Meet Stella

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" 

                                                                        - Seneca

And so .... this is Stella! 

We brought her home from the Ruth Steinert SPCA on September 17, 2023, and we officially adopted her shortly thereafter.

We DNA tested her - she is Blue Heeler, Border Collie, American Eskimo, and .... yes, Chihuahua! 

Lest anyone think the Chihuahua was a mistake, I saw a pair of puppies from the same house that Stella came from - one looked like a Border Collie puppy, and the other ... a Chihuahua!

Stella is as different from Tessa as a dog can be, although there are a few striking similarities between them.

I have enjoyed getting to know Stella, and I have enjoyed starting to train her.  Sometimes she is difficult to keep up with, but we are making it work!

More about Stella in the future!

The End

 Wow.  It has been a very long time since I wrote an entry for this blog.

We lost Tessa on May 14, 2022.

This is what I posted on Facebook on that day:

"I have very sad news to share.

After a year long battle with some kind of degenerative condition, the time came yesterday for us to give Tessa back to the loving and generous Creator Who had give us such a beautiful treasure.

What can I say? We miss her.

She was an incredible girl and our ride together was amazing from beginning to end. She was my right hand girl, the most incredible sport partner I have ever known .... she was my girl. Always with her soft and peaceful sense of beauty and grace.

The last year was difficult for both of us, but it was also very beautiful in many ways. I learned the meaning of love in a whole new way and Tessa was, unfailingly, a perfect teacher. I would have gone on forever as we were, but that could not be.

Goodbye to my beautiful, sweet, Amazing Flying Tessa."

That last year was so difficult that I never saw fit to write about it.  I wish now that I had because it would have been a record of a time that was both sad and beautiful, but I could not bring myself to do so.

 

 

And, for a long time afterward, I could not write a final post.

I still find it difficult to write about losing Tessa.  She was so beautiful, so perfect, and our time together was such a treasure.

 

 

But .... life continues.  It continued after we lost Maddie, and then Speedy, and then Sammie, and then Dean Dog, and it continues after Tessa.

And, the Good Lord sent a new girl our way and we have started a brand new adventure together.

Miss Stella does not replace Tessa.  No dog will ever replace Tessa.

But, I did fall head over heels in love with our new young girl.  Maybe someday I will write about her!

Reflections: Vacation During a Pandemic

Although I would say that overall, this vacation was much like any other that we have taken, there were some things that were different about going on vacation during this global coronavirus pandemic.

There were certainly many others who had made the same choice that we had, and who went ahead and took their trip.  Things were not super crowded, but we never went anywhere and found it deserted, as often happens when we go for a weekend in the fall!  That said, social distancing was never an issue.  There were not so many people gathered in any one place that we all had to crowd together.

Indoors, facing coverings were required.  Any time I was going to do something indoors that would require covering the whole time, I took my regular hat/shield and used that because it is more comfortable, easier to see though, and, actually, easier to hear with.  If we were going in somewhere to eat, or if we were mainly outdoors, and just going in somewhere for a minute, I would use my pink "crushable" hat/shield.  That one is easier to carry around, although it is not as nice to see through, and I have something of a hard time hearing people when I am wearing it.  I think the plastic the shield is made from is thicker, and it sits closer to my ears.

Most places where we wanted to go were open.  Restaurants were open for takeout, and many were accepting eat-in customers.  We don't do bars or the nightclub scene, so I really have no idea how any of that might have been impacted.

Outdoor areas were more or less normal.  With plenty of room for everyone on the beach, and at the Ecological Preserve, everyone could safely enjoy being outside barefaced, breathing the healthy fresh air freely!

 

Although we were able to do pretty much everything we wanted, there were a few things that we had originally planned that were impacted.

Several years ago we had visited a theater and had seen a very fun magic show.  When we originally planned our trip in February, we had hoped to return, but their season is cancelled.

We also had hoped to go out on a boat tour, but those were also not running.

Finally, we avoided the boardwalk.  They were requiring face coverings on the boardwalks in Delaware, and we just weren't interested in walking around at an outdoor attraction with our faces covered.  We don't always go to the boardwalk, but, again, when we had originally planned the trip before all of this, the boardwalk was on our list.

And while we would have enjoyed doing these things, not being able to do them did not impact our overall enjoyment of the trip in anyway, especially given the fact that we almost did not get to go at all!

Really, I was so grateful to be able to go and spend time by the shore, and to have time to play with the dogs in the water, that I didn't really miss these other activities.  They will keep for another time when life gets back to normal.

In the end, the biggest benefit of this trip was psychological.  Just having a change of scene, and spending time in a setting where things just felt a lot more normal and relaxed was refreshing, and it provided a much-needed mental boost! 

And, of course, I will forever be grateful to have had this trip with Dean Dog.  I strongly suspect that it will be his last one.  I will always be glad that we got to go and share this time with him.

Bandit and Tessa's Last Day Outing

Since Tessa had stayed with Rocky when we took Dean Dog and Bandit out to the James Farm Preserve on Thursday evening, I wanted to take Tessa back one more time for a hike and swim, so, once again, Bandit, Tessa, and I headed down one more time.

It was pretty hot, so we hiked directly back to the beach, and we played in the water for some time.  And then, we hiked the bigger loop after we had cooled off.

 

 
After we had finished, I had a look at some of the flowers near the parking lot.  Their blanket flowers look great!

The Black-Eyed Susans were in bloom, too!

After that, we headed back up to the cottage, and I stopped on the way home and got some donuts from the Fractured Prune.

If you have never had Fractured Prune donuts, and you ever have the opportunity, I highly recommend it!  They make them fresh while you wait, and they have all kinds of unusual and creative toppings.  These truly are like no donuts I have come across anywhere else!

Ben's favorite is "Rollo", which has a caramel topping with chocolate chips.  Mine is "Peppermint Patty", which has a mint topping (delicious!) and chocolate chips!

Back to James Farm!

Yesterday evening, we took Dean Dog and Bandit back down to the James Farm Ecological Preserve.

I am well aware of the fact that it might be the last time Dean will ever do this.  His back legs are getting weaker.  I could see a very big difference in his ability to use them now compared to our trip last October.

So, even though it was a little bit of a stretch for him, it meant a lot to me to go with him for one last hike and swim at this particular place, where we have had so much fun together for so many years.  And yes, there is a very slight possibility he will go there again, but ... really, I seriously doubt it.

He was excited to go, of course, and although he hiked slowly, he had no trouble.

The tide was out .... waaaaay out!  So, we all had quite a walk out to get to where Dean Dog and Bandit could actually swim!

 

 

At first Dean looked a little confused - like he was not quite sure how to get himself going!  But, Ben helped him "shove off" and after that he swam and swam and swam!

His back legs were not working properly, but he is still the strongest swimming dog I have ever seen!  He managed very nicely using mostly his front legs.

We had forgotten Bandit's life jacket, but he swam anyway!!  He did better when he had it, but he did very very well in spite of the fact that he did not have it.

Some photos from their swim:

 

 And some photos from the hike back:

All in all, it was a wonderful time.  Bittersweet.  But, a memory that I will treasure always.

Enjoying Time at the Cottage, and More!

We have spent a good bit of our time just enjoying quiet time at the cottage.

The dogs are comfortable here, as are we.  The far back room of the cottage has a sun-porch kind of a feel to it.

 

 There are two of these chairs, and Rocky loves them!  He has spent most of his time chilling on one or the other.

 

Dean Dog likes to survey everything from the dining area.

 

 Outside in the newly fenced dog area!  It was from our visit here last fall that I drew inspiration for white lattice around the decks and butterfly bushes! Ours aren't so big, though!

 

Speaking of ideas, I absolutely love this one!  Our cutlery drawer is overly-crowded.  Considering putting together something like this!

 

 Of course we have not spent all of our time at the cottage.

One thing that we have really loved on this trip has been going out to eat - something we have not done, save one very recent exception, since before mid-March!  We had two delicious meals out - one at the Outback Steakhouse, and one at Chaps Pit Beef (unbelievably good!)

 
It is all done very safely, with people spread out all over the restaurant, and lots of cleaning.

And, of course, we went and sat on the beach.  We usually take the dogs, but Dean's back legs are just not in any condition for him to play the way he would want to, so this time we went dog-less and just sat on the beach, watched the waves and talked.

The beach was not deserted, by any means, but there was plenty of room for everyone to spread out and enjoy one of the most exquisite pieces of God's creation.

We are hoping to head back to the James Farm preserve with Dean Dog and Bandit again this evening ....

Hiking and Swimming at James Farm Ecological Preserve

One of the reasons why I love to visit the Delaware shore is having the opportunity to take the dogs hiking and swimming at the James Farm Ecological Preserve.

While all three of our "big dogs" love to go, we choose to leave Rocky at the cottage because being in a place like that really only frustrates him, so we ended up leaving Tessa back to keep him company.

Ben, Dean Dog, Bandit, and I headed off on our outing.

Dean struggled a bit on the hike.  It really isn't that long of a walk, but it was a challenge for him.  But, he made it, and before long, he was in his favorite place in the entire world .... the water!

We brought along a life jacket for Bandit.  He does not tend to enjoy the water all that much, and I was thinking that having assistance with floating might help.  It seemed to because he swam out with Dean and was having a fantastic time.

We spent a good half hour out in the water!

Some photos:

 

Dean Doggie

 

Playing Together!

 

Throw It!

 

Dean is, forever and for always, the Master Swimmer!

 

Love Shades at the Beach!

 

It was a beautiful evening!

"Let's go again!"

Tessa, Bandit, and I returned in the morning, but I did not get any photos on that outing.

I am hoping we will get down at least one more time before our time here is finished.