A New Family Member

Axel

Not quite sure what possessed my DH. But he decided that WE wanted another dog. He was undecided about the breed until just recently. Like last night. His first trip to South Africa he was introduced to the South African breed of mastiff called the Boerbul. You can find more information on the breed here . I have met a few of the breed and they are a nice dog, but they don’t make my heart sing. But if that was the dog my DH wanted then that is the breed we would have gotten.

See I came with a dog to the relationship. A 5 pound Yorkie; a Foo-Foo dog. He was MY dog until he met my DH and then he changed his allegiance -the only person that would do for him was the DH. I only counted when the DH was gone. That little guy lived for 15 ½ years. In the meantime I also acquired a cat (Spaz), and we had another dog or two (rescues). And then we got Axel. While we were both in on the deciding… Axel was my dog to train and house break, etc. The housebreaking went very well, and the training… well he knows what we’re saying, but doesn’t always DO, and when I leave the house he lays by the backdoor waiting for me to come home. DH says he mopes.

So after all the expenses of Axel, and they are ongoing due to his allergies, DH decided we needed another dog. So we had a lead on an excellent breeder. She had 2 females (3 months and 5 months) and a litter due later in the month. We had already decided on an older pup and when we saw her - well he fell for the 3 month old, actually we both did.

Meet Linzy.

They are both German Shepherd Dogs. Axel is more of a ‘working’ look, think guard or police and our new one is the more traditional GSD, and they are really different than the ‘work’ model, although… she is pretty enough to show and maybe trained in Schutzhund, see more here , which we just might try.

To our surprise Axel has been the model surrogate parent/friend to the pup. He has always been rather selfish with his toys (never gives them willingly), rambunctious and protective of me. But he has been patient; curious and most surprising of all very giving with all of the toys. He has been so very calm it’s scary. Due to the size and weight difference, they have not been allowed to play off lead together, but we have let them interact freely in the house, but under supervision.

I hope the integration continues to go smoothly, and they become fast friends. One of them will be undergoing a certain surgery in the very near future. Not sure if it will be Axel or Linzy.



As to the names- I generally don’t go for naming pets with people names, but he was an A -litter dog and his name needed to start with the letter ‘A’… Apple, Arnold, Axis, Ace – NO they just didn’t sound right. Axel… came up and we were in a car… so … Axel -is for a car part… the Axel o f the car. His full name is Axel vom Barnhart; and if we had the opportunity to name the new dog… it would have also been a car part or a car. But she came with Linzy and she responds to it well enough, that it will stick.

So now we have Axel and Linzy, both people-ish names….

More Later!  Beth

All About Quilting!!!

Friday was the Pretoria Piecemakers get together. We met at Sakuras home. She is a delightfully, warm and sweet person. She always arrives at all the meetings with food in hand, and so far I have enjoyed every bite!!! I would love to get to know her better. But alas she will be leaving in September too. For our lunch she make a seafood Risotto and a huge tossed green salad.

front-Sakura, Mishi (Agnes' son) & Lea
back-Agnes, Marian, Jan & Dee

Agnes will also be leaving too, (Sunday). We met at her home for my first meeting. She served some awesome foods too. I am sure we will miss some of the treats when she leaves as well. Agnes has a wonderful sense of color and texture and made a wonderful necklace from beads at the last bee.

We have been asked by Jan, (she will be returning to the States soon too), to bring 5” squares of fabric to trade. Of course I don’t have any suitable fabrics with me… so I will need to purchase some. I think the swapping of 5” charm squares will become a tradition among the Piecemakers.

Earlier this week -(Tuesday), a neighbor lady stopped by to say hello and welcome an American Quilter to South Africa. She brought with her a piece of Shwe Shwe, (sha way sha way), a piece of South African fabric, with a note attached with her phone number and an invitation to drop in sometime for a chat. Talk about a small world… she lives on the same street (see below about the street), as I do. Her name is Susara, and used to live in the house that used to be on this lot, while waiting for their new house to be completed. She belongs to the Pretoria Guild called the Jacaranda Quilters. She got my name and address from another lady that also belongs to the Jacaranda Quilters that I have been corresponding with via email since I first landed here. Her name is Corrianne and I will be meeting with her soon too. Susara hosts a small bee that meets on Wednesday evening and I have been invited to drop in next week!!! I I sure do wish I had something work on. I suspect I will be done with the Snap Sack project soon.

The street we live on used to be a circle… enter on one end and loop around and exit on to the same street you entered from a little further on. Well at some point the Homeowners on the loop, decided to make it a gated community, so only one end of the loop is open to traffic. The whole loop is about ¼ mile in length. You must enter through a boom gate with a guard, and visitors must fill out an entry into a log book. So, we feel very secure in our neighborhood, between the community gate with a guard and our own gate and sentry!!! Speaking of guards, while Jan and I were out and about the other day, they came and posted the ‘Guarded by’ signs in the compound.

I have found an interesting design inspiration… on my outdoor table. Can’t you just envision this design quilted?

As Always, there will be more later!!!

Beth