This will be a real mish-mash of “news”, if you can call it that. I’ve been in a whirlwind of dog boarders and bad weather so I hardly know what day it is. All the area schools are closed today because of dangerous wind chills. If I were a parent, I’d be glad my child wasn’t standing outside waiting for a bus or walking to school.

Chew-E went home Tuesday afternoon and our household is much calmer…but maybe somewhat boring after having him here for 12 days. Telly wasn’t always as ready to wrestle as Chew-E was but now that he’s gone, I think she’s depressed. Two little girls arrived for the rest of the week and everybody is getting acquainted. Tasha is a Shitzu and Libby is a Havapoo – sweet little girls, no major problems except that they’re lap-sitters and except for sitting at the sewing machine, I do very little sitting when I could hold them. And they want to be held.

      

My parakeets, Sherman and Timmy are not getting much attention – too much activity for me to train the cats and dogs to leave them alone so the cats sit outside the door and stare at them – cat TV! When I go in to play the piano, they chirp away and I can’t wait to interact with them more.

  

This subject falls into miscellaneous but I need to write about it at some point. I made this dog quilt many years ago and it was one of our most popular patterns. Whole Country Caboodle designed it and we had the quilt hanging in the dog kennel. One day it was here and within the next few days, it went missing. If you see our quilt in someone’s home, please ask them to return it and we will ask no questions. One of our customers stole it and I find that so hard to believe. We’ve had other models stolen over the years but this is just the latest incident and it really is upsetting. Would a reward inspire the culprit to return it?

If you read the blog post yesterday you’ll remember I talked about “snirt” which someone responded turns into “smud” – ha! Until we get another coating of clean snow, the floors will be dirty around here. Sixteen paws go in and out many times every day – just think about how much snirt they’re bringing it with them!

I love these days when I can sew for hours at a time – I finished my January UFO last night but now I think I’m going to add borders so it’s big enough for a queen size.

I’m working on a new goat quilt because our old pattern, “Louise and Friends” continues to sell online and we have exactly 2 copies left! Then because we lost the other dog quilt, I’m going to design a new one – hopefully. Connie has sewn 3 or 4 new quilts and we’ll be showing all of these to you in an upcoming email newsletter and What’s New.

Fabric Sale – a “sweet” deal – is starting February 1. Those bolts that are never going to move out of here will be marked at $5.00 per yard, 1 yd. minimum, so we can make room for the new fabric that’s arriving daily. This is the time to buy backings for all your UFO’s!

We’re going to be starting a Senior Citizen Discount Day in February as well. If you’re 55 and older, you will get a 20% discount on your purchases that day in the shop (no clubs or machine quilting). We will schedule this day for the 2nd Wednesday of every month which will be February 12. Put us on your calendar for that day and save 20%!

When the dogs go out to the quilt shop, everybody helps – whether it’s holding a dog, cleaning up an accident or letting them in and out for potty breaks. We’re going to start calling this Happy Dog Farm!

That’s all for this week, folks! Stay warm and enjoy these winter sewing days. I am. My sewing room looks like it, doesn’t it?

Mary

Shelley N. from Lewiston, ID sent us this message:

A friend sent this to me today and I thought of you and all the chuckles your newsletter has brought to me. Visited your shop last June and can’t wait to make a return visit. Please enjoy.

The Stud

Two priests died at the same time and met Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates.

St. Peter said, “I’d like to get you guys in now, but our computer’s down. You will have to go back to Earth for about a week, but you can’t go back as priests. “What’ll it be?”

The first priest says, “I’ve always wanted to be an eagle, soaring above the Rocky Mountains.”

“So be it,” says St. Peter, and off flies the first priest.

The second priest mulls this over for a moment and asks, “Will any of this week ‘count’ St. Peter?”

“No, I told you the computer’s down, There’s no way we can keep track of what you are doing.”

In that case” says the second priest, I’ve always wanted to be a stud.”

“So be it” says St. Peter, and the second priest disappears.

A week goes by, the computer is fixed, and the Lord tells St. Peter to recall the two priests. “Will you have any trouble locating them? he asks.

“The first one should be easy,” says St. Peter, “He’s somewhere over the Rockies , flying with the eagles. But the second one could prove to be more difficult.”

Why, asks the Lord.

“He’s on a snow tire, somewhere in Montana “