Meeting Coleslaw

I got a puppy!

Meet Coleslaw! She's a two and a half month old terrier mix, and currently about four pounds. So far her favorite things appear to be climbing and chewing, although "jumping in the grass" seems to be moving up the ranks. She is so small—her entire head is smaller than my fist—and endlessly curious.

I sent an application in to the shelter last week, and on Friday her foster mom contacted me to set up a meeting, so yesterday I took a personal day to drive out, and she wriggled into my heart pretty quickly. (She actually wriggles a lot. It's the puppy energy.) (Yes, she picked out her own stuffed toy, and yes, she chose the octopus that's as big as she is.)

I wasn't really planning on a puppy—my mum had brought it up as a possibility, and I was initially hesitant about taking on all the work of training and socializing a puppy, but Coleslaw seemed like such a good fit. It's been so fun watching her explore so far, and I can't wait to see how she grows up. I'm already planning on enrolling us in puppy classes once she's gotten all her shots, and in the meantime we're working on name recognition (the shelter named her, so her foster mom has already been working on that with her) and getting used to the leash right now, as well as "come here." 

Coleslaw is such a tiny joy, and I'm so excited that we found each other. We got Mystic as a puppy when I was a teenager, and I'm really looking forward to sharing that lifelong relationship with Coleslaw as well.

A Sweater and Organization

I hinted at this sweater last week, and here's proof of life. I love these colors, and I'm really hoping I did the stripe math correctly—I have five skeins of the gold, two of the orange, and just one of the darker mustard-ish color. My plan is a very basic drop-shoulder crew neck. It's not going super quickly, but I am enjoying the process. I've been doing a few rows in the evenings while watching tv—I'm on a Star Wars kick right now—and it's been a nice routine to get back into.

I've also been working on some organization in my apartment. My front closet has been a disaster since I moved in, with things just thrown in there. I got some storage bins to hold old knitting samples, so those are put away nicely, and I got my Christmas and Hanukkah decorations put away in there as well. The closet shelf was missing, so I had Lowe's cut down some six inch planks for me to replace it, which makes the closet so much more functional. There's still plenty of room for other things that I'll need to store in there, so I'm taking my time to make sure I'm making the most effective use of the space. So far I've freed up some space in my bedroom closet, which was very cramped, and I'm glad my clothes have some breathing room now! 

Lake Time

Well, it has been a few weeks, hasn't it? I spent most of last week at a lake cottage with my family—I read five books, did a puzzle, and watched lots of waterfowl! 

It was a great getaway, and I was able to unplug and leave my phone in the other room a lot of the time, which was really nice. The cottage was perfect, and the lake was beautiful. It was a no-wake lake, so it stayed nice and quiet, and I saw lots of geese and ducks and even a few blue herons. 

I also started a new sweater with some vintage wool I picked up at a church bazaar (maybe last year??). I'm really loving it so far, but I don't have any proper pictures of it yet. I was hoping that starting something brand new and low-key would help me get my knitting mojo back, and I think it's helping. I'm certainly not knitting as much as I did three and four years ago, and I don't know if I'll get back to that level, but I'd like to knit a few times a week, at least. 

Hope August is treating you all well!