Mountain Musings

Happy Birthday, Pepper!

Today Pepper turns 13 years old! It hardly seems that long since I first opened the Christmas card telling me that I was getting an English Springer Spaniel puppy. It was so exciting - I had been begging for a dog for so long! Our family had fun brainstorming ideas for names as we drove home after Christmas. Noel, Buttons, Oreo, and Pepper were on the final list. I'm glad Pepper was the winner, aren't you? :)

That winter there was an ice storm that caused many power outages, and the breeder called and wanted us to pick up Pepper early since there was no heat at her house. My puppy was soooo tiny, and she trembled and howled all the way home. Awww. She got used to us fast though.

Look at that picture of my young 12-year-old self! That was our first attempt at playing Frisbee outside - it was almost as big as she was! Nowadays, she prefers fetching rocks when playing outside, but most days she snoozes away on her blanket. Pepper is almost completely deaf now, and she's slowing down since those first puppy days. The vet just said this year, "At this point, consider every year a bonus." *tear*

I sure have enjoyed my dog these past 13 years!

 

Happy Birthday, Pepper!

~Sarah

Not a Creature Was Stirring...

Our week has been fun...

• Tom is off work (always a good thing!)
• my sister (Aunt Bet) arrived from SC on Monday
• the menu is all planned
• the gifts are almost ready
• loving receiving cards from folks around the country
• Happy Birthday today to our 2-year old grandson, Ethan!
• just waiting for snow to arrive on Christmas Day
• we're ready to celebrate Jesus' birthday!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!

~Deb

"I would be ever so grateful..."

...if someone would please shovel a path for me."

"Thanks, I needed that!"

~Pepper

It's Pepper's Birthday!

Today is Pepper's 10th birthday! She's getting up there in doggie years. In honor of her day, I'm filling out a dog meme that's been floating around the blogosphere.

1.  What breed is your dog?  English Springer Spaniel.
2.  How old is your dog?  As of today, 10 years old.
3.  What is her full name?  Pepper Girotti, if we have to fill out forms at the vet.
4. Does she have any nicknames?  Sweetie, Girlie, Baby, Pookers, Snookums...when we're in a gushing mood.
5.  Where does she sleep?  In a crate in the garage at night, unless it's under 20 degrees. Then she stays inside in the laundry room, which is where she is during the day.
6.  What is her favorite thing to do?  Play with rocks, go on walks, chase bunnies, deer, and kitty cats, and be curled up asleep beside her humans.
7.  What is something unusual or interesting about her? She has a heart-shaped patch of fur on her left side - we can always pick her out of her litter in her puppy pictures. She prefers rocks over balls, and she likes carrots and apples.
8.  Who is her best friend? Well, I would say me, but I think that Jonathan, Mom, and Dad would dispute that. She IS officially my dog, though. :)
9.  Did she go to obedience school...if so was she "Top Dog" or would she flunk out?  She never went to obedience school. She only obeys when she thinks she's going to get some type of food. *sigh*
10.  Can she do any tricks?  She sits, lays down, shakes her paw....and sort of rolls over. Not quite, but almost. :)

We'll celebrate her birthday tonight by giving her a special doggie treat.

~Sarah

Come Back, Granny!

Granny's visit is over, and I am sooo sad and lonely. All the humans around here are busy getting back into their normal routines, and no one is paying a bit of attention to me this morning!

But we did have fun this past week while Granny was here. I heard Mom say she hadn't written a blog post in a looong time with so much going on! Well, this is what I observed these past few days:

• Sarah baked an Easter carrot cake for a customer. I love carrots, so she slipped me some extras. Yummy!
• Hannah sewed some new colorful neckerchiefs for my cousin Barney and mailed them to him for his human's birthday. They're different from the one I'm wearing since he's such a little punk, but they were very nice.
• Mom and Dad's first-met-each-other anniversary was last week, but I don't think they did anything special but errands. Anyway, I didn't get to go with them.
• Micah and Elizabeth came over to eat with us and to see Granny (and me!). Now they're off house hunting in snow country, because on Match Day he found out where they will be living for residency during the next seven years. I won't say where, but I sure will miss them (and Teak!).
• Jonathan has been studying a lot and took a mid-term on Saturday morning. I love it when he comes home to play with me.
• Friends came over for a game afternoon on Saturday. I got LOTS of attention that day!
• Mom took Granny to the Shenandoah Farmers' Market to look at antiques, but I didn't get any old bones from that trip!
• Easter Sunday was lonely for me. I don't go to church, but they're nice enough to have hymns playing while they're gone.
• Yikes! I almost forgot about the water leak in the ceiling right outside my room. It dripped and dripped and made the wall and paint look horrible--at least I could tell from Mom's face that she didn't like it at all. But...just to let you know...I defended my people from those mean ol' repairmen!
• More games...Granny loves Rook, so she played with the girls and Mom and won! And Sarah put a puzzle together with Granny's help while she was here.
• I love the food smells in this house! Sarah made Baked Potato Soup and a Key Lime Pie yesterday while chicken was smelling yummy in the crockpot, but my people won't feed me their food...except carrots. I love carrots.
• I rode in the back of the van with the family when they went to get ice cream at Kline's to celebrate Jonathan's spiritual birthday.

I love the special things we do when company is here! Come back, Granny!

Well, hopefully those humans will return to the blog soon.

~Pepper

An Amazing and Exciting Post!

The cutest dog that has ever walked on the face of the earth.

(Note: This is a purely objective statement of definite fact, with no bias affecting my observation whatsoever.)

That is all. Thank you.

~Sarah

Guess Who Came For Dinner?

This Thanksgiving we had a full house, which included 3 dogs and a bird!                        Barney, Aunt Bet's miniature schnauzer

Little Bit, Granny's corgi

Teak, Micah and Elizabeth's new parakeet

"But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; and the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you....Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?" Job 12:7,9-10

~Hannah

Doggie L-O-V-E

Today's Saturday Scavenger Hunt theme is: Love. Can't think of a better picture of love than a girl and her dog!

Poor Pepper had surgery this week--a tumor removed from her right eye. She has to wear this collar for 7 - 10 days until the stitches are removed so she won't disturb them. Poor baby!

~Deb      

Doggie Dreams

Today has been designated as Blog About Your Dog Day for bloggers to show off their own special pooch. I heard about it over at Carol's blog where she tells us all about her dog Tucker.

Here's our pride and joy in all her glory asleep on her new comfy pillow...probably dreaming doggy dreams about catching those white fluffy snowballs being thrown at her all weekend.

A Westminster Kennel Club show dog she isn't. Although if she did make it to the grand stage, her one very distinguishing feature would win the hearts of the judges I'm sure--a beautiful, big black heart on her left side.

As a wee little thing surrounded by her litter mates, Tom and I didn't even notice her markings when we chose her and put down a deposit to hold her until after Christmas that memorable winter 7 years ago. We had spotted the classified ad for English Springer Spaniel pups and made the secret trek out to the breeder's place in Gloucester--the pup being a surprise gift for Sarah who had been campaigning for a dog for quite some time.

Tom grew up with dogs...Princess was the one I remember his family owned when he first introduced me to them. So he didn't have a problem considering this big decision that would change our lives forever. I, on the other hand, didn't have good experiences with dogs; in fact, I was terrified of them and ended up with a broken arm after running from one when I was 13. Even now no one can believe that "Deb the dog hater" has become "Deb the Pepper lover."

That Christmas we made a card for Sarah with the classified ad taped inside along with a picture of us holding the pup and telling her this was her special gift to be picked up after the holidays; all she had to do was come up with the perfect name. She was thrilled and says it's the best present she ever received!   

We often call Pepper our "BBN" dog. In those early just-getting-acquainted days, we calmed her by playing gentle music while she was all alone in her cardboard box adjusting to being without her mom and siblings. And whenever we go someplace now, we turn on either the BBN Luray 103.9 radio station or leave CD's playing for her. Yessss, dogs need music, too.

Sweet dreams, Pepper. Today's your day.

~Deb

The Barn-ster Reigns!

How can I resist posting the link to this picture of my doggy nephew Barney after his grooming. Is he cute or what!?

~Deb