Some Updates

Second Post of the Day

Here are some updates/things that don't fit in with other blog posts. But since this blog functions as my journal, I wanted to make sure they are included.

Molly - An Update on Her Biopsy

Two weeks ago Molly had four punch biopsies and a small slice of her right ear removed. She'd been dealing with a black, scabby something around her face, eyes, and ears for months and nothing has made it any better.

The results are in and poor sweet Mama has doggy MRSA, a very bad antibiotic resistant infection. Histology could not rule out other underlying causes because her skin was so badly inflamed they could not get a good read on it.

She has started two very strong antibiotics and she should begin healing within four weeks. We are hopeful that this will cure her.

Blue's Healing

Blue did well on the trip home to Iowa despite her injury from that husky in the dog park this past weekend. She's an active dog and really wants to get outside and run again, but she still needs to stay quiet until her chest wound heals.

Todd is staying home with Blue and Rhett while Sarah and Craig traipse across the western National Parks, and he reports that Blue is going stir crazy and wants to wrestle and run nonstop. She has to stay quiet until Sunday - no doubt she will explode with energy when she is finally free of her restrictions.

Boompa & Sarah Storm the West

(I didn't name the trip; Hawkeye Sarah did. Typical Sarah!)

Yesterday was spent traveling and then visiting the Grand Tetons. 

Sarah has been there many times and knows some of the best places to go to find bears. Craig said they saw a lot of elk, bison, moose, and a mama bear and cub.

I'm a midwestern flatlander and dislike heights, but the Tetons sure are beautiful.

Today they are meeting JC and Jaycie in Yellowstone at Old Faithful then they plan to drive together around the park. 

Sarah has followed Grizzly 399 for years and photographed her several times, so she knows where to look for her. She took these two photos in April, 2021.

I hope Craig gets to see her; she is a remarkable bear. (He said Sarah gave him his own personal can of bear spray and a primer on how to use it. Yeesh!)

BreyerFest Update

Breyer is currently doing a lot of promotion for the virtual BreyerFest option.

I was happy and honored to see that my workshop was selected to be included in their advertising. 

Already counting down the days until BreyerFest begins!

I think that updates everything that I want to remember. If I find something else, maybe I'll do a third post of the day! Hah!

Some Horsey Heart Dropping Moments

Craig may be out of town, but I have family locally who ensure that I am not lonely. Yesterday, Local Son Curt and Vanessa asked me if the kids could come over while they moved Vanessa's photography studio to a new location. 

Teacher Daughter Lisa asked if I'd like a little help with the kid wrangling. Normally that is not a problem but with the health issues I'm in the middle of, I accepted her offer. Of course, I invited everyone to bring their dogs with them.

Mila, Tammo, Lisa, Molly, Ian, Nash, Gus and Pepper.

Tammo was ecstatic at having everyone come over. Between the kids and the dogs, he didn't know who to play with first.

The play got a little too hard at one point when Tammo and Gus careened into my Honeywell grandparents' antique table, knocking a horse to the floor. (Heart dropping for me, but no breakage, thank goodness.) My Grandpa Martin's railroad conductor's lantern sits on that table, too, but it wasn't harmed, either.

The kids often come over in the summer and I pay them to do chores for me. As part of Cowpoke Lukie's work for the day, I asked him to carry all three of my red, white, and blue horses upstairs to my office (one at a time, please!) and put them on the desk. I went over those directions twice, he repeated them back to me, and I felt confident that he understood my directions and all would be well.

(Surely you can see where this is going.)

We got a surprising amount of work done and when that was finished, we had some lunch and watched the animated version of Disney's The 101 Dalmatians." 

If you have not read the book, make that one of your summer projects. You absolutely will not regret it. So much is left out of the movies and there are parts in the book that will make you laugh, and another, very poignant scene, that brings me to tears every time I read it. (Which is many.) And the 101st Dalmatian is actually a surprise and not even mentioned in any of the movies!

Poor Tammo, sad that all his friends left, waiting by the front door and hoping that they're just outside doing their business and will be coming back inside for more playtime.

After everyone left, I headed up to my office to put the models away that Lukie had carried upstairs for me. But they were not on my desk where I'd asked him to put them. My heart dropped and I looked around the room.

My heart dropped even further when I saw where they were.

They were in a safe spot on that shelf, but can you see what is behind them? 

Two San Marcos era Designer's Workshop Hagen Renakers, the Head Up and Head Down Ponies!

Normally I don't have any Hagen Renakers sitting outside of their china cabinets let alone out on the photography shelf, but I had been taking pictures of these and not yet put them into the cabinet.

And in Lukie's defense, the shelf was open (especially compared to my desk which has several things piled on it) and so he put two of the red, white, and blue Breyers there.

But where was the third one? Patriot was missing. I turned around, scanning the shelves for him. It took a bit, but at last I spied him.

Lukie had slid him into an open space next to my conga of Lady Phases. And then I had another heart dropping moment.

With that long tail, Patriot did not fit all the way on the shelf and a foreleg was off the shelf. I quickly removed Patriot and set him in a safer spot while I caught my breath.

Always, always, always, people are far more important to me than my collection. I know that Lukie was trying to help and what he did what was logical - if Grammy's desk is messy and there is more room on the shelves, put her models there. I find no fault in his decision and I know he was doing his best to help me out.

And you know what? I may even add Lukie's name to Patriot's tag. No doubt we will be laughing together over this story in the future. 

No Regrets

As you probably know, I missed posting yesterday. I hope you saw my note that that might happen. I'm in the middle of a lot of tests, both here and in Indianapolis. The last is scheduled for June 17, so hopefully that will wrap all these appointments up and we will have some answers.

Tatanka is in his new home and proudly displayed in Sarah's home office. I think he looks really nice there!

I continue to be delighted that she wanted him and have no regrets about my decision to let her have him now rather than later. A bonus about an early pass-on is that I can enjoy seeing her enjoy it. Can't do that if I am gone!

Now here is something random. Music City Son Cole sent me this picture. Out of the blue and with no explanation.

Cole's text about it was as minimalist as the drawing! LOL

But the more I look at it, the more I see and appreciate the beauty in the simplicity. (And those short three words from Cole speak volumes to me - he took time from a busy day to send a photo of something he knew I would enjoy.)

That simplicity in the Picasso horse speaks to me, just as does the real, bought from his son Roger, Sam Savitt pencil drawing I have hanging here in my office.

I'd really hoped for a painting except that the price points on those were higher than I wanted to go. But just as I have no regrets about passing on Tatanka to Sarah, I have no regrets about purchasing this 8 x 10 pencil sketch. (I have another Sam Savitt hanging here in my office, but it is a copy, not the real deal. I love it, too.)

Another thing I have no regrets about? Sending Craig off on a trip west with Hawkeye Sarah!

They are heading to Idaho and she's taking him through some National Parks as they go! They will visit JC and his fiancé Jaycie (yep, they have the same first names!) in Rexburg and then come home, again, stopping at more parks along the way.

My turn comes next summer when she is taking me to Missouri to go see the Shawnee Creek herd of wild horses! A mother/daughter trip would be fun regardless, but throw in wild horses and I am already counting the days!

Celebrating Lisa's Class' Win of the 2024 Indy 500 Soap Box Mini Derby

Second Post of the Day

Thursday Teacher Daughter Lisa and her class were surprised when a crew from The Indianapolis 500 Festival showed up at their classroom and handed Lisa a trophy.

Still in shock from having won the Mini Soap Box Derby, I think their visit made it feel more real to Lis.

Lisa, her class, and the Indy 500 Festival officials, ready to drink their celebratory milk, take a picture with their car and trophy center stage.

The obligatory silly photo.

We did it! (These photos were made public so I can share the kids' faces.)

Watching the winning heat of the race.

Lisa, you may have been born in Illinois, but I think that winning the Indy 500 Mini Soap Box Derby makes you 100% a true Hoosier now!

Congratulations!

Note: I have some very early tests and appointments tomorrow morning. I'll do my best to get a blog post posted before I leave. If not, I will be back with one Thursday.

Stay 'tooned!

Goodbye, Tatanka

First Post of the Day

This weekend, Hawkeye Sarah surprised me by asking, "Mom, will you put my name on the tag of your white bison?"

My reaction? "Wait, what? You mean Tatanka? You want him?"

She sure did. And if our kids would like to have something (as Mila put it so delicately once, "When you're dead, Grammy?"), then I label on it or mark it some way. In the case of my collection, I put the name on the model's tag.

Not this time. I pulled Tatanka right off the shelf and handed it to her. 

It was Sarah's turn to be surprised and she protested a little about taking away a piece of my collection. But I was so delighted that she wanted it, there was no way I was going to keep it. My collection certainly does bring me joy, but it makes me even happier to know that a family member wants to have a piece from it.

And, Sarah is a wildlife photographer, a good one. She has taken many photos of bison during her travels around the western United States. Here is a look at a few of them:

Bison are one of her favorites to photograph.

She has a knack for being in the right spot at the right time with the right angle of the camera.

And, she is a year round photographer - she loves seeing wildlife in all their seasonal environments.

A rare white bison was born a few years ago and Sarah was lucky enough to be able to photograph it. 

My Tatanka is a nice connection to it. That, and her love of bison, were reasons why she asked if she could have him.

I am delighted that a piece of my collection, one that has personal meaning to both of us, will be with her when I am not.

So, yes, Sarah, you take my Tatanka home with you.

Memorial Day: Saturday & Sunday

Second Post of the Day

Saturday was one of those beautiful days where you want to be outside enjoying the weather. And did we ever take advantage of it.

After walking the dogs en masse as a family, we headed to Dog & Suds, an old fashioned hot dog and root beer stand.

We chose to eat together outside in the pavilion rather than stay separated in our cars.

That was the right choice. While the food at Dog & Suds is pretty average, the experience is not. Craig and I like to go there occasionally in the summer and eat in our car at the drive in part of the restaurant.

I was glad to be there with everyone - earlier that morning I'd had to go to Urgent Care. My eye had been bothering me for a few days but I hadn't thought much of it. Hawkeye Sarah wears many hats, one being a nurse, and Trinity is in her fourth year of nursing school.

Between them, they both agreed that I needed to head to Urgent Care and have my eye examined. I did as they asked and now I am on meds to clear up an infection. My eye is still swollen and puffy, but it is improving.

After lunch, we packed up the dogs and headed over to Local Son Curt's home where we spent the rest of the day.

Vanessa has been experimenting with juice drinks - the one she'd made that morning was delicious and did not last long.

Some family members played indoor games, while others went outside for a game of backyard softball.

Pepper, Tammo, Gus, Nash, Mama, Blue, and Rhett were with us, coming in and out of the house at will and enjoying the beautiful weather, too. 

The indoor dogs waiting for someone to open the sliding door so that they can join the outdoor dogs. (Pepper, Tammo, Blue, and Rhett.)

Pepper keeping my feet warm while I played a game of Wizards.

Curt grilled brats and chicken for dinner and we stayed late, playing games and chatting.

Sunday was an unexpectedly topsy turvy day and I did not take a single picture. Not one. We all went to church together, and then came home expecting to spend the day relaxing, playing more games, doing more chatting, and then having pulled pork sandwiches for dinner.

Unfortunately, that did not turn out as planned. Instead, Blue spent over 6 hours in Purdue's Emergency Vet Hospital.

Todd had taken Blue, Tammo, and Rhett to the dog park and Blue and a husky got into it with each other. Todd was bitten by the husky while separating them and Blue ended up with a deep and painful open wound on her chest.

It was deep enough that the vet was concerned that she might have a pneumothorax, so she had to stay not only for cleaning and stitches, but also for observation to make sure that she could breathe okay. (I'm not showing any other pics of the wound than this - they are disturbing.)

Needless to say, it was a long day for us all as we waited for Blue to be released. She came home late that night, slept fitfully, but seems better this morning.  She's been cleared for the drive home plus her pain meds will make her drowsy, so she will sleep most of the trip back home to Iowa. 

The visit closed on a somber note. Still, it was fun to be together as a family, and the family dogs had a lot of fun together. They know each other well, and while Tammo was the new kid on the block, he integrated well and he played hard and slept hard. (I expect he and Pepper will crash and sleep as soon as Sarah, Todd, and Trinity leave!)

One more thing... Sarah surprised me with a request about a piece in my collection. She asked if I would put her name on the tag of one of my Breyers so that she could have it. Any guesses as to who she might want? Hint: she's a wildlife photographer.

Stay 'tooned for the answer!

It's Been a Couple of Days!

First Post of the Day

Sorry to be incommunicado yesterday but's been a weekend! And it isn't over yet.

Hawkeye Sarah and her family are heading home this morning and I will write more after they leave. While we have had fun together, we have also had one trip to Urgent Care (nothing scary) and another to Purdue's Emergency Vet Hospital. (A husky in the dog park bit both Blue and Todd which very much so was.)

Fortunately, everyone is fine.  Stay 'tooned!

My Sister of the Heart, Lorna, Retires

Second Post of the Day

Honoring my dear friend, fellow educator, and and sister of the heart, Lorna.

This is my sister of the heart, Lorna. 

We taught together in Illinois, and twenty years later are still so close, we text each other almost daily. 

Because she and I shared so many of the same personal values and beliefs, we also shared not only our teaching philosophies but our life philosophies, too. 

We became very close friends and soon were calling each other sister.

Lorna met and married the man of her dreams several years ago and I went back to Illinois for the wedding.

She hit the jackpot with Michael - nine years later, he still brings her flowers several times a week! 

Lorna taught for many years and she excelled at helping the kids who needed not only a teacher, but sometimes some mothering, too.

Always one with insight into what the kids needed (and more than once, what her fellow teachers did, too),  Lorna made a huge impact on students and staff.

She is extremely loving and has the tenderest heart. That means that sentimental things can bring her to tears quickly. Or you might get a sweet picture like this from her at Christmas.

Lorna retired last week. She is leaving a HUGE hole in the hearts of her students, the teachers, and the staff at her school. 

Lorna and Liz (another retiring teacher) clowning around as they cut their retirement cake.

In my opinion (shared by others who also taught with her), Lorna is absolutely irreplaceable. Her gift for seeing the good in everyone, her ability to connect, influence, and touch lives for good, will be sorely missed. She is a beloved part of the Yankee Ridge Elementary School community and is leaving holes in the hearts of many.

Including her sister of the heart, me.

Well done, Lorna. Thank you for all that you taught me, the insights you shared, and the love that you gave. Proud to have taught with you, to call you friend, and so honored to have you as my sister of the heart.

Enjoy your well deserved retirement and this new chapter in your life.

I love you, Sis!

Lynn