Gracie at REST!

I just haven't been feeling good enough to get out and shoot some new stuff. But, I didn't want to skip the POTD all together, so I dug out another few from my archives!

You've seen our Gracie at play, now here's a few of what she does BEST!!
Spoiled??? No way!

Well, maybe a little - especially at the cottage. Camp is the only place where Gracie is allowed up on the furniture! When all the beds are full with people, we put her dog bed up on the Lazy Boy and she sleeps there. Hey, it was COLD outside in the middle of February! We get blankets don't we??

Finnigan

We've been at our cottage the last few days and I can't upload fast enough with our dial-up. I've got to catch up on everyone's Blogs!!
I didn't take any new photos of Gracie, so I thought I'd introduce you to Finnigan. My daughter rescued him from dumpster living in October 2005. He was only 7 weeks old. Doug and I swore we would never have another cat in our house, but since DD was only living with us temporarily, we allowed her to bring him home. Well, that was over a year ago. Both Finnigan and daughter are still living with us! ha ha - but that's okay!
This little dude is really quite well behaved for a cat. He rarely scratches the furniture. I say rarely, but he does seem to have an afinity for leather and plastic. I think we'll hold off on getting that new leather sofa!
Finny loves to play with Gracie - on HIS terms! When he's not in the mood, he just runs away.
We used to tie up Finny on a leash outside because DD didn't want him to be a wanderer. Well, that worked the first summer, but not this year. So he has taken to enjoying nights out, scrapping with neighbourhood cats and swaggering home at 6am. I don't think he strays very far from our yard, but it's well treed and I'm sure he feels like he lives in a forest!
One of these days DD will be moving to her own apartment. When she does she'll be taking Mr. Finn with her. We'll miss that little stinker!


[Finny watching for birdies in the window feeder!]

Gracie at PLAY

Gracie and Finnigan play like this a few times a week. Finnigan gives up too quickly - wonder why??



Gracie loves to play with other dogs. This is V-Max. Believe it or not - they're having a great time here!!



When there is nobody to play with, she plays by herself!!

My favourite friend!

Meet Vegas Grace! Gracie is 3 years old and she thinks she's human. I'm serious. I swear if you told her she was a dog she'd be shocked!!
She is lazy and laid back, but when she plays she's like a little puppy again.
Her favourite toy is a stuffed Donkey [with all the stuffing taken out.]
She also likes her Kong, her ball and chewy bones.
She likes to play/fight with my daughter's cat, Finnigan.
She loves to chase squirrels and chipmunks.
She gives kisses.
She knows several tricks: sit, lie down, roll over, spin around, shake a paw, high five, high ten, dead dog, under the bridge, through the hoop and look at Gracie in the mirror!!
She loves the hairblower and whenever we are drying our hair, she bounds into the bathroom to have hers done too.
She loves scented shampoos, lotions, etc. and if you smell pretty, she'll rub all over you!!
She LOVES peanut butter, but since she's become a Vegan [she's allergic to meat protein] we had to stop giving it to her.
She loves going to camp. Especially because she gets to sleep on the couch there. She also love swimming - for 10-20 minutes at a time! She'll jump off the dock on command!
She is very intellegent.
She is allowed on only one chair in our house. That's the lazy boy. But only if someone is in it too.
She is sensitive and kind. You can cuddle with her and she'll soak up all the loving you can give her.
She is prone to ear infections and skin rashes. I can clean her ears and administer drops and lotions and she'll just lay there and accept treatment without fear.
She loves to be vacuumed.
Can you tell that we love our dog???
You'll see more of Gracie this week!

A fishing story

[Lauren] wrote an interesting story on her blog about a stolen leather jacket and the replacement she got for her husband. It made me think of a similar, but not really, story of loss and replacement!!

Anyone who grew up in the 70's will remember the Popeil Pocket Fisherman. Ronco products sold millions I'm sure! Doug got one as a teenager and although not entirely the best rod out there, it was fun, quirky and portable!

When we bought our cottage, the PPF went to camp. I love anything RETRO, and this rod was so kitchy and cool that I loved that we still had it. I was hesitant that Doug was going to use the rod, but since he uses his regular rods in the summer, the PPF proved to be the perfect rod for ice fishing. I figured, what could happen??

One sunny winter day, Doug put a few holes in the ice and went out fishing. My daughter Meg and I walked out to check how he was doing. We asked why he did not secure the rod into the ice. [Anyone who has ever been ice fishing before knows that the rods are usually propped up by the ice hole with wet snow and water to keep it upright and secure]. Doug replied that he was sitting close by and that he would see the rod move if a fish took hold of his bait. Now, the two holes he had set up were about 20 feet apart. He had to watch TWO holes. We again expressed our concern, but who knows better about fishing than a guy who is fishing!? What do we know?

Meg and I returned to camp and Doug continued to fish. Some time later, Doug came back to camp and said,
"Have I got a fish story for you!!!

And it goes something like this:
"First of all, I just lost the biggest fish ever!!!"
"Really? How?"
"Well, I was checking my one line, and at the corner of my eye I see PPF start to move! So, I started to turn for the PPF and doesn't it start to go sliding along the ice. I ran as fast as I could towards the rod and SWOOOOSH it slides towards the hole!"
"And how come you're all wet?"
"Well, just as I got to the hole, the rod went THWUCK -- right down the hole!! I dove onto my belly and plunged my arm down into the water to try to catch it. I JUST missed it! My PPF is gone. A huge fish took it away!"

I omitted a few choice words in his telling of the story, but we indeed had a good laugh. He was soaked from the wrist up to his shoulder. He tried so hard to get that rod before it disappeared down the hole. I can't help but think of the poor fish who was swimming around down there with a PPF attached to him. We like to think it was a nice big Pike!

I felt so bad that he had lost a piece of his childhood. I hate it when sentimental things get lost or stolen or broken. So I got onto EBay and I found an original, 1970's Popeil Pocket Fisherman, still in the bag! So it has taken a place on a shelf in our Sauna building and there it stays. He is NOT going to use it anymore!!

That's the story of the one that got away!!!

My Plant

I am such a hoarder. Actually, I used to be much worse than I am now. I used to save everything. When Doug and I were dating, I saved movie tickets, restaurant coasters, labels, etc. When we had kids, I saved all their art work and school work and homemade gifts. Over the years, it got to the point where I had no room to keep all those things. One day I got into a major cleaning-up mode and I went through it all. I sorted out what was keepers and tossed the rest. It was SO hard, but I knew I couldn't logically keep it all. I took photos of some of the special things.
Some things are more special and sentimental than others. This is a plant that Meghan gave me when she was in kindergarten, [which was 20 years ago!!]. The class had started plants in a tiny little plastic cup for all the mothers for Mothers Day. Meg brought hers home so proudly! We transplanted it after a while into a bigger pot. Over the years, I had to continue to transplant it into bigger and bigger pots and so many times I came so close to losing it. I pick out the dead leaves, re-plant some of the stringers and it comes back to life!
Hang in there little plant, hang in there!!

Mamma's Sparkles

My mother was born and raised in Arnhem, The Netherlands. She was the only girl in the family with 5 brothers. She enjoyed doing crafty things and I guess that's where my creative and artistic side is from. She went on to go to school to be a Seamstress! Who does that anymore?

When my mom was around 9 years old, she would play with these sparkles. That makes them about 74 years old! Some of them are super-fine, almost like the finest of powders. Others looks like tiny little pieces of thread. I'm not even sure what they're made of. I wouldn't be surprised if some are of toxic substances!

When I was little, I would beg my mom to use them. She would never let me. I don't know why!! I'm glad she didn't, because now I have the bottles on display in my keepsake case. I love these little bottles!

In Memory

My dad passed away in 2002 from complications after a heart attack. He was 83. Dad always said he was going to live to a ripe old age of 90, like his dad. Too bad he didn't make it. Dad went through a lot his last few years. He was diagnosed with sinus cancer 1996. It was very serious and he needed to have the cancer removed right away which resulted in him losing part of his nose. After complications from more surgeries, he ended up with no nose. The doctors and specialists he saw in Toronto were miracle workers! Not only was the cancer gone, but he now had a prosthetic nose! He looked almost normal with that plastic nose! However, after a few years of having no nose, his eyes and cheeks began to 'sink' and lower into his face. The nose did not fit as well as it used to. He was a proud man and hated that 'fake' nose and often would refuse to wear it. The family was used to seeing him with no nose, but strangers would be shocked when they saw him. The hardest part of dad's illness was seeing him go from a strong, silly and happy man to a sad, depressed, sunken man.
Nevertheless, he was a trouper. He never complained. He was a fighter.
His heart remained true, always. I never want to forget his trueness of heart.
After he passed away, I asked the nurses in the hospital if I could have a copy of his electrocardiogram. I framed it.

The Midway

Each May, our city hosts the midway. It used to be here for only 3 days, but now it's here for a full week. I think they had to extend the time because e-v-e-r-y single year it would RAIN!! I mean it, it never failed!
I LOVE carnivals. I LOVE the rides. Unfortunately, because of my new illness, I feel that I couldn't handle the rides. I am SO disappointed! I'm a ride junkie and it killed me not to buy tickets for the Tilt-a-Whirl, Typhoon and others. I might have been able to handle the Ferris Wheel, but if I couldn't do the others I didn't want to do that one!
I did buy a nice, juicy, red candy apple! Mmmm, I could eat an apple a day that way!
I wanted to get some night shots with my new lens, but I think I went too early. It was dusk, but still too light. I should try and get back there after sunset before the show leaves. I'm still learning with this new lens and I wasn't sure where to set the Aperture. I was also surprised that at dusk, I didn't have to bump up my ISO from 200 at all.
Here's a few shots that didn't turn out too bad.

After the Rain

Got my 50mm 1.7 in the mail yesterday! Yeehaw. Only took a few photos so far, but I'm loving it. These are SOOC!

Galilean Thermometer

I think these are so cool. I only wish they weren't made of glass because they're so fragile. If you haven't seen one before, you can check it out here! I'd like to keep mine outside, but I'm afraid the wind will blow it over.
Taken indoors with the Ricoh M 50mm 2.0! I know how to use it now!! Yay me!

My new [to me] lens

I've only had my K100 for 4 months. Through winter, being sick, cold and rainy April and totally losing my Mojo, I had been aching to try something new with my camera. I had read somewhere that Pentax cameras were compatible with Ricoh lenses. Now, backtrack a little... my daughter was given an old film SLR almost a year ago, with two lenses. She had tried to use it but it proved to be difficult to figure out and her pictures were awful. She put the camera back in the bag and there it stayed until one day a light bulb went off in my head! It's a Ricoh camera!! So I dug out one of the lenses the other day and put it on my Pentax. It fit!! First success! I had NO idea how to use an old fully manual lens. I asked a few questions over on the Pentax Forums and at 2Peas and got some info. To make a long story short, I kinda got it to work! From what I can tell it's a 50mm 2.0 lens. [the identifying info is missing off the lens, so I had to guess]. I'm loving the Bokey [as Volt says!] It's going to be a challenge and hopefully a lot of fun practicing more with this lens. And since the 50mm M 1.7 lens I ordered should be in in the next few days, I'll have had some practice using a manual lens!!
It was crazy windy yesterday so I'm not sure if that's why the focus is a bit off or if it's because of my old eyes! They are indeed old and worn and tired!!!
Here's my favourite of the bunch of pics I took. The 'x' you see is where I tried to set my focus. Let's say it was the wind that made it wonky. There, WIND - that qualifies as weather, right???

My Poetry

When I was eleven years old, I wrote my first poem. I can't recall what inspired me or why I decided that it was time to try my hand at poetry, but the rest is history.
I wrote a lot back in the day. SO many during my teen years - hmm, wonder why? I wrote mostly free verse until I was in my mid- twenties when I discovered how fun it is to rhyme! I've tried Haiku, but didn't really care for it. Lately, I haven't written too much. I guess I just haven't been inspired! This alphabet poem was written in '94 for a class I was taking. The whole poem consists of 26 words, each one starting with each letter of the alphabet. This poem was published in a Anthology. Sounds more impressive than it is. I PAID to have it printed! Ha ha. Looks cool though to see my name in print though.
I've won a few contests with my poetry as well as two for story writing.
My inspiration has been Rod McKuen, Emily Dickenson and my favourite of ALL TIME, Desiderata, by Max Ehrmann.

My Daemon

My Creative Side

As an artist, I have enjoyed all kinds of creative outlets. From Folk Art Painting to Caligraphy, from sewing to Crafts, from Poetry to Story Writing, I think I've never had more fun than creating artistic work in Photoshop. I haven't done it in a while, but I really enjoy manipulating a photo and turning it into something different and unique.

CAMP

Some of you may have seen this picture before, but it's the best shot I have of our cottage, [camp , as we call it here in northern Ontario!] I LOVE camp. When we're not home, we're at camp. When we purchased it 4 years ago, we knew it was the best thing we ever did. It's our peace, our getaway, our solace, our paradise. DH works 12 hour shift work and has 4-5 days off at a time. If he doesn't have a gig, we're at camp! We just opened it up last weekend for the first time this spring. No signs of mice or other critters! YAY. There are lots of sticks and leaves all over the property that I have to clean up, but I love doing that. I might even plant some more flowers this year. I have a few perennials planted, but it's too early for them. They're not budding yet.
We hope to build an addition this year too. DH starts holidays in about two weeks and guess where we'll be???

I love my Crocabees!

Here's my yellow Crocs. Well, actually I call them my Crocabees because they're not really original Crocs, but Croc wannabes from the Buck Store!!! I love them just the same. These are t-h-e most comfortable shoes I have ever worn! They are especially perfect for camp. I love my camp. I love my Crocabees!

Which orientation do you like better?

I'm BACK!!

It's been weeks, but feels like forever since I've posted. I have been feeling ill since late January and after some extensive tests I have been diagnosed with IBD. At this time, it is suspected that I have Crohn's disease. I don't post this here to seek sympathy, but just to let some of you who read my blog know what's been going on with me lately! If you don't feel like reading the gory details, you can stop reading now! Just scroll down to look at the pic if you wish!

So, in January, it started. I had several days of unsettled stomach. If I was 20 years younger I might have suspected morning sickness. Just that ever-so-slight, gnawing feeling in my gut. Early on, the symptoms would come and go and I often felt perfectly fine for several days in a row. Then the pain started. At first it was subtle pangs that would start in my middle and crescendo into a deep, dull ache, then it would ease off to nothing again. I would get these waves only one or two times throughout the day, but after awhile I would get them several times an hour. Sometimes the pain would be momentary, but as time went on the waves would come more often, last longer and be more intense. My digestive system has always been extremely sensitive, so I thought it was just a flare-up. My doctor was at first convinced that I had a lingering virus that was causing the pains and the frequent bathroom trips. After sending me for some preliminary tests the results were inconclusive for anything other than a slight elevation of my WBC count. I was also affected by the occasional low-grade fever. When my symptom cleared up for a week in March I thought everything was over! Then one beautiful day while walking on the ice to our camp, the pains started again! I was not a happy camper. This time the doc sent me for Upper GI ultrasound and Small Bowel Follow Through x-rays. What a horrible experience. The prep for these tests gave me the WORST bloating and gassy pains that I could have ever imagined! I had to take Dulcolax and eat nothing for over 12 hours. I had to drink Citro-Mag which tastes like a syrupy lemon juice. I swear that stuff burned an acidic hole into my stomach. I was in pain all night, let alone being in the bathroom about 5 times!! Then I woke up around 4am with a fever and violent chills. I'm not a whimp by any means but I felt like such a baby. I felt like crying and crawling in a hole. I was feeling very sorry for myself. By morning I felt fine! Go figure. The tests themselves were a breeze. I was in the lab for a few hours, but the ultrasound and xrays were totally pain free!
The tests showed that the inflammation is at the Ileum, [the final section of small intestine]. Other tests revealed that I'm slightly anemic [no wonder I haven't felt creative lately] and I have lost about 7 pounds. Not that I needed to lose any weight, but it's not a concern right now.
So now I'm awaiting an appointment with a Gastrointestinal specialist. Unfortunately, until I do see him, I cannot take any medication to ease my discomfort. I imagine I'll have to go through some more testing but I've got to say that I am extremely relieved to find out that what I've got is treatable. I'm not a worrier, but I admit that the 'big C' crossed my mind! I have also learned that Crohn's is thought to be an autoimmune disease. That makes SO much sense for me. It's an even longer story to explain that aspect, but I also suffer from joint pain, [Ankylosing spondylitis] and eye problems [Central Serous Retinopathy] which are common in Crohn's sufferers! I can't wait to speak with the specialist to see if the Canker sores and Eczema I suffered as a child might have anything to do with this as well as the joint and eye probs!
I am so relieved that I finally know what's been wrong with me since January and I am looking forward to some treatment so I can get back to normal. C'MON SUMMER!!
The weather is starting to get nice and I'm looking forward to our holidays in May and June!! We went to camp for the first time this weekend and it was so peaceful. I didn't do too much except rest and relax! Doug puttered about the whole weekend. He has been SO supportive and understands that when I feel pain, I just don't feel like doing anything - especially housework!!! Hmmm, I guess I can't use that excuse once I'm on meds, huh?
That's it folks. Now you know why I've been AWOL for so long. I'm hoping that very soon I'll be back to more regular posts and updates. Thanks for being patient with me!!!

Enjoyment

I gave Gracie a new type of bone today. She's very sensitive to certain foods and can't have wheat, gluten, corn or any meat protein. Because of that, we've only been able to give her treats of fruits or veggies, which she loves - but no doggie bones or treats. Found these Checkups bones at Costco yesterday. Of course, she LOVES them. First she has to bring it outside and stare at it. Then she pounces on it and plays with it like she's killing a small animal - tossing it in the air, shaking it, jumping on it! Then she lies down and stares at it some more. Finally, I guess it's dead and then she eats it!
This is Gracie ENJOYING her new treat!!

ME!

I rarely, if ever get to be in front of the camera! And then, I rarely, if ever like the photo of me! I'm either having a bad hair day, or my eyes are half closed, or I'm chewing or my mouth is wide open, or, you get the picture!! And, I rarely, if ever show anybody the pics of me. So, this is rare for me share these!
My girls were playing around with my camera on Easter sunday and snapped these of me. I like them, I really like them - pushing-50 wrinkles and all!!