PERCY LET GO OF THE GRASS TODAY

I don't know how I am going to finish this post, but the best dog in the world passed away early this morning laying in Bob's arms next to Louisa. Percilina has been with us for 13 years (we adopted her from a shelter about this same time) and she honestly was the best dog ever.  I've never really been a dog person, an animal lover for sure, but not a dog person, but Percy changed all that.  She brought wisdom and peace to our family and everyone that knew her.  She was beyond special and she taught us everything she knew in her old wise ways. I could go on and on about all the times we've had with her; her silly ways. Like how she liked to have the goat milk squirted right into her mouth, straight from the teat!  Or how when she entered a room she would just wiggle and wag her tail like, "I'm here, your life is better now!" (Just look for Percy on the sidecolumns for more of her escapades) It was so difficult to watch her grow old.

Maddie once told me about a book where a grandmother and her granddaughter would lie in the grass and look up at the stars and her grandmother would tell her, "Don't let go of the grass because you will fly to heaven."  This is my favorite saying about someone when the pass away.  Not - they died, or passed on, but that they let go of the grass and flew to heaven.  And I know that is where Percy is - right now, showing all the other dogs (and people) everything she knew in her old wise ways.

Louisa seems lost, and Edie seems sad. I know we shed a lot of tears today.  And probably will in the future.

She is now out by the garden.  We will be planting flowers for her.  I miss you so much, Percy! I will miss snuggling with you every night! You are and always will be the best dog ever!

A WEEK OF SLEEP, SICKNESS AND THE NEAR DEATH OF TWO KITTENS

 Yes, since last Monday, each night I have slept for 11 hours.  For most people this is unheard of but I really manage to get about 9 hours every night anyway.  I need it, it's part of who I am.  But to sleep 11 hours more than one night in a row, I had a feeling it was my body telling me something.  And I was correct: come Wednesday I felt it - the scratchy throat, the lethargy.  I was sick.  This is something that doesn't happen to me, the last time I was sick was about 6 years ago when I got asthma, and before that about 4 or 5 years and maybe that was just a little cold.  Anyway, I wasn't terribly sick, just tired.  The lethargy was just terrible and on Friday I slept for 18 hours! Wow!  I had my art show Saturday, so I had to get up and get my large photo canvases hung, but I just couldn't stay and help out, I was needing some more sleep if I were to make it through the night.

I did, it was a fabulous evening and thanks to my new friend Cassandra - it went off with out a hitch!  It was well attended and everyone loved the art work displayed.  I was a very happy little girl.

So yesterday was Sunday and I woke up feeling pretty darn good.  I went out and did chores and felt much better, almost anxious because with all that sitting around and resting - my ass was getting numb.  It was time to get out.  But knowing full well that when you start feeling a little better after being sick, you should NOT over do it or you will regret it!  So I took it easy, did some work on my websites, since I had two days off in a row (!)  unheard of really… and then just went to bed at 9.

Now things were going quite well, I was still sleeping soundly and enjoying my nice warm bed when I heard the God awful sound of someone hacking at the God awful time of 5 am.  Yes, hacking!  ukk ukk ukk haaaccckkk!

Gross!

Then it happened again.  ukk ukk ukk haaaccckkk!

and again. ukk ukk ukk haaaccckkk!

and again. ukk ukk ukk haaaccckkk!

and again. ukk ukk ukk haaaccckkk!

and again. ukk ukk ukk haaaccckkk!

Ok!  That was it!  Percy had a hacking problem and it was totally grossing me out, interrupting my sleep, and not to mention I had to listen to the lap, lap, lap after each and every hack!  OMG!  I know, dogs do that, but super gross!

So I said, "Come on Perc."  and I led her upstairs, got myself a cup of water, went and laid down on the coach in the office, and tucked myself under the big, comfy fleece blanket hoping for another hour or two of sleep.

Except a couple of other beings in the house had another idea.  Just as I am about to relax into a deep slumber I am pounced upon by some bugger called Bear.  I resisted the temptation to throw her across the room and placed her gently on the floor instead.

Now in this family there is something that is an unwritten law with us.  We DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT interrupt someone's sleeping.  I instilled this in my daughters from day one and if you come into a room to find someone taking a nap, you better leave the room and not interrupt them unless you want to take your life into your own hands.  This is a cause for murder in my book.  Sleep is precious, not to be messed with, dude.

So when an animal doesn't understand this law I don't know why, I mean they sleep 20 hours a day!  I never interrupt them!  Ever!  I go outta my way to make sure I do not disturb them, you would think they would offer me the same courtesy.

But no.

Next came that little butt hole Cashew, who decided that my water tasted better then his water and started lapping up some out of my water glass.  Then preceded to knock it over.  All over my notebooks!  Now I'm MAD!  I grab each and everyone of them darn kittens and the other cat in there and throw them out of the room, slam the door and lay back down.

Wide awake.

Well, at least I feel better now.

How could something so cute be so evil?

BASSET EVIL

The other day I was enjoying my leftover spareribs (recipe not posted yet) when the dogs had surrounded me in the usual beggin' position. Now, mind you.  In spite of their powerful pleading,  that is the basset specialty, I knew that I would not and could not give them the tasty, succulent treat they desired, spare rib bones are not safe to give dogs.  However in the basset world the mere idea of a bone, the concept of a bone, the Aristotelian  model of a bone can lead to madness and chaos, the fogging of the basset brain.  Louie's eyes glazed over, with spare rib bone lust, the drool slowly hung from her jowl in a long stream of glistening siliva. Before I knew it - she snapped!  Literally and figuratively.  A tussle broke out and the fur was flying.  Heroically, Bob ran from the other room and grabbed the rump of Louie and I had the back end of Percy and we pulled them apart.  We knew little of the extent of the damages until later in the evening, at bedtime, when the dogs joined us as we snuggled under the covers, that the true damage was exposed.  Percy was perforated in the face!

Evil, Louie, bad Louie.  Poor Percy!  How can just the notion of food turn an otherwise pleasant and passive, stinky smelling hound into a crazed, blood thirsty, psychopathic killer?

No worries, Percy is healing well and is on the road to recovery.  I spent several times cleaning it with peroxide and putting iodine on it.  She's looking better every today.

Louie says she's innocent.  She can't take blame for when food takes over her psyche.

HAPPY BOLIDAYS! I MEAN HOLIDAYS (I keep hitting the B instead of the H - what's that telling me?)

Happy holidays!  and if you know me at all, I do my best to eat well and healthy.  But I always agree with letting loose a little now and then, and what better time then the holidays!  I got this in an email the other day and found it to be quite humorous.  Enjoy!

 FYI - very important!

 **********

 HOLIDAY EATING TIPS

    1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet
 table knows nothing of the Holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots,
 leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

    2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare... You
 cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that
 it has 10,000 calories in every... sip? It's not as if you're going to turn
 into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for
 me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

    3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of
 gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your
 mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

    4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk
 or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car
 with an automatic transmission.

    5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to
 control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is to eat
 other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

    6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New
 Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is
 the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table
 while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

    7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like
 frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself
 near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the
 center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave
 them behind, you're never going to see them again.

    8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each.
 Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have
 three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

    9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the
 mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some
 standards.

   10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the
party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read
tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember
this motto to live by:

And one of my favorite sayings :

    "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of
 arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid
 in sideways, chocolate in one hand and wine in the other, body thoroughly
 used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

    Merry Christmas!!

LOST IN SPACE

Had to send in my Mac for repairs this weekend and now I really feel lost; no computer, no pictures, no way I can get stuff done.  Like the 365 project I am working on or the Dark Days Challenge or this blug.  How is one to keep up?  Use the gash darn PC and Picasa???? No!  I will just have to wait until the fixed Mac comes back. WWWWAAAAHHHHHH!

So here's an old one for good times sake. It's of Madison (age 9). Percy and Louie on our first Halloween here.  I scanned it from (gulp!) a print from film!  Yikes!  How old school. : )

Gosh!  Look at those ugly kitchen colors we had!

PERCY HAS LOST A FRIEND

If you had seen Percy in the last few months, you saw that she was lonely and decided she would grow a friend on her side that would be with her always, show her unconditional love and listen when Percy needed a shoulder to cry on.  This growth had gotten so extremely big that it was looking like it might actually take over and no one wants your friend to become a barnacle and suck the life out of ya.  So we took Perc to the vet to have this growth removed.

Now this next picture is not for the faint of heart as it is pretty gross.  Gross because Percy returned from the vet looking like Frankenstien's monster. Well, at least with the stitches everywhere she could have been sewn together by the likes of Dr. Frankenstein.  Not that I am calling my vet Frankenstein, ok? Don't go running off to tell her that I think she sucks as a suture-ist. That's not true!

The vet took care of all the growths she had, even though i wasn't worried about most of them: when she has had small growths before I would just lance them myself, drain them and within a few days they were gone (yes, razor blades and iodine are handy on a farm - i've learned a lot around here in these last 8 years).  But not this big one it was huge - it coulda won prizes.

and when you have itchy stitches, you start lickin'.  If your a dog, or maybe if your a human too I don't know, I've never done it.

So that leads to the epitome of all shamefulness for dogs:

THE CONE OF SHAME!

The only problem is Percy is a genius and figured out that if you just tuck your cone under your leg, you can lick it anyway.

Back to the vet for you, Percy!

It did get infected and we took her back for some major anti-biotics and some LickGuard.  She's doin' better now.

Only time will tell if Percy will get another friend.

PERCY IS NO SPRING CHICKEN!

No, she's not.  i look at her face now and notice all the gray, the forlorned look and lack of spunk. I've noticed things about her that are not the same. For example, I miss her in the kitchen, begging.  The other dogs and the pig are in there but i notice Percy no longer gets up to run into the kitchen to beg when someone is preparing food.  She also has been slow at walks this year.  She lags behind and looks exhausted. 

I guess in the human equivalent of dog years she's 70, that's kinda old. It saddens me to know she's getting older, because it means her time here is getting shorter and the thought of her being gone - well, i can't go there.  Although her spunk is around today because as I am writing this i keep hearing noises in the kitchen and when i get up to look and say, "What are you doing?"  She hangs her head in shame. (we had sausage for lunch and counter cruising is her specialty)

Percy was our first dog after Bob and i got married, a suggestion from Maddie (or was it a demand?).  We had to find a new home for our old dog, Nigel at the time because Nigel was never gonna be a house pet. Not around Everett and Bob.  He was too obnoxious and untrustworthy.  So Maddie didn't care for not having a dog and would calmly suggest this nearly every day, "A dog would just really bring such joy into our lives."  So we thought about what kinda dog would be good for our family and came up with a beagle.  I contacted all the local shelters and let them know we were looking for a beagle if one should come in - to call us.
The next week, we got a call.  They got in a beagle/basset mix puppy and we were over there the next day.  We went into the back where they have rooms families can sit down in and meet an adoptable puppy.  They brought in this dog, "That's a puppy?" I ask, because when that's what they told me she was, i was expecting a little puppy!  But no, this was a 25 lb dog!  (turns out she was 9 moths old which is still pretty much a puppy) This puppy sees us, begins to pee on the floor in excitement and then ... rolls over in it!  Bob says, "That's the dog for us!"  The kids loved her and so i paid the $15 and we took her home.  On the way out of the shelter, Maddie asks, "What should we name her?"  Sam says, "How 'bout Percy?"  and it stuck.  Percy came home, her forever home.

a very young Percy and Maddie! 2003



Little baby Louie and a Percy with no gray!



CARPE DIEM!

Carpe Diem!

It was morning and sometimes I like a change in pace when it comes to breakfast food, this morning it was my left over Subway sandwich.  I set the tasty, meat encrusted sandwich with ‘the works’ of veggies on it on the counter.  I also needed to get in the shower and found myself looking at the empty towel shelf frowning.  I headed down stairs to the laundry room to retrieve a towel, it, mind you, was no longer then a total of one minute in elapsed time from the moment I left the sandwich on the counter, retrieved the towels from the basement and returned. Yet, as I round the bend, there! There lay the thieving hound, formally innocent brown eyes now bulging with guilt, tail tucked between her quivering legs, the smell of the finest subway meats still on her breath. 

What? Amazing! That in a split second really, an animal can attack and effectively eat a large sandwich.  I also found it amazing that in spite of the fact that even though they must know they will never starve; that they receive bounteous servings of kibble, twice a day, every day, not to mention the sporadic generous helpings of treats periodically given when there is a leftover crumb on our plates after a meal; they still seem to think that their very existence relies on taking what they can, when they can or they will die. This is the pure brilliance of animals – they cannot help themselves.  They live in the moment. That sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do when you gotta do it! Carpe diem! Seize the day!

Perhaps all of us should live our lives a little more like my dogs and seize the day. Dogs don’t let their guilt or fears stop them from seizing the moment; they don’t have any limiting beliefs stopping them, and I admire this about them.  We as humans tend to ignore those moments of precious time we have, those fleeting moments because we are focusing on other things or what has to be done. We must embrace the possibilities that the present does hold. We need to seize the moment and make the most of every day.  To treasure every moment of life means living in the present moment, after all, the past is gone and the future is yet unknown. 

Are you missing out on the "right now" because you're moving too fast, dwelling in the past or worrying about the future? If you're not living in the moment you risk letting life pass you by. Start paying attention to your thoughts, your feelings and your surroundings at this very moment because it is the only moment that is guaranteed. This is all there is, this is all that counts: right now!

Here are six ways to help you to be in the moment:

1. Slow down:  Life is short and we move too fast through it. Pause every now and then and take it all in. Stop and smell the roses.
2. Really taste it: Instead of eating to satisfy a hunger, experience food as a pleasure. Whenever you put something in your mouth, savor it.
3. Stop and observe: Notice the people and things around you as they are not how you wish them to be.
4. Soften your focus:  getting caught up in details can be stressing.  Ask yourself, “Does it REALLY matter?”
5. Forget the little things:  and trust me, they are all little things.
6. Breathe:  so often when we are moving through our day we forget the first and foremost thing we have to do: breathe!  When we get upset we tend to clench our teeth and breathe very shallow while trying to force what’s not working to work. Try taking one long, deep breath. It will relax you and refocus you. It works!   

Another would be to just imagine yourself as a dog:

   

PERCY'S FACE MIGHT EXPLODE

So the other day, i noticed that Percy had a wound on her face.  This is common around here will all the animals we have, occasionally there is a fight amongst them, especially when food is involved.  So i thought nothing of it as it looked like a slight scratch on the side of her snout just below the eye.  So i left it be.  And there was my mistake.  The next day we found Percy lying on the couch (that part is not unusual), with her face incredibly swollen! (that part is unusual).  

Now after all these years, one must learn much about animal husbandry when one has 60+ animals to care for, so we shall blame my failure to acknowledge the first notice of the wound and not treating it to the swelling of her face. Bad Grandma!  So i quickly went to work:  i cleaned the wound with fresh water, applied iodine (a must have with animals!), and thought about giving her a shot of penicillin.  I shied away from the penicillin though, just thought that it would be better to see if just cleaning it would help first before antibiotics were needed.

Sure enough, in a few days she was back to her old beautiful face, and lounging on the couch - all fat and sassy!