Another busy week

Whew. Another busy week gone by. I can't believe it is August already. Though, to tell you the truth, I really wish it were October with cooler temps. I am finding that each summer the heat bothers me more and more. It is official! Rory is now Ch. Beaubriar's Master of Arts! Oh my but that sounds so good to me. I still find it hard to believe but I now have the certificate to prove it.

This past weekend I had a very lovely visit with my niece, her SO, and their 5 month old baby, Alex. Isn't he just too cute for words! I want to kiss those cutie pie cheeks to pieces. Since they came to my house it was Rory's very first up close and personal visit with a baby this small. OMG! He was soooooooo good. He kept reminding me of my setter Kara who has been gone for 18 years! He would not leave the baby's side. My niece and I went outside for a few minutes and took Rory with us and he jumped at the door to go back in. I have to tell you, his behavior just gave me the chills. It was like Kara was back with me. I have been saying this for a while now but it is truer every day. Every dog lover has at least one very special dog in their lives. We call it our heart dog. I am Blessed because I have two. Kara will always be my first heart dog and Rory is most definitely my second.


Then on Sunday Rory and I spent the day at something called and AKC Canine Experience. Different breed clubs had tents set up and answered questions about their dogs. Rory was Irish setter representative. A fun day out in the sunshine with lots of doggie friends.Other highlights of the past week. I like to read a number of doggie blogs as well as stitching blogs. I also love entering giveaways at both. Everyone loves to win things. Right? Well, Rory seems to be a kind of lucky charm.

We won a bath package from All Things Dog Blog. That arrived during the week. The prize was a bath towel, a tote bag, bath sponges and mitts with a paw print motif. Rory also got a neat bandana. Here he is modeling it.

Remember the silly Independence photos I took of Rory in costume? (click HERE to see that post.) Well, I entered a facebook contest on Pet Portraits by Manda with one of them and totally forgot about it! She runs monthly contest and paints water color portraits. And she picked Rory as July's winner!! So Rory is being painted again!



But the best thing for the week is that he/we won second place, with 222 votes/likes, in the facebook contest for the 14k-9 jewelery. A 200 dollar prize is not bad at all. Especially considering that I would never have been able to afford anything they carry nor would I take the money to buy it. Rory needs his treats and fancy food and vitamins and a new beaded leather show lead and toys. Well, you get the picture. To those who voted and asked their family and friends to vote I can never thank you enough. And to those who may have been annoyed (but graciously never said so) by my more than once a day pleas, I'm sure you are glad it's over. Rory may have been second but he is first in my heart. Thank you all who voted and liked his photo.

On to the stitching part of this post. I started another piece and really made some lovely progress on it. I love this pattern and, well, right now in my life it seems so appropriate.

And my July-August entry for TUSAL. Take Sunday, July 31. The jar is filling up fast now that I'm stitching again.

I also received my Summer Exchange from Lucie on the Seasonal exchange blog. She stitched the cutest summer pattern from Lizzie Kate and I love the pom pom finish she did. It is just darling. I finished and mailed my exchange out but no photos until it arrives at its new home.And now for the part of this post that everyone has been waiting for. The winners of my giveaways! I only wish I had won the lottery and could give everyone who entered a gift. Your comments (all 178!! of them) were so wonderful. Thank you each and everyone one of you.

Giveaway 1. my Birthday surprise stash giveaway is: Shar!
(I have no idea why this photo is sideways. It is right before I downloaded it.)Giveaway number 2. The Celebrate Rory's Championship Giveaway. A 30 dollar gift certificate to Down Sunshine Lane goes to: Julie!!









And finally. Giveaway number 3. The Thank you for voting in the facebook contest giveaway. And the winner is: Penny I.

I have emailed each of the ladies and as soon as I hear from them their giveaway prizes will be on their way. Congratulations. And again, to all who entered, Thank you.







Until next time...........

Love and stitches
Kathy
and licks from Champion Rory too

Stitching, exchanges and a Championship

I'm floating on air. I'm tickled to pieces. I am still pinching myself to make sure I'm awake. Why you ask? This past Friday was an important dog show. The Western New York Irish Setter Club specialty. There were 18 class dogs entered making it a 4 point major to the Winners dog. This was the first time I had entered Rory in the "big boy" class, also known as the open class. The judge shocked me and gave him first in the class of four. (Rory was the youngest.) Then we moved on to the next level which is all the winners of the other classes. The winner of that level gets the points toward their Championship. We do our run around the ring and the judge steps in front of me and says, "Would you like to be Winners?" Of course I am stunned and mumble something like "Uh, Yes?"

And that was it! Rory WON!! This was the win he needed. His first and last time in the big boy class. He is now Champion Beaubriar's Master of Arts. Aka, Champion Rory!!!!! WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Many years ago as a little girl I read a book titled, Champion Dog:Prince Tom, about a cocker spaniel show dog. I fell in love with the idea of owning and showing a dog. Many books and years later I bought a beautiful Irish Setter named Kara. This was thirty years ago and I learned a lot with Kara. I learned about grooming and showing. She hated the show dog life and didn't do well but the experience only whetted my appetite for more. Time and life moves on. Then Maggie came into my life. Unfortunately she had health issues that prevented her from fulfilling my show dog dreams. And other life issues came up the prevented the dog show dream from happening.

Then came Rory. He has and continues to be a joy. And best of all he has made my dreams come true! My very first Champion! And the best part, even the surprising part, is that I have shown him. I have groomed him. Me. Thirty pounds or so over-weight. No longer a spring chicken. With lousy arthritic knees and hands that can no longer make a fist! I DID IT!! Oh, okay Rory helped. Seriously, showing a dog is team work. The handler can make the dog look good or bad. For a while I did think that I would have to hire a handler to show Rory but I so wanted to do it myself. AND I DID!

Now we take a break for a couple of months. Rory will get his hips x-rayed and checked. (Many large breed dogs can suffer from something called hip dysplaysia. Before we even think of breeding we need to make sure Rory's hips are good.) Then Rory and I will continue to show and work on his Grand Championship title. Another step closer to being able to enter the Westminster at Madison Square Garden someday. In the meanwhile we will rest for the summer and let Rory grow more coat and mature some more. And just be my silly baby boy.

Oh yes, before I forget. Rory also won a photo contest on facebook. An organization called Pets for Patriots sponsored a 4th of July photo contest. Of course I had to dress Rory up and submit a photo. thanks to Rory's many facebook friends he tied for first place. I love entering him in these silly contests. Win or lose they are always fun. Here are some of the photos I took to celebrate Independence day.

Now on to some stitching. My mojo is returning. And I owe it all to a dear stitching friend, Cynthia. I originally met her through a yahoo stitching group. Only to discover that she grew up about 5 miles from where I live. She moved away from the area but does come to visit family on occasions. Well, long story short. She was visiting family a couple of weeks ago and stopped for a visit to meet Rory and chat. Of course we were discussing stitching and I mentioned that I really wanted the new Lizzie Kate, Life's a Beach. You know when you must have a certain pattern and you can't really stitch anything else until you get it? Well that was happening to me. A few days later was the July 4th weekend. My local LNS, Lazy Daisy, was having a sale and I thought I would check to see if that LK pattern had come in. It had. And not only that but Cynthia had bought it for me! Along with a skein of Crescent Colors that she couldn't resist called Frogs Legs. Thank you Cynthia. You are the best. My mojo is back. Oh and I had to pick up a few other things that were on sale too.

Cynthia and Rory

Once I had that pattern in my hot little hands I started stitching like a mad woman. Not that new LK but something else entirely!! But that's okay at least I'm stitching and this piece was for the exchange that needed to be done. I finished the piece in three days. Now to finish up another exchange piece and then I can work on my new Lizzie Kate.

Speaking of Lizzie Kate. I am part of the Lizzie Kate exchange blog and received my Round C exchange from Melissa. It is a darling pin pillow. Thank you Melissa it is just adorable. I finished and sent out my part of the exchange but no photos until it reaches its new home.

I only have a couple of photos from the fabulous show weekend (the ones at the beginning of this post.) but hope to have more soon. When they are emailed to me I will be sure to post them. As well as a celebration giveaway. Soon. I promise.

And before I forget again here are my TUSAL entries for June and July. June on the left and July on the right.

Until next time..............

Love and stitches

Kathy

and Licks from Champion Rory too.