DIY Dog steps

We've never owned a "springy" corgi before.   Until now.  Which can be a problem.   Corgis are not supposed to be jumpers because of their long backs.  
Well, tell that to our dog.
Osa jumps onto the BED, sofa, chairs...just about anything the cat can jump up on.   If it weren't for her back, I wouldn't worry.  But I don't want a dog with wheels....so..........I decided she needed to be trained to use steps.  And to stay off the bed.  She has her own bed, no need to get on ours!

I looked for steps and the ones I brought home were skinny and plastic and she wouldn't use them.   Back to the store.  The only other types I found were incredibly expensive and had to be special ordered.   My sister has some foam ones that I considered but I decided to try and make some first.

I got the idea off pinterest about 2 months ago and saved some boxes.  (I just love summer, I simply didn't have the time to do this during the school year!)

First of all, I got my boxes together.   I used a low wide boot box for the bottom and some wind chime boxes for the "step."   I filled them first with stuffing so they could hold a corgi!  Corgis may be short but they are like walking watermelons so the steps had to be sturdy enough for that.  

One of my boxes needed some length so I tore another box apart to use it for that support.   Then I taped it all together like so:

Afterwards, I went upstairs (with Osa in tow) and got out my batting.   After watching Osa tunnel through the batting like a mole and taking photos of her doing that....LOOK AT THE HEART ON HER BUTT!!!!!

...I got back to work and wrapped and taped the steps.  They looked like this:

The last step was to "upholster" them. Hahaha...upholster, riiiiight!  
I just cut out and sort of pieced the fabric together.

The best part is that she used them right away with no problem.  Up and down she goes!

Oh and since you haven't seen her today, here she is in all her floofy glory!

She weighs 23 pounds now, my little girl is growing up.

Five on Friday!

I'm joining AMY for Five on Friday!  

There was a lot of cooking going on in my kitchen this week but I have to give a nod to the man of the house before we talk about that!

We took Dean out to lunch for Father's Day and then came back home to just hang out together.  In truth it was a lazy day...but we have so few of those together, it was nice.  
Simple. But nice.

there was lots of laughter...

and wine! (don't you just love that vivino app?)  Totally rocks!

The rest of the week was spent channeling my inner domestic goddess.  

On Monday, I went blueberry picking with some friends and brought home 2 gallons of these beauties!  Many were frozen, some were snacked on.  Most were cooked!

On our way home, we passed a little farmer in front of his house.  He had a TON of veggies for sale.  I bought some squash for canning and several beautiful tomatoes to use for dinner.  

This is a raw tomato pasta sauce...and totally amazing and fresh tasting.  Lots of chopping but so easy to make!

On Tuesday, I harvested some basil and made 24 basil/olive oil cubes for the freezer.  It took about 3 hours from start to finish but is so worth the effort.  Nothing beats the flavor.  Click HERE if you want my "recipe."   

After that was done, I made some deli style blueberry muffins for the family.  These are HUGE.

 This one was so top heavy, it kept falling over!  I got the recipe from chew out loud's blog.

and I needed a fork to eat it all....the muffin was about the size of two normal ones.  The best part was the streusel topping!

On Wednesday, I was back in the kitchen making sweet squash relish!  I don't eat squash or zucchini....but THIS stuff is AMAZING!  Look at all the pretty summer colors in here...getting ready to be cooked up.

When that was done, I decided putting away all my canning stuff only to drag it out again in a few days was too much effort....so....I went ahead and made some blueberry jam.   I love how bright it all turns while cooking.  Oh my gosh this stuff is soooo good!

Here is is, all canned up.  
Yes, it took me ALL DAY LONG. 
Yes, my back hurt after but I got a long soak in a hot tub with a big glass of wine for my efforts. Yes, it is SO totally worth it!  

Canning, in my humble opinion, is a dying art.   The difference in flavor is amazing.  If I had space, I would can so much more stuff.  Seriously, I dream of those old cellars where you store canned goods.  My friends laugh at me.

On a side note, I did NOT can purple and gold stuff because I love LSU.  I mean, I DO love LSU but I didn't do this on purpose.  Just sayin'

Happy Friday!  Go see Amy today for more Five on Friday posts!

Corgi fun day!

Saturday, Dean and I took Osa into Metarie to attend our first corgi meetup.  

With this being her first social event other than my sisters' dogs, I wasn't sure how she would react but true to corgi form, she just walked in and started playing!

Check out the guy in the goggles!  

It took her awhile but eventually ran with the crowd.

This little girl had a lovely face...I think she was part Pembroke and part Cardigan...I love bald faces!  My mare had a bald face, Dean has a bald head....hmmmm.  I see a pattern!

A group photo before we all took off. 

Most of the corgis were red/white and there were a couple tri colors.  Osa was the only sable in the group.

It was so hot out that the group started leaving after about an hour but it was worth going over and we will definitely do it again.   

Osa slept all the way home!

just a snuggle

Last week was a busy one and while most of it was fun, some was not.  Kaela got her braces off Monday (yay!) and had dental surgery on Thursday (boo.)

She was such a trooper through everything and afterwards, I took her to her ortho for a new retainer. We were rushing so they could do some stuff before the Novocaine wore off.

Everything was going great until the Walmart pharmacist refused to fill her prescription! Kaela has an allergy to codeine and the pharmacist felt she needed something different.  Poor Kaela didn't have anything for pain once the local wore off.

As we walked in the door, Osa greeted us quietly...totally not her style.  The way an animal KNOWS something is going on is such a wonderful thing.  Kaela got on the couch and Osa jumped right up and snuggled down with her.  She never once got excited, just snuggled in for the long haul.

Kaela took 4 ibuprofen while I ran back to the doctor for a new prescription.  Then I go back to Walmart and guess what?  They didn't HAVE the new medicine.  So after waiting 2 hours to get her pain meds, the pharmacist ends up giving  her the original prescription.  (and just as her doctor said, she had NO reaction to it......)

I won't go into just how irritated I was with everything but I was.  I really was.  I just didn't want to go off and be one of "those people" who make a scene.  

I brought home some flowers to brighten her day a little...she adores sunflowers.

The next day she was much better and by Saturday, she was able to have a great weekend.

Hook and a Book......

 A hook and a book.....a new to me Martha Grimes novel.  On my hook is another Lover's Knot shawl.  I'm using Bonsai by Berroco and it is lovely.  Just a basic black with a little shimmer in it.

Looking forward to a great week!

Five On Friday

I am joining Amy (click on her name) at Love Made My Home for her Five on Friday today!   What a neat idea.   I found her blog through Tammy.

On Saturday, Kaela took the ACT and afterwards, we went out for lunch....

The rest of the week was a whirlwind starting with our sweet KK getting her braces off!  She still has some dental surgery scheduled but she is excited about having her teeth "back."

Our backyard is looking good...we've done some things to put it to bed for the summer. 

Our morning glory's first bloom of the year...always a welcome sight.

I planted a few portulaca in some pots.... I love it so much and it thrives here in the deep south!

Midweek, I joined some friends for margaritas!  Yummmmmmy!  Black and Blue margarita.  Oh my gosh was it good!

Osa giving me her happy smile after a long walk!

Have a great Friday!

a day in the life...

My mini cooper is complete.  Stella now sports a sugarskull corgi decal!  

Suki getting a little lovin'

We took the kids to brunch the other day....we always have fun together.  Especially when the table is covered with paper and they provide crayons!  GAME ON!

I made K a trashcan for her car...can you tell she likes coffee?

Osa enjoying a pupcake from the doggie boutique...

And Dean getting a little snuggle time in...

I love the slower days of summer.........

Wrist pincushion...

I was mailing something to a friend the other day and wanted to add a little something extra.  Nothing major as I was busy with another project I'll share later this week.

Kerry is like me and can always use pincushions so I made her this cute wrist pincushion she can wear while doing light jobs like hemming.

Here is how I made it.

I took the lid from a drink bottle a drilled a couple holes in it.  

Then I tied some elastic band through the holes and tied 2 knots.  One at the end and one closer in to tighten it up.   I pulled them into the lid and glued them down.

On to the actual pincushion.  I cut a circle of fabric and stuffed it and sewed it up.  Once that was done, I hot glued the ball of stuffing down into the lid, covering the elastic up.

 I ended up using 3 pieces of trim because the lid was wide.   I used baby piping to cover the bottom that meets your skin.  On top of that, I use a piece of single ply bias tape.  The top piece is just ric rac.  (I have no idea why I didn't take a photo of that process...oops.)

I think it turned out cute for a 20 minute project and would be super easy to do a more elaborate pincushion in the same way

I'm sure you could use a thin pony tail holder instead of the elastic but I like how stretchy the elastic is, especially when making something as a gift.