Apparently we had a 3.6 magnitude earthquake last night near Salem. It happened around 11:20pm, and we were in bed, but not yet asleep. We didn’t feel a thing, but we did hear one of the bedroom windows rattling and thought it might be the wind. Jeremy got up and closed the window, and that was that. I think this is the second or third earthquake in Salem since I started school at Willamette, but it’s the first time I noticed anything at all during the quake…not that we realized what had happened. 
September 2007
Monthly Archive
Mon 24 Sep 2007 - Posted by julie under General
Another weekend, another post full of romping puppies. Last week’s playdate was so fun that we set up another one for yesterday afternoon, and the dogs had a blast sprinting around at top speed after their toys.
Spencer has almost caught up with Freyja in height, but she is still longer, and I dare say heavier, than he is yet. I think she has an edge on him in speed too, but that could be because she has a stronger prey drive than he does, and really goes after those toys for all she’s worth. Spencer isn’t quite so invested in the chase.
Also, we noticed that Freyja gets really streamlined when she runs, with her ears back and her body all grounded, very graceful. Spencer is all limbs and flying ears and tongue somehow sticking straight forward—it’s adorable (and I swear every third shot we got of him was just like that!).
Freyja is showing a few alpha dog tendencies with Spencer, which is a new thing for her, as she has always done the “I’m such a harmless little puppy” submission thing around other dogs in the past. Her confidence level is definitely growing. Every single time she heard Spencer getting a drink of water, she had to go get some herself… good thing Spencer is good at sharing!
And now for some “happy dog” shots to finish off this picture-heavy post. Enjoy!
More photos, from this weekend’s play session with Freyja and Spencer. They haven’t gotten together to play in quite some time, although they were both in the same obedience classes. Yet the second they saw each other in the yard at TIUA (where we hold our playdates as it’s reasonably enclosed), it was like they had never been apart. Play commenced at lightning-speed and continued for a solid half hour or more, after which both puppies were totally pooped out. Below, you’ll find some of our attempts to photograph the little speed demons in the act.
Everybody loves Spencer!
We found that Freyja was very keen on chasing her balls and frisbees (strong prey drive in that one!), while Spencer was more interested in chasing Freyja, so many of the photos involve Freyja running around with a toy in her mouth and Spence hot on her heels. The remaining photos involved Spencer rolling around on the ground getting love and tummy rubs from everybody, followed a few frames later by Freyja coming over to break up the party and find out what all the fuss was. Amazing how different their personalities are!
It’s been a while since we posted any photos of Freyja, so I thought I would write a short update to let you know that she’s still doing great, smart as a whip and growing like a weed at nearly 60 pounds. We just finished an obedience training course that lasted 7 weeks. Freyja was a bit young (just over 5 mos. old) when the class started and we were consequently told not to expect her to be at the top of the class; by the end, the instructors were telling us to expect more from her, and she really responded when we did. She has learned some commands better than others so far, and still needs regular practice, being an energetic puppy, but she is really doing great.
Now that Freyja is 6 months old, it was time to take her to the vet to be spayed, and that was taken care of nearly two weeks ago. She still has stitches in place (to be removed this weekend), so we are still trying to keep her from excessive running and jumping. With a German shepherd pup, though, that’s like trying to hold your breath underwater (it can be done, but not for very long)– especially now that she’s not in pain from the surgery. That doesn’t stop her from taking full advantage of Jeremy spoiling her like she’s still a sickie, and letting her cuddle up with him on the sofa, though.
I was one of the lucky 2,000 who made it into the 2007 Rockin’ Sock Club from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. We received our first yarn pack at the beginning of March, and the club got off to a good start.
The yarn, STR Medium Weight in the custom colorway Monsoon, was absolutely gorgeous. I had been wanting to make some socks in a green colorway, and the greens, browns, and grays in this yarn were perfectly suited to the end of an Oregon winter. I liked the pattern a lot also, a reversible cable cuff with ribbed insteps and short-row garter toes and heels, knit toe-up.
The problem, though, was the fit. I started off knitting this pair of socks on #0s, thinking I’d make the pair for myself. However, it quickly became clear that they were coming out too large for my tiny feet, and the suggested to go down a needle size on the foot was complicated by the fact that I don’t want to have to use 8″ long #00 DPNs. Why in the world don’t they make shorter laceweight (00, 000, etc.) DPNs? At any rate, I decided to just go with the flow and gift these beautiful Monsoon socks to someone who’ll fit into them.
My second problem came when I started knitting the cabled cuffs of the socks. After 3 false starts for various reasons, I finally made it through the top of the cuff on my fourth attempt, and tried the sock on. I could get it on, but it felt awfully snug, and I hated the way the large cables made my ankles all lumpy and bumpy. I can’t even imagine how they’d feel if I wanted to wear them with boots that come up over the ankle. So I ripped out attempt #4 to the heel and did the socks with a half-sized cable instead. I still like how they look, though they sacrificed some reversibility, and the ankle is much less lumpy and tight, knit on #1 needles. I also added some ribbing for balance before casting off.
Our second kit was the gorgeous, and brand-new, Socks that Rock Silkie in the Walking on the Wild Tide colorway. The yarn is fantastically soft, and I was excited to make the pattern, a pair of lace knee-highs, to wear with skirts in the spring. Pretty soon, though, reports began coming in about sagging socks, and I got discouraged. I really want to do this yarn justice both pattern-wise and texture-wise, and I really was enamored of the lace knee-high idea, so I’ve been kicking around some ideas and not really making any decisions about what to do.
The June kit was less in my color palette, but that’s partly why I joined the club, right? STR lightweight in the Firebird colorway, lots of reds, oranges, yellows and pinks. The club pattern didn’t really do it for me either, but I’ve recently started a pair of socks using this yarn and the Fawkes pattern at Socktopia. Several other people in the club did so also, and I liked the results; plus, the colorway and pattern seem meant to go together.
It was the August kit, though, received just over a week ago, that really got me wanting to knit again. I’ve laid off almost entirely over the summer, in part because of the puppy, but when I saw this month’s kit, I pulled out the needles right away. The yarn is STR lightweight in a colorway called Flower Power, and the pattern, Summer of Love Lace, is an anklet with a cute little lace cuff.
I got the yarn on a Friday and had the first sock finished by Sunday evening, the second sock by mid-weed. Of course, it’s way too warm out here for me to cover my feet in wool. Even cotton socks are a bit much at the moment. But they’ll be darn cute a bit later in the fall and next spring.
I made the small size and didn’t need to make any adjustments at all for a perfect fit. My kind of pattern! In fact, I was so pleased with the outcome that I will definitely consider knitting this pattern again (and again).
Two more kits to go!