Knitting and Training

In addition to smoking cessation (enough to make me murderous and bitchy) we have a new puppy. She is named Chloe and she is adorable, and we are too freaking old to train a baby dog. She is smart and I think in time she'll be a good dog but we got her from her mama too young. She's nearly 7 weeks old, we got her two weeks ago. That's just to little to be away from mom but her mother was overstressed with 11 puppies and we didn't know how disastrous no socialization with her littermates was going to be. She is getting to know our current 5 animals- 3 dogs, 3 cats. We're living in a zoo here. My youngest female cat (Thelma Lou) kind of finds her fascinating and Chloe is just dying to play with her. They are chasing each other around, Thelma disappears like greased lightning and then sneaks back up to lure Chloe into another race. Otis, Thelma's brother (Otis Campbell the Town Drunk) is not as enamoured with the puppy. And he's really big so puppy just nods respectfully and runs off. The elder-cat, Ember..eh, that's another can of worms. She's nearly 20, she's never been around anything but our dogs and she's sort of ok with Chloe. There's some hissing and batting but generally contentment if Chloe's not leaping too much. My dogs, Blackie and Dandy, are no puppy fans. They think she's a big baby.

Quitting and Starting

I started knitting because I quit smoking. I have to have something to do with my hands and I am delighted that knitting has proven to be such an effective substitute. I knit when I drink my morning coffee, in the car, on breaks at work, all the time. I carry my "knittin' sack" with me at all times, ready to knit at the drop of a needle. It's saved my sanity, if not my life, and I enjoy creating something practical and useful even if it's just a scarf or a carrier for my iPod. I love to knit.