Wordless Wednesday - Wintertime Is Snow Much Fun!!

                                                       





Surprises and Thank You's!

This past week we have received a few surprises in the mail.  Each one has brought tears to my eyes as I just  get overwhelmed at how genuinely thoughtful and caring people are.  Our first surprise came from our extended hound family at Autumn Blaze Bassets.

Becki donated half of the sale of her last puppy from her last litter to the Freddie Fund! (The puppy flew to sunny California to his new forever home.) She would not take no for an answer and said it could help with Freddie's meds.  It will help out immensely and we can't thank her enough for her thoughtfulness!

Then we got a surprise all the way from Nebraska from Gracie, Schatzie and their Momma, Val over at My Girlz Got Paws!

We were so touched by their donation that came with a cute little card and a thoughtful note with a great reminder.

Now there was one condition. If you noticed on the envelope it said , ATTENTION: Gloria.  That's because they figured since Gloria is the serious one, she should handle the funds.  Great idea Val! After all we don't want Freddie squandering it! 

So Gloria dutifully put the money into the Freddie Fund jar (just ignore the cheese stuck to it, I had to do something to get her to touch it!) and  now it's official.

  

 Gloria will be treasurer!

"Go ahead. I don't give a rat's a@*!"

Fred obviously is milking this whole hip thing to no end.

Then our mailman brought a parcel for me from Utah! It was from our good friends Goose and his Momma Michelle over at Gospel of Goose.  Fred and Gloria were quite curious so I let them help me with it.

 "I think I smell a Goose!"

They had lots of fun with the paper.  Even Gloria got right into it.

"What is it Freddie?"

"Duh, I don't know Gloria. It looks like some kind of bowl or something."

Nope!  It is the most wonderful wine holder I have ever seen!  I just can't believe that Goose's Momma parted with this for me. Look at the card, it's a Zentangle by Reilly's Momma at Cowspotdog that has Goose on it!

You can see the wine holder in Goose's taco post if you go here and in his Potential Mischief post here. But here is the very first time I saw it on their blog and fell in love with it and the way Goose is looking at it is priceless!  It does look like Freddie! I think I have commented on how much I love it every time I see it in one of their posts and I can't believe they remembered!! How sweet is that!  Thank you so much Michelle and Goose I will always cherish it!

We thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts!!

This was the best picture hubby could get of the three of us! lol

Wordless Wednesday - Her Brother's Keeper




Monday Mischief - The Decision

There's been lots of panic attacks and lots of tears this past week over Fred's prognosis. It's been very emotional. Lots of you have asked if there is anything that can be done. There are three options for hip dysplasia.  Total hip replacement for severe arthritic hips (Fred's) but very expensive, removal of the femoral head and neck where scar tissue then forms to provide a cushion in the joint (done on dogs who are around 30 lbs. and not recommended for heavier dogs which eliminates Fred) and the pain management, which is what we are doing now. 

All this depressing talk about poor Fred really started to get to him.

"For gosh sakes Momma! I wish you guys would snap out of it!"  "I'm not dead yet. I feel like singing!" 

(Fred's take on Monty Python's "The Holy Grail")

So Fred came to me with a plan.  Apparently him and Gloria had both been up to some mischief and came up with this.......

The save Freddie Fund.

"It was my idea Momma. You know Freddie's no good at crafts."
  

They gathered up all there pennies they had saved for treats (Since Canada is doing away with our penny anyway) and brought them to me.

"We're exhausted!  We've been up all night counting pennies Momma."

So our decision was made. We put Freddie's jar on the counter and every time we feel like getting a "Tim's" coffee.... into the jar instead.  Going to see the Detroit Lions in Detroit...... into the jar instead. The movies or take-out........into the jar instead. Shopping.....(gulp!)...into the jar instead.  There are lots of places we can cut back and save, and cut back we will. We are going for total hip replacement. We'll hopefully have one done and then go from there.  Our family just isn't ready to give up on Freddie yet! We've had enough loss in our lives for awhile. Fred's my baby and if him and Gloria can give up their treat money, so can we.  We just hope we have enough time to save up the funds needed.  I have discussed it with our vet who is looking into a good surgeon and total cost.  He says we should have months. There will be a referral and then a consultation to see if Freddie is a candidate and how soon it should be done.
    

Sometimes I feel so bad thinking that all the whining Freddie has does when he's resting that has earned him the name Mr. Dramatica, has probably been because when he lays down his hips just ache.  The vet said he has probably tolerated it so well because that is all he has known.

So for now we have a plan.  We keep walking Fred (I just cringe when we go as his hips just clunk the whole time) to keep the muscles built up so they don't atrophy and hopefully by next summer or fall, Freddie will be the new and improved Robo-Fred!
All of your thoughts and prayers have helped us greatly.  Please keep up the POTP going for Freddie and wish us luck!
Unlike KB's sweet K from Romping and Rolling in the Rockies, Freddie can be fixed but we have learned from KB and K to take it one day, better yet, one moment at a time.

(KB has had some scary health issues with R and could use the POP for him right now too! )

Fred does seem to like all the attention right now.

His sister Brandi brought him a new stuffed monkey last week and he hasn't even chewed it to bits!

Freddie can now rest easy knowing that hopefully he will have many, many more happy years with his family!

"Whew!"

And I can't believe I got my camera back from Nikon after only two weeks. Flash fixed, no charge. Yay! I can't thank them enough for their fast service! I think I had gone into photography withdrawal.

Now I can take all the pictures of Fred and Gloria I want again. :)

Ode to the Hounds

This is a poem that I had wrote after we got Gloria in April of 2011.  I had called it "Basset Hound Momma x2"   Enjoy! :)

I spend all my days now cleaning up mud,
From Freddie Spaghetti and Gloria, his bud.
Then there's the drool on the cupboards and floor,
Everywhere I turn, there's a little bit more!

It's on all our furniture, even our t.v.
'Cause when these two hounds shake,(thank God there's not three)
The drool it does fly and sticks just like muck,
So if you're within range, you'd better just duck!

Then there's the fur all over our bed.
Not to mention that bassets love to curl by your head!
Our couch and our chair we no longer own,
They haven't figured out yet, how to use the home phone.

Then there's the smell when two bassets have gas,
Nobody ever said that this breeds got class!
They puke and they drool, they fart and they snore,
But who could ever ask for anything more?

For a nice clean house and room on my bed,
Would I ever give up Gloria and Fred?
Not on your life, I would never trade places
Or give up the love from these precious faces!

Peace and Quiet & Peace of Mind

Peace and Quiet is having two bassets hounds sound asleep.

Peace of Mind is my Mother's silver tea set freshly polished since I promised her I would keep it cleaned.

It's a good day!

Monday Mischief - Not Here!

There wasn't a whole lot of mischief around our house on the weekend.  We had a very late night Friday night as our date night consisted of driving down to Detroit to watch the Detroit Lions first pre-season game against the Cleveland Browns.  It's the first pre-season I have  been to with Steve. My daughter and her kids came over to hound sit Fred and Gloria.

Gloria loved all the attention. But as usual the kids hid from Freddie.

"Eeek!  Look out Emma!  It's a big bad, vicious basset hound! "

Fred tried to act like he was just bored by the whole ordeal.

"Yawn"

"Yeah, yeah.  Whatever...I didn't want to play with you anyways!"

I love the whole atmosphere when we go, but this was a late game and it didn't start until 7:30 p.m. so it wasn't over until 10:45 p.m.  Which means that we didn't even get home until just about 2:00 a.m.  By the time we got the dogs outside for a bit, then got them all settled around again and  got something to eat it was well after 3:00 a.m. before we got to bed.  This was the first and only late football game I will go to.   It was just too long of a day for me. The bad news....the Lions lost to the Browns 19-17.  The good news.........

......I got to wear my new Nate Burleson jersey!

Saturday we had to have Fred and Gloria to our vets by 9:00 a.m. for their yearly shots so we were all pretty tired. Their check-ups went fine and  I love the new rabies tag they got.  They have started a new program in Canada where on the back of your rabies tag is a website called getmehome.ca.  You go and register your pet on-line with their tag number and micro- chip number, if the they have it.  You put in all your contact information and if your pet is lost they just check the number on the tag to find their owners.  I love this.  The more ways to help get a lost pet home the better!

I  love that this is a free service provided with your rabies tag.

Sunday we attended my our nieces engagement party and luckily the rain held off and the weather and the party turned out beautifully.  Congratulations again Ami and Adam!

Today I am behind and just trying to catch up as it was such a busy weekend.  My daughter came over to help me get Fred in the tub as he has been itching and chewing like crazy.  I think he got into something last week as he's been itching ever since we caught him in the flower bed.   Gloria just hung around the bathroom howling the whole time we bathed Fred.  After Fred's bath they both conked out.

Awwwwe!  doesn't Freddie look nice and shiny after his bath.  He smells nice too!  So I guess the only mischief here is me getting my mischief post up so late!

Happy Monday everyone!

Wordless Wednesday - They're Baaack!!

Monday Mischief - The Other Wild Child

There was nothing out of the ordinary this weekend.  It was the usual stuff with Fred.

He steals some laundry..........

Then he lays on it waiting to see if you'll try to take it.  I just ignore him, walk away and eventually, he falls asleep on it.  Then I get it and it goes back in the laundry. But yesterday all hell broke loose!  Freddie was just laying under the coffee table on his our laundry, minding his own mischief when Gloria suddenly got all giddy, ran over and snatched it from him.

What the eff???

She just went wild. I think she's making up for not getting out when she was younger. LOL!  Heck the other day she actually grabbed a ball outside and ran with it.  Mind you she finally stopped and just dropped it like she didn't know what to do with it, but it was totally out of character! Crazy, I tell ya!

"Really? Pfffft"

Awards Thursday!

We got a new award! Our friend Dachshund Nola was nice enough to give us the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award.  I'm sure you all know Nola, but if you don't you have to pop over and see what she's up to.  Nola shares her home with her peeps, 2 other doxies (soon to be three), 2 cats, 1 cockatiel, 14 chickens, 2 ducks and a new addition of a pig!  So you can imagine there is never a dull moment over there!

The rules for this award are:

Include the awards logo in a post or on your blog.
Share the love and link to the person who awarded you.
Tell us 7 facts about yourself.
Nominate 7 other fabulous bloggers
Link to the nominees in your post and leave them a comment on their blog letting them know they won.

I will list 7 facts about Fred

1. Fred is my baby and he's spoiled rotten!
2. There is only one specific vet that can trim Fred's nails. We call him the dog whisperer.
3. When Gloria gets behind on our walks, Fred actually stops and waits for her to catch up.
4. Apparently, Fred's crate is just for holding Old Blue, his first stuffie.
5. Fred loves carrots and apple slices (no seeds though)
6. He is a real cuddle bug when he's sleepy.
7. Fred really is over dramatic, hence his nickname Mr. Dramatica!

I am passing this award on to -

2 Brown Dawgs
Finn Howard
browndog cbr
Bailey Be Good
Bongo
Life in the Doghouse
Yee Wittle Things

Thanks again to Dachshund Nola!

And who doesn't love having these delivered to your door!

Thank you to my wonderful daughter and her family!

Silence

What's up with that?
I woke up this morning to silence.

Since they have been redoing our crescent, for the past month or so, every morning around 7am I wake to the sound of heavy machinery starting up. I actually started getting up earlier so I could have my coffee in peace and quiet.  But  this morning I didn't wake up until 8:30 am.  Obviously I thought it was earlier as I didn't hear any machinery.  I looked at the clock and gasped!  Even the hounds were still in bed. Usually Gobble Guts Gloria won't let me stay in bed 'cause she wants those morning treats!

I went to the living room and looked out the window and saw this. (see our lovely new sidewalks)

Yippee!!  Silence!

I rushed around to get the dogs out to go potty, feed and water them and put coffee on before the noise started. But it's 10:30 am and there's still no one around. Ahhhhh!!

Yesterday I woke up at 7am to this.

I'll call it the tamper.  All day the tamper went around tamping down the dirt on the road.

Everything in our house shook and rattled all day.  Between the heat and the noise it just gave you a headache! 

So the silence today is very welcome.  It's actually kind of eerie.

And Fred.......well, he's in on the couch.........

........with a bully stick hangover from last night. I gave him one to settle him down.  He's been getting so antsy  since they haven't been able to get out for walks because of the heat.  Yesterday afternoon I actually soaked them down with the hose to cool them off and of course that turned Freddie into a complete wild man!! So, I left Fred there on the couch, got my laptop and came outside.  I don't even mind the heat right now.  My  Gardenias bloomed and the smell out here is great!

I've never had Gardenia's before.  I just love them!

And yesterday I even finished another dishcloth for my daughter.

Today I will attempt the pot holder from Dip-Dip and The Bridge and the Blogsville Ladies Crochet Society!

Have a great weekend everybody and try to stay cool!