There Comes a Time For Firsts in Many Forms!



All that stuff was in the old van!

As I approach my 63rd birthday, I'm really feeling the desire to "Not Postpone the Joy" ... I have 2 dear friends that are fighting cancer and one is just recovering wonderfully well from brain surgery ... makes me look at my own life just a little bit differently ;o)





Willow, Sutter, Margo






April Ice Melt!


• Time to trade the 2006 car ... noticing noises that say "$$$ repair work" ... so I asked my car guy to start looking, but the price of used cars is really high now ... soooo I've traded and upgraded to my first ever (in my whole life) brand new car ... a 2010 Chrysler Town & Country (same as the old car) as it's great for what the girls & I do ;o)
• Sutter, having learned Spring "ice safety" over her 9 years, apparently forgot "ALL" to cross the melting ice last week to explore that pesky beaver doings ... about 10 feet from the far right shoreline, she fell thru the thin ice into the frigid pond water and couldn't get herself out ... she was able to touch bottom ... I was out walking in the yard with Willow and foster Margo, when I noticed Willow standing at "alert" ... maybe a deer or other critter wandering the shoreline ... then I saw with instantaneous panic, Sutter's head and shoulders above the ice and could hear her whimpering voice as she looked woefully toward the house ... "I'M COMING SUTTER" and I started off at a full speed run ... then it came to me, the other 2 girls will follow me and I'm still in my slippers ... immediate turn-about, frantically calling Willow & Margo to the house, quickly grabbing my high-water boots and the ladder as I passed the shed (in hind sight should have grabbed the rope too) ... as I reached her, Sutter was wrenching her shoulder against the ice hole to try unsuccessfully to raise her body out of the frigid water ... I carefully pushed the ladder out on the ice and on my belly crept out to successfully pull Sutter up & out ... she ran and rolled in the snow with sheer joy and excitement ..."Atta girl Sutts, get that blood flowing", as we headed to the house for a rubdown by the cozy woodstove ;o)

As the days have progressed, Sutter doesn't appear to have any health issues, but she is walking very gingerly and is unable to do her favorite activity of squirrel chasing ... I've been giving her massages, she has an appointment this week with a veterinary chiropractor and then her yearly vet exam ;o)





Ultrasound - dark circles are pups!





Canine Pregnancy Calendar


• Lyric's mom "Shimmer" is pregnant with perhaps her last litter of pups that were confirmed by Ultrasound last week for 4-5 pups ... she had a surgical insemination due to multiple cysts in her uterus and she will have a planned C-Section mid May ... not counting "chicken before they hatch" and not making any announcements here, but it's already been decided that our next pup's name will be "Emma" (Sutter's mom's name) whenever she may come ... "Shimmer's" Pregnancy calendar is up on the refrigerator and yesterday it said that the fetus' look like  miniature dogs  ;o)




Bonie chewing ;o)





Miss Green aka "Isis"


•  I've had so many wonderful "puppy fixes" during the past 8 weeks with Lyric's sister "Sorbet's" "Ice" theme litter of 8 puppies ... all but one went to their "forever" homes this past weekend and I feel a special connection, as I actually sat in the whelping box and helped deliver them ... another first for me ... thanks to Kara and her parents Duane & Jean for letting me share in those special 8 weeks ;o)



Margo 6 months

• As foster pup Margo celebrates her 6 month birthday, she's getting ready for her first conformation Dog Show at the end of the month in RI ... she met her professional handler Diana for a second time this past weekend and will go to "Show Camp" with her in a couple weeks ... you are a pretty special girl Margo ;o)

So those are the latest updates prompting me to not  "Postpone the Joy" ... just spending more time doing things that are fun & that bring me pleasure ;o)

LIFE IS MEANT TO BE EMBRACED, NOT JUST ENDURED...
TREASURED, NOT JUST TOLERATED...
SAVORED, NOT JUST SURVIVED...
LIFE IS MEANT TO BE CELEBRATED!
        

4-13-11 Thanks to everyone and Sutter says "Woof" for your kind Blog & FB comments/emails and words of encouragement for Sutter's recovery ... she had a wonderful first visit with her new veterinary chiropractor Gretchen Hamm DVM yesterday and with each day she is perkier and so trying to be her old  "Wild Child" self ... with "Tincture of Time" I'm sure it will come;o)