Update by insomnia

Anyone want this dumb-ass dog?

Let's see... we shall begin with a gripe. Why not? It is so ... me... isn't it? Anyhow, anyone who wants Simon, let me know. He's a stupid dog and I'm going to kill him one of these days. Don't get me wrong, I love my animals with all of my heart, but I love my kid more. And Simon has taken to being a bit of a territorial dick lately, and now that Alex is army crawling everywhere he can possibly go, Simon is averse to the mobility of this little interloper. He has twice already, growled and snapped at Alex. He has growled at him several times.  If it happens again, he is going to a Jack Russell Terrier rescue or something, I kid you not.  If he bites or connects with Alex, I won't even be able to describe where he's going because I'll be seeing red.

He isn't a mean dog. He's just stupid, and part of the problem is us.  We were a childless couple for many years, and nothing's worse for a pet than being owned by people who are substituting children for animals in order to satisfy their innate need to parent.  And these dogs just don't know that they've been knocked down a tier on the totem pole. They still think they're the kids. And they look at Alex like he's an equal; or worse, a puppy, lower than them and in need of their discipline and subject to their territory.  Well, that's got to end or else.  Simon, you flokati rug with a flapping tongue... I love you, but if you bite my baby, you may be stuffed into a box and sent downriver.

***Update: I am NOT getting rid of my stupid dog. I promise. Simon is an idiot of the highest degree, but he is also a member of this strange little family.  Yes, I go into stupid irrational mode when he does stuff, but I know that if he was mean, he'd have gone after the baby and not bothered to warn him. I know this breed very well--Satan bred them for years. I am afraid he may connect with Alex, but I am watching the baby (who is obsessed with Simon btw, because he reallyreallyreally wants to just grab onto that floofy fur) and making sure he leaves the derpy doofus alone). I was venting, as I always do. I am glad I have my husband and my readers to remind me that I'm being an irrational idiot.  But I don't dump my animals because they're being bratty. I'm a brat, and that would be hypocritical. And the reason he's a brat is our fault.

Our dinner on Saturday night. Trout and lemon/white wine Orzo.
It was pretty damned good.

Dan and I have been watching Alex's growth and development. He is moving more and more into solids, and eats more almost every day. His favourite remains sweet potato (yams) and vanilla Greek yogurt. But I also force him to eat things he doesn't like as much, like squash and peaches and banana. He's also started holding his little cookies and eating them on his own, in spite of having no choppers yet.  But we see how healthy he is, and our family doctor told us he is doing great and is very healthy. So we have decided to follow his example and to cut meat out of our diet (we may lapse occasionally... but as a mean, we will no longer eat cow, pig or chicken, or anything land-based that walks.  We will keep eating fish, and eating dairy (milk/eggs) at least for now.  I've even tried my hand at making seitan from unbleached regular flour and found that it's really pretty damned good.  So far, we are doing okay.

I did not gain any weight through my pregnancy, gaining only 17 pounds, which were taken out on 11/17 when they extracted my little critter-baby.  I actually lost a couple of pounds by the time I went to my 1-month postpartum appointment.  And for a while, I was great, happily larking along while breastfeeding, imagining myself sylph-like from the extra calories burned from breastfeeding.  But I have gained about 11-12 pounds back because I am out of control eating.  Both of us have fallen off the Weight Watchers wagon.  Dan, poor fellow, did so when I was pregnant. It was impossible really for him to keep holding on when I was in pregnancy mode, eating anything and everything I wanted at any given time of day. It's hard to keep on a diet when the person you're with is an eating machine and exposing you to all the naughty things you love so much.  So he's put on about fifteen pounds.  He's lost a few since we started this pseudo-vegetarian/pescatarian menu of ours.

A glut of fruity tarts.

Take the above photo for instance.  The fruit tart is Dan's most very much super happy gimme more favourite food I make. It's a pâte sucrée with vanilla custard in it, and then topped with fruit and berries (namely bananas and strawberries, but sometimes -- as with most recently this weekend, blueberries and raspberries too).  Dan likes to dollop some freshly whipped cream on it and pound those suckers down like candy.  I made him some for Father's day... it's his first Father's day, so he deserved it.  But then on Saturday, we went by our local fruit stand and bought a pile of berries and voila... more tarts.  Naughty us.

Flower's immediate reaction when taken out into extreme heat
is to plop down on the gravel in full sun and bake,
moving only to flip over when she's cooked enough on one side.

Oregon is sickeningly warm right now. It's not ideal. I like my bouldery grey days with dreary rain and sopping trees dripping in soaked garlands of tree-moss and air plants.  This summer crap is for the birds. If I wanted to live in a Turkish steambath, I'd move to Florida or California or something. ::sigh:: I hate summer.  I can't WAIT for September.  By then we should also be preparing to visit my sister in Pensacola so she can finally meet her nephew.  If we don't, she probably won't meet him until he's graduating from MIT. Yay! Air travel with a child! Woohoo!  His other auntie moved from Middle of Nowhere, Oregon to Bend, Oregon, and now that she no longer needs to drive to Portland to buy the essentials, she hasn't seen him since January, and expects me to make the three hour drive to her home with the little one in the car. So, the burden is on me to bring the child to them. Always for their convenience I guess. Sisters. Oy.  What a pain in the ass they can be.  They are my only true and involved family however, so I do need to put up with their sisterly shenanigans after all.  Even if they make me crazy.

Isn't my little boy just f*&!ing beautiful? I think so.
You should have seen how excited he was to ride in the carriage
and be free to look around and see everything. It was SO CUTE.

I am at present working to make more items for the sale on August 3. I'll take pictures of my sale table when it's all set up to share. I also plan to make a gown for the Pittock Mansion Picnic the last Sunday of July.  I haven't made something new for myself in eons.  I also want to make one of my bib-fronts and a draw-string from my pattern (see previous post) to sell so I have some samples.  I will have to find a model to wear them prettily so I can take photos.

We (the Oregon Regency Society) had a great event up at Hood River on June 1 & 2.  We went there to sail on the tall ship (the Hawaiian Chieftain) and to take tea, and hang about and go picnicking. We had some gripers complaining that the event was costly, but we managed to buy out the entire ship, so I guess it wasn't so bad. LOL.  People also came up to join us the next day for a picnic in a wonderful lavender garden. It was really fun.  I'm trying to push more people to set up events for the rest of the year, so I don't have to stress it so much, but it's hard. Everyone has lives too.  I will *try* to set up a ball at least for the end of the year, and some more smaller events.  The ORS is chugging along, not without drama, but definitely getting more oiled as a machine as the team coalesces and starts working together. Pretty soon, I'll be able to step back some more I hope.  Let people handle their own things, and not call on me.  I want to be able to just show up to events sometimes like everyone else does. It would be nice.  Now I've got el niño to worry about.

Anywho... that's my blah update for today.  My creativity is returning, so I imagine I'll start posting some drawings again at some point. But for now, I have all these projects to complete.  So bear with me.