Dogs of Our Lives: Poppy's Ruff Walk

First Post of the Day

Hello, all! Today we have a very special guest, Poppy Mitchell!

:: applause, especially loud from the Mitchell family::

So, Poppy, er, may I call you Poppy?

Oh, of course, Grammy! I happen to love the name that my new family gave me. It's Poppy Rowen Mitchell, but you can call me Poppy or even Poppy Ro-Ro like they do.

They really love me and Cambria and Titan worked very hard to convince their parents that I needed to come live with them.

What a beautiful name, Poppy. Is there a story behind it? It's rather unusual.

Oh, yes, and the story connects me even more to my new family. Well, those Mitchells LOVE to perform, 

and Cambria was performing in a production of The Wizard of Oz. 

I'm named after the poppy field scene. You know, beautiful flowers and beautiful me!

::laughter from both Poppy and Grammy::

::Grammy looks at her notes::

I hear you have a story to share. Something about a surprising walk with Uncle Kyle? And he said you'd like to have it posted on Dogs of Our Lives. Is that right?

It sure is, Grammy. My sweet pet Jessica reads me the Dogs of Our Lives posts, and I thought my story might be fun to include. It was quite a walk!

So I heard, Poppy! Uncle Kyle sent me this picture of your walking route - wowza!!

::Taken aback, Poppy examines the photo, then breaks into laughter::

Oh, my, oh dear me! ::gasp:: Grammy, look again. That's not our walking route! That's the walking record of when Uncle Kyle mowed your lawn for you over Easter!

::Gales of laughter, then wiping eyes, catching their breath, and settling down again::

Alrighty, then! Grab your Dr. Pepper, Grammy, and get comfy, okay?

:: Holds can high:: I'm ready, Poppy!

Well, Uncle Kyle was back in town after his Easter visit to you, and he was really missing his dog, Tammo. So, he offered to take me on a walk so I could get some exercise and he could get some pup-time.

Let me tell you, I ended up having the ruff-est day I have had in some time. It started when I showed up to training school, but it was closed. Must be the weekend, I thought.

Probably Sunday. I always have my finest coat on, so I just swung by Church for some woof-ship. I was secretly hoping that we might sing the Howl-elujah Chorus, too. I love to howl those high notes!

But nobody was there. Maybe it wasn't Sunday after all.

Well, if it's the weekend, not Sunday, it MUST be Saturday. I guess I'll go to the dog park and pla...

What?!? No dogs! Oh, the humanity! I buried my head to hide the tears.

I guess I'll just stay home with my people and spend the day with them. 

Maybe I'll get lots of belly rubs and it will turn out to be not-so-ruff of a day.

Yep!! Doggie dreams do come true.

::More wild applause, cheering, and whistling from the Mitchell family::

Thank you, Poppy Ro-Ro! That's a great story and I'm sure your cuzzo dogs Pepper, Tammo, Nash, Blue, Rhett, Gus, Henry, and Oquirrh will enjoy reading it and getting to know you a bit better. I know I sure did!

My pleasure, Grammy. And now I am going back to my family for more love, treats, and belly rubs! Bye, now!

P.S. Gentle readers, my Uncle Kyle wrote the story down for me and took my glamour shots. Isn't he the best? xo Poppy 

A Boy & His Dog Reunited: The Rest of the Visit

First Post of the Day

Tammo was so happy to have Kyle back in his orbit again. He followed Kyle around the house, had some extended playtimes, and got many extra long walks while his boy was with us.

I think Kyle was just as over the moon to be with his dog again. (Oh, and he was glad to see us, too. LOL)

Playing keep away with  one of Tammo's favorite toys, Mr. Fox.

Although we'd already had one Easter celebration with extended local family members, we had another with Lisa, Kyle, Curt, Vanessa, and their children on Easter itself.

I used paper plates rather than Easter baskets - good way to use up the leftover Thanksgiving plates, right? And everyone got a maple cake along with the traditional Reeses Peanut Butter Egg.

Kyle taught Lukie how to make the cooking food heat faster by using the mind method. Not sure that worked, but the food did eventually get to the table!

There were only nine of us so we were all able to fit around the dining room table together.

Why yes, Lukie is wearing a Christmas sweater to Easter dinner. Kind of goes with those Thanksgiving plates we are using.

Vanessa loves to experiment with fruit drinks and made us a refreshing pitcher of strawberry lemonade.

I have mentioned before how gentle Craig is with the dogs. Look who thinks he is an easy target has gravitated to him during dinner.

A Thanksgiving Easter food coma afterward for Ian. (Notice how Nashie is sitting on the end. He usually sits right where Ian is and is hoping that Ian will move over and let him up!)

We enjoyed almost a whole week of having Kyle with us, even more so because he was with us when we lost Molly and he provided extra support for Lisa and the rest us us as we worked through our grief.

The night before he left, he surprised me with an early Mother's Day gift. 

Thanks, Kyle. I appreciate the gift and the sentiment behind it.

All too soon, Kyle had to leave. We are already looking forward to the next time a boy and his dog are reunited.

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A Boy & His Dog Reunited

Second Post of the Day

Kyle flew in to spend a few days at Easter with us. It's always good to see him, and the bonus is seeing Tammo's excitement at reuniting with his boy. He recognized Kyle immediately, and went into "transports of joy."

Oh, how our dogs love us.

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Other Good Things

First Post of the Day

Other things, good things, have been happening that I'd like to share. Kyle came out for a visit. Tammo was Over. The. Moon. (So were we.) More on his visit soon.

Another note from Mila, a new one and unrelated to the others, appeared on my office door. 

I walked past it several times before it caught my eye.

She must've put it there when she was here on Easter Sunday. Sweet girl and what a pick me up during a very sad time.

Some sewing projects were finished and two big ones begun. 

A green striped pleated petticoat made from a hand loomed cotton imported from India. 

I'm happy with how it turned out and I may keep it myself. I don't need a new petticoat, but years ago Jessica had a green striped petticoat that my mother made her and it reminds me so much of both of them.

In the 18th century, seamstresses and tailors often pinked the seams to prevent raveling.

They did not have modern pinking shears; they used pinking tools, pressing the tool into the fabric and repeating until they'd pinked all the raw edges.

Those pinked edges were rounded, not zig zagged. These are two extant pinking tools from the 18th century.

A pinked 18th century gown. (Isn't it gorgeous?)

I've drawn my own patterns for pinking

and then hand cut the seams with scissors.

The results looked good and were accurate to the time period, but my hands ached. Hand pinking like that is not a feasible option for me.

In one of my 18th century sewing groups on Facebook, a woman recommended blades she had found for her rotary cutter that would pink edges. She also included a link to where she had gotten them.

I headed to the site and ordered a package. I was surprised to find that I got several blades of each size, a good thing because roto cutting blades get dull with use and need to be replaced.

The green striped cotton was hand loomed and had a very loose weave. Which meant it was prone to fraying. I crossed my fingers and practiced on some scraps.

Success!!

I have a lot of linen fabrics that I haven't used because I did not have the means to pink the edges when I sewed with them. Now I am looking forward to pulling them out and using my new pinking blades. (I may also go back and buy another set of blades to have on hand when these become dulled.)

Just as I was getting ready to leave for Kalamazoo, I got a custom order for a trade shirt. I told the man it would have to wait until I got home and had had a chance to unpack and catch my breath.

His shirt is done and I am pleased with how it turned out. 

For sleeve buttons, he chose the pair I was hoping he would. They are the only blue pair I have and are a perfect match.

I got those buttons on sale two years ago and I have no idea who the manufacturer is but I am hoping to find more. (I don't know how to do an image search; time to learn, right?)
 

I have two other big sewing projects I am working on, so my sewing machine continues to get a work out. I'll share those when I am able. Stay 'tooned. 😉

Life is slowly returning to normal, even if I don't always feel ready to move forward. But there is comfort in normalcy, in routine, and I am healing.

Next up is another This is Our Molly post. I just reread its draft, and instead of crying, I was smiling. Fondly. Gratefully. Even happily.

Yes, I am healing.

Stay 'tooned!

Christmas 2025: The Lego Horse

Last August for my birthday, Cole and Emily gifted me with one of Lego's newest products, a horse. The set also could make a bear or a deer, but I wasn't interested in those - just the horse. 

But when I sat down to make it and saw that there were nearly 700 pieces and almost 300 steps to put it together, I was intimidated and set it aside. I'm a Lego beginner and the horse was overwhelming to me.

When Kyle arrived for his Christmas visit, he asked if I needed help with anything around the house. I think I surprised him when I asked him to help me make my horse.

But, he was all in, so one afternoon we sat down together at the dining room table and began.

I was intimidated again as soon as we opened the box and I saw all those pieces. "Open one bag at a time; it'll be all right," he advised. And so I took a deep breath and did.

"This does NOT look like a horse," I commented as we got started.

"Just wait; that's the interior support structure," was Kyle's response.

He was right, it soon began looking more horse-like.

Kyle let me do the work and sat with me ready to answer questions or help me find pieces. He had an app that let me look at each piece and each step in 3D. With it, I could rotate the piece and see how it fit onto the model we were building. That app was really helpful.

It also had a reward "chime" when you finished a series of pieces that had to be put together that made us both laugh.

While I worked on my Lego horse, Kyle put together a smaller kit of the Millennium Falcon.

He was really good about letting me make the horse while acting as support if need be.

Ding! Another reward chime when the head was completed.

Ready to be added to the neck of the horse.

I had to take a break at this point - my eyes needed a rest after all that close work.

Then it was back to work on the legs and tail.

We laughed at this pose - hello, Nashie!

Legs stretched out to the back is one of his favorite positions.

Pepper, Tammo, and Molly never lie like that, but for Nashie it's an all the time thing.

After a couple hours of work, the Lego horse was finished.

We popped the tail on and called it good. There is a base still to be made, but the horse stands well without it, so its pieces are still unassembled and in the box.

I am pleased with how it turned out and already have some ideas for an entry in an Anything Goes class.

Turns out that Pony Pal Kate was working on her own Lego horse, our gift to her for this Christmas.

Unlike me, she's already an experienced Lego makin' gal, so she made her horse by herself.

I had fun, even though the Lego horse was quite an undertaking for me. But the shared experience of making it with Kyle plus having Kate put together her own at the same time has made for a cherished holiday memory.