Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Dogs and Cats and Teddy Bears...Oh My!

Today is a mish-mash of various animals, the living and the stuffed.


This is my friend Alessa's dog Scully. She's a doll. Real sweet dog who loves to jump up on you when you walk in the door.



This is Alessa's other dog, Duncan. I took the two of them out to run one day and could not get him to sit still for a photo. So, here he is bringing a tennis ball back for me to throw again...and again...and again...


Today was windy as heck, but Muffin and Tango managed to get a bit of sun. They don't usually sit this close to each other, so I just had to snap a quick photo. This side of the house doesn't get as much wind, so Muffin, who HATES the wind, likes to sit up against the wall in the sunshine. The spot Tango is in is actually one of Muff's many nests..she tends to follow the sun. (Notice the look she's giving him.)


This is my teddy bear, Fudge Brownie. (Even as a kid, my chocoholic side was quite obvious.) I've had her since the age of 2, so she's now.....um....OK...she's about 37-years-old. My mom and dad had a slightly violent relationship during their marriage, and we (mom and us kids) sometimes spent the night at a hotel. On one of those nights, I forgot whatever doll or stuffed animal I usually hung on to and cried like crazy. So, we stopped at some drug store or some such, and they had a shelf full of these teddy bears with little yellow ribbons around their necks.


Well, all these years later and the yellow ribbon is barely hanging on, the "hands" have had to be folded down and sewn due to holes, fur is missing, the nose is actually the end of a sock that was used to replace it (and it's even stitched), the music box that was inside broke at some point and was removed, there are various stitches all over her....and yet I still hold on to her. I don't have a lot of photos or mementos from my childhood, but I still have Fudge Brownie. The hubby thinks she's kind of creepy, but I still love her. Sometimes, when I've had a bad day or just don't feel good, I still grab her and she helps me relax. (Yeah, I know. I'm 39 and should get over it. But I won't.) :-)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

She looks like "Frankenteddy" according to Dean.

Susan M. Bell said...

Oh, I like that. Chris will too I bet.

Lucy said...

Hi Susan...thanks for visiting my blog. I like your blog!! If you look at some of my pics you will see my "library" of books...I love them! As for Fudge Brownie (aka Frankenteddy LOL)...he is gorgeous (he is a "he" right?)...I would call that a well-loved bear. (I love to see quilts like that also!) I'm definately going to put you on my bloglines to follow....anxious to hear more about the novel you're writing! Happy New Year!!

Lucy said...

P.S. See your a PGH Penguin fan...awesome!!!

Susan M. Bell said...

Lucy - Thanks for stopping by. My friend Steph is from up your way, and is a HUGH Steelers fan.

I always said my bear was a she, but who can tell these things. :-)

As for the novel...I'm anxious to hear more about it as well. ;-)

Stephanie Stark Poling said...

So cute and such a good story about that bear - I like the name, too. My little sister named all our pups after food too...we had Biscuit, Sausage, Potato Chip, Muffin, etc. Good stuff - and, also, like the homage to the Pittsburgh Penguins - if you are serious about wanting to learn more, stop over sometime and watch a game with me in our basement!

Stephanie Stark Poling said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Susan M. Bell said...

I will probably do that one day, Steph. Be prepared to do some explaining during the game, though. :-)