...Jake...

running....chasing....endless energy....that's Jake.....


I got Jake from my husband for our anniversary 7 years ago. He actually had just been born and I had to wait 8 weeks, until he was old enough to leave his mom and siblings. I got to go see him when he was 6 days old. He could fit in the palm of my hand. So small. I went to see him at the breeders every few days and was so excited to finally bring him home.

Jake was definitely MY dog. As much as my husband doesn't like to have dogs in the house, I still snuck him in from time to time. Like the time he went missing for 3 days and we got a call during our annual Christmas party that some kind person had found him and was bringing him home. Luckily, the party was taking place in our barn and was almost over. I met the nice couple in the driveway, thanked them profusely(i may have even given them money, i can't be sure) and promptly took Jake in the house and put him on our bed. When my husband came in the house after the party was over he opened our bedroom door to the sight of me in bed and Jake laying right next to me. He said, "Oh, I see how it's going to be". He never made another comment when he would found this same scenario in the years to come. He knew that if I had had a bad day, when I went to bed Jake would be laying right next to me, usually snoring. He was little, but he was very loud.

Jake and Tucker were fast friends from the first day I brought him home. Even though Tucker is much bigger than Jake, it has never made a difference. They sleep together, eat together, go on walks together, and up until the past year have played together. Tucker has slowed down in his old age and Jake seemed to know this. Their playtime and walks have been geared down to match Tuckers pace. Not by me, but by Jake. He only seems to do just what he thinks Tucker can do. This is funny because when Jake came to live with us, Tucker did this same for him.

Jake's favorite thing to do is chase.......anything. He particularly loves to chase squirrels and deer that hang out in the hazelnut orchard that is across the road from our house. He loves our neighbor, Don, who is the farmer that owns the orchard. I know that if Jake isn't on the back porch then he is usually over at Don's. Remember, he's a hound and what hounds do best is chase varmints.

We live in a very rural area. Farm and orchard land all around us. We have lots of deer and squirrel. This is a perfect place for a beagle!

But yesterday doing what he loved so much, chasing a deer, Jake crossed the road and was hit by a car. Don was in the orchard and saw it happen. He said that it happened so fast, there was nothing he could do. He told us, with tears in his eyes, that it was like watching it happen in slow motion. Don said that the car probably didn't even know that they had run over him. Jake was moving pretty fast. By the time Don got to him he was already gone. I can take comfort in the fact the Jake never suffered. Don said he was sure that Jake didn't even know that the car was there. He was so intent on chasing that deer that nothing else mattered.

So now Jake is chasing squirrels and deer somewhere else. It's very sad for me. I loved that little dog. my husband may have said once or twice that I loved him more that anyone else, including him. It was a different kind of love.

There will be other dogs, but right now I can't imagine one that would take Jake's place.......

~The Rainbow Bridge~

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

~Author unknown

I will miss him.......

...harvest...

We have had grapes in our garden for some time. We have red, white and blue table grapes but have never been able to harvest any. Cue the big yellow lab.......

This is Tucker and he loves to eat. Currently he is 13 years old and in my memory has never missed a meal. When he was a puppy he would raid the strawberries we had planted in the garden. We never had many to eat ourselves, but he was pretty full of them! He also would sit right next to me when I would pick green beans and wait until I dropped one. He loved them! There were many time when my husband would come in the house and say, "Tucker is in the grapes again." I'd look out and see just his big yellow rear end sticking out of the vines. Needless to say, he ate everything before we could pick it.

As Tucker has gotten older, his "grazing range" has gotten smaller. He no longer ventures out to the garden to see what is available. He's pretty content to lay on the back porch and wait for the next meal.

And so, this is the first year I have had anything to show for the grape vines that have been there for 7 years.......

And WOW! We have more than we could possible eat on our own!

This is just one of the bowls that I have picked. They are small, but beautiful in color and pretty good tasting! Way better than those store bought grapes! We have so many that I have taken to giving them to the neighbors! I never thought I would see the day.

But don't worry about Tucker. I still drop a handful in his dish every now and then. He's kind of slow to get up and eat them, but the dish is always empty.

...#septsmackdown....

I've been watching the exchange between irishgirleknits and knittinggolfer for the last couple of months regarding their "smackdown" and I decided that this would be a good thing for me to join. Basically, it's a competition between us to determine who puts in the most exercise time each month. The winner gets a skein of STR (like i need anymore of this) of their choice. It's an honor system competition so you keep track of your own points and report in to each other.

I decided that I would add some different things to my exercise routine. I have been walking 5 days a week for a long time and am frankly getting pretty bored with this. On the suggestion of my friend Etta Mae I decided to join a boot camp class at the Y. Holy Mother! This class is beyond anything I have ever done! After the first class I had a hard time even getting out of bed the next day! Katie, who is the trainer for the class, has a son that just finished Marine boot camp.......she trained him! Ack! Needless to say she has no mercy. She doesn't care if you are tired, sore, whatever. If you stop, you had better be having a stroke or have broken a bone. There are no other excuses accepted.

To offset this ass-kicking motivation, I decided to explore the walking trails at the Tualatin River Wildlife Refuge.





It's really a beautiful area near where we live with lots of walking trails and great scenery. Here's one of my favorite views along the way....

The hiking trails meander through wooded areas along the Tualatin river and eventually circle the entire wildlife refuge. There are several view points along the trails......

It is the perfect place to do some much needed thinking and reflecting. Not to mention stretching the overworked muscles from boot camp.

I am lucky to live near this great place and even luckier that it is open year round.

I also added another type of exercise to my September Smackdown routine. We went to the coast this weekend and went salmon fishing. What a blast! But this is not a sport for wimps. This is a workout! This is the first fish I caught.

He's not very big, but a real fighter! I caught 3 more, 2 keepers and one native that we had to turn back. The last one took me 20 minutes to get into the boat. My arms are like hamburger today.
This week I racked up 12 point in the smackdown, but I have decided that this competition is not so much with my fellow smackdowners but more with myself. I think it's a challenage I can win....