little body has graced.
She even likes to “help” with the piecing:
How can I sew with her cute face in front of the needle
Wally and Tango thought they should be included in the blog hop too:
Linking up to the Pets on Quilts blog hop at Lily Pad Quilts
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Doesn’t Mother Nature have a wonderful sense of humor? NOT!!!!!! It is Good Friday, April 18th and they are forecasting up to 15-20cm of the white stuff.
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I ‘ve finished the quilting on my Kimono wall hanging so I just need to put on the binding and I will have FAL finish #2. I’ve got my Shoji Screen wall hanging on the frame now. Lots of ditch work to do before I can start having some free motion fun. Still not sure how I am going to quilt this one….I would like to enhance the large peacock print and maybe something unique in each of the different coloured blocks.
I have officially gone from being a quilt top maker to a real quilt maker thanks to my longarm. Last October I had a huge pile of tops that had been hanging around for a few years. After my Shoji quilt I only have two more WIP left. A one block wonder that needs to have some borders added and an appliqué sewn on and a waterlily art quilt that is ready to be quilted. Once they are done, I am officially up-to-date and have no WIP left (except for tons of binding to hand sew). Wow…..I can’t believe it.
Linking up to:
Linky Tuesday @FreeMotion by the River
WIP Wednesday @The Needle & Thread Network
Whimsy Wednesday @The NY Melrose Family
WOW Us Wednesday @Savvy Southern Style
We did it! Wednesday @Sew much ado
| 2014 WIP | Size | Current status |
| Pink & blue batik | King | binding |
| Asian Shadow Box | King | binding |
| Kimono | Wall hanging | binding |
| Waterlily | Wall hanging | quilt top |
| One block wonder | Queen | piecing |
| Peacock | Lap | FMQ |
| Blue Hydrangea | King | FMQ |
| Dragonflies | Wall hanging | Binding |
| Charm Square Crib 2 | Baby | binding |
| Charm Square Crib 3 | Baby | binding |
| 2014 Completions | Size | |
| Charm Square Crib 1 | Baby | Donated |
Filed under FAL, Finish-A-Long, Uncategorized, WIP, Work-in-progress
Life In The Dog House 