Month: November 2007

Some things are not meant to be.  We knew that Lucy was a rather shy dog, but we thought she would blossom in our household.  However, from the beginning it was obvious that she was very unhappy.  We managed to get her to go outside in the fenced area to go potty, but otherwise she was terrified of going outside.  When we tried to take her for a walk, you would think we were leading her to slaughter.  Inside she jumped at every little thing.  We were in touch with her breeder every step of the way.  She said that once in a blue moon there will be a dog that is only comfortable in the home where she’s been raised and Lucy is just one of those dogs.  She assured us that it was not us, but Lucy.  So, Lucy has been returned.  The breeder has also assured us that she will have a home with them for life.  You should have seen Lucy when we let her in the door to the breeder – you could not imagine a happier dog!  And she kept running up to us and wanting us to pet her.  It was if she was saying, "Thank you, thank you!"

But all is well because look what came home with us:

This is Maggie!

She is 12 weeks old and in perfect condition.  I think this is a wonderful match.  She is confident but not aggressive, affectionate but not needy.  She’s been very curious, exploring everything and doesn’t even seem deterred by Kirby, who is less than pleased.  Of course, now we have our work cut out for us.  It’s been a long time since we had a baby in the house.  Bill spent yesterday puppy proofing and I know that we have many hours to spend out in the cold convincing Maggie that yes, she DOES need to go potty. 

Lucy did leave me with one little remembrance:

It seems she had a fondness for yarn.  Several times I caught her stealing this sock yarn, but she always surrendered it willingly.  While I was at work Bill left her unguarded for just a little while and came back to find this.  One of my Harmony needles was broken in three pieces.  Yes, I know they come in sets of 6, but I already lost one on the airplane coming home.  So I’ll need to replace this set.  I’m still untangling the yarn! 

I have to say, though, that I’m not sorry we gave Lucy a try.  She was a sweet little girl and she really helped ease the sorrow in our hearts.  Now I have a feeling we’ll be way too busy to let grief overwhelm us.  Color me a happy person!

How do you mend a broken heart?

Her name is Lucy!

I know a lot people have said they couldn’t get a new dog right away, but not us.  There was definitely a  Corgi-sized hole in our hearts that needed filling.  We actually hadn’t intended to get another dog until spring when the breeder said she would be having puppies.  But Bill had been in touch with her to find out if she knew of anyone having puppies before then.  His intention was to surprise me for my birthday.  She knew how much we were hurting and she offered Lucy as her gift to us!  Lucy is just a year old and a perfect show quality specimen.  The problem is that she doesn’t like dog shows.  While her brother preened and strutted and said, "Look at me!", Lucy said, "Thanks, but no thanks."  She does come with a catch.  She has such excellent bloodlines that the breeder would like her to have a litter next year.  We will need to return her to be bred, but can keep her during her pregnancy.  She will return to the breeder’s a week before she gives birth and will come back to us as soon as her puppies are weaned.  And the breeder (who normally does not allow visitors to new puppies) will allow us to visit any time during the 4-6 weeks she will be there.

We just picked her up this afternoon, but she is settling in very well.  She’s already learned to use the doggie door and Kirby is being fairly nonchalant about the whole thing.  He’s come down on her a couple of times to remind her that he is top dog, but she seems pretty willing to let him retain his status.  It was a little bittersweet visiting the breeder.  This picture is of me, Lucy and Hester’s sister:

Hester’s mother was there as well as several other brothers and sisters.  It’s a little early to tell exactly how Lucy’s temperament will settle in, but I believe she is going to be as sweet and gentle as Hester.  While our hearts still ache for Hester, we are so happy to be making a home for Lucy and so grateful to the breeder for entrusting one of her girls to us.

Thank all of you for your kind wishes this week.  Please forgive me that I haven’t responded to all of you personally, but it has been a very difficult week for us.  Bill and I have both been a little overwhelmed by the depth of our grief for Hester.  We have lost dogs before, but we’ve never felt such a sense of loss.  Perhaps it was her age – she was only 3 years old.  But I think it is more.  Sue commented that in our lifetimes we can have that one dog that really touches our hearts.  I think Hester was that dog.  Who knows what will come in the future.  There will definitely be more Corgis and I hope that we find another very special dog.  But right now it’s hard to imagine any as special as Hester.  Kirby is not making it any easier!  He wanders around the house whining, looking for her.  He keeps checking her crate to see if we just forgot to let her out.  We were very concerned about him because he stopped eating.  He’s never been a very robust eater and is a little on the thin side.  But he finally relented yesterday and we’re hoping he’s on the mend. 

My weekend with my sister had been planned in advance, so hubby encouraged me to go.  I felt a little guilty about leaving him in the quiet house with only a grieving Lhasa Apso for company, but it was good to get away.  On Saturday afternoon we both volunteered in setting up for a huge charity wine auction.  I am SO not a wine person – it was a little mind numbing to me to think that someone would pay over $1000 for a bottle of wine, that they’re not even going to drink for cryin’ out loud.  My idea of a nice wine is a chilled glass of Riunite Lambrusco.  Lorette is probably having heart palpitations – she’s tried, really she has!  But I’m glad they were willing to spend that kind of money because about $600,000 was raised for various northwest arts organizations.

After setting up, my sister changed into stunning evening wear and worked the auction, while I retired to the hotel room at the Sheraton with a bag of snacks and my knitting.  It was very comforting to bury myself in my lace.  The repetition of counting and seeing the beautiful pattern develop helped me not to dwell on our loss.  I did some swatching for the Princess Shawl, but the results were a little inconclusive.  I’m still not sure what I’m going to use.  It’s a moot issue at this point because whatever I use, the yarn will cost about $100, and that’s just not in the budget right now.  I had hoped to start around the first of the year, but that might not happen.  In the meantime, I’ve joined a Princess group on Ravelry and I’ll be following every one else’s progress.

On Sunday my sister treated me to tea at the Fairmont:

Very ritzy!  Thanks sis!!

On the knitting front, the blue blob is just that – only blobbier.  There will probably be no pictures until it is done because you just can’t see anything.  And I’m not willing to try and spread it out and risk having it slide off the needles. I’m to the point where things are really starting to slow down.

For more instant gratification, I started on hubby’s Silky Wool sweater:

Not a great photo, I know, but I didn’t have the energy to fiddle around any more with it.  This is an Elsebeth Lavold design – I’ll get the specs for you next post.

                                     

                                         Brookhaven Rosewood Sunbeam "Hester"
                                          February 13, 2004 – November 8, 2007

We thought we had weeks with Hester, but it turned out to be only days.  Things came to a crisis and by this afternoon it became apparent that we could not in good conscience let her go even one more day.  She slipped away peacefully while Bill and I held her.  We are heartbroken.  She was not only the best dog we’ve ever had, but the best that we’ve ever known.  Everyone who met her remarked on her sweet and gentle spirit.  Even toward the end, when she was in pain, she never snapped or even growled.  Goodbye sweet Hester.  We will miss you.

For someone who only blogs once a week, I’m not even keeping up with that very well.  This past weekend was not only taken up with school stuff, it was a very discouraging one as well.  We had some difficulties with Hester and were convinced that this would be her last week with us.  We even discussed taking her in today.  But we increased her pain medication and she is doing so well that we decided to wait a little longer.  However, it did bring home to us that her time with us is growing short and will probably be measured in weeks rather than months.  Although not primarily a lap dog, she is getting plenty of snuggle time, which is a great comfort for us both.

On a happier note, this has been a great week for lace.  Although the rows are getting exponentially longer and progress has slowed, there has still been quite a lot accomplished on Garden Path:

Pictures will not get better from here on out – it will look more and more like a big blue blob.

I was so excited to hear that Sharon Miller’s Princess Shawl  has been re-released.  I first saw this right after the original run was sold out.  I was so dismayed to hear that it would not be released for another five years.  I waited patiently and as soon as it was released, I ordered.  I have received my pattern and I actually grew a little weak in the knees looking it over.  It is indeed a very complex knit, but I think I am up for it.  I’ll be swatching this weekend and will get the yarn on order for a planned start date of January 1st.

This weekend should be fun – I’m going to spend it with my sister in Seattle.  This is a gift from her to me – a four star hotel, shopping and high tea.  I’ll be taking my laptop with me and will try to blog if I can.  However, I’ve found that swanky hotels aren’t always the most likely to have free wi-fi.  I guess they figure if you can afford the room, you can afford to pay extra.

And on a much, much happier note – I leave you with a first smile: