Little Elvis 2009 - September 27, 2024

 Little Elvis was almost 15 years old.  He was my constant companion in the Winter time, sleeping most nights at the foot of my bed.  I will miss him, he was mostly deaf and could hardly see anything...old age is hard on dogs.  BUT he had a good life! 

January 2010  Miney, Little Elvis and Chance

 

Adam and Little Elvis

May 2010 

 

Noah and Little Elvis

Chance and Little Elvis 

 

Chance, Little Elvis and Miney

Chance and Little Elvis

 

Miney, Little Elvis and Chance

Little Elvis

 

Little Elvis and Sadie 

Little Elvis has left the building.  Rest in peace little buddy.  

Little Elvis and Miney helped to cushion the loss when Chance died in 2018, Little Elvis cushioned the loss of Miney in 2021.  Now they are all mourned and missed more than ever. They were a real pack! Three of the bestest dogs ever!

Far Side

 

Good Buddies

 Chance and Miss Miney were good buddies...they kinda grew up together, each visiting the other...having a safe spot to visit if someone had to be gone from home.

Both lived a good long life...but they are still missed.   I am convinced that you never "get over" the loss.

I put Miss Miney's memorial necklace next to Chance's battery operated candle...somehow it seems right.  I will return the necklace to Jen soon...but until then... 

Far Side

Miss Miney 2005-2021

 Miss Miney (Hermione) has been having a time with Old Dog Vestibular Syndrome.  Some days she was fine ...other days she struggled to get up and down but was still happy.  Yesterday she could not get up from a lying down position.  It was time.   Sadly she made that last trip to the Vets office in the afternoon.  

We will miss her so much.  We were lucky to be able to care for her throughout the years...instead of going to the kennel when her people had to be away she came to our house.  We loved having her visit.  Chance loved her visits.  She was just a little younger than Chance.  She would have been 16 years old this summer.  

August 2005 when she was just a little puppy she made her first visit to our house.  She is sleeping on top of an overnight bag and a pair of shoes most likely Noah's shoes. 

She was a beauty. 

She and Chance were best friends. 

Little Elvis joined the pack. 

Miss Miney was our daughter Jen's "heart dog" ...they come around only a few times in your life if you are a dog person...those dogs are the ones you always miss and remain forever in your heart. 

I am certain that Chance was happy to greet her. 

Goodbye beautiful Miss Miney.

She helped to heal our hearts a bit after Chance died. 

Run free Girlie.

Far Side

Milkweed and Misc

The air is heavy with the sweet fragrance of the Common Milkweed….or Asclepsias syriaca.

 

The blooms are full.  I did not see any larvae on them…sadly we have only seen a few Monarchs lately. Fibers from the old stems can be used for nest building by Orioles.

Minnesota has thirteen different kinds of milkweed.

Busy days after the 4th of July.  I went to Bingo with my Dad, he hollered Bingo once! In the N’s …he never Bingos in the N’s… he said it was a historic bingo.

Far Guy and I are working on the Christmas Ornaments, we have 70 ready to paint and 10 are being painted…so 80/100 are carved.  Last year I was done with the entire project by the end of August…time will tell if I make it this year.  The projected heat wave may give me a chance to paint indoors.

Chance is in a funk …again…he gets depressed after Jen visits…Miney and Little Elvis are missed.  Chance got to play “Lassie “ one day…I was keeping one eye on all three dogs as I worked in my garage.  Suddenly Chance appeared and just stared at me….interrupting my work….something was wrong. Little Elvis was with Chance but Miney was no where to be found…I hollered and hollered (she is quite deaf) …I went to the house to see if Far Guy had let her in the house…he hadn’t but said “She is right out the window.”  What a relief.  Not sure where she went but luckily she came back.

Wistful Wednesday : Snow

We have quite a snowbank.  Snowbank= The pile you create by clearing snow from your yard.  We have a number of them.  We had a snowdrift in front of the door that almost blocked our exit. Luckily Far Guy could push the door open enough to get outside to get a shovel.

We should name them…this one would be June.
In March of 2006 we had a similar snowbank.

Paige, Maddie and Savannah with Chance.

Brings to mind another snow photo.

Adam, Maddie with Chance, Noah with Miss Miney and Paige in 2009. They were all so little then…and now they are all grown up.

Chance: Company

I had visitors on Sunday!  My best friends ever and my sister and her husband.

The beautiful Miss Miney is losing some of her hearing and little Elvis is well…Little Elvis! He is a character. They visited my groomer on Monday morning!

I need to report that Far Side has a temperature and has something brewing…not sure what yet… she got a great report from the allergy Doctor all the food allergies she has had the past 20-30 years have disappeared!!  She can eat pinepple and strawberries again…maybe even celery and mushrooms!  The Mayo Clinic says she is allergy free!   Her allergy Doctor says to take Zyrtec for the itchy eyes she gets when the pollen is bothersome.

Melting and Muddy

The snow is melting and the water is running.  The skunks are out doing what skunks do to escape extinction.   We smelled one a couple miles away.  There are none in the culverts because the culverts are running full of water. They will go back to sleep before emerging in spring with babies.  I have taken the peanut butter jar in for now …no sense flirting with danger. ( Have I said I hate skunks?  I do.  I am not sure what purpose they serve other than to be stinky and irritate me.  We don’t have a compost pile that has food scraps in it…only leaves.)

Three inches of snow at the snowstick in the morning March 7. Photo taken from the inside of the house.

Later in the day the stick was surrounded by 3 1/2 inches of water. Is it premature to call Sam the winner?  She guessed March 10.

With the exception of one day we are supposed to have highs in the 50’s until mid March.  Unseasonably warm for March.

Sam you are the winner this time!  I have your address.  If it should snow again and get at least three inches at the snow stick I will reopen the contest with the same guesses that can be found here.

Here is some mud for ya x 12 paws…

When you get tired of playing ball you eat snow with friends at the snow bar and the snow helps clean your paws.

Chance: Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my day!  I am ELEVEN years old today!  I am an old guy now, sometimes they call me an old fart.

I am a spoiled boy.  At my elderly age my ears must be cleaned on a regular basis…with mineral oil…and my teeth get cleaned often. I like my rides every evening /late afternoon…my sorts are out if we don’t go for a ride.  I moan and groan like it is the end of the world…WELL it feels like it is….then we usually get to go!!!

I have important jobs. I walk with Far Guy everyday, first we get the mail and then we go for more walks later in the day …about 2 1/2 miles…I have met some other dogs while walking…one dog gets walked while his owner is in a golf cart.  Far Side walks too some days… just not as far.

My arthritis is worse some days than others…some days I limp a little and sometimes jumping in the car is really hard….but I still get there!

Far Guy didn’t think I would make it through the winter last year…but I surprised him. 

Far Guy worked on a special “spot” for me most of the summer while I chased the dirt and the shovel.  Two big buckets were filled with dirt and brought in to the workshop/greenhouse and one day when Andy stopped by he dug the “spot” a little deeper…until Far Side said “Good enough.”  It is all covered with a board now so someone won’t accidently fall in. ( I bet if Far Side fell in she wouldn’t be happy…in fact she might get cranky crankier.

Miney and me.

Miney is still my best friend…then Odda, Little Elvis and Putz…I like them all….and my sisters and kids and balls….and Far Guy and Far Side even when she is bossy (which is most of the time).

Happy Birthday to me! I don’t know what they have planned for me…but I know there are some homemade pumpkin treats that will be calling my name.

Chance: I have company!

My two best pals in the whole wide world spent the weekend with me.

Little Elvis, Me and Miney

We played ball, we ran around and barked, we chased squirrels and that big black Raven.  The Bald Eagle flew circles around ...but Little Elvis looks "fluffy" right now so he was safe. 

Little Elvis can be a pain in the neck sometimes. 

He doesn't play ball the same way Miney and I do.  He herds the dog with the ball...which sometimes involves a little bite on your back leg, tail or neck.   Far Side usually hollers at him "ELVIS  knock it off!"  I never get mad at him...Miney gives him the "what for" every once in awhile...she is his boss. 

We still love Elvis even if he is a turd sometimes.  He wakes up Far Side by licking her toes or her arm whatever is available.  Then we all get to go outside! 

Little Elvis and I do guy stuff together like looking for sunflower seeds to snack on....and finding good places to pee.

It is good to have company and when they go home I will sleep for at least one whole day.

Chance

Chance: I got friends

Hiya it’s me Chance the most handsome Border Collie in Minnesota.

I had friends visiting this week.  Odda came a calling one day, I was so excited!   She never gets to stay long before her Mama shows up shaking her head.

Then I got overnight company!!

The beautiful Miss Miney who I love so much I let her be the leader of the pack.

Then there is Little Elvis…who isn’t big enough to be a leader…he follows Miney or me around.

We get to play ball lots when they are visiting.  Little Elvis herds whoever has the ball.  Sometimes he grabs my tail or my back leg.  Miney gives him the what for but he goes back to the same old behavior. 

It is good to have friends that lay in the snowbanks with you to cool off after playing ball. I like company.

Chance: My Friends

Hiya it is me Chance!  It snowed again… Far Side is in a foul mood.  I wouldn’t call her on the phone if I had one.  She did venture out with her camera.

This is me and Little Elvis.  We played ball…he was getting tired.  I think he and Miney must sleep all day long at home.  We all piled on the bed at naptime..cause the snow was sliding off the roof in big clumps.  You could hear the snow slide and then a big kerplopp.

Miney looks good with snowflakes!  I love Miney, we have been friends practically since forever..well since she was little and I was one year old.  Her real name is Hermione but my sister is the only one who calls her that…mostly when she is in trouble.

Odda showed up to play.  She must have heard us outside playing ball.  Far Side was playing loudly.

Odda came to the window and made everyone bark.  I like Odda.  Miney and Little Elvis not so much they think she is big and scary. She is kinda big…but don’t tell her that! I went outside and played with Odda until her Mom came.  Odda is visiting lots lately.  We don’t know why…is she lonely…she has Putz and he stays home.  Is she scared or just bored? 

I know the way to Odda’s house but I am not allowed to go there by myself.  The last time I left the yard I got hollered at and Far Side tied me up to a tree by the door.   I don’t like being tied up…or getting hollered at.

I am glad I have good friends like Odda, Putz, Miney and Little Elvis.