Thanksgiving at our house

The big meal was looming. We were being low key this year, with just ELH, his brothers and one brother’s girlfriend (hereinafter referred to as BG). No worries. I got up, let the pugs out and in, fed them and commenced to wrestle Chester around in the sink.

Yeah, we named the turkey Chester. It was the same size (22 lbs.), and I told Chester-the-pug it was either him or a bird—he suggested a bird.

Meal prep went well with ELH’s help, even though I got something on my shirt. After Chester went into the oven, I changed into shirt number 2 and actually got to sit down and watch some bad TV (th emovie Army of Darkness). That is, until Chester (the pug) projectile vomited a hairball the size and shape of a chicken neck onto the bed. No warning, nothing. Just, “Whoops, there it is!” The lump was from his last foray into a wastebasket, where he obviously consumed hairbrush cleanings, and some colorful fabric snippets and yarn that he hoovering off the floor. I thought I could see dust bunnies as well, which I’m constantly pulling from his lips.

I was immediately thankful he had purged it, and that the mess was small, and since he's managed to splash my pants somewhat, I went and changed into pants number 2.

Our guests arrived just as the bird was done. ELH asked how he could help so I had him stir the gravy in the turkey pan. Bad idea. Very hot pan. Short sleeve shirt wearer. As I stood mashing potatoes next to him, he suddenly seemed to have a spasm, and I felt hot gravy burn my neck as he leaped backward. “What the…?” He had touched his forearm to the handle of the pan and the pain caused him to fling searing hot gravy onto my neck and shirt number two. “Get out of my kitchen! Out! Now!” I demanded, waving a spatula. Injuries were minor and we all laughed.

Little did I know, it was a gravy omen.

I didn’t bother changing clothes this time. Dinner was good and everyone ate too much. We all learned from Chester’s First Thanksgiving last year that we must push in our chairs, otherwise it is an invitation for Chester to get on the table and eat his way from host to hostess chair.

I retired to the kitchen to compulsively straighten up a little because I like to get leftovers refrigerated promptly. Actually, it’s a hereditary need to putter. My sister has it, too. As I was pouring the gravy from the heavy turkey pan into a jar, the pan slipped. ELH was grinding coffee as I yelled, “HELP! CATCH IT!” The gravy jar crashed to the floor, but in a Thanksgiving miracle, it didn’t break. But there was delicious gravy all over the floor and… ALL OVER 4 pugs who had been “helping” me from below.

The three smarter pugs dove for the mess. I know which battles to choose and gave in on this one, thankful I had willing floor cleaners and at the same time sad at the loss of gravy. There’s never enough gravy. Everyone was laughing and I noticed Boomer wasn’t getting any action. He’s sensitive, and the crashing and hollering frightened him, so he was hanging back. My idiot child was not to be coaxed near the sea of brown deliciousness. I literally had to drag him to the gravy so he could get some.

After a bit, ELH suggested maybe the pugs had enough, so we tried to put them all in the bathroom for Thanksgiving baths. That was a struggle because they were gravy soaked and really wanted to finish the job they’d started. I proceeded to hose the pugs down while BG let her golden retriever in to finish cleaning the floor. The big dog was shooed back out and the pugs were released to inspect the area.

As I continued with the cleanup, I felt an odd tickle at my ankle. I looked down and there was Marley, of all pugs, nuzzling my ankle. “Aww, cute…” wait! She was licking the ankle of my trendy cuffed jeans for all she was worth.

My cuff was filled with delicious brown gravy. It was on my socks. It was on my shirt and slippers. I went upstairs and changed into shirt and pants 3 and started a load of laundry.

Chester news
He had the runs from his foray into the cookies. We are still astonished that Chester was able to eat the whole bag. His allergies held off with two-a-day antihistamines, but after a week, when I discontinued them, he broke out on his thigh, tail, and forehead. So back to atihistamines. I’m hoping he well be recovered enough to sit on Santa’s lap next Tuesday without Santa saying, “What is WRONG with this dog?”

Knitting news
Frog Tree Merino. OMG is that stuff yummy. I had to actually take breaks from knitting with it because I was getting overstimulated, it is that soft. Yes indeedy. The finished sweater is shown here on Marley herself. Frog Tree Merino comes from Peru, and is distributed by the same nonprofit, T&C Imports, as the more commonly found Frog Tree Alpaca. The Massachussetts-based nonprofit group works with co-operatives in 14 countries. These co-ops train women to spin and produce hand knit sweaters for sale, and the non-profit also provides educational assistance for people unable to otherwise afford an education.

In other news, it’s dog sweater time, and I saw this great pullover in an L.L. Bean catalog (if the link doesn't work, search their site for "Holiday Handknit"). I had to duplicate it (not exactly, but close) for House of Marley. I used Orchid Line by Harrisville yarns, which is a wool-silk-mohair. The burgundy color just said, “Buy me” before I even saw the L.L. Bean picture! Boomer, whom we used to call “Hippy Mudflaps” because he had a big butt, is now becoming a skinny old man. So the sweater just hung off him and looked terrible but it fit Chester, so he’s the one modeling it. In the photo, he is looking for something suitable to put in his mouth. This could be anything–he even eats dirt.

Repeat offender declared incorrigible

ELH and I went to a place called The Breakfast Nook for breakfast. You can get an 10 oz. sirloin, 2 eggs, toast and hash browns for $8.95, and I had never had steak-and-eggs for breakfast, so I thought I'd go for it. It was good, but I think bacon is better for breakfast.

Before we left, I penned the pugs in the kitchen, just in case Boomer had more digestive upset (he's been sick) and thinking that way Chester wouldn't get into trouble on my desk.

We came home and the pugs went with me upstairs into the office. ELH comes up and starts asking me strange questions about cookies. I thought he wanted some cookies and was concerned that I'd hidden them from him. He asked if we had a full bag, and where they were kept.

"In the lower cupboard in the kitchen... OH NO! WHAT HAPPENED?"

He showed me this (the arrow points to telltale pug hair):

Chester had discovered the cupboard door wasn't fully closed. He gently prised the door open and removed the unopened 14 oz. bag of Circus Animal cookies from the shelf. I'm pretty sure he didn't share as he CONSUMED THE ENTIRE CONTENTS! Right down to every one of those tiny colored sugar beads on top. Think about this: my 22 pound pug consumed almost 1 pound of cookies in one attempt! I can't even do that! I wish I'd seen his heroic effort; I'm sure he used his large behind to keep the others away from his prize, although the way Marley's been acting, she may have gotten in on it a bit.

The empty bag was licked across the floor and left in the bathroom where ELH found it. Of course Chester is allergic to everything in those damn cookies and will probably have an outbreak starting Sunday when the vet is closed.

Payback for the entrapment, I'm sure!

I was a wee bit upset and there was nothing I could do, so I went out do do "errands" (a euphemism for, "I must find an excuse to fit in a trip to the yarn store.") I had a voice mail from my vet asking how Boomer was doing, and since I was headed in that direction on my way to the yarn store, I stopped by Safeway and bought a new bag of Circus Animals, which I dropped off at the vet's with a note: "Boomer's fine; Chester just at an entire bag of these. I'll be calling Monday about Chester's allergy outbreak. Enjoy them as much as Chester did!"

Chester, being a pug, does not understand cause and effect. He did not understand what caused him to be shorted on his supper. Nor did he understand what was causing his giant belly(ache)—he looked just like Heimlich in A Bug's Life. Chester did realize the bellyache made it impossible for him to lie down, so he sat on the bed stoically, while looking at me and his three slumbering buddies during "knitting time."

I took him outside for supervised potty twice to no avail, so I gave him half a Pepto Bismol tablet. Before it could take effect, he indicated to me that he really needed a post-Thanksgiving-dinner walk, even though it was only the 10th of November.

At 8pm, Chester, ELH and I took a walk in the chilly dark around the park. This did the trick for Chester despite the fact that he didn't potty. At lease he was finally able to lie down and go to sleep looking like a beached whale. That's worth noting for Thanksgiving!

Knitting News
I went back to Holy Threads again. I'm so addicted to that place. They asked about my friends from Seattle and also suggested I come in some day when they have a fire in the fireplace and sit and knit with everyone. Oooooooo! They also told me the Crochet Guild meets there on certain nights. I said, "Um, I don't really crochet. But my husband does!" I'm supposed to bring ELH and that will be my entree into sitting around with the crochet folks. LOL! I love that.

Of course I couldn't make it out of there without a purchase, so I bought some Brittany dpns for my Mother-in-law to use for socks. She has previously only made socks on 2 needles, so this is new for her. For Christmas, she's getting a skein of Opal sock yarn in fabulous greens, the book "Socks Soar on Circular Needles" and 2 circulars. She's computerless, so I can post all about it. She's very excited about these self-patterning sock yarns. I'm very excited about giving her some good stuff!

I also bought some Frog Tree Merino. That is luscious. Betcha didn't know they made merino, did you? The colors are really vibrant and the yarn is quite soft. Speaking of soft, I also snuck past ELH a skein of Karabella Boise, a 50/50 merino/cashmere blend. I do NOT know what possessed me to buy this (mittens, actually), but I did anyways. It's on my desk where I can admire it and poke it with my finger from time to time.

On my way home, I stopped by Display House to buy a head. Meet Head, wearing Hat. My stars, trust me, the colors of Hat are much nicer than the photo. Yikes.

I also bought a plastic dog turd, which I placed on the landing at home. ELH comes in and says, "Hey, Andrea, there's an Archie McFee looking dog turd on the landing." Sheesh! I said, "OK, I'll get it" and called out, "Ewww, it's not fake!" and then I pretended to flush it down the toilet. I put it in the fridge next to the leftover Vindaloo he was going to have for supper. That's what you get for being a killjoy!

ELH is right, though, plastic dog turd does NOT look like the dog turds produced at our house. I think they should revise their product.

I was FRAMED!

Chester Claims Entrapment
In the ongoing case of Bad Dog Chester, the defendant now claims he was framed, or entrapped into doing something he otherwise wouldn't do.

This stems from a recent bread eating incident.

The police report indicated that during dinner, Chester's owner got up from the table to go into the kitchen, leaving approximately 1/3 slice of delicious crusty sourdough bread on the edge of her plate. The owner's ELH was still at the table at the time, however he also got up and went into the kitchen to refill his glass. Upon returning to the dining table, Chester's owner discovered her bread missing.

Subsequent inspection of all pugs' teeth and gums revealed nothing, so the perpetrator was off Scott-free. Or was he?

A new piece of delicious bread was placed in the same location on the edge of the owner's plate, and while the owner and ELH were sitting there, Chester arose on his hind legs and put his front paws on the table. He was heard to mutter, "I've been eating off things this table for almost a year, why stop now?" Of course a prompt arrest of Chester occurred.

This episode followed on the heels of yet another desk-invasion attempt by Chester, who has become bolder: his owner was actually in the room at the time and caught him red-pawed on the desk, luckily before any damage was done.

Knitting News

I eBayed my Bond Knitting machine. That thing sucked bigtime; it would always jam. I think the problem would have been rectified if I used the dining room table, but I already have a disaster here in the office and I figured the dining room should not join that party. I hope the new owner is happy—I am happy the thing is not taking up space here.

Of course that means the Marley Cascade 220 Superwash blanket is on hold.

But in the meantime, I have been making cables. This is from some Kureyon I got from LittleKnits. There's a hat to match, which is not pictured because I just don't want my picture taken. And neither does ELH, but trust me, the hat is cool.

I was so happy about the cables that I made a dog coat out of Lamb's Pride bulky, that I call the "Hugs and Kisses coat" because is has an XOX (or OXO) cable running down the back. It's marvelously cute and super warm.

The other thing I've been doing is using yarn scraps and making swatches. I feel so good about doing that I may break my arm patting myself on the back.