Louie 12/1/95-5/26/07

He was the best dog. Happy.

So affectionate. Tolerant.

Loving.

The best traveller.

A mighty swimmer. An awesome retreiver. Even a good babysitter.

A house without a dog is a home without that daily reminder to be affectionate, to greet each other with total enthusiam, to love each other unconditionally. We're going to have to try to remember that without Louie there be a constant reminder.
I'm trying to put his things away, but I'm having a hard time with this. Joe suggested we put his bowl up over the cupboard where we can see it. When we saw this bowl years ago we knew we had to have it...Life is good....because that's the way Louie saw each day.

Mother's Day

Joe cooked dinner for me, my mom and my aunt....and the guys too of course. I set the table...with my pretty "new" pink cloth I found at a garage sale. Five dollars for the table cloth and 12 napkins...gotta love a deal like that!!
The centerpiece is part of the gift for my mom...some flowers for her rock garden.


It was a beautiful day to eat on the porch.
Loading up. Wish I had a shot with all the goodies. It was yummy!

Louie wishing he could have just one of those pork chops!

New baby....

If you've been reading this blog for a while you know about our standard poodle Louie. He's such a sweetie and wins everyone over with his sweet personality. He's a cuddler...that's him snuggling with me on the couch.
Today my mom and dad (who are our neighbors) got a dog...he's a small standard and just as pretty as a picture. He's 11 months old. He was rescued out of a sad situation by a woman nearby who is a groomer. She has been working with him for a couple of months and he is coming around and learning to trust people.
Isn't he a cutie? Just look at those paws crossed so neatly. His name is Bojangles. They have been calling him Bo.

Christmas!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care. I was inspired by all the recycled sweaters I've been seeing on blogs, so I made new stockings for my son and daughter. I meant to make one for Joe and Louie too, but ran out of time. The "Joyce" stocking was made for me by my Nana when I was a baby. Mom and Dad gave it to me last year. I had to do a little reinforcing on the hanger---you know it's probably an "antique" now! LOL Joe got the santa hat this year.
We had the grands and my sister's family over today. Yummy feast.
Louie and his new toy. He opens his own presents.

Christmas Cards

Sometimes when you are a thrifty soul, you just love the chance to do something with only the supplies you have on hand. That's how I made our cards this year. I already had the pack of card blanks and envelopes, scrapbooking supplies, ink and stamps. Left from some previous year when I aspired to making cards but ran out of time. We always put a picture in our cards, so this year that was the only thing I had to buy. They're simple, but I like how they turned out. Some people would probably call me cheap. But not me, I like to think of it as good ole yankee frugality. I have to admit though, that whatever I saved in cash, I spent in time making these.