Pupdate: Yakira

Posted on October 18, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Yakira at six months

It was kind of strange today, realizing that it has been a week since we got the news that Yakira had been career changed. The first few days after that were kind of crazy. We had decisions to make about her future. Since Yakira was a guide for less than a year it was our responsibility to decide what should happen. Saturday morning the perfect placement for Yakira came to light. Yakira is going to live in Florida and join Apex’s extended family. Apex’s handler, Sue was chatting with her mother about Yakira and the inspiration hit that Yakira would be the perfect companion for Sue’s mom. Sue called us to find out if it was possible and we said yes and agreed that it was a great idea.

We have spent the last week trying to figure out the logistics of getting Yakira from Oregon to Florida. Not an easy task because there are no direct flights making it too long for Yakira to go by cargo. 18 hours in a crate is just not a good idea. So the current plan is to get Yakira to us in the next week or so and then send her by direct flight to Florida. There are a few possibilities and if those don’t work out we will drive to Oregon to pick her up. I’m excited to have Yakira stay with us for a day or two between the legs of her cross-country trip. I’m just as excited for her to get to Florida and get adjusted to her new family!

Laundry Tells Stories

Posted on October 17, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

by abdelrahman dnewar of Mansourah, Egypt on Behance

While I was browsing on Behance today, I came across this collection of photos that tells the stories of families in Egypt through their laundry hanging on the line. I’d never thought of this before. Hanging clothes out on the line isn’t something I see much of in my neighborhood it is fun and inspiring me to open my eyes to the things in our culture and the bits of info, photos and ephemera that tells us stories about our families. Stories are all around us, I’m just not as aware of them as I’d like to be.

Have you noticed any unexpected ways stories are told in the world around you?

another photo from abdelrahman dnewar

More on Story Prompts

Posted on October 16, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Since I’ve been working on my story prompts project (I really am making progress and I should have something to share soon.) I’ve noticed story prompts in more places. In Your Story Coach‘s October newsletter besides listing her own “story sparks” Tami also shared a Tumblr site that shares daily writing prompts. Both of these resources are intriguing and I want to use them in future projects.

What have you used to help get your memory going?

Story Prompts: update (tellingfamilytales.com)

Big Things From a Tiny Kitchen

Posted on October 15, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Here is a fun way to share your passion about food with family and friends. The first part of the video talks about making the cook book and the last part how to make her signature dish. Below are previews of her two cookbooks. I love the idea of putting together your own beautiful cookbooks. Food is such an important part of families and our memories of childhood and good times together. These books are great inspiration.

salt from my table by Lindsay Meyer | Make Your Own Book

a fork from my drawer by Lindsay Meyer | Make Your Own Book

Yakira Update

Posted on October 11, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Yakira

We got news today on Yakira. She will not be reissued as a guide dog. I’m sad about that. We wanted to have them look for another service organization for her but her official paper works says she was dropped for scavenging instead of the puddle issue she was returned for. They are doubtful that another organization will take a risk with the scavenging history. I don’t understand the scavenging because she has great house manners, so it might be stress at being back in the kennels. We will probably never know. We could bring her home and keep her or place her with someone. Guide Dogs for the Blind will also place her with someone on the long waiting list for career changed dogs. I never dreamed that of all the puppies we raised this would be Yakira’s path in life. This is the downside of being a puppy raiser.

Candy Window Update

Posted on October 10, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Snoopy’s Doghouse

Still plugging away on Snoopy‘s doghouse. I’m getting close though. I didn’t get any work done on it last Saturday so the roof didn’t get finished until this week. The last step is the trim which consists of around the door, the eaves and the edges of the roof (can’t think of what that is called, or maybe those are the eaves and the other is the soffit). Anyway, I digress. Around the door is done, both gable ends are done. I have a little piecing to do on the soffit on one end and about 2/3 of the edge of the roof on one side.

I’m excited to be almost done with the doghouse. That is a big chunk of the window.

The Struggle is Part of the Story

Posted on October 9, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

by Whitney of blog.whitneyenglish.com

I came across this quote recently and it resonated with me on so many level. I love it for applying in my personal life and in telling the stories of my life and my family and my ancestors. Life isn’t meant to be smooth sailing, even thought we think it is. We learn and grow so much because of the struggles, be they small or monumental. I also love this quote on a visual level too. Great job all around Whitney!

In Whitney’s original post she listed six main points that help her keep a good attitude in the struggle:

you’ve got to find gratitude
stop searching for happiness
have faith, take heart, choose courage
let it go
don’t be afraid to hope for better
hope does not disappoint

You can find her entire post here.

Story Prompts: update

Posted on October 8, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Prototype for My Story Prompt Jar

I got some more work done on my story prompts jar idea today. I’m really excited how it is coming together. I used the great questions from StoryCorps.org. Instead of printing the questions on card stock I got some chipboard. My new printer can handle really thick paper so I thought I’d give it a try. I was inspired by tongue depressors and the idea that with the colored tips you can keep track of which questions you have done by flipping them over.

I still have some work to do to clean things up and tweak the pages some. I also what to design a simple journal to go with the jar as a gift. When I get the files finished I’ll share them here.

Candy Window Update: Snoopy’s Doghouse

Posted on October 3, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

my work space in the corner of the garage

This week the candy gluing started in earnest. I prefer to do the parts that I use silicone caulk as the adhesive out in the garage. That way the house doesn’t get stunk up and I don’t have to worry so much about having adequate ventilation. But first I needed to make a space in the corner of the garage for me to work. It is amazing how much stuff accumulates in the garage over the course of a year. I’m really happy with how I was able to fit an old table into the corner. It has created a great workspace.

Since then I’ve been gluing red Aussie style licorice to Snoopy’s doghouse all week. I’m just about done with the walls. I should be able to finish them tomorrow. Then the roof covered with cinnamon bears is next on the list. Last step of the doghouse is the trim. I’ll work on that next week. Which should keep me on schedule.