Ah me.... Where to begin? So much has happened since my last entry that I am at a loss as to where to pick up again.....
I suppose that the most challenging occurrence was the loss of my friend, Lynne. She was a dog-related friend, and I have gotten my 2 most recent Afghan Hounds from her; Maija and Elvis. She has been a mentor and adviser and so much more. Even though we were not close - we did not chat over the phone or hang out together very often - we still kept in touch via email and attended the occasional dog show together. We had several other hobbies in common; gardening, cooking and home decorating to name just a few. In January I had contacted her to line up spring dog shows where we could meet up and show our dogs. She told me then that she had some health issues that were finally diagnosed as lung cancer, so she would be out of commission for a while - I was going to be on my own showing our dog, Elvis. No mention of the severity or the outcome of her treatments, just not now..... A month later I called her on the phone to visit about showing and she sounded awful. She said that the cancer was already in her brain and she had just finished up radiation treatments for that before starting on Chemo. She planned to enter a show in early March - the one I mentioned in my previous post - but neither of us got there. I found out the day before Easter that her struggle was almost over, and she had been moved to Hospice. What a shock! A mutual friend called to tell me this and that her husband was seeking help to place some of her dogs.
The short story is that my husband suggested we take one of the older dogs, Buckaroo, who is Maija's litter mate. Another friend offered to meet me with Buckaroo the following week, and on the day we met to exchange Bucky, she told me that Lynne had died that morning. What a shock! Lynne was younger than I and a health freak. How on earth had this happened to someone like her? Healthy, active, avid non-smoker - WHY???? I am still having trouble with this......
But Buckaroo is here to live with us, and I am so grateful to Lynne for the care she took to breed dogs with exceptional temperaments. We have had no problems working another male dog into our household - Bucky is a true gentleman and so easy to live with. We are happy to have him for his senior years.
I suppose that the most challenging occurrence was the loss of my friend, Lynne. She was a dog-related friend, and I have gotten my 2 most recent Afghan Hounds from her; Maija and Elvis. She has been a mentor and adviser and so much more. Even though we were not close - we did not chat over the phone or hang out together very often - we still kept in touch via email and attended the occasional dog show together. We had several other hobbies in common; gardening, cooking and home decorating to name just a few. In January I had contacted her to line up spring dog shows where we could meet up and show our dogs. She told me then that she had some health issues that were finally diagnosed as lung cancer, so she would be out of commission for a while - I was going to be on my own showing our dog, Elvis. No mention of the severity or the outcome of her treatments, just not now..... A month later I called her on the phone to visit about showing and she sounded awful. She said that the cancer was already in her brain and she had just finished up radiation treatments for that before starting on Chemo. She planned to enter a show in early March - the one I mentioned in my previous post - but neither of us got there. I found out the day before Easter that her struggle was almost over, and she had been moved to Hospice. What a shock! A mutual friend called to tell me this and that her husband was seeking help to place some of her dogs.
The short story is that my husband suggested we take one of the older dogs, Buckaroo, who is Maija's litter mate. Another friend offered to meet me with Buckaroo the following week, and on the day we met to exchange Bucky, she told me that Lynne had died that morning. What a shock! Lynne was younger than I and a health freak. How on earth had this happened to someone like her? Healthy, active, avid non-smoker - WHY???? I am still having trouble with this......
But Buckaroo is here to live with us, and I am so grateful to Lynne for the care she took to breed dogs with exceptional temperaments. We have had no problems working another male dog into our household - Bucky is a true gentleman and so easy to live with. We are happy to have him for his senior years.
Buckaroo
As you can see, he is clipped down, and at this particular time, it seems he was not happy about something!
On a lighter note, I had some time with my Dad at the end of March. Brother and family went for a spring break vacation and I went to dad-sit. It was a nice week with just a little busy work at the old house.
Easter was nice but quiet. Just the 3 of us and Margie - she was doing fairly well at that time and came out to our house for the day. Aaron made a pork Wellington, and I made a coconut cake. It was a lovely meal after giving up red meat for Lent ;-)
In April we had a visit from Jim's sister and her husband - all in preparation for selling their mom's house. Margie becomes more frail all the time and has suffered several falls since she has been here in McHenry in the Memory Care unit. She doesn't remember that she is to call for help when she needs to get up in the night - she takes a tumble and while she has not yet broken any bones, she has suffered some bruising and stiffness that leaves her uncomfortable. Mixed blessing - while she is uncomfortable she is more cautious and doesn't try to move around alone, so there will be a while that she doesn't fall... until she feels better, tries to move on her own again, and falls again...... In any case, she will not be able to live in her own house, so they need to get it sold instead of letting it stand empty. The sorting has begun, it has been listed for sale, and we hope that it sells sometime this summer. No hurry.... what a pain it will be to sort and sell all the contents!!! Going through this with my folks has prepared me, and this ain't no picnic!
Another joy has been dog-related. After training for what seems like years, I finally bit the bullet and entered Maija in an Agility trial. She has been doing well in practice for quite some time, but has never gotten the concept of doing the weave poles correctly. I worked with her one week this spring, using a different method of training, and she caught on in about 4 days! She actually got a qualifying score! So now I guess we have to keep going so she has the chance to earn the title, right? I am entering another trial at the end of June - we shall see how it goes..... I have also entered Elvis in several shows in June. I hope he will earn some points too. This will be in the "breed ring" where the dogs are judged on their looks. He is a very nice dog, but this is so political that I don't have a lot of hope.... I am a nobody, so the chances of ME showing him successfully are slim. I have had friends offer to help, so that is nice.
Guess I had better get going. The sun is out for the first time in days, and I have 3 Afghans that need a walk...
Blessings to everyone.
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