Puppies, Flowers and Sewing... Oh my!

I am puppy sitting, and it is almost like having 4 year old quadruplets! Neighbor went to Kansas for the 4th of July so Libby (aka head bread thief) is on our doggie "to do list" and then... well, let's just say that a past life decided to go on vacation 5 days early so we added 2 more to the playgroup! Thank goodness the weather has been such that they could all be outside and that the one major difference between puppies and preschoolers is you can put puppies in "jail" and no one thinks you're being mean (or if they do they can't tell you!) and they don't mind sleeping in the garage in their crates!

Puppies in Prison

Several weeks ago I got this idea to be charitably creative or creatively charitable, I'm not sure which of the two it is. The idea can from a conversation with my friend John (who is currently serving in Iraq) and his comment that it was 112 degrees there now! Imagine, 112 degrees + body armour + camo + riding around in a Stryker.... I'm thinking it feels a little like my no knead bread in my pasta pot in a 425 degree oven. Anyway, I'd remembered seeing a pattern for "neck coolers" on the Ships Project website. Neck coolers are basically a fabric tube that you make pockets in and fill with water absorbing crystals. The "tubes"are then soaked in water and you tie them around your neck or head to keep you cool (or cooler if that is possible in 112 degree heat). The pattern recommends purchasing these crystal things from a company called Watersorb.

So I went on line and for less than $20 ordered a 2 lb bag - thinking this should be enough to make 10 or so... HA! Had I been a little smarter and read the pattern before ordering I would have figured out that it only takes 1 tsp of crystals to make 1 neck cooler. Any guesses as to how many you can make from a 2 lb bag? I'm not sure but I think maybe enough for half the soliders in Iraq!

In this picture there is a 1/4 of a tsp of dry crystals on the left and the same amount after adding about 1/2 cup or more of water and waiting 20 minutes. They are better than the "grow your own dinosaur/man/dog" things we used to get out of the gumball machines! (Miss G - I'm thinking a big pot of this stuff would make for good "brains" in your haunted house at school).

So I sewed 12 or so and sent them to Solider John and then I sewed another 12 or so and sent them on to the Ships Project (who is looking for donations). Then I looked at my 2 lb bag (which didn't look like I'd made any sort of a dent in it) and donated about 1 1/2 pounds to a local church group who is making them for charity...leaving me with a ziploc bag full of enough crystals I'm sure I could make at least 50 more!

Flowers, flowers, I do love flowers! And the hot weather at the beginning of the week made everything sort of burst into bloom and the cool weather of the past few days has kept their blossoms big and beautiful!