Now Norma Knits

Terrier Tuesday: The Rescue Edition

Dear Readers,

No, wait! Don't click out! You have the right blog!

I know! You're surprised to see me here so soon after my last visit! (and surprised to see me use so many exclamation points!) Me too. Actually, it's like we've entered into some sort of time warp, because believe it or NOT, Alpha has been knitting again! I'm not kidding! Don't believe me? Look here:

Is that....? No, it can't be! Alpha has been soooo busy, how could it be?

But yes, it is! It is a red scarf!

To be perfectly honest, though, that one is a little bit of a cheat. Because Alpha knitted that last winter, and she had carefully put it away in a safe place. And yes, you guessed it -- she then completely forgot about it.

Alpha says there must be some sort of sim-bee-OH-sis going on here (sometimes she uses weird words!), because she ran across it when she was hunting for the pattern for this:

Do you know what that is? Yes, it truly is! It's a new sweater for me! I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!

We hoped it would be done so that I could model it for you by today, but sadly it's not quite yet.

So instead, we did our own version of this "awwwwww"-worthy photo that Alpha saw on Facebook yesterday:

Here's our version:

I know this is not a fair question, but:  Which one do you think is cuter?

Love,

Mr. Jefferies

 

 

 

Terrier Tuesday: The "Hello, Is This Thing On?" Edition

 

Dear Readers: 

Well, folks, as Hurricane Sandy is breathing down our necks, and already causing major havoc all up the East Coast (we're especially worried about New York City, because that's where our Abigail lives), Alpha and I thought it would be a good time to pop in and say hello. Alpha has been receiving increasingly more emails from folks who are worried about us, so we both figured this would be as good a time as any to break our unintended long silence.

Seriously, where DID all that time go? It's quite amazing that we could even remember how to sign in to Typepad. But of course, now we are finally writing, and many people are without power and won't even be able to read this. We hope everyone stays safe and gets through this with a minimum of trauma. Vermont's wounds from Irene are not yet fully healed, and even we tough Vermonters can't take much more. We feel for the folks in New Jersey who are bearing the brunt of the landfall tonight, and then Pennsylvanians .... Well, we are thinking about you and hoping you're all safe. 

You may remember, I don't particularly like wind. And when I say I don't particularly like it, I mean that I would rather eat a bucket of nails. I like it even less than I like a grooming appointment. A LOT LESS.

Speaking of grooming appointments, though, this is a picture Alpha took of me on Sunday just after I got out of one. I was giving her the cold shoulder and letting her know just how HURT I was about that appointment, even WITH the candy corn bandana they gave me.

Don't EVEN bother to say I look cute, though we all know that goes without saying, because it will NOT make me feel better about that appointment, NOR about the hurricane wind. But these are the crosses I bear. Life is not always easy for a Yorkie like me.

So.... what have we been doing? Well, my life hasn't changed much. I still get my breakfast and my lunch and my dinner, and my Teeny Greenies, and I get my walks and new toys, and treats and bones to bury from time to time. And this summer it seems like we have had a ton of people come over to do stuff like build porches and replace doors and do yard work, and everybody loves to play tug-of-war with me, which is nice.

Alpha has just been busy, busy, busy, BUSY with her work! She keeps saying this phrase: "It's a little bit of be careful what you wish for, but I'm not complaining!" And she's been going to a new gym that she loves. And in her spare time she has painted many of the rooms in the house and cleaned out rooms and closets and corners, and sent lots and lots of boxes of crap stuff to Goodwill and places like that. But we are still tripping over MORE stuff (will it NEVER end?!), not to mention paint cans and other painting paraphernalia, because she keeps on thinking that maybe soon she will paint the dining room, or whatever.

And meanwhile, she is providing CART to two medical students and one veterinary student, as well as CART and captioning for a growing list of other clients, and wishing that that cloning technology would come along soon, very soon. She has new people to help her with all this CART work, because of course until she gets cloned, she can't be in four or five places at once, and that means a whole lot of scheduling work and worries and people-managing headaches that sometimes keep her awake a little bit at night.

And then, you know, don't even get her started about this election season. At least David is not running for office this year, as his term is not up yet. Thank the LORD for that, she says! And she made sure to go in and vote for President Obama last week, just to make sure that some work thing, or, say, a HURRICANE, wouldn't keep her from voting, because, well, for at least 1,000 reasons, but this picture that was being passed around Facebook tells some of the story, right here: 

I know, I know, you don't come to Terrier Tuesday to hear a Yorkie talk about politics. But I'm just sayin': When Mama ain't happy, AIN'T NOBODY HAPPY. And I'm sure that, knowing Alpha as you do, none of this comes as any surprise to you. I've come to love her, even when she swears a lot.

Because even when she's really, really busy, she is the one who buys all my food and my treats and my toys, and she still manages to stay at home, or at least come home at night most of the time, to snuggle with me at bedtime. And that's all I really care about.

Love,

 

Mr. Jefferies

P.S. Alpha has been too busy using her hands for work (and working out) to be able to knit even a stitch. But she hopes you're all working on your red scarves. Just because she hasn't been blogging and haranguing y'all about the red scarves, doesn't mean she has forgotten her favorite cause, and doesn't mean that those foster kids who are going to college should be without their red scarf care package this year. So please send in your red scarves!

 

 

 

Terrier Tuesday -- Just a Cute Photo of Cute Me

Oh, all right, you can also see the dumb fountain that Alpha spent the whole day Saturday setting up.

You see, first she had to clean out the new screened porch and cart all the house plants out there and get everything JUST SO, and then she just plopped and listened to the water for the next, like, 72 hours.

She calls this Her Little Oasis, and she's been sitting out there all the time and eating all her meals there, and...

...she doesn't even play with me AT ALL anymore. 

Love,

Mr. Jefferies

Terrier Tuesday: Juris Doctor Edition

Dear Readers,

Well, St. John's University does not allow Yorkshire Terriers to attend law school graduations. Or at least that is the excuse Alpha gave me for not having the opportunity to witness this firsthand:

The way I understand it, that is an image of my Abigail getting a hood put on her by her law school dean or somebody, whatever that means. It's an image on a fancy-schmancy big screen in a fancy-schmancy auditorium that, Alpha wants you to notice, is NOT being captioned, but don't get her started about that, she says. 

However, since there is not one word of this that seems anything other than Greek or Latin to me, suffice it to say I guess it was a big deal, and everyone is all pretty proud and excited about it. Me, I'm kind of proud and excited of my Abigail any old time, and so I don't really get the difference, but that's just the way we Yorkies are, so I'm sure you understand.  

Some of Abigail's friends and roommates, and other people I know, also got the same thing! So we have all these cute pictures to look at.

It looks like they all had a really good time without me, but I had a good time, too, with Dan and Jessica and Chloe and Gunner and the big cats and ... well, we're all pretty tuckered out from this excitement. I'm just gonna go have a nap now, okay?

Res ipsa loquitur, baby.

 

Mr. Jefferies

 

 

Terrier Tuesday, the Gardener Edition

Dear Readers,

Well, that's just typical. Alpha told you about how well the garden is coming yesterday, but she didn't even mention how much I have helped.

Pffft.

 

For example, I keep Alpha occupied by bringing her toys.

I stay out of her way. (Most of the time.)

And I bury rawhide bones, which I'm sure helps things to grow.

You're welcome, Alpha.

Love,

 

Mr. Jefferies

Terrier Tuesday

 

HEY. How did that get there?!

Dear Blog: This is just to say that we are still here, still alive and well, still happy, still so busy that we can't find the time to even say hello. 

We're sorry.

We miss you, too.

We'll be back soon.

Love,

Mr. Jefferies

 

The Trauma is Still Fresh and What's That You Say? Butterflies in Vermont on April 17???????

Mr. Jefferies has still not recovered from the trauma of being abandoned outside. The cuteness is breaking my heart. If we go outside, and I make one footstep in the direction of the house, he takes off on a gallop to the door. It's so pathetically adorable and adorably pathetic, I can hardly stand it. 

We both thank you for all your messages of love and concern and commiseration. 

It's ridiculously warm here, and the day before yesterday the plum trees suddenly burst into bloom. I think they are more or less on schedule, but really it would be more normal for us to have a crippling, icy, sleety, tree-limb-breaking, car-sliding-off-the-driveway-and-stuck, swearing-like-a-mofo snowstorm just about now.

Instead, it's been 80 degrees for several days, then cooled down to 60 yesterday -- both temps well above normal for this time of year. It was very windy, so I was worried that the trees would not be pollinated. What few bees there are left in this poor sick world wouldn't be out in that heavy wind. But after work yesterday I went out and found both trees alive with activity. There were a (very) few bees, and a lot of those strange bee-impersonating flies, and about a dozen beautiful butterflies on each tree.

Butterflies! In Vermont on April 17th? That's just not riiiiiight. 

And in other bizarre garden news, get a load of my spinach (underneath the critter-discouraging pop-up net from Gardener's Supply, which sadly no longer seems to be available, but they have these instead):

And the beet and Swiss chard seeds I planted on Sunday have already germinated. If we don't have a horrible drought or another blizzard on July 4th or something, I'll be surprised. Things are freakish, but I will be a very bad Vermonter and admit that I can't say I mind the warmth and good gardening weather right at the moment. 

I did appreciate the visit to my blog and comment by a Gardener's Supply personage the other day. After about 7 or 8 years of blogging about their products and probably sending them thousands of dollars of business (well, hell, spending thousands of dollars there myself, even), someone finally noticed. But I'm not bitter. KIDDING! (Does that mean I'm kidding that I'm not bitter, or kidding that.... oh, never mind.)

I'll just do the Pioneer Woman thing and say, "They didn't pay me to say this or give me anything. Not ONE THING. Not even a coupon or anything! In fact, they don't even know I exist," and in my case I'd be telling the absolute troofth. <---------Read that in Edith Ann's voice. 

 

 

 

Terrier Tuesday -- The "I Despair of These People" Edition

Dear Readers,

SIGH. I am FED UP. And exhausted. And DISGUSTED. And relieved. And so tired.

Last evening, David and Alpha went into the house and LEFT ME OUTSIDE ALL BY MYSELF.

They were gone for, like, HOURS. I could hear the showers running, and I stood at the screen door in the kitchen (can you believe it was 80 degrees in Vermont yesterday? Me, neither.) and I was barking and barking and barking LIKE MAD. I barked until I almost lost my voice. 

My feelings were SO HURT. And I was trying to tell Alpha that SHE FORGOT ME. And then I thought, "She just doesn't CARE about me anymore."

I decided to try to melt her heart by going all around the yard and picking up all my toys and lining them up near the door. And I thought, "Well, if she doesn't like this one, maybe she'll like THIS one and come and let me in."

And I'd go to the screen door with each one and BARK SOME MORE. And then Alpha yelled at me from far away in the house to stop barking. And then I heard her leave the shower room and start to go up to her office. And SHE DIDN'T EVEN COME TO GET ME. 

So I started to run around the back of the house to try to tell her, "I'm HERE. I'm OUT HERE! Come and LET ME IN!" And she still didn't come, even though I had changed my voice to tell her, "SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG HERE."

But then all of a sudden I heard her calling my name. Oh, that SWEET SOUND. She was calling my name, and she was saying, "Jeffies! Oh, Baby! Where are you?" and then I ran to the screen door and barked in another different voice that said, "Oh, hello, thank GOODNESS you still love me! Because I love YOU very, very, very much, and look what a good boy I was! I love you! Very much!"

And then David came running down the stairs and said, "How did THAT happen?"

And Alpha said, "I thought he was with YOU! But I suddenly realized that that bark was different and that he was really in trouble."

Well, anyway, people. I never want that to happen again.

Love, 

 

Mr. Jefferies

Terrier Tuesday -- The Mouse Edition

Dear Readers:

There was a MOUSE IN OUR HOUSE! The other night! I saw it! I cornered it! I played with it! I chased it! I told Alpha where it was! But I am a Buddhist (I bet you didn't know that), so I didn't kill it. Please don't scoff like Alpha did. It hurt my feelings. She said unkind things like, "Don't you KNOW you are a terrier?"  

"Yes, Alpha, I am VERY WELL AWARE. Bug the hell right off, won't you?"

And then the mouse went and hid under the heating baseboard and we never saw it again. Unless that was the one that got caught in a trap that night, but I guess we will never know. 

Anyway, I thought it was fun. Alpha, I don't think she thought so.

In honor of the fun I had with that, I thought I'd share a couple of fun dog videos that I bet you will like.

 

 

----------

And DON'T MISS THIS ONE. My Alpha has watched this about a dozen times. Any time she feels a little bit down, she goes and has a watch. I bet you'll like it, too, if you haven't already seen it.  

Love,

 

Mr. Jefferies

 

Terrier Tuesday ... Wednesday... Almost Thursday... The Wait, What Day Is This? Edition

Omygoodness, Dear Readers!

Alpha has been so busy! And you know how much she loves to be busy, but I tell you, she hardly has time to feed me, let alone take me for Nice Walks! And she HOGS the computer so I can't get my blogging time. She either sits there ignoring me with her headphones on, or she's gone. 

And of course, I'm not the only one who is neglected. She let out a faint little screech the other day when she realized that she had LET HER 8TH BLOGIVERSARY pass by without even remembering it or mentioning it! How is that even possible, I ask you?! That woman has blogged faithfully most all the days of eight years, and then boom, nothing! Eight YEARS! How is a little Yorkie of only three-and-a-half years supposed to compete with that? Does that mean she is going to just dump me, too?!

I despair.

I'm fading away fast, I tell you. Soon you will have to stage an intervention, I fear.  

Well, last weekend was fun, anyway. We had a guest. We had another cutie-pie little Yorkie, Chloe, here for a sleepover on the weekend. She's so pretty and sweet.

But I'm a lot louder, and I'm really GOOD at getting in the way if Alpha and David are saying nice things to Chloe, so I'm not sure which is better. I think probably ME. 

See how cute we are together?  Alpha would like you to know that it wasn't all that easy to corral the two of us. Or so she says. So it took a couple of biscuits. BIG DEAL.

Sorry this photo is a bit dark, but Alpha says she doesn't have time to fix it. And here I am, as you can see, in my usual place where I'm supposed to be, which is RIGHT IN THE FRONT.

You know. 

So ohmygosh, Alpha is prepping to caption a speech of an interesting visitor -- make that two -- over the next couple of days, but that's all I can say about it under pains of NO MORE BISCUITS from She Who Runs This Place. 

Suffice it to say, she's kind of excited. And Excited Alpha is good. As long as I stay out of her way. And I'd suggest you do, too, if you want your biscuit!

Love and kisses,

 

Mr. Jefferies