Seamus models my now-finished cable scarf. He's such a good sport... 

Dale snapped this picture of Seamus at the Rally-O seminar. He looks like he's having a good time! (Note my hands on the leash, keeping him from sliming the camera.) 

Rally-Oh!

Dale did a great job of describing last week's rally obedience seminar on her blog (and there's a picture of Seamus and me, so go visit). I'm really proud of how well Seamus did on the rally courses -- not only the Novice, but also the Advanced/Excellent course (even though we did the latter on-lead). This little guy really is a fabulous performance dog, and the more I work with him, the more I look forward to working with him.

We need a little bit more practice on our footwork -- er, my footwork -- but otherwise, we'd probably ready to compete now. I've signed us up for a Novice Rally class at It's a Dog's World in York, so we have 6 weeks to refine our techniques and the winter to practice them. I've asked to be put on some premium lists for spring events, and it isn't too early to get started with them -- rally events fill up quickly, and I want to make sure we can get our names in.

We have a busy couple of weeks coming up, as far as dog stuff is concerned. This coming Wednesday, we start a Novice Obedience class with the Piscataqua Obedience Club. Dale and Tuck will be in class too, so it will be just like a reunion! Next Sunday, we start the Rally class, and then on November 3, we go for the CGC test at All Dogs Gym.

Less Blogging, But More Knitting

Please bear with me. I have about half a dozen draft posts in my Blogger folder, and they all will get finished sometime. I've made some progress in knitting, so I have something to brag about. (Well, at least I'm finishing my knitted pieces, if not the blogs describing them.)

I've finished the cable scarf in Kureyon, and will post a photo of it Real Soon Now. Just because it's done in Kureyon, it's gorgeous -- I used color 134, and the colors range from lime green to pink to fuchsia to orange to sky blue. I'd make another one of these in a New York minute... which might be a handy idea, now that the holiday season is getting ready to trample us like dandelions underneath a herd of buffalo.

I'm also whipping up another felted tote bag for a Beardie buddy who fell in love with the ones I did for the auction. This one is in an enchanting shade of green heathered Lamb's Pride called Pine Shadows. The last of my "by request" totes will be done in Charcoal Heather, and then I can felt all three totes together (including the one in Andes that I've finished). Who knows? Maybe I can even make a tote for myself one of these days.

It's definitely fall in New England... 

Awright, enough is enough!

Like many other people, I've been trying to shed a few pounds -- well, more than a few -- that mysteriously attached themselves to my frame while I was busy being chained to my desk over the past year. I tried Curves. (They close too early in the evenings). I tried the yarn diet. (That lasted until I started finishing projects.) I tried eating more salads. (I got sick of them.)

Well, the one thing I haven't tried is to carefully monitor every morsel that goes into my mouth before it has a chance to stick. I've downloaded a program called Diet Diary for my Palm that allows me to keep a daily log of what I've ingested, the amount of water I've drunk, and the amount of exercise I get. It even contains a database of foods and their calories per serving. We'll see how well this works out, but so far it helps me pay attention -- and that's at least a start.

Two Weddings, No Funerals (Yet)

Greg has been very busy lately while wearing his church-musician hat. He's playing organ (and piano too, I think) at a wedding this weekend and another one next weekend. Between the rehearsals and the weddings themselves, plus the usual choir rehearsals (adults and kids) and two services every Sunday, he's had plenty to do when he's not composing or doing homework for grad school.

He says he has completed the fourth movement (the scherzo) of his Sax Quartet today. There's still plenty to do, including adding dynamics and general cleanup, but this is exciting stuff! He wants to get at least one movement played in December, and he might have two ready by then. He already has a violinist working on Hardanger, and I think the performance happens on December 6.

Finally Hit the Lottery

I almost never buy lottery tickets. Even though math isn't really my strongest suit, I do know enough about probability to know that I'm more likely to get hit by lightning than I am to win a multi-million-dollar prize... but in spite of myself, I wanted so badly to be that one-in-a-million-gajillion-bazillion prizewinner that I bought a Powerball ticket anyway.

Well, I'm happy to report that I'm finally a lottery winner. I managed to get three of the requisite five numbers, though I didn't get the Powerball. My payoff: $7. I think I'll buy myself a bottle of water to celebrate.

The new iPod sock in sock yarn. The little ornament is an earring.  

Here's a closeup of the felted bag in Old Sage Lamb's Pride. The green is even prettier in real life.