WHERE I'VE BEEN...

I'm back. It has only been a week since my last post, but that's not my norm, so some of you have asked where I've been. When I say some, I mean  my MIL, mostly. She's my number one blog fan and not entirely unbiased. So where have I been? I can only say that when I lost Lily, I seemed to have lost my mojo. Dragging around a heavy heart doesn't leave much energy for anything else.
I haven't been completely idle. I've been working on some small mixed-media pieces. I'll share a couple, but others turned out a little on the scary side. Apparently, if I paint when I'm feeling gloomy, my characters look like extras from Shaun of the Dead.

I had no intention with these. Simply created backgrounds and then looked for the characters within.
My Mr. C. has also been trying really hard to cheer me up. We've been shopping for our upcoming trip (London, whee!) and Saturday evening we drove over to Dover and had a really excellent dinner at Michele's. A bonus extra...our waitress also has horses, so we had some horse chat with our dessert!

Chilean sea bass with a pine nut crust.

Rockfish stuffed with crab.

And this bit of heaven...Chocolate Lava Cake with raspberry gelato. I usually go for the "fruity" desserts but I would definitely order this again!

Don't want to talk your ears off, so I'll just finish by showing a few more signs of spring around our place.

Pruned these Knockout roses ruthlessly just 2 weeks ago, and now they've exploded!

Azalea.

Hosta.

That's all for now. For those who care (you know who you are, my dear MIL), I'll try not to stay away for a whole week again. Check back often as I have a really fascinating post planned about the horses shedding their winter coats (good stuff!!). Also, lots of cake pics upcoming because therapeutic riding starts this week and I always bake for our riders and volunteers.
Hope things are coming up roses at your place! XO

P.S. A big heartfelt thank-you to all the kind souls who sent hugs and sympathy after the loss of our sweet Lily!!

REMEMBERING LILY

As some of you already know, we made the heartbreaking decision to put our Lily down on Saturday. For the first time in more than twenty years, we have only one dog in the house. I have cried buckets.

Our Lil was fourteen, a good old age for a lab. That didn't make it any easier. She was growing a bit more frail each day, but she did still have a lab appetite,  so she spent the last few minutes of her life, scarfing all the biscuits she could eat. A full belly and your Mom and Dad stroking you, and telling you how wonderful you are, as you gently drift to sleep, is not a bad way to go.
Having made the appointment for Saturday, I wanted to make Friday a very special day. Lily had a bath, lots of time outside in the warm sunshine, and a trip to Dairy Queen for ice cream.

She came to us at eight weeks, a little field trial lab, from the lower shore. She was more highly strung than a typical lab. She had her own set of rules and we adored her.

Here are Lily's lessons learned and rules for living:

1. Be happy every day.
2. Greet everyone with the same level of enthusiasm.
3. Play VERY GENTLY with chickens.
4. Always position yourself under the feet of the youngest guest at holiday dinners.
5. When the cat comes in the room, leave.
6. Repairmen need your help (and tennis balls).
7. Baby gates are for babies. When you are young jump over. When you are old, knock them down.
8. The only safe place to sit in a kayak, is your Daddy's lap.
9. Cat food tastes better if you eat the whole bag.
10. Don't leave your paw print in the candy that's cooling on the kitchen counter. They'll know who licked the chocolate off.
11. When someone leaves a gate open, run for the river.
12. Tremble when they cut your toenails. They'll give you cheese.
13. If you absolutely must get their attention when company comes, pee next to one of their guests.
14. Don't chew up twenty dollar bills.
15. You're never too old to play in the snow.

Rest in peace, my Sweet Baby Lil...

Jan. 1998-March 24, 2012

SUNDAY

Today was a puttering around kind of day. As usual, I did not get all the way through my to-do list, partly because my cranky back started bothering me again while cleaning the barn. We did wander into town for some lunch and knocked the mud off the little "piggies" in the barn. Then, Mr. C. did paperwork, while I played around with my camera, made a new blog header, and "tortured" the animals with St. Patrick's day props, in an attempt to discover who's going to be a team player on the day. 

Spent two hours on Picasa, making a green collage to use as a header, only to scrap it, and go with daffodils! Sometimes simple is best! What do you think?

Muddy, but still pretty!

Shameless mooch! Must do something about those goat whiskers this week!

Lily (bless her heart) wore the shamrock headband, but only around her neck. Couldn't keep it on her head!

Kitty was not amused, at all, not the teensiest bit!

Nigel, dapper in a bowtie. We'll have to work on wearing the hat. Nigel goes a little crazypants over hats.

Hope your Sunday was all you hoped it would be!

Old Girls Rule...

Lily, our old, befuddled darling (age 13 years, 11 months), being a good sport and modeling the Santa hat that Nigel rejected. It works for you, Lil! Old girls rule!!

Lily