We still miss you big girl...

We first met Murphy at the Reynolds County Fair. We watched a demonstration of some great herding dogs before the team penning event and the announcer said "for any of you that were impressed with that, Bob has a litter of Fay's puppies over here and you could probably talk him into selling you one!" We went over just to look.

A few years before I had been in an obedience class with my cocker, and a fellow classmate had a border collie. It was my first exposure to the breed and my heart would speed up when Ritzy would leap high into the air, spin, and land at heal position when her handler said "finish." I knew then that one day I would own one of these crazy aerobatic wonders, but I hadn't expected to find one in the back of a pickup at a county fair.

The pups were all cute, and I had no idea what to look for in a BC. But when that split face looked up at me, I knew she was going home with us. She was undersocialized, skinny, and full of fleas and I loved her from the first instant. She loved the kids as much as they loved her and she wanted to be where they were, whether that meant in the pool or in the top bunk of their beds. Except for one chewing incident, Murph never gave us a moment's trouble. She was the world's best babysitter, and she would jump into the pool if she thought someone was under water too long. She was a frisbee maniac and I could take her anywhere, without a lead, and she would behave without incident.

Unfortunately, her life was cut short and we lost her at about 10 years following a battle with an auto immune disease. We fought, she fought it; but it was a battle that wasn't to be won.

Six years ago this week Murphy passed over the rainbow bridge, and I miss her as much today as I did then.

I love you big girl... please wait for me, I can't wait to see you again.

A day to remember

Those of you that know me probably know that my mom is in her late 80s and suffering from short-term memory loss and dementia. She is currently living with my brother, but she is still physically able-bodied for a woman her age. So this weekend I had her over to play in the pool. It has been years since I've gotten her into a swimsuit, but she used to be a great swimmer, so I wasn't too concerned. As expected, instinct took over and she could still swim well. But more than that, we had fun laughing and goofing around in the pool, just like old times. I don't know if she will remember it, but for several hours, she acted like her old self. She and Sarah had "kicking contests" keeping the raft going straight instead of turning.




Of course, no pool party is complete without the addition of several dogs. (It is easy to see why we call Reba "the buttinski") I tried to get some more fun pool photos of her jumping in the water, but I just couldn't seem to get the timing right.























But after a few failed attempts, I managed to get this one of Ree and Sarah jumping together. But what is with that nose pinch? If Ree can jump in without pinching her big nose, you should be able to as well!

It's a WINNER!

Congratulations to Tookie for winning this completely biased contest! The fact that I have a taste for one of Tookie's winning magarita's had nothing to do with this choice... maybe.
I'll have another contest in a few weeks in honor of my Maggie-Girl's birthday.