Lacie is currently living "The Rest and Best of her Forever" with me, as my Forever-Foster.
When you take on a fourteen year old dog, you know you must make the most of every day, with them and for them. She makes me smile, every day.
Lacie is currently living "The Rest and Best of her Forever" with me, as my Forever-Foster.
When you take on a fourteen year old dog, you know you must make the most of every day, with them and for them. She makes me smile, every day.
When we moved into our new home last November, I placed it on the front porch, where it gets sun late in the day, but not too much. For months my weekly recap of to-do lists had "re-pot Orchid" somewhere near the top. The trouble was that I've never divided and re-potted an orchid before and didn't want to kill it.
I did seek out a Youtube video on repotting Cymbidium Orchids and decided I had to take the leap of faith and try. There's a lot of healthy sprouts but many worn out sections as well.
The roots were impressivly tangled and I pried and wiggled sections apart while maintaining as much healthy root as possible.
"Misty-Rough Collie" was what I had printed on her name tag, as so many people nowadays (in California) have only heard of Border Collies. I didn't want her to be misidentified, if she were ever lost.
Misty with Sadie & Feral Cat, Winnie
Trying to think of a title that didn't sound too negative, regarding a particularly disappointing and toxic Human, I fall back on the positive: Dogs are good people.
Lacie, the tri-color Rough Collie, joined our family three weeks ago. She's thirteen years old, very deaf and partially blind. The nose, however, works just fine. I thought it would be hard to teach a senior dog who couldn't really see us and had no idea we were calling her name, to find and use our Doggie Door. Lacie needed a bit of help orienting herself in our house. She paced for several days checking out walls and corners and food bowls but quickly recognized the smell of bacon treats from the other side of the dog door and started going in and out as needed. She was rewarded each time. Now, she'll follow me outside through another door, realize no treat was forthcoming and return to go through the house to the doggie door and appear triumphantly around the corner demanding her just recompense. She makes me smile.
We initially set up some bright night-lights around the house to help her navigate at night. I had solar garden lights outside, facing towards the door so she wouldn't step out into darkness and awa, to illuminate her pathway. I'm averse to sleeping with the lights on but would have been awake listening for any restless moves in the night anyway. It only took a few days.
Lacie is a Forever Foster. She'll be with us for the rest of her days and our Rescue Group will take care of any vet's bills. We have rules about only adopting out dogs that have been spayed or neutered and Spay Surgery is out of the question at Lacie's age so she needed a soft landing. As you can see, she and Misty are a pack already.
We were thrilled to receive a request from a qualified adopter to fulfill her lifelong dream of owning a Smooth Collie; with a preference for a Senior dog. We call this kind of a match Collie Magic.
A road trip was arranged and Sadie was in Collie Heaven with a large house and property to roam and some senior canine siblings.
Snow has been a new discovery for Sadie and she has taken it in her stride. We're happy to receive regular updates and photos of Sadie's Happy Tails.
Even though I haven't ridden or been to The Barn in a while, my Tribe of Equestrians have kept me on their chain and we've seen each other once or twice. We were texting in circles, settling on a date, prior to them being sucked into their family obligations and travel for the Holidays and last Sunday, Dec. 19th was a match. I have no such obligations now and I had the unstoppable urge to cook and bring the Party Spirit back to my house. The dust on my serving dishes was a testament to how long it's been.
On my own turf, I was able to add some other long-standing friends, so
that everyone could encounter those I've been talking about forever. We were a dozen Festives, all told.
One of my friends, and her adult daughter, have a Christmas Collection Compulsion and were thrilled to be able to haul some Nutcrackers over to display. They also helped drape my covered patio with fabric I'd purchased at a flea-market a decade ago. We had air circulating, for health and safety, but enough drapes to keep in the heat from my two propane heaters.
The menu included Crab that I'd bought live and boiled myself, with salt, pepper, Bay Leaf that I collect locally, Fennel and Pastis. We cooked a 10lb fresh salmon on the charcoal BBQ and had chilled asparagus: with mayonnaise that I made with fresh lemons, free-range eggs and Olive oil that came from family olive trees overlooking the Mediterranean. Hot baked potatoes and Cardoni in Gruyere sauce. (One vegetarian version and one dish with marrow bone jelly in the layers). Cheese plate, Tiramisu and pecan pie; drinks with and without bubbles.
Harnessing memories from the past and embracing new ones, as the days start to lengthen once more.
To be continued.....
If you think of me as a problem and that the problem will go away, if ignored
You will be correct.