Lab Dog or Lap Dog?

Hannah snapped a few pics with her phone recently...a little blurry, but maybe you will see how lucky we are to have this sweet doggie living with us!

Dora was half lying in my lap - her other half is on the ottoman (she is way too big to actually share the chair with me, she weighs 67 pounds!), and her head was on my chest. The love of a dog is such a pure thing, there's nothing like it.
Doesn't she have a beautiful profile? We got Dora from Chris at Cricket Hollow Farms. Dora is disarmingly beautiful. At least we think so!

And her face is so expressive. Here we are, sharing a little moment. Sure, I could be getting some work done around the house - but would it be as satisfying as this?

Watching Dora Grow - Part 2!

We have been having so much fun with our puppy! Dora is a very sweet dog, loves all people and all dogs - much like our dear Maggie did. :) Here are a few pics of her rapid growth!

Holding her steady for the pictures can be challenging! Here she is at 15 weeks and 24 pounds.

...16 weeks, 27 pounds...

...17 weeks, and 29 pounds...

...and 18 weeks, and 30.4 pounds (we took her to the vet this week, so the weight was actually accurate!). Even though we see her every day, her growth is amazing, even to us.

We have decided to switch to monthly photos after this. Keep watching!

Christmas Projects Finally Posted - Almost Done!

This wasn't technically a Christmas present, but I wrapped it and sent it with the others. I have made graduation quilts for all of my nieces and nephews (we don't have a big family!), and this one is for my niece, Collin, who graduated from high school in Virginia in June of 2010. A little late, I know! I knew she liked pink, white, and black - but I had trouble working black into my design, so this is what I ended up with. The back is pieced with the leftover fabrics, and I even have a pieced binding. I used up all but a small basket of leftover strips in this quilt.

Here you can see the quilting detail. I did not quilt it myself - I sent it out for quilting, to a local long-arm quilter I have used in the past (she does not want her name given out). She does a beautiful job, and I was happily surprised with the results! I just sent her the quilt, and asked her to "play" in all of the borders, using variegated pink thread. When I asked her if she had that color of thread, she started laughing - "oh, you have no idea!" Apparently she collects thread like many of us quilters collect fabric.

I am happy with how this table runner finally turned out. It went through a few arrangements before I settled on this design. The blue and green strips were leftovers from another project, so I started with the pieced blocks. All of the other fabrics were from my stash. The backing is actually a black and white splashy modern print, and looks awesome with the lime green binding, making the runner reversible. This now lives with my brother and sister-in-law in Virginia.

Close-up of quilting detail. I had lots of fun quilting this. I saw the design on a quilt by Victoria at BumbleBeansInc. blog. I practiced by drawing on paper first, then went to the fabric. It is my new favorite all-over quilting design. It is fun and easy, and looks great.

Had to finish with a picture of my gorgeous puppy, Dora. She is growing at an amazing speed - she gained 4 pounds last week! She is our beautiful yellow lab, from Cricket Hollow Farm in Galva, Illinois. She is a sweet doggy, and we all just love her!

Merry Christmas to us!

'Twas the day before Christmas, and early we rose! Scott, Chris, and Hannah on the road, and the snow blows! We drove for 3 hours to pickup our gift - a beautiful yellow puppy - and we didn't land in a drift! (end of poem, such as it was!) We left home at 8 a.m. to drive to Cricket Hollow Farms, in Galva, Illinois. Chris Anderson has a simply wonderful dog breeding (and boarding and training) business there, and we were lucky enough to find her, and our newest family member, Dora!
Here I am, holding Dora for the first time. When Chris's daughter brought Dora out to me, I started to cry, she is just so beautiful! (you can see Chris behind me)

Here is my daughter, Hannah, getting kisses from the lovely Dora. Let me tell you, it takes a LOT to get Hannah out of bed early in the morning, but she bounded out of bed in order to come along to pick up Dora! Here you can see the front room of Chris's business.

Hannah got to have Dora ride in the back seat with her, and took LOTS of pictures on the way home! A little yawn from Dora. By the way, the name has nothing to do with the cartoon character - but was chosen in honor of a favorite great aunt of mine, who was spunky and sweet. So far, our Dora has both qualitites! :)

Chris gave us a little stuffed lamb, sweet with the scent of Dora's 9 brothers and sisters. Here she is, cuddled up next to her little lamb - dreaming about what else Santa might bring to her the next day! For all of us Hudsons, though, we already had our gift - a sweet little girl named Dora. God Bless Us, Every One!

Indeed!!!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"There comes a time in your life when you have to let go of all the pointless drama and the people who create it and surround yourself with people who make you laugh so hard that you forget the bad and focus solely on the good. After all, life is too short to be anything but happy."

~Karl Marx, Composer (1897-1985)

And now, how about some pictures to make you happy?

Scott and I visited a terrific breeder of labradors in Galva, Illinois recently. Her name is Chris Anderson, and the place is called Cricket Hollow Farm. They do a great job with their dogs, and we got to visit some of their already sold puppies! How cute are these?!

We have decided to purchase one, and will get a yellow female from their next litter, sometime this fall. We can't wait!