Happy Birthday to You!!

a la Stevie Wonder.

Or Happy Birthday to Me at least! Because today is my birthday. :0) Yes, I'm 37 today.
And although I had to work today - until 5pm!! :0( - I'm feeling pretty chilled. ;0)

DS picked me a flower while on a walk with the dogs yesterday (what a sweetie!) and then bought me chocolates and wine (ably assisted by DH) at the local supermarket later the same day.

Yarn-wise, a package from The Loopy Ewe - what good timing :0) - a birthday present from myself ;0) - arrived today, containing the following -















Loopy Knit Notes for Socks (so I can keep track of who I'm knitting for, what size, what yarn, etc.), a Loopy Travel Mug and Fiesta Baby Boom sock yarn, although this is so squishy and lovely that I think it's going to be a Forest Canopy Shawl rather than socks - I just don't want to hide the lovely colours away. ;0) I'm really into blues and brown at the moment. :0)

Elsewhere in my knitting, I received an e-mail recently from Black Hills Wool asking if I'd like a sample pack of their yarns. Well, would I ever?! No need to ask me twice! I said yes, and a week later a sample pack of their worsted weight yarn arrived with me. I made this - the Binary Cable hat (link for those on Ravelry) or it's also in this month's Simply Knitting magazine.




It's lovely yarn, quite soft for 100% wool even before washing, and apparently shower-proof if you don't wash it, so what more could I ask for when walking the dogs?!








I also finished my first ever Monkey socks - for me. ;0) Using Shelridge Farms Soft Touch Ultra in colourway 'M' from Socktopus (although M isn't in stock at the moment). Lovely yarn - very soft and squidgy to knit with. ;0)


I can honestly say that I can now understand the obsession some knitters have with this pattern. ;0)

I really enjoyed knitting this pattern, it was a very quick knit, easily memorised after 2 or 3 pattern repeats.

I've now started a pair for myself in a gorgeous shocking pink colour, but more on those in a future post. ;0)




Finally, I thought I'd leave you with some pet pictures.

When we have a new dog join our 'pack', we know they've really settled in with us when they feel they can just jump up and sit on the settee without feeling guilty. ;0)

Well, here's Chance making himself right at home. :0)















I have to say that we've been lucky so far with the rescue dogs we've taken in. They've each had their problems but Chance has probably been the worst so far and definitely the most time-intensive.

He hates small dogs with a vengeance and lunges at them whilst on (or off) the lead. Needless to say, we don't let him off the lead while out on walks. ;0) He was starved in his former home and killed a kitten whilst there, so this has probably led to his hatred and lust for small animals. :0( Not really his fault, just a product of his poor upbringing. :0(

That said, in the 3 short months he has lived with us, he has learned to live with our rats - we have 4 and he now sits in front of their cage, happy to watch what they're doing without lunging at them. NO WAY, however, would I let them out for 'free time' in front of him, but it's a start nevertheless. ;0)

He has been attending basic obedience class for the past 5 weeks and is coming on really well. Last week, we started half obedience and half-agility and he has taken to it so well. He will also now sit before we give him his food and sits and waits to be called in and out of the Jeep when we take him out. In the home environment, he's so loving and is excellent with our 6 year old son.


He's still hard work, no denying that ;0) - but I'm sure he'll be worth it in the long run.

After all, how could you resist a dog that looks THIS handsome?!