An Image and Its Story - November 2019

I am a day late for last month's "An Image and Its Story" - this is what a Thanksgiving weekend does to you. I guess you can relate.

I was almost finished with my morning walk around the lake and on my way to my car when I came upon these two. The moment I stepped off the trail out of the woods I had seen them, but since from that perspective they were only silhouettes against the sun I wasn't quite sure what exactly the second "person" was - yes, I had first thought it was another human being (and I wasn't the only one - a lady who came towards us while I was taking the picture told us that she had first thought the woman was sitting there with her boyfriend!). The closer I got and changed my position to the sun I could finally see the dog and had to chuckle inwardly. But then immediately the photographer kicked in and I thought what a great photo this would make, so I asked the woman whether I can take her picture from the back with the dog by her side. She readily agreed. Unfortunately the dog didn't look straight over the lake like its owner but turned its head because there was another dog approaching (with the "boyfriend"-lady). However, when I saw the photo I thought no matter what, it was sweet and I just loved this moment of a human-dog friendship. There was so much tenderness and love between the two - this picture easily made November's image.

It's a Pug!

The youngest daughter of my friend K., S., loves pugs - she's crazy about them! Of course she owns a pug, a black one that is already pretty old. The family had decided to give her a loving home in her old age, and the pug enjoys her days there very much. She usually lies in the sunny spots and snores! I'm actually not that fond of small dogs, I love big dogs, but this little guy has stolen my heart. When I spend a morning with K., the pug usually sits right next to me on the couch.

S. turned 18 years old two weeks ago and I knit a little black pug for her. The pattern is from the talented Rebecca Danger (you can find it here). I'm happy to say that S. loves the pug!

Yes, it does have a real pug tail!

The grey nose and ears show her old age...

And this is the model - sitting on my daughter's lap and soaking up the November sun!

It's a Dog's Gate

This gate in my neighborhood always brings a smile to my face. It's wacky, creative and definitely different. The top with the girl pushing the wheelbarrow is fun, but I really like the dog.

It's a guard dog, I assume, one of the really sweet kind.

Quite a lot of parts of this gate are made of recycled material - what a creative way to upcycle items! It might not necessarily be pretty in a conventional sense, but it's certainly unique. I rather have that in my neighborhood than uniformity.

It's definitely a "good fence" and therefore deserves to be linked up to Theresa's blog.

Sunday Gratitude

As I had thought, this week passed by way faster that the week before. I was almost surprised how fast the weekend was here, time to reflect on gratitude.

It was another week of gorgeous sunsets when the sky was almost on fire. The photo above shows the best of them. After that the fog slowly settled in again.

I love the fog. It cools the region and brings some moisture when we're lacking rain. It's not much, but it certainly is better than nothing. It also prevents nights from being too frosty around this time. We can have some severe frost here which can do a lot of damage to all the citrus trees in the area. I love foggy mornings when you can't see the sun but there's a hint of it rising beyond the mist. The fog has a different color, the entire mood is different.

One day this week a woman in my exercise class brought in some oranges from her garden. She had so many that she generously gave them away. I took a few home, and after I had taken a few photos of them I ate the first one. I can't tell you how sweet and juicy they were. It was pure delight!

It was my birthday last week - I'm just grateful that I have birthdays in my life and I hope for many more in good health. I have seen too many friends leaving this earth way too early - there can never be too many candles on a cake! I was overwhelmed by all the good wishes I received - I have such wonderful friends! Otherwise it was a beautiful quiet day that gave me a lot of opportunity to read without feeling guilty. In the evening, one of my good friends and her family invited us over for a birthday dinner including cake and ice cream. Such a lovely evening!!! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Her entire family is delightful, her youngest daughter was a Girl Scout in my troop, she is the same age as Kaefer. They also just got a new dog, and it was great meeting her. I am such a dog person (animal person, really)! This is their old dog, Afton, who died a year ago.

I discovered a new visitor at my feeders - a Western Tanager. These birds don't come to my place very often and I was so happy to see one. They usually migrate in the winter to the South. This only shows how unusual this winter is.

Yesterday it rained a little bit again - every drop counts! It is so beautiful to see the green hills around us! I can't get enough of it. The magnolias are flowering - I just have to look out my window to see my neighbor's huge tree covered in pink and white flowers. It is breath taking. Sometimes when I go outside the air has a special fresh smell that it only seems to carry in very early spring - it smells of new life and anticipation. There is a slight almost unnoticeable mild breeze that I can feel - it often happens in January and then disappears again for several weeks.  It makes me long for spring although I hope winter stays around a bit longer and brings much much more rain. We still need it (I sound like an old broken record with my repetitive wish for rain).

What are you grateful for this past week?

Good-Bye Afton

Sorry for the bad quality of the pictures. These are the only photos I have of Afton.

This is how I will always remember her: standing in the door of her home, waiting for me to come up the stairs, cookie-ball in her mouth and her tail wagging like crazy.

Afton, my friend K's golden retriever. She was one of the sweetest and gentlest dogs I have ever known. She was also an incredible goofball. In just a matter of seconds she stole my heart and kept it forever. She did this big dance of joy whenever I came to her house, knowing that I was so easy to persuade to give her one of those dog cookies she loved so very much. She would sit right next to the jar, look at me as if she was starving and then take the cookie from my hand in the gentlest way possible. She had quickly figured out the pattern - there was a cookie when I had just come, one kind of in the middle of my stay and one right before I left (I think K had planned that in her daily diet on the days she expected me). She would lie next to me, sleeping and sometimes sighing in her dreams. She loved to be petted - of course. Sometimes she would lay her big head on my leg and "talk" to me with those grunts deep down in her throat.

Like every dog Afton loved to soak up the sun. And of course, one of her favorite things was to fill that orange ball with dog treats. She would bounce it through the house until that ball was empty and the contents had ended up in her belly. It was hilarious to watch her doing that.

She was not only a pet, but also a breeding dog for Canine Companions for Independence. She had several litters of sweet puppies until she could finally "retire". Then the funny girl she really was came out.

She had a happy life in a warm, loving family. Last Friday she died of cancer. Although she wasn't my dog, I feel very sad. I loved Afton and I will miss her.

Puppy Love

Because of serious allergies, we cannot have any pets in our house. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure I had at least one dog and two cats.

So I befriend other people's dogs and cats. My friends' dogs love when I come to their houses because they know that I will play with them and give them some good belly rubs. One of my friends is a "puppy mom" for Canine Companions for Independence - the dog has her puppies in her home and she raises and looks after them for their first eight weeks, until they will be turned in to CCI and eventually start their training. It is one of the finest programs.

My friend currently has a litter of seven golden retriever puppies. They were not quite six weeks old when Kaefer and I stopped by and spend a couple hours with those super cute little dogs.

When we arrived, they were still snoozing - and for some, it didn't even look very comfortable. However, that changed very quickly when they saw where the fun was.

They loved to play with Kaefer's shoelaces and "opened" them repeatedly (future service dogs!).

There were four girls and three boys, and since they were a "C" litter all their names started with C. Each one had a different colored collar so that we could tell them apart.

They loved to play and explore, but also enjoyed a good belly rub.

After so much fun, they were tired again and returned to some more sleeping.

They look totally cute, but they are also a lot of work. These guys sure keep you on your toes!