Thursday, February 28, 2019

I Like/Love #25

February sure seemed to go by in a blink for me. I do believe it is due to my first like (who I freely admit has been a major DISlike several times since Groundhog Day when we brought him home) taking up so very much time and attention and effort and energy....

1. I like, well I am starting to love, Rufus. He is worming 😉 his way into our hearts big time.
He has driven us crazy with not wanting to eat; he should weigh twice what he weighs, poor guy, so it's been exceedingly stressful and worrying that he's not had much of an appetite. Four bags of various kibble later (good ones too: two kinds of Acana, which is what our dogs have had for many many years and done excellent on it) and several varieties and brands of canned dog food, and no real progress. Then we thought we saw a worm in his poop...took him to the vet and yep, whip worms. We've got it in time, so that's a relief. In the meantime, more research had ensued (MacGyver is not only amazing at building but he's a research guru too) and we determined we'd try the raw food diet. Our vet also recommended it before we'd even told him that's the route we planned to take. He LOVES this stuff. We're feeding him as much as a 150-pound dog right now so that he will pack on the pounds.
Content puppy with a full belly and a healing gut

2. I like the show, "No Passport Required" on PBS.
Marcus Samuelsson is the host, and he's wonderful. The premise is celebrating the variety in the culture and food of the immigrants to the US. Marcus is an immigrant himself. We particularly enjoyed a recent episode on Detroit.

3. I like Green Heart Kitchen, a new storefront business in my town of Kingsville. They've been around online as a lunch club, providing excellent quality, affordable lunches for kids at school. Now they've expanded to having a storefront. Not only can you buy great meals, at good prices, but you can get refills of environmentally friendly shampoo, conditioner and laundry detergent.

They aim to cut down on plastic, so they will sell you a glass container for you to fill, or you bring in your own. We enjoyed a fabulous curry last week where all I did was thaw the container, add two cups or so of water, throw it all in the crockpot for several hours, and eat, yum!



4. I really like the piece Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, and I love my YouTube playlists. I usually listen to CBC Music Radio 2, but there are times when I've either had enough or I'm not into what they're playing, and I either plug my phone into my Bose speakers and play from my thousands (no exaggeration) of songs, or from YouTube or I stream CKUA, a terrific Alberta radio station I've mentioned before.

5. I like the art along Windsor's Detroit River riverfront. I took these with my artist friend, Helen, aka Word Weaver, in mind!
Yup, there's Rufus, his first walk along the riverfront. That's the Ambassador Bridge, busiest border crossing in North America. It goes between us, in Windsor, across the river to Detroit.


We got a few centimetres of snow the next day after our walk but it won't last. I'm so ready for Spring!

6. I love where I live. It's Canada's warmest city, but it has so much more to offer than just climate: wineries, a beautiful waterfront in Windsor, the Great Lakes (I live on Lake Erie, and the Detroit River you see here connects it to Lake St. Clair which connects to Lake Huron), veggies and fruit orchards galore, affordability, proximity to the US, especially our 'big brother' Detroit. That's the GM Renaissance Centre (wait, Center, ha) you see in the middle distance. And just in case you've forgotten from some other posts, that is north. Windsor is south of Detroit, the only place in Canada where you go north to get to the US! Wrap your brain around that! Or googlemap it.😉

7. I love libraries. I love reading (I don't do enough of it these days). I like that I got asked to be the featured artist for the month of March at my local library. 😊 One of the librarians and I got talking when I took out a couple of quilt books, and a quilt magazine. She's a beginning quilter, and she got the library to subscribe to McCall's Quick Quilts. It came about that she is in charge of procuring the monthly local artist feature, and, well, she asked me if I'd like to be an artist in 2019. I took in a few quilts this week, several of which are Island Batik challenge quilts, and she gave me a copy of the little poster they do for the artist:
That's Fallen Sky which they decided to use for the poster! It's Cindy's (Stitchin at Home) pattern that I did for the October challenge. They have In the Shadow of the Plus as well, along with a photocopy of the quilt and pattern in Modern Patchwork magazine.

8. I like this photo, because it made me laugh, and showed me how frazzled MacGyver and I had become over the past 2.5 weeks of having Rufus:
This is one of my cupboards, a fancy one, note the glass shelves and it has glass fronted doors. I went to get a lunch-sized plate the other day, and the top plate on the stack was dirty, as you see. I was like what the heck? And then I realized: one of us, and we have no idea which of us, put our dirty lunch plate back in the cupboard instead of in the dishwasher!! Yeah, we feel as frazzled (if not more, as we are no longer in our 20s) as parents of a newborn or a terrible-twos-toddler!

9. I like buying fabric on sale or as remnants without a hard and fast purpose. This was one such purchase at JoAnn's a few months ago. I knew it would be for Brady somehow...
Well, when they were here earlier this month, he requested a large pillowcase for his new super-huge pillow. And Nana provided one!

10. Finally, I love quilting. Although I tend to be too critical of my work as I am quilting, in the end I am very pleased with it, and it does bring me such joy. I particularly like quilting ribbon candy, and I like the way I did the corners here, making them diminish along the 45° angle into the corner. It is a technique I learned from, I believe, Angela Walters.
I also have a new love for the piano keys style quilting in a busy border! This fabric is the Benartex line, Lilacs in Bloom, and it is truly glorious. And in quilt shops now!

I'm linking up with other grateful peeps at LeeAnna's blog
Not Afraid of Color
Feel free to join us with a post of your own!

19 comments:

  1. You saved up lots of great likes for February, Sandra! Glad you figured out what was going on with Rufus - poor guy. I love public art, and the selections you showed from Windsor are so interesting! Congratulations on being a featured artist at your library - that is so cool! I think that poster belongs in a frame in your studio.

    ReplyDelete
  2. :)
    Show us pictures of your library quilt display!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm so glad you've figured out the food and gut issues for Rufus! That will hopefully lower the stress levels in the house! He looks pretty happy and content, napping away. I don't know why I fuss about walking on the treadmill for exercise when I'm up and down (seems like constantly) to try to keep Wilbur off the counters - haha. He completely ignores me until I'm within a couple of steps, then he jumps down. I'm convinced he's my new exercise coach. Thanks for the peek into your city and areas that you enjoy! How fun that your library is doing a feature on you! Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful quilting! And I'm SO glad Rufus is eating. He'll catch up soon!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful pup! Ours didn't eat, either as a puppy, to the point his growth was permanently stunted. A friend finally got him to eat by putting a little canned chicken (people food, like for chicken salad) on his food. Canned chicken, the magic elixer! Also, the vet found that his baby teeth didn't come out as usual and the permanent teeth came in behind them. The vet removed the baby teeth when the pup went in for neutering. Good luck with your puppy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Sandra! Is there anything better than a puppy with a full belly, resting away?!! I love Rufus. And I also love and adore Marcus Samuelsson. Thank you for mentioning that new series on PBS - I will look it up. I am about ready to move to a warmer, 'northern' city - and your Canadian one looks promising. Although, who am I kidding - the kiddos are here - I'm not leaving. Congrats to your notoriety at your local library. What a cool and fabulous poster!! Look at all that quilty goodness that they captured in the photo. Love it! Latly, I had to laugh right out loud when I saw the dirty plate in the cupboard. I believe I ran the dishwasher just the other day without putting soap in. Oops! ~smile~ Roseanne

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the way you handled the corners in your free motion.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like people with a positive attitude! Glad your pup is on the mend now.

    ReplyDelete
  9. So interesting to read about your likes. Rufus is a great addition to the family. Glad you've figured him out for now. That poster!!! Super fun!

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a gorgeous puppy Sandra and I love the luxuriant black coat of hair he has. Do you ever watch Dr. Pol on National Geographic Wild channel? That's the first thing he looks for when a puppy isn't eating and losing weight. Guess those worms really play havoc with the poor puppies. I'm looking forward to seeing him grow and gaining weight, as well.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm glad you found out what was wrong with Rufus, hopefully he's on his way to gaining weight now. How fabulous that your local library is featuring you for the month of March (love the poster quilt).

    ReplyDelete
  12. Pleased the feeding worries are now over and the pup is sure to start growing well. They can be naughty when young but you can't help but love them.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I just love reading your "I Like/Love" posts. Those photos of Rufus are dear and he IS a big dog. If he is growing and not eating much he is of course underweight...like a teenage boy. Does that elephant have two little babies behind her? It is an awesome sculpture. What a beautiful place to walk. Yes, I'm ready for spring, too. But I also know sometime in late July, early August I will be ready for a little bit of cold weather. Thanks for bringing a smile to my face today.

    ReplyDelete
  14. So glad you solved one big issue with Rufus. Hopefully things will be calmer sailing with him now if he is eating and healing. I found 3 capsicums in the freezer the other day..... definitely my fault, although is was probably the kids that drove me to it one way or another. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Congratulations on being the featured artist for the month! How exciting is that?? I'm glad you got the problem with Rufus figured out :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Congrats on your library display. Glad Rufus is getting better. BTW, you're not on LeeAnna's link up yesterday.

    ReplyDelete
  17. How lovely to be displayed in your local library! I am so glad Rufus is eating and I am sure he will be back on track for gaining weight! It is try how the little things upsetting the cart make us do even stranger things - putting dirty dishes away - at least you didn't unload an entirely dirty dishwasher! Your quilting is terrific - I tried a few machines but really have to think hard about space and what I want - not happening at the moment! I would love to wee Windsor and Detroit again - it looks so inviting.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Glad you got the puppy on the right track with his diet and health. Lots of things to like last week. How cool about being the featured artist at the library. Hope this week is as nice.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Congratulations on the featured display, Sandra!!! It was only a matter of time. Sending hugs to Rufus. You are the best paw-rent a puppy can ask for. maybe rename this post - Puppy Love :-)

    ReplyDelete

I wholeheartedly appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment, as they make my day! I answer every one by personal email. :-) Unless... you are a "no-reply" blogger, which can occur for a few reasons. You can get around that by writing out your email within your comment so that I can answer you.