as always, busy.

backlogged with custom sewing stuff, no time ever. trying to cram tons of sewing into my two days off a week. eh, its not working out.

andrew had a birthday and the dogs partied hard.

worked a craft fair at lamplighter, and was the only vendor that showed up at the fest of cross swap meet. weird, but okay!

applied to be in the bizarre market. pending.

working with egon and his defective brain disease, but he's so much better. sigh of relief there. dottie is ridiculous (if you ever need to get hot glue gun glue off a dog, rubbing alcohol is safe and easy.) and idle is lazy but has been really stoked on going skateboarding with andrew more.

the neighbors puppies all died (except for the one that went to another home a couple weeks ago), think it was parvo based on what the little girl told me. lame. how many animal control calls does one have to make to get anything to change? i'm gonna strongly enforce a no dogs under the age of two rule about my backyard, that shit is way sketchy. dangerous and horrible. a tall privacy fence won't stop germs. not to close on a bummer note, but that stuff is serious business.

at work, daydreaming about being home. or going somewhere. or buying another old truck (whats wrong with me, haha)

back to work, like always!

If you ever want to see my usually-high productivity rate come to a screeching halt, just wait til theres a problem with my dogs. That'll do it real quick.

The past month has been insane. Egon blew up about three weeks ago and we're still figuring things out. (in the same week that Dottie had a severe bout of colitis and I got food poisoning) An ungodly amount of money and many sleepless nights later, we are finally getting a grip on his condition, sort of.

He had a lung infection, severe skin allergies, and basically became unable to use his legs, all in the course of three panicked weeks. The lung infection has been clearing on its own, antibiotics did not help. The allergies are TBD with an upcoming appointment at a dermatologist. And as of yesterday, his legs are starting to come back to him.

He became weaker and weaker, legwise, until he couldn't walk on his own. One night we came home and he couldn't even support himself standing up. There is nothing that will make me cry faster than having to feed and water your dog by hand while he lays on the floor, unable to get up.

diagnosis at the neurologist was grim, he was asymmetrically disabled, which was a direct link to a problem in the brain, not a medication side effect like we'd initially thought was the problem. options discussed, he was in for an MRI in the blink of an eye. it was the only way to determine the best course of treatment, since both paths to recovery were drastically different. the peace of mind that came with imaging to prove that his brain was tumor free has been priceless. i cannot express the feeling of relief that i've had since i got the voicemail yesterday, letting me know he had a healthy normal brain.

the imaging is amazing, looking at all the "layers" of his face and skull is incredible. the best animation i've seen, zooming layer after layer through my dogs head.

two doses of a medication into a new treatment plan and he's walking. trotting even. its unreal, and i'm so incredibly relieved. i really want to print some of the images from his MRI, they are so comical and ridiculous looking.

Been super busy lately, too busy to keep updated internet stuff. I have to keep stuff updated all day for the salon (tumblr, facebook, pinterest, twitter ugh) so I just find it hard to do anything else on the computer most days.

Best bet if you want to keep up with the stuff I'm into is to follow me on tumblr or find me on instagram.

Bought a web domain,

brave bags dot com and I've been trying to keep things current there, but again at the end of the day, I'm real over the internet. Happy to interact in some real life instances.

Been busy working at the salon during the week (40 plus hours), then coming home and working all weekend (or in the evenings if I have to) on sewing projects.

So much in the works. Stack of sewing projects every weekend, salon projects to be tackled after hours, and planning/organizing an Etsy Craft Party here in RVA. Making a bunch of crafts for people to do while they hangout, revolving around a hometown love theme. Recruiting folks to come from tumblr, etsy itself, and facebook, noone i know will sign up for anything in advance so its been pulling teeth to make the 25 person minimum of registrants for free supplies. I got it though, no worries. Went through every single etsy shop in Richmond and sent messages to the shop owners, extending an invite. Word.

Brain kind of wants to eggsplode with this many things going on, but I'm just gonna keep pressing forward.

Had to take Egon to the dog neurologist, he's having a hard time. Tryin to keep my chin up about all that but its just been such a sad time. Trying to maintain PMA but man. Sometimes its real hard. Just gonna keep on keeping on.

Woah. So busy lately. Tons of sewing commissions and in general life happenings.

my good friend catherine is moving back to LA, travelling via motorcycle cross country. www.mybikeignites.tumblr.com

she asked me to make her some saddle bags for her trip....so i met up with her a couple times to brainstorm and take moto measurements.

worked up a plan that made sense to both of us, and i got crackin. took four days to totally finish em, i also had two pairs of out of town visitors and other good distractions.

they came out really well, even though the math and planning involved in making them broke my brain. the bottom is one flush piece for strength, and for some reason making hidden seams on all sides of the bag just seemed so daunting.

first time using high end waterproof material too...terrain xpac is the jam! lightweight and waterproof up to 200psi. driving rain equates to 2 psi.

ride safe friend.

planning an etsy craft party at the end of the month, working on a top secret installation that will have a one night opening on the 5th of august, and preparing to take Egon to the dog neurologist to better diagnose his seizures. theres a lot going on.

oh! and i have a website now too! one more internet thing to keep up with, ugh!

www.bravebags.com

check it out.

i've had a significant amount of time off lately....for the end of june i took time off for birthday stuff, then worked one day, was off two for july fourth, worked one and a half days, then had another normal two day weekend. its allowed me a ton of time to sew, work on stuff in the house, and hangout with the dogs and andrew.

we got some pretty gnarly wind/rain storms lately that knocked out power to lots of folks...our across-the-street neighbors lost it for a really long time...felt bad as we were maxin and relaxin and they were sweating their guts out for five days. stoli came to work with us saturday, huskies and 100+ degree temps with no power are not a match. she's a real sweet dog.

picked up andrews great grandma's singer sewing machine...been meaning to stop working frantically on projects to take the time to get cozy with the singer, start using it instead of my kenmore.

its really nice, a centennial model from 1951.

even came with the little original oil can still clipped in place! so tight.

came in from one of many late night treat runs to find a male and a female stag beetle flying around the porch, tryin to get it on. they're super cool to see...this is the male, females have much smaller pincers.

in other exciting bug news, we've had a rash of HUGE hornets and butterflies creepin on the mulberry tree andrew recently trimmed. i saw a couple large eastern swallowtails hanging upside down, beating their wings, and thought they were tryign to cool off in the shade. but then the hornets came, they hangout near the slices in the tree. i can only assume they're getting water or fluid? weird. theres almost always at least one hornet or butterfly in this exact spot, its a go-to if you're trying to witness some insect activity.

in weird yard news, we seem to have found a portal of some sorts.

over time, rain was washing away dirt in our side yard. a concrete chunk was makign itself visible, and with a little raking/sweeping, a large circle became visible.

weird, right? started digging into it and pulling out trash, bricks, and hunks of concrete.

with a little more digging....

even more digging

so we apparently have a well that used to feed the house. i called the county to see if they had any record of it being "abandoned" or filled, after the late 80s/early 90s they required a permit and a lisenced contractor to perform the work. there was no record. it was not on the survey from the 50s that the county had on record and it was not on the survey that we ordered when we bought the well. so really, its a suprise.

andrew dug out about six feet of it. the first concrete section goes about three feet before it has a gap of a few inches where the pipes come in. then concrete begins again. ususally its just dirt after the first concrete section, so this one seems like it was pretty legitimately dug.

finding all kinds of crap in it. can't wait to see what else comes up. and how deep it is! i guess we'll be calling a contractor for advice soon.

been working on sewing projects as much as i possibly can while getting totally distracted with dogs and boyfriend.

worked up a front rack bag for braden at carytown bikes, will most likely turn into a little run of bags for the shop. little collab, a few design improvements/tweaks on the bags he was kind of bummed on. a little bigger, a map window, different opening direction, y'know...stuff that you want when you ride.

dottie found that the new sewing machine table plus the windowsill makes for a cozy nap spot.

good dog.

it was awesome having so much time off cause i could really hangout with the dogs. they're pretty hilarious. egon slept/snored through a total manicure/pedicure...trimmed and rounded all his nails while he slept. he was out cold! what a lazy dude.

hanging out with bostons is real fun. they're pretty wild, but real sweet too. good snugglers and vicious attackers when a toy gets stuck under the couch.

Sad news the other day, a lovely dog friend passed away. Back in my real early twenties I was hanging hard on Vine Street with an awesome crew of friends. Nova was just as important a fixture as anyone else, good dog.

Casey and Mary had a little rememberance get-together last night, we took Nova's ashes for a last walk to Libby Hill, which was her favorite Church Hill spot to roll in grass.

We told stories and joked about old times, then we all helped Casey spread her ashes down the hill.

Poured out a little cold beer for her, then celebrated her life with her favorite food, plain cheeseburgers.

Loss is never easy, and I can only hope Casey, Mary, and Chopper are finding comfort in each other and in the support of friends. Its hard to lose a puppy friend that is with you every day, excited to see you, funny and sweet... they become a huge part of your family and I just would never wish that kind of loss on anyone.

left work friday with four days off looming on the horizon. heck yeah!

before i left, though, i got a care package from etsy in the mail! yippee! my friend jk was asking for some feedback on the way items are listed, on the tools sellers have to use, etc. i thought about it for a night and wrote a long response.

all kinds of cool things in that package to play with!

I took the pups for a good walk, even picked up a butterfly on the route. he was freshly dead, so i took him home and laid him flat to dry. i'll shadow box him for the house. actually, to be a nerd about it, its a female. so i'll shadow box her for the house.

the sunflowers i bought (the ones that egon bit in half the day i bought them) were just starting to let petals peek out...i knew that they'd be bursting soon. the black ones are my favorite...can't wait to save some seeds from those to grow again next year.

i started watching 'sons of anarchy' on netflix and got so so hooked, thats pretty much what i did for the rest of the evening. egon started having seizures around two am so i was up for most of the night, didn't really even get to sleep until about 6am. at least i got to spend my saturday morning next to these guys...

once i was up i got crackin on treats. was having a few folks over later that evening for a campfire/cookout kind of thing and wanted refreshments.

made some layered jello treats. they took forever because each layer had to set for 30 mintues, even the whipped cream. so complicated.
hung out all evening by the fire.

egon had seizures saturday very early in the morning and we were keeping a really close eye on him. two months clear, but he was acting SUPER weird all day and we knew we weren't out of the woods.
sure enough around midnight thirty, he had another one. at least only one of my really close friends was there to see it, i know that kind of thing isn't pleasant to witness at all. poor little buddy, we're sort of at the end of treament at our vet, have to move forward with a neurologist if he has more anytime soon.

sunday we spent the day recuperating. i started working on a little sewing project for a friend. a lovely lady named nova just passed away, quietly.

nova was a really good dog. she taught me how delicious soft puppy dog ears could be. she used to catch flies out of the air like a ninja. she was a constant fixture at a house i spent a lot of time hanging out with, and was a part of the crew just as much as anyone else was. its so sad to see a friend hurt, i can only hope casey is finding some comfort in the outreach from friends.

finished up nova on tuesday.

monday was birthday day, and i spent it on all kinds of awesome adventures. i went to FRIDAYS for lunch (seriously!) and andrew took me to rainbow for some shopping. went to petsmart, and lowes, then headed home and filled the birdfeeders. yippee!

checked the garden and found a teeny mantis, hopefully patrolling for aphids. good luck for 31!

sunflowers were fully in bloom. so pretty to see!

the rest of the garden is gardening pretty hard. beans and tomatos are popping off, my one summer squash is just friggin huge and producing like crazy. gonna be getting cukes very soon. not bad for such a late start and ridiculous battle with nature.

took the bostons on a swimming adventure, i'd picked up a little life preserver and wanted to test it out. egon swims like a beaver, so well, he loved it. dottie was not feelin it, and was happiest to sit on the shore. defintely was not happy to be swimming around.

after swimming they were wiped out. andrew took me for a nice long drive in the travco while the pups slept.

rode out east to where the james river gets super wide. caught dinner at a neat little seafood restuarant. got to eat on a second floor balcony, and kind of watch the sunset get bigger and better til dark. super fun.

inside the restuarant was lodge-like...a really cool buidling. i'd love to live in a big single room space like this one day.

birthday was fun, adventures were awesome, and i had a really good time even though mr. egon got a kind of bummer prognosis. high hopes!