KNITTING WITHOUT DOG HAIR IS NOT AN OPTION

Thank you for such a wonderful birthday party. What would I do without that wonderful group of people who are just there for me in times like these? I have no idea how I got so lucky but I am very thankful.

So, my real birthday day was quite terrible. All the memories of birthdays with Irwin came flooding back and I had a serious melt-down in the morning. Poor Brett was on the phone with me and had to take care of me then. And then the whole day was very draining for me, even tho' I went shopping for clothes and had dinner with a bunch of girlfriends. Nothing can replace such a wonderful hubby, but I tried very hard that day to keep busy and not turn into a puddle...

BUT - Sunday rolled around and I invited a bunch of close friends to make up for the shitty birthday day. And that sure worked. Of course, the weather totally sucked and instead of being outside with knitting, spinning and dying yarn, we spent all afternoon inside because of a big rain storm. Oh well, what can you do, right?

What the knitters and spinners did, they just crowded in my living and dining room instead and boy, was it crowded. I love that they are so low maintenance. No chairs needed, if not available, as long as if there is enough room to knit and good lighting.

Here are some party pix for you:

Knitting and spinning

Puzzling

Lots of gifts and cards

You can find the whole set here. And hey, I know a bunch of you took pictures as well. Please share!

The dogs were amazing. I left them in the bathroom until everyone arrived and we had eaten and I had opened my gifts. There was just too much going on before that and I didn't want any dramas. Even tho' my dogs are usually pretty well behaved, I never had that many people at my home before and you never know...

When I let them out, they were so funny. You couldn't find two more different dog characters. Hermione worked the crowd like the queen holding court and went from person to person to sit down and get petted. Noah on the other hand is a shy and skittish little fella and he had to warm up to the excitement and all these tall people. But eventually he got used to the masses who wanted to say to him and pet him.

I showed everyone Irwin's puzzle collection in the basement. I guess, my friends finally realized what it means when I say "Irwin has a lot of puzzles". I also had a stack of puzzles sitting by the door and everyone who wanted to take one or more did so. I am so glad the puzzles stay with friends now. I used to joke with Irwin what I will do with all these puzzles when he is gone. And he always said that I would have to come with what to do, not his to decide. Well, I am spreading your legacy around, babe. It also amazed me how many of my friends are into puzzling or have re-discovered a childhood past-time. I love it!!! I know there are some puzzles that I will never give up because they were special Irwin but that is only a small fraction of the 8,000+ puzzles.

Hermione made a new special friend - Jared, Jen's hubby. He threw the ball for her a bunch of times after a lot of people had left (which in her book is the best thing evaaaaaaaaaa...) and then she schmoozed with him big time. Well, it paid off. We will go see Jen and Jared sometime at the farm and Hermione can herd some sheep. That'll be interesting because she never had any training and I am not sure how much of border collie behavior is in the breed genes. I know for sure that she does not know any of the BoCo commands like "That'll do!" when she is supposed to stop whatever she is doing that minute. I guess I could read up on that and train her a little bit. She is extremely smart. At some point she could distinguish a bunch of toys by name. But that takes a lot of practice and Hermione and I have better things to do with our spare time. Here is a picture of the schmoozers. ;-)

I think she is actually smiling, very unusual for such a serious doggie. ;-)

And here I am with my furry kids - truly my lifesavers when I come to an empty house without Irwin.

And the day ended with a beautiful sky.

Again, thanks everyone for coming. I had a great day and I am very very very happy to have such wonderful friends. Love y'all!

More later - I need to try and get some sleep now.