No worries about the past or the future, just enjoying the moment in time.
Weekly photo challenge: time.
Wishing you a lovely weekend!
Category Archives: Gone to the Dogs
A Good Chew
When it is too cold to go outside and play, nothing beats staying in and chewing on a good bone!
May your day be just as happy!
Getting Ready for Christmas
With less than a week until Christmas, we are all ready for holiday company. Here are a few pictures from around the B&B today.
A favorite ornament … This one survived the great-crashing-of-the-tree circa 2001. It is hung this year on a potted (living) Norwegian Pine.
Here is some fresh parsley that I have growing in the kitchen. This will go in Baked Pancetta Scallops on Christmas Eve.
Gotta have a few fresh flowers around the house, too. These are from a Christmas Party last week. There were red roses in the arrangement, but the mini-carns out lasted them. We’ll get more roses!
Seasonal decorations … I love the warm feel that they give to the house.
Willow, trying to sleep during a break between happenings.
Looking in through a window, reflecting the outside … This was the view I had earlier today while peering in at my grandparents’ tree. Our front porch (and the library across the street) reflected in the window, making for an interesting and beautiful scene.
Wishing you joy and peace around the holidays and throughout the year!
Thank you for following A Taste of Morning!
Abbey’s Rose
Nature can be a crazy, beautiful thing. As amazing as it is, I still have one rose blooming in the garden – in December, a week after an ice storm.
This is a delicate miniature rose that a friend gave to us as a memorial to our Boston Terrier Abbey after “Abbs” passed away in the summer of 2014. I thought that I had lost it last spring when it didn’t come out of dormancy with our other roses; but I dug it up and put it in a pot, hoping that it would come back. Here “she” is, still blooming.
I am thinking that maybe I will bring the pot inside for the winter to see whether I can keep Abbey’s rose alive, since I have never successfully overwintered a potted rose outside. (I purchased roses in pots during winter months and transplanted them outside in the late spring, but have never gone in the other direction.)
In the meantime, on this December day, I am delighted to see Abbey’s rose and to think of our sweet girl.
Still Winter
We’ve gotten a wee bit more than the less-than-1-inch of snow predicted for today.
It’s cold and gray and snowy today … all day. The perfect kind of day for staying in, snuggling with the dogs, and drinking hot cocoa! Here’s hoping that yours is a lovely one!
In case you missed these recipes before, here are a few cocoa posts:
Candy Cane Hot Chocolate (I actually still have a few of those marshmallow snowmen! Big grin!)
Faces of Early Winter
Winter arrived in the Midwest last night and for the time, at least, looks like it is going to stick around. Here are our girls’ reactions.
“Got my favorite old sweater on … am good to go, Mom.”
“Could someone turn the sun up, please?”
“Let’s go inside. I bet Mom has snacks ready for us!”
Have a great day! Stay cozy warm!
Willow Learns to Play
Willow spent the first part of her life in a puppy mill, so when we adopted her she did not know how to play with toys. After 5 weeks of being coached by Penny (our other Boston) and me, Willow has finally realized the joys of shaking, squeaking, and chewing on toys. Good job, Willow!
Willow’s Story
This is Willow. Yay!
We recently adopted her through a rescue organization for Boston Terriers.
Willow is what is called a “red Boston” … i.e. a Boston Terrier with a recessive gene that makes her coloring reddish brown in areas where otherwise it would be black or brindled. So most of her coat, and her nose and lips, are reddish brown. Even her eyes are a lighter brown. Though red Bostons are not AKC-recognized because of their coloration, they are still true Bostons – with that lovable Boston Terrier personality.
Here is Willow’s story, such as we know it.
Willow is 4 years and 8 months old. She spent the first 2 years and 9 months of her life in a puppy mill in Missouri – most likely one where they were trying to create “designer Bostons” – before she was surrendered by the breeder to a dog rescue organization outside of St. Louis. At this point, there is a gap in Willow’s history for almost 2 years. Then in September, she was taken in by a breed-specific rescue organization.
We contacted MidAmerica Boston Terrier Rescue about a month ago, looking for a companion for Penny who, understandably, has been very sad since Abbey’s passing back in July. Our application was circulated amongst the rescued dogs’ foster families so that they could try to find a great match for our household. Willow’s caregiver persuaded me that Willow was the one for us.
Despite her early life experiences – and a few related issues that we are working on – Willow is an amazingly happy dog. She dances and wags her hind end and flaps her ears when she is happy; and when she is really happy, she smiles so enthusiastically that her top lip curls. She will also very gently hold my hand in her mouth and wag her tail. It is very sweet.
Penny and Willow are becoming friends. They are content to lie near each other when they are resting and have worked up to playing chase together several times a day. That is a good start. I am sure that they shall be wonderful for each other in time. We’ve had Penny since the day she turned 8 weeks old and Penny grew up with Abbey. So Abbey can’t just be replaced for Penny any more than she can be for us. And Willow needs time to adjust to family life. She does not yet know how to play with toys … something that we are working on. Penny will be a good role-model in that area. Willow has a very hearty appetite, though, and frequently begs for treats … an enterprise for which Penny appreciates having an accomplice.
Well, I need to sign off now. I have some little doggies to pay attention to before I get back to work. Snacks, anyone?
Wishing you a great weekend!
Missing Miss Abbey
This is a photo that I took a few years ago of Abbey (right) and our then new puppy Penny. This picture makes me smile because I had so very much fun watching the two of them play that day – as I did many, many subsequent days.
It also makes me laugh because it seemed as though Abbey was coaching her “baby sister” on just how much mischief a pup is allowed to get into without getting into trouble. When she herself was a babe, Abbey was very good at inventing games, such as nibbling the buttons off my sweaters – which would be followed by her giving me a thoroughly happy puppy grin and a nub wag, and by her inviting her older sisters, Lucy and Ginger, to play.
Abbey loved all of her sisters, including ol’ Peachy who came along a few years after Penny. But Abbey and Penny were best buds and their antics were consistently amusing. They played lots of chase and tug of war and vied for the most snacks, the most belly rubs and the best position on the sofa. Abbey always got the most snacks, but I think that they were pretty equal on the belly rubs … and the best position on the sofa was that closest to my head.
Being next to me on the sofa wasn’t enough. Miss Abbey was a Mama’s-girl. She always followed me around the house, looking up into my face, and it always made me happy to see her right there by my side.
We had to say goodbye to Abbey recently, after she was stricken with an aggressive form of cancer. Abbey was loving, sweet and gentle, playful and joyful … and too young for us to have to say goodbye to her. And we miss her dearly.
Remembering Ginger
One of our guests at the Bed & Breakfast once declared me to be “a collector of both Boston Terriers and their likenesses” – a description which still makes me chuckle. My husband and I have had six much-loved Bostons over the years – and we do indeed have quite a few pieces of Boston Terrier memorabilia, many of them kindly given to us by guests fond of our dogs.
Bill and I have some good friends who also are Boston Terrier parents. Knowing that I am a gardener, these friends have very thoughtfully given me flowers to plant as living memorials to several of our canine children who have passed over the years. One of theses is a daylily named “Punk” given in memory of Ginger. (“Punk” was one of several affectionate nicknames that we had for Gingie because she was always ready to turn anything into a game.)
Ginger passed away two years ago at seventeen years of age. She brought us tremendous happiness in her lifetime. This is the first time that Punk has bloomed. So I wanted to share a remembrance of Ginger and photos of her tribute flower which I tend with affection as I remember our punky Ging.
Have a lovely weekend!
A Taste of Morning 