Run, Forrest, Run!

"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of." Ogden Nash


How true this is with Barkley. After years of him charging through doors- back doors, car doors, trap doors if he could find one- while Hubster and I writhed in agony from crushed feet, hands slammed against doors, and shoulders nearly pulled from their sockets, we decided Barkley must be taken firmly in hand and made to Stay. Which worked beautifully. As long as he knew one of us had a handful of biscuits. Then he would Stay until the end of time. He would Stay with a dedication and devotion that would bring tears to your eyes. In public people would notice this still, serious dog and "ooh" and "ah" over his training and Hubster and I would exchange the Smile of the Truly Smug. Mind you, without the biscuits, you were on your own, with two broken toes and a Barkley-shaped hole in the door.

He's great at it now. After a brief weaning of sometimes biscuits, sometimes not so much, he Sit's and Stay's until he hears the magic word "OK!" (spoken in a high-pitched voice and with lots of enthusiasm, implying we are as thrilled that he is going outside as he is) and then he hurtles himself out the door, takes the five steps from the deck to the yard in one bound and then he RUNS. RUNNING is Barkley's favorite activity, his passion so strong I must describe it in all capital letters. The only activity so near and dear to Barkley's heart is EATING and on that subject he is equally arduous. All I can say is, it's a good thing he loves RUNNING or else his EATING might lead to a case of MORBID OBESITY.

No yarn stories today. I was gung-ho for a "Knit and Felt a Bag" class tonight that I forgot to sign up for and, because there are people like me flitting around out there, only one person actually signed up and so my LYS cancelled class. Understandable, but heartbreaking nonetheless.

I comforted myself with a skein of Crystal Palace Chenille to make a flower washcloth from a pattern in my Weekend Knits.

I also picked up some pretty yarns, a Berroco Chinchilla and Stylecraft Carousel (anyone? anyone? anyone heard of it?) to do some chemo hats this weekend. Feel if I'm going to indulge myself in such a gluttonous manner I need to be giving back to the community too and quite frankly I love doing these hats and knowing someone will wear them and keep her head warm and maybe feel more stylish and prettier because of it.

And mainly I'm in it for the yarn.