Being Neighborly

 My neighbor is great.  She is a hard-working, kind Chinese woman who speaks little English.  The other night our doorbell rings, and there she stands, sun bonnet shading her face, with a bowl of freshly picked tomatoes from her garden.

"Thank you so much!"

I had the most delicious summer sandwich!  Much appreciated.

In returning her bowl to her, she pulls me back into her thriving, amazing garden and fills my arms up with more veggies than I know what to do with.  "Here, take bowl. I no need. I have plenty."

Sweetest neighbor!  How about you?  Nice neighbors?

HEAT AND HEAT

Bubbles seems sad.  Maybe it's boredom.  Summer can be hot and uneventful when you're a fur ball in 'heat' who is suddenly thrown into no walks, no swimming, and *yawn* feeling tired and listless.  I'm not sure which heat she hates the most - the heat cycle that she is in, or the heat of the day.

I hope she comes to life when the weather cools, post surgery next month and going into October.  I've never owned a dog in heat before - so this is all new to me.  I think she's coming out of it though, slowly but surely.

Gracie tolerated summer but was not the biggest fan, especially in her senior years.  Fall always brought a spring to her step and she would become a puppy again as the air cooled and leaves turned and fell to the ground.  I'm hoping the same happens with Bubbles.

Bubbles Lament

It all started out like this.  Summer.  Not the girl Summer, but the season of summer.  

Mom and dad got in this thing they called a pool, and since I did not want to be sitting on the deck alone, I followed.  That's a lot of water!  

They thought it was cute how I jumped off the raft and swam over to be with Mom.  But really, it was me, clinging to my lifeline aka Mom.  I had to be with her and the only way was to swim over to her.

  So yea.  There I was swimming like a pro when BAM ~ ear infection ~ and doc said no more swimming for 2 weeks.  Oh shucks.  I was just getting the hang of it.  The 2 weeks were almost over when another BAM ~ heat ~ and so there I was, wearing a diaper and watching them swim from the bedroom window.  

Poor me.  

Mom said as soon as it warms up outside I will be back in the water with them.  She also says next month I will go in for surgery.

What's surgery?

~ OUCH ~

 Can we talk for just a moment about aches and pains?  When I turned 60 my body began the journey of decline in a much bigger way than before.  My back would go out from simply putting a dish away in the cupboard or I'd be up all night with indigestion from eating a slice of pizza past 6 PM.  It's been a spiral downward since then (turning the big 6-0).  Side note: I am now 68.

Hypertension, high cholesterol, yada-yada.  The list goes on and on.

I believe my foot problem started when I was catering to Gracie in  her old age.  She would sleep at my feet and sometimes sprawl out taking 1/2 to 3/4 of my sleeping space, and I would often find myself balled up in the fetal position at the top of the bed.  Now for some reason unbeknownst to me, my right foot/ toe/ ankle becomes so painful (usually upon getting out of bed in the morning) and I can barely put weight on it.  This all started with my sleeping arrangement with Gracie.  This pain will stay with me for sometimes days and then just like magic, it disappears for several days.  When it returns, it does so with a vengeance.  I've had X-ray showing nothing.  Been to a podiatrist with no real answers.  I have an appointment with a different podiatrist next month and am hoping for something.  Who would've thought a simple foot pain could limit life so drastically?!  But.  It does.  

I have been hesitant (for the above reason) to welcome Bubbles into our bed to sleep with us at night.  She still sleeps in her 'Bubble area' and is a perfect angel about it, most of the time.  After our final goodnight she will cry.  I go to her, remove her from her place of sleep, rock her in my rocker recliner for about a minute while she cuddles up to me and I whisper sweet goodnights in her ear, and then I place her back in there and she willingly goes to her bed to sleep.  

Sorry, I'm trying to keep my posts short and photos at a minimum.  I just wanted to whine a bit about my foot.  

My sweet Gracie, girl.  Always - my heart cries for you
to be laying once again at the foot of my bed.   You will
be forever loved.  Forever missed.

AND GOD MADE DOG

Serving as Gracie's mom for almost eighteen years, I became quite good at it.  Being a dog mom, that is.  It's all about feeding them, making sure they have water, playing together, cleaning ears, and just  letting them know you are there for them.  

Never would I ever love a dog as much as I loved Gracie.  But this little gift-from-above has been challenging me on that never-would-I-ever mindset.  Maybe it's not so much that she is perfect, but more that she is perfect for me.  When she looks at me with those dancing, sparkling, loving eyes,  I find myself falling hard.  What's a dog mom to do?

My instructions prior to being sent to her were as follows:  She needs you.  Love with reckless abandon, and be a good girl.  It might take some time, but the love you give will return to you.  Be patient.

Genesis 1:25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.  And God saw that it was good.  

Hello > Is Anybody Out There?

 I just checked.  I've been blogging for thirteen years!  Has it really been that long?  I left for a while - and then came back - so I have lost a lot of followers and friends who were faithful in commenting on my posts.  BooHoo.

In those thirteen years, I've lost friends both furry 4-legged and the human kind, when they either passed away or got bored with my content.  Some drifted apart when politics reared its very  ugly head and there were hard feelings, even though that's the last thing I would want.  I've learned to stay quiet about such things unless I am asked for my opinion.  A work in progress.

*sigh*

We can learn a lot in life if we pay attention.

Some of my blogging friends just dissolved from thin air, and that's sad.  No closure.  No idea of what happened.  I have had so much fun in the past, sharing stories and lives with friends I have made on here and enjoying moments from their lives.  

I'm older now, and not nearly as excited about life now that it is winding down...  so creating posts is harder.. but I'm trying.  Ha!  So, here I am, doing what I love to do.  Writing about nothing.

No more diapers for me!  I'm on phase 2 of my heat cycle, which Mom says is not so messy.  So.  I am happy.  Very happy.  Can you see it in my eyessssssss.......  ????

*spoiler alert* The dog, that is.

Yesterday there was rain.  I don't know about you, but I enjoy a nice rain right smack dab in the middle of a long, hot summer.  When the rain slowed, Bubbles and I high-tailed it outside for our coveted morning prayer walk around the pool.  I will kick the ball around sometimes for her, if she shows interest, and she usually does a morning potty.  

Later in the day, GP and I left the poor dog home alone long enough to go to our favorite local farm just over the state line into West Virginia, where we got the best corn-on-the-cob you can get (one dozen ears) and some fresh tomatoes, zucchinis, and some peppers.  Summertime is the best time for good, healthy fresh fruits and vegetables!  

Before coming home we slipped over to Hummingbird Cafe for a mighty fine lunch/dinner.  Yum, yum!

Bubbles was alone for all of an hour-and-a-half to two hours.  

Mom and Dad left for days!  I cried the entire time.  I was hungry and alone.  They brought home a special surprise for me, though, so they are forgiven.  Roy Rogers roast beef, which, Mom says was Gracie's fave.  Wait.  I heard Gracie got Roy Rogers every day.  Is this true?  Then this means I should get it every day too.  Hey Mom....

 Every day after she turned seventeen.  When you turn seventeen, we'll see.

~~ FEVER ~~

 Shortly after Bubbles first birthday, she showed signs of being in heat.  Then, full blown heat.  Since she has been having a bloody discharge, we've insisted she wear doggie diapers while she is in the house.  Let me tell you, she is not a fan.  However, she is such a sweet, loving, obedient dog.  She does it humbly and without complaining.  

During our God time (Bubbles and I), in my back room, while Bubbles was standing facing outside and looking out the window, neighbor dog (a big, black, adorable boxer) suddenly appeared with his nose against the window looking inside, nearly coming face to face with Bubbles.  Oh, I wish I would have had my camera ready for that one!! 

"No, Bubba, Bubbles cannot come out and play."  

My mama said surgery is scheduled for September twelfth.  I don't know what that is, but I hope it's fun.

~Happy Birthday Bubbles~

On Saturday we celebrated Bubbles 1st Birthday.  She was delighted with being treated so special all day.  For supper, we gave her (Gracie's fave) Roy Rogers roast beef.  She was delighted.  

~~ THE VOID OF LOSS ~~

Bubbles will turn one year old on July 22.  I can hardly believe that a year has gone by so fast.  She has distracted me from the horrible heartbreak losing Gracie brought.  She keeps me busy, laughing, and loving.  I couldn't ask for a more perfect follow-up to my beloved Gracie.  

My calculations tell me that Bubbles was likely conceived on the day of our goodbye to Gracie.  It is no wonder I failed so hopelessly in getting a dog to fill the void of her loss, for so many months after losing Gracie.  God had orchestrated the perfect plan, and I was waiting for the ideal dog for me.  I just needed to be led there, so God did that.

I worried at my age, that starting over with a puppy may be too much.  No, actually this puppy was just enough and not at all too much.  

My heart will always ache from Gracie's absence.  But I truly feel I will see her again.  God is good like that.  

Meanwhile,  Bubbles is here - and she is learning to stay at home for short periods of time by herself, mastering car rides without much anxiety, and learning to swim.  She gives a sense of purpose to two senior citizens who loved and lost - and who have now learned to love again.

 

2020~2021~2022~2023

Things are happening here.  Not necessarily for the good.  But things.  

In 2020 I retired and closed my business.  I doubt I need to explain why.  I did manage to write and publish a book though 😜.  THE HOUSE  My first fiction book and I used my pen name, Chambray Blue.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE writing fiction!  Being retired was good, really.  I could delve into doing what I enjoyed (writing) and more importantly, I could be 100% THERE for Gracie, who was showing her age. 

2021 was me, liquidating - selling - re-grouping, etc.  Ten years of All About Hearing.  I would miss my clients a lot!  I wrote another book, a prequel to THE HOUSE, BLINK.  Per my daughter: "I loved this book!  It was even better than THE HOUSE."  Coming from my daughter, I knew it was a good book.  Writing fiction is so much fun.  Towards the end of the year, Gracie was failing.  Each day I prayed to God, and I asked her to let me know when it was time.

2022 brought the most difficult, sad, heartbreaking time in my life.  On May 26 I knew I had to let my girl go.  Saying goodbye to Gracie gutted me.  I felt like a shell of who I had been, if that makes any sense.  My title had been Dog Mom for almost eighteen years.  A title I loved.  A life I loved.  And now, my purpose was gone.  Later that year, God ordered my steps to the exact breeder I had got Gracie from eighteen years earlier.  Enter, Bubbles. Oh, and one more thing.  I wrote another book.  This one was non-fiction and the hardest book I've ever written.  FROM GOD WITH LOVE  

I've left a lot out of the above.  Maybe I should write another book.  HaHa!

It's 2023 and we are being faced with a lot of change and challenges.  Gary's 91-year-old uncle, Vic, lives in the adjoining apartment of what used to be All About Hearing, just off the garage.  For a long time, Vic could take care of himself.  Several weeks ago we had to pick him up from the floor and call 911.  He spent time in the hospital with sepsis and pneumonia before being sent to a nursing home for rehab.  Now, just days after the start of rehab, he is being sent home.  There is a lot of uncertainty as to whether we can provide him with the care he needs at home.  So, a decision may need to be made that will be a hard one.  *sigh*  I can tell, it is taking a toll on Gary and his own health.  This is a huge responsibility.  

But GOD provides!  He knows just what we need, when we need it.  And what we need right now are slobbery kisses,  soft snuggles, and a wagging stub-of-a-tail when we walk in the door.   

God knew.

We needed Bubbles.