Monday, December 24, 2007

Happy Holidays

Christmas preparations are complete here at Pantheon Acres.

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The puppies had various reactions to the festivities:


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Bruce wondered if any of the presents were his.


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Tyler says "Bah Humbug!"


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Lizzie just treats it as any ole day.


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Morganna hung back, wondering what all the fuss was about.


Whatever you celebrate, we wish you all the very best.


The puppies have their own message:


PEACE ON EARTH AND GOODWILL TOWARDS ALL


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AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!


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Friday, December 21, 2007

etsy Friday -- Puppy Edition

Only one etsy item this Friday, from Kelly's Delights -- treats for the puppies. Bacon Cheese Mini Dog Treats and Chicken Mini Dog Treats. She bakes them to order and sends them out priority mail. I think the dogs knew that the box was for them before we opened it. There was an extra little knitted ball included.


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Bruce was very interested in the treats...


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Tyler shows his interest (but will not give up his comfy bed:


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Lizzie wanted second taste:


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Morganna wouldn't take her eyes off of her daddy hoping for an extra:


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But the girls really loved their new ball.


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You might think that they lost interest:


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But, Lizzie just lost possession:


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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

All Out of Ideas

As I've already stated, I'm not the creative type.  So, we're setting up a business, and I'm still excited about that.  However, The Husband and I think that we need a logo for our web site and stuff.  We already know that the text will all be in Copperplate Light (for font & type junkies).  I purchased the font for our wedding invitations and we both really like it so that was easy. 


So, I searched for inspiration.  I went to WikiMedia Commons to look for free images.  Nothing for Mastiffs or Eurasiers.  But there's a bunch of stuff for Pantheon.  Seriously, I never knew that there were so many buildings called the Pantheon, aside from the one in Rome.  From Wiki:


Modern buildings named "Pantheon":



Hmm... not sure if any of these really spoke to me.  But hey, Paris is cool, so I checked that one out.  Wiki told me:




The Panthéon (Latin Pantheon[1], from Greek Pantheon, meaning "All the Gods") is a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris, France. It was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve, but after many changes now combines liturgical functions with its role as a famous burial place.




I'm not really sure that I want us to be associated with any burial place.  Though some of the pictures are cool:


Interior Dome of the Panthéon


How about the original in Rome?


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Neat pictures, but seriously, not so much dog-like. 


I did a really creative search on Google:  "creating a logo".  That brought up LogoMaker, I get a free trial of the image.  What do you guys think?



 Anybody got any better ideas?  That one's okay, but it doesn't really work for me. 

Monday, December 17, 2007

Christmas Knitting -- Almost Finished

Don't hate me because I've managed to finish most my Christmas knitting.  I have to get everything done early because it needs to be shipped to the East Coast.  Most of what's left is for The Husband's family and just needs to be washed and blocked.  Hopefully, I'll have some more finished objects next week.


Note: If you are related to me or are expecting a Christmas gift from me, and haven't told me that you read this blog, you might want to not read this post. You might find out what you're getting for Christmas. (Thought it would serve you right for reading this blog and not telling me!)


I know I blogged about a bunch of this stuff before, but here's the whole array of finished items.


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Jute Rope Scarf
Pattern: Jute Rope Scarf
Yarn:  Catalina Baby Alapaca Chunky


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Drew's Hat
Pattern: Zissou Hat
Yarn:  Brooks Farm Mas-Acero


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Hats for Nieces
Pattern:  Ann Norling Head Huggers
Yarn:  Kramer Yarn Mauch Chunky


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Mittens for Nieces
Pattern:  Basic Mitten Pattern
Yarn:  Brooks Farm Solana


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Bath Mitt Pattern:  Sugar & Cream Bath Mitt
Yarn:  Mission Falls 1824 Cotton


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Scrunchable Scarf
Pattern: Scrunchable Scarf
Yarn:  Brooks Farm Four Play


Sunday, December 16, 2007

Victoria's Secret and Fraud

We had a couple of messages on our answering machine from Victoria's Secret.  Apparently they wanted to talk to The Husband about his order.  Except that he hasn't placed any orders. 


Yup -- somebody got hold of his credit card number and decided to order a couple of gift cards.  Nice, huh?  Luckily, the card was the one tied to his bank account.  (Yes, we have separate bank accounts.)   Lucky because there's a $1,000 limit on the card. 


Now here's where I get really annoyed.  Victoria's Secret won't give him any more information other than The Husband placed an order for 2 $500 gift cards using card ending in XXXX.  They also believe that the charge was authorized.  So, The Husband calls the bank -- they didn't allow the charge.  Great!  He cancels his card immediately.  But it'll take 10 - 14 days to send him a new card.  What????  This card is also the ATM card -- so we've got to wait 10-14 days to get a new ATM card?  Do the math people -- no cash for the holidays.  Urgh.  Luckily, there's a branch not too far from his work, so he'll get some money from there.  (And yes, I pulled some cash from my account and gave it to him -- he'll write me a check.)


Then The Husband calls the police.  He needs to file a report in person -- makes sense.  They want to make sure he really is The Husband.  And he needs to bring documented evidence.  Ummm...VS won't release any evidence except to the police.  The bank doesn't have any records because they didn't allow the charge.  (Which I call bullshit, because they should at least have a record of getting the request and denying it.) Hopefully, something will work out when he goes in to make the report.  Oh, and the detectives who work on these types of cases aren't in on weekends, so he has during the week. 


I'm now understanding why credit card fraud is so prevalent -- because it is so freakin' easy.  Seriously, if VS hadn't bothered to track down our home phone number from directory assistance -- we wouldn't have even known that this had happened.  Seriously, shouldn't the bank have contacted us?  And what do you mean that there isn't anybody to even take the freakin' report at the police station?  What's that about? 


I'll keep you guys posted as this progresses...


Saturday, December 15, 2007

Small Stash Enhancment

A local yarn store, Fringe, is going out of business.  Don't be too sad, because the owners of Fringe, are also the owners of Dream in Color yarns.  Dream in Color has taken off, so they need to close the store to dedicate themselves to the business.


Last Saturday,  I spent a few hours shopping at their sale and picked up a few items.


Mission Falls 1824 Cotton in Light Moss -- which has already become a bath mitt. 


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Plymouth Linen Island -- this will probably become a small hand towel a la Mason Dixon.


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2 skeins of lovely Malabrigo Worsted in Emerald Vivacity


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Some Knit One Crochet Too Cotonade in Pebble -- this will probably become some sort of face cloth.


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2 skeins of Mauch Chunky by Kramer Yarns in Cotton Candy -- 1 skein has already turned into 2 hats for my nieces.


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A couple of skeins of Hemp for Knitting #210 Hempwol in Natural, Licorice, and Silver Sage


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2 skeins of Alpaca with a Twist Highlander in Heather in Bloom (isn't that a great name?)


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And last but not least -- as they run Dream in Color, the 2nd's are available for purchase:


Dream in Color Smooshy in (I think) November Muse:


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Dream in Color Fatty in Black


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I also picked up a bunch of books:



  • The Knitting Answer Book

  • The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns

  • 101 Designer One Skein

  • Barbara Walker's Charted Knitting Designs

  • Big Girl Knits


And a couple of patterns:



  • Smittens

  • Pacific Northwest Shawl

  • Head Huggers

  • Hat & Mitten


And of course some DPN's (to go into my new case)