Yesterday I went into town with my friends Carolyn and Jane. Jane was one of the first people I met when I moved here. I took her class at the Jefferson Art League on pine needle basket weaving. I have told this story before, but at the class there was another student who had moved from Lee County a few months before I had. They lived about 10 miles from in us down on Pine Island. They were from Cape Coral. Small world. I was talking to Jane, whom I liked instantly. I had taken a pine needle basket weaving class at Wildchild Art Gallery and I enjoyed it so much, but after 2 - 8 hour sessions all we had accomplished was a single coaster. The teacher was incredibly talented, and so is Jane. But where the previous teacher tried to teach us the art of pine needle weaving as professionals, Jane taught us like adults who wanted to learn something new and to make a basket. During the class I asked Jane about garden clubs. She asked me if I drank. I said, "I like a glass of wine" She said that would work and I attended my first meeting, where I met Carolyn.
Carolyn and I became friends and then we both got cast in small parts in Casablanca and have been friends ever since.
So off to Joanne's so I could pick up my yarn. Jane needed felt and Carolyn had coupons. They had already figured out what yarn they wanted to use based on yarns they already had. I might have been able to do that, but I don't have that much variety in the types of yarns I have. Lots of colors, but pretty much thick chunky yarns for knitting scarves. Plus, none of the colors were jumping out at me.
The yarns were on sale, and I immediately was drawn to the neutrals and browns.
Yes, I know, neutrals are not really colors, but I think with the brown and gold and the different textures it will be lovely. Most of the yarn is so soft, one type is called angel hair, and although I do not have any experience dealing with angel's hair, I am sure that it would feel just like this yarn. I am so excited about this weaving class. After I walked out of the store with my yarn I felt like a little child, I was so excited to start weaving right away. I can't believe I have to wait until this weekend. And we have to make the frames before we can start weaving, so I doubt if we will get to the actually weaving until Sunday afternoon.
We walked over to the Red Elephant for lunch. They have pizzas and burgers, subs, salads and full entrees. It is one of my favorite casual dining places and I understand that there are Red Elephant's everywhere in Florida. We enjoyed our lunch, Carolyn had a chicken salad wrap, Jane the corn and sausage chowder and a Greek Salad, which is not one my favorite salads because they use a balsamic vinaigrette instead of the traditional Greek dressing, but it is big and fresh and delicious as long as you know about the dressing. I had a cup of tomato bisque soup and a wedge salad. I had never had one there before, and it is a lovely updated version of the traditional wedge salad. Nice for a little change.
We drove home and I settled in to a relaxing afternoon of reading and talking to friends, taking care of a few things at home and did a little yoga to stretch out.
As I was talking to my friend Jan, the one who lives in Wakulla County, not the Jan who lives in Monticello, and we were just gabbing away, reminiscing over Pete and talking about life when Bob and Ednarose exploded into a burst of screaming activity. They had been rough housing just a minute earlier, but this was different. I said to Jan that I would call her back, and threw the phone down. I grabbed Bob to see what was going on. Ednarose while biting at his face or neck had accidentally got her bottom jaw slipped under Bob's collar. She has done this once before, and I was able to free the two of them with little hurrah. But this time, Bob had jerked so hard trying to get free that he had actually spun Edna around three times, causing his collar to now press tight around his throat and was literally choking him to death. The collar had not cleanly slipped over Edna's bottom canines, but instead one of those teeth had punctured the collar and was squeezing down tight on her bottom jaw, cutting into the side of her face. Bob's eyes were bulging out and he could not get any air. He was staggering and was not making any noise. He showed no recognition in his eyes, but instead looked like he was about to choke to death. Edna was screaming, howling, crying out in pain and fear. I tried to unbuckle Bob's collar, he started to collapse into me. There was no room to unbuckle the collar.
I took two steps away from them and grabbed a pair of scissors. I turned and took one step back grabbing Bob as he crumpled to the floor. Without concern for cutting him I shoved the scissors under the collar along Bob's throat. I started sawing away at the collar holding Bob up, talking to Edna in a voice to calm her down. Within seconds even just the little give I had made with the scissors Bob was able to take a breath. I kept sawing. The collar gave way into my hands and Bob's legs gave out and he fell down on top of Edna.
I pulled my terrified little puppy out from under Bob who was now coughing and panting. Edna's eyes were still wide with fear. The collar still stuck on the tooth, she was still screaming. I grabbed her up and crumpled down on the floor with her in my arms. I hugged her and cooed quietly into her face to calm her down enough to be able to start wiggling the collar back and forth and off the tooth. She calmed down and watched my face, her fear waning. I finally managed to pull the collar free.
With her freed from the collar I turned to Bob who was still not focusing clearly. I wrapped my arms around him and cooed gently into his sweet brown velvet face. I held him close and within seconds he looked at my face and licked me. He coughed and coughed and his throat was sore, but he was fine.
Ednarose was fine and Harry had moved into the bedroom to sleep without all the noise and hub bub of the younger ones. I crawled back up into my chair, still shaking after our ordeal. Bob crawled up into my lap and Edna slipped in between my legs and the chair. They both look frightened and worn out. I kept cooing and hugging on them both. They were fine. But it had been a pretty horrific few minutes. I was so afraid I was going to loose Bob. I love all my "kids". They are each special and irreplaceable. But Bob and I have a connection that is so strong. From the moment I saw that little dark chocolate boy, his square head, his bright shy eyes, I fell so hard. I have had some amazing dogs, mostly labs, and with no doubt in my heart or mind, I knew that Bob would be one of the best. He is mine, I am his. No, it is not the same as the love for a human child, but it is a special loving bond that we share, and I can not imagine my life without this furry little child.
I called Jan back only to find out that I had not hung up on her when I threw the phone down. She could hear the panic in my voice, the desperation. She could hear the turmoil and the chaos and fear of Endarose. She said she just spoke into the phone, stay calm, Kathleen, stay calm. Over and over. Did I hear her? I have no idea, did a calming influence come over me as soon as I saw the trouble we were in, oh yes. Once I realized that it was up to me to save Bob's life, and I am not being over dramatic here, well, maybe a little, I did snap into first responder and took the steps I needed to correct the situation. I want to think that Jan's voice made it through my brain and helped. I want to think that my trainings helped also. All I know was that I went from fear to calm and everyone is just fine.
They stayed close to me the rest of the evening and when we went to bed Bob snuggled up close to me, still swallowing hard, but he was still needing his "mom" to hug on him. Edna on the other hand, pushed behind the pillow and lay in a safe little cave of blankets and pillows. My hand reached out to her, and she nuzzled it and rested her chin on it and fell asleep. Bob fell asleep quickly and I was not far behind. The evenings event had worn us all out. Well except Harry who just slept away on his own little bed, glad to be away from all the insanity.
I woke in the night to find everything just fine. Both Bob and Edna were snuggled up close to me, Bob had his head resting on my shoulder. Edna was curled up into a tight little ball. Outside I heard the storm coming in, the rain gently tapping on the pipe above the bathroom. I snuggled down deeper under the covers, closer to my little ones. The rain lulling me to sleep. The badly needed rain washing away the dust, drenching the plants. I slept late.
When I finally woke this morning it was after 7. Normally I wake at 6 and then force myself to stay in bed until 7:30. This morning, no need for forcing anything, the rain droned on hypnotising all of us into further slumber. When we got out of bed at 8 everyone was just fine, no worse for the previous nights ordeal. I have noticed that both of them are still sticking kind of close to me, but that is fine. They are fine.
The rain has now passed, not a lot, but we will take what we can get. The plants look quenched, the sun has come out, the clouds are parting and blowing east, the wind is still blowing the trees shaking off the last of the fall leaves that have hung tight. It is going to get cold.
Tonight I get to see Rich and maybe Boone for dinner. Tomorrow, Jan and I will go get her yarn for the weaving class. Friday I give blood for tests to see Dr. M next week and then I will be at the Opera House in the evening. Busy, busy, busy. I don't like to be this booked up, but everything I am doing is something I love, being with friends, learning new things, crafting.
life is good.
I am happy.
maybe I can get some moisturizer made this afternoon
or maybe lip balm
or maybe just package soap.
For being as booked as I am, I feel pretty relaxed.
stay calm, Kathleen, stay calm
good words to live by
Carolyn and I became friends and then we both got cast in small parts in Casablanca and have been friends ever since.
So off to Joanne's so I could pick up my yarn. Jane needed felt and Carolyn had coupons. They had already figured out what yarn they wanted to use based on yarns they already had. I might have been able to do that, but I don't have that much variety in the types of yarns I have. Lots of colors, but pretty much thick chunky yarns for knitting scarves. Plus, none of the colors were jumping out at me.
The yarns were on sale, and I immediately was drawn to the neutrals and browns.
Yes, I know, neutrals are not really colors, but I think with the brown and gold and the different textures it will be lovely. Most of the yarn is so soft, one type is called angel hair, and although I do not have any experience dealing with angel's hair, I am sure that it would feel just like this yarn. I am so excited about this weaving class. After I walked out of the store with my yarn I felt like a little child, I was so excited to start weaving right away. I can't believe I have to wait until this weekend. And we have to make the frames before we can start weaving, so I doubt if we will get to the actually weaving until Sunday afternoon.
We walked over to the Red Elephant for lunch. They have pizzas and burgers, subs, salads and full entrees. It is one of my favorite casual dining places and I understand that there are Red Elephant's everywhere in Florida. We enjoyed our lunch, Carolyn had a chicken salad wrap, Jane the corn and sausage chowder and a Greek Salad, which is not one my favorite salads because they use a balsamic vinaigrette instead of the traditional Greek dressing, but it is big and fresh and delicious as long as you know about the dressing. I had a cup of tomato bisque soup and a wedge salad. I had never had one there before, and it is a lovely updated version of the traditional wedge salad. Nice for a little change.
We drove home and I settled in to a relaxing afternoon of reading and talking to friends, taking care of a few things at home and did a little yoga to stretch out.
As I was talking to my friend Jan, the one who lives in Wakulla County, not the Jan who lives in Monticello, and we were just gabbing away, reminiscing over Pete and talking about life when Bob and Ednarose exploded into a burst of screaming activity. They had been rough housing just a minute earlier, but this was different. I said to Jan that I would call her back, and threw the phone down. I grabbed Bob to see what was going on. Ednarose while biting at his face or neck had accidentally got her bottom jaw slipped under Bob's collar. She has done this once before, and I was able to free the two of them with little hurrah. But this time, Bob had jerked so hard trying to get free that he had actually spun Edna around three times, causing his collar to now press tight around his throat and was literally choking him to death. The collar had not cleanly slipped over Edna's bottom canines, but instead one of those teeth had punctured the collar and was squeezing down tight on her bottom jaw, cutting into the side of her face. Bob's eyes were bulging out and he could not get any air. He was staggering and was not making any noise. He showed no recognition in his eyes, but instead looked like he was about to choke to death. Edna was screaming, howling, crying out in pain and fear. I tried to unbuckle Bob's collar, he started to collapse into me. There was no room to unbuckle the collar.
I took two steps away from them and grabbed a pair of scissors. I turned and took one step back grabbing Bob as he crumpled to the floor. Without concern for cutting him I shoved the scissors under the collar along Bob's throat. I started sawing away at the collar holding Bob up, talking to Edna in a voice to calm her down. Within seconds even just the little give I had made with the scissors Bob was able to take a breath. I kept sawing. The collar gave way into my hands and Bob's legs gave out and he fell down on top of Edna.
I pulled my terrified little puppy out from under Bob who was now coughing and panting. Edna's eyes were still wide with fear. The collar still stuck on the tooth, she was still screaming. I grabbed her up and crumpled down on the floor with her in my arms. I hugged her and cooed quietly into her face to calm her down enough to be able to start wiggling the collar back and forth and off the tooth. She calmed down and watched my face, her fear waning. I finally managed to pull the collar free.
With her freed from the collar I turned to Bob who was still not focusing clearly. I wrapped my arms around him and cooed gently into his sweet brown velvet face. I held him close and within seconds he looked at my face and licked me. He coughed and coughed and his throat was sore, but he was fine.
Ednarose was fine and Harry had moved into the bedroom to sleep without all the noise and hub bub of the younger ones. I crawled back up into my chair, still shaking after our ordeal. Bob crawled up into my lap and Edna slipped in between my legs and the chair. They both look frightened and worn out. I kept cooing and hugging on them both. They were fine. But it had been a pretty horrific few minutes. I was so afraid I was going to loose Bob. I love all my "kids". They are each special and irreplaceable. But Bob and I have a connection that is so strong. From the moment I saw that little dark chocolate boy, his square head, his bright shy eyes, I fell so hard. I have had some amazing dogs, mostly labs, and with no doubt in my heart or mind, I knew that Bob would be one of the best. He is mine, I am his. No, it is not the same as the love for a human child, but it is a special loving bond that we share, and I can not imagine my life without this furry little child.
I called Jan back only to find out that I had not hung up on her when I threw the phone down. She could hear the panic in my voice, the desperation. She could hear the turmoil and the chaos and fear of Endarose. She said she just spoke into the phone, stay calm, Kathleen, stay calm. Over and over. Did I hear her? I have no idea, did a calming influence come over me as soon as I saw the trouble we were in, oh yes. Once I realized that it was up to me to save Bob's life, and I am not being over dramatic here, well, maybe a little, I did snap into first responder and took the steps I needed to correct the situation. I want to think that Jan's voice made it through my brain and helped. I want to think that my trainings helped also. All I know was that I went from fear to calm and everyone is just fine.
They stayed close to me the rest of the evening and when we went to bed Bob snuggled up close to me, still swallowing hard, but he was still needing his "mom" to hug on him. Edna on the other hand, pushed behind the pillow and lay in a safe little cave of blankets and pillows. My hand reached out to her, and she nuzzled it and rested her chin on it and fell asleep. Bob fell asleep quickly and I was not far behind. The evenings event had worn us all out. Well except Harry who just slept away on his own little bed, glad to be away from all the insanity.
I woke in the night to find everything just fine. Both Bob and Edna were snuggled up close to me, Bob had his head resting on my shoulder. Edna was curled up into a tight little ball. Outside I heard the storm coming in, the rain gently tapping on the pipe above the bathroom. I snuggled down deeper under the covers, closer to my little ones. The rain lulling me to sleep. The badly needed rain washing away the dust, drenching the plants. I slept late.
When I finally woke this morning it was after 7. Normally I wake at 6 and then force myself to stay in bed until 7:30. This morning, no need for forcing anything, the rain droned on hypnotising all of us into further slumber. When we got out of bed at 8 everyone was just fine, no worse for the previous nights ordeal. I have noticed that both of them are still sticking kind of close to me, but that is fine. They are fine.
The rain has now passed, not a lot, but we will take what we can get. The plants look quenched, the sun has come out, the clouds are parting and blowing east, the wind is still blowing the trees shaking off the last of the fall leaves that have hung tight. It is going to get cold.
Tonight I get to see Rich and maybe Boone for dinner. Tomorrow, Jan and I will go get her yarn for the weaving class. Friday I give blood for tests to see Dr. M next week and then I will be at the Opera House in the evening. Busy, busy, busy. I don't like to be this booked up, but everything I am doing is something I love, being with friends, learning new things, crafting.
life is good.
I am happy.
maybe I can get some moisturizer made this afternoon
or maybe lip balm
or maybe just package soap.
For being as booked as I am, I feel pretty relaxed.
stay calm, Kathleen, stay calm
good words to live by
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