While Walking My Dogs

Paws || Walk On – 5.10 – 5.23

Posted on May 17, 2015 by gracieed

Every now and then when I’m walking dogs, I will just stop, ask them to sit for about 30 seconds and then I will say “walk on”. That is there cue to start walking again. I do this for a couple of reasons: 1. They’re super focused when they’re on the walk and I like to know I can get their attention any time I need it. 2. It’s good to continue to incorporate training into their daily routines. Just as we need to continue to refine our skills, so must dogs.

This always reminds me how important it is for me to pause and reflect on the past week and then think about the next one as I “walk on”.

Paws | Week of 5.10-5.16

• still watching West Wing again (for the 3rd time). Yes, it’s that good.
• finished reading Platform by Michael Hyatt. So good.
• continued the May photo-a-day challenge.
• helped to count the church offering.
• had a lovely Mother’s Day lunch with my family. And my dogs bought me a beautiful card and a gift card to Joann’s. These guys are good to their momma.
• got my teeth cleaned.
• finished a pet blanket for the fundraising auction.
• didn’t doodle at all this week with the a 100 day project. I have a lot of catching up to do.
• still reading Aunt Dimity’s Death by Nancy Atherton.
• walked the dogs. Decided to keep track of our walks on a calendar. So far for 2015: 111 out of 138.
• helped with item inventory for a fundraising auction.
• finished reading Death of a Snob by M.C. Beaton.
• started new blog series {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}
• continued with the Ripple Crochet Blanket for a wedding gift.
• still working on Margaret’s scarf.

Walk On | Week of 5.17-5.23

• call my grandpa in England.
• continue with the Photo-a-day challenge for May.
• continue to work on Margaret’s scarf.
• continue reading Aunt Dimity’s Death by Nancy Atherton.
• help to count the church’s offering.
• start prepping for Mike’s Dr. Who Quilt.
• continue with blog series {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}
• continue to make the Ripple Crochet Blanket for a wedding gift.
• continue to organize my craft room. You’re probably wondering when I’ll be done with this. Me too.
• Skype and knit with a friend.
• work on Quest46.

My favorite quote from the week: “Don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try.” Unknown.

Have a wonderful week,

I love sitting here looking at the birds. I can’t wait to see who joins us next week.

Posted in Accountability, Bird is the Word, Books, Crochet, DeCluttering, Doodles, Goals, Homemade, Knitting, Organization, Pinterest, Quest46, TV & Movies, Yarn | Tagged accountability, Bird is the Word, books, crochet, Doodles, goals, homemade, knitting, Organization, Pinterest, Quest46, TV & Movies, yarn | 8 Comments

Saturday Snippets | May 16, 2015

Posted on May 16, 2015 by gracieed

Welcome to Saturday Snippets. This is where I share links and odd bits of info from the past week.

1. The healing power of dogs.

2. You’ll need to close your eyes for this one.

3. If you’re looking for books to read this summer, here’s a great list.

4. A great podcast.

5. All I can say is WOW!

Well that’s all the Snippets I have for today. Have a wonderful rest of your day,

I think I could be a therapy dog?

Posted in Accountability, Education, Goals, Saturday Snippets | Tagged accountability, education, goals, Saturday Snippets | 2 Comments

{Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word} will return on Monday

Posted on May 15, 2015 by gracieed

{Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word} blog series will return on Monday, May 18th. I know this is the 2nd time is less than a week that I’ve postponed this blog series, but this time it’s because of me not the birds.

As I mentioned in my last Paws || Walk On, I’m helping with a fundraising auction. I knew this was going to take a bit of my time and I actually thought I could work on both the auction and the blog. I was wrong.

No worries, though, I’ll have Saturday Snippets and Paws || Walk On and I’ll be back on Monday, along with all the birds. And we’ll have new guests to introduce to you everyday for the rest of the month.

If you’re visiting my blog for the first time, here’s a run down of this month’s series.

Every day (sort of) during the month of May, I’ll be posting a bird craft or bird-related item on my blog as well as placing that object on my wall tree. I can’t wait until the end of the month when my tree will be alive with a collection of chirpy chums.

Here’s a view of the tree as of this posting.

The related posts can be seen here:

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you tomorrow,

We have to wait until Monday!!!!

Posted in Bird is the Word, Decorating, Goals, Homemade, Quest46 | Tagged Bird is the Word, Decorating, goals, homemade, Quest46 | 3 Comments

Day 11 – Norville the Baby Parrot – {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}

Posted on May 14, 2015 by gracieed

Welcome to the {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word} blog series. Every day during the month of May, I’ll be posting a bird craft or bird-related item on my blog as well as placing that object on my wall tree. I can’t wait until the end of the month when my tree will be alive with a collection of chirpy chums.

Norville landed on our tree today. Norville is a baby parrot who is extremely advanced for his age. His dad should be on his way in a few days, but in the meantime, we’re going to enjoy Norville’s company. Besides being incredibly cute, he loves to read mystery books, put together jigsaw puzzles and spend time gardening. I told you he is advanced!

It goes without saying that all the birds are enamored with Norville and are clamoring to spend time with him. Henrietta’s even working on a new pie recipe just for him. Baby’s always bring out the best in everyone.

Norville is crocheted using Serenity Sock Weight yarn. I found the pattern on Ravelry and made some of my own adjustments. I used embroidery floss for his eyes and beak and added fun fur yarn for the feathers on his head.

Here’s a view of the tree so far.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you tomorrow,

Norville is adorable. Can we keep him?

Posted in Bird is the Word, Crochet, Decorating, Goals, Homemade, Quest46, Ravelry, Yarn | Tagged Bird is the Word, crochet, Decorating, goals, homemade, Quest46, Ravelry, yarn | Leave a comment

Day 10 – Oswald the Penguin – {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}

Posted on May 13, 2015 by gracieed

Oswald the Penguin came to stay on our tree today. Oswald is originally from the Antarctica, but he has always dreamed about traveling the world. Since he has wings, but can’t fly, he decided to get his pilot’s license and flew himself here today in his very own floatplane. He likes to tell people he flies around, but they never believe him because he’s a penguin and penguins can’t fly.

Before he dreamed of flying, he was an Olympic class swimmer in freestyle. He wanted to compete in the other events (breast stroke, butterfly and back stroke), but his flippers wouldn’t cooperate. However, in freestyle, he smoked the competition. He was all set to take part in the summer Olympics when disaster struck – he had to withdraw because of a bad flipper injury. That was a huge blow, as you can imagine, because he had trained his whole life for the chance at Olympic gold.

After he pulled himself together, as I mentioned, he worked hard to get his pilot’s license and see the world. He’s been everywhere you can imagine and heard about the Wall Tree, so he decided to fly out to meet all the residents. Henrietta and the Three Chicks are plying him with pie and the rest of the birds with the exception of Douglas and Olivia are excited to go up in Oswald’s plane. (Douglas and Olivia get motion sickness).

Oswald is crocheted with black, white and orange wool with black beads for eyes. I found the pattern on Ravelry. Oswald is quite large (compared to the other birds) as you can tell from the picture with my hand and the picture of the Wall Tree.

Here’s a view of the tree so far.

Woody really likes Oswald. I think it’s because they have the same color coats.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you tomorrow,

I didn’t know birds came in the same color as me. That’s awesome!

Posted in Bird is the Word, Crochet, Decorating, Goals, Homemade, Quest46, Ravelry, Yarn | Tagged Bird is the Word, crochet, Decorating, goals, Quest46, Ravelry, yarn | 2 Comments

Day 9 – Flora the Paisley Blue Jay – {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}

Posted on May 12, 2015 by gracieed

Flora the Paisley Blue Jay landed on our tree today. Flora flew in from Tuscany where she spent her years in a vineyard overseeing the grape crushing. She has stood out from the crowd her whole life because of her interesting feathers, but doesn’t mind her uniqueness. When she’s not watching people crush grapes, you can find her hanging out under the rows of grapes with the local mice chatting about golf. Flora, a scratch golfer, wants to fly to all the famous golf courses in the world and has offered to teach the birds on the wall tree how to golf if they’re interested. Polly and Pete just want to know where and when!

Flora is made from wood for her body and iron for her feet. She was painted with pearl blue paint then covered with a paisley patterned paper and embellished with enamel dots and pearls. Finally she received a coat of chalk ink allow her edges.

Here’s a view of the tree so far.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you tomorrow,

We want to learn how to play golf? We think that sounds like something we’d like.

Posted in Bird is the Word, Decorating, Goals, Homemade, Paper Crafting, Quest46 | Tagged Bird is the Word, Decorating, goals, homemade, paper crafting, Quest46 | 7 Comments

{Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word} will return tomorrow

Posted on May 11, 2015 by gracieed

{Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word} blog series will return tomorrow. Yesterday about mid-morning the birds decided to go and visit their moms for Mother’s Day.

And in the spirit of the day, I decided to spend the day with my mom. That left me very little time to add a feathered friend to the tree.

No worries, though, I’ll be back tomorrow, along with all the birds. And we’ll have a new guest to introduce to you.

If you’re visiting my blog for the first time, here’s a run down of this month’s series.

Every day (except the day after Mother’s Day) during the month of May, I’ll be posting a bird craft or bird-related item on my blog as well as placing that object on my wall tree. I can’t wait until the end of the month when my tree will be alive with a collection of chirpy chums.

Here’s a view of the tree as of Sunday morning.

The related posts can be seen here:

Day 7 – Blue the Bird {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}
Day 6 – Penelope the Bird {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}
Day 5 – Charlie the Canary {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}
Day 4 – Three Chicks {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}
Day 3 – ‘Home Tweet Home’ Birdhouse {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}
Day 2 – Pom Pom Birds {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}
Day 1 – Crocheted Owls {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you tomorrow,

Did you see the card we got for our mom? And the gift card to her favorite place in the whole world next to being with us? Boy, was she excited!

Posted in Bird is the Word, Decorating, Goals, Homemade, Quest46 | Tagged Bird is the Word, Decorating, goals, homemade, Quest46 | Leave a comment

Day 7 – Blue the Bird – {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}

Posted on May 10, 2015 by gracieed

Today Blue the Bird came to stay on our tree. Blue is actually a blue bird and is visiting on her way from Massachusetts. She’s originally from Georgia, but went to Harvard to study law and liked the area so much she decided to stay. She worked at a law firm until a few years ago when she started her own practice. She has more control over her hours with her own practice so she decided to come and spend some time with us. She has also generously offered her legal skills if anyone needs help.

In her spare time she likes to do the New York Times crossword puzzle and jigsaw puzzles. She says the puzzles calm her after a hard days work.

Blue was made out of various colors of felt. The decoration on her wing is made from sequins and her eye is a black bead. She was stitched together with embroidery floss.

Here’s a view of the tree so far.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you tomorrow,

I could have gone to Harvard. I know 17 words, I can tell time (breakfast, lunch, dinner time) and I’m the fastest tennis ball catcher on the block. What more could Harvard want?

Posted in Bird is the Word, Decorating, Goals, Homemade, Quest46, sewing | Tagged Bird is the Word, Decorating, goals, homemade, Quest46, sewing | Leave a comment

Paws || Walk On – 5.3 – 5.16

Posted on May 10, 2015 by gracieed

Happy Mother’s Day

This always reminds me how important it is for me to pause and reflect on the past week and then think about the next one as I “walk on”.

Paws | Week of 5.3-5.9

• still watching West Wing again (for the 3rd time). Yes, it’s that good.
• i’ll be finished reading Platform by Michael Hyatt this week.
• continued the May photo-a-day challenge.
• finished wearing my boot, but I think my foot issues are far from over.
• Doodled almost everyday with the a 100 day project. My favorite from the week. I call it ‘Chick’.
• still reading Aunt Dimity’s Death by Nancy Atherton.
• walked the dogs. Decided to keep track of our walks on a calendar. So far for 2015: 103 out of 131.
• met to start helping with item inventory for a fundraising auction.
• finished reading Death of a Perfect Wife by M.C. Beaton.
• skyped and knit with my friend my San Diego.
• started new blog series {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}
• spent another day in bed not feeling well. I’m thinking allergies-my first experience.
• continued with the Ripple Crochet Blanket for a wedding gift.
• still working on Margaret’s scarf.

Walk On | Week of 5.10-5.16

• call my grandpa in England.
• continue with the Photo-a-day challenge for May.
• enjoy a Sunday lunch for Mother’s Day.
• continue to work on Margaret’s scarf.
• continue reading Aunt Dimity’s Death by Nancy Atherton.
• help to count the church’s offering.
• start prepping for Mike’s Dr. Who Quilt.
• work all week helping with item inventory for a fundraising auction.
• continue with blog series {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}
• finish a couple of super easy baby quilts.
• continue to make the Ripple Crochet Blanket for a wedding gift.
• continue to organize my craft room. You’re probably wondering when I’ll be done with this. Me too.
• get my teeth cleaned.
• Skype and knit with a friend.
• finish reading Platform by Michael Hyatt.
• work on Quest46.

My favorite quote from the week: “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” Dale Carnegie.

Have a wonderful week,

I would like to remind you that I have pearly white teeth and therefore do not need them cleaned. 😉

Day 6 – Penelope the Bird – {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}

Posted on May 9, 2015 by gracieed

Today Penelope the Bird came to stay on our tree. I say ‘Bird’ because Penelope doesn’t resemble any specie of bird I’ve ever seen. She has a beak, wings, legs and feet and she’s made herself at home on the tree. So she’s a Bird! Penelope has made fast friends with Olivia and Douglas and you just know it’s a matter of time before the Three Chicks stuff her with pie.

Penelope has come all the way from Wales via Cornwall in the United Kingdom. She has a lovely accent and told us Cornish pasties are her favorite food. She developed a taste for them when she was in Cornwall on an extended stay visiting friends. I might be imagining things, but I’ve caught her and Charlie stealing glances at each other. It think we might have our first case of smitten birds.

Penelope was made with crochet using a pattern designed by Lucy from Attic24. I used dk wool and followed her impeccable directions. Penelope’s feet and eyes are buttons from my stash.

Here’s a view of the tree so far.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you tomorrow,

I think we would like Cornish pasties too.

Posted in Bird is the Word, Crochet, Decorating, Goals, Homemade, Quest46, Yarn | Tagged Bird is the Word, crochet, Decorating, goals, homemade, Quest46, yarn | Leave a comment

While Walking My Dogs

Paws || Walk On – 5.10 – 5.23

Saturday Snippets | May 16, 2015

{Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word} will return on Monday

Day 11 – Norville the Baby Parrot – {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}

Day 10 – Oswald the Penguin – {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}

Day 9 – Flora the Paisley Blue Jay – {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}

{Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word} will return tomorrow

Day 7 – Blue the Bird – {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}

Paws || Walk On – 5.3 – 5.16

Happy Mother’s Day

Day 6 – Penelope the Bird – {Bird, Bird, Bird is the Word}

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