To Our Sweet Puppy Girl Regen ~ We Love You

I confessed 10 years ago, right here, that before Cody Bear came along, I didn't really understand crazy dog people. I guess I  did think they were just a tiny bit overzealous when it came to their "furbabies." But after Cody came in the family, I totally understood. Cody had both his houses, ours and our daughter's,  much to himself as well as the people who came with each house. He spends every weekday with us, and the evenings and weekends are with his mommy at her house.

When Regen came to live with Cody and his mommy, she brought along her daddy (a human 😁) and her brother another large dog, a Belgian Malinois. Cody has taken it all in stride.

Just a few short weeks ago, Regen suddenly seemed not to be feeling well, and when her daddy took her to the vet, he found out she had a serious problem with her spleen and it would need to be removed. And that most dogs didn't survive the surgery, and if she did, the spleen could have cancer. It was a huge, and very sad, shock to say the least.

Incredibly, she went through it all extremely well, and they said she recovered better than any dog they had seen before for this surgery. We were so happy, but even more ecstatic when the test came back negative for her spleen tissue. Then we celebrated big time!

Then out of the blue, she looked a bit strange  Saturday morning 2 weeks later, and her daddy took it to the vet again. She immediately sent him to another clinic that could do a more advanced ultrasound. That day the heartbreak began again.

The vet  said Regen had a rare, very fast moving cancer of the blood. They suggested she be "put to  rest" that day. If you have, or have ever had, a dog that is/was as close as a human to you as you can imagine, then you know what that day was like. She came home with her daddy, to all the love we could give.

Regen was the puppy of the family. She was only 8 years old, and acted like 2 or 3, just a complete silly, sweet puppy girl. Her mommy and daddy were so devastated. They took her to a wholistic vet as well to see if there was anything else they could do. For about 2 weeks, she had everything we were told might help. And a few days she seemed better, not fully back, but better. She liked her special meals of homemade bone broth, grilled salmon and steak with choice vegetables. We had hope of her being with us longer.

As she slowed down, at first we brought all 3 dogs to our house during the day. When it was more difficult for her, I went over to their house and stayed during the day so she wouldn't be alone at all since both her "parent" had to go back to work. Sweet hubby spent some hours there too so I would a have a break. Last Wed, it began is seemed much closer to her going. And that night - early morning she quietly went in her sleep. Cody had stayed with her most of the night, which is very unusual for him. He likes his own space. The time went by so fast, only a few short weeks between thinking she was perfectly healthy to her being gone. We've cried for  days as everything little thing reminds us of her.

Only a week later it is so difficult. Every time an old blog friend has lost a pet over the last 10 years I could feel their pain, more after Cody came into our lives. When Regen, and her brother Timi, came along I found there was room to love even more dogs. And I am so thankful that they did come into our lives. I thank you for stopping by, and listening.

Our Beloved Regen left this world on Feb 21 2019

As we told you daily before you had to go.

Thank You! Reggie, We will love you always. 

~ Bleached Bottle Brush Trees & Pottery Barn Bottle Brush Dog & The Christmas Dog

Have you fallen in love with these wonderful little bottle brush trees? I haven't seen them in their natural state of creamy off-white in stores, although they can be ordered on-line. However for just a few cents, you can create your own because you can change them very easily. 

The first ones I saw a couple of years ago were vintage, but today you can find them new as well.

The trees on the left are how I found them. They are sold for using in those little villages people put up especially during Christmas time. Look in the area  where you can buy the miniature houses and furnishings and that's where you find those strangely colored blue green trees.

I started bleaching them a couple of years ago, and I haven't seen anyone coming up with a newer idea.  It's all the same very simple process. After they are bleached you can use any kind of dye to make them another color like pink or aqua if you wanted to. Or just leave them pretty and natural.

HOW TO: This is all you need to know!
All you have to do is fill a container like a plastic or glass bowl, or a plastic tub, with water and 1/4 -1/2 cup of bleach. Let them sit until they look like the ones on the right in the picture above! Really, that's all there is to it, and what a big difference. They will match other natural bottle brush goodies very nicely. Let them dry on a paper towel or sitting outside.
 

Because of the little character pictured below. The Dog takes on a whole new place in my decorating for even Christmas. With a face like that, you can understand! 

This is a special family member who has had a little influence over my decorating the last few years. He is very white, and he has a curly tail.

We celebrate "The Puppy's" birthday in October, but Puppy Day is just as important and it is the day after Christmas, Dec 26th. That is the day he found us. Even now it makes me smile to remember  the silly story that I shared here: Cody ~ New Year, New Love.

Just like with your kids, when I see that picture, I wish I could just pick up that little rascal and hold him in my lap. Well, he's about 65 lbs. now so he no longer fits in my lap.

I have said before, I really didn't understand those "crazy dog" people before Cody came along. Now they all seem perfectly normal to me after all. Well, most of them anyway, and we might all be considered crazy dog people in this home now.

Yes, there was the year that I went in search of the Nativity Dog. I had never seen a dog in the Christmas manger sets, and when I did, it was a mission to find one for our vintage nativity. And then... well we had three, just because. I like to collect in threes anyway. 

 
Here is the story of the Nativity Dog which you might like if you are one of those dog people, or if you like vintage goodies.

So this year, The Cody Puppy was the reason for hunting down these fabulous bottle brush Lab bottle brush (sisal) dogs. None of the Pottery Barn stores in my town received a single one! Shocking for such a big store.  I called their customer service; they told me how many of the dogs were in the stores in my state, and I selected one, called them up and purchased the dogs and they sent them right to my house. Free shipping on line, so they did free shipping from the store as well. If you can't find any in your stores, this is an option for you.

When they arrived, I was very pleased. They are so cute! Our Cody is not a full lab, he is a rescue pup! He is very white, and well, he has a perfectly curled tail which is very indicative of his personality.  The bottle brush dogs are natural dark cream and were airbrushed with some darker highlights. I was able to bend the wire in the tail so it  now has a curly tail like Cody, and add a dry brushing of white paint to make it more white like him.  Totally crazy dog people, I admit it.

The dogs are the  perfect complement to the little bottle brush trees and the wreaths as well. The arrangement on the entry table this year is very different than years before. I am enjoying the whimsical nature of it every time I walk by.

** Last tips:
The trees and dogs in real life actually have a bit more yellow to them. The first picture in this post shows a little more yellow. The last picture just above has been adjusted to show less yellow.  You can make them look more white by dry brushing the tips with white paint. And you easily glitter them by painting on some glue, and the sprinkle with glitter or roll the trees in the glitter and shake off the excess.


Also if you are going to bleach any bottle brush, make sure it is not plastic. The ones shown above are made of sisal. I am not sure  if the plastic material would bleach, although it might.

See Y'All Soon~

Donna

~ Cody Puppy, Thank You! To All the Dog Rescue People!

(and all the cat & other animal rescue people and groups, too!)

No one was happier that we were back home than Cody Puppy. Remember this little guy that Sweet Daughter adopted from the Lab Rescue lady?

I think this bed lasted almost a week.
Did anyone tell me that labs chew everything!??

So funny to think he was that size such a short, short time ago. I really forgot how fast they grow. He is supposed to get about 55 lbs. I think the estimate was pretty good. We went to the doggie toy store (Petsmart) today and he now is 51.5 lbs. He just turned 8 months old. The next picture was when he was 7 mos. He certainly became a handsome young pup.

He enjoys his porch.

I've been really busy with custom art since I've been back. Besides chasing this puppy around every single minute, that's all I've been doing. But....

I'll See Y'all Soon!

~ A New Year, A New Love

It was Fate, pure and simple.

He was waiting for Sweet Daughter. She brought him to her, or did he bring her to him. Either way, it was meant to be. He was looking for love but held out until she came to find him because he knew she would love him the best.

How wonderful are the people who run rescue homes? It takes such dedication and heart. The nice lady got a call at 10 pm asking for help. Only a one day window to help, then the lot of them would be gone. All eight of them. The rescue lady of course could not let something so sad happen. She came to the rescue, again.

She found homes for every single one. All the adopting people had to fill out applications, agree to the rules, which were not all that easy, and to have a home visit before the decision was made. Everyone showed up on Saturday. Except one. They actually were looking at several options and didn't tell Rescue Lady and didn't show up. One little guy was left, but went home with a foster daddy to play.

And that is how they found each other. We left early to look at other little fur balls, but they were scooped up in minutes by people who had waited for 4 hours. How great is that!? Fabulous actually. We had no idea that would happen.

So we headed north to BJ's. It just happens to be by another pet store which has rescue Saturdays, too. And there he was. Just sitting and waiting. Everyone thought he was waiting for the rescue lady to pick him up from the foster daddy, but no, he knew who he was looking for. Sweet Daughter. And she knew him before she even got out of the car.

Cody, thanks for waiting for us. There were quite a few twists in his tale to make sure he didn't go somewhere else. And someone had to agree to be with him during the day, so that makes me a new Nanna for the daytime hours. He is Yellow Lab Retriever & Golden Retriever. Right now he's snow white and just plain cute.

He's 11 weeks old & of course a little genius. But aren't they all?

See ya' soon!
Cheers to the Best New Year!