Showing posts with label dogs. Show all posts

Sad news...

| Published 12.23.2010

Hi all. It's been a bit quiet here on the ol' blog'o lately.

Last weekend, we said good-bye to Freya, one of our golden retrievers. I won't go into too much detail as the pain and loneliness are still quite raw but she developed a gastric dilatation and volvulus or "twisted stomach". We thought we caught it early and she was actually in pretty good shape for surgery... but under anesthesia she developed an unresponsive rapid heart beat and profoundly low blood pressure. Many people worked on her (and to those folks, I am forever grateful) but she just never responded to intensive treatment. Long story short, she never recovered from anesthesia. We got to say good-bye and be there when she left, and for that I am glad.
I couldn't face writing about it until now - there's a huge, painful void left in our hearts and home. But as time passes, hopefully the happy memories will outweigh the sadness of recent events. She was a WONDERFUL companion and friend. She came to us from an abusive home 4 1/2 years ago - and despite her lot in life, she had a beautiful spirit and absolute kindness towards people and animals (with the exception of squirrels - LOL!). She had a gusto for life and seemed to enjoy everything from playing fetch with a tennis ball to laying curled up next to her "brother" Spencer. She was a joy every single day and we were completely blessed to have her in our lives.
Here she is, running like the wind. She did that every time she went outside - she absolutely loved it :)

I miss her terribly but when I see this picture, I remember how it always made me smile to see her run like this. I find myself smiling through tears now.... and I think about how fitting that actually is - even though she is gone, she still finds a way to give me joy. Thank you Freya! We will love you always :)

Sorry - I hope I don't depress you all but writing about it, even a little, helps. Letting you all know a little about her is cathartic :)
Thank you, friends :)

Posted in dogs, Freya |

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

| Published 12.06.2009

It's really starting to seem Christmas-y - snow, music on the radio, decorations..... bring it on!

We just returned from a weekend in VA with family - it was so nice. Relaxing, great food, family and friends - what more can you ask for? On Saturday, there was a beautiful snowfall; actually about 6 inches of snow accumulation.

And, of course, we had to play a bit in the snow.... (picture shows Spencer, Freya and Dallas - he's proudly owned by my in laws)

Since the snow was a tad wet, this is what happens to pups with longer hair! The fun was worth the de-snowballing :)

This morning was even more incredible - the sun was out and all that snow was just pristine. How wonderful :) Days like this are completely life-affirming....

Since we don't get snow like this in East TN, we had to take the pups out to play some more. Being originally from Canada (Spencer) and the northern US (Freya), I think they miss the snow sometimes so I like to indulge them a bit on occasions such as this.

Dallas (above) seemed to really enjoy his first encounter with snow (he's only 11 months old and from TN). Ah, the simple joys :)

After arriving home, I decided to make a little card for the most recent Just Us Girls Challenge. It's a sketch challenge this week and, oh my goodness, please check out the DT's inspiration pieces if you haven't already - GORGEOUS!

*** Addendum - I was excited to realize that this card also qualifies for the Pile it On challenge this week which is to add glitter to a project :)

I cut the Christmas light bulbs with my cricut (Christmas cheer cart). I covered the surface with glue and added Martha Stewart glitter. I also added a touch of gold pen to the cardstock under the ribbon and above and below the sentiment. Very little stamping on this one.

I just love Christmas lights - my Dad always put up those large, mutlicolor bulbs on the exterior of the house. I still remember the glow coming through the window at night, gently illuminating the bedroom. There is still something just so comforting about that memory :) Love this time of year!

That's all for today. Hope you all had a great weekend! Thanks so much for stopping by!

TTFN,

---------------------------------

Ingredients (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated):
Stamps: Stocking prints (sentiment)

Ink: New leaf

Paper: Pure poppy, stamper's select white, plum pudding, DCWAV patterned paper and gold metallic paper
Other: cricut, Christmas cheer cartridge, new leaf ribbon, gold paint pen, rectangle nesties, glitter

Posted in Cards, dogs, JUGS challenge, pictures |

What a week!

| Published 11.06.2009

Wow - never, ever expected this to happen to us (of course, you rarely expect bad things to happen to you). I came home yesterday after work and found my back doors wide open. Took me a few seconds to realize we'd been the victims of burglary. My first thought was for the animals - one cat and dog were immediately visible; one dog and cat were "missing". I ran through the house calling for my wayward pets - the cat appeared. The dog, Spencer, did not. As I was heading outside to begin searching, through a window I saw him running across our yard - thank goodness. He was pretty happy, seemed fine (aside from being covered in cow poop :)) - hopefully he just had a good run for himself :) We lost a few items (portable electronics and my wedding/engagement rings) as well as my peace of mind - needless to say we've got a security company coming out for an estimate today. Sad thing is, we've talked about getting an alarm system for months - ahhhh, you live, you learn. All in all, the stuff is just stuff.... replaceable. Thanks goodness the animals are ok. The cats are strictly indoor cats and I'm so surprised they didn't make a run for it :)

So while I await the arrival of the security people, I've got a few pics to share. I was playing with my camera outside and snapped a few shots of the furry babes.

Sleepy Spencer...he loves his stuffed toys. How cute is that?