Doggies, kitties, and a little bit of sewing

I made this doggy coat as a Christmas present for a friend's dog. However, as careful as I was in my measuring, it was still too small. That poor fat dog! The band that goes under the belly was so tight that when she modeled it for us it hiked her back end up in the air and she walked on her back tippy toes. She looked so embarrassed and I'm sorry but we couldn't help laughing at her. Anyway, the coat is back here in the apartment awaiting alterations and we decided to put it on Duncan just to see how it looks.

It's too big for my boy (actually if the bands were made smaller it would fit) but it doesn't matter anyway because he hated it! He ran in circles, nipped at it with his teeth, and I'm just lucky he didn't tear it. Vet Tech Girl says he doesn't like it because he feels like he's not in control. Hmmm, as far as I've ever noticed, he's never been in any kind of control.

This is another Day Bag. A Vet Tech friend of Vet Tech Girl wanted one so I managed to finish this on Christmas Eve.

It's black corduroy and if you want to drive yourself nuts go ahead and sew BLACK CORDUROY!!!!! I remember laughing at a grandmother who complained about how hard it was on her eyes to sew black fabric.

Well, God is getting even with me.

And in addition to killing my eyes, the lint brush got a heavy workout, thanks to Chlorox.

Once again, the hard bottom that I like so much!

A view of the inside.

Last week the lady I work for, and I were cleaning a house that has two cats.

Two cats that hate us.

One is an ancient torty who growls at me, and the other is a long haired gray kitty who hisses at me.

Not exactly Welcome Wagon material.

Anyway, a contractor was there working on the steps in the foyer and somehow the cats had escaped from the basement where they were to spend the day.

"No problem," we said," hitching up our pants, and readying ourselves for battle. "We'll take care of it." We then spent about 15 minutes setting up barriers and planning our strategy. My boss was to flush the kitties out, and I was to shoo them down the steps. I wasn't worried because the cats always bolt for the basement as soon as we get out the sweepers or heaven forbid talk to them. But something went wrong because they ran in hysterical circles, jumped over our barriers and disappeared into thin air. It does embarrass me that the torty, who is old and fat, and runs like an old woman whose shoes are too tight was able to get past me.

"I don't think we're going to be able to add cat herding to our resumes." I told the owner and we got back to work.

I needed to get my boss a gift for Christmas and decided a bottle of wine would be nice. I was going to just whip up a fabric sleeve for it when I remembered that a couple of the double wine bags I made were still hanging around.

That meant I would have to get two bottles but it still made my life easier.

Even though I love wine, I have absolutely no idea of what's good and what isn't so I look for fun labels.

Hey, it works for me.

I was just getting ready to grab a couple of bottles of Little Penguin when I spotted a label that stopped me cold.

Check it out.

Herding Cats!!!!!!

Can you believe it???!!!

I bought a red and a white.

Here's what it looks like when you're carrying it.

The bottles are very snug and don't bang into each other.

Needless to say when I gave it to her and she pulled out a bottle of the herding cats, she screamed.

Herding Cats will do that to you!

Pictures! Finally!

I've mentioned a couple of times that I had lost my camera-computer cord and haven't been able to download pictures since Thanksgiving.

Kathi D was nice enough to give me a holler and told me to get a zippy little digital converter drive, and I mentioned this to Hans as he left to go to the electronics store.

Kathi, I have no idea how you did it, but that's what Hans came home with. Why he listened to you; I have no idea because he never listens to me!!

So, see the bag on the right? The one hanging off the shoulder of the pretty blond? That's the purse I saw when we were in Toronto and I just had to have it. You can't really see the color but it's pink.

Here's a closer look. Since I hadn't downloaded my pictures I never went back for a better look so I missed a couple of details.

I forgot about the tab that ran down the side, and even though I did make an adjustable strap, I didn't add the silver rectangle on the opposite side.

I couldn't find pink fabric so mine is gray.






Once again I used Nicole's, Day Bag Pattern, which really has a lot of great options. I've made several of these.


Here is mine as seen from above with the zipper closed.

















Here's the inside complete with a paw print lining. There's a patch pocket in there too but it gets a little lost in the busy print.



















The front flap.

Here you can see the adjustable strap. I miscalculated the length and even though I thought it was going to be very long, it wasn't. At its longest it fits me just right.


I have to make another one for Vet Tech Girl's friend and she wants hers to be very long! So I learned a good lesson.





We're going out to a party tonight and I since I'm going to carry it, I'll have Hans take a picture.



I'm very happy with my bag except I'm afraid it's going to look dirty really fast. It's a gray, fake suede and I'm not sure of how to clean it.



















I also finally got some pictures of Duncan in the coat I made for him and I'll post those tomorrow. Although I warn you, neither the coat nor the pictures are much to write home about!

Life in the 'hood

I've made mention about the neighborhood I live in, and this week has brought it all home again.

Yesterday I was on my way home from the gym and the state store (doesn't everyone stop for liquor after a workout?), and I wondered what the hell was going on now, because the road that goes past our apartment was totally backed up.

Customers at the hole in the wall bar (that dares to call itself a pub) up the street from us, had spilled out on the sidewalk and were all staring up the street. Porches that are normally empty all year long, were full of their house's inhabitants.

"Great! A wreck, just what I need (I'm now a hard hearted Big City dweller)!"

And then I saw a police car pulled up on the sidewalk.

Then another police car.

Holy shit! There were police cars all over the place (I counted eight) and they were parked across every driveway entrance including ours and what the hell had Hans done now?

I slowed to a stop and not one person behind me honked their horn.

Everyone was that mesmerized.

I finally pulled over and parallel parked across the street. My heart slowed down a bit when I realized that our apartment (and Vet Tech Girl's apartment, below) didn't appear to be the center of activity. I saw policemen with guns drawn, walking around a junky apartment house just up from us. From the looks of things I'd say they were searching for someone and all I could think was; if that certain someone had broken into Vet Tech Girl's apartment, he was probably sitting on the couch and sharing bon-bons with my grand-dog Duncan the Pit Bull.

I managed to lug my sweaty body, and my many bottles of liquor across the street without getting caught in any crossfire, and burst into our apartment breathless with excitement.

I made Hans, who had been slaving away at the computer (Internet poker) and hadn't heard a thing, look out the window but by then most of the police cars were gone.

Then tonight we walked out of the apartment and there sat three police cars, and once again the police were circling the building up the street, only now they had a police dog with them. But shortly thereafter they left.

I very excitedly filled Vet Tech Girl in on the situation and she (like Hans) had no idea this was going on around us. I was telling her to please be careful and keep an eye out because I don't think the culprit has been caught. We then veered off that subject and onto her car (now fixed thank God), her need for a couch (I have one at my house that she can have), and then she said, "My friends love my purse! I even had a man say, 'I love your bag!' and another one of my co-workers loves it but she wants one that she can wear across her chest."

To be honest folks, I thought she'd either thrown it out or given it away. And it just made my day to see her hold it up and tell me how, because of its color, it's a great fall purse and she's loving it.

I think you have to be a parent to understand that your kid's approval sometimes takes precedence over prowling criminals and gun toting policemen!