Come on and Paw It Forward!!!

Come help me Paw It Forward!  Help the Willamette Humane Society care for the shelter animals! Please click on the link below to get to my fundraising page

Personal Fundraising Page for Charlotte Jackson

Wylie, our little humane society special!

Puppies!!!!

Puppies are officially 1 week old.  Wow, how did a week slip by already!!?!?  I need to take a picture of the puppy we call white paw he must have been drinking on this photo shoot.

1/2 day old - little girl pup

One week old

Little boy pup resting on his sister



Big puppy snoozing
 

Watching and Waiting

No contractions yet, Sally's temperature has dropped indicating that it won't be long now. So that I am not bothering her I picked up a cross stitch project I have been meaning to finish for quite some time. I just might be able to finish it, well unless Sally has other plans

Getting Ready

We are in the home stretch now for Sally to bless us with cute little wiggly puppies .  I've got my birthing box of supplies, whelping box all sanitized, towels washed and heating pad ready to go.  Now it's all up to Sally

 

If she would not sit down I'd be able to get a picture of how big she is. She had as of 2 days ago a 34" inch waist!

 

Watching and waiting........

A Modern Day Viking

Today I said…. until we meet again.... to my grandfather.  He peacefully slipped from this world earlier this morning.  My grandfather was 93 and through his granddaughter’s eyes he lived a life of amazing adventures and was surrounded by immense love and support from family and friends.

My grandfather "Bapa" and my mom

  My grandfather, or Bapa, as I called him.  He got that nickname because I could not say bedstefar, which is grandfather in Danish when I was a little girl. Somehow it stuck and my brother called him that to.  My memories of my grandfather remind me of a modern day Viking.  He brought his family to a new world.  I always thought how brave my grandparents were, leaving all family and friends to live in a foreign land with the dreams and aspirations of making a better life.  My Danish heritage was always celebrated as well as the holidays of the US.  I cherish those family get togethers as they were always filled with laughter, jokes and sharing of family stories. 

I’ve spent the past few hours looking for particular picture of me with my grandparents in our traditional Danish costumes.  I believe that picture is probably at my parents house, at least I hope so.  I'll do my best to describe my costume.  It was a replica of my grandmother’s, only of course smaller.  Handmade for me when I was about 11. A dark burgundy long sleeve wool dress, white lace collar with a blackish green matte satin apron and one of those fancy ruffled lace hats that has the hand embroidered flowers on the back.  I love that costume.  I wore that costume to Danish celebrations.  Some of the memories I am recalling now are Danish Christmas parties in West Seattle.  There were plays of Nisse** stories (Danish elves) put on by the kids.  Traditional folk dancing around the Christmas tree, of course plenty to eat and an opportunity to sit on Santa’s lap.

My grandfather was always making something in his wood shop.  I got a doll house one year for Christmas.  I played with that house for years.  He made bird houses, bird decorations, Nisse cut outs for Christmas,  miniature carts for horses to pull, airplanes…I am sure I am forgetting some, it will come to me later.   He made me my chicken coop that I still use to this day.  I got it as a house warming gift a short while after we moved down to Oregon. 

My brother and I had a trip of a lifetime in 1998.  Our Bapa took us to Denmark to introduce us to the rest of our family and show us the sights.  We also on that trip took back my grandmother's ashes.  It was an incredible trip and one I will never forget.  I swear we saw the entire country!  Driving in a country where you can't quite read the language was quite the experience also.  We met our great aunt, cousins and saw where the family farm is.  I am happy to say it is still in the family to this day.  I had been told so many stories about this farm and where my mom spent part of her childhood growing up.  I know now, that has to be where my love of animals came from.  We went to so many castles, historic sites and landmarks that I am in awe now of much we did and saw.  That reminds me, I took my video camera with me and recorded Bapa telling us stories of how he and my grandmother met and many other moments.  I better find that and get it onto a DVD before the tape degrades.  This little viking reminds me of my grandfather, not because he had a beard nor that he was red haired, but for the reason he was a character and could make me laugh.  I got this at Himmelbjeret the tallest point in Denmark.  It's something like a whopping 500 ft tall. 

 

He had a nickname for me when I might be doing something I shouldn’t. Not quite sure how to spell it, I’ll inquire about that later with my mom.  Probably a Danish word of endearment, like little stinker or something. 

I remember walking into my grandparents home and feeling immense love, belonging and joy.  They were always excited to see me.  I felt love and that I was loved beyond measure.  I hope to emulate that in our home to all that visit. 

Well I’m a bit out of thoughts, my tears seem to have an endless supply again and I think one of my dogs needs to go out.  So, with that…. I am going to take a walk and remember all the precious moments I had with my Bapa.

 

**A little about Nisse…..The elves can be mischievous and play pranks on people. Nisse often live in old farmhouses, attics or barns and wear gray woolen clothes, red bonnet and stockings and white clogs. As a good elf, Nisse generally help people on the farms and is good with children but plays jokes during the holiday season. On Christmas Eve in Denmark, many families leave a bowl of rice pudding or porridge for him so that he is friendly to them and keeps the jokes within limits.

Thankfully My Llama Doesn't Own a Pistol

The dogs and I spent today out in the beautiful sun.  It truly was a gorgeous day in the Willamette Valley.  As I sit here, dare I say, my face feels a little warm, could I have gotten some color on my face? 

I worked with each of my dogs on our training “to do” list.  Helping Tweed find the pressure point, improving my communication with Zeke and Sally, well, she is working on growing puppies so our training list is a bit different in that regard, more on Sal later.  Basking in some sun seemed to be what we all needed.  In between working dogs, Sally and I sat on the hill and watched our sheep and Talja, my llama.  I will tell you it’s a great thing she isn’t packing and pistol because her aim when she spits at one of my sheep is 100% bulls eye!  Now, don’t get me wrong, Talja is very fond of her sheep, and takes her job very seriously but at times she likes her space, especially when she is eating.  She is not fond of sharing her food with sheep that are pushy or are trying to eat in the same space she is.  Apparently that is rude behavior in the llama world. 

Today I opened a small runway that had some pristine, not previously munched on grass for the sheep to graze on.  I was also using it as part of Tweed’s training.  Pretty crafty, huh?  Well, I thought so and it validated that Tweed read the situation correctly and applied the right moves to “escort” the sheep to their destination.  We sat and watched the sheep graze for quite a while.  I have to say I am pretty impressed with his patience level.  He sat there like a good boy, no leash and even relaxed for a spell.  Then Talja saw where we were and just had to become a part of it.  The look on her face was priceless.  I can just see it….Were you going to tell me there was fresh grass up here?  My response would be “Oops, sorry Talja, but you don’t like being herded by the dog so, what can I say?”  I can tell you, she didn’t waste any more time and helped herself to the new grass, blackberry bushes and the fruit tree that was there.  There are definite advantages of having a long neck. 

Still working on putting my vision board together for this year, I haven’t quite figured out what the lack of motivation is.  Hmmmm

Always have to put in a cute dog picture!!  This time its Miss Sally

 

Being present......

Being present, conscious and living in the moment

This is my 2013 resolution.  I have been focusing and putting an emphasis on being present and conscious in the moment for the past couple months.  The return on investment has been immense for me.  Far exceeds what I thought I would receive.  I am enjoying life at a deeper and more fulfilling level.  Even those little enjoyable things don’t seem so little.  I’m celebrating those too.   Big deep breath and exhale, it does feel glorious. 

 It wasn’t necessarily a hard change to make, it took a different focus and attention.  Certainly one that I imagine I will remind myself to stay focused.  It's also definitely one that was required to enjoy life at this level.  I’ve chased away a few non-productive personal habits that really weren’t doing me any service, actually were quite hurtful.  When I made the decision to live in the moment I saw myself taking one of those yard signs on a stake and driving it into the ground….the sign said   “You don’t live here anymore” to my old habits.  Do I have a few more that I should be chased away, you bet.  I'm thinking this next round I will invite them to leave….or maybe if I just don’t give them acknowledgement when they rear their ugly head it will naturally fade away from my life. 

Less drama..... more living and loving in the moment, that works for me.