A Man and His Dog, Daisy

I'm not sure how or when this happed, but Daisy has become Rick's constant companion.  I'm not quite sure how to feel about this.  She listens to his every word and gives him goo goo eyes.  She gives me occasional attention if she's not getting it from him, but she truly adores Rick.

I need to figure out how to get some of this lovin'.  

It's Mom's Fault

This happened last night.

I had moved my yarn basket to my art room because Daisy is obsessed with yarn.  I keep the door closed.  If I leave it open while I'm painting, she sneaks in quickly and grabs a skein while I'm painting.  Apparently after cleaning up my brushes last night, I forgot to close the door.  Rick is telling her that this is not acceptable and she listens to him intently.  She also loves to tear up all the yarn labels.  I do keep my expensive yarn in a box that she can't get into.

Daisy told Rick, "In all fairness, it's Mom's fault.  She left the door open!"  She's your basic two year old.  

How's your self isolation going?

Our New Buddy, Daisy

 Our New Buddy, Daisy

Since our world and lives have changed tremendously and we all have to stay home, I have no excuse to not post.  I have been keeping up on Instagram though.  You can check that out here.

Last year on November10th we adopted our new buddy, Daisy!  We were so broken hearted over loosing our two beloved companions, Jersey and Lady, within a few months of each other last year and we took some time before jumping back in.  

How could we resist this little girl!  I love how she lays totally flat.  She actually looks like she's planking on her way down to this position.  She was aproximately 18 months when we got her and she's very much a puppy and on top of that she's a "Mystery Terrier".  Rick keeps telling her we are senior citizens and she's going to have to adapt to our lifestyle.  Ha!!  She wears us out, but we love her and she make us smile and laugh alot.  

She has been learning some manners during this time of social distancing.  But, the problem is when all this is over we have to go back to teaching her to behave around company.  She's a little wild when people come over.    We will have to start all over with that training.

Oh, and she sits on her knees.  Sometimes she looks likes she's kneeling to pray which is good because we could use more prayers right now.

I'm praying that all your families are doing well and this will all be over soon.  

In the meantime, I'm starting a new painting!  No excuses anymore!  

Our Sweet Dog Lady

On October 11th our beloved Lady went to join her best friend Jersey.  I'm sure they are happy to be running around together again.  We lost Jersey back in March and Lady was completely at a loss without her.  She would occasionally stand at the bottom of the staircase and bark once as if to say, "Jersey come down here".    Lady had lost the ability to climb those stairs though sometimes she would surprise me and make a run for them only to find out she couldn't get back down.  

They would run to the laundry room every time I went in there to fold clothes and beg for treats!

They loved Christmas lights.

The girls standing upstairs amazed by the tree on the landing..

Ready to come in out of the cold

She had lots of health issues steming from Cushings Disease and a broken heart. To lose two dogs in such a short time has been extremely difficult.  

Cushings disease caused her to have lots of skin problems, so we started having her hair clipped short.  I loved hugging her even more because she felt like a chamois after a clipping.

She loved laying with her dad each night on the recliner.

We are so happy that she got to go on our first camping trip to Wallace State Park.  We weren't sure how she would do so we didn't go too far in case we had to go back home.  She loved it though!

Lady was a Golly (Collie and Golden mix) and was the most gentle dog we've ever had living up to her name.  She loved everyone including children but was a little shy.  Needless to say, it's very quiet around here now, but we are taking our time to get over this before jumping back in with a new dog.  

I'm walking Jersey and Rick is walking Lady in this painting "Dog Day's of Summer".  

Miss you girls!

Memories of Our Sweet Dog, Jersey

 I've been putting off this post for a few days because it simply hurt too much.  Last Saturday morning we found out from our vet that Jersey was in kidney failure and it was so bad that we had to do the humane thing.

Jersey was my constant companion who was always by my side.  She sat beside me everyday in my paint room, following me every time I got up or went downstairs.  At the end, we were packing her up and down the stairs.  She suffered with an enlarged heart for several years and took several medications twice a day to keep her heart going and the fluid off.  Her will to live was amazing.  Several times through the last couple years we thought we were at the end when she would quit eating and then she would always amaze us like the energizer bunny.  

She was always very camera shy and would generally run when she saw someone aiming a camera or a cell phone her way.  

Jersey has been depicted in my artwork over the years.  In this painting she's being walked by a lady in a red polka dot dress.

Our other dog, Lady, stands at the bottom of the steps barking for her to come down and it breaks our hearts.  Lady can no longer climb the stairs.  They were very close companions and are the same age.  Lady is a little too big to pack up and down the stairs, but Rick still does it occasionally.

I can't believe she let me put this hat on her, but she knew her momma loved buffalo plaid.

Jersey is also the dog I'm walking in my blog header and at the end of each blog post.  

Missing her so much!

Happy New Year!

Looking back over the year, here are a few paintings that I completed in 2012:

(The second one is a collage of prints celebrating my favorite color, red).

In July we lost our long time companion of 12 years, Annie:

Overwhelmed with sadness, God blessed us with Grandma's dog, Lady, a few months before we lost Annie to cancer.

Lady's name is truly what it implies.  She is part Golden Retriever and part Collie, which makes her a Gollie.  Gollie's are so sweet and gentle and she makes very strange noises, which is common for this breed.  She has been quite the blessing!

This year we did some remodeling in the kitchen:

Painting these knotty pine cabinets, changing out the hardware, and addinging new light fixtures made a huge difference.

Today I will be taking it easy and watching a little of this before getting back to the drawing table:

If you've never seen this British series, it's available on Netflix.  I love it because it's very quirky.

I will also be putting up my feet in my old, fluffy pink slippers....

and having some of this...

Since everyone in blogland seems to be picking a word for 2013, I've decided that mine will be "Dream". 

Keep your dreams alive in 2013 and if you don't have any it's time to start.  Your God given talents are a good place to start.

Have a blessed and wonderful New Year!

A Little Visitor

Recently we had a little visitor.  Her name is Betsy and though she is tiny, she had my three dogs terrified for the first few days....

Isn't she scarey....

She's very brave too...  I know I can jump this!

(new decking was being replaced)

Jersey, on the other hand is not so brave.  She hides when you take her picture.  That camera is very scary!  The poor baby was at the groomers last week and decided to take a flying leap out of the tub when they took the leash off.  She broke three toes and has to wear this brace for 6 weeks.  

This beauty is Lady.  We think the real spelling for her name is Lazy.  She is the most gentle dog on the planet and Betsy fell in love with her even though she terrorized her the first few days.

She minds very well and is taking the sidewalk to stay off our new landscaping.

Annie is headed right for the hostas in the newly landscped area.

She is the oldest and is known by the others as "The Boss". 

Boss girl was pretty scared of Betsy for a while too.

How about that Harley Davidson collar?  That designates her "Boss" statis.

Hey Betsy,

Annie, Lady, Jersey, and Bailey (the cat) who remains inside with the airconditioner at all times, want you to know they miss you and can't wait for you to come back for another visit.  They really did!

We miss you already tuff girl.