Johnny Is Asking for Your Prayers

Johnny hurts.   He needs your prayers.  Many of you know this little character, but for those of you who don't, here is a bit of history for you.

We first met Johnny on July 24, 2007.  We picked him up as a rescue for Small Paws Rescue because he was a very sick little 3 month old puppy.  You see he had a Grade 6 PDA heart murmur and was in really bad shape, except for his spirit and loving personality.  Small Paws flew Johnny down to Texas A&M for heart surgery.  We thought we had said our good byes to him, but the adoption that was arranged for him fell through.  We were contacted to see if we wanted Johnny "to come home" and we said yes.  Our life hasn't been the same since then.

He came back wearing a premie t-shirt and going full steam ahead.  In fact Johnny hasn't stopped until recently. Life is to be loved to the fullest according to him. 







Edgar is Johnny's hero.  He adores Edgar, and Edgar has been the best big brother to him.  In fact, with Edgar around, Johnny has been the easiest puppy we have ever had. 

He adores Louie as well, and visa versa.  They are soul mates.





This is after his first "official" grooming.  It took me four days to catch up with him when he was still enough to get this picture.



He had to put up Johnny fences around our raised beds because he saw them as playgrounds.



Toys were never picked up.  As soon as we would pick up his toys (in any one of his three toy boxes/toy beds) he'd start playing with them all over again.

But then he might just sleep in the toy box.

As you can see, even when his buddy was tired and just wanted a nap, Johnny was still up for a game.  Poor Edgar.  Poor patient Edgar.

One of Johnny's favorite things to do is steal my EXPENSIVE yarn and share it with Abby, the Alpha cat. 







As he has turned into a four year old, he has finally settled down a bit to take a nap in the sun with Louie.

Now it's September 2011 and Johnny hurts.  He has a growth between the 3rd and 4th cervical vertebrae and is going to see a neurosurgeon and have a MRI tomorrow.  We aren't sure when the surgery will be but we are hoping it will be soon.  The mornings are the worst for him.  He cries and staggers and shakes in pain.  The pain meds take about an hour before he is calm enough to sleep.  He is eating a bit and all functions are normal, which is a VERY GOOD THING. 

Johnny is asking for your prayers through this ordeal.  We all want Johnny running again.  Abby wants to chase Johnny again.  Louie wants to sunbathe with Johnny again.  Edgar wants Johnny crawling on him again.  We all want Johnny loving life to the fullest again. 

Thank you for your prayers, thoughts and hugs, and for caring about our little Johnny.  I'll keep you posted. 

TTFN

Sue

Remembering

September 11, 2001.  A day we will never forget.

September 11, 2001.  The day we all stopped still in shock.



September 11, 2001.  The day we all must remember.

A Saga of Tomatoes

This past weekend was a total tomato blitz.  We started out with 180 pounds of tomatoes, 20 pounds of peppers, 20 pounds of onions, 10 pounds of jalapeno peppers, and 6 garlic bunches on Friday, and at the end of the day of Sunday, we had processed them all.  The big draw?   SALSA.  It started out innocently enough when David and I we made salsa last year and comments were made as to how "tame" the salsa was.  My response was "next year you get to help."  By the end of the day on Friday we had nine people here at Edgar's Acres willing and ready for the tomato processing production. 

On Friday Jim, Susan and I canned tomatoes under my able supervision.  Saturday was set aside for the Salsa.  The weather was perfect.  Sunny and dry so we were able to clean and cut everything outside, leaving the kitchen available for the actual processing. 

Starting out at 8:00 a.m. sharp on Saturday Susan made sure everyone was wearing sunscreen.  We wanted red tomatoes, not red food processors.

See the pretty tomatoes on the counter?  We did 48 pints. 

Pat got all of the knives sharpened for the chopping. 

Frank and John were given the assignment of chopping the jalapenos, some with the seeds left in, and some without.  Of course they put on the gloves to keep from burning their hands. 

We had a table of workers chopping tomatoes (about 60 pounds of them), and a table for the lovely Ms. Pat chopping onions.  (I did do the garlic.)

In about 90 minutes everything had been chopped and I started putting together the vegetables for individual batches of Salsa.

This first batch is mild.  We made mild, medium, chipolte, hot and x-medium.

Judi was the official Salsa cooker before we put them in the jars for processing. 

John and Frank grilled a batch of jalapenos for the chipolte Salsa.  Steve is supervising.

The house smelled heavenly of Salsa.  We were done by 4:00 and geared up for David's Retirement BBQ, and what a feast it was.  David grilled his famous shrimp, Jim did baby back ribs, and we had Mom's potato salad, baked beans, garlic bread, berry pie and brownies.  We were hungry and ready to celebrate after a day of good hard work.

Sunday morning around 7:00 a.m. I came tripping out to the kitchen for a cup of coffee to be greeted by Jim and Steve looking to get started on tomato sauce.  The real draw was using the Squeezo.  To be honest they weren't making a lot of points with me, but they were so ready to get started, and started they did. 

I told them to clean and quarter the tomatoes thinking I would get to finish my cup of coffee.  By 7:30, they were done and ready to run the Squeezo.  Fortunately for them, I had finished my cup of coffee.

I got them set up with the Squeezo and went for a second cup of coffee.

Edgar was with me on this early morning production. 

After a wonderful breakfast prepared by Judi and Pat, Steve and Frank set to filling jars of sauce for processing. 

Louie spent the weekend sleeping. 

Special thanks go to Susan and Steve for washing and washing dishes.  David was able to give them a break once in a while as was Pat, but it was primarily those two who spent three days doing dishes.

In total we put up 144 pints of tomatoes, salsa and sauce in three days, and we were all friends and talking to each other when the job was done.  Suffice it to say we have now started another tradition. 

It was a wonderful weekend, and it would have been perfect if Rachel had been able to join us.  Rachel, plan on it for next year for Labor Day weekend. 

Good friends, good weather, good food and lots of tomatoes make for good times.

TTFN

Sue

Bow Wow Blankies

My charity knitting this year is knitting blankets for the dogs staying in shelters.  They need a little touch of love, and for me that means a blankie.  So far I've knit 25.  As you can see from the photo above, the blankies are dog tested and dog approved.  The are knit in the "dishrag" pattern, using two strands of worsted weight yarn (or four strands of the lighter weight yarn), in any bits and pieces that need to be used for something.  They are coming out about 3' x 3' and are so nice and soft after they have been washed and dried. 

They are very colorful and have different textures too.  Again, Edgar approves. 

Bow Wow Blankies.

Cast on three stitches.

K2, YO, K1

K2, YO, K to end

continue this until you have 100 stitches on the needle.

K1, K2tog, YO, K2tog, K

continue until you have five stitches.

K1, K2tog twice, K1
Cast off. 

I've been using any type of yarn that can be tossed in a washer and dryer since that is how they will be cleaned at the shelter. 

The first batch was delivered to the Clallum County Humane Society and they have reported back to me that the dogs LOVE them. 

I also delivered about 25 crocheted blankets to Peninsula Friends of Animals for the kitties.  The kitties love them too.  These were done by the Crochet Guild in Bellevue.

In the meantime, we are harvesting garlic and onions.  I am having to be creative as to where I can cure them this year.  Right now I have the garlic curing on the woodstove, and a crate of onions on Edgar's crate.  This time of year my house is given over to produce.

Today is another beautiful day and I have gardening I want to do. 

Happy knitting (and gardening).

TTFN

Sue





Where have all the soldiers gone ...

gone to war zones everyone.  That's where our soldiers are, and the morale is low.  I've been receiving letters from various military personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait asking if we can include them this year.  My answer of course is yes.  So far we are committed to sending out 975 stockings, and this is just August.  The theme in each request has been how low the morale is because the soldiers want to be home, especially for the holidays.  They are feeling more forgotten the more years we have troops in these areas.  I know all of you are committed to remembering our troops and so for the 8th year, we are sending our stockings. 

I am confident we will have enough stockings and items for the stockings.  We have knitters, crocheters and sewers working away on stockings, so that will be covered.  I am concerned, however, about the money for postage.  We currently have $100 and will probably need about $1300 this year.  The dollar is tighter this year so each donation of $1.00 is more precious.  Again, I am relying on faith that the funds will come in.  Please let everyone know that any amount will be very much appreciated.  We are getting closer to getting the 501(c)(3) status, but the IRS seems to need "just one more piece of information."  It's been almost a year working on this.  We will keep you posted on this status.  We also have a new address for Operation Holiday Stockings:

Operation Holiday Stockings
P.O. Box 3186
Sequim, WA 98382

The past couple of weeks I have received boxes of stockings and as usual, they are beautiful.

These are from Hyla in Los Altos, California.

Paula in Columbia, Missouri knit these for us.

Finally, Mary from Green Bay, Wisconsin knit these for us.

If I could I would share some of the emails I have received, but the information is confidential.  Please pray for the safety of our troops, and remember that any contribution you or a friend, relative or co-worker can make for postage will go a long way to let our troops know we haven't forgotten them.

Sleep tight tonight in your warm beds, and say a prayer of thanks for those who serve for us.

TTFN

Sue



I'm Having Too Much Fun

Lupine at Hurricane Ridge

August is starting out to be a month of good times with family and friends.  The first weekend my brother Steve, and his wife Judi, came up to visit for a couple of days.  We had a blast.  Now that children have been raised, and we all are basically "on our own" we can finally get together and relax and have fun.  The weather was amazing, clear blue skies for both days they were here.  On Monday night we got together with Mary Lou and Laurie, Mom's cousin and her daughter from Port Angeles, and Leslie & Steve, and Jim.  David grilled up his usual feast of shrimp so everyone was happy. 

The next day we took a tour around the Dungeness area and marveled in the beautiful beaches and the clear skies.

This is taken in the area called Dungeness.  We also went to Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, and just took our time, relaxed, visited and soaked in the scenery.  Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car for that portion of the day trip.  All of the beaches we visited are within 15 minutes from Edgar's Acres.  We also stopped by Nash's but they were closed.  I wanted to get something for my cousin Pat.  Maybe next time.  In the meantime Pat, this photo will have to do.

That evening we went up to Steve & Leslie's for dinner so my brother could spend an evening with Steve's koi. Judi even managed to get her toes kisssed by the koi, because they liked her.   We had such a wonderful time.  We even managed to get a great group picture of the four of us.

In order to get all of us laughing at the same time I made a comment that I won't repeat, but let's just say it had something to do with Steve's beard.  It's a nice one, isn't it? On our way home we spotted a herd of Elk in a field.  Not sure if this picture will be clear enough for you.  The bull was just standing there watching us, making sure we left the cows alone.  This bull was big, very big.







Yesterday Lindsey, Andrew and Jim came up and we spent the day at Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Forest.  I've included a lot of pictures here, which is just a small portion of what I took.  It was overcast at sea level, but WOW, incredible at 5300 feet.





These pictures really don't do justice to the true beauty.  The wild flowers were out, and it was warm.  There is still plenty of snow in the area so one short hiking trail was closed. 

Andrew and Lindsey.  This isn't as warm as Florida, but beautiful.

This isn't a bad picture of us, but a stunning picture of the mountains.

And yes, Lindsey did get to touch the snow.

On the way back to Edgar's Acres we stopped at Olympic Cellars Winery in Sequim to check out the Working Woman Wines.  Another fun moment. 

Jim, Lindsey and Andrew left this morning to see Mt. Helens.  The best part of their visit was having a chance to get to know Andrew.  What a wonderful guy.  Lindsey, you are a lucky woman (and Andrew, you already know you are a lucky man). 

Today finished out with having dinner with our neighbors De & Walt, and their friends.  What fun people and good food.  I had lamb for the first time in 40 years and it was delicious.   

I've been busy and will be making another post soon to bring you up today on Operation Holiday Stockings. 

Gotta love this sabbatical idea!

TTFN

Sue