Spent most of my week at or above tree line. Mostly hiking, but today on a horse. It has been a perfect week. So I thought I’d end it by sharing some respite with you.
Here’s the gang. They just finished their baths in fresh pool water and are strutting around the yard. Penelope looks like a gangly teenager. And that’s not an optical illusion, she really is that much bigger than her yard mates.
And of course, as requested by the royal blog host. Here is Penelope.
I know you want video of Bixby and Penelope hanging. I’m still trying.
Respite open thread. Sounds like we could use it.
Major Major Major Major
The blog host requested pictures of Pearl, and you bring us this “Penelope”??
Thanks ?
Steeplejack
Great duck pics! I needed that.
Had to switch off MSNBC, so I’m in the respite zone with My Lottery Dream Home. House hunting with average schmoes struck by lightning, not the demanding, entitled pricks on a lot of the shows.
MoxieM
“Child, what art thou?” cried the mother.
“O, I am your little Pearl!” answered the child.
But, while she said it, Pearl began to laugh and dance up and down with the humorsome gesticulation of a little imp whose next freak might be to fly up the chimney.
…
N. Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, etc etc.
germy
Ducks always look like they’re smiling at some private joke.
dmsilev
That’s a big duck. Are we sure she’s not part goose?
TaMara (HFG)
@dmsilev:
fix’d
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
We’re gonna need a bigger duck boat
MomSense
Her name is Pearl. We can’t handle change, T. We fell in love with Pearl and forevermore she is only Pearl for us.
lamh36
Good evening BJ.
Alright, alright, I just submitted my FINAL assignment for both of my summer classes. Final exams are next week Monday & Tuesday! Right now I’ve gfot 2 Bs in both classes. A solid B in one of them, but if I do really well on that final the B could end up being an A! For the other class, it’s not quite a solid B but it should stay a B long as I don’t completely fail the final ??
Luckily I’m off this weekend, so it’s gonna be study time for the next 2 days!
Just checking in, just in case I don’t check in again after tonight. At least until finals are over.
MazeDancer
“Yard mates”
Feel like if I could step inside your fence I would enter some kind of Dr. Doolittle Nirvana.
We all need your critter-full respite pics. It helps us remember what matters.
Steeplejack
@lamh36:
Good luck with the tests!
Also, can you check to see if there is some sort of extra credit for people who help students edit/rewrite their papers, often at the last minute? Asking for a friend.
Barbara
I have a sad situation I am trying to help my daughter with for her co-worker, involving a Great Dane. Long story short, he bought the dog from a careless breeder, and the dog is very aggressive. I don’t know what he has tried, e.g., obedience training but he is apparently considering giving up the dog. The question is, where? I got my dog from a sanctuary that now only takes dogs given up to shelters that can be placed into homes. I thought I would post to see if anyone has any ideas. Thanks.
geg6
@MomSense:
Yeah, I love TaMara with all my heart, but that duck is and will always be Pearl to me. Penelope just isn’t right to me. She’s Pearl. I love that name for her.
donnah
Thanks for duck pics! Adorable!
If anyone’s interested, I’ve made progress on my hooked rug of the soldier and his bomb-seeking dog.
https://imgur.com/gallery/aJYjI5J
trollhattan
Gorgeous lake. Is that in NM? Must be at 10k if so, there’s still snow!
Major Major Major Major
@donnah: very nice!
debbie
Where in Colorado is that first photo? It is beyond beautiful.
John Cole
HELLO PEARL YOU SWEETIE
Another Scott
@Barbara: Is there a GD rescue organization in the area? They might have some tips, or be a place willing to help find a foster or a new home.
It sounds like it’s not an uncommon problem in neglected GD. http://rmgreatdane.org/10-things-might-not-know-great-danes/
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
Shana
Since it’s an OT let me ask this question: Hubby and I both remember bedroom setups from our childhoods where there were two twin beds along the walls with a large square table in the corner of the room where you could partially push one of the twin beds underneath. The idea was that the kid had one of the beds and could pull the other one completely out from under the table for a sleepover. We’re trying to get furniture for a guest room and were thinking that would be perfect. You could have it set up as two beds or push the mattresses together and make a king size bed if you have a couple staying over.
Anyone else remember these beds? And anyone know where I could get a table of the right dimensions to do this now? Not interested in custom-made, we’re selling the house and downsizing in about 4-5 years.
Aleta
You should name her PENELOPE (i. e. caps) out of respect for John.
(I too loved Pearl, but now he can name his duck after gone-too-soon Pearl.)
Steeplejack
@donnah:
Excellent progress! Have you thought about what you’re going to do with it when you’re done?
When I was in Las Vegas last October I took all the quilts my mother had on hand and shipped them back here (with her permission, of course). She was a dedicated quilter for decades, but at 89 those days are behind here. She has some amazing pieces. Great eye for color mixing and fabric patterns.
debbie
@Shana:
You’re describing a trundle bed, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one where the two mattresses can be positioned side by side.
How about a Murphy bed instead?
geg6
@debbie:
We had one like that in our guest room when I was a kid. Haven’t seen one like that since. You could probably build one pretty easily, though. Wasn’t complicated.
TaMara (HFG)
@trollhattan:
@debbie:
Lake Mitchell just above Ward, CO
And if you guys can’t handle a simple name change, you’re going to be in for a big shock when the blog updates. LOL
SHE likes Penelope and comes when called, so that settles that.
MazeDancer
@Barbara:
Scott is right, some Great Dane rescue is the answer. Google/Twitter search. Contact any and all of the within a day’s drive.
zhena gogolia
@TaMara (HFG):
She looks just like Jemima Puddle-Duck.
Aleta
I’m starting to get behind Penelope now that her shape has girthed out.
Personality wise… ?
We’re going have to see the way she moves.
I could easily call a duck Pennelane.
Aleta
@zhena gogolia: I keep thinking of that, every time I see her.
zhena gogolia
@Aleta:
These are not photographs — Beatrix Potter drew that damn duck, I swear.
Barbara
@MazeDancer: @Another Scott:
Thanks. I suspect the dog has aggression issues, but I will collect everything I find. There are at least six within a six hour drive that I have found so far.
Amir Khalid
@TaMara (HFG):
Uh-oh.
donnah
@Steeplejack:
Thanks! I would love to see some of her quilts. I come from a family of quiltmakers and tried my hand at that art as well.
I want to finish my current hooked rug of the soldier before a major rug show next month. I will also be exhibiting the Christopher Robin rug at that event and after that, the Christopher Robin rug is going to be donated to our downtown library. The soldier rug will travel with me as I teach, and might eventually be donated, too. It’s very useful to have finished rugs to show my students in person. Nothing makes a better example than a hands-on study of them.
TaMara (HFG)
@Barbara: So many questions. How old? Neutered? How does the aggression manifest? I’ve rarely come across an aggressive Dane – ill-mannered, scared, timid, but never straight-up aggressive. So I’m in agreement – this dog probably needs a very strong, Dane-experienced home and the best way to get them there is a Great Dane Rescue group. I have lots of reservations on that, too, but sounds like the only option. One caveat, if the owner signed a contract with the breeder, the breeder may have first refusal on rehoming. So they need to check that – don’t want legal issues on top of everything else.
Hope it all works out.
Miss Bianca
@zhena gogolia: JEMIMA PUDDLE DUCK!!
That is all, thank you. A mutual passion for Beatrix Potter was just about the only literary taste my mother and I had in common. ; )
Well, that and the Flower Fairy books.
Steeplejack
@donnah:
That makes sense. And I’m sure it’s inspirational.
Jay
@Barbara:
There is a bunch of online information about training agression out of dogs.
It’s specialized training, some people can learn it and do it, some can’t.
There are specialized groups of Dog Trainers who can evaluate a dog for aggression issues and if it’s possible, train it out of the dog, ( with owner training and reinforcement), quite quickly.
Very few “aggressive” dogs can’t be rehabilitated and trained.
satby
@MazeDancer: @Another Scott: @TaMara (HFG): agree with the others, a breed specific rescue is the best bet. They’ll be the best to assess if the dog can be retrained and rehomed safely.
satby
@Jay: that’s true if it’s a training issue. It’s also rare but possible for dogs to develop mental illness that can make them difficult to train or safely adopt out again.
We can’t always save them all.
donnah
@Steeplejack:
Also, are there labels stitched on the back of your mom’s quilts? I always advise my rug hooking students to put labels on the back of their work with their names, date, materials used, etc. The pieces we create are heirlooms and whomever inherits them should know where they came from.
Miss Bianca
@donnah: Oh, donnah, your work is so stunning. I am just tearing up looking at that piece.
Bill Arnold
10 sweet photos of honeybees – In celebration of National Honeybee Day, see our favorite photos of bees and the people who love them. (Melody Rowell, July 23, 2019)
I like this photo:
ruemara
In the interests of respite, there’s a cool thread on twitter under the hashtag #CatGlowUp and here’s my proud entry. When were they ever that smol?
donnah
@Miss Bianca:
Oh, thanks, Miss B!
Miss Bianca
@Bill Arnold: Oh, nice – I discovered that I appear to be allergic to bee stings, so no career for me as a beekeeper, but as a mead maker I am fervently #teamhoneybee.
debbie
@TaMara (HFG):
Just stunning!
Jay
@satby:
Yup, but rare. Sometimes it’s severe inbreeding, sometimes brain infections, sometimes the dog has been too long conditioned.
Almost all of Michael Vick’s dogs were redeemed.
One thing I have encountered over and over again, is dog owners who have given their dogs minimal training to the point they are barely controllable on a lead.
Jay
@Bill Arnold:
@Miss Bianca:
One thing we don’t have here, and I have discouraged my neighbors from starting, are bee hives. We have lots of wild pollenators, and hived bees not only impact their forage, but they introduce parasites and diseases to the mason bee, bumble bee, solitary bee polulations.
Steeplejack
@donnah:
Oh, that’s funny. My mom grew up on a farm in Tennessee, and quilting was just something you did, not an “art form.” One of my favorites was a quilt that I rescued after it spent years in the trunk of whatever cars my parents had while I was growing up: picnic spread, “don’t let the dog get mud on the seats,” sleeping in the back of the station wagon on trips, etc. I salvaged it, got it cleaned up and treasured it for years. It was a true patchwork quilt, and my mom thought it might have dated from the 1940s. (She didn’t do it; some older relative did.)
But I agree completely with you in theory!
Steeplejack
@ruemara:
Cute kitties. And definitely snot-nosed youths!
mrmoshpotato
@germy: They probably are.
rikyrah
Pearl is so beautiful ??
Bill Arnold
@Jay:
There are a few hives in my area, surprisingly few since it’s an apple orchard area, with a few beekeepers selling at farmer’s markets. But most (3/4 +) pollinators I see are native bees (solitary or bumble bees), and wasps. And hummingbirds and hummingbird moths. They’ve been doing fine the last few years. (Haven’t done a count this year yet.)
One of the local beekeepers (calls himself “Animal”) has a few hives and his hives have been been doing fine without any treatments for bee diseases or parasites. (Was told of some sort of mechanical device at the entrance for knocking off mites.)
Links on diseases? The only such incident I know of is where a European bumble bee was being used to pollinate greenhouse-grown produce somewhere in the US, not well contained, and escaped along with a parasite that tore into some native bumblebee species populations. (I think this: “Greenhouse” bees spread disease to wild bees (July 22, 2008))
donnah
@Steeplejack:
Historically, quilts and rugs were simply utilitarian. They were made from scraps of worn out fabric and used daily as floor and bed coverings. Nowadays, people purchase the new fabrics to create their pieces,
I bought an old hand-pieced and hand-quilted quilt that was probably sewed by a man. His name is neatly stitched on the back of the quilt and I still wish he had added more detailed info to it. The works we make by hand are real treasures!
Steeplejack
@donnah:
One of my mom’s greatest hits was a crib-sized quilt that I got her to do for some friends’ first baby back in the ’90s. All I told her was “quilt for their first baby,” and she did an alphabet quilt that was f’mazeballs! Wish I had a picture of that.
J R in WV
@Steeplejack:
Yes, we have some of those quilts too, Grandma had a trunk in her attic full of comforters and quilts that were pulled out when cousins came to visit her little farm. At the same time, my great aunt gifted all of her nieces and nephews with wedding ring quilts as wedding presents, and then did it again for all their children, her grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
So we have a double-wedding ring quilt she gave us, one she gave my dad, and a pair of twin bed sized quilts she made for mom and dad when she learned they had twin beds. Have also been gifted with other daily use quilts by friends. I love sleeping under a quilt!