There's A Story Behind The Mistakes

I've been trying my hand at these old fashioned crochet doilies lately.  My Swedish grandmother had the time and patience to surround herself and her home with homemade things like this. Well, maybe not quite like these as you may find mistakes in mine. Especially that little white one. Why is it all scrunched up against the others you ask? Of course, there's a story behind it.  And of course it involves Astrid.

Astrid is well trained. I could put a sandwich on the floor and if I told her not to touch it, I could leave the room and return and still find the sandwich on the floor. She touches nothing that isn't hers. Except once. It was Christmas time and a dear friend sent Astrid a stocking with her name on it. Of course, she joined in the excitement as we opened it but I was super surprised when she picked the stocking up and ran off with it! That was a few years ago and she hasn't 'stolen' anything since. Until last Friday night.

Astrid's dad had come home later than usual. We were in the living room. I was working on crochet. Apparently, she got a little beside herself with jealousy as her dad and I ignored her while we talked. She grabbed my work out of my basket and ran off...leaving a nice little trail of unraveling crochet thread. She only traveled a couple of feet, but that was enough to undo my work a little. Wow...talk about guilty looks! You should have seen her face when she realized what she did. I'm not that experienced at this tiny (and tedious) work, so I tried putting it together as well as I could. But there's a mistake(s) and it's noticeable. Hence, the scrunching up of the little white one for the picture. 

I don't imagine Astrid will continue in her wayward behavior. We all act irrational when our emotions get the best of us so I forgive the doily runaway. But the stocking? Do I think she is so smart she can read? Of course not! But it did have her name on it.

Life Changing

Often, I read something and think 'wow, if I took this advice it would be life changing'. Then, I move on to the next thing, changing absolutely nothing. I'm determined that this: 16 Things You Should Stop Doing To Be Happy With Your Dog by Roger Abrantes is one of the things that will change my ways. Lots.

In Roger Abrantes' blog, #3 is "stop your desire to control everything...take it as it comes." We live in a nice little neighborhood, very walkable streets, everything is pretty predictable. I've taught Astrid that the dog and person on the other side of the street has as much right to be there as we do. She buys into that...as long as dog and person stay on their side of the street. This is a rule that I have set up. Astrid is actually a dog that can go anywhere (and does) and socially acts better than most children, some adults and is very dog friendly.

Enter Fling and Fling's dad. Fling is an adopted greyhound that lives directly opposite the little park that Astrid, her dad and I walk to every night. We've passed Fling out on our walks many times. He stays over on his side of the street, we stay on our side. Fling looks at Astrid, Astrid sits like a perfect little angel dog and looks at Fling. We talk back and forth across the street. Fling's dad is very, very personable. He has recently set up his schedule to leave his house while I am standing on the sidewalk directly opposite where Astrid and her dad are taking a walk in the little park. But now Fling's dad has thrown in a new twist. When he is coming out for his nightly walk with Fling, he is crossing the street to chat with me, Astrid's mom. Uh oh...that wasn't in our plan. Astrid makes a fuss. She barks. How dare they not do exactly what her mom has always dictated they do...stay on their own side of the street! Ah...but Astrid's mom has strategies. Astrid's mom will walk and meet Fling and Fling's dad outside of their own house, give Fling a few pets and then say "see ya later, Fling". Hopefully that will put an end to to this gross disruption! This strategy was all set up before I read this blog. Probably a better answer would be for me to learn to relax, let Fling come over with his dad for a little chat on a hot summer's eve and Astrid can learn that her mom isn't the controller of all things pertaining to being out for a walk.

Facing one's flaws can be brutal. I'm always looking for topics to blog about. I think I just found 16.