Collie Rescue Day

Last Saturday was my first meeting of Piedmont Collie Club. I am joining this club to connect with other Collie owners and breeders for fun and learning. They do lots of shows, rallies, herding and education.

The club met at Collie Rescue of the Carolinas in Winston Salem, NC for a grooming and bath day. Confused? No problem! Suffice it to say that we groomed rescued Collies on a perfectly gorgeous day.

Jean Smith, who runs the rescue, opened her house and yard to grooming tables. We brought lots of grooming tools. She also brought out her dog bath. Jean has cold AND hot water running to her hose outside. Very nice for bathing the dogs.



The most often asked question I got on Saturday was, "How many Collies do you have?"


I answered, "Three, one of each: blue, sable and white, and a tri."

There was a sable headed white puppy in rescue and one person said to me, "But you don't have a white."

My response, "My husband would keel over."

Her answer to that was, "With joy, right?"

Ah RIGHT.


Something new for me was learning the basics of grooming hocks. Hocks are just what you think, the area behind the leg. I cleaned ears and clipped a bunch of toenails.

There I am below grooming a Collie who had been clipped. That is a no-no. No worries though, he will be his pretty self soon. (Notice my very baggy clothes? More on that soon.)


The rescue also had two smooth Collies. Just as pretty as the rough (hairy) type if you ask me.


Jean's rescue members served up a hotdog lunch after the club meeting. I got to discuss more about living with and training Collies.


It was a really good day for a good cause. Collie Rescue is almost to 60 adoptions so far this year. Quite a record and tremendous good work on their part.

Now I just have to get my Collies groomed!

Job Titles For The Critters

I just happened to be browsing a blog the other day that listed all of the writers pets. I am sorry but I don't remember who it was. If is was you please let me know so I can attribute this idea to you.

Anyway, this blogger had four or five pets. In her sidebar she listed them in job titles like Web Master, Chief Photographer, and Social Coordinator. Cute, huh?

If you know me, you know I've never been above copying the best. I'll get them rounded up and take photos of all ten eventually. Then they can get their job titles.

Here is the first. Please meet my style consultant, Chi Chi Ponton. Named after a French girl I went to boarding school with, Chi Chi has lots of that "je ne sais quoi." She is gentle and sweet. Loves her Uncle Russell the Collie.



Chi Chi was born on the roof of one of the buildings LSH manages. As a kitten she survived five moves by her mom, including one down a tree from the roof. She also weathered thunderstorms and an earthquake! No wonder she is so laid back. I bottle-fed her for the last few weeks until she weaned. Her Collie uncles and aunt kept her clean. Now she is well adjusted and about to be one year old.

Next you will meet the social media coordinator and our zen master. Stayed tuned.

Tips That Work

Do you love a good tip? I love to read tips but don't put them all to the test. I collect them, savor them and never get around to trying them out.

But others I have made a part of my life.

Source: richestoragsbydori.blogspot.com via Debbie on Pinterest

After boiling eggs and cooling down the water, don't toss it down the sink. Instead use the water for your plants. Trace calcium and phosphorous that plants need are in the water.

This one I've been doing for years. Only buy white linens. That way everything matches all the time. I only buy white sheets. When one piece, say a bottom sheet, wears out I only need to replace that not buy a whole new set of sheets. Same for bath linens and table linens.

Source: thingsorganizedneatly.tumblr.com via Debbie on Pinterest

- Clothes editing on the go. When I buy one shirt, I must edit two out of my closet. Same for pants, shoes and everything else. One in equals two out. Keeps you closets uncluttered and your wardrobe up to date.

Source: hellolovelyinc.blogspot.com via Debbie on Pinterest

Here is my latest. I just saw a great tip about using the Swiffer wet mop. And it works! I'm not a total "Frugal Franny" about money but this is going to save some pennies. I like the lightness and mobility of the Swiffer mop and the throw away feature of the cleaning pads. It is a true convenience.




So what is the tip? Here you go: Instead of buying box after box of Swiffer cleaning cloths for the little Swiffer mop, just use an old dish rag. Ok, not life changing but effective.




You still get the quick, lightweight use of the mop but save a few pennies by using and reusing an old rag and your favorite liquid floor cleaner. I use a damp dish cloth and some orange cleaner for the hardwoods and Clorox Cleanup for the white bath tile floors. Easy!

So speaking of tips, here are few sites I like to browse for time, money or fashion savers.

Real Simple Magazine http://www.realsimple.com

Zen Habits http://zenhabits.net/

Ask Anna http://www.askannamoseley.com/

Life Hacker http://lifehacker.com/

What are your favorite sources for tips?

Late May In The Garden

Welcome to the garden update! Also, this is my first post and pictures from my iPad. Seems you can't take pictures and blog directly from the iPad. You need a blog tool. So I got Blog Press and it seems to be doing the job nicely. It was $4.99 in the App Store and seems well worth it. It found the pictures I took of the garden and created this post in a jiffy.

Back to the garden. As a gardener, it is so gratifying to see your work from last year blossom and grow. I have lots more to do but things are coming together. Not everything blooms at once, thank goodness. From month to month there are highlights to look forward to.

Around here, May is hydrangea time. Last year I put and/or moved several. Here is the one in the corner by the porch. That's Chi Chi exploring the catmint in the foreground. The pot contains some annual lavender. I love the smell of lavender. It blooms after the jasmine, so there is always a great aroma outside the screened porch.

The conferderate jasmine is still blooming some. It's a heavenly smell and the hummingbirds love it too. It is on the chain link fence between my neighbors carport and my yard. Makes a nice privacy screen. In the foreground, that's Charger, one of my Collies, and Pee Wee the kitten.

The chicken wire, above and below, is around some Zinnias I have coming up from seed. I didn't want the dogs stomping them when they were seedlings so LSH put up a temporary fence around them. Another long-overdue project is to change the landscape logs out for some stone. The logs just don't last!

More hydrangea. When I bought this one it was on sale and the nurseryman did not know what color it was. Surprise! It's a pretty pink one. See the creeping jenny? My new favorite ground cover. It seems to really like the beds outside my porch.

Hydrangea next to the chimney. This one is three years in this spot and doing well. It's a Nikko blue. All of my hydrangea are mop head, I think! Next to it in the containers are a parsley pot (which overwintered this year) and a succulent garden. There is some more creeping jenny and some purple asters that will bloom later in the summer. I am trying to keep this end of the bed to purple and yellow hues.

Below are the Shasta daisies I tried last year. Think I'll get some more this year. Next to it but not blooming yet is balloon flower. It's very reliable and will bloom blue this summer. I also got some white balloon flower last year. We will see if they do well.

I also wanted to show you the new hammock location. This isn't a great photo. I'll do a better one later. As you can see, it is now on a pole vs. the old rotten apple tree. Four kids were playing on it last year and the tree came down right at the ground level. Just broke right off! The kids laughed it off and no one was hurt. We missed the hammock for the rest of the season though. So LSH dug a hole and cemented in a sturdy pole plus plant hanger.

Another project for this summer will be re-painting the garden shed. It's a bit of a mess now. I have lots of inspiration but no perspiration yet! The trim, windows and window shelves need a coat of white. You have permission to remind me to get busy on this!

That's the late May garden here, warts and all. Let me see your garden soon.

Joining Etsy Cottage Style garden party.

Tuesday Treasures Link Party

For my first Tuesday Treasure, I would like to introduce you to Debra Oliver. Debra is a blogger, Etsy shop ower and Pinner. The trifecta! A one woman idea factory!

Debra's blog is called Common Ground. I follow her and you will want to too. She does a Monday Marketplace with lots of great finds. Here are a couple of pictures from her blog.

A vintage inspiration piece thta Debra included in a post.

Great vintage storage jars from Debra's Monday Marketplace.

Of course there is Debra's own home and inspiring ways with antique finds.

Recent post on her back porch getting ready for summer
featured this darling vintage watering can.
 Just hand it over Deb!

Debra also has an Etsy shop called Common Ground Petite Boutique filled with vintage-inspired items. I have one of her necklaces and I just love it.




One of Debra's necklaces from
Common Groud Petite Boutique on Etsy

Another gorgeous creation from Debra.



And even more fun awaits you with Debra. She finds gathers very interesting items, ideas and projects on Pinterest.  Here are some examples of Debra's pins. Check out her Pinterest boards (she has lots!) for even more fabulous ideas.

So Debra is my Tuesday Treasure this week. Do me a favor and drop in on her and let her know you met her here at Scratch Where It Itches.

What blogger, Etsy shop or Pinner is your treasure? Creat a post with your favorite and link up and let's all see some terrific bloggers, shop owners and Pinners!

Get Ready For Tuesday Treasures

Sorry that I haven't posted in a few weeks. I am recovering from surgery and getting into the new rhythms that the surgery requires.

I have still been busy, though. I have been planning to start a weekly or monthly item of subjects near and dear to me. I struggled with what to name it. There are plenty of cute ways to name a weekly item, but I need it to encompass all the interesting subjects I'm into. So I laid awake thinking of the following names.

Monday Madness?
Tuesday Trash?
Wednesday Wows?
Thrifty Thursday?
Fabulous Friday?

Hmmm, I couldn't decide. And went to sleep.

Here are some good weekly postings I already follow:

Monday Marketplace at Common Ground

Bread box featured on Monday Marketplace.

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Featured on Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style.

Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed

Blue cabinet re-do from Miss Mustard Seed's
Furniture Feature Friday.

Do you follow any of these bloogers?  Some great ideas, tutorials and information!

So I thought and I thought. Going through numerous ideas and feeling like Dr. Seuss. Until I came up with . . . (wait for it) . . .

Tuesday Treasures

So get ready for tomorrow's first Tuesday Treasures.

Subject?

  Who is  your favorite blogger, pinner or Etsy shop owner? Why do you like her or him?

See you tomorrow!

Back From Mexico

My mother and I got back from Mexico yesterday afternoon. We went straight to bed with cups of soup (both of us) and a protein bullet (me).  We were tired mainly from travelling not from pain. I did not take any pain meds during the airport changes because they make me so sleepy. I took one last night and slept all the way from 7pm to 6am. Whew! That's a bunch of sleep.

To recap why I was in Mexico, I went to get weight loss surgery in the form of a vertical sleeve gastrectomy. It is a procedure that takes about 80% of your stomach and leaves you with one that will hold about 1/2 cup of food. This will become my weight loss tool for the rest of my life.

My surgeon, Dr. Guillermo Alvarez, and his staff at Endobariatric.Com are the best at what they do. In Mexico, the costs are so much lower and the standard of care is as high or higher than in the states.  Watch for Newsweek magazine in the next month or so. They will be featuring Dr. Alvarez as one of the top 10 bariatric surgeons in North America.

Let's Do The Numbers

Starting weight - 257
Weighed in day of surgery after two weeks of pre-op diet - 244.8
Total weight loss - 12.2

Here I am the day after surgery.  I could not have had better care from Dr. Alvarez, Dr. Gabriel, Dr. Garza, Jessika, Jesus and the entire staff.

Stingy Gardening

I just hate to pay too much for perennials, or any plants, really. Sometimes I feel like I'm paying for dirt! You've seen it, haven't you? A big container and an itty bitty plant with a root system that takes of one-tenth of the volume? It just kills me.

A hosta I found on sale that can be divided into at least
two more hosta. Love this lime color. It will add
light to the shady border I have in mind.

One way I make the most of my plant purchases is to look for a split-able plant. What's split-able?

- already has one or more plants in the pot
- has a root system that can be divided
- is basically healthy

Not all plants can be split or divided. Certainly not most annuals like petunias, impatiens, geranium or the like. Roses and other ornamental bushes cannot be divided either. Luckily lots of other gorgeous perennials can be divided with great results.

After the hosta is split. I used a sharp shovel. Turn the plant  out of the
container. Then turn it on its side. Use the shovel to split in between
the individual plants to split the root system. Then plant it normally,
tamping down around it to be sure the roots make contact with the new soil.

Patience is the key here. Divided plants are initially smaller and may need a little extra nurturing for the first year. If you wait until next year - - you will be rewarded!

How do you know if a plant can be divided? If you don't know, Google the plant. This may take another trip back to the nursery or big box store but the information is worthwhile. Check to see how it is propagated. If the propagation technique includes root division - - that's the clue. Also check on the method of division.  Is it simply pulling apart roots, like creeping jenny? Or does it need to be cut (like iris or hosta)?

Here are some of the perennials I have had success with dividing:

- hosta
- iris
- creeping jenny (aura)
- bugleweed (ajuga)
- creeping thyme
- jacobin flower (an old fashioned flower my dad gave me)
- balloon flower
- black eyed susan
- monkey grass

Hosta in their new home. They don't show up very well in this
picture, but see the big one? It was a split from last year.
Patience pays.

What plants have you divided successfully?

Obviously I have more work to do.

Don't Make Me Work, I'm Old

LSH and I laughed 'til we cried watching this video. A lesson for us all about the human condition!

Weight Loss Surgery D-2 Weeks

I started my pre-op diet today and also my video log! Here's my first video. I certainly hope I get better at making these as time goes on.

Let's Do The Numbers


Today I weigh - 257
The last time I bought clothes I bought size - 3x

Picture of me today - check out the video

What I'm Doing vs What I'm Supposed To Be Doing

Yes, I was doing stuff in the garden yesterday while there is laundry and other work to be done. Imagine that!

Headed out yesterday to Growers Outlet in Pineville, NC. Very nice deals on bedding plants, bushes and trees. I got my Japanese Maple there last year and it is looking great this spring.

Entrance to Growers Outlet in Pineville, NC.
Nothing fancy about the place. Just good prices.

I found some really healthy creeping pink verbena for one of my sun pots and another bargain hosta. I am going to split the hosta into two or three plants. I'll post more about that process in the next couple of days.

I also got some pink splash and pink torenia (aka clown rose) for a shady pot out back. I'm going mostly pink this year in the pots.  I also picked up some sale candy tuft to fill in the sun flower border.

If you want petunias this year, Growers Outlet is the place, sans cat of course!

So far I've done a couple of pots. Here are the re-done two pots on either side of the carport.  I focused on herbs and perenials that don't need a lot of attention. So the pots have rosemary in the center for height. Then all around there is varigated thyme, dianthus, aguja (aka bugleweed) a small ornamental grass, creeping jenny and creeping veronica. They will take all the sun and none of the care. Not much water and no food.

   


Pot on one side of the carport.
Dianthus smells ~heavenly~ when it's blooming.


I've also refreshed the pot with the cocoa liner that hangs from the gate across from the confederate jasmine. We can't allow the jasmine to grow all the way across the gate - - we wouldn't be able to get in! So it needed a little something.  I kept the varigated thyme and the heuchera. Just replaced the viola I had there all winter with a supertunia called "Lipstick."

I have more Lipstick supertunias going in a sun pot in the back. Supertunia's need less care and deadheading than regular petunias, but you still have to feed them.  I'll just take care to feed only the supertunia because the thyme and heuchera don't want food as they are very care-free plants. In fact you can kill herbs and herbaceous plants like heuchera by feeding them. Hands off is what I have learned after killing my share.

The Three Musketeers want to be in the picture.

Laundry - it will wait! There's more gardening to be done. See you later.

Default Future

This Week

In less than a month, I will be undergoing weight loss surgery.  As promised, I will occasionally update you on how I'm doing and some of the details of the experience.

Why am I doing this? There are many reasons. To tell all those reasons I need to take you on a journey of change.

I recently finished the book Change Anything by Kerry Patterson.  This ground-breaking work culminates years of research into effective change. It describes the tactics and learnings from people who achieve permanent and significant change in their lives, others lives and in the world at large.

Patterson sums up six sources or tactics of influencing change. Here is how they related to me as I read the book.

Change Anything by Kerry Patterson et al.
Easy read, excellent research.

1. I learned that change is not more willpower; that's the willpower trap, according to Patterson. It is a matter of skill.  Skill not will.
2. I also read about loving what you hate which is seeing past the problem to a better future. "Yay, " is what I say on this.
3. And I looked at my default future. That is what my future will be if I don't change. This is a huge one! It plays into my reasons for surgery. More on this below.
4. I saw how I need to tell the whole vivid story. Which is what I will do as time goes on here. In the story I need to really search myself and use value words. 
5. Patterson's research shows that to change you need to mark off achievements, make the change a game or somehow celebrate the small steps.
6. And finally he recommends you create a personal motivation statement, again with value words.

There is ample explanation of the six areas or tactics you can use to achieve change in the book.  I highly recommend Change Anything if there is something in your life that you want to change or if you just want to be a more effective person in your job or at home.

Back to my reasons. I looked at my default future.

I didn't imagine it either. I REALLY SAW what could happen to me if I do not modify my weight issue.

I have a former friend whose husband has lost both feet below the knee.  They had to be amputated due to diabetes.  This is truly scary. But there is more. This guy is a poster-boy for change.

• He did not and still does not control his food choices.
• He continues to drink sodas and eat sugar-laden processed food.
• He self-medicates with insulin and frequently ends up in the hospital due to coma, heart or breathing issues. 
• He has a trachea due to heart and lung implications of his diabetes.
• He sleeps on an air bed due to bed sores which won't heal, again due to diabetes.
• He is now experiencing neuropathy in his hands and arms. 
• He used a motorized wheel chair until recently. He is too weak to pull himself up to get into it any longer.
• He recently had his gall bladder out. Contrary to what we think is almost routine gall bladder surgery, his was high-risk because of all the other issues he also has, like high blood pressure.
• How old do you think this man is? He is 63 years old.

This is just a short list of his problems; however they all come back to food. At the start of his diabetes 30 years ago, he said he stayed around 300 lbs most of the time. I have talked to him and he believes he cannot change.  I pray for him and his wife, who is his caregiver.

How does this relate to me? Well it scares the pants right off of me. It's my reason for wanting this weight off.

I can see that is is MY default future if I can't find a solution. I am already borderline diabetic. I take blood pressure medication. What could be next? I don't know and I don't want to find out.

And that is one major reason why I want to have weight loss surgery. I am 57 now and I want to live a long and more importantly, healthy, life.  I hope Patterson would think that is a good personal motivation statement.

Let's Do The Numbers

Weight today - 258

Shot of me today.  I'll try to put a new photo up for each entry.

Have a great day!

My Love Affair With Roosters

I have decided that my love of rooster art is a disease. I think I caught from my grandmother and great aunt Helen. Way back, when they would go antiquing they were always drawn to this folk art medium. I was with them lots of times so - happily - it infected me too! 

Rooster items add color and presence to any room. Their body form is fluid and softens hard lines. I started loving and collecting roosters without even knowing it, even before I was married.  I have had some so long I could not tell you when or where I got them.  I feel instant happiness when I see a pretty rooster item.

A stone clucker seen at Sleepy Poet Antique Mall

Besides being a decor assessory now, roosters were - - and are - - an important part of rural life.  The crow of the rooster begins every farm day. It has been the natural alarm clock for millenia.

Plus, if a farm had a rooster and a layer hen, the farmer and family would never starve.



Lennox rooster who rules one of my china cabinets.

Roosters get a bad rap for being mean;  however you want a fairly mean rooster to keep your hens safe.  Foxes, raccoons, snakes and other egg loving predators are quickly deterred by a protectful rooster.

Color, color, color. Brighten a room with this rooster seen at Sleepy Poet.

Our fine-feathered friend also has a rich symbolism.  Rooster symbol meanings are all about fanning out with brilliance, and showing the world the shimmering facets of their (and your) personality.

Most cultures embrace the rooster as a sun symbol and a sign of illumination. Some cultures however, inscribe the Rooster with underworld meanings. Specifically, the cock served as a messenger of the Underworld, screeching out warnings in danger, and calling out for the souls of the fallen in battle. 

Another china rooster atop a corner china cabinet. I think he looks lonely
but I'm not sure how to finish this corner.

Roosters are also associated with:

• Pride
• Honesty
• Courage
• Vigilance
• Arrogance
• Strength
• Watchfulness
• Flamboyance

The Greeks believed the rooster saluted the sun every morning with a hearty cry, symbolizing victory over night.

A trio of boys at Sleepy Poet.

In the New Testament, the rooster or cock is noted for crowing three times while St. Peter denied Christ. As such, it became a symbol for Christ’s passion.  And later it came to symbolize the repentance of St. Peter and religious vigilance as well as resurrection.

To this day the rooster seen on a weathervane is steeped in symbolic meanings that deal with watchful vigilance against evil. Rooster weathervanes are commonly seen atop churches, homes and barns.

In the Chinese zodiac, the cock is a symbol of honesty, as well as physical and moral fortitude. It signifies fortune, luck, fidelity, protection as well as bossiness.

Rooster serving as backsplash to my stove.

The bossiness part is right up my alley.

Japanese Shinto followers consider roosters sacred and they are permitted to run free amongst their temples. 

Today in Key West, Florida, roosters can also be seen walking freely amongst yards in Old Town. That is because roosters love termites and can eat several thousand a day. With termites a constant pest in tropical areas, roosters are a valuable and natural termite control.  

I hope you enjoyed this trip around rooster lore and some of my favorite rooster items. 

Do you have a favorite motif or folk art item? 

What does it signify to you and to others?

Please share with your comment to this post.  I will read and respond to all! 

Have a scratchy day!

Blushing!

You could have blown me down last week. 

I got a phone call out of the blue from
 Brandi at The Blushing Bakeshop.



Brandi at her main counter.



Brandi, it seems, had purchased a card of mine at
 Consignments on South.

A cupcake card, of course.

And she wanted to talk to me about cupcake cards.

Needless to say, I was so happy and excited.

Her store and bakery is so cute!

And her cupcakes are to DIE for!

The Blushing Bakeshop is in Ballentyne Village. 
Great spot in a very cute and
convenient center.

Would I meet with her and set up a
consignment agreement?

YOU BETCHA.

Some of the displays at Blurshing Bakery. Brandi also has
cute handmade aprons.

I took some different cards - - including
 cupcake 3x3 gift cards

and a display that LSH
 (long suffering husband) made for me.

We had a wonderful morning brainstorming.

 I promised to be back in a few days
 to see the display.

And here it is! She did a wonderful job!

My distressed chicken wire picture frame. Uses Ikea curtain hooks and small
clothes pins to fasten cards. LSH put the chicken wire in for me.

A close up of a couple of the small gift cards.
After some of the 

current cards are sold, I will focus
 on just cupcake cards and holidays. 

Two small gift cards: a 3.5x2.5 and a 3x3.
Brandi sells and beautifully wrapped individual cupcakes to go.
These will be great to put on the top of the box.

It looked like some cards had already sold. Yay!
I'm looking forward to making more cards for Brandi
and her beautiful cupcake bakery.

Stop in and see her soon and get a
YUMMY cupcake!

Have a scratchy day!