Nature needs rain ...

[scottishlass]

It is only 12 o'clock and today I already got drenched twice. Yesterday was a very beautiful, warm, sunshiney day and today we have autumn again. WTF! But it is so typical for German summer, one day it is hot the next you'll need your woollen jumpers and socks.

Before all the rain started this morning (5 AM) I took two photos ... probably the last two blooms of my little kitchen garden - But I'm already looking forward to next year where I will be doing even more.







Yesterday we were at the beach again and somehow with the rain pouring down at the moment I can't bend my mind around it. I was swimming yesterday and almost got sunburnt and today I'm sitting with my favourite (orange) cardigan in front of the computer. Oh well.









Anyone know where to find a good A-line skirt pattern? I want to make several A-line skirts from vintage fabric for autumn and somehow I couldn't find any fitting ones in my sewing books, or not too adjustable for queen size.

Comments

[ginger001]

Lovely flowers! and the dogs seem to be having such a great fun ;)

I don't think I have good A-line skirt pattern, since the only that come to mind are from Japanese sewing books and I don't think they fit me either :S But I'm sure my mom has since she has tons of sewing magazines (she is a seamstress (dressmaker, whatever the word)).

If you can't find any you like online or in magazines, tell me and I'll ask her.

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

Yeah the dopgs love going to the Rhine and for us humans it is also nice because when it is warm it feels like being at the beach. It's like being on vacation, and one of the best things are, that the Rhine has been much much cleaner than 30 years ago when I was a kid. In the last 30 years all governments of the Rhine countries (Switzerland/France/Belgium/Germany & the Netherlands) decided to keep the Rhine clean again and since then you can not only swim in it but fish are in there again, esp. salmon and eel which you can actually eat (and have become delicatessen).

I will be downtown today to look for a particular Burda pattern which is said to be good, but if I don't find it, I will gladly accept your offer :) Thank you :)

[back2real.livejournal.com]

ooh, I love your pictures, especially Chica swimming, looks like she's having a blast! so cute!

Is it really already fall there? In Chicago fall wouldn't really come till almost October.

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

Chica only likes to swim if I am standing waist deep in the water, then she comes to *rescue* me ... once she reaches me, she clings her front paws around my leg (always leaves scratches with her paws) and looks up as if saying "Can you tow me back, mommy, pleeeeeeaaaase?"

Cenour is a real water dog ... he loves to swim and we also support this quite a bit as the swimming is good for his lame front leg.

Well we are having fall weather already even though the leaves are still green. We had rainy gales and floodings here in Europe as if it was autumn already. At some days rain was falling on one day as much as for the complete three summer months. Hence the floodings in Britain. Ususally leave turn golden by end of September, then turn red and russet by end of October all through November if we had a very hot summer. But usually we have Altweibersommer (hag's summer aka Indian Summer) the whole of October.

[back2real.livejournal.com]

aww, wow, Chica is sooo cute, swimming out to rescue you! I have no idea if Shoji would like to swim. Since Schnauzers were bred to hunt rats, I'm guessing it's not really in their blood, though he does seem to love water and doesn't mind having baths. There's one beach in the area called "dog beach" where they can go and jump in the ocean if they want, but, all those dogs roaming free, off leashes makes me uncomfortable.

Believe it or not, we DO have change of seasons in Southern California. I was very surprised to find that when I moved here (though there are more of the trees that change leaves in LA, I think). This summer has been unusually hot, I think, so I look forward to the cooler temperatures of fall!

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

If he likes water your Scnauzer might be a water rat like Cenour. Chica only tolerates water and she only swims to me when I'm in the water, otherwise she only goes into the water up to her paws.
If you don't feel comfortable unleashing your dog, why not buy one of these really long leashes used for searches? They are called search-lines over here, you can find them in good pet stores. This way you can still have control over the dog. We used it with Cenour who is deaf, so he knew whne he was too far away and/or was supposed to have a look at us - one tug, and he turned. Now he does it automatically and doesn't need to be on the leash anymore.
Most dogs are very sociable, esp. when they are off a leash and in a more neutral surrounding like the beach. So I don't think you will have too many problems with fights.

[back2real.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm a little paranoid b/c for some reason my last Schnauzer was a magnet for attacks by bigger dogs. Even a normally calm Golden Retriever attacked him once, so I'm ultra-careful now. So far Shoji seems to only attract friendly dogs and makes friends with everyone. I do have one of those flexi-leashes (the extending kind) but was warned against using them by the breeder I got my dog from b/c you can't control them when they're so far away from you. A lot of the times my past dog got into trouble it was when I was using that leash and he got all tangled up with the other dog. Sigh ... they're just like kids, aren't they? So many things you have to be careful of!

happy weekend! :-)

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

Don't use a flexi dog leash, they are awful and far too thin IF you need to grab onto it. The search leashes I have mentioned are not flexi, they are between 6 and 10 metres long and of course you have to keep the whole length in your hand when you keep the dog close. You can say it is more or less a very long rope with carabiners at both ends :) Here is something I found on the net training leash (http://www.dog.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=320606%2B715&QTY=1&More+Info.x=58&More+Info.y=12) - they come in all sizes from very thin too much wider which is much better to grab on.

Have a good weekend :)

[back2real.livejournal.com]

ahh, so it's basically a long lead? I have a 6 ft. nylon one that seems to work pretty well for him, so far anyway! thanks!

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

Yep. You are welcome :)

[rika-66.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this Summer is slowly coming to its end...

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

And strangely enough I don't mind too much. I'm ready for autumn and the rainy season. I'm so fed up with the on again, off again summer this year, I would love to see the leaves turn in their russet colours.

[rika-66.livejournal.com]

Well... I agree. I love early autumn with its red-and-golden colors.

This year in Moscow summer was cool enough (about +21-25 in general), still there was only one week of really strong heat (in May!). This is good. I hate when it's too hot.

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

We had also a very hot April and May and then very cold weeks with torrential rains and in July it was always touch and go ... one day we had heat up into the 30's and the enxt day we had about 13 to 18° Celsius.