Our Pets...

It's been a pretty rough week around here for our pets.  Arbour, our 11 year old cat, has gone missing and we fear she may have fallen prey to a fisher.  We've learned since her disappearance that there are more fishers around this area than usual this year. 

Casey was two when we got Arbour and she's always been a bit of a mom to her cat.  As a kitten Arbour would just climb into that little nook in Casey's 'arms' and that's how they'd sleep. Needless to say, Casey has been missing her cat as have we.

To make things worse, Casey started limping on Wednesday and she spent last night in hospital, having had to have a minor surgery to have her damaged 'toe nail' removed.  The claw may grow back, but in the mean time the limp is almost completely gone and she's happy to be resting comfortably at home!  How do you like that cute bandage.  LOL

 Earlier in the summer, when my friend, Heather came to visit, she asked me to back her car down our large hill as she's not as comfortable with it as I am.  Casey, always by my side, followed me up the hill, so Heather told me to invite her in the car and give her a ride back down.  Well, Casey happily jumped in, and when at the bottom of the hill she just curled up on the seat and went to sleep.  She slept there for an hour before we were able to coax her out!  Silly old puppy...(she turned 13 in June, but will always be my puppy!)

Remembering Oatie...

I made a special fibre postcard in honour of Oatis, a four year old miniature schnauzer that recently died because of a tragic misdiagnosis.  My friend, Donna and her husband were devastated by the loss of this little fur person, and this is just a little token to let them know that I'm thinking of them.

I altered this image in Lightroom and Photoshop to create the image for the postcard.

Some might say that he was "just a dog", but I get it Donna!








Linking up with Photo Art Friday for Bonnie's 'portrait' theme.

Puppy Love...

Last spring, our neigbours got Buddy, a Shih Tze puppy.  From the first day they got him, as they tried to walk past our back yard (we're on a corner lot), Buddy saw Casey and just walk in through our fence to visit with her.  It was love at first sight for all of us!  Casey was about to turn 12, a senior for a dog her size, and here was this tiny puppy that just wanted to jump up on her and give her kisses...so adorable!

As you can see in the top left image, Casey was quick to get in on the pouncing fun.  Although we certainly see signs of her age at times, when Buddy's around Casey just becomes like an over grown puppy herself.  It's so fun to watch them wrestle and play and I really think he helps to keep her young.  However, notice the very centre image...that's Casey's way of imposing a short break to get a little rest.  Has she captured an adorable little sleep toy or what!

These days its a bit of a tight squeeze for Buddy to get through the fence, but they still play regularly, and right now they are loving the snow!

This photo collage was creating using the print module in Lightroom 4.  I then exported it to  PSE 11 where I added a subtle soft texture called Cora, by Kim Klassen, at a soft light blend mode and lowered the opacity.  I put a layer of the digital scrapbook paper with the musical notes over the lower part only, and again lowered the opacity to allow the text to show through.  The final step was to use a variety of heart brushes to stamp on the little hearts on the last image as well as over the text area.  Love is in the air...

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Texture Tuesday, Sweet Shot Tuesday and Photo Art Friday.

Dogs Welcome!

There's a wonderful little coffee shop here in Georgetown called the Silvercreek Espresso Bar.  In addition to having great coffee (free trade too!) and other beverages and foods, they welcome their customers with dogs.  Just as you enter, before actually entering the coffee shop itself, there is a little lobby area in which they have put a table and chairs for their dog walking customers.  It's a wonderful place to stop for a rest with my 11 yr. old golden retriever, Casey, before the walk back home.  There's a post to tie the dog up while I go in and get my coffee, and they provide a water dish and doggie treat for Casey.

 I was inspired to create these two signs to replace the simple paper notes they had as a thank you for their consideration of people like me who are out with our dogs.  It's a great place to enjoy the air conditioning this time of year or to warm up in the cooler weather.  They also have a couple of tables outside for those days when the weather encourages the sidewalk cafe feeling.