CW snapped this photo of Oscar and sent it to me just for Dogs On Thursday! (Isn’t he a keeper? CW I mean… oh I guess Oscar’s a keeper too. He’s a sweetheart.)

Anyway, Oscar was sulking because he’d just been told off (doing something naughty I assume). He apparently stayed behind the curtain for 15 minutes or so.

Happy Dogs on Thursday from Oscar in Manchester, England. Hope you all have a happier DOT!

We cats must inspect everything that enters our domain. We must approve of it before it is allowed to stay. Recently, mommy brought home these weirdo green things. They don’t taste as good as that bamboo-y stuff at mommy’s mom’s house…. don’t worry, I tried it. I guess they can stick around. All these silly things do is sit there anyway. They’re no fun. kthnxbai ~ Love Henry

P.S. The plants are here to stay. I went to Home Depot Garden Centre and asked for plants that needed either a.) no sunlight or b.) minimal sunlight. The smaller plant is a Money Tree with a beautiful braided trunk. It needs minimal light and lives on my kitchen window sill (I’m in a basement suite). The larger plant is a Peace Lily and needs nearly no natural light. It is in the living room.

P.P.S. I did an art project with these new arrivals. Photos of that shortly.

Dante thinks high school is an earthly version of hell. She hates her new home in the suburbs, her best friend has moved away, her homeroom teacher mocks her and her mother is making her attend a social skills group for teenage girls. When a stranger shows up at school and hands Dante a flyer that reads: Woof, woof. You are not a dog. Why are you going to obedience school?, Dante thinks she’s found a soul mate. Someone who understands. Someone else who wants to make real changes in the world. But there are all kinds of ways of bringing about change…and some are more dangerous than others.

[back cover copy, Orca Book Publishers]

This is an engaging book about a young girl (formerly named Emily) who is trying to find herself within an oppressive high school and disappointed mother. She has an interesting journey and although the content is a little mature (maybe 12+) the writing is very accessible. The book is written from Dante/Emily’s point of view which was bang-on for the voice and age of the character.

I don’t have much more to say without giving anything away; it’s really about Dante’s personal journey. I enjoyed the book and it was a quick, engaging read for me. The writing was fast-paced and the teenage voice was very real. I was also very impressed with how Robin Stevenson deal with the GLBT content and proud that a BC author and publisher put this in a YA novel.

Click here to read the first chapter (PDF link)

A few months ago, Sara (aka wenchlette) asked us if we’d make flowers for her wedding bouquet in the summer. Sara has asked the flowers to be purple or teal and prefers natural fibres. Of course we all whole-heartedly agreed. We thought it was a fantastic idea! Janel is on leaves (click for her Ravelry project) and last night I whipped out the Cascade 220 I had leftover from my sister’s toque.

See my Ravelry project page for details.

Yarn: Cascade 220, 100% wool, Italian Plum (purple)
Hook: H hook (5.00 mm)
Pattern: none, but I watched this “how to” video

Here’s a close-up of the general design of the five-petal crochet flower.

This is one of two “wrong” flowers. I was inserting the hook into only the back of the stitch for the petals. This created sort of a circle around the center.

These are a couple variations I tried. I’m not impressed with the two-toned one, although it has the potential to be very eye-catching (in different colours).

Chan recently lost a dear friend to breast cancer. Sissy and Gretchen, being the supportive furkids they are, initiated the Pink Parade to help raise awareness for breast cancer. Henry and I decided to help out… unfortunately he doesn’t like to dress up as much as Chan’s girls do! You can easily join in too! Visit Sissy and Gretchen’s post to learn about the initiative (you don’t have to use pets).

My first idea was Henry’s hot pink mouse… but he is not a very independent player. It took a few tosses to get this shot, and after the mouse fell he looked at me like “okay, now what?”

My next idea was my hair! I dyed my hair purple several months ago and then lightened it up over the holidays. Henry loves sitting on my shoulder like this and rubbing his head into me. He also likes to chew on my ponytail too. But I still didn’t think this quite conveyed what I wanted to.

So I subjected Henry to his least favourite activity: dress up. Mainly it just confuses him. He has never liked to be “under” or “within” things like blankets or covers or outfits.

Princess Henry

However, if you catch him asleep and unawares… you can do what you like! [This is an old photo] (In real life, his tiara is pink)