Young Living Essential Oils with our Dogs

I would love to share how Young Living Essential Oils has been changing our lives.  My sister has been using them for 8 years.  Always a skeptic, I doubted.  I finally gave in for the sake of the dogs. What could it hurt?  At least they smelled good right?

Woah..........our dogs are different creatures.

I. Am. A. Believer.

Hit me up if you want some oils or want to become a wholesale member with Young Living.  This is an excited journey and I would love to travel it with like minded dog lovers.  :)

This is an UN-STAGED photo of our rescued dog, Olivia.  Where ever the lavender is being diffused, she will follow it, lie down and sleep.  She LOVES it.  It's the strangest thing.  Lavender, Peace and Calming, Valor and Joy have been helping another one of our dogs, Charlie.  He is high maintenance with a lot of anxiety.  I tried Joy last week and he stopped growling.  LOL  It's so funny how these things work.  I don't get it.  I don't understand it.  I don't care.  If it works, I'm sold.  :)

(If you click on the Young Living link above and want to order product or become a wholesale member yourself, please use my number #1873867.  Any sales or bonuses I make help us with our dog fostering.  The rescue group we work with pays the vet bills, but we feed them and pay for the gas to transport them, etc.  Thank you for your support.  Every little bit helps).  

Be blessed and be a blessing.  

Wordless Wednesday

Tongue Out Tuesday

This photo was taken with my Nikon D5100 camera, if you're curious. (an affiliate link)

Tongue Out Tuesday.  Charlie, the rescued Springer, says hello.

My boy Charlie, our English Springer Spaniel.  He's so pretty.  He was rescued off the streets of the Alabama Gulf Coast.  He's so happy here.  He has such a good life.  He had a terrible life before and bonded with my husband hard and fast. We didn't have the heart to separate them.  He was our first foster and our first foster fail.  :)  He is one of the best things to ever happen to us.   If you would like to follow ESRA on Facebook, you'll hear all kinds of good news stories about rescued Springers.  All Dog lovers are invited.

English Springer Rescue America on Facebook

  Do you have any dog photos or good stories to share? Hope you'll leave a comment below.  

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I hope you'll follow our blog and keep up with our dog fostering journey.  We love company.

English Paper Piecing with my English Springer

I've got Charlie asleep in my lap and I'm hand piecing some hexies.  I've worked so hard this week.  I decided to start the weekend early by taking it slow.  I'm thinking I'll make him a little hat?  Naaaa....he would hate it.  

What are you doing this weekend?  Got plans?  We're working on our son's room right now.  Photos to follow.....  Or check out my Instagram or Facebook, as I update more often there, than I do here.    

This is Charlie, our first Springer foster, and obviously, first foster fail...and that's totally ok. :)

If you're interested in adopting an English Springer Spaniel or becoming a foster parent, please visit English Springer Rescue America and look around.  It's a fun breed.  :)  It will change your life.

"Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them, 

filling an emptiness we don't even know we have."

~Thom Jones~

If you need anything for your pet this summer, please shop through the Amazon affiliate link below.  We thank you for your support.  I highly recommend owning a Thundershirt to get you through firework season!!!  We lost Charlie last summer for 10 days on the 4th of July.  Make sure your dog is tagged and microchipped before it's too late.

Purple Sister's Choice Scrap Quilt

I've been quilting with my 2 1/2" square scraps, making "Nine Patch" quilt blocks as a leader/ender project for years.  Having over 100 quilt blocks now, it's time to do something with them.  A scrappy Sister's Choice?  

YES, please!

(The link above is to Quiltville, Bonnie Hunter's Blog where you can find her FREE pattern for her "Scrappy Sister's Choice" which I am using.  Bonnie is very generous with her free patterns.  Go get to know her and buy her books.  You'll love her).  

Picasso had his blue period.   Van Gogh loved yellow.  And I'm preoccupied with purple.  I've been in a purple mood for 2 years now.  This morning I found this Purple blurb and it all became more clear to me, why I can't get purple off my mind.  It's because I NEED it.  Yes!! We need more purple in our lives.  There isn't enough purple in our world.  Seriously.  Look around your house.  Where is the purple? You probably have very little. 

  

Pantone made "Radiant Orchid" color of the year, practically daring me to use more.  I'm using different shades of purples as my star points on my Sister's Choice blocks. (affiliate links)

My purple fabric drawer is my smallest stash; the color I have the least.  I've been on a no-buy policy for awhile now, so it's forcing me to use my scraps and stash.  I always enjoy this challenge because it obligates me to creativity and seems to inspire a spirit of contentment in my piecing.  If it's all I have, then it's good enough.  It's amazing how beautiful our quilts become when we allow the boring fabric we're sick of, to actually work for us, instead of taking up space in our studio, making us feel guilty because we paid $8.99 a yard for that ghastly yard, and by golly, we're going to use it....some day. 

Behold!!!  2 Colomns, thus far.  

(And doggonnit, I guess the room was too dark when I took these photos.  Next set, the lighting will be better.  I promise). 

2 columns of Sister's Choice blocks finished for my new quilt. 

 This is our new Springer Spaniel foster dog we are rehabilitating right now.  He is a sweet heart of a dog.  A LOT of energy.  Oy vey!  I can't keep up with him.  

Our Springer Spaniel posing in front of my quilt.  Isn't he pretty?

Yes. Hi Charlie. I know you're there.  I see you.  I haven't forgotten you. 

(I'm trying to take photos and here come all the animals.  Seriously?  Can't you give me ONE minute to get something done???  They are like children! 

Charlie photo bombs mom.  Move Charlie.  #nosepower

I really like the secondary star that shows up when you start piecing the rows together.

A star within a Scrappy Sister's Choice

More Sister's Choice blocks

Scrappy Sister's Choice.  Scrap quilts are my favorite!!

So if you were under this scrappy sister's choice quilt, this might be your view.  :)  

I'm doing something different this time.  Instead of piecing all my blocks, then laying them out and sewing them together, I'm sewing them in rows as the blocks are finished.  I'm getting a stack of maybe 20 or so completed, then I'll sit down and put 10 together, stitching them up into a row.  I LOVE THIS!  It's going so fast this way.  I don't know if I'll do this every time, as I can see where mistakes can be made in placement.  But guess what.  I DON'T CARE.  It's good enough.  :)  

What do you think?  Have you ever done this before?

My blocks are piling up.  I LOVE IT.  Such a pretty, pretty block.  My new fav!

I love this photo.  I'm sitting at my sewing machine and my favorite Springer, Olivia is napping in the perfect Kodak moment spot.  I love how my animals always find there way into my colorful fabric, quilty shots.  

There is my purple Sister's Choice preview.  I hope you enjoyed seeing it and I hope you'll return to follow it's progress.  

What are you working on?  What color is "speaking" to you now?  Share! 

I love new Followers here at Sweet Woodruffs.  Yay! 
Check out one of my favorite boards on Pinterest: Quilt Everyday
Join our tribe on Facebook: Sweet Woodruffs on Facebook

OHHHH!  Come back and see another pretty purple quilt I made...a doll quilt for a 4 year old.  I'll share more later.  

Aww, shux!  What Sweet Woodruff's post is complete without Pooh.  He is hoarding all my blocks.  He claimed them and won't move.  Pooh the Hoodlum, giving me fits.  I love him so much.  Even though he's a jerk.  

“The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most.” 

~John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice~

Choose Joy!

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing.

Create Beauty.

Encourage one another. 

Sharing with:

Organized 31 ~ Inspire Us Thursday

ClaireJustine ~ Welcome to the Weekend Blog Hop

The Elven Garden ~ Fabriholics link up

Confessions of a Fabric Addict ~ Can I get a Whoop Whoop

Chic On a Shoestring Decorating ~ Flaunt it Friday

The Thrifty Grove ~ Thrifty Things Friday

Serenity Now ~ Weekend Bloggy Reading.

Free Motion By The River ~ Link Up Tuesday

Super Scrappy Blogspot ~ Scrap Happy Weekend

Stitch by Stitch ~ Anything Goes Monday

Threading My Way ~ Linky Party

I wanna sew!!!

Anxious to finish handquilting this green confetti baby quilt I started...um...2 years ago.  But homing and nesting awaits.  I have to clean a bathroom, finish painting a bedroom and prepare some food for tomorrows Sunday dinner.  Oh.  And maybe some loads of laundry.  *sigh*  I just wanna play!!!  Waaaaaaa.....

Happy Weekending pretty peoples!  Hope your blessed with family and friends who love you.  Bring joy to others and be a blessing to them.  xoxox

Olivia, my adotped Springer asked if she could keep this quilt.  Look at those puppy eyes.  How do I say no?

“Spring is the time of plans and projects.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Wordless Wednesday ~ My Springer Spaniel

My Springer Spaniel Valentine

Posting this for no other reason than to just show off my little girl.   

She's ready for bed.

Follow our Springer Spaniel rescuing adventures.

You can read what we've learned through fostering dogs here.
Give it some thought.  You will love it.
We need new families involved in taking in animal fosters from shelters. 

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We adopted Olivia through ESRA.

If you want a sweet dog for your family, 

consider adopting a Springer Spaniel. 

Click here for available Springers.

There are bunches in foster care, waiting for their forever homes.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Springer Spaniel

Springer Spaniel Sulk

Caught Charlie running with scissors again.  

He got sent to Time Out.  

BooHoo!

#notreally

We are busy cleaning and organizing, getting our home ready for my mother, 

who is moving in with us in March.  Charlie wanted to help.  We said no. 

So he just sat around being sad, trying to make us feel bad. 

 Charlie was our first foster.  Obviously and proudly, we foster failed with our first. 

Charlie needed us. And we needed him.  

xoxoxx

Bedroom Garage Sale ~ Vintage "Made In Japan" Lamp

I confessed in my last post here, my mother is moving in with us in 2 months.  We are going room to room, painting baseboards, cleaning carpets and getting rid of ANY and EVERY thing we cannot live without.  

We've lived here almost 4 years and have never done anything nice with our bedroom.  We were stuck in that "all the money goes to the kids for braces and college" rut.  We're down one kid now, so we are trying to fix up our bedroom.  We want it to look as if 2 married adults live in it.  What a concept!

I have a bajillion things to sell.  I prefer to list on Etsy, as I can earn feedback, and you have that safety net, but I don't have the time to SEO it perfectly, yada yada.  I will try to sell some of my stuff here first.  My friends can have first dibs.  :)  

Make an OFFER!!  Boom!  It's yours. 

This little lamp has been used on my dresser forever.  I love these sweet Made In Japan, porcelain/china/ceramic figurine lamps.  I've had a large collection of them in the past.  This one needs to be rewired and I've held on to it for so long, waiting for the time.  I can't do that any more.  It needs to bless someone else.  You can acquire a rewiring kit at Loews or something.  It's real easy.

The figurine part itself, is about 7 1/2" tall.  

With the lamp part and light bulb added, 

it would probably reach around 12" tall.  

What?  Louis XVI pierced his ear.  It's not damage, 

it was probably a ceramic bubble which burst during firing.  :)  

It has a hair line, but it's so thin, it doesn't go all the way through or around and you can't feel it.  

It's almost like crazing.  I don't think it affects the structure at all and the lamp will be strong for a long time to come.  These lines are almost normal in something this old. There are NO chips at all.  

If you look these up on Etsy or Ebay, they run between $20 and $40 a piece.  If you have a set, they go for around $80+.  I just have this single piece. 

I'm asking $16.00 and I will ship for FREE - DOMESTIC standard SHIPPING.  

If you want priority mail, I would ask you to help pay)  

I'm happy to ship it overseas too, but I would have to charge you shipping. 

If you want more photos, let me know.

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The other Made in Japan item I've had on my dresser for years is this guy:  

He's like a Wolfgang Willie Nelson

(probably just something I picked up junkin' one day)

He is 8" tall.  I've collected these for a long time.  They look nice on a book shelf. 

He is perfectly healthy.  Never had small pox or broke any bones.

I'm asking $8.00 for him and I will cover standard domestic shipping.  

If you want priority, I would ask you to split the cost with me. 

(I can sell to you overseas, but you would have to cover ALL shipping)

It says Handpainted in Japan

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If you want both, I can tweak the price and adjust for shipping both items together.  

Let me know if you have any questions or want extra photos.  

Our PayPal address is tsperkins@verizon.net

Charlie is supervising.  

10 Reasons To Foster a Dog

I have a 2014 New Years Resolution for you. If you've always wanted to help animals but never took the plunge into fostering (or adoption), this is your year.  If you're doing the One Word thing, your word is "Foster", or courage, or fearless, or rescue, or care.... :)

You're stronger than you think you are. You can do this. 

Wick Photography

1. Because you are needed.  It saves lives.  Every animal taken in by a foster family, means there is more room at the shelter.  Every foster dog adopted, means we can take on another.  It's a cycle. Shelter-->Foster-->Adopted-->...then we go back for more.  See how it works?  We need you. 

Gorgeous Mr. Bingley was a former Puppy Mill stud 

2. Because you are a project oriented person and love a good challenge.  Seeing progress and recovery with a traumatized foster is the most rewarding thing you can imagine.  You'll have to think outside the box, trying different things to help each new dog.  You'll grow in knowledge and when you see a rescued puppy mill dog run for the first time (maybe in their life), your heart explodes.  

Marshall's so proud.  He wants me to watch how fast he can run. 

3. Because you are a great admirer of "feeling happy" and you like smiling. "Petting a dog for just 15 minutes releases the feel-good hormones serotonin, prolactin, and oxytocin, and lowers the stress hormone cortisol, a University of Missouri–Columbia study says."  

Our Charlie...

4. Fostering a shelter animal can be healing.  My husband had been horribly ill with Graves Disease for over 2 years, possibly longer.  My husband felt like he was DYING. ALL. THE. TIME. We took the leap into fostering, and his health immediately improved.  His mood improved.  His spirit improved. His color improved. He was eventually announced "cured". I know the big turn around for him started the day we got our first foster, Charlie. 

Charlie was severally abused.  He bonded with Tim immediately and Tim started feeling better too.
They healed each other. 

5. Because you're bored, in need of entertainment.  Let's face it. Dogs are fun.  We are never bored.  We're always playing with our kids dogs and cats.  Who needs TV?  We've got our own comedy troupe right here in our house.  

BFF's

6. Because the relationships in your home could use some strengthening.  I can affirm, this has been one of the most rewarding things my husband and I have ever done together.  Our home is an empty nest now. We've raised 2 fabulous human beings (you're welcome). Now what? We've both been living our own lives.  I had my interests and he had his.  We know, together, we are really good at projects and parenting.  When fostering dogs, both our awesome skills are used, bringing us back TOGETHER.  You have to communicate and work as a team to help each animal. 

Wick Photography

7. Because your children need to learn the world is not about them.  They learn compassion, servanthood, nurturing, responsibility and develop a generous spirit.  Having a sick or severally traumatized animal in your home forces you to think before you act.  I see how our son has learned to think responsibly towards pet ownership.  He sees the BIG picture.  Just because you're dying for a Boxer, doesn't mean you should have one, right now.  (If more people understood this...we wouldn't have such a big problem with pet abandonment)

My daughter's adopted English Bulldog, Bruiser

8. Because you need exercise and you're unmotivated.  Your dog needs to go to the bathroom. Now!  And a 2 minute walk isn't enough.  It needs to burn off that energy, learn how to be a dog outside of a cage, socialize with neighbors and sniff things. Voila! You've just burned calories and got some Vitamin D.  

9.  Because your other animals are open to new companions. Our dogs need socializing too and they enjoy having fur friends. We have 3 dogs, all have been rescued, with their own set of issues.  Having new dogs come and go has been good discipline and training for them.  They in turn, have been very good for incoming foster dogs, teaching and showing them the ropes.  Mill dogs especially have no idea how to "just be a dog".  

10. Because you're stronger than you think you are.  Of course, you bond with them. Yes, it hurts to give them up.  But you can give them to a new, beautifully perfect family and be at peace.  

This is Marshall's new family. He bonded immediately. We are so happy for all of them.

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I have a 100 more good reasons to foster, but for the sake of brevity, I stopped at 10.  Do you have some to add?  I would love to hear from you, and discuss this subject further, so please leave a comment.  

If you have any questions about fostering, I'm happy to answer as honestly as I can. 

If you're interested in fostering, you can call your local animal shelter and find out more.  Also, if you have a favorite breed of dog or cat, there are specific organizations all over.  You can volunteer for them.  We volunteer for ESRA and rescue Springer Spaniels.  

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I hope you'll follow me and keep up with our fostering shenanigans.  :)  Lots of good times, with occasional animal drama 

Cats and Quilts go together like Peas and Carrots.

THINK ADOPTION FIRST

ADOPT, DON'T SHOP

Sharing with these Sweet bloggers: Mom's The Word ~ Making Your Home Sing Sumo Sweet Stuff ~ Block Party Say not Sweet Anne ~ Sweet Sharing Monday DIY Home Sweet Home ~ More the Merrier Monday Create With Joy ~ Inspire Me Monday I Should Be Mopping the Floor ~ Inspiration Monday Rain On A Tin Roof ~ Give Me the Goods My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia ~ Tuesday's Treasures A Stroll Thru Life ~ Inspire Me Tuesday Our Table For Seven ~ Share Your Stuff Tuesday Life On Lake Shore Drive ~ Last Bouquet of Talent