pugs in the sun

It felt like I stitched all weekend but when I look at my progress I don't see a whole lot. I wonder why that its like that sometimes? Above is my progress on Part one of the Celtic Mystery by Ink Circles. The second part is supposed to come out tomorrow. I was hoping to have a little more done before today but I didn't even start until Thursday evening.

On Friday I took a vacation day at work and spent the day at the Rosemont Quilt Show. The vendors are incredible there. I was hoping to get a little of my quilting mojo back and I did purchase a couple of kits. One kit is a baby quilt for one of my nieces or nephew. I need two this year! I already have a top completed and but I need to make one more. And I need to get moving as the first of the two baby showers is in five weeks. It's going to be tough to find a machine quilter at this point. Anyway, I was hoping to find some stitching stuff but all I found was a ton of rug hooking things and needlepunch. There was a lot more stitching stuff two years ago. I missed last year's show. I also fell in love with several wool kits for wall hangings and table runners but I didn't buy any because I have a couple that I purchased two years ago that I never even started. So I figured why buy more?




I'm still plugging along with Celtic Birds II even though I'm still not sure about the color. At this point, I figure I might as well finish the piece as I'm almost half way done and it should look nice with it's companion piece, Celtic Birds I. Slow progress though as I'm only stitching on it while on the train.


Saturday was cold and rainy and it even snowed a bit though none of it lasted on the ground. But Sunday was bright and sunny if cold (never got out of the 30's). Since I could not finish painting what I started last weekend because of the temps I figured I could at least get everything put together. Below are the results and I think the pugs are happy. :-)


Here starting on the left are Clancy, Aoife and Molly posing on the A-frame. It's no where near full height because Aoife is just starting agility - the apex is set at about waist high I think and regulation height is over 5 1/2 feet. Molly who hasn't been near a piece of equipment in months and months was all over it the second I put it up. They chased each other up and over it for hours. It was quite fun to watch.
Here is again from the left, Clancy, Molly and Aoife showing perfect form with a sit on the pause table.

And again demonstrating a down.

Here is the dog walk. It's set low for Aoife - here it is about two feet tall and it needs to be around 4 feet. I have a really nice set of aluminum legs on order.
Here is the teeter. It's set at full height because I haven't started to train the puppy yet and she really isn't going near it. As soon as she starts, I'll have to lower it to almost to the ground and slowly raise it as she gains confidence. This is one of the hardest pieces of equipment for dogs to learn since it moves.

And lastly just a beauty shot of the girls. Molly standing and Aoife in a perfect down. :-) I can't keep that girl away from the camera. :-)