The Wisdom of Murphy

This is my baby Murphy. He possesses great wisdom and great love. He is my 'baby-baby" my Schmoo, my Catty-Wampus, my Yella-Fella and the keeper of my heart. He is such a kind and loving fella even though early in life he had many struggles with his health. Even now, we must be careful with him. But all in all, he is filled with love. He is my sweet angel.

Well there is much more to my Murphy than good looks and a big heart! He is such a smart lil guy. Murphy has the wisdom of the world.

Case in point; we were watching tv one evening recently and the Weight Watcher commercial came on. You know the one with the orange monster ( he puts me in mind of Gossamer on Bugs Bunny!) Well, Murphy saw this commercial, took a look at me and began to raise holy hell at the tv; "woo,woo,woo,Murph,Murph,Murph" he says. He fussed until the commercial went off.

We were howling. I said that apparently Murphy is telling us just what he thinks about dieting and WW! LOL; In speaking with the Murph, I asked him why didn't he like this commercial?

This is what he said;" Well, Mom, I love you just as you are, and we don't need no stinkin' diets 'round here! Besides, you know how crabby you get on those things, then you will want me to join you and be miserable too; hey, there is a reason the first three letters of diet are DIE!!!" He is right about that!!!

Point number two; Mr Murphy has long been against peanut butter! Yes, I know, some doggies love PB, but Murph will smell things before he eats them and he will usually turn up his nose to PB! I bought these Paul Newman PB treats for dogs; Niles loves them as do the girls. Murphy has only been known to eat the PB once in a blue moon, and I think that was because he had a cold and didn't smell it. So now when all the news about poison PB comes out, he looks at me and says, "I told you so" Yes, my Murphy, you were right about everything!

I know it is hard for some folks that do not have a Murphy to get such good advice, so he says that he will offer consultations for the cost of a mere plain flavor MilkBone to those of you who have need for his services, He says "You can reach me here through my mom" He also says he is thinking about getting his own blog! Yikes!

Just Had To Share This With You All

I found this over at Cat Nap Inn Primitives; I just had to share it with you all. I sooo agree!! And I have always said I am in shape because ROUND is a shape! LOL!


Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.
Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!
Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! .... Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the bestfeel good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have hadabout food and diets.

AND.....For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health.It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.
1. The Japanese eat very little fatand suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fatand suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wineand suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lotsof sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacksthan Americans.
CONCLUSION; Eat and drink what you like.Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Late in Posting and a New Find for our Furry Friends

I forgot to tell y'all; I won Diane's December Giveaway(Where the Foxgloves Grow) AND I FORGOT TO POST IT HERE!!!!! Well I am so sorry Diane. I love the wee lil' dress and it is so super special to me because it is from Scotland. Woo-Hoo; I cannot tell y'all how much I love to listen to the men from Scotland talk; well it just makes me go woo-woo;0 Here is a picture of the lovely dress; and she sent me a beautiful card as well. I will cherish this dress always!! Thank you again Diane. ( I had to use Diane's photo from the giveaway as mine just won't flip right today!)

Look at this tshirt on this handsome doggie; nope he's not mine, but he sure is handsome!!

Hey y'all; I just found this really cool site called Furry Twang Dog Tees; they are a riot; shoot I would wear 'em if they made them in my size! Check these out; I think Miss Shanda would LOVE this one;" I Like my Tea Sweet" This handsome guy's says "I'm Not Fat I'm Big Boned" Hey, me too; that is the shirt for me!!! LOL! Check out the site, you will love it!!! Its what ALL the best country/Southern dogs will be wearing this season!!!

I'm BAAAAACK!!!

(AND THAT IS WHAT I THINK ABOUT EXERCISE AND DIETING!!!LOL)

Well it has been a bit of time since I last posted, but rest assured I have been lurking on y'all's blogs! I have been working on some things here; I have made some stuffed bears, and a pink raggedy ann breast cancer awareness doll. I also have been working through some personal things too which will most probably be an ongoing issue throughout the new year.

I will try to be better about posting ; this is my only New Year's resolution. I have decided to post a blog rule; after reading many blogs and feeling guilty because I have often neglected awards and tags; I am just going to say that I LOVE that you all send me these things and I know it takes time to do so. I also love to send things out, but I am trying hard to balance crafting,blogging and the general life things.

I also hate to miss someone when giving out an award, so I guess I will say that I will accept things as they come in, but I may not always be able to get to them, and the ones I do, I will just post for anyone who reads my blog to take. I think that it is nice that so many people are so thoughtful and I don't want to offend anyone.

Well here is my Raggedy Ann I told you about; she is from a free pattern I found on CS; I made her as a Christmas gift for my daughter's McDonald's store owner Johanne; they do a lot of fund raisers during the year for breast cancer awareness and research in addition to other charities, so my daughter thought that she would really appreciate this doll. (Chrissie recently told me that Johanne loves the doll and often plays with her in her office; arranging the doll's hair to suit her (Johanne's) mood. How funny and great is that!) I hand painted her legs because I could not find any pink striped fabric that I liked; I also used a doily for her collar. She was quick to make and turned out so nicely.

I have been out to a few prim stores recently; Blackbird Primitives in Marshall,MI and the Wren in the Willow in Goodrich,MI. They are both nice stores; I did not get any photos,but I did talk to the owner of the Wren in the Willow and I will be going back and taking photos of the store and her sweet greyhound,Toby! I love it when there are doggies in the store; I think I will also pay a visit to my two favorite ladies in Saginaw and show you their beautiful shop and their two doggies. I am also planning a giveaway; but that is for later!!!

It has snowed here again last night and some today; but the cold is just getting bitter; they keep predicting 9! And for my Canadian friends; that is 9 Fahrenheit~~~which sucks!

So as usual I am in with my doggies; but it is SUNNY!!! At least that is a good thing; the grey days suck the life right out of me!!!!

Hope you are warm where you are!!! See you soon!

Help Is Needed Here in Blogland

HOME IS WHERE THEY LOVE YOU AND GIVE YOU A MILKBONE

Happy Sunday! I have been out lurking on blogs again and I found these things on some blogs I visited. The first one is very near and dear to my heart.


The first one is about this sweet precious dog Hope;

Hope is in desperate need of sponsors. She was found emaciated and will die. She came in from the Auglaize County Pound and is heartworm positive. A temporary foster has come forward, but the money for her treatment must be raised. If you can help this girl, please donate by paypal or send a check to APLMC, P.O. Box 663, Celina OH 45822. Please mark that is it for HOPE!!

My friend ANGIE of Love the prim look is trying to help this poor dog. Angie is graciously donating the cost of her wonderful lights (100%) of all funds received to this poor baby. They are scented and primitive wonderful! You are going to want some for your tree and year round prim decorating; she has colors and scents that are fab!!! This is what Angie has said; "Any light orders 20 count brown cord ($6.50 plus shipping) and any 35 count brown cord ($9.99 plus shipping ) will be 100 % donated to this dog. Please contact me at angiek32@roadrunner.com with any orders. Please let me know what color and scent you prefer. Thank you so much in advance and God Bless you for helping !!! "

Also Sue of OODLEKADOODLE PRIMITIVES is making donations from the sale of her patterns also; please visit her for more details;

And PEA PICKER'S PRIMITIVES has offered a free pattern for posting this to help Hope; visit patternmart for her pattern offerings. She will also give you an entry into her contest as well for posting this on your blog.

The SECOND THING I FOUND: While you are at it please stop by PEA PICKER"S Blog and help her find her new name for her creative endeavor; she feels that she needs a new spark, so let's help her find her new name; she is also offering goodies as a prize; so hop on over, she'll be waiting.

Please patronize these ladies whenever you wish to buy an item as they are very generous ladies that are trying to help the world whenever and wherever they can; one at a time. If each of us did one little thing, can you imagine how much real change and good we could do. Most of us can't afford to do a lot, but if we each do a little we sure can do some great things, what an inspiration these ladies are!

I hope that HOPE finds a new forever home and that she is healed. All dogs (and cats) deserve a loving,forever home. Please let people know about this, post it on your blog and let Pea Picker know as she will put it in her giveaway as one entry for you. And I know that the reason we all do this is not for the prizes, but for the love of a dog.

Dogs are very special to me; they give us unconditional love; they look to us for the basics really; shelter,food,love. They give us their all. They serve to protect us daily on the police forces and armed forces of this country. They risk their lives to protect and save us. They ask for nothing, yet give us all they have and all they are. We need to protect them in return. Hug your doggie today. If you need gifts for Christmas, please consider shopping at the Animal Rescue site on my blog; they have fantastic gift itmes that are priced great and often they will offer free shipping. The money from this site goes to shelters to help dogs and cats,horses etc.

You can buy immunizations for a shelter dog as a unique gift there too; and if you can't really afford to spend anything extra; put the button on your blog and click it daily, by doing so, you are funding a portion of food each day for a shelter animal.

My babies are just that; my babies. I get really upset and often cry over stray dogs, it is such a committment to have a dog; people don't realize that these are NOT fashion accessories; and they are NOT for sport! FYI: DOG FIGHTING IS NOT A SPORT: IT IS TORTURE! If I had my way Michael Vick would be spending the rest of his life in a prison; even that seems too good for him. What kind of jackass says "it is my cultural heritage to fight dogs" ? If that is your cultural heritage then you need to find a NEW CULTURE! Oh what a shithead! Whoops! My lil ole' redneck is showing again!!! LOL!

Okay back to sanity; lets do all we can for our babies and help those less fortunate!

This one makes me laugh;

see more puppies

This one makes me cry! But it is so true

HOME IS WHERE YOU ARE LOVED!

see more puppies

Here Ya Go

Well; here are some of the things I have been doing. On the 15th of November I was FINALLY able to get to Charlotte,MI. I had been wanting to go there to a quilt shop that specializes in primitive quilt patterns and other items. So, spur of the moment; we were in Sparkle and I said I want to go to Charlotte; which is what I ALWAYS say when asked "What do you want to do?" and usually we just can't go for so many goofy reasons. Well that day, it was a go!!! YIPPEE!

I first went to Gathered Treasures , which is in Grand Ledge,MI ( and then to the quilt shop) the owner has the blog we all visit; Primp Your Pad at Gathered Treasures; well; wooooooo! It is close to the quilt shop, so I was torn; which one to go to first; they are only really a couple of minutes apart. Sooooo... since we saw the turn off for Gathered Treasures first we went there first.



The Front of the Shop; so pretty!!!

I LOVE this snowman!!!!

There were so many goodies at this shop; I am looking forward to going back again soon! I met the owner's husband John; he was very nice and helpful. He works in the shop since he has retired from GM; he sure looks so young to be retired; but hey, its all good when you can work at such a beautiful shop!

And then we were off to the quilt shop in Charlotte! So the quilt shop is called the Hen House! It is 127 miles from my house (one way!) I don't care; it was worth it. The owner Nancy Conn is a SUPER lady! So helpful and very fun to talk with! If I had not gotten there so late I could have participated in the make it and take it; there were even some sweet young girls there with their mom and they shared their creations with me; so nice to see girls learning about the arts! They had done some stenciling and sewing.
The shop also had some neat stencils; I bought some crow/bird stencils. AND a prim painting book I had been looking for! FOR A LONG TIME!!!!! ( I can't get them to flip right for some reason tonight on Blogger)

Nancy offered to show me on my next visit (for free) how to hook rugs! I have wanted to learn how, but we have no classes here. Nancy does not have a website or blog, as she pointed out "If I got on the computer I would never get my stitching done" WOO! How true!!! Well, we all DO it!!! The land of blog eats up time; but y'all are SOOO creative; I can't help it!! Well, you sure can call her if you want something like what I bought; she has wool, patterns, rug supplies,fabric,books; Oh yeah, I sure bought me some books and one is called PRIMITIVE CHRISTMAS by Lisa Bongean and Carole Charles. I also bought My Folk Art Best by Cheri Saffiote=Payne through Indygo Junction. I also bought two make do cats patterns with the spindle/bobbin in the package! She gave me a deal; half price on those! The Hen House is located at 211 Cochran, Charlotte,MI. (517)543-6454. She is open 10:00 a.m. -5:30 p.m. Mon-Sat. (EST)

The Hen House Quilt Shop; Charlotte,MI (outside front entry)

The Bathroom; hand stenciled by owner from stencils she created with freezer paper!



A quilt on display in the bathroom! Love it!

My Goodies from the Quilt Shop!!!

When I can get the pictures fixed I will post the books and other goodies!

My other favorite thing I found was at WalMart; A new GooseBerry Patch Book; It is a huge three ring binder for Christmas; goodies,crafts, the whole nine yards!!!

Well; I hope that begins to catch me up; I have to show you my handwork that I have been working on but again I am having fits with my photo software; well maybe later!!!!

Back Again

Whooo; that was a looooooong pause there. Sorry to be away so long( and I did visit some folks and read you all in my reader on Google); but I had a project that I worked on almost non-stop to get done by Thanksgiving; I did get it done and will be posting a picture!
And Niles has been having problems with eye infections; we are now taking ALL our pups to Dr. Rita Taylor, who is the best bulldog (and any breed or cat) veterinarian in the world! She has been able to figure out the problem when no one else could; I am so mad because so much damage could have been avoided had the other vets not acted like it was a run of the mill thing.

Dr. Taylor is also the "grandma" of our puppy Bitsy; her sweet boy Tuffy was /is Bitsy's daddy. I saw was because apparently he has passed away.We did not learn this until we took Niles in for his eyes; she was so heartbroken and could not even discuss it; she began to cry and we did too. I felt so bad for her and still do; she has Bitsy's sister and two other bullies as well, but when it is your baby it's just not the same. You all know what I am talking about. We took my Murphy with us yesterday to visit her (Niles recheck) She seemed to just love him and said he reminded her of her Tuffy. I told her that anytime she is feeling down she can come and visit with the Murph for some canine therapy. She had her bully girl named "Meri" there and we met her; she was such a doll!! We are so glad to have finally found a bully vet who understands our devotion to our bullies and also understands their needs as well. Bulldogs are a wildly different type of dog and have some definite physical issues that many vets are not aware of as they may not see many bulldogs through their practice.

I have something new to share too; a really nice site for sewers ( quilters and stitchers) The Stitching Cow; she has some freebies and has some really great things on her site;

Click here to discover more about this beautiful quilt

She has online classes available too; but go visit Lenna Green at the Stitching Cow and you will be amazed!