Monday, April 30, 2012

Maggie on Monday

This is so hard to write, even tho it was inevitable. The vet had given Maggie 2 months to live, and she outlived her expiration date by 5 weeks. So I had 3 months to extra-love and care for her.

Maggie's Last Day with Me

On Saturday, I heard Maggie get up in the middle of the night and throw up. I got up, cleaned it up and we both went back to sleep. Then she woke me again around 5a, so I stayed up. In the mornings we have a ritual; I get up and pet her good morning and then go brush my teeth. She follows me, where she sits in the middle of the hallway outside the bathroom. Then she follows me to the kitchen and gets a drink of water while I make tea. I turn on our morning music, a compilation of French accordion music I got from Target a few weeks ago. Then we go outside; she down the ramp and I sit and drink my tea. But yesterday she just stayed in the bedroom. So I brought water in for her and gave her some homeopathic lycopodium to settle her tummy & Perelandra's Snap Pea flower essence. She didn't throw up after that, but she was lethargic. So she just lay on her bed and I putzied around in my office.

She was panting a bit & would drink if I brought water to her, but she wasn't all that interested. My vet had given me her cell number, so I called her. She was in NC but coming back late Saturday night and would come to the house first thing Sunday morning. She said it sounded like Maggie might be getting ready to go but that it may be helpful to give her some more subcutaneous fluids.

I checked in on Maggie and she was asleep, so I went to get the subcutaneous stuff ready. Then I turned the light on and realized that Maggie wasn't sleeping, she had slipped away in her sleep. But I wasn't sure. She was still warm. I couldn't tell if she was breathing, so I help a mirror up to her nose. Nothing. I called Brother Atlasta and he came over.

I never buried the others. They were cremated at the vet. But I decided that I wanted to have a place for her. So she's off to the side of the yard, where she would often look out. I called my Mormon friends and they came right over with shovels to dig. Brother Atlasta went home for his shovel and chiro-sis came over. It's all such a blur.

Brother Atlasta with Elders Newman & Corey. who have to wear suits for everything. I could hear Atlasta telling them about his Cambiando Vidas D.R. trip with Mum and digging the house foundation and septic all by hand.  
Brother Atlasta carried Maggie out from the bedroom, wrapped in a towel, and we buried her. I asked the Mormons if they wanted to say something Bibley and Elder Corey said, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. That sounds pretty Bibley." I said that my favourite quote was by Anatole France:

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." 

Daniel suggested planting a dogwood tree over her grave, which I thought was a sweet idea. But then I thought that I'd like to do forsythia for her. It was her favourite at the River House:

Millie and Maggie nestled under the forsythia.
I have all these pictures from this week, so I'll leave you with Maggie's last week:

Maggie used to bark at the door to go out, but sometimes she would just plop down.

Silhouette of Maggie & Tabby Bobcat. 

Tabby has mastered sitting on top of the wicker cushions.

Hullo.

Nephew Rowan came for a vizzie. I had just gotten the grey mat that Maggie's lying on.  One for the kitchen, LR,  & 2 in my bedroom. So that she wouldn't slip on the floor. Also easier to clean up that carpet. 

Chiro-sis came over & helped me pull up the carpet in my bedroom.  Maggie came to see what all the furniture moving was about and then plopped down across the threshold. 

Sweet afternoon with Maggie. I got new porch furniture and we were sitting out there. 

Such an expressive face.



Tabby on the ramp, close by. Brother Atlasta said to me, as Tabby went up the ramp, "Are you going to leave the ramp up for the lazy cat?"   Hahahaha


Zzzzz . . . .

My sweet Maggie. LOVE you so much.
I'm so grateful for Brother Atlasta & Elders Newman & Corey for all their hard work, and to chiro-sis. I'm especially grateful to AARF for giving me a chance with Maggie & Millie. I knew when I first saw their photo on Petfinder that they were mine, for however long. They both stayed with me longer than I ever thought they would, and for that I am grateful. I'm grateful for John Morgan, who has helped me thru the deaths of Barkley, Remi, Millie & now Maggie. And I am grateful for the love I feel for all my sweet dogs, even as I mourn them. I remember the LOVE.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Locust Blossoms

One of my favourite trees is in bloom; the locust. It makes the best honey. I'm not a wine drinker, but I bet this would make an awesome wine. I took a couple quick shots when I was at Level Green last week, taking nephew Rowan for a riding lesson.





After my other nephew's concert last weekend, it was spitting rain as we walked to the parking lot, but there was a row of locust trees. Yes, we took time to stop and smell the locusts. In the rain. With a 2 year old.


Rowan smells the locust.







BEAUTIFUL.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Last Saturday, my nephew was part of a concert at the middle school in Woodstock. I'd never been there before. I went to small schools all my life, so huge public schools are so . . . HUGE. I have to say I was impressed with the art work in the building. So here are a few pix:
Cardboard & paint.
The following pix are ceiling tiles that were painted. AWESOMEness!



This was heading up a stairwell. 




This was over the art classroom. "An artist can't fail; it is a success to be one."

I can't remember if this was a ceiling tile or art on the wall. It's that good!
Here's some other art work, not on the ceiling:

This must have been a doorway that got bricked up. 

I think this was some sort of resist process--looking like Batik.

Love the textures & colours.

Somebody likes Vanilla Ice.  :-)

Series of Kandinsky-inspired ceiling tiles.
It looks like art is alive in at least one school!  It makes my heart happy to see it. Speaking of hearts:

This was a door on a classroom, with a heart-shaped pattern in the wood.  :-)

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Fisherman Willie

A couple weekends ago, I popped up to see Mum after a day in Sperryville. I stopped on Overall Bridge to take some pix:

You can just barely see the barn if you know where to look. And that dot is the roof of the river house. ;-)
Overlooking Overall Beach:

Do you see what I see?

Fisherman Willie!  In all the years I lived there, I never would see him when I was on the other side of the river. I waved & hollered, but he didn't hear me. 
Then I went to see Mum & had dinner with her & Pioneer Sister's kiddliewinks. On the way back, I stopped on the bridge again and honked my horn:


Oh look!

Hullo.  
Still one of my favourite sights: Fisherman Willie down by the river. And you can just make out friend Fred to the right, there. Good times.  :-)

GREEN

Thought I'd break up the Maggie on Monday posts with a few pix of other things. I do take pictures of other things!  This is my back yard, now.  Last week I had a whopper of a migraine. The pain went away after a coupla a daze, but the sensory part of it lasted a bit longer. So everything was magnified--sounds, smells, etc. I was looking out my office window and my eyes were assaulted with green. Imagine Homer Simpson whining, "Ohhhhh . . . why is everything so GREEN?!!!"  It was SO green. Anyway, now that I'm back to normal (haha) I can appreciate the green again!

This is where the labyrinth will go. 



My avocado tree.


Hullo.


I got a gardenia bush from Costco--my favourite flower. AWESOME!!!