Farset is 9 months old

Farset turned 9 months old on July 7th. We went to the vet on Friday, July 11th, and she is up to 127 pounds. She is almost as tall as Lagan and may get close to his weight at 10 months. He was 140 pounds when he was 10 months old. He then lost 10 pounds, and bounced up and down between 130 and 140 for several years. I wouldn't be surprised of she tops out at 140 (10 stone for my English readers). It is definitely possible that she will get taller than Lagan. After all, her mother was about two inches taller than Lagan. I'll have to wait and see. Her weight had been pretty stable at 115 for about a month and a half.

Lagan's weight is in the 175 to 180 pound range which I consider too heavy. As I said earlier, he weighed in at 140 for a long time. It was only once we got Farset that Lagan suddenly became very food obsessed. I have cut back on his dry food and am adding in cooked broccoli stems pieces as added fiber to help him feel full.

Since we got Farset, he has been getting a lot more exercise. She certainly makes sure that he runs around a lot. I also take him and Farset out on walks usually twice a day, depending on my work schedule and the weather. If you have ever seen my driveway, you will know that those are not easy walks. I may have to go to a weight reduction food in hopes that it will help.

The problem with monitoring Lagan's weight is that he is not easy to weigh. I have to take him to the vet to get weighed. I usually weigh Farset at PetSmart when we are there. I'm not sure that Lagan will even fit onto the scale at Banfield (it is in a box instead of being out on the floor like at most vets. I've been going by how he feels and looks.

So far I've lost 27 pounds

So far I've lost 27 pounds. I am more than halfway to my weigh loss goals. I will have to wait until I get closer to my final goals before I decide what is the right weight/condition.

I've been doing the low carbohydrate diet thing since March (I think). I read the book "Good Calories, Bad Calories" and created a diet with that information in mind. It is primarily the Atkins diet with a little less restriction. Because of the negative association with the Atkins diet, I have been describing it as just a low carb diet. Specifically, I say that I am eating "no sugar, no grains, no fruit."

I am also avoiding starchy vegetables (actually low glycemic load vegetables). So I'm not eating winter squashes (butternut, acorn, spaghetti, etc), sweet potatoes, peas, corn, lima beans, beets, etc. I also limit my intake of beans; legumes, not green beans. Primarily, I eat tomatoes, greens, cabbage family vegetables (such as broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, cabbage, etc.), bean sprouts, lettuces, mushrooms, summer squashes, raw carrots, onions, shallots, etc.

I eat as much protein and fats as I like. The fats and proteins keep me from getting hungry. I don't eat just to eat. I eat limited amounts of nuts. For snacks, I primarily eat nuts (cashews, macadamias, and almonds), cheese, and Atkins chocolate chip granola bars. For desert, I've been eating sugar free Jello cups.

I firmly believe that if I am hungry, I need to eat. If I don't, my metabolism with decide that I am in starvation mode and slow down my metabolism (within reason). By not eating the sugar and grains, I keep my blood sugar and insulin levels low and relatively stable. It makes me less likely to get uncontrollable cravings for sugary or starchy treats. It is the first three days that are the hardest. I do try to avoid situations where I am watching other people eat sweet things. Sweets are the biggest craving for me.

I'm going to SOAR this year

I got into SOAR (Spin Off's Autumn Retreat) this year. SOAR is an annual spinning conference that is probably the largest in the world. The top instructors teach there. If you spin, this is the place to be.

http://www.interweave.com/spin/events/soar/

My getting in this year was due to luck (and statistical probability). A lot more people applied to go this year compared to the number of available spots. They had a 5 day period in April where they accepted applications. From those applications, they selected by random drawings who got to attend. Some of it is related to the popularity of the classes you are interested in taking.

SOAR consists two separate parts. The first part is a three day intensive course. They have several choices available. Participants are able to list three choices in order.

The second part of SOAR is two days of half day classes. That is just strictly a numbers game. You don't choose the classes until you are at SOAR.

To me, with the price of travel, it only makes sense to attend both parts. The location changes every year. This year it is in the Poconos in Pennsylvania. Next year it is in Bend, Oregon. Last year it was in Michigan.

Got to have something to look forward to. I've been keeping really busy with the pet sitting and dog walking. Yes, I am walking dogs in the middle of the day and the highs last week were in the upper 90's to 101. The heat here is a wet heat, so it makes it feel quite a bit hotter.

Yes, It has been forever since I posted

Yes, it has been forever since I posted a blog entry. Farset and work have been keeping me insanely busy. I've also been trying to complete some knitting projects. I made a fancy diagonal mohair scarf for my DH's aunt. I just finished my first real sock. I started last spring. I am not real thrilled with how it turned out. I definitely need to practice my kitchner stitch.

Farset turned 8 months old last weekend. She is about 115 pounds (and has remained so for the last 3 weeks) and about 30 inches tall. She is going to be a big girl.

More later including pictures.

Dog Show Week

It has been a week of dog shows. They started on Tuesday and will continue until Sunday. I have been insanely busy consequently. Fortunately, I'm only showing Lagan in the real shows. I will be showing Farset on Friday evening (assuming that her sprained ankle is better) at basically a practice match. Just like a real match, but without the points and usually helpful tips. My BIL handled Lagan on Tuesday, we came in second out of two. After showing Lagan on Tuesday, my sister had me bring Lagan over to her barn and we stripped the heck out of him (mostly my sister) and then gave him a bath. He certainly looks better, but if it weren't for the shows, I wouldn't go to all the trouble.

I handled Lagan on Wednesday with the same result as Tuesday. My sister gave me constructive criticism afterwards. I handled Lagan again today with a similar result, third out of three. I arrived late and really didn't have my head together, so I am not surprised that we didn't do very well today. I tried to remember as much as I could from what my sister said. I do think that it helped.

As of Friday, the shows become really big. There will be 25 Irish Wolfhounds competing on Saturday. I don't think that I have ever seen that many in a show.

On top of the dog shows, I have dog walks and pet sitting to do too. I have also been walkign Lagan and Farset in the afternoons. Lagan may get some exercise, but Farset hasn't and gets a little explosive. So for her sake, I try to get them both out too. And if you have ever seen our driveway, it is a good cardio workout just getting to the street.

I certainly have been getting a lot of exercise. Since I am not getting any thinner, in my opinion, it just reinforces the message from the "Good Calories, Bad Calories" book. When you exercise more, you get hungrier to compensate. I have been trying to cut out the carbs, but they are truly an addiction at this point. It is going to take some non-super stressful time to get past the hump. If I can make it for three days, things begin to get much easier.

I love my dogs. They can just be a little challenging at times. Trying to handle them myself and work full time and do anything else is a struggle right now. The shows will be over on Sunday, then back to once a week handling practice. I do want to enter them in the Hound show in early May. Farset will be old enough to show by then. I will need someone else to handle one of the dogs in case we do really well. With them being different genders, they don't initially compete against each other. It would only be an issue if they both won their groups.

I am also craving fiber arts. I did actually finish spinning my yak/dyeing experiements yarn. My goal was fluffy and soft and I think that it accomplished that. I had no interest in making it really uniform or anything along those lines. I still haven't gotten a photo of it yet.

Fiber Craft Overload

I have quite a bit of space in one large bedroom to use as a craft room. When we first moved in, I sorted all of my craft things into boxes with the intent to put them away once I had a better idea of how I wanted my room to function and obtained the appropriate storage.

Well, the Vet Tech program at Central Carolina Community College happened, and I didn't do anything craft oriented for the year I was attending the program. Since then, I have been working out of the boxes. I started to get more involved in knitting and actually bought yarn from stores (rather than spinning it myself). I had a small dresser that worked pretty well to store it. I kept buying yarn as I learned more. Most of my early yarn purchases were novelty yarns. I have quite a lot of that kind of stuff, especially since I most of my yarn purchases were from AC Moore and in the beginning, I would buy enough yarn to do a particular project 2 or 3 times (usually in different colors).

I worked for Nancy of Nancy's Knit Knacks for about a year and learned a lot more about knitting and the fiber arts business and just how hard it is to make a living in the fiber arts business. I have been involved with dog training and my own pet sitting and dog walking business since then. So I have spend up until the last 3 months staying busy with that.

After getting a little overwhelmed with the pet side of my life, I am finally back to doing more crafty kinds of things. Farset, our 5 month old puppy, has made it almost impossible to spin up until now, but I have been able to knit. I have been doing enough knitting to have a better understanding of yarn and how to use it in projects.

I am in the process of sorting through my craft room/office finally. I have sorted the yarn into the different sizes. I used a WPI (wraps per inch) tool to determine the size and attached it as a small label on the yarn. Not all yarn marked Worsted or DK or fingering is actually the size the label claims it is.

Now I just have to find homes for it all. Plus I need to finish going through everything else in my sewing room/office so that I can actually get some things accomplished. I really need to have an additional table set up. My desk/table contains two monitors, a desktop, and a dysfunctional printer. There really isn't room for much else.

I have a knitting machine that I would like to set up. I have a drum carder that I would actually like to use on occasion. I really need to have a ball winder and swift set up all the time. I just remind myself that I have to take it one day at a time. I really need to find someone to help out with the dog walking. It is hard to grow my business (and find time for crafts) when I am working all the time.

Pictures Finally - How big is she?

I finally got a chance to process some pictures of Farset.

She looks very puppyish in these pictures. You don't really get an idea of scale.

Here is a photo of Lagan and her together. You still don't really get a good idea of her size.

Since I am usually taking pictures, I am not usually in them. I have a photo of Farset graduation photo that includes me. All of these pictures have been taken in the last 2 weeks.