NEW colors for Wirehaired Dachshund & Bernese Mountain Dog

My new color for the Dachshund Wirehaired.

         I was wondering when I would finally get the time to post these new colors for you to see. Wow this whole month I have been so super busy filling orders. Not that I am complaining mind you, but it sure is nice to have a break every now and then. I did have a small bit of down time this week before my next big order showed up today. Well without further ado let the unveiling being!

          The photo above is my newly added color for the Dachshund Wirehaired. I have had this color on the back burner for longer then I had wanted. A long time back I had stitched this color but at the time it didn't come out the way I had wanted. One thing lead to another and I just couldn't find the time to get back to it to redo it. Last month I had an eBay customer ask about this color and so it was time for me to revisit this color.

          I have to admit I had to sketch and stitch this color at least 2 times before I was satisfied with it's current look. Some times what looks perfect in your minds eye doesn't necessarily translate well into a stitched piece. This color may have taken a long time to get here but as the saying goes "Good things comes to those who wait".

Bernese Mountain Dog's Improved color.

          When I first stitched the Bernese Mountain Dog many of the yarns I use today were not available. I had to use a yarn color that was darker then I had wanted to use. In August of this year I had some free time and I started stitching crate tags that I needed to have their photos redone. I thought now was a good time to switch out the darker yarn in my Bernese pattern for a lighter color, and that is just what I did.

          I will be retiring the old color but in the meantime it is still available for purchase. I realize that many dog breeds come in varying shades of any one color, so if I find that Bernese Mountain Dog lovers are interested in having the old color stay I will keep it. If you have an opinion about it please leave a comment below. Thanks!

Veggiebite Dog Treat Recipe



VEGGIEBITE

31 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup diced celery

7 cup diced red bell peppers (optional)

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

13 cups water

1 clove minced garlic*

3 tablespoons corn oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix water and oil. Add flour, cornmeal, vegetables, garlic, and sunflower seeds. Knead dough for 2-3 minutes and roll to 3 thick. Cut dough into shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 21 dozen.

* 1 teaspoon garlic powder may be substituted for minced garlic.

Cryptozoology, real life can be stranger then fiction

          I know what many of you are saying "What the heck is cryptozoology?" This definition will should help explain.

Cryptozoology: from Greek kruptos "hidden" and zoology; which literally means "study of hidden animals".

          Cryptids are basically any animal not yet accepted by the scientific world to currently exist. A cryptid can be anything from animals that were thought to have been extinct, animals known only to residents of the area (such as the okapi), mythology creatures, and of course your good old fashioned hoaxes.

          I think that cryptozoology some times gets a bad rap which I find to be a shame. Many of the animals we now know today were once unknown to science. If it wasn't for inhabitants telling scientists about the "strange" animals that they have seen, in many cases known to them for many generations, how many countless animals would still be unknown. Also, don't think for a moment that there are no more animals left in the world to find becuase new animals are being found all the time. If you don't believe me just do a google search or check out the newly discovered monkey and bird found in the Americas.

          I believe it is always a good idea not to ever be neither to open or closed minded. Don't just take other's word for things, do you own research come to your own conclusions. But on the same token don't just dismiss something completely because you haven't experienced it yourself. Science is for ever discovering new things that sometimes even changes long excepted ideas. Sometimes real life turns out to be much stranger then fiction.

          Here are some links that found that I would like to share with you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cryptids

http://www.newanimal.org/

http://strangeark.com/checklist/guide.html

          Do you have a "strange" animal story, photo, video, or favorite link that you would like to share please post it in the comments section below.

          Whether fake or real, new to science or once thought to be extincted cryptids are a fascinating subject that will continue to intrigue. Keep your camera with you at all times because who knows you may discover something unexpected.

Have YOU been to the Field Museum lately?

          Yup! I sure have been to see the Field Museum in Chicago Illinois yesterday and have a really great time. It is one of my favorite museums to visit and the view is spectacular.

          I had originally wanted to get there as soon as the place opened but fate sometimes likes to toy with you. Of all the times for the cars computer to go screwy, who's bright idea was it anyway to put a computer brain in a car. I would like to thank them with a big kick to the shin. Because of it our local mechanic can work on it it has to go to a dealership for that kind of repair, which you know isn't going to be cheap. So after a call to relative and AAA I was back on track to the museum. My mother went with the car and I headed to the Field. (Luckily mom was only going to be dropping me off at the museum anyway.)

          My next obstacle was road construction which funneled the traffic down to a stop and go crawl. Now I was getting closer and I could see the museum in the distance. Wait I think I hear something...sure enough sirens. It turns out to be police cars and one comes flying into our intersection whips around an drives onto the walk way. She jumps out and runs over to direct traffic. She drains all the incoming cars on the road we are waiting to turn onto. What is odd the cars just keep coming and coming. I thought if the cops were trying to block off a road and remove the cars at some point the street should run out of cars, but it didn't. An ambulance comes racing up from behind us on the wrong side of the road and turns down the street we are waiting to turn onto and parks not to far from the corner.

          Finally the cop she tells our lane to turn. The bus in front of us turns and we follow. We drive pasted the parked ambulance not doing anything with no injured person in sight. As we drive down the road we see the next street that we need to turn onto blocked with cops, ambulances, and firetrucks. Why on Earth the cop told our turn lane to turn onto this road is beyond me because the road we turned onto can only turn right (which will take us away from the museum) or left (which was blocked by an accident). From where we were you couldn't see what the accident was but I pray that if someone was injured that they were going to be alright. We did hit a bit of luck, before we got to the end of the road another cop stopped us and had us make a u-turn. We were now headed back into the correct direction and was smooth sailing to the Field.

          I was dropped off across the street from one of the museum's doors and off I went. Barely a line to wait in with a comfortable amount of people roaming about the museum. It was very pleasant as we strolled around the exhibits and taking pictures. (My digital photographic ablitys leave much to be desired.) Any time I go to the Field I make sure that I bring my back pack, camera, extra batteries, lunch, snacks, and water. A backpack is the best way to carry around anything and after all the walking you will definitely need to take a break for something to eat.

          I hope you enjoy peeking at some of the pics I took and I hope it inspires you to go to the Field. When you do go I encourage you not to just zoom by looking at everything becuase if you do you will really miss out on some very intresting information. So stop and take the time to read the plaques, learn, and have fun.



Ya gotta love this face!



          Some of the displays are just so massive you can't but help feel very small. I wish my pictures of the on that takes up a full wall turned out good for you to see, it truly is something to see.



I love this display, it a much bigger then my pic shows.



          What is great about the Field Museum is you can see many animals that you usually don't see on the TV documentaries. Which I think is a real shame and makes me wonder if there isn't someone some where studying these animals.

Dire wolf skulls

          From animals of the present and past to different human cultures, rocks and precious stones, and plants is what you will find at the Field.

You can really see why predators have a hard time picking an individual out.



The man eater of Mfuwe.



The famous man eaters of Tsavo These are the lions the movie The Ghost and the Darkness were based on.