We Love Lucy

I hope it was a good week for everyone.  If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I'm sure you are still ready for a dinner of leftovers tonight even after all that feasting yesterday.  We had a quiet day and I fixed a whole turkey breast and a couple of thighs rather than a whole turkey.  It was moist and juicy (thanks, Ina) and we have plenty of leftovers.

We do not share any human food with Lucy except for the occasional treat of apple or carrots.  She is especially thankful when our little granddaughter visits.  She positions herself directly under the high chair and takes advantage of the errors a toddler can make in learning to use a spoon and fork.  Alas, no toddler yesterday and thus regular dog food for Lucy as usual.  She is now on a prescription diet consisting of both canned food mixed with kibble and she views each meal with great enthusiasm.  She never had canned dog food before this year so it is quite a treat for her.

I often wonder what sort of things go on in her head as she goes about her day.  As she ages, she seems to need more and more to be with us.  She follows my husband around all the time when he is home.  She follows me as a second choice.  She loves her big bolster bed in the den and often puts several tennis balls in it.  She rolls them around and also uses them as massage balls.  Although our Ellie loved her toys, Lucy never cared much for them.

Lucy in her bed

Stretching

And rolling

Back and Forth

You may notice there is a green bed next to Lucy's.  Yes, we still have Ellie's bed there and sometimes Lucy lies across both of them.  And yes, my preference would be to give the bed to the shelter, but it seems to mean a lot to my husband.

Today's quote is from Henry David Thoreau:

"I am grateful for what I am and what I have.
My Thanksgiving is perpetual."

Wouldn't it be great if we all were perpetually thankful?

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK, EVERYONE!

We Love Lucy

We have had very weird weather, mostly rainy and cold.  But today brings bright sunshine and clear skies and we are thankful.

A brief health update:  my blood cancer markers continue to be low (and normal) so the new chemotherapy regimen seems to be keeping the cancer in check.  That is very good news.  There is not much available data on the long-term success of this drug for ovarian cancer because it was only recently approved.  But I'm assigning myself to be best of the statistics.  If that turns out not to be true I will have lost nothing by remaining positive.

Our sweet Lucy remains positive all the time, assuming that good things will always happen.  She had some really great days while our seventeen-month-old granddaughter visited.  At every meal she positioned herself right under the high chair and reaped the rewards of a little one feeding herself.

She is still moving more slowly but is ever so much better on her new meds.  She loved the attention of more people in the house, assuming each one was here to pet her,  Our daughter is visiting now so she is still enjoying extra attention.

She does not like to pose for pictures

Ready to go back inside

Our little Violet was so gentle with Lucy.  She would toddle over, slowing down as she approached Lucy and holding out her hand to gently touch her her.  Lucy loved it.

Violet is a mover and shaker.  She hardly ever walks; she runs everywhere.  My son snapped this photograph of her in her dragon pajamas crawling into a Nordstrom bag.  He said he feared his wife was a bad influence.  I told him to be glad it wasn't a Tiffany box.

I hope your weather turns better.  And we continue to send positive thoughts to those affected by the raging California fires.

Today's quote is from Carl Sandburg:

I tell you the past is a bucket of ashes, 

So live not in your yesterdays, not just for tomorrow, but in the here and now.

Keep moving and forget the postmortems; 

And remember, no one can get the jump on the future.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK

HELP OTHERS AS MUCH AS YOU CAN

A very interesting week here in the US to say the least.  I'm glad the election is (mostly) over.  There were results that made me happy and results that made me sad, but the overwhelming feeling is relief that it is finally behind us.

We had a most wonderful visit from our sweet granddaughter.  She is a very active little girl who sits still only when reading books or eating.  She rarely walks anywhere...she runs.  They flew this time rather than driving so we bought a lot of toys for her to have here when they visit.  She has a very sweet nature and was wonderfully gentle with Lucy and Lucy adored her.  She stationed herself squarely under the high chair and was well-rewarded.

Tall for her age with really long legs

Lucy smiles while the house is quiet

We had two good days with bright sunshine,  Lucy loved running free.  Her sprints are shorter and she is tired when we get back in, but we allow her to do as much as she wants.  Otherwise, we do insist that she gets plenty of walks to exercise her joints

Running like a younger dog

My dear beloved (and quite old) Nikon seems to be in the throes of death.  I shouldn't be surprised.  It is one of the first digital SLR cameras Nikon made.  I can't get any of my recent photographs off the memory card so I'll take it to a camera shop and have them take a look.  I will likely go with Nikon again for the simple reason that all the lenses are compatible.  Otherwise I may use my husband's camera or rely on the one on my iPod.

Today's post-election quote comes from Franklin D. Roosevelt:

Let us never forget that government is ourselves
And not an alien power over us.
The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not
A President or Senators, or Congressmen and government officials
But THE VOTERS OF THIS COUNTRY.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK, EVERYONE

THINK POSITIVELY ABOUT THOSE SEEKING REFUGE

AND DO SOMETHING FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR

We Love Lucy

We've had some sunny autumn days, some very windy days, and now some very rainy days.  Like the old saying, "If you don't like the weather in the mountains, just wait another day and it will change."

Despite her age and arthritis, Lucy still loves a day at the park.  She doesn't run nearly as much, but she does trot often enough to get some exercise and then she rests.  When she was younger, we had to force her to to sit and rest but now she seems to know when to rest herself.  She is still a thing of beauty with her long floofy hair flying in the breeze.  She has always had a rather strange sitting posture and it makes her look much larger than she really is.

Sitting in the soft moss at the park.

We were all stunned at the shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue this week.  It was a hate crime and 11 people were killed.  The people were gathered for a bris of a baby boy.  The event shocked and saddened many of us.  The President of the United States indicated that outcome would have been far better if there had been an armed guard at the synagogue.  An armed guard at a bris?  Seriously?

I leave you with a quote from the late Haile Selassie:

"We must become bigger than we have been
More courageous, greater in spirit, larger in outlook.
We must become members of a new race,
Overcoming petty prejudice,
Owing our ultimate allegiance not to nations
But to our fellow men within the human community."

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK, EVERYONE

IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY...VOTE

AND REMEMBER WE ARE NOT THE ONLY PEOPLE ON OUR PLANET