A Sheep In Wools' Clothing

Samson Update

Samson is my Spanish mastiff, who is now close to three years old. He was born with birth defects in his leg, which has caused twisting and wrinkling of his long bones in a rear leg.  That has caused his kneecap to sublux to the side, and made him limp.

Over the past two years, Sam has had five surgeries on his leg to correct the issue.  His orthopedic specialist vet has worked hard to avoid having to do a hip replacement as the last resort to fix the leg, and with his fourth surgery, we were finally successful.  In December, he had to have some of the more recent hardware removed, as it was causing too much tissue reaction and swelling.

Each time he's had surgery, Sam gets off his feed.  As in he lost 15 lbs in a week after his fourth surgery, and it takes 2-3 months to get him back to eating well again.  He's been looking like a starving child from Biafra (shows how old I am), and I am surprised I haven't been questioned about neglect on him.  With the hardware removal, I asked the vet and her vet tech if they would change how they did his anesthesia to a method we use on humans who get bad post-operative nausea and vomiting.  They listened, I taught them how to do it, and Sam actually came home and ate TWO CANS of dog food that night.  Still a small helping compared to the 5-6 cups twice a day he normally eats, but a significant improvement over what he's done before after surgery.

Sam is back to running full speed, playing with the other dogs and his toys, and in general being a goofy puppy, and he now outweighs me.

Seyon Lodge Knitting Retreat 2011

Last year, a group of 16 knitters and spinners rented out the Seyon Lodge (Vermont State park) for
a weekend of knitting and spinning in the snow, trees and quietude.  The lodge is state run by Vermont, and rents out for incredibly reasonable rates.  The innkeeper, JessieMae and her assistant Emmet, are fabulous and very accommodating chefs.  Their lodge granola is to die for, and I am told (I am gluten free so I can't speak for these) that the scones and muffins are top notch as well.

The fireboxes are kept well stocked with split wood for the fireplace.  Bedrooms aplenty are there, with everything from queen beds to futons and bunks, all with quilts on them.  The lodge rents out snowshoes, and they groom trails for sledding,
snowmobiling, snowshoeing and cross country skiing.  We all bring snacks, tea and wine or whatever suits, and share or not - it's all relaxed and comfortable.

Charlton always gives some classes on Saturday - this year his topic was socks and he even had a booklet printed up to go with his classes.  We all came away with autographed copies of his booklet!
 One knitter, Lynne, a Vermont science teacher in the middle schools, is making a tradition of bringing a huge cone of chenille which she winds into cakes of yarn.  Everyone there can take one or more cakes home with them...

Both years, we've had a total of 16 people (the max for the lodge), and this year about half of us were returnees from last year.  We come from all walks of life, span several decades of ages, and have vastly varying years of knitting expertise and we all share and are united through fiber...  I'm looking forward to next year already.