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Jane, what a miserable experience you've been through--I hope you stay well and out of that hospital!!
I can imagine what a lot of extra stress those poor old dotty dudes must have caused for you.
Sometimes they're on a combination of meds that makes them do odd things. My mother went on a rampage in the hospital once after a bad med combo, and trashed the ward. Her minister did the same thing--cursing like a drunken sailor the whole time!
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Sorry to be heartless, but that really summed up school! LOL
It certainly did for me too, Debbie--I don't remember a thing about lessons, but all those moments of dread, humiliation, despair . . . I'll never forget any of it.
Renae--I'd totally forgotten that scene. Absolute Perfection. I love the Addams Family in any form!
I actually got to see an exhibit of Charles Addams' original work at the New York Public Library a few years back. Blisssssssss. 
What a great little face, Debbie--you may have lost the use of your pinkie (ouch) but you haven't lost your touch. I've got to say that I'm looking after my hands much more carefully now than I ever did before!!
You absolutely made the right decision for LadyBear. It's hard enough to realize that a cat you've nurtured would be happier elsewhere, but a horse . . . good for you!!
I had to give up a foster kitty I'd cared for almost since birth, nursing him through endless viruses, plus ringworm and stubborn eye infections. At 4 months, he was still the size of an 8-week-old kitten. If I hadn't adopted him, the Humane Society would have put him down--he was such a mess that he was considered unadoptable.
Anyway, he grew up huge and strong and sassy against all odds, but then decided that he prefered to live with a man a few blocks south. After I'd brought him back home twice, I gave up and decided that he knew best!
OK, I'm in Nancy--
I keep telling myself that all I need is practice, but 1) I haven't found the time and 2) I'd rather practice with the benefit of some expert hand-holding.
Wow, Jenny--she's very realistic to my eye. Definitely of the almost-grown-but-not-yet-snarky age
I'd use either a peachy pink (more yellow) or a lavender pink (more blue) for less contrast.
Oh yes!
Shelli, your Devil's Spawn story reminds me of my British Hubs' first night in North America. He was walking home late at night after an evening out (probably squiffed) and saw something strange approaching him, red eyes and all.
He had no idea what it was, having never before seen or heard of a raccoon. But it was BIG, and TERRIFYING, HAD NO FEAR, and seeemed to have him IN ITS SIGHTS.
It's a Harvest Festival--in Canada's colder climate, harvest comes earlier. In Canada, it's also the weekend when people shut down their cottages, beach their boats, etc. But since it falls on a Monday, not a Thursday, Thanksgiving here is a shorter long weekend.
In the US, it's a Harvest Festival (later because of the later harvest in warmer climes), but it's also a patriotic holiday (pilgrims at Plymouth Rock surviving their first winter . . . or did they?) and the opening of the Christmas season. I think Abraham Lincoln established the holiday. Somebody help--I'm too tired to check.
I spent most of my youthful Thanksgivings participating in school pageants, dressed as a prim pilgrim lady in black-and-white crepe paper, usually married to the creepiest male pilgrim in the school. I always wanted to be the Indian. Or the turkey.
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My 13 year old was within earshot doing his Algebra homework, listening to my groans and other various expressions of frustration And he actually said, in his best "megaphone" voice imitation... "PLEASE STEP AWAY FROM THE BEAR!!"
:crackup: Kim, you have the greatest kids!! :crackup:
Well, yes.
My poor Hamlet is a
in person, but looks like a shlumpy thug in his photos. 
I've had the same problem before.
I'm thinking that there's something happening with focal distance and possibly one or more of the 3 dimensions, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it is.
Maybe it's a matter of vertical angle? Distance from subject? Does anybody know?
Have you ever noticed how big your nose looks reflected on the back of a spoon?
Good question. I expected to have a well-ordered file after 18 months at this endeavor, but I've never yet used the same pattern twice.
Interesting concept . . .
I'd love to try a limited edition, but I'm afraid of producing an edition of wildly non-identical siblings. I guess it comes of being a confirmed tweaker, with a brain full of second thoughts!
Wonderful photos, Judi--Mandi looks almost as happy as Rachael!!
What a Great Little Wombat, Wendy!!
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Cheryl, in the US Thanksgiving has always meant the official opening of the Christmas season. Here it's the prelude to Halloween--and I'm still not quite used to it.
However, I get to celebrate both American and Canadian Thanksgivings, Huzza! The more turkey and pumpkin pie the better 
Oh no--how am I going to break this to Nance? 
I know, I know!
Believe it or not, there are people who don't understand why we're all so upset over Judi's little Mandi, much less why we're so ecstatic to hear that she's going to be alright. Our beasties' lives are so short as it is, and they give us so much.
I feel privileged to live in a multi-species family. For me it's a real sanity-saver. The animals help me put all sorts of things into perspective, to stop worrying about things I can't do much about--with them around, it's all "look at that dawn light, sniff that air, check out that squirrel . . . let's go and romp in the park!"
They really make us slow down and smell the roses--not that they don't prefer a urine-soaked twig to a rose, but you know what I mean!
Here's my favorite not-exactly-Shakespeare dotty-old-lady poem--
WHEN I AM OLD
When I am old...
I will wear soft gray sweatshirts...
and a bandana over my silver hair...
and I will spend my social security checks on wine and my dogs.
I will sit in my house on my well-worn chair
and listen to my dogs breathing.
I will sneak out in the middle of a warm summer night
and take my dogs for a run, if my old bones will allow...
When people come to call, I will smile and nod
as I show them my dogs...
and talk of them and about them...
...the ones so beloved of the past
and the ones so beloved of today...
I will still work hard cleaning after them,
mopping and feeding them and whispering their names
in a soft loving way.
I will wear the gleaming sweat on my throat,
like a jewel, and I will be an embarrassment to all...
especially my family...
who have not yet found the peace in being free
to have dogs as your best friends...
These friends who always wait, at any hour, for your footfall...
and eagerly jump to their feet out of a sound sleep,
to greet you as if you are a God,
with warm eyes full of adoring love and hope
that you will always stay,
I'll hug their big strong necks...
I'll kiss their dear sweet heads...
and whisper in their very special company....
I look in the mirror... and see I am getting old....
this is the kind of person I am...
and have always been.
Loving dogs is easy, they are part of me.
Please accept me for who I am.
My dogs appreciate my presence in their lives...
they love my presence in their lives...
When I am old this will be important to me...
you will understand when you are old,
if you have dogs to love too.
-- author unknown
:dance: Yes, she did! Here's her picture, which didn't show up earlier
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I'll bet this job was worth the wait! Good for you, girl
I had to share this story that Nancy Sholty sent me a while ago--
NOT ALL HEROES ARE PEOPLE ~ ~ ~
James Crane worked on the 101st floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center . He is blind so he has a golden retriever named Daisy. After the plane hit 20 stories below, James knew that he was doomed, so he let Daisy go, out of an act of love. She darted away into the darkened hallway. Choking on the fumes of the jet fuel and the smoke James was just waiting to die. About 30 minutes later, Daisy comes back along with James' boss, who Daisy just happened to pick up on floor 112.
On her first run of the building, she leads James, James' boss, and about 300 more people out of the doomed building. But she wasn't through yet, she knew there were others who were trapped. So, highly against James' wishes she ran back in the building.
On her second run, she saved 392 lives. Again she went back in. During this run, the building collapses. James hears about this and falls on his knees into tears. Against all known odds, Daisy makes it out alive, but this time she is carried by a firefighter. "She led us right to the people before she got injured" the fireman explained.
Her final run saved another 273 lives. She suffered acute smoke inhalation, severe burns on all four paws, and a broken leg, but she saved 967 lives. Daisy is the first civilian Canine to win the Medal of Honor of New York City.
:dance: :hug: Judi, I'm so happy for you and your family and little Mandi. :hug: :dance:
She is going to be
when she comes home, and who cares? She should be :cake: Oops, did I say cake? :redface:
JRR Tolkein said that dogs are our clearest proof of the existence of God. It was in a letter or a journal, and I'd love to find it again.
There are a number of creation myths about our banishment from paradise and our separation from animals is always a punishment. In several of these myths, the dog is the only animal that manages to stay with man. It hides, or leaps a chasm, to stay and give him comfort.
(Claire, that was me, by way of Will Rogers!)
Sonya, this is the single cutest picture I've seen all year!! Don't you love kidthink? :crackup:
Judi I'm so sorry--I hope little Mandi pulls through for her sake and your daughter's :hug:
My daughter Caroline saw one of our cats hit by a car years ago--the driver deliberately swerved to hit him, and the poor thing managed to run home before he collapsed.
What a terrible run of events. Huge multiple hugs :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
Hi Morgan, and welcome to Teddy Talk! 
I've used Sassy's smoky longpile fabric for mice about 4" tall, sewn the pieces by hand and by machine, ripped out stitches and resewn, stuffed hard, needlesculpted the heads . . . and it definitely does not fray. It's wonderful! My first mouse really took a beating from trial and error, but the fabric held up amazingly well.
As for pile length, it depends upon the look you want. I think the 1/8 length would look more like fur!
