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Thanksgiving week started with a delightful birthday brunch at Boar's Head's recently renovated and beautifully decorated Mill Room.
With TG so very late this year, coinciding with the beginning of Advent, decorations were a hybrid of gourds, poinsettias, boxwood wreaths, and scented pine cones.
Introducing Granddaddy to shooting in the Meadow.
Always tipped off that the hot air balloons are approaching the neighborhood when the dogs start going wild.
The perfect way to reuse the centerpiece boxwood!
Thanksgiving week started with a delightful birthday brunch at Boar's Head's recently renovated and beautifully decorated Mill Room.
After shooting down the idea once every 9-12 months for the last 12 years, we realized time was getting away from us if we wanted Molly shepherd a puppy into our family the way that Daisy so beautifully did. But it was mighty hard to contemplate a puppy considering Molly, who was 14 in September, must be the world's most low maintenance dog. Still in great health, she sleeps most of the day, does not require a walk but is always up for one, still runs in the Meadow, is so flexible with meals it can range by 4-5 hours with no complaints from her, and she can hold it at least 20 hours---there is simply zero to go out in the pouring rain! But with Daisy living until nearly 16, Molly still going strong at 14.25, and realizing that Matthew will be 21-22 in 15 years (the time we do NOT want to be tied down by an old dog), we decided it was time to get on the list.
While we had hoped not to bring a little girl home until after our Steamboat trip in February, apparently that wasn't actually the plan for our family. Once the litters were born in Oct. and the colors, genders, and numbers available were known, we were suddenly in the Thanksgiving pick-up group. Yikes! Getting new kitchen floors, a new puppy and a tree (a puppy's greatest temptation?) all at once and suddenly the normally hectic holiday season was seeming overwhelming, to say the least! Afterall, we not only had to train a puppy, but we had to train 3 kids how to train a puppy---and our freedom and flexibility would be over for quite some time.
But when Michael and I snuck up to Culpepper for "puppy pick-out" day, it was all over. Oh, my goodness. So. very. Tiny!
In the car one day, either bored or annoyed with the kids, I spontaneously blurted out that I didn't think we were going to get a tree this year. Deep sigh, "I don't know guys. There's just so much going on and it's so much work and....I just don't think it's in the cards this year." Figuring they would immediately call my bluff, they were instead stunned into silence. And then the "But Mom____"s ensued. I didn't think they'd take me seriously for a skinny minute, but it turned into a 2-3 week shenanigan. They kept placing their arguments before me, leaving me notes and poems around the house about why we HAD to get a tree, etc. I've not laughed so hard in a while. But I tested them one day, "Wait. Why do y'all care so much? Why do we 'need' a tree?" 6-yr-old quick response---"presents!".
"Ah, ha! But you can have a tree without a presents and presents without a tree! What does it symbolize?"
"Evergreens are like eternal life through Jesus, Mama!"
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Post hip replacement, Dody and Granddaddy came for Thanksgiving. A really special time with them, I was thrilled to "make" Mom sit and enjoy rather than do, do, do as she would have done around her house. Always ready for Southern Living, I was good to remove that temptation this year and to do for her instead.
Unbeknownst to the kids, Friday was puppy pick-UP day. We simply told them we were going on an adventure, the very day we would normally get a tree. Three grumpy kids fought half-way to Culpepper before we whipped out the poem we'd drafted.
"Mom Doesn't Want a Tree"
We ate too much, but not roast beast.
On to Christmas, it’s time to prepare
Mom said ‘no’ to a tree, that’s quite a scare.
Let’s go somewhere today and set things straight
What we are bringing home may even need a crate?
This surprise will need some care, like clipping and water
Wouldn’t it be fun if we got another ‘daughter’?
Let’s go get it and hope there isn’t too much ‘bark’
We will keep it in our home, I wish we could plant it in a park.
So who’s with me, let’s give Mom a reason
For an early Christmas surprise to celebrate the season.
We had a comeback for every hint should they suspect, but they really were being twerps and didn't really care:-(
Home just in time for the Commonwealth Cup, we had renewed hope since UVA's season had gone downhill a bit and VT had perked up in recent weeks. But alas, it was UVA's turn to claim the Cup for the first time in 16 years.
C'mon, Hokies!
Texting Mom from Dody's phone.
First family walk/run in the Meadow, Penny was in heaven and Molly was like a puppy herself!
We had a comeback for every hint should they suspect, but they really were being twerps and didn't really care:-(
But we finally made it to the farm...
and met Penny:-)
Home just in time for the Commonwealth Cup, we had renewed hope since UVA's season had gone downhill a bit and VT had perked up in recent weeks. But alas, it was UVA's turn to claim the Cup for the first time in 16 years.
All of the things that didn't exist the last time UVA beat VT in football....
C'mon, Hokies!
Texting Mom from Dody's phone.
First family walk/run in the Meadow, Penny was in heaven and Molly was like a puppy herself!
Penny - 8 weeks; Molly - 14, 3 months.
Molly - 8 weeks; Daisy - 9 years
The last Christmas we had two dogs....my, things have changed!
The last time we did this, Daisy was 9. Our theory that a puppy would keep Daisy young and that Daisy would show Molly the expectations of our family (which are high!) worked beautifully. Daisy shepherded Molly along and she got through her puppiness faster than we ever expected.
As I write, we've had Penny one month. While her training is going better than we may have thought, the jury is still out for Molly. Poor is either cuddling with the softness, or being used as a chew toy. Bless Penny's sweet little heart, she doesn't get that a 14-yr-old isn't interested in playing "bite-my-ears-with-sharp-fangs". Molly's "enough is enough" growls are being interpreted as consent so Penny presses on. At this point, I'm kind of hoping that Molly will drop the sweet, polite act and just rip Penny's head off one day, putting her in her place. Certainly the point of this arrangement was not to send Molly to her grave...which we worried gravely about 1-week in when she stopped eating and developed stomach issues, which hit with urgency all hours of the night:-( Once the vomit and blood started, it was time for a cocktail of antibiotics to nip this reaction in the bud. Thankfully, we got her through this stress-induced event, and now playing referee is the name of the game.
So while we have no idea how to cover these K-9's for our upcoming trips to CO and Spain, we are in love and figuring things out. The kids are all on board and helping with all walks (often!), feeding and training. Penny is making us smile, and despite 5 pairs of eyes, we think we only have one carpet that needs replacing. 6:30-7:30am and 6:30-7:30pm are nothing short of a 3-ring circus, but we get through it daily. Penny only screamed through 2 nights and it wasn't long before her crate was dry in the morning. She now puts herself to bed in the 9:00pm hour, and over Christmas break, has been sleeping until 7:00-7:30am. A true blessing! The kids wonder when she'll be in our room, but the trouble is our weekday habit of being up anywhere from 3:30am-5:30am. Molly gracefully sleeps through it, but we don't need Penny begging to go out or be fed at these early hours and not sleeping in on Saturday. She is happy and content, so we press forward with routine. All about consistency.
The kids have been told endlessly that Molly did not come as sweet and easy as she is....that we trained her to be flexible and she's now a joy rather than a burden. Praying our love and training produces the same and that Penny will bring us all joy (even Molly) for the next 15 years or so.
"The Shot"
Daisy 1996
Molly 2005
Penny 2019
