Pink Boots and Metaphorical Life Lessons, thanks to um, well Dog Poop.

I have beautiful pink rubber boots. At least they WERE clean. Now they have been broken in and used to clean up the yard.  I will spare you the pictures as I should have taken a photo of the boots before I went to the yard!

It's the first really beautiful day we have had this spring- like REALLY beautiful, wear short sleeves and sweat hard while cleaning the yard.  I couldn't help but smile and think, yeah.  Life is good!  Even though I have a tiny yard that has been under snow for 6 months, and also own 4 dogs. Yeah. That's LOADS of presents out there for me.

Despite the presents and the fact that they are starting to smell a little, I still couldn't help coming back to my life. I just spent 5.5 days at a Retreat; a renewal seminar. It was 5.5 days of what I consider to be my personal hell but also my personal heaven. We spent the whole time in intensive group therapy.  I needed it more than I could have known. I have long kept parts of myself isolated from the rest of me; I prefer to keep my personal life away from my professional life for example. Or my spirituality away from my dog world. But, I am tired of that. Time to integrate the blogs all down into one and be integrated.  I learned that this week.

I also learned that I CAN clean up my own personal messes and have a happy, whole life. It is possible to work through what I have to work through and smile through the tears. It's good. I couldn't help but think I am metaphorically cleaning up the dog presents in my own life as I am physically cleaning the yard.  Life is good.

So good, I even asked my doctor about going off all my meds. It might just be time to spread my wings and see if I can fly.  Or, face my anxiety without medication. Or, face my IBS (newly diagnosed and on a very strict diet for- no more gluten, no more dairy and I have a gut that feels GREAT!).  Anyway, face my IBS without meds. Just dietary interventions.  I think I can do it.

I think I can lay on my back and watch my kite fly high in the sky, proudly.  Yup, lessons learned from therapy.

Simple things bring simple pleasure

It has been a very emotionally moody sort of day.  I went to Oprah last night and was motivated, inspired and taught about finding one's purpose in life and living in it.  That high was quickly squashed with the bombing of the Boston Marathon.  I have no words to describe the grief I feel for the people affected.  Another tragedy in a complex, unpredictable world.

 But when I struggle, I come back to the simple things in life.

Spring. My dogs. My yard. My piano.

All these things help me slow down and refocus my attention into living gratefully in the moment.

So, when I had an opportunity to catch my dogs wandering and sun bathing in the weak spring sun, I had to try for photos.  We still have TONS of snow, but it's coming along.  And, with that realization is the joy of knowing my yard will soon be full of green growing things.
 (And, the horrifying realization that I have a winters full of clean up to do. You do the math:  4 dogs, 1 small yard, no cleanup most of the winter= NIGHTMARES! Ha, ignore any potential sightings of doggy doo doo in the pictures, I promise you all I will start the massive clean up tomorrow).

Sophie, coming in to say hello through the window. Yes, there is NO screen there. Yes, the dogs wrecked it last summer. Yes, I am crazy enough to put one back this summer. 

Sophie loving the sun beam.  (Please ignore the winter gunk to be cleaned off my deck. This is getting scrubbed down and refinished this summer.  It needs some stain for sure).

Reason, wandering around sniffing on the snowy half a yard.

Spikey, lying in the sun, by the tunnel.  Sorry he is hardly visible, but he avoids the camera at the best of times.  Murphy is next to him the grass, out of sight of the camera. She was avoiding me at this point; she had just tried to jump through the window and come in but was forcefully stopped by a spray of water to her little face and she marched off, out of sight to pout indignantly. 

Another image of my long but narrow lot.  

Spring is coming, I am sure of that.  And, with anticipation, I am filling out the first of my trial entries for the outdoor agility season tonight. There is a simple joy and hope in that.

Sleeping Beauties....

My girlies, napping....

Murphy..... so sweet when she is sleeping!

Sophie in the chair- (ignore the mess!! :) )

Reason, in a rare moment when she has stopped moving, all sleepy on the back of the couch.

Love my girlies!

We're BACK!!!!

Hey all!

We are back.  My apologies from the unexpected hiatus in my blogging world; I had no intentions of taking a break but I guess I needed it.  After Mango passed, then another dog blog friend (one of the very first I made!), Sophie Brador also crossed the bridge, I kinda felt like I lost my desire to blog.  So, I stopped.

I think it's time to come back; I have to admit this is an intensely crazy, busy time in my life but I am thinking I would like to get back to this old blog and to the friends I have made along the way.  I've missed you all!  And, unfortunately, I deprived you all of cute baby Reason pics along the way, too!

Anyway, there's no sense rattling through my busy, but mundane last few months.  Instead, I'll show you what the dogs and I have been keeping busy doing the last few days.  We were hit by a HUGE blizzard on March 20, the first day of Spring and I had a quilt started that I thought deserved to be finished over the evenings when we couldn't go out and do much. Too much snow.  I'll show you pictures soon of my front yard. It isn't pretty!

Alright, back to it... the quilt.  And, the dogs, enjoying the quilting time. :)

Sophie and Murphy, curled up on top of the quilt, in progress along with my fabric bin of scraps.  It can't possibly by comfortable, but they stayed there for a long time.

Spike.

Sophie, in the midst of chaos created by Reason. My house WAS clean, really... one loose puppy in the house and all mess breaks loose, ha!

The whole clan, in their usual spots.  Murphy and Reason, balanced on the back of the couch.  Sophie and Spike, always the more sensible, lying on the pillow and blankie.  I do manage to squish in there between Spike and Soph. It's the perfect spot for Rease to nap with her head on my shoulder. 

The new Rag Quilt- it hasn't been washed yet, and I haven't notched all the seams yet so they fray, but it's all sewn up at least!

All in all, it's a good way to spend a Blizzard- hunkered down with some movies, a quilt to make and my favourite dogs in the world.  Life is good.

I love Sundays....

Life is good today. I've been knitting Christmas presents and hanging out with the dogs, catching up on my Chicago Fire addiction (great show, by the way!).

My girlies decided that they wanted, no needed to be close too.... Spike, being an old grump headed upstairs to nap on the bed but the girls stick close to me, almost all the time.

Rease, chewing on a bone. Complete with the envelope she stole off the table too, ha!

Sophie on the couch. Samples of a new knitted blanket to be,  on the chair. It's going to be a soft, cozy blankie when it's finished!

Rease- why stay on the dog bed when you can lounge on the back of the couch?!?

Yummy bone!  Great spot to chew on a bone; she can reach over and give kisses from there.

Murphy- why not steal Sophie's place on the couch?!?

Murphy and Sophie.  Sunday cuddles!

Blogging Changes....

It has been so long since I have written, I have wondered if it was time to shut the blog down.  But, I don't think so- I think I am realizing that life is just starting to shift and change and my blog is reflecting that (or would if I wrote!).  Anyway, so I am back and I want to warn you, this all may morph but it's ok. There will still be dogs. But, there might be more- plans for the future ( I am again seriously thinking career change!), crafting I've been up to, maybe even some book reviews will show up here. Maybe even stories from teaching- so hard to know.  But, the dogs will still be here, I promise. :)

Anyway, just to catch you all up.... Reason is 8 months old today. She is a total smarty pants- a quick learn who can have focus when she wants to. But, she's turning into a bratty teenager and Spike and Sophie have become WAY too easy going and let her get away with murder. Seriously, I need some tough dogs to sort her attitude out!  She needs it, just a little! ;)

Murphy went through a phase this fall where she broke out of her crate, numerous times, until she actually demolished the old one.  I had a mouse problem and Miss Murph took it upon herself to help- once I figured out what she was doing, I felt much better. Mice are gone and she's content in her kennel again.

Sophie is becoming a bit of a stately ole' gal at times. She is happy to sleep on a bed, cuddle on the couch and be spoiled rotten. I love that girlie of mine; she has rough edges to her for sure and she can be SUCH a brat but she's totally wormed her way into my heart.

Spike has been struggling with gaining weight of late and I kinda wonder if his back is out. I think a trip to the vet is shortly in order- he's 7.5 and it was recommended I get blood work done. I haven't done it yet, but I think it might be time. I just want to make sure he's ok.  In his last agility trial, he was slowing down, jumping 22" so I decided to move him to the veterans class- he is now jumping 16" so it'll be interesting to see what that does to help him out.

Otherwise, I've become very focused on the idea of bringing Dock Dogs to Saskatchewan. I have no idea where to start, but I am feeling pretty determined to figure this out.  Step 1:  Find a pool to train in!!

Oh, and the current idea of what might be ailing me is that I may have Seasonal Affective Disorder. So, I am doing a trial with a light box, trying PhotoTherapy.  For anyone who lives in Canada and struggles with shorter days in Winter, I have to say the lightbox is AMAZING! Try it!!

A Relentlessly Huge Hole in our Hearts....

The world lost a beautiful dog yesterday.  Mango Relentlessly Huge passed during the night, in the company of the Mango Momma, after he suffered an intestinal rupture and infection that was just to great to fight.  And, the bloggy world caught their breathe at the moment of the announcement and a gigantic wave of sadness rolled through us.

Mango was a gorgeous, brindle mastiff, a gigantic dog with a heart just as big.  Mango Momma blogged about his antics over the last years and we all fell in love with him.  I  spent yesterday afternoon crying in fits and spurts over this news and I've grieved alongside the blog community.

Mango, Dexter (his labrador brother) and Mango Momma welcomed me into the bloggy world when I started on this journey. Their blog was one of the first I started to read and comment on, and I was always touched by the responses I received back.  Mango Momma always responds with compassion, sharing in tears and laughter.  She made me feel like I was part of the community!

I am so sorry Mango's family for your loss!  We grieve alongside you, as everyone was shocked by how fast Mango was gone.  I am grateful for your wisdom and compassion as you knew it was time to say goodbye to your very special boy.  Know that I am praying for you during this time. Thank you for sharing his beautiful spirit with us.

Run free, Mango! Bounce in peace and say hi to Mortimer for me!