EPHEMERAL MOMENTS OF TIME
Dog Days of Summer
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| Rose of Sharon |
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| Mysti in her Summer coat. |
We have 3 dogs at our house. Loved, spoiled. They are just 3 in a long succession of many dogs that I have had over a period of 40 plus years. I have loved them all but of course it's the ones we have now that we love the most, at this moment in time. Mysti is our 9 year old Belgian Tervuren. She's a love to all who know her. SMART and obedient and loyal to her master, Roger. In fact I gave her to him as a wedding gift when we were married a little over 9 years ago. Lately we Live with a feeling of angst or trepidation. Afraid for her future. Some time ago she contracted Lime Disease. It showed up in blood work done as a routine work up before having her teeth cleaned. She was put on very expensive meds and has been on them ever since. NOW she is becoming quite lame. Sometimes she can't get up onto her feet from a laying down position on her own. It's heart breaking to watch her struggle. She also has a large "bunch" on the side of her hind leg that the vet is unsure about. We have decided to have it removed and that surgery will be next week. I know that even with the meds she is in some discomfort. I can usually tell because she will use her orthopaedic bed while shying away from it as a general rule.
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| Once she's on her feet she can still trot after a squirrel. |
I have stayed close to home to keep an eye on her and little Chloe. You can see a picture of her on the side bar. CHLOE is 15, mostly deaf, almost blind from cataracts, incontinent, has a bad heart, but despite all this, doesn't seem to be in any pain, has a good appetite and is sweet to one and all. I myself am learning how to control my diabetes with diet and exercise so we are a threesome just drifting through each day. Hope is in my heart as I try not to raise my expectations too high.I read somewhere that God made us to face forward not backward. Our future lays ahead and we must not give in to worry and uncertainty. He loves the little animals too, otherwise He wouldn't have given them to us as pets. They would have remained in the wild. Their time with us is really very brief when we consider our life span and theirs. They are very much a part of our life but when we consider what we are to THEM it is VERY DIFFERENT. We are every thing to them; their whole world as they look to us for shelter, food, love, protection, acceptance, companionship.... and to be there when they're down and can't get up. Therefore I have been a bit reclusive lately. Staying close to home. Making them feel secure and.... taking them to those dreaded vet appointments. I am in hopes of leaving them for several weeks in September if I can bring myself to do it. It will be getting colder in Maine and soon I will have to have my nest there winterized. I do have an excellent petsitter that will come and stay during the day when Roger is working.
HOOKY MADNESS
STAR FLOWER
needs to be blocked.
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Since I have had time on my hands lately I have been watching a lot of cable news. Fox News is my channel of choice. Horrific stuff going on! Gut wrenching turmoil in the Middle East. Chaos in our own country. We sit as helpless spectators hoping that someone will do SOMETHING to make things better but no one does and they only get worse. I think there may come a point where it will just get too depressing; too hard to hear and to watch. The tide has got to turn soon.
ANYWAY, I digress. The doilies above all came from the same pattern as you can tell. A simple pattern. If I wanted them a little larger I added more rows. It was quite addictive because I knew the pattern by heart after the first one or two.
The COLORFUL Mandala at the top was designed by a very talented lady who has a great blog called "Zooty Owl". I just adore her work! The name of the pattern is called "Star Flower". As I write this I am about a quarter into a second one but in Fall colors. She also has more Mandala patterns with tutorials that are on my "To Make" list. ( Yes, I do have a list, but it is in my head not on paper. )
This first one was a bit difficult to figure out in spots but I finally wised up and printed out the many paged tutorial so I could refer to it without going online. Since I plan on making several at least (my daughter in law has already claimed this one as well as several of the doilies) I don't consider using up my ink cartridge in my printer a waste of money. I don't know about you but I spend a lot of money for ink to print out patterns and whatnot. Have you noticed that when you buy a pattern online the seller attaches a file to an email and you print it out? It used to be we bought the pattern online and it was shipped to us via snail mail. Oh, well, "the times, they are a changing" and we must adjust.
Trip to Lancaster, PA
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| Sight and Sound Strasburg, PA |
Lest you think my life is all pet caring and no fun....
On the 15th of August Roger and I and our two best friends, Susan and John, went on a bus trip that was hosted by the church where we meet most Wednesday mornings for a bible study. It was loads of fun being with such a happy bunch of people. Our destination was a Christian theater, SIGHT AND SOUND. It is a truly amazing place! The seating is huge. Tour buses were lined up as far as you could see. The show that we saw was a depiction of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. The theater is 3 sided and real animals are used as well as stunning choreography and music. The acting was great as well as the singing. I have been to this theater for other productions but this time we had the best sesting ever! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. After the show we made our way back to our tour bus to head out for a great meal, about half an hour drive, to a very popular smorgasbord, Shady Maples. It is also a favorite of tour buses and the lines to get in were long. Fortunately we had tables already reserved for us. But the crowds at the food areas were thick. The food was scrumpdiddlyeous!!! The fried chicken to die for! On the lower level is a huge gift shop and bakery. I especially like to look at the quilts made by the Amish ladies. It was a 12 hour day and we were exhausted by the time we drove into our driveway. We had Sandy, our dog sitter, to thank for the opportunity to have some time away with friends.
I do not know the people in the pictures. There were a lot of people lined up and you just had to snap and move on.
FAMILY TIME is precious and fills my heart with love....
BEFORE marrying Roger I had been married to a wonderful Christian man for almost 35 years. At the age of 53 he was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. After a long battle undergoing the rigors of radiation and chemo he lost that battle and is now singing in Heaven's choir using his vibrant bass voice. We had 2 children together, Mark and Judith. Mark has 2 daughters and Judi has 2 sons. Together with their spouses they make up my whole family unit in this area. The rest of my family being in Maine. A very small family. Due to schedules, health issues with my daughter, and the fact that we all live a distance away from each other, we don't often get together. Sunday was a beautiful day and it worked out that we would all meet at Mark's house to swim and have a picnic. It was all the more special because it was the first time in several years that Judi was able to be there since being diagnosed with a disease of the lungs. She has been very ill and we have been so worried about her.
A good time was had by all!
And THAT, folks, is all she wrote! For this posting anyway. Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Be kind to someone today.
Roger
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