Couple more camping photos

Check out these woodcarvings that were near the campground entrance. Aren't they awesome? The turtle is actually carved into the stump from the old tree that fell over. It was massive! Here is the picture of my husband and dogs showing how large the tree was.

Bead Journal Project - September 2008

I have my idea for the first month. It hit me when I was driving home today for certain. I work in a very urban area - downtown Detroit. But as I was entering the expressway to come home, I saw a hawk/falcon sitting on the lightpost over the road. OMG! It was such a clear sign - and ties in perfectly with the square that I started on Monday and should have done for October.

Here's my September square and yes, I am going to sign this year's pieces as I complete them. As artists, we don't give ourselves enough credit and my co-worker Kathy actually fussed at me and told me that I need to start "autographing" or signing my embroidery. The first piece that I did was the Korean Dragon.

August Beadwork

While I was camping, I did find time to work on a couple of projects.

The first is an ID badge holder for my bead society. Maybe I'll actually remember to wear my tag so that the guild members know who I am. That is, assuming that they want to know who I am. Funny, some people may not want to know. But that could just be the voices in my head.

Then I worked on a heart for Jeanette Shanigan's bead quilts for breast cancer that are auctioned off every year at the Bead and Button show. I'm happy with the way that this worked this year. Jeanette wouldn't know what to expect if I didn't put a moose in the square - so it's in there, with the required heart. Imagine Jeanette's surprise when she sees that I actually followed the instructions this year - without veering too far outside the box!

August Camping and another dog story

Yes, another Chloe story - my dogs.....endless amusement....

Alan and I spent the last week about 48 miles from home at the Brighton State Recreation Area in Brighton/Hamburg, Michigan. It was a great week with good weather, not too hot nor cold and we had a really nice campsite.

Well, see the grass behind the camper? That backs onto a forest. I was woke at 4am one night to watch the racoons trying to eat the scraps in Alan's potato chip bag. That was cute to watch the two of them.

The dog story. On Wednesday, Alan opens the camper door to let out the dogs before I go to bed and Chloe bolts out. Bolts. Like the greased lightening she can be. And bolts back to the camper just as quick. Alan yells "oh no!!" as he sees the black and white "kitty" that Chloe saw. I came out of the camper and grabbed the dog - my first mistake: the kitty was a skunk and now it's on my hands.......

....Alan makes the 10pm run to find an open store in the wilderness - tomato juice isn't the answer any more. It's woman's douche - vinegar and water variety.....Man, does she stink. Man, do my hands stink. My eyes are watering and I am thankful for once for my allergies - if she stinks that much for me, she must really stink.

Alan returns with his feminine hygiene products and Chloe gets an 11pm bath with douche and cold water. She still stinks. It's close to midnight and it's going to take us at least an hour to pack up and go home (which neither of us wanted to do). We couldn't leave her chained outside to find another kitty and we didn't want her in our bed. Gods, no!

The travel kennel that Patty (from work) bought me! It's under the bed in the camper. We pop that open and lay a dog bed in it and hope for the best. She still stinks, but she's now 5 feet from the bed and can't jump on us.

I crawl in bed, nauseated from the skunk smell, and curl up in the bed. Gods, my hands stink. No curling them up under my chin......nasty. The next morning Chloe gets two more baths.....she still stinks....but it's better. We stayed at the campground until Sunday morning - just a wonderful week.

Except for the stinky dog.....the picture is pre-stinky.

p.s. My hands don't smell like skunk anymore. Either that, or I have gotten used to it.....

New stuff - it's been a while....

Dogs in the Tub

In an email to my buzzard friends, I mentioned a story about my dog Molly in the bathtub. Bead artist Bev Herman directed me to her blog at No Easy Beads where there is a story about her dog and the bathtub.

My dog story (yes, another one): Al's working midnights this week. He got home from work on Tuesday and only two dogs met him barking and happy at the door. His first impression was that "Liz locked her in the bedroom" - nope no dog in the bedroom.

He hears a small bark - and finds Molly in the...............bathtub. Where she obviously was in there for hours - sometime between 6:30 when I left for work and 12:30 when he got home, Molly jumped in the tub - she loves to lick the water off the surface. And then she couldn't get out.

Alan said she looked so pitiful.

That was on Tuesday. Tonight Alan and I went out to dinner tonight. We came home to: At least Chloe was keeping her company. Thanks for the chuckle Bev! Dogs will be dogs.