Catching up

It all started with trip to San Jose, then Denver, then Chicago, then Phoenix, then back to Phoenix at which time we packed up my mom and moved her to Oregon - in the matter of three months. By some standards that may not be a lot of traveling, but since I don't have a real job, it's a lot for me and my blogging slowed down to practically nil as we tried to get stuff done, entertain Mom, move Mom into her new apartment, etc, etc.

So I've had a geek week processing a large number of digital photos, putting them in to web pages and posting to our server and here's what we have:

Dogs - lots of dogs
There's Jake and Mandy, of course, who continue to entertain us just being them.
    

There were the visitors, Joey, the beagle and Montana, the large black lab mix, who stopped by in May. Even in San Jose, our house was a dog (and cat) magnet.
  

We took care of Pepperoni for Mark, when he and his wife were on a road trip to the Grand Canyon in July.
  

And the now-Oregon-resident Tootsie.
  

There are even more pictures of the dogs and a little narrative in May Dogs, June Dogs and July Dogs on TheHudsons.com

Willamette River Cruise
Courtesy of Dianne Rodway and John Becker and the City Properties Group, we spent a pleasant Sunday afternoon cruising the Willamette River.
   

Fifty
Yes, I'm now 50 and I mentioned the party. Here are some pictures.
    

Jim and Chris Adamson couldn't make the day, but on their way to take a car full of things to their daughter in Seattle, they stopped by.


Fiberly Weekend
There are a few more pictures from the weekend in Chicago, including lots of color from the Chicago Botanic Gardens.
  

In May, Tom and I walked the Doggie Dash for the Oregon Humane Society. With Jake and Mandy in tow, I wasn't able to do much multi-tasking (ie take pictures), but I did get one.


In June, just before the car came to pick us up for the last leg of the move from Sun City West, I took a great picture of my Mom and her friend Viki Hartsock.


AND I've finally finished Katherine, crocheted a scarf and made shirts for Tom and John Becker for his birthday...and I don't have any pictures yet. So I guess, I'm not quite caught up after all. Oh well.

And Dogs

And while I was at it, I pulled two month's pictures of Jake and Mandy off the card, so the cuteness continues on TheHudsons.

   :

Dog Days of September

It's been a month-plus now since Jake adopted us and all is well. He's a happy fella, and now that Mandy has figured out that he isn't just here for a visit, she's even initiated a few play sessions.

More we've learned about Jake:
• His nose gets cold, so he has to find a place to keep it warm.


• He likes to cuddle; he really likes to cuddle with Tom.


• He's murder on stuffed toys. Poor blue elephant-baby has had three ear surgeries.


• He's not too proud to take over anyone's part of the bed.


• In pinch my lap will do.


And in the process, I got a really good picture of Mandy. It's hard to get a good picture of a black dog when the flash always gives her devil eyes, but not this time.


There's more Jake living the life he deserves, including a movie here.

Can you stand it? More dogs...

And there are so many pictures I miss because the camera is not where I am...

Here is the latest installment of Jake pictures with some good pictures of Mandy thrown in.
  

Home again, home again

As much as I do like spending time with my Mom, truth be told I'd rather spend it here than there—there being Arizona—Sun City West, to be exact. There was a time when I could tolerate the heat, but I don't think it was 110°-114°F. All in all, though, the entire Mom-visit, both here and there was nice. And I think we're making progress on convincing her that she should move away from the desert heat.

We brought her back from Tacoma on day four of Jake's new life with us. With the addition of Tootsie, the week was all about the dogs.

There's Tootsie
  

...and Mandy
  

..and, of course, Jake
  

As for knitting, I took the "I Do" shrug with me with the intention of finishing it, but neglected to bring the first sleeve.

My mom and her friend, Vicki, took me to Hobby Lobby. It's like a Michael's on steroids, but much better merchandised. I found some Lion Brand Incredible yarn in "blue shades" on sale and there was just enough to knit the drop stitch skirt from "Skirts!" by Darla Sims. I started it for me, but my mom hinted that she'd like it, so it's now for her. I started it with the intention of finishing it there, but after taking it off the needles to fix a mistake, I realized I really should have paid more attention to the gauge, so had to restart. So mucn for my intentions...

I also took Seville a lace shrug and Seasilk in Sangria (ooh...a Spanish theme and I didn't even plan it.) I think I've had it for a while but found it in my "put away" tray. (I'm so organized - or not.)
 

Like I said, it was a nice visit, but it's always good to be home again.