My new apron!

I just finished my first sewing project: an apron. I figured I'd start with something that wouldn't matter too much if it wasn't just perfect. It's got pockets, which weren't as hard to do as I thought they might be. I'm really happy with how it turned out!


Here's another view


The most fun part was using the buttonhole feature on the machine. You put the button in this little device that goes below the sewing needle, then choose the buttonhole shape you want, and press the "sew" button! It even sews on buttons too, so I tried that as well. Now I'm going to have to locate all those random shirts and pants that have had buttons fall off but I was too lazy to reattach them!

It's a good thing I'm not expecting to sell this thing, beacuse for all the time i spent on it, it would so not be worth what someone would pay! Hopefully I'll get quicker as I try new projects. As for what's next? Not sure, but I did buy a pattern for making storage boxes for shelves. We'll see how that goes.

Doggy Playdate

Last night Paul had to work late to set up a business expo, so I invited my friend Jamie over with her dog Miller for a doggy playdate/girls night. We weren't sure how it would go because it's the first time Binsey had another dog in "her" back yard, plus the dogs have never met. It didn't take long before they decided to be good buddies and run-run-run around.


...and pounce!

Sewing Sensation

For my birthday, Paul got me the sewing machine I had my eye on for a while. It's a Brother cs6000i, which probably would not impress the people on Project Runway, but it is by far fancier than anything I'd ever need. So far I've fixed 3 shirts that Binsey ripped up during her earlier puppy shenanigans. The machine has 60 different stitches, of which I've used two, and I have no idea what the heck you'd do with most of them!

I'm hoping to make some neat thing with my new machine, like window treatments. Last week there was a sale on sewing patterns, so I bought four of them. My plan is to buy fabric as it goes on clearance since my first few projects will probably not be anything close to professional grade. But I'll learn as I go along!

For now, though, I'm just glad I don't have to pay someone to fix puppy tooth holes or to hem new pants!

Training Continues

We're about half way through Canine Good Citizen training at Hacker's Creek Kennel here in Bloomington. We decided after boarding Binsey there over Christmas that we just had to go there for training beacuse she came back behaving WAY better than when we dropped her off. Jeff is a fantastic trainer and has basically devoted his life to training dogs, particularly labrador retrievers. He sells some of his trained dogs to families, so if you're in the market for a dog and don't have time to deal with all the puppy shenanegans, this is a great option! Since we've been working with him, we've even noticed that Binsey is listening to us more because we've learned how to be better leaders for her.


Sure, we did the PetSmart puppy class, but Binsey is such a strong-willed dog that she needs some extra training (or at least we needed extra training in how to deal with her!). Positive reinforcement only (treat training) is a great way to go if you have a mild-mannered dog, but for a brute like Binsey we needed more variety. Remember that Yuppie Puppy harness I was so excited about? It is not a good solution and I think it just brings out her husky instinct to pull! So we started using a choke chain (I hate that name), but Jeff explained to us how it's actually more humane because it distributes the pressure around their neck rather than just on the front with a regular collar. It's true - she stops pulling and doesn't cough/choke like she did with the regular collar. And now that we can "communicate" with the collar, she's listening to us more even when she doesn't have the chain on.



She's still a work in progress, but she's turning into a real sweetheart who loves to fetch and chew her toys and lie at our feet for belly rubs.

Here she is fetching for Paul (she decided for the past few months that she didn't want to fetch, and then one day she randomly decided she loved it):

New glasses

It's been nearly 6 years since I got my last pair of glasses, and since my prescription changed it seemed a good time to get a new pair. So here's the new look.