Tag: Houndstooth

Merry Christmas!

However you celebrate, whatever you celebrate, even if you don’t celebrate, I celebrate you. I know that not everyone is happy at this time of year. We’re stressed, we’re facing challenges, we miss people who are far away or who we’ve lost. I’m glad you’re here, and I wish all good things for you. You may not know it, but every day there’s someone whose life you affect in a good way.

Above is LAST YEAR’s photo, our last Christmas at The Compound. Behind us is a mural on the wooden garage doors that Lindsey generously painted using Where the Wild Things Are as her inspiration. I worried the new owner might replace the doors or paint over it, but he considers it part of the charm of the property.

I usually don’t post our holiday photo until it’s been sent to our friends and family in our Christmas cards. I was still mailing our 2014 cards at EASTER–in fact, I never finished mailing them!–so I never published the photo.

This year, I’ve barely begun mailing cards, but I’ve learned from my mistake. You can see below how our family has grown at Houndstooth Hall, with Debby, Harley, and Stewie in Fairy Cottage. Tim lives in Fox Den with Pixie, Penny, and Pollock. Though Margot is no longer with us, Tom and I made sure she was with her sisters Guinness and Anime for one more family photo (thank you, Lynne!). And thank you all for continuing to read my scant entries here or on Facebook. I look forward to the good things the new year will bring for us all!

Photo Friday, No. 468

Current Photo Friday theme: My Favorite Location


Crappy cell phone photo shot from inside the car for the win!

This time last year, Tom and I had signed the contract that meant we no longer owned The Compound. It was a leap of faith, because we hadn’t found our next home, and our needs were specific. I knew we wouldn’t be homeless; once the sale went through, our buyer would rent to us, but it wasn’t our home anymore.

Around the third week of October, our realtor (George, we love him!) called and wanted us to look at a house. It was an easy commute to Tom’s work, not too far from the rescue clinic, which was great for Tim and me, the yard was good for dogs, and it had an additional building behind it. I think we were supposed to view it on a Saturday, I can’t remember, but since I was in the area for transport day on Thursday, I decided to get an advance look at the house.

I remember sitting in my car and shooting this photo with my phone. The neighborhood felt good. The street was nice. And I thought the house was adorable. There were still a lot of unknowns, but somehow just seeing it made me feel better. After all, even it didn’t turn out to be The One, it gave me hope that there could be others like it.

All three of us went to that first appointment. I was still charmed by the outside of the house, and once we were inside, there was so much I liked and so little that I knew I’d want to change. While George talked to the seller, I whispered to Tom and Tim, “There’s nothing about the inside of the house that I don’t like. But whether it could be ours depends on the size and layout of the apartment.”

Now it’s two apartments: the Fox Den and the Fairy Cottage, and two of the people and some of the dogs I love most in the world live there. We’ve made the changes we wanted to the house, and I appreciate the layout and space more all the time. I know our future here will offer more happy times with family, friends, and dogs.

When it comes to my favorite location, there’s no place like home.

Little Raina

What with renovations at Houndstooth Hall and friends’ dogs who’ve needed to vacation here while their families were out of town, it’s been a while since we were able to take a foster for our rescue group. But the time came, and that’s how we fell for the “little” of the pack.

Weighing between six and seven pounds, they say Raina is a dachshund chihuahua mix. She’s a silly, brave, funny, extremely affectionate girl who’s going to make some family in Colorado so happy.

When Debby arrived at Houndstooth Hall to move into the Fairy Cottage, she brought several comforters that she was going to donate. As it happens, our rescue group recently sent out a call for towels and blankets to use for bedding at the clinic and on transports, so I snagged a few of the comforters to cut into crate-sized pieces. I thought Raina could help me show them, and like a good model, she doesn’t hide the product.

<

Margot’s having a little trouble on the floors because of her arthritis, so I sewed a couple of larger pieces to throw on the living room floor as good napping spots but also to help her get traction when she wants to hang out in that room.


Raina then forgot all her modeling skills and used one of them as a pee pad. She’s six months old and in a new place–she has to learn. Into the washing machine it went, and the rest of the smaller ones went to the clinic today. (Margot had to get in on the modeling action, too.)

Thanks, Debby!

Sugar’s sweet, and so is she…

The night Rhonda and Lindsey brought their newly adopted dog home in February of 2007, Tom, Tim, and I went to RubinSmo Manor to meet Sugar. Of course I had my camera, and Lindsey, photo pro that she is, warned me that she’d already tried to photograph her and Sugar did not like the camera. And as kids do to prove their parents wrong, Sugar immediately became a willing subject and let me get a couple of photos. This is the first one I ever took of her.

There have been hundreds more through the years as Sugar came to be a frequent visitor to The Compound. On Friday nights, if she thought The Brides were being too slow to leave the house, she’d get amped up and remind them that It’s Craft Night: They are WAITING for us at THE COMPOUND! She was part of the pack that included Margot, Guinness, and Rex, and tolerated a few doggy visitors and fosters through the years. There were two things that would make her forget that she was a dog of great dignity: when the laser pointer was brought out and when Tim cradled her in his arms on his lap. I never saw anyone else allowed to hold her that way.

In the fall of 2009 she met her BFF at first sight, Pixie. They were completely wrapped up in each other and ignored the rest of us. Fortunately my camera was handy and Lindsey grabbed it and shot a series of photos of them.


Sugar played so hard at The Compound on visits and when we dogsat her. We wondered what she’d think of Houndstooth Hall. Would she understand it was still her home away from home? She was getting older, a little slowed by her arthritis, and not as prone to a good romp as she once was. But after some initial hesitation, she found a new reason to enjoy being with us: a bigger yard with so many interesting things to smell and places to explore. I loved watching her as she found her favorite spots to sniff and hide.

It was an honor the last Monday of September to be with Lindsey and Rhonda at RubinSmo Manor when they brought out the laser pointer for Sugar again–to see her chase the beloved “red dot” one last time. Then they gave her the gentlest, most loving of goodbyes so she could leave to find her old pal Rex and her grandfather Sam at the Rainbow Bridge.

You are missed by all who knew and loved you, Sugar. I’m grateful that once again you let me turn my camera on you.


Run free, sweet girl.

Independence Day 2015

Looking out the library window today at Houndstooth Hall.

Our rescue group had a No Show Picnic. For the pleasure of not enduring ants, food that tastes of starter fluid, sunburn, and other such picnic activities, you could make a donation. I was delighted about this, because we really wanted a quiet day and a night in.

First, I made collar covers for our three hounds and Tim’s three just to show we did celebrate the spirit of the holiday.

Margot
Guinness
Anime
Pixie
Penny
Pollock

They are all rescue dogs, ranging in age from almost two to almost sixteen, and they are very loved. As you may know, July 4 is the night of the year when more pets run away because they’ve been scared by the sound of fireworks. The Houndstooth dogs are not fans of the noise, so I donated to our group to stay home and play music to block out the noise for these six. I even offered to donate more if anyone could guess the night’s musical choice. And while the guesses were good–Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac, Beatles–okay, maybe not Whitney Houston–no one guessed America’s band! You can hear them in the video posted below. I’ll still add to my donation even though no one correctly guessed whose music I’d play. In addition, here’s a link to a bonus 20-second video on Instagram. Marika said she’d donate, too, if I’d play one of my least favorite songs and say something nice about it. A snippet is all I’m willing to share of that one, because the rights belong to a very protective estate. Enjoy!

Six dogs completely undisturbed by the sounds of fireworks that are still going on!