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Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Tuesday - Gone to the Dogs!



There was a bit of excitement around the QPO yesterday!

I had been happily working my way through yet another random bin of pieces, yardage, more hunks and chunks to strip more down -

And out of the corner of my eye I saw a wagging tail pass by the big picture window at the front of the building.

I do have a neighbor that comes to stay at their get away house next to Quiltville Inn a couple of weekends a month, and they have a dog, and walk him in front of my building - so I really didn't think much about it.

Until I glanced out the side windows while hanging some more strips over the long arm rail and saw this big dog - going up to the front door of the inn.

And out I ran to see what was what.


Some kind of hound dog - sweetest face ever -

dragging a long broken chain.

Where did you escape from, little lady?

(Little did I know how close I was to her name!)


Curious, hungry, and still quite young I saw!

That dragging chain had worn a sore spot on her belly - and to find out what to do, I brought her in. Gave her a treat, some water.

And she spied Lola on top of the long arm table and "treed" her as hunting dogs will do.


Lola, hunkering down in the sunny spot.

This sweet girl had a collar, but no tags.  No identification what so ever.  And she smelled like she had ran through farm and field, following her nose, and rolling in whatever smelled good to her.

She stunk to high heaven of manure and mud!


Not knowing what else to do, I called my vet to see if they could search for a chip.  It's a 30 minute drive - but Stinky Miss evidently loves a car ride!

It was 60 degrees yesterday (CRAZY!) and she loved a window down, ears in the breeze ride.

We parked in the lot, and the vet tech came out with a chip reader to see what we could find.

I was overjoyed when I heard the BLEEP showing that yes, she was chipped.


While the fact that she was chipped was the "good news"  the bad news came with the information that her chip had never been registered by the owner.

An unregistered chip is nearly as bad as no chip at all!

So back to Mouth of Wilson we went - and I started visiting farm houses up the highway from Quiltville Inn to see if anyone recognized this dog or knew its owner.  NADA.

My plan was to take her home overnight, and ask the mail lady this morning if SHE recognized the dog.  It was a long shot - many mailboxes sit right at the road - but the farm houses can be set way further back and the mail lady may never know what dogs belong to that "house on the hill."

While starting my journey home, my phone rang - and this is the miracle part - it rang in a place where I never, and I mean NEVER have cell service.

And the voice on the other end was as clear as a bell, not crackly.

My vet had called to all the other vets in the area to see if they had issued chips with that serial number. We were able to find the owner, even with an unregistered chip.

Because I was in a "no cell" (usually) area - I told them to have the owner call me back in 5 minutes and Miss Stinky and I headed back to the QPO to await the call.


Happily 'rolling in it!"

All was explained, the story became clear as I talked to the owner.  He works at Oak Hill Academy, about a mile up the road from the Inn.  On occasion he brings Lady Bird (the real name of Miss Stinky) to work with him.
 
On a nice 60 degree day - instead of keeping her in, he chained her "for just a bit" near the horse barns to enjoy the day.

What caused her to bolt, break her chain and follow her nose to me is anyone's guess.  Dogs will be dogs.  Hunting dogs will be hunting dogs - always following their noses.

Squirrel?  Probably!  And then who knows what.

The main thing is - this is a well cared for hunting dog. And she did what dogs do.  She made it a mile or more up the road to me - likely running along the highway, and crossing it a time or two, dragging a long chain with her.

Her owner has been found - and he was frantic and SO GRATEFUL.  I am relieved that I didn't have to bring Miss Stinky home with me (she would have had a bath!) and then spend today continuing to knock doors and find her owner.

I wasn't just going to set her loose with hopes she'd find her way back to wherever she came from - which was not her home in the first place. 

The moral of the story is - you have to REGISTER your animal once they are chipped.  It usually involves going to a website, putting in the animal's name and your info and the chip number so your real info is in the data base.  

And then if your info changes - like your phone or address - you need to go back to that website and update your information, so if something like this happens, we can find you faster and return your beloved Miss Stinky back to you.


Some of this got started -

But didn't really get finished with all that dog gone driving!


These neutrals are calling my name!

And the piles of stuff are getting better.

Today I'm headed back to pick up where I left off.  And while I wish we were hanging on to yesterday's weather - today the tables are turning.


Here Comes the Snow, doo doo doo doo

(Singing to Here Comes the Sun)

We've already decided it's best for me to park at the bottom of the drive this evening.  Here we go again!

I'm planning on a snow day sew day for tomorrow and just working from the cabin and not driving in it at all.  

No reason to if I can stay safe and warm at the cabin.


Did you see we have another Forever Mine! PDF pattern gift away and fabric bundle to go with it from Mary’s Quilt Shop?

Get your entry in on Yesterday's Post!

If you are looking to enhance your stash for your own version of my Forever Mine quilt, check out these gorgeous pinks, reds, aquas and neutrals designed by Mary Koval for Windham fabrics! 

Mary’s Quilt Shop is happy to pull together a hand picked selection of fat quarters for you!

Mary's Quilt Shop is in Bedford, Pennsylvania and they are open by appointment during the time of Covid.

Drop Mary an email at Marysquiltshop@comcast.net to arrange an appointment, or place an order to be shipped to you! 

These fabrics are not available for purchase on her website - so drop her an email for a custom fabric pull, just for you!

Anything fun ahead for your Wednesday?

You know just where I'll be - Audio book or podcast playing, pressing cutting sorting, continuing to work on whittling down those tubs.

One big tub is all random pieces of solid cream to white including muslins of many dye lots.

What do you do with stuff like this?  Usually I say to myself "Okay, this needs to go - what can we make with it and sew it away?"  but I just don't know.  It's a big old tub of solid white/cream in hunks chunks and pieces.


Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Imagine how much better the world would be if when speaking of others we focus on assets instead of shortcomings?

Let's build each other up instead of tearing each other down. 

Can you imagine?

Have a wonderful Wednesday, folks!


 

45 comments:

  1. Yay for a happy doggy ending. If my babies escape I hope they find a Bonnie! :) Happy sewing!

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  2. Your swing on the quilt block is one I live by. Nof bragging just know how great it is to hear "that's lovely or look oh how beautiful something is. A month or so ago my granddaughter insisted her mom needed to take a picture of a sunset to send to me because grandmaikes them. I laughed and cried I was so happy

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  3. In the spirit of your quote from today's post, you are a beautiful person. Taking such care of furry friends before your own daily needs, lovely. Thank you for sharing your adventures with us. I look forward to it each day. The storm you're getting later may be remnants from the system that dropped 7 inches of snow in our yard near Madison, WI, Monday night. :)

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  4. Lady Bird had an adventure at the Quiltville Inn. Lucky her. You had quite a day. Did Zoey interact with her? It's snowing lighly here this morning. Gotta get out to the P.O. and we're out of milk. I finished and presented my Friendship Star and Signature runner yesterday. Sew fun!! Have a great Hump Day in your Scraps.

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  5. Love the story of Ladybird the hunting dog! Her owner must have had a different cell phone carrier one that works in that silent area. Friends moved to a hilly VA area, had an open house and asked everyone to see if their cell phone worked. Then they signed up with that particular company, cricket, I think it was.
    Lola's eyes, watching warily from that sunny spot, Look out!

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  6. That was a great rescue story. Glad man and dog were reconnected thanks to you♥

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  7. Really happy you were able to find Lady Bird's parents ... having "lost" my beloved dog once before it's terrifying until you find them again ... your imagination just runs wild with all kinds of bad scenarios. THANK YOU for taking are of her!! Be safe in your upcoming storm. Sew days are the BEST days ..... Linda

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  8. The excitement for my Wednesday is a trip to the dentist to get a cavity filled. Oh joy!

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    Replies
    1. That was my Monday's excitement but not a cavity just a cleaning. Today's excitement is getting my first Covid vaccine injection.

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    2. Mine, too! I didn't even feel it, am so fortunate and hopeful for everyone out there that yours is quick and painless. Stay safe, wear your mask.

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  9. Glad you were able to find the dog's owner.
    Snow days are great SEW Days, here in the Central Willamette Valley the forecast yesterday was for Rain with a possible Rain/Snow mix above 500 feet and Snow in the Coast Range and the Cascades.......here in Dallas at 325 feet we got about 2-3 inches of that white fluffy stuff.....
    Enjoy it, as I'm sure you will.
    MaryAnn in Oregon

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    1. Hi MaryAnn,

      I live in Dallas Oregon too! Small world.

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    2. Hi, MaryAnn and 12.din, I grew up in Dallas, OR from the 7th Grade through high school, married and only moved to Salem when our jobs changed and we moved to be closer to them, (where I live now). We always got more snow in Dallas than Salem. Still love that town and have such fond memories of all those years. Life was so simple back then, in the '50's. I love small towns, population then was a little over 4,000 there. God Bless! And to Bonnie, I am so glad you searched for and found Lady Bird's owner, thank you from me, too! My 2 doggies are chipped and I also rescued another dog by using the chip information too. She heard the engine of the owner's pickup drive up to my house and she started wagging her tail furiously before she even saw it, so happy they had come to get her!

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  10. thank YOU and thanks to your vet for going over and beyond to find the outfit that inserted the hcip with that serial #... it shows exactly the kind of people quilters and veterinarians are... kind, loving and just the best... oh how I love a happy ending! (I didn't get all my quilt piecing done either! Sometimes life happens and God smiles!). Cats in rainy, wet, cold (but grateful for the rain) Carlsbad, CA.

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  11. Thank you so much for taking care of Lady Bird. Stay safe.

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  12. We were so fortunate that our dog had ID tags on when he ran the furthest ever from our house. A girl walking home from school played with him and called my hubby's phone and put her scarf around him as a leash. He had crossed two busy roads. Both our dogs were chipped too; I HIGHLY recommend it! From all of us with "escape" dogs, thank you Bonnie for your efforts.

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  13. I need to check as I don’t remember changing my coonhound chip. Thank you. Thank you

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  14. Having grown up in a family where it was a toss up if the kids vs adults brought home more stray dogs, I'm so proud of you for helping care for Lady Bird and getting her back to her family. Yes, dogs do stray but sadly not all make it back home safe and sound. I have one friend who lives in the country and his old 3 legged hunting dog was held for hefty ransom, before he could get his wondering dog back from a neighbor!

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  15. You are a good person Bonnie K Hunter!!! Most people these days wouldn’t lift a finger to find Miss Stinky’s home.Stinky and I both thank you.
    What was that about when you see something beautiful in someone, don’t be silent? ❤️❤️👏👏👏

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  16. You’re a good woman, Bonnie.

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  17. Lost dog + caring person + great detective work = Happy Ending! For the whites and creams- use them to accent some fabrics, or make a pastel, soft quilt to use a bunch of them.

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    Replies
    1. Or make backings out of them to show off your quilting. Polly

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  18. Miss Stinky Lady Bird certainly was at the right place at the right time with the right person to rescue her and get her back to her family!! What a lovely story with the perfect ending! I love people who will go out of their way for animals of any kind, to make sure they are safe and when they are lost, help them find their way home. Enjoy your snow day at the cabin...we got about 8 inches here in Nevada and my two little dogs are happy to stay inside because they aren't that tall!

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  19. That was so kind of you! Lady Bird looks like a Bluetick Coonhound. They are known to be rather smelly BTW.

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  20. Thank you Bonnie for taking care of Lady Bird. You are a great person!

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  21. I would love to win some scraps! I have such trouble seeing neutral when entering my LQS that I have to have someone choose it for me. I only see bright colors as I love those. I think I need to retrain my brain! Lolo I went to find neutrals at Mary’s and she has rolls well I waited a day and she was out. I will check again. That is a great way to get neutrals!

    Thank you Bonnie for all you share and do for us. I have learned so much from your site and you.

    AkA Betty

    AKA CajunBear

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  22. Hope you don't get too much snow. We just got 13" on Monday plus another 2" last night. More on Saturday here in Nebraska. But I guess it is winter. Stay safe.

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  23. I'm so glad this story had a happy ending! Thank you for diligently working to find this girl's home!!

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  24. Bonnie, you are a very special lady. Not many people would have gone through all that trouble. Thank heaven Miss Stinky found her way to your house.

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  25. Good sleuthing by all to find Miss Stinky's owner. Also glad to hear that the owner was happy about finding her.
    I live in central Iowa - we got 13"-15" on Monday (depending on where in Des Moines you lived) of snow from that very slow moving snow event. Usually we get the 4-8" range, so this one was a doozy! Fortunately not very strong winds, but still wicked driving on the highways.

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  26. Bonnie,
    You are just so "special"!!!
    Thank you for finding Lady Bird's family!!!

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  27. You have such a great heart Bonnie. You need to hear that for sure. So glad you were able to reconnect the dog and owner.

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  28. I love this story. Whenever I have my pets chipped, (and they all have been, even the cats) I get all kinds of paperwork and brochures with instructions on how to register the number. I guess the owner just forgot about it. Good that Lady Bird is now in the system. We have gotten a couple inches of snow here in St Louis today. It surprised me because somehow I missed the forecast about this. It's really pretty and still snowing a bit. I'm feeling content right now to sit in the recliner with a quilt and cat on my lap and watch the kids next door sled down the hill in their backyard.

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  29. I thought at first that you adopted another stray dog when I saw the title of your post. I'm glad her owner was found and they're together again. We had 7" of snow and 40 mph winds Monday evening into Tuesday morning here in Northern Illinois. I hope this is the last snowfall of the season.

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  30. So glad your story about Miss Stinky has a happy ending! She looks like a sweetie.

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  31. My two kittens were chipped as soon as they were old enough - or I should say, large enough! My sister - their vet - told me that the numbers are registered with the people who make the chip - but unless you go to the website they only know what vet has them. So, naturally, I didn't want to waste time if either of the brothers got out and registered them when I went home. (She's in PA and I'm in NY) You're a very good woman (no surprise there) to put so much effort into finding the owner. Hope you had a great sewing day on Wednesday. We have good weather today (cold but no snow today) and hubby and I are getting Covid shots. Enjoy your day. Can hardly wait to see what you make with all those strips!

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  32. Bonnie, you are so kind to have helped that little pooch....thank you over and over again. I read your blog every day to see what's going on with Zoey, Lola, and little Ivy....so precious. Oh, and I love your work, too! Great pictures of your quilts, and your retreat is wonderful. Good luck to you and hope you can get it up and running soon. God bless you all! Peggie in NH

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  33. I found my beagle the same way as you. She was standing in the middle of our road near your house. Was not chipped. We drove around for several hours with no luck finding her owners. She was part of our family for 6 yrs. I miss her terribly. Btw the mail lady is Melissa. Happy quilting!

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  34. Miss Stinky is so sweet. She knew the inn was a friendly place.

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  35. You also have to pay the yearly fee for the registration on the chip. Thanks for rescuing this beauty! Our pets are so much a part of our family.

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  36. Well, Bonnie. Not to tell you what to do with the whites and tones but what I am doing is making a whitish flimsy an will use it as a lining when I get enough to do that. Have a nice day.

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  37. Miss Stinky sure is a pretty hound. Thanks to you she wont have to stay out in the bad weather coming your way. What good luck the vet was able to trace her and find her owner. I love happy reunions. Your strips look lovely hanging up all pressed and ready to use or store.

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  38. Love it! She looks just like our Sloan. He was a 1/4 Redbone, 1/4 Blue Tick, 1/2 Walker hound. He was a challenging dog. Did have a certain smell too. We loved him for 13 years. Loved his howl. Did she bark for you? Good memories. We never know who is going to come to your door. They just know which door have the good people in them. Thanks for sharing.

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  39. Thank you. I checked with rescue and I had not registered my coonhound. Went and did it.

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