Notes from A Cottage Industry

Countdown to the new year.

Doesn't it seem like we were just all talking about Y2K a year or so ago? Where did the time go? Now, here we are, a few days away from the beginning of twenty-ten. Unbelievable.

Do you make new years resolutions? I do, most years. I like goal setting and list making. (Although I know I shared long ago in a post that I always manage to lose the lists I make. No matter. Lists and goals inspire me.) I see the new year as Oprah does; another chance to get it right. As cheesy as it sounds, I like the Anne of Green Gables attitude on life of seeing every day as a fresh clean slate, with no mistakes in it yet, and I feel even more hope-filled at New Year's for some reason. It's like the first day of school each year when I was a kid. 

About a third of my resolutions are life's trivial kinds of things, like finally learning how to work the comcast television remote control, ( Dear God, that thing confuses and intimidates me. Not only does it take me nearly a full minute to get the danged TV to turn on now, but I realize now that I have been paying for the "DVR" feature for nearly two months, and haven't been able to record a single show as yet.) baking that black forest cake recipe from the latest issue of Victoria magazine that I have been dying to try, and taking Moose to every single dog park in the Portland and Vancouver area this coming year.

Many of them are much grander resolutions that I pretty much keep close to my heart; resolutions and goals about my Cottage Industry business and for my personal life. (Seriously, you might think I'd lost my mind if I shared some of these with you.) On the eve of a new year, everything seems possible. Everything is possible.

We just have to believe.

Happy Christmas.

Hmmm, maybe that tree didn't topple over all by itself.

Merriest wishes from Moose and me on this Christmas day.

My little cupcake.

     The Sewing Queen of northern Nevada brought this fabulous new cupcake collar for Moose back from her trip to Portland last week. (Bear had just gotten a new collar last month and there was only one cupcake one in the shop she found this in...)
     Pretty stylish and perfect with his hair color, don'tcha think? (And he's comfortable enough in his manhood to pull off the pink cupcakes.)

Party animal.

Mr. Bear celebrated a milestone birthday yesterday. He turned 15, which makes him...er...a senior citizen in dog years.(Honey-Bear, you don't look a day over 12. Really.)

Now, Bear is not one for wild parties and making a lot of hoopla, we celebrated rather quietly, reminiscing about when he was a puppy, then followed up with milkbones and me singing happy birthday. (Actually, Moose was much more excited about the singing part than Bear was.)

Happy birthday, Bear. Oh, I love you so.

Slumber party

Not sure if it's the cold weather or the holiday season (or maybe the fact that Moose is so intuitive that he realizes Mr. Bear is now in his twilight years, and he kind of worries about him and feels the need to look after him a bit) that has sparked Moose to want to be closer to Bear, literally, but he has taken to squeezing himself into bed with Bear the past few weeks. Now, for those of you who are not "dog people", let me just explain...little dogs will share beds. All the time. They like to do that. Big dogs..notsomuch. They are big after all, and it's just not as easy. Or comfortable.

My big boys each have their own beds, on either side of my bed and when the lights go out, they both are in their respective beds, snoring peacefully, dreaming of Cesar Millan...That is, until about three weeks ago.

That's when I noticed one morning as I was getting ready for my grown up girl job, that he had managed to join Bear in his bed for a little after-breakfast-but-before-we-have-to-go-outside-for-the-day nap. I thought it looked so uncomfortable,(and he changed positions repeatedly, just trying to get comfortable, each time waking Bear) and yet it was so sweet to see (well, as sweet as any two 100 pound dogs can look, squished into a single dog bed) how he clearly loves ol' Bear and wanted to be near him. Or maybe he was just trying to warm his toes on an exceptionally cold morning.

Either way, it was sweet.

To me at least.

Are there dogs in heaven?

 
If not, how else would you explain these un-retouched photos? (We're considering sending them to the National Enquirer later today...)

    Okay, just indulge me here for a minute of Christmas-time silliness. (After all, we're all under a fair amount of stress with this economy stuff, and could use a lightheartedness right about now...and you know how I love my pups...and my grand-pups!)

     My girls obviously had a little too much time on their hands last week when they got together to decorate for the holidays. Mona Fleasa became the littlest angel in a photo shoot to rival the Victoria's Secret Angels, modeling an angel wing Christmas ornament.

You must admit, they look pretty darned natural on her!

Two heartbeats beneath my feet.

These guys always know when things are not quite right. They can sense things like that. They've been following me from room to room, just reminding me that I'm not alone. See how they're sleeping? They like to lay in the doorway, so when I finish on the computer I'll have to walk right there and they'll spring into action, wagging tails and sloppy licks, just letting me know that they're glad I'm home. (Oh, and they'll want me to sing the Mary Tyler Moore theme song again---they just love that.)

Ya, whoever said you can't buy happiness never had a dog.

A water dish can be a thing of beauty...

     You know how some people have good china and save it for only very special occasions? I am not one of those people. (Actually I probably need a 12 step tableware program, since I am about 2 dishes and an antique butter knife away from needing an intervention) It's all part of living a beautiful life. So...

Wanna see the pupper's water bowl? (I can't believe I hadn't shared this with you sooner)

What?

You thought it was a compote, or a salad bowl?

Oh. Now that you mention it, I guess it could be. But I was looking for a new water bowl for the boys, and, for the most part, they are just so..small, and when I do find a larger bowl, they are often so Gawd awful unattractive and expensive (Hellooooo, suddenly single budget here, folks) and, well, they never seem to go with my kitchen decor. (and you know that I am all about the details) Then...I stumbled upon this...beauty. Toile, no less. Stunning, and just the right size. (Oh, and I loved the lifted off the floor pedestal effect, too. Those dog dish tableware designers think of everything.)

Where? Of course, TJ Maxx, baby. I got it last summer for only $9.99 and worth. every. penny.

Life is too short to not use the good stuff, people, even for the pups.