A Message From The Other Side

It's me....Rockers!  I made the long, final journey to Puppy Dog Heaven.  Not in any way do I want to encourage anyone to join me anytime soon,  but I have to say it's pretty fabulous!  I feel like this is what Hawaii would be like....if for instance we had ever been invited on a trip!  Sunny all the time, long sandy beaches (and no one cares if you drag sand into the house; take note Janet!), treats all day long and tons of doggy "sectionals" to sit on.

I did my best to hide how sick I was and held on like the trooper I am until I couldn't go any longer.  I'm sorry everyone is so sad.  I could hear Phil talking on the phone when we were at the clinic and I know it almost broke him apart to call Janet and Bronwyn and tell them I wasn't coming home.

I have already run into some old pals....Drucie from across the street, Lola and Bronx (they were better pals with Noodles when she was doggie in exile, but I still like them) Kuro and Licorice (previous Illingworth dogs) and good old Rubby Dubs!  We frolic and frolic some more.

Mike and Bronwyn - thanks for adopting us and bringing us to Victoria.  Phil - thanks for all the evening walks and making our delicious meals.  Noodles - thanks for being the best sister ever.  Pashy - thanks for being the best cousin ever.  Zambo - thanks for being the world's most fearsome kitty!  Everyone else in our family - you were the most loving family a doggie could ever hope for.  Janet - you may not believe this right now, but someday soon you will stop crying every time you think about me or are reminded of me.  Phil said you were thinking about dumping our blog because it wouldn't be the same without me....please keep truckin' on!

Noodles and I when we first arrived in Victoria.

Jeremy's friend and former neighbour,  Sharon,  reads Janet's blog.  She is such an incredibly kind and generous person.  She sent Janet a card and made a donation to the SPCA in my memory.  Sharon, you are one of a kind!

My comrades in arms...kind of mourning my absence when they aren't looking for cookies!

It was truly a slice, guys!

Love ya'!

The Word Sad Cannot Begin To Touch This Day

Our much beloved Rockers has passed away.  He was sick about a month ago with a high fever but bounced back after an injection of antibiotics.  For the last two days, he wasn't eating, but still wanted to go on his walk yesterday morning.  He quit eating yesterday (including his cookies!) and slept almost all the time.

Phil took him to the vet this morning and we were all pretty much expecting another injection of antibiotics, but we were mistaken.  Phil said between the house and the clinic he began to decline in a major way.  Dr. Smith said his temperature was fine, but something "catastrophic" was going on internally; something that could not be fixed.  Rockers heart was not beating properly and he did not have circulation to his extremities.

Our whole family mourns his passing.  He was originally Bronwyn's dog, so she and Mike are as upset as Janet and Phil.  Noodles and Rockers came as a package deal.

 He was the most sweet and loving dog.  Thanks to Mike and Bronwyn for bringing Noodles and Rockers into our lives.

Last night with Janet's best buddy boy doggie.

The end of the hallway where his "sectional" was.  The empty space at the end of the hallway equates the hole in our hearts.

Phil moved the water down to the "sectional" as Rockers had been incredibly thirsty for the last couple of days.

Quilting House of Horrors!

Pashy finally took a turn at not eating, but it didn't last for too long.  One day.  Janet says that was longer than Bronwyn's stint as a vegetarian when she was a teenager!  Pashy's robust appetite has returned!  Here's our current food system, the variety pak!

On the left, Pashy's food with peas, at the back, Noodles' food with carrots and yam and on the right, mine with ground beef, rice and cottage cheese.

Janet thinks it's so cute the way Pash holds onto her bone.

Janet and Phil splurged and treated themselves to first of the season halibut.

Janet was pretty shocked at how small a piece of halibut was for $13.33!

Look!  It's an all white meal, save for the carrots and big dollop of butter on Skinny Minney's rice!

Janet's fabulous Thursday volunteer friends went for lunch to celebrate Welda's 90th birthday!

From the left, Barb, Janet, Doreen, Katherine and Erin.  Welda, birthday girl is in the front.  Welda comes every Thursday and peels veggies for 3 or 4 hours.  There a couple more Thursday friends, but they were unable to attend. 

We have gone from a Quilting High to the Quilting Doldrums.  Turns out it is difficult to stitch straight lines on a piece larger than a table runner.   In addition, Janet now realizes the table runner was easy and that she isn't the brilliant quilter she thought she was.

Janet's frenemy, the stitch ripper!

Judging by all the bad words we hear, it's safe to assume the stitch ripper spends a lot of time being used.  We fear Janet may wear the fabric out, replacing her stitches!  Let's give up this silly dream, Janet, and go back to something manageable - tag blankies!

After talking to Banana on the weekend, it was ascertained that the trusty Janome Memory Craft 4000 is actually about 20 years old.  Karen offered to loan Janet her old machine which is about 4 or 5 years old.  It even comes with a cute suitcase!

Karen says not to examine so closely.  Janet did check out some quilting blogs and says not everyone's stitching is perfect.

Janet Quilts!

Janet has been attending the Buchanan School For Quilting for the last couple of weeks.  She says it's super fun and she really enjoys it.  First project - a table runner that said it was for beginners.  The fabric came already organized so "all" Janet had to do was cut the fabric (yeah, right!) and assemble.  Janet likes to presumes she is as smart as the average beginner, but there wasn't a hope in h**l she could have done this without some assistance.

From Tag Blankies to Table Runners!  She is pretty proud of herself!

Next project - a baby size quilt.  Janet sewed all the squares in the centre together.  They are called "Charm Packs" and then Karen helped Janet cut the borders and assemble the three layers.  Little Miss Quilter is learning some quilting lingo - in addition to Charm Packs, they have Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes and Fat Quarters.  Who knew?

We are on a tag team of "who isn't going to eat this week".  First Noodles was sick and wouldn't eat, and now Rockers won't eat his meals.  I always make sure to be a good girl and inhale eat all my meals.  I don't won't Janet and Phil to be annoyed with me.  Then the vet said there is nothing wrong with my thyroid so they should cut out sweet potatoes and carrots from the Chicken Vegetable Melange du Jour!  Turns out I'm just a curvy gal!

They have substituted peas.  Just a couple left to go!

When we went for a walk on the weekend, these two crazy adventurous girls were going for a dip in the ocean.  Janet said it took her longer to enter the warm ocean in Hawaii!

They look very intent.

Janet's private quilting instructor gave her an early birthday gift.  We are well on our way to becoming quilters!

Initially, Janet thought it was a really early birthday gift, but then she remembered it is already March and she will turn 61 years old in May.  She is going to have a chat with Phil because she doesn't want a huge celebration this year; similar to one he threw for her last year when she turned 60.

Bookends!

I, Pashy, Second Class Dog

Yay!  They came back!  We were super happy to see them.  The last couple of days of their trip were really wet and rainy, so Janet said it made it easier to leave.  One would have thought the thrill of seeing their canine offspring alone would have done the trick, but apparently not.

Because of the rain, they had precious little to do but turn on FinleyTV and watch Mr. Baby.
He and his Grandpa wore matching "Wife Beater" T shirts.  Janet  hates that Wife Beater, and not unlike his Speedo, Phil refuses to part with them.  Fortunately, the Speedo never materielized on the trip.

Mr. Baby likes to crinkle up his nose now for a tough dude look.  Finley can crawl like crazy now and started pulling himself up into a stand.

On my way to put my greasy little fingers all over YoYo's camera.

Super yummy bag, YoYo, nicely slicked with drool!

You can't see the babies, but underneath this Birdie Mama were some teeny babies.  Birdie Daddy was keeping a close watch.  They were under the awning outside a restaurant.

Meg is thinking of dumping her career as a doctor and becoming a jewelry designer.  She turned Mr. Baby's crinkle tag into a necklace.

On the last day in PDX, Bronwyn took Janet to Fabric Depot....which is about the size of a smallish WalMart.  Wow!  This could be the beginning of the end for Janet.  Now all she wants to do is sew!

Janet is now "down" with the quilting lingo.  She bought two Charm Packs and some coordinating fabric for the binding and the backing.  She also bought some fabric to make another baby size quilt on Maui, but this one comes first as it requires much less cutting.  She now wants to dump the table runner and start on this, but common sense overruled!

Look at all these cute little end pieces and "Fat Quarters" (more fabric lingo!) to make taggies with!

I, Pashy returned to Camp Canada.  Mike and Bronwyn are working really long days, so everyone thought it was best if I return.  They will pick me up in the Spring.  Janet told Bronwyn she wasn't sure if I would want to come back as I was actually on my home turf.  I showed her a thing or two and body slammed those two idiots out of my way so I could be first in the car!

Look what we saw on the way home....elk!

We stayed in a hotel again!  I had to be a stowaway, making me the second class dog.  Janet said not to worry.  She said when all our kids were little and they went on vacation, at least a couple of kids had to be stowaways because they were poor (we are rich now?!?) and couldn't afford two hotel rooms.  Remove the bedspread, fold it up in the closet and BAM....a mini room for a small person.  These days, Janet won't touch the hotel bedspread with a ten foot pole.

That's me, Pashyminders, the epitome of relaxation while the other two go nuts because they are going crazy!  Maybe deaf as well....when Phil was packing up the car in PDX, Rockers slept on the PDX sectional and never moved a muscle.  Normally, he is guarding the luggage like crazy!