
Children aren't the only things abandoned in the growing drug crisis. Mandy was living in a car before being abandoned at the home of one of my veterinarian's technicians. There is always help at Runamuck for those who need it and I brought her home last Tuesday.

She is wonderful sweet little mini dachshund, about 8 years old and sadly with a mouthful of neglected teeth. Yesterday I brought her back to the vet for a full dental. Took 2 plus hours and she lost 23 teeth. Money well spent and in a couple of days she will feel like a new dog. Imagine having a mouthful of infected gums and teeth for heavens know how long?
But that wasn't the only arrival last week. A new mattress made it to our door. Not too long ago we got a Tempur-pedic one. While comfortable and easy on pressure points and joints, memory foam sleeps hot. I just couldn't stand it any longer as I sleep hot too. We opted for a natural latex mattress and it came Thursday morning via Fedex. So far so good, it sleeps MUCH cooler and is just as forgiving of pressure points as MF
There was one more arrival on Thursday, a Louet David made it to my door via The Web-ster's. Gene went down and picked all the boxes up and we got them in the house just as a thunderstorm with torrential rain broke out. Whew! We needed the rain badly and even so a couple of small fires broke out the next day and the fire crews jumped on them.
Friday morning looked like Christmas around here, with boxes and wrappers and instructions.

I have to say, the packaging by Louet is impressive and look, that big awkward box has its own handles.

Freakin brilliant! I spent Friday and Saturday putting him together.

Instructions were very good although I had a bit of a challenge as I installed both a friction brake and a second back beam since the instructions treated these as add ons.

Louet includes the tools you will need to handle the various screws and bolts and unlike the gawd awful cheap things you might find in something from China, these tools were useful and well made. I never opted for anything additional even though I have a number of ratchet tools around here had I gone searching. Sunday the first warp was wound on,

Monday threading, yesterday I started sleying the reed.

I hope to be weaving today while little Mandy recovers from that major bit of dental surgery. She is getting some pretty heavy duty pain killers for the next couple of days. Surprisingly she was hungry this morning and ate all her breakfast. A good thing since antibiotics really should be given with some food.
The seasons are changing and no longer is my morning feed accompanied by early dawn. It's dark now but there are still treasures to be seen for those who look. This amazing spider is on her web by one of the outside corners of the barn.

She greets me every morning in my headlamp. Come daylight, she is no where to be found but the web is well placed for catching things.
Only one make made it out of the sewing salon, a Cashmerette Webster in this fab Moda cotton.

So fun and bright. The last piece of ordered fabric arrived, a flannel for fall with jars of lightening bugs.

As a child summering at my grandparents home in PA I can remember catching fireflies in mason jars in the field at the side of the house. I also remember hours spent by the creek and the pond, catching frogs and dragonflies. They would spend some time with me, but always released before bedtime. Jars are no place for nature to live but they certainly aid in sparking wonder at the world around us. At least I hope they still do.
Parting shots: The new girl.

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| Acceptance. |
