Maggie on Monday

This week I caught a few pix of Maggie & Tabby together, lying out on the side walk. They're so funny together.

Hullo.

This is around the time you'd have a thought, "less is more," with these pictures. But I couldn't decide which ones I liked the best, so I'm posting most of them!

In the morning I let Maggie out. She walks around the yard and then sits on the side walk. This is my view as I check on her:

Later in the afternoon, Maggie heads up the ramp. However . . .

Tabby at the head of the ramp.

*sigh*

Then Maggie leans forward & plods ahead. Eventually Tabby moves.

This is my view when Maggie is coming back in:

She waits for me to come to the door. She likes a little reassurance when she crosses the threshold, so I just lightly touch her neck and then she steps in.

And that was our week. Still taking it one day at a time. I got another month's supply of Deramaxx for her. Apparently there's a shortage & I got the last batch. So we'll have to explore other options. She's past her expiration date according to the vet, but still going, er, not exactly strong. But you know, she's going.

I've been reading Patricia McConnell's The Other End of the Leash.  Brilliant-brilliant-brilliant! She talks about not approaching so dogs directly. I knew a lot of what she says, like not to hug dogs. But I changed the way I'd been cleaning Maggie's eye. Her one eye still gets a bit goopy & so I clean it first thing in the morning & give her her eye drops. We actually alternate between drops, ointment, & rewetting drops throughout the day, as needed.  Anyway, I would step over her and lean over her from behind to wash out her eye. And she would move her head all around and it was like trying to rinse out a moving target!  So I changed my approach & sit beside her, not over her. What do you know? She sits still. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. And by old dog, I mean me.  ;-)

High School Concert

Last Saturday Chiro-sis & I went to my nephew's choral concert, the 2012 All County Chorus Festival. Prior to finding out about the concert, I had planned on going to see Sir Ken Robinson speak in Richmond that night. He's a pioneer in the field of creativity in education.  As much as I had been looking forward to seeing him, my nephew was more important. I'll see Sir Ken another time, but seeing Dimples up on stage singing so sweetly was so worth it!

We stayed for the whole show, even tho his performance was one of the first. I was so impressed with the performances. The music was awesome & there was such enthusiasm, passion and joy from the teachers & students. It was such a pleasure to be there! I ended up getting my dose of creativity & inspiration without Sir Ken.  ;-)

I've posted on YouTube the final performance of the concert, Shut De Do performed by high school students from Central HS, Stonewall Jackson HS, & Strasburg HS. I was so impressed with the director, Thomas Tutwiler. I loved what he said before they started singing & I'm so glad I got it on video. [Side note: Chiro-sis started the clapping fest for him]. The quality isn't the best, but I'm happy to have a record of it.

Everyone is saying our country's in trouble, our young people are in trouble. I will tell you I worry about that, too. But in the past 72 hours, I've worried about that a lot less because if these young people behind me are samples of what our future holds for us, my friends, we're going to be OK . . . . Shut the door in the face of all darkness that's out there . . . let some light come into this world. ~Thomas Tutwiler

Maggie on Monday

We've had some beautiful spring days--some a bit on the chilly side, which suits me just fine! Here's Maggie in the front yard:

Eye dots!

I normally give Maggie her food in a paper bowl because she doesn't like the sound of her tags hitting a metal bowl. But I ran out and so I put her food on a plate. I'm in the living room and I hear her nosing her food on the plate and pushing it off!

Silly girl!

Sitting down to eat. That's right. So I don't have to clean up!

When I'm in the kitchen at the sink or at the table, Maggie settles in under the table. It's too small to fit her bed under there, but she seems to do OK:

This past Friday, I baby sat nephew Rowan, who adores Maggie:

That's an empty water gun in Rowan's hand. 

Maggie looking pretty happy.  :-) 

See the look on her face?

Whatcha lookin' at, Mag?

Tabby at the watering bowl. Maggie's just waiting to see if she goes to her food bowl. THEN there's trouble!

Tabby Bobcat don't care. She's a badass. (Honey badger reference, warning: bad language).

Slurp. 

Maggie continues to watch, ever vigilant!

You may have noticed the black tray under the water bowl. That's because Maggie is a SLOPPY drinker & dribbles water around the bowl. So instead of getting the mat wet, the tray collects the water.

I was getting her beef bones that she could suck the marrow out of, but the local grocery store doesn't have them, so I've been giving her ribs instead. I cut them into individual ones and freeze them. Whenever I have to leave, I give her one. And even if I don't go anywhere, she still gets one a day. She eats them on her sleeping bag in the LR. Now she's got me trained; she'll go and plop down on her sleeping bag and  then bark for a bone!  Can't fault her for that, can I? Such a smart girl.

P.S. In addition to being Maggie on Monday, it's an extra-special day: John Morgan's Birthday. Here's another past b-day post. Author of Grasshopper Notes, he is my boss, mentor, and dear friend. Make a WISH, JJJJ!  :-) H.

She is

I bring my hand toward Maggie's head and she lifts it to fit under my palm. I stroke her head, feel the warmth of her fur, and she is my sweet Maggie. 

But she is also my connection to Millie: 

Snoozing in the afternoon sun.

A quiet day on a sunny winter day.

Millie falling asleep with her ear in her food bowl.

Paws draped over the edge. 

Maggie is my reminder of the two of them together:

The silhouette of Maggie & Millie looking out at something interesting in the front field.

One of my favourite photos--lazy-dazy summer days.

On the back porch on a summer day.

In the kitchen on the runner that I taped to the floor so they wouldn't slip.

In my office.

Zzzzzz . . . .

Millie nuzzled in to Maggie's paws. She was a nuzzler.

In the living room, paws together . . . 

Maggie and Millie brought me back to Barkley and Remi:

Barkley & Remi's paws on the same retro-inspired carpet.

Barkley & Remi ready to come in after eating snow.  :-)

Inside, all cozy by the fire.   

Back yard at the Bay House. This is just an ordinary summer day, a snapshot of nothing in particular. They're not being funny or doing anything spectacular. Just hanging out in the yard.  :-) 

Together at the River House labyrinth.

Maggie's nature reminds me so much of Barkley:

SO SWEET. 

She was such a cheerful girl.

She was always by my side & followed me around, just like Maggie does.

Trotting down the pier to come join me.  :-)

Barkley in the River House labyrinth, a few months before her death. 

Feeling the warmth of Maggie's head under my hand, reminds me of Remi:

My gentle giant.

He weighed 145 lbs.

Remi was like Millie. He liked to sun himself on the porch in the winter.

He was not a fan of the camera; he didn't like the sound if it when it turned on.

Hullo.

 Looking at the back of Maggie's head . . . 

. . . reminds me of Millie, looking out her window at the River House:

Do you see what she's looking at? See the turkey to the right of her head?

It also reminds me of Remi's silhouette:

Sunrise at the Bay House; a familiar sight. Barkley went out & right back in again. Remi would walk around the perimeter of the yard & then go to the door and then sit at the window to let me know he wanted in.

Remi on another day. The sunrises were always beautiful, but I don't remember them without also remembering Barkley and Remi at my feet, while I was having my morning chai.

I picked Barkley out of a litter of 13 when she was 3 weeks old. I knew Remi before he was born and Barkley had puppies:

I never got to know Maggie or Millie in their youth. I missed their puppyhood and got them as old ladies. But I imagine what they must have been like; like all puppies that are exuberant and joyful and waggy. 

I bring my hand to Maggie's head and I touch every dog I have ever loved. 

Maggie is my connection to Millie and Barkley and Remi. She is my connection to unconditional love that only a dog lover knows. She is the softness, the gentleness, the playfulness. She is my waggy Miss Maggie, forever in my heart.