The Scallion Blog

... but I can't, so you get them on the Scallion Blog instead!

NOTE: This is a L-O-N-G post. I like pictures. So sue me.

First up, a picture of all our Christmas cards and pictures from last year. We love getting everyone's cards, pictures and letters.

Next, the last two pictures of our beloved Wags. Well, not exactly Wags...

One of Vic's favorite things to do with Wags was dress her up when I wasn't home, so this is the last time he did that:

And as long as we're on sad things, my Uncle Mike passed away this year. He used to call me Funny Face when I was a kid. He was a great man.

Vic started taking walks by himself after Wags died. At first, they were not fun at all, but then he started to make friends along the way!

A few months after Wags died, we decided to get back into the foster family business. We were so successful last time. We were asked to take on this little shy girl:

Her name was Shannon, but my boss's name was Shannon, and we didn't want there to be any confusion at work when I said "Shannon pooped on the rug," so we renamed her Shyla. She was very shy, but we were certain we could socialize her a bit. She also wasn't eating much, so we gave her a lot of yummy human food, some of which she ate; most of which she didn't. We had her for nine days when we noticed ... let's just say we noticed something troubling with her ... bottom. The Humane Society picked her up and called in several vets to work on her. What they discovered was that, at some point before she arrived at the Humane Society, she had eaten something like a T-shirt. The shirt had gotten wrapped around her innards and looked like tissue, which is why they didn't see it during the ultrasound they gave her at intake. They were unable to repair the damage, and they had to put her to sleep. As we said in The Scallion, we only had her for nine Love-filled days, but we were devastated to lose her. She seemed like she would have been a fun girl, had she been healthy. We could have fostered her for a really long time. ;-) Here are a couple more pictures of her:

OK, this isn't so much a picture of her as it is a picture of Vic

going to get her in the snow. She was very wary of us!

Shortly after we lost Shyla, the Humane Society put out a call for foster parents for a dog named Belladonna.

She was another shy dog (our specialty) who needed to be segregated from the population for three weeks because she had tested positive for distemper and kennel cough. Three weeks! We could foster for three weeks, right? Well, it ended up being a little longer, and one time when we took her in for a check-up, they saw her with us and said, "OMG, she never got that friendly with anyone else!" We were doomed. She had already been there for three months and had had a few people interested, but she failed the interview process. People just don't want a project dog. Naturally, we decided we'd better adopt her since we were sure no one else would. (haha) Because she had been Bella for several months, we decided to keep that part of her name. Her full name with us is Bellatrix LeDog. She is not as mean as the person she's sort of named after, Bellatrix LeStrange from the Harry Potter series. She would never do the cruciatus curse on Neville's parents. We had her tested and it turns out she is 25 percent boxer, 25 percent lab, 25 percent German shepherd, 12.5 percent cocker spaniel and 12.5 percent everything else, lol. Here are a few more pictures of our Bella:

She sits with me when I work at home.

She sleeps with me when I sleep.

She takes care of me when I am sick.

She used to spend a lot of time with Vic (although somehow

she had gotten to where she is a little scared of him, whatever

that's about).

She plays with me.

She "poses" for pictures, when we more or less put a stranglehold on her.

She sits by me at the dog park. She doesn't seem to know quite what to do there.

She hovers in the doorway when I leave for work in the morning.

We took her to doggie swim, which you may remember Wags loved.

She did not quite know what to do there. She's a funny dog.

And now I'll move on to some other Vic pictures.

One of the best things about our house is where it sits: right at the top of a hill. So we see sunsets like this:

Here are a couple more pictures Vic took from the house this year.

This is Saturn. I love that you can see Saturn with the naked eye, which makes it

easier to photograph, and that you can catch the rings in the photo!

This is a little harder to see, but over to the left of the picture is the constellation Orion. You can see his belt, the three horizontal stars, as well as his sword, the three vertical stars--one of which (the middle one) is actually a nebula! I also feel like three of the four stars that make up his outline can be easily seen in this picture. I love Orion because you can see him almost all year long.

Those of you who are friends on Facebook know that Vic also takes moon pictures every month. Yet he would not give me one moon picture for this blog post. Sorry to those of you who have never seen Vic's fantastic moon pictures. If you really want to see some, just put a comment in below. Maybe peer pressure will work. ;-)

If you read The Scallion, you know we redid our garden this year.

One of the best things about our garden is that it attracts all kinds of critters:

(Hummingbird moth--not a hummingbird!)

Birds come to our feeders in the front, too.

A downy woodpecker

A blue jay

Another downy woodpecker. We love these guys.

Even though my knees were crap, we did manage to get to two exhibits at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The first was the Chocolate exhibit, which we attended with our friends Larry and Paulette McGimsey. (They are awesome friends, and not just because Larry makes my favorite jelly flavor, grape, and shares it with us!)

Here is me in front of a giant (fake) box of candy. Oh, how I wish it were real!

And these are our friends, Larry and Paulette.

While we were there, Vic went to the diorama room and shot his favorite diorama:

Then we went to the Robots exhibit with Vic's sister and brother-in-law, Alice and Ed Harris. They are fun to hang out with!

Vic turned 70 this year, but I don't feel like he's a day over 69. His sister Alice threw him a nice birthday bash:

Vic and his sisters Alice and Patty. They adore their big brother, and

he is very protective of his little sisters. :-)

Bella's introduction to the family. She's not sure what she wants to do with our

two-year-old great niece Gianna (seen here with our niece Lisa).

Gianna helped Vic blow out the candles--she would need the practice

for her birthday a week later.

You can't read it, but trust me, it's a funny card.

One of Vic's presents. It says "Money can buy a lot of things,

but it doesn't wiggle its butt every time you come in the door."

It's a very sentimental gift that reminds us of our little Wags,

who had the waggliest butt of all time.

Then it was time for my birthday season. I only get one picture because my birthday wasn't "a big one."

And this was our 28th wedding anniversary.

I made some stuff this year:

Baby blanket for my new great niece, Finley Bea Christopherson

This is a hat I made with yarn my boss gave me--her dad has a sheep

ranch and gets the wool spun into yarn. Such a thoughtful gift from

such a thoughtful boss. (Love you, Shannon-who-doesn't-poop-

on-the-carpet, if you're reading this!)

OK, no, I didn't make these. These are beautiful hand-made crochet hooks

that Vic bought for me. I love them!

A little gingerbread house

No, I didn't make these either. But this is yarn I bought for a project

I can't wait to do! (Of course, I must first get off my surgery drugs,

and then I must finish the other big project I'm working on. It's tough

to have a little OCD.)

A couple of my fair entries.

Me with my favorite fair person. No, I didn't make her either.

Best crochet fair entry ever for me--first place, champion and reserve grand

champion! Before this, I still considered myself a beginner because I've been

stitching for 35 years and only crocheting for eight. But I've decided I'm

definitely intermediate now, leaning toward advanced. Happy as a clam!

This is a peppermint swirl blanket I made for my sister-in-law Alice. I am

blocking it, so I think I have pins in my hands, hence the weird looking picture.

She asked me to teach her how to crochet, and I said I would, but it just didn't

take. (She's a fabulous quilter--just not every hobby is for every person!)

She was sad that she wasn't going to get her blanket, but she and my

brother-in-law Ed are so good to us that I wanted to make it for her.

This is a baby blanket for my co-worker, Bryn. Bryn went to college at the

University of Alabama and is a huge fan. You know that 'Bama is the Crimson

Tide, but did you know that its mascot is an elephant? It really made me happy

to make this blanket, and Bryn loved it, which made me even happier.

This is a hat I made at the stitch 'n' bitch at work. I could have finished it in

probably a week at home, but I worked on it for something like eight months

at work (S'n'B is only once a week) and still didn't finish it until I brought

it home before my first knee surgery in September.

Here's a scarf with an easy stitch repeat that I did when I was

hopped up on drugs from my first knee surgery.

And here's a baby blanket I made for my co-worker Craig.

I have made a baby blanket for every Leopard baby I've

known about since 2008.

My favorite thing about my crafting is giving it away. I give away almost everything I make. Some things I make specifically for someone, but mostly I just make things and then take them to work or post them on Facebook and see if anyone wants them. The joy for me is in the making, not the keeping. The only project above that I kept was the hat I made with yarn from my boss, Shannon.

My Buffs had a pretty good football year in 2016, so on the day of the Big 8 championship (yes, I know they're in the Pac 12 now, but I still miss the Big 8), I dressed up a little. Bella didn't mind so much.

OK, maybe she minded a little.

But she was very playful ...

... and she boxed me a little.

I leave this post with the most important thing of all: family. We are so lucky to have the best families. Although we didn't get to see the kids this year, we did get to spend a lot of time with our Denver families.

First, Gianna's second birthday party:

Next, my sister's retirement party:

This is my mom (on the right) with her sister Ruth.

Me and our niece and nephew, Nick and Margeaux

My first meeting with little Finley Bea, and my lovely great niece Layla Jane

Then a super quick trip to Nebraska to visit my dad and help him and my stepmom pack for their big move. We weren't much help, but we did take a whole box of books to the library. ;-)

Vic's first long driving trip. He spazzed out a bit, but otherwise

the trip passed without incident.

Left to right and sort of circular: My Uncle Jimmy (dad's brother), my

cousin-in-law Cort, my Aunt Nancy, me, my cousin Chris, my cousin Kim,

my stepmom, Norma, and my dad (in front).

Me and my beloved Aunt Phyllis (dad's sister).

Vic takes bird pictures everywhere! This one is on

dad and Norma's deck.

My (step)sister Kay, me, my (step)brother-in-law Jim and

my (step)niece Adrienne.

Me and my great (step)nieces and nephews with the blankets

I made for them: Jack, Hudson (Hucky), me, Betsy, Liam

(with a Grandma Norma blanket), Brady

My (step)niece Kristen, who had recently suffered from a crazy

nosebleed, and my (step)sister Kay

Hucky, my (step)neice Kendra, and Jack

Bella and her cousin Porter (my cousin Kim's dog)

Me getting to crochet on the ride home!

Next, my sister's birthday:

My niece Ali, my brother-in-law Bill, my sister Laura and me,

with my great nephew Harrison and my great niece Layla in front

Then Vic's sister's birthday:

Niece Lisa--this was Halloween weekend, so she was witchy.

Alice, Gianna and Ed

Alice and Ed got a new dog, Chloe. She is a sweetheart!

Then our niece Margeaux came to visit with her family, our nephew Xan and our great nieces Madison and Finley.

I love my little Finley Bea!

Bella is not sure what to make of whirlwind Madison

Xan and Madi

A family pile!

Bella is not sure what to make of Fin.

The rare picture of Uncle Vic!

Margeaux, Fin and Grandma Blanche

Finally, it was Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it reminds me to look at my life and count my blessings: I have a great husband, a cute dog, an amazing extended family, great friends, a good job, a roof over my head and food to eat. So grateful for all of that.

In the middle is my brother-in-law Rick. On the left is his brother

Gary, and on the right is our nephew Nick.

Ed in front, then L to R in the back me, Patty, Alice, Lisa and Ryan

Lisa, Gianna and Ryan--what a sweet family!

If you made it this far, thank you for sticking it out!

Much love,

Patty

I love Vic's pictures, and I know a lot of you do, too, so I always ask Vic to give me some of his favorite pictures of the year to put on the blog since they won't all fit in The Scallion. Herewith, a sampling, in no particular order:

First, our birds. We get a lot of birds at our feeders, and hummingbirds love our agastache in the back yard, so here are one downy woodpecker, three goldfinches and a regular finch, and two hummingbirds.

We went to several Denver-area attractions this year. First up: the Toys exhibit at the Colorado History Museum. This is a toy Vic fondly remembers:

We also went to the Cartier exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. It was amazing!

There was a great exhibit of Deborah Butterfield horse sculptures at the Denver Botanic Gardens. They look like wood, but they are made of bronze and then painted to look like wood. Very cool.

We also went to the Wild Animal Sanctuary (which is not really a Denver-based attraction, but it seemed to fit the theme of this section). You can't get in now without making a big donation, but when we went, it was still entry-fee based. Such a great organization!

And, as always, we went to the zoo this year. In addition to an awesome rhino who seemed to be daring Vic to take his picture, we saw a bunch of really neat Lego sculptures.

One of the advantages of living where we live (top of a hill, facing west) is that we can see a lot of cool stuff out our back window. Like this hot air balloon ...

... and this lightning ...

... but not this lunar eclipse, which was rising in the east:

Took our customary trip to Nebraska this year. I saw my Aunt Phyllis, I got to give my great niece and nephews their "baby" blankets (they were babies before I started crocheting, so they didn't get blankets when they were born), I saw a really cool preying mantis on my dad and stepmom's deck, and, of course, I got to see my dad.

Vic got to go to Rocky Mountain National Park this year, courtesy of his amazing sister Alice and her equally amazing husband Ed. The color was gorgeous, as were the elk and moose.

My Uncle Bob died this year, which was sad. But he lived such a good and full life. This is the display that was up at his funeral. It included some really complimentary letters that were really touching to read. I forgive the Vikings memorabilia.

I made a lot of things again this year. This is one of my favorites and the ribbon it won at the Boulder County Fair. (Yes, it's a champion ribbon. No, I'm not humble enough not to show you.)

After Vic's face plant, we made a helmet for him:

This is the stroller he uses to go to the grocery store. (It's a dog stroller, but Wags hated it.)

And this is Vic in good spirits at his June surgery, which totally usurped my birthday. ;-)

Finally, and you had to know this was coming, a bunch of pictures of Wags. Me giving her a bath after she probably rolled in poop. Her "helping" me block a shawl. Her imitating the dog of some friends of ours. Her in her favorite dog park in Nebraska. Her and me. Her and me again. Her and Vic. Her and Vic again. Her with a rope (one of her favorite toys). Her at the dog pool, which I think was the highlight of her year (and probably one of the highlights of her life). We loved her so much—and she loved us so much in return. Her life was kind of short, but it was full. Her loss is acute. We are still struggling with the sheer absence of her. But soon our tears will turn to smiles when we remember her. As my friend Shawn says, "Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened." That's what I'm trying to hold on to. :-)