Some Days You Have to Take a Rain Check

Much as I hate to admit it, I was relieved to see and hear the rain this morning. If today had been sunny, I would have roused the canine portion of the household early for the first rally-roo class of the season, and thence headed off to a picnic with some Old English Sheepdog buddies. Even though I was really looking forward to both, I'm even more relieved that the rain has postponed both events. Some weekends you just need to recharge the old batteries, and I am burnt to a crackly crunch.

Meet the Breeds

I can't believe that I'm getting to blog about this before Dale does, but you'll want to see what she says about it -- especially if she got pictures. Yesterday was soooo busy over at my booth that my camera never even saw the outside of its case.

Every year, four local dog clubs combine forces to hold a Meet the Breeds event. It usually takes place indoors in March, but when AKC declared September to be Responsible Dog Ownership Month, changing the date to September was a no-brainer. Three of "my" clubs took part: YCKC, BCCME, and POC. Dinah and I were there to offer CGC tests.

I honestly though I'd have maybe three or four dogs all day. As I set up my EZ-Up and Dinah's crate, I thought that maybe I should call Greg and have him bring up my knitting on his way to Portland. The event ran from 10 AM to 4 PM. No way was I going to see enough action to justify sitting around there all day.

Was I wrong! The event was mobbed. Not only had the pre-event publicity machine done a terrific job, but people passing by on Route 1 saw the line of EZ-Ups and came in to investigate. We attracted our expected audience of families interested in meeting different breeds of dogs and asking about them, looking into the various rescues, and asking about training classes with the obedience clubs. Everyone wanted to pet the puppies.

I just never expected that so many people would show up wanting the CGC test! 16 -- yeah, sixteen -- dog/owner teams in all took the test, and 15 of those teams passed. I never had time to take any photos, or even to call Greg. Dinah and I worked almost non-stop all day long. We tested, delivered good news, discussed training classes and therapy dog work, posed for newspaper photos with happy recipients, and in general had ourselves a grand time. Dale and Jasmine got to participate in the "crowd scenes" for the test, and I directed everyone who asked me about therapy dog testing to the very busy POC booth.

Anyway, I was on my feet almost the entire time yesterday, and woke up this morning grateful for the chance to sleep in. We're all glad that the event was such a success, but I think we're even gladder that the rain cancelled many of today's outdoor events. I didn't have the strength in me to do very much this morning.

And There was Knitting

Jody sent me a delighted email after she received her lovely striped Jawoll socks. Not only was she just as tickled with the autumnal color scheme as I'd expected, but the socks fit her perfectly. Jody's one of those folks who will wear her favorite Birkenstocks until the snow is a foot deep outside, so these socks will keep her toes warm until it's time to pull on boots -- and afterward, too.

My sister asked me if I could knit a couple of pairs for my 82-year-old dad, who is always cold. Although most of the yarns in my stash are more what you'd call "girly" -- or maybe just "bright" -- I managed to dig up a couple of balls of a nice charcoal gray tweed Scheepjes and cast that on for him. I'm happy to be taking requests -- usually I just grab something and start working on it, and then find the socks an adoptive home after the fact.

In the meantime, all of my non-sock projects have been sitting around looking dusty and neglected. As far as I remember, I only have to frog a couple of real oldies -- but in the little time I have available to knit, I just always want to pick up the socks. At least my socks are making progress.

Random Dog Photos

Charlie was uninterested in joining today's photo session. Anyway, Dinah and Seamus are enjoying the sunshine. Dinah is headed for a show this weekend, so she's sparkly clean from a bath and grooming... which is why she headed directly for the Big Dig to get dirty all over again.