Friday Photo

You might think my foster dog Lucky is waiting patiently for his breakfast.   NOT!!!  He just ate breakfast and this is as far away from the bowl as he got!

I wonder if he's going to wait there all day for supper!?!?!

Gone to the Dogs....errrrrr.....Cats!

My niece came to visit during her spring break from college.  Mostly she just wanted to hang out at the pool and go home with a tan, but I did get her to go to a ceramics painting class with me.

She wouldn't let me take her picture!  And I didn't get a photo of the cat after it was fired but he came out beautifully!  It's so cute!



I've taken a break from rug hooking this winter and have remembered how to crochet.  

Not exactly sure what I'm going to do with all of them!  But I did make a special one for my niece to take home with her.  

Well......really it was for her CAT!!!

I think he's thrilled, don't you!!!!    LOL!!

It hasn't been the best weather in Phoenix this winter.  We had a major cold snap with 5 nights of sustained freezes that has played havoc on many shrubs, trees and cacti.  Lots of cold, windy and rainy days too.  But even as I complain...it hasn't been anything like the weather back home in Indiana.

SOOO....I will try not to complain!!

 



 

Life has not slowed down here in Arizona.  In Addition my work as English Cocker Spaniel Rescue Chair keeps me busy, busy, busy!  I even took on a foster dog who's name is Lucky. 

 

 

He was given up by his owner and we found him and his sister Lacie, in a California shelter.  We 'sprung' them both from shelter jail!  Lucky is a 'talkative' boy and because of that, the other dogs in the foster home he was in, didn't seem to like him very much.  So a decision was made to send him to me here in Arizona where he would be an only dog and I could get him ready for adoption.

 

 

Meanwhile, back home in Indiana....Mr. Fix It is hard at work fixing and remodeling our house to sell.  He retires in one year!  And we can't afford the 'country estate' on retirement! 

 

 

A little birdy tells me that he may be too busy playing tea time with his adorable grandaughter, Lacie.  So I'm not sure how well the remodeling is going!!

 

 

 

But then.....who could refuse that priceless little face!!!  If I was home, I 'might' be tempted to put on those big goofy glasses too! 

 

Well....maybe not! 

 

 

 

 



Time Moves On

I've been gone from blogging far too long.  When I stepped up to the plate last year and took over as English Cocker Spaniel Rescue Chairman, I knew I would be busy, but I wasn't thinking it would overtake my blogging time.  

So very many things have occurred since I last blogged.   Things with dad, doctor visits, therapy appointments, dogs needing saved, family concerns, and before I knew it, it was time for dad and I to head back to Phoenix for the winter.  

Of course, that meant lots of packing and prepping.  Closing the house in Indiana, opening up the house in Phoenix, unpacking, cleaning and of course, my dog grooming clients were all waiting for me to get back so I could 'fix' their dogs!!   

Finally.....finally, things have slowed down a bit!  Today we are having rain and that's the first time we've had rain since we got here two months ago!!

Today, the clouds are hanging low over the Superstition Mountains!  And it's cold!  I won't be surprised if there is snow on the Mountain tops when the clouds clear.  

But the good thing about a day like this is that I don't feel like I have to be 'doing' something!  I have no grooming jobs today and I'm all caught up with our Rescue Dogs and it's raining so I can't work in the yard.  What better to do than blog I say!!!

I have so many pictures and stories to share with you, but it will take some catching up to accomplish that!!   Where to start, where to start?  Oh...I know.......

 

***********

My baby brother came to have Thanksgiving with dad and I and stayed for about a week.  While he was here, I managed to sneak away and attend a ceramic painting class here in our community, I had sooo much fun!

Our instructor in the back, 'throwing' a pot!

 And here, the lady next to me paints her bowl with raku paints and glazes.

This is my project.  I chose a horse, because I'm different!!  The colored one in the back was already done and fired by the instructor.  I thought I would use hers as a kind of guide.  

Here is my project after being painted with the raku glazes.  It's quite an interesting project because the piece comes out looking so differently after it has been fired!  Wait til you see the finished product!!!

Are you waiting?

I am so excited by how it came out!!

Still waiting????

Here it comes...........

READY.....SET........

GO!

Really different right!!  I had no idea what to expect but I love it!  I'm hoping there will be another class the next time my brother decides to visit!

I hope you enjoyed this blog post!  I am so glad to have had time to sit down and share.  I only hope I still have some followers out there that have not given up on me in my absence!

*Note to self.....make more time to blog and don't wait for a rainy day in Arizona to do it cuz they don't happen often!!

A Change in Perspective

Funny how fast some things change when others seem so slow!  

       In a matter of a day, my perspective on the world changed from this:

Too this:

Ok, well not maybe all in one day, but pretty darn near!!  We thought when my dad bought this house, that we were just the last house before the 

cul-de-sac and that eventually there would only be a couple of homes there we would have to look at!  

Oh no....poof and just like that, cul-de-sac gone and turned into a through street.  And LOOK at the homes in the background next to the woods.  Now those weren't there yesterday I'm sure!!!  

So now I can no longer live in denial that I am living in the country.  I could always ignore all the homes next to me on the 'other' side of the house and pretend I was still in the country by only looking to the East!!!  Did I mention that I MISS my home in the country???   I MISS my home in the country!  But.....I have to stay here and take care of dad.  Just the way it is in life for me right now.  

And in about 6 weeks, dad and I will be heading to the house in Arizona for the winter.  And...oh yeah.....I just heard that they put in a new house out there on the empty lot RIGHT NEXT to ours!!  What is up with all this change and growth!!  I thought the economy was bad!  We only had a one year with our 'sort of' country view above here in Indiana.  But in Arizona, we had the empty lot for 7 years!!!  We could see out!!  We could see the top of a mountain in the distance, we could see sunsets!!  

Gheesh...how fast a perspective changes!!

Still Here!

I'm still here!  At least I think I am....some days I don't know if I'm coming or going.

My dad is doing well.  Mr. Fix-It had knee surgery to repair a tear and "significant" arthritis and is off work for several weeks.  It's not really taking care of two needy males that keeps me running, though that certainly is enough!!  It's this dog rescue chairmanship thingy!!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.  I love doing this job but there are some days I literally can't get away from my computer and emails.  Emails about a dog in need, emails from potential adopters, emails, emails, emails!!

And...in the middle of all this, my foster dog, Bettie Page got adopted.  Oh yeah.....that's supposed to happen when you foster!!  I miss her but she got a fantastic home and it's not that far from me!  

There she is in her new home on her new bed acting like the princess she is!!

Part of rescue is making sure we have funds to help future incoming dogs.  So I've been incredibly busy running an online Rescue Raffle drawing.   For $10 you get 5 raffle tickets that could win you a custom hand-drawn 8x10 portrait of your pet by artist extraordinaire, Linda Zielinski.  She will do any dog, any breed.  Below is an example of her work.

This is of course, an English Cocker Spaniel but I'm telling you she is a phenomenal artist and can do any breed.

See what I mean!!!

And another!!!!   

If you are interested in entering our raffle go to:

http://www.ecsca.org/rescuehome.html  Raffle ends on July 31st and winner to be drawn on Aug 5th.  Proceeds benefit English Cocker Spaniel Rescue dogs!

Hope you are all having a great summer that is not too hot, not too cold and not too dry!

Karen

My New Foster Dog

Dad and I have been home from Arizona for almost three weeks.  It's been a whirlwind to be sure.  Getting him discharged from rehab and on a plane bound for Indiana that same day took a lot out of him....me too!   

He's doing better, though I don't know if we will get back to Arizona in the fall, all depends on how he does this summer.  

I've been so busy lining up help and physical therapy here at home.  Seems like there is someone in almost every day.  We've seen two of his docs but more to go! 

I said I wasn't going to foster a dog for a while, not till things smoothed out a bit.  But that all changed when I saw an English Cocker in Chicago, listed on Craigslist.  I should tell you I very much dislike seeing dogs advertised in that venue.  Especially when they are free to a good home or for sale at a ridiculously low price.  There are so many unscrupulous people out there that will pick up these dogs and use them for bait in the dog fighting world and there are those that scoop up these 'deals' and sell them at a higher cost, then buy drugs with the money.  

For those of you that don't know, I am the Rescue Chairman for the English Cocker Spaniel Club of America.  So....when I see my breed so close to home, being given away or in a shelter, of course I react.  The fact that I don't have a wealth of foster homes available for these furbabies is a huge problem for a National Rescue.  Consequently, when I contacted the poster about the dog, they were willing to give her up to Rescue and brought her down to me the very next day.  And voila...just like that, I found myself becoming a foster parent.

So here she is.....my newest foster.

This is Bettie Page and she is absolutely adorable!!  A woolly Cocker for sure!  

And here she is groomed and making herself at home on my bed!

Funny thing, I wondered who names a dog Bettie Page and why!?  Apparently Bettie Page, the woman...not the dog, was a rather known 'Pin up' gal from the fifties!!   So far, I haven't seen any resemblance between the two.  Probably a good thing!!