A little about our largest pet...Fluffy

I want you to imagine what you think a dog named Fluffy would look like...take a few moments.

Smallish? Lots of fluffy hair? Maybe a bow? How about one of those lap dogs that sit contentedly with you keeping you company for hours!  That would be the exact opposite of this Cobb Cabin pet! Fluffy is our 6 year old 110 lb Labrador Retriever & German Shepherd mix. He is big, black, active and super friendly. He spends most of his time outside (his choice) where he patrols our 2 acres keeping watch for rabbits, birds, deer, racoon, and whatever else might threaten his "herd." He has some strong breed traits, the best is that we all are his sheep (except for Mr. who is clearly his boss).  He is the first dog I have ever had, and quite seriously the only one I trust 100%.

He was another rescue of sorts. Friends of ours had a black Lab visit their German Shephard and she had puppies. Puppies they weren't intending (they've taken care of any future litters) and when we were shown a picture of the last one they still had, our kids fell in love. Fluffy became ours. All 20 lbs of him. He was fuzzy and cute and hardly made a sound. People kept commenting about his paws. We just laughed and enjoyed our little bundle of fur. Then he grew and grew and grew some more.

He takes his job as the shephard of his flock (us) very seriously. He has quite a lot to warn us about. suspisious BUNNY! dangerous DEER! vicious BABY BUNNY! The neighbor is OUT! We hear about everything that might wander by. Even in the middle of the night. He sleeps on our front porch, right outside our bedroom and can go from a deep sleep on the porch to full alert in our front yard in about .5 seconds. Which is about the same time it takes to wake up Mr. and me from a deep sleep. It takes a little longer to get us back off the ceiling. ;-)

That being said, we don't mind at all (much). Those same shepharding  traits can be helpful. I can always tell which neighbor Mr. is chatting with because Fluffy will sit at that corner of our property and wait for him. If the kids are playing outside and they wander off the property, I hear about it right away. When everyone is gone for the day, he won't eat until at least one family member is back home. If I'm home alone during the day, I feel a bit more secure just because he's there. Fluffy would step between danger and any member of the Cobb family.

My very first facebook contest

As November is a special month here at the Cobb Cabin (being Mr.'s and my wedding anniversary), we thought we would have our very first facebook contest. We chatted a bit and decided to keep it simple.
All you need to do to enter is upload a picture onto the Cobb Cabin Craft's Facebook page.

It can be a picture of one of my products being modeled. Such as this:

Or if you don't have anything from Cobb Cabin Crafts yet, you could use a picture of a wishful model.

 Like this one:

Of course, I don't want to leave my handknit fans out! If you want to enter with a picture of some awesome handknit socks (or some cold feet) feel free to join the fun!

The prizes will be picked at random on November 14th. That's not exactly our anniversary, but it's close.  Currently the prizes include a pair of handknit felted mittens, a small animal tent, or $20 shop credit.

Anytime is a good time to knit

As a mom, I do a lot of waiting. Orthodontist appointment? I knit. Dance practice? I knit. Swimming lessons? More knitting. It's not that I'm patiently waiting because I'm not a very patient person. It helps me to have something to work on while I (im)patiently wait.

As the mother of a couple of budding athletes, I attend stress filled events where my children slide into bases, run through water, get hit with softballs (accidentally), try to tackle people, set picks, etc. It wears on me to see my children test their limits. Knitting calms me. Keeps me from shouting odd and embarassing things like "Be careful, honey!" or "Don't get hurt, Sweetie!" or the ever embarassing "RUN BABY RUN!"

Currently, my favorite time to knit is oral reading time. My youngest needs to spend time reading outloud as part of his weekly homework for school. It is so much fun to sit beside him and listen to his little voice reading. He's quite the kid and likes to use expression when he reads. I tell him he keeps me company while I knit and he takes his job seriously. I'll miss it when he becomes a bookworm like his older siblings.

As a friend/daughter/sister/etc., I often pray while I knit. I've knitted projects for friends and family members that they won't ever receive because giving them the knitted item was not the point. Praying for them was. Spending time knitting and chatting with God about the happenings and needs of others is time well spent, I think. We've had lots to discuss this past year and I have the knitting to prove it!

Michaela the sweetheart

This week's spotlight is our sweetheart, Michaela. We adopted Michaela from This Little Piggy & Me on Valentine's Day in 2010 in a huge snowstorm.  Mumble had been with us for about 6 months and we thought it was time for her to have a friend. Mumble had been alone at her last house and she certainly never played with Pumpkin and Spice (we're not interested in breeding for many reasons). We thought she might be happier with a friend. As we thought this through, we encountered a few problems. First, the rescue we adopted the boars from was no longer adopting out and the Toledo Humane Society rarely gets guinea pigs.  We started looking farther with the understanding that Mr. Cobb was only willing to drive *so* far for a guinea pig. He's a very patient man, but does have his limits and they should be respected.

We had a trip planned to visit family in Cincinnati and thought it would be convenient to adopt on that trip. We contacted TLP&M and started planning. I will go into greater details about the introdution/adoption process on a later post, but we did find out quickly that Mumble was not the sweetie we thought she was and ONLY Michaela would be tolerated. Michaela is a retired lab pig and has number 13 tatooed on her ears. She is a Pink Eyed White and while some may think her scary looking, we think she is beautiful! I wouldn't say it was BFF's on sight, but today they get along very well. Sometime these things take time (and a large cage).

Today Michaela is a happy, loving pet. She is the one who my daughters seem to seek out for snuggles first. She is a good 1000-1100grams. She really likes cuddle cups, tunnels and burrow bags, but by far her favorite place to be is a warm lap!

Diva Mumble

Meet Mumble our 4 year old Diva in the sows' cage. Mumble was one guinea pig we didn't go looking for, but fell in love with her after pigsitting her for a week. Her previous owner had become too busy with high school to give Mumble much time anymore and so we took her in. At that time we had Pumpkin and Spice who were still young and really active. Mumble was a welcome change as she was content to be held and cuddled.

Once at our house it was decided she needed a bigger cage and we started looking for C&C cage materials and Mumble's old cage was put in storage. She had several new experiences that first month with us: Timothy hay, KleenMama's pellets, daily fresh veggies, fleece bedding and room to run. The worst for her was nail trimmings. I admit she still isn't a big fan of them!

Mumble is our smallest guinea pig weighing in at a trim 900 grams or almost 2 lbs. She may be small, but she is mighty! She lives with two other sows and if the other two try to step out of line, she lets them know! Mumble's favorite accessories are cuddle cups, tunnels and burrow bags, all in my regular sizes.

Meet our Offensive Lineman, Spice

This Thursday is all about Spice. Spice is the other half of our boar bachelor pad. This two year old lives with his brother Pumpkin in a spacious homemade cage. In this first picture, they are roughly 5 months old. While they are bonded, they do not cuddle. They act just like most brothers do, picking on each other, but upset when one of them is away.

Currently Spice's weight hovers around 1500 grams or 3lbs 5oz. This is at the top of acceptable and has caused us to ration their pellets (and limit treats). You can see that he loves cuddle cups, but the regular size he squeezed into just doesn't work well for him. He's the reason I make oval cuddle cups! Spice's favorites include oval cuddle cups, tents and lairs. He really does not seem to care for burrow bags or tunnels and I think he just prefers to have room to stretch out.

Oval cuddle cup are much better for me!

Sigh, it's so quiet today

I'm not even sure I can really explain how it feels to send my children back to school. The house is quiet right now. It's rather unnerving how quiet it is. I do have the guinea pigs and Fluffy to keep me company, but they just don't generate the energy level that four children (8,10,12,& 14) do.

I wonder how their day is going? Do they have friends in their classes (remember how important that was?) or are they stuck with classmates they don't really know? (OK, that last one is a wee bit irrational as our local school system isn't very big, maybe 80-95 in each grade level, of course they have friends in their class). Did they eat all their lunch? Who did they play with at recess? Did they miss me? Oh the worries of a mom left behind.

The ironic thing is that starting at 4:00p.m. today the house will be terrifically loud and busy again. Piano lessons, cross country practice, supper, laundry (I wash & fold, they put away), homework, and the other natural family rhythms & routines we have. I'll have my questions answered and we'll all fall into bed tired ready to go again tomorrow.

For now, it's just me, my worries, some Binky's fudge http://www.etsy.com/shop/SexyStitches and coffee. I'll make it just fine, I always do...

I should go craft!

Have some Potato Soup

As far back as I can remember, my grandmother's potato soup has been one of my favorite soups. We would have it with chunks of cheese melted in it (and yes the melted strings of cheese mixed with crackers would create cheap jokes about sneezing into the soup), freshly baked bread, home canned pickles, and relishes. So lets rewind a few years (roughly 17) and imagine my excitement over receiving her potato soup recipe, written in her own hand, as a gift at one of my bridal showers:

Potato Soup
Several Potatoes
onion- a little
cook until done
thicken with a little flour
add milk and "season to taste"

That's it. Those were the instructions I had. Armed with that recipe I set out to create this soup I had been raving about for my new husband. Any ideas what that recipe becomes when given to a rookie cook? Boiled potatoes!!! Needless to say, my husband started getting a little worried about his diet for the rest of his life.

Happily, I have made a few modifications over the last several years! That "season to taste" part now includes a pat of butter, glop of sour cream, celery chunks, rivels* and fresh herbs (chives are great) if I have them. I'm proud to say that it is one of my children's favorite soups and Mr. is pleased it's become more than boiled potatoes!

*I'm not sure how to describe these! They are made with 1C (approx.) flour and one egg. I mix it together with a table knife until I have bits of dough the size of lima beans or almonds. They cook instantly when you add them to hot soup. My mom just uses the egg yolk, but I never know what to do with the leftover egg whites. They come from the German/Mennonite tradition I hail from.

Have a good one everyone...

Meet & Greet

One of the questions many potential customers have is what size cuddle cup/tunnel/burrow bag/etc. should I buy? In order to help answer that question, I thought I'd spend the next few Thursdays describing my herd and what size Cobb Cabin Crafts accessories I make for them.

Meet Pumpkin, one of our two year old brothers. He lives in a "home made" cage built by my daughter and my father. What fun bonding must have happened in Grandpa's workshop with this project! Pumpkin was adopted from a rescue (we are a rescue loving family) in August of 2009. He and his brother were just 4 months old when we brought them home and WOW has he grown up!

Pumpkin's weight is generally around 1300gr or 2lbs 13oz. While he will fit into my regular burrow bags and tunnels, I make him the XL size. He (and his brother) just have more room to stretch out in the XL's. He also cannot easily fit into a round cuddle cup, although it is funny to see him try! So, he has the oval size as it gives him a bit more "leg room" which is so important on those sleepy Sunday afternoons while watching sports. Right?

Well come on in and sit a spell...

Those are the words I remember hearing every time we walked in to my Grandma's house. They were quickly followed with coffee, cookies, and whatever else she could find to feed us. We rarely made it past the kitchen table at grandma's house and I cherish those memories. Even today in my mind hospitality equals a kitchen table. That being said, grab a coffee, a cookie or whatever you like and "Come on in and sit a spell" with me as I share about life, crafting, guinea pigs, and whatever else comes to mind!