You might feel yourself on life’s ladder’s low rung
If you wake up each day with a paw that’s been stung.
cairn terrier
Landscapes and Memories
As a painter it is my nature is to create pictures that are meticulous and exact. While studying the works of artists such as Van Gogh and Chagall though, I found myself swept away by the freedom expressiveness of their artwork, and I loved it. I want some of those feelings for myself!
I decided to explore the area around me and see what I could find to inspire me. Then I want to see what I can create – more creating a mood than a replica of the place, however. This was my first attempt at quickly capturing a scene from the neighborhood.
This particular location holds a special memory for me. When Geordie was a tiny pup, only a few months old, we were sitting at this same place. Suddenly Geordie jumped up and began growling and pulling as if he wanted to catch something. I checked all around and couldn’t find any rabbit or deer or anything. When I followed where his nose was pointing, I found a car driving on one of the roads on the facing hillside. From where we were sitting, it looked no larger than a beetle.
I hadn’t realized until then that my puppy didn’t understand perspective. The only way I could think to explain it to him was to pick him up and reach one arm out as far as I could toward the car. When he saw that even I couldn’t touch it, he finally settled down.
I still have a lot of work to do before I am comfortable with a more abstract style of painting. This one is driving me batty because I want to go back and make it right. Except, I don’t want “right” I want “mood”.
It’s a good thing I have a lot of paper because I’m pretty sure I am going to need it!
Flashback Friday
Can you find the puppy hidden in this picture?
When Bitey was little, this was his favorite hiding space…until he got too big and needed help getting back out. Wasn’t he an adorable itty bitty beast?
In instances like these, I try to envision non-linear time. What might it be like to have your little dog with you as a puppy and a senior and every step in between simultaneously? I suppose we have that with memory, but to us the points of time don’t fall together but are strung apart. I imagine that in the world beyond this one, time is non-linear.
I guess we won’t need Flashback Fridays then! : – )
Peek-a-Boo!
Aah, this is such a rare moment – Toby looking at the camera instead of away from it. I must have taken a dozen shots with my uncooperative little guy beating the shutter every time. I am thinking of starting a folder with just blurry, back of head shots.
Toby got shortchanged on baby pictures since things were so chaotic when he was young. (It is nearly impossible to take pictures when you have a puppy with a UTI.) I am trying to make up for that a little by getting some nice photos now.
June brings with it a variety of formal events. Make sure your young man is prepared to look his best with something from the Boys’ Shop at Needful Things of Salem. With these Navy and Copper Brocade Silk Suspenders your youngster will be ready to conquer any social occasion.
Formaldehyde in Wrinkle Resistant Fabrics
This year for Mother’s Day, my boys very thoughtfully got me a pretty, new set of sheets for the bed. As I opened the plastic to remove the sheets, I quickly had to set them down because of the itchy red rash I got from touching them. Not only did they cause redness and itching, but they had a very strong chemical odor to them.
Not sure of what was going on, I checked the packaging and saw that these were “wrinkle resistant” sheets. I Googled the term and found that what makes a fabric, in this case cotton, wrinkle resistant isn’t the way it is woven (as I had thought) but that the fibers are infused with formaldehyde to cause them to swell and not bend as easily.
I know that formaldehyde can be used in the sizing on fabrics to make them appear crisp when displayed, but I hadn’t known it was bonded to the fibers over something as unimportant as wrinkling. Formaldehyde can cause skin irritation, breathing difficulties and of course it is a carcinogen. Since formaldehyde is absorbed through the skin, every time you lie on treated sheets or wear wrinkle resistant clothing, you are exposing yourself to this poison. Sadly, there is no government regulation requiring disclosure for formaldehyde use.
A big concern should be our children and grandchildren being exposed this chemical. As a parent, I would not have given a second thought to the term “wrinkle resistant” on my child’s sheets – I would have chosen a print he/she would enjoy. I would be horrified to find that I had exposed someone I love to something so dangerous. And don’t forget our furkids. If your pup or kitty sleeps in the bed with you, they are also breathing and touching carcinogens.
Fortunately there are a number of companies who still sell regular cotton sheets at pretty reasonable prices. Cotton can be treated with a lot of pesticides as it is grown, so if this a concern look for organic sheets manufactured in the US. Organic regulations are more strictly enforced for domestic products than foreign ones.
So, if you are making a purchase of bedding or clothing, please be aware of what might be coming home with you uninvited.
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Life Gold
For some reason, my favorite pictures are the bad ones.
When Geordie got sick, a neighbor told us about Life Gold – Dog Cancer Support . Her dog had been diagnosed several months before and has been taking it ever since. At his latest check up, the vet said that the dog is doing great and to keep doing whatever it is the family has been doing.
I started Geordie on Life Gold as soon as I could have it delivered. At this point, I can’t testify to it altering the length of his life yet, but I feel confident in saying that it has significantly improved his quality of life.
Before his diagnosis, Geordie had been kind of laid back with lots of napping. The clue we had that something was wrong was that he would cough from time to time. Since giving him Life Gold, though, it is as if he is 5 years younger! He has taken up playing with toys again, and he even invites me to play chase with him. In the evenings, after Toby has gone to sleep, he drags his little brother out of bed and insists Toby play with him. This goes on every night! Plus, he barely coughs now.
I realize that Geordie’s cancer isn’t cured, but it is wonderful to see him living such a full and happy life. I wanted to share this in case someone reading has had a pet diagnosed with the dreaded “C” word. Life Gold isn’t expensive, and it might just help your dog to feel better and you both to be happier.
I forgot to mention one other thing I noticed about Geordie and Life Gold. Whenever he went for his chest X ray, the vet was a tiny bit concerned that he had lost 3/4 of a pound. For a while, he simply hadn’t been very interested in his food. After starting Life Gold, however, he developed a healthy appetite and has gained enough weight that he looks like a healthy terrier again.
Pick up a copy of A Tired Mommy Is a Good Mommy which tells of Bitey’s life before Toby.
Available from Amazon.
Flashback Friday
I was looking for a photo today when I stumbled across this picture of itty bitty, teeny tiny Bitey. Sometimes it is hard to believe he was really that little puppy. Back then he didn’t like to go to sleep without his toys around him.
What you can’t see in this picture is that I used to put his brush on top of his kennel so that he couldn’t get to it and chew on it. He managed to thwart me by jiggling the kennel until the handle fell through the bars then attacking the brush from the inside.
Why do pups only solve problems for evil and not for good?
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Toby Tells a Joke
Grrroooaaannn, right?
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Watch Your Step
I keep hoping a deer will fall in the hole and never want to come back to the garden!
It’s tough to get a decent picture of a hole: they are not particularly photogenic. I hope this picture does justice to the huge hole that Toby dug this afternoon.
More than Geordie, Toby really enjoys being a dog. He loves digging holes and playing in mud. He likes chasing birds and catching tennis balls. Geordie has always been fussy about his demeanor and appearance. I’ve often said that if life were the TV show Frasier, Geordie would be Frasier and Toby would be Eddie.
Until recently, Toby has been able to get away with being the goofy puppy. Geordie was more practiced at everything and always led. Toby could afford to slack off and be the little clown. Once he realized that the humans knew that Geordie had a problem, though, he immediately stepped up to be such a wonderful, helpful boy. He pays attention to my moods now. He is much more patient with things like being groomed. I hug him often and tell him how much I appreciate all his help, but I don’t want him to stop being my goofy little puppy yet. As life gets back to normal, I want him to keep misbehaving.
I think today was a good start.
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A Late Easter Post
What a difference from last year to this year! Last Easter brought a tiny robin’s egg to our step. This year brought 6″ of snow.
I happen to love these early morning, above freezing snows, so I wasn’t disappointed to wake up to a frosted wonderland. It is so magical to be outside in the cold, damp, fresh-smelling air. I am fortunate that my pups love this kind of weather as well. (Sorry. My battery died before I could get a better picture of the snow.)
On this morning, Toby was so excited to see the snow that he practically burst through the front door to get to it. I put him on his 50′ leash and just let him run and run as much and as fast as he wanted. Scratch that. There is no such thing as enough time in the snow to Toby. Geordie wasn’t quite as thrilled as his brother, but I was happy that he got to see another snow.
It is still hard on me knowing that this will be my little boy’s last birthday and his last snowfall. It is the natural course of events, but it is still hard. I have been trying to give him everything he could possibly want, but instead of making a happy pup, I have created a tyrant. Geordie was always strong willed, but now that he realizes that I won’t push him, he is taking advantage. Will I stop? Of course not. An obnoxious pup is a small price to pay for allowing myself to feel that I’ve done everything I can for him.
I am nowhere near finished telling stories of the times we have spent together. You can catch up on what we’ve been doing with out latest book Poopiter.
The Adventures of Bitey Dog 