A gift, a mystery, a start on Halloween and a request for puppy housetraining help.

A gift-

Lookie what I won from bronny -

My very own limited edition sheepie fob- it's so cute and I'm in need of a new one!

She also sent

a lovely letter with some floss and

some pretty coasters- check out that quilting! Thanks bronny, it was a lovely surprise to open your gift!

A mystery

Uh- oh, when the envelope looks like this

and has this put inside

it's not good. According to the leaflet, either a sniffer dog detected 'something' or an xray detected 'something'.  Fortunately a physical search of the contents revealed nothing. But what was coming from overseas that got stopped for inspection?

This-

Yep, a chart, a business card and a plastic bag. That's all.  By The Bay Needleart's  Stitch an Inch was calling my name, so I ordered it from Donna's etsy store.
  I wonder why it got opened- did the sniffer dog smell another dog's smell or doggy treats in/on  it?  Or did the xray reveal cross stitch contraband? We'll never know.

A Start on Halloween


Last year I bought Halloween charts nice and early, but still didn't manage to stitch or make anything in time. In fact I didn't even start anything.

So, I'm starting nice and early this year. It's July already (in case you didn't know), so I figure I'll be finished in time, I think.

I've started

Sew Spooky, by iStitch and as I didn't stitch it last year, I'll be making a small adjustment to the charted date. I've purchased some Halloween fabric for finishing and matched the floss to the colours in the fabric.

I've also kitted up

Voodoo Bob (got it from Stitching Bits and Bobs last year too)
 And also, I've kitted up

a pumpkin! I think I bought that from Joanne at 123 Stitch last year. What is so strange about my mystery envelope  that got stopped at Customs recently (Stitch an Inch), is that when my pumpkin chart arrived last year I was shocked that it didn't get stopped. Have look at what is included with the pumpkin chart-

Yes sir, a bag of contraband, also known as stems and twiggy things for decorating the pumpkin.  Guess the dog or xray machine was on the blink the day this envelope went through postal customs...

Help- I need puppy housetraining help!

After the death of our dear Jack last November, it has taken a while to feel like having another dog in our home.  I didn't think I'd ever get over Jack's early death.  However here we are!

Another Jack Russell.  We've named him Ben. Nicholas did want to name him 'Russell' (he named Jack) and then decide that 'Bullwinkle' was a better name. Steve had his favourite names as did I.  'Ben' was the only name we all liked although I was kinda partial to Bullwinkle too!
So, he's almost 9 weeks old. We had to drive 3.5 hours to pick him up- the breeder drove 3 hours to meet us (Ben's a country boy) in the outback!

Here's my problem- his bowel is somewhat out of sync with his eating.  All of our previous dogs have had fairly predictable poops after eating.  Not Ben. I feed him at 6.30am and he poops at 10am. Or feed him at 6pm and he poops during the night (10pm- 6am) on the laundry floor. Three times. Or eats and poops straight away. Or eats and poops an hour later on the family room floor.

Anyone got any tips of helping him get all synced with his eating then pooping?  I put him outside after he eats and when he wakes up from a nap. And in between when he starts to look like he might want to pee. He's peeing outside without many accidents. So, is this just a puppy thing? Jack was a bit older when we got him and he was all synced and ready to go! Any suggestions greatly appreciated!