Happiness Is...

...a soft bed with the sun warming your belly...

...interesting places to explore...

...a ball to chase...

... and family.

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.) :-)

More Cuteness

I will be pet sitting Gacie and Emma again for the next few days, and I am really looking forward to it. Mind you, getting up early during the weekend is not one of my favorite things, but when I get to their house, they are just so adorable I can't help but feel happy to be there.

Here are a few more photos of the cuties...

I love that little "look" Gracie gives you. She really knows how to use her cuteness.

This was on the first night of sitting with them. Looks like Emma is wondering where Mom and Dad are.



Emma and her "shoe."

Emma has the prettiest eyes. This picture just doesn't quite do them justice.

"OK, we're tired of pictures now. We're leaving."

Animals That Touch Our Lives

(Tango hanging out in my yard.)

Pets have a way of touching our lives, leaving their little footprints across our hearts and souls. And they don't even have to be our own pets. I've written about my cats before, but my neighbor Steve's cat, Tango, is also my little buddy. He hangs out at our house a lot and sometimes keeps me company when I sit on the swing and read or write. He has a habit of yelling as he's coming from where ever his wanderings have taken him. It's kind of funny hearing his voice echo around as he crosses the neighbors' yards. Like he's announcing his arrival.

(My favorite picture of Max.)

Right after Steve moved in next door, we met Max. I'll admit that at first, I thought he was a kind of aggravating dog. He would stand at the edge of our yard and bark like crazy. One night, he chased a raccoon on our deck. I went outside to find the raccoon clinging to the side of our house where Max had "treed" him. It didn't take long though for this Australian Shepherd mix to find his way into our hearts. My neighbor drives big rigs and when he was on the road, Max would come hang out on our porch. There were days when we would have to get him to get up so we could even open the front door, but I liked how he would hang with me when I'd sit out on the swing.

Max had bad arthritis problems and ended up unable to walk. He had to be put down on May 19th. I miss finding the big lug laying on the porch against our front door.

(One of the few times Rastas sat still for a photo)

Steve's other dog Rastas was a bit slower about getting friendly. At first, he would come as far as the edge of the yard and just bark at us. If we tried to approach, he would turn around and head back home. When he finally started coming to visit, I would give him a doggie snack, which he would gently take from my hand then carry back home to eat. At some point, he started hanging out on the porch with Max. He turned out to be a fairly friendly dog.

Rastas died about a week or so before Max. He had been sick for a couple days, and we found him one morning in our yard; curled up like he had just gone to sleep. He and Max are buried in Steve's yard near the property line. I visit once in a while and take them a flower or two. I think I will always miss them. I think Tango does, too. He used to walk up to them and rub against them the way cats do and hang out with them.

Sometimes, we don't realize how an animal has affected us until they're gone.

{One of my writers group members recently lost her wonderful Golden Retriever. I set up a small memorial on our group's blog: www.maylandwriters.blogspot.com.}