Our beloved Terra

This will have to be short, as I am too devastated right now to say much. Yesterday our beloved Terra started peeing blood, and so she had to go to the hospital. Today we received the terrible news -- she is full of cancer. Surgery is not an option. This morning she was doing well but she has rapidly deteriorated today and is now on morphine. Later today we will be going down as a family to say goodbye to her and make sure she suffers no more. I am trying to keep it together but not doing a good job of it. This is going to be so hard. Above is a picture I took of her, only back in July. This has been so sudden and is such a shock. Just two weeks ago she had bloodwork done etc, and none of the test results had any cancer indicators. I just can't believe she's not coming home.

How to spend a Sunday afternoon

It's always a good day when I can spend it both creating and watching my favourite football team, the Buffalo Bills, win big. And that was my yesterday: the Bills beat up on the Chiefs and I tackled a project I had never tried before, memory wire jewellery.

My girlfriend Lori is a memory wire expert. Last weekend I saw some of her creations and played with her memory wire a bit, which made me realize that I wanted to make some memory wire jewellery myself. So a trip to Michaels was called for and memory wire was purchased.

This stuff is a dream! I made up three sets of bracelets with matching earrings and I've already added an additional set to that group today. I have been concentrating solely on digital art for the past several months so it was very refreshing to tackle an art project that was hands-on.

The above photo is, I admit, not that great but you should see the bracelet in person ... it's so pretty! Oval glass pearls, silver spacers and purple glass beads were all it took; I'm still trying to decide whether or not to dangle a charm from the end of the bracelet. Decisions, decisions!

Spotted while on Caroline Street in Key West

There's a woman goin' crazy on Caroline
Street
Stoppin' every man that she does meet
Sayin' if you'll be gentle if
you'll be sweet
I'll show you my place on Caroline Street

Nothing like a little Jimmy Buffet on a Saturday afternoon, eh? Thank Photo Friday for the inspiration!

All my hobbies

This started off as a dilemma. I checked out the Photo Theme for Thursday web site this morning and discovered the theme is "hobbies". Ack! I have so many hobbies that it's difficult to find a photo that represents all my various passions. I finally settled on the above photo, and here's why.

First off, it's a photo that I took inside my own home, of my own possessions, and then altered it in photoshop. So it captures my love of my own personal space (not a "hobby", I know, but something near and dear to my heart nonetheless) and it's an altered photograph, something I must include as a hobby (although, to be honest, I think passions is a better word for me than hobbies, as I tend to get spectacularly and deeply involved in all my interests!).

So, I can check off photography and photoshop. Next, books are incredibly important to me -- I've been reading them since I was four -- so check that off too. This photo is just one half of one shelf on the bookcase nearest my home's front door, one of many bookcases the captain and I have. And fill. The influx of books never ends and this year, I realized even a booklover must learn to say when. So, in an attempt to clear up bookshelf space, I have taken dozens of boxes of books to the local thrift stores over the past few months -- and this has barely made a dent. Sigh. As my brother-in-law Chris famously commented when he helped us move into this home, after toting in box after heavy box of books, "you read too much!"

And then there's cooking. What's the name of this blog, after all? Right! I am passionate about food....shopping for it, cooking it, eating it, and of course, reading about it. Another hobby represented by this one photograph.

And finally, there is even the fact that this photo was originally taken as part of my participation in the 5x5 challenge blog started up recently by Krysta of Evil Chef Mom fame. Which brings me full circle as artistic challenges are one of my newest hobbies!

Happy Birthday, my love

Seems I can't quite get away from a Disney theme. Ah well, since I love all things Disney, I make no apologies for it. I wanted a recent photo of the captain and since we just disembarked from our anniversary cruise aboard the Disney Magic, Disney photos abound.

I needed the photo so I could wish the captain a big ol' HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Yes, today is my dear husband's birthday!! The above photo is, I think, a great photo taken at our character breakfast onboard the ship; pictured above is the captain and his mom, my wonderful mother-in-law, Margaret.

Happy Birthday my love, and many many more!!

Coffee break

It must be a sign that my life is returning to normal -- I actually checked the "challenge" blogs today. Over at Inspire Me Thursday, the topic this week is coffee break, a theme that fits in nicely with a group of photographs I took while on vacation. Before our cruise, we headed into Orlando to the airport, to pick up family members who were cruising with us. But we drove in early, so we could check out Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World first. In the kitchen shop, I had a blast photographing all the various items they had on sale, including several mugs. The perfect fit for a coffee break theme!

Franklin

Yes, we are back home and happy to once again have our own pillows, our own bathroom, even our own coffee mugs. And we're delighted to be back with our pets, our family, our friends. Do we miss the 80-degree weather, the sunshine, the ocean waves? Yes, we do. But it's always good to return home.

Unfortunately, the news when we returned home was not all good. My brother-in-law's family suffered a big loss while we were gone: the passing of their beloved golden retriever, Franklin. (Both Franklin and our dog Terra are pictured above.) While out trick-or-treating with his family on Hallowe'en, he apparently got down on a neighbour's lawn, stretched out, and never got back up. He was rushed to the emergency veterinary clinic but it was too late. A heart attack, I've been told. He and our dog Terra were about the same age, with Terra just a few months older. This came as quite a shock to us as Franklin appeared to be in good health. We adored Franklin and we will miss him. He was a good dog.

The above photo is one of both Franklin (the golden) and our Terra (the border collie, on the right) that was taken many years ago, when they were both about one.

While on the subject of pets, our Terra is having a bit of a problem right now with her appetite -- it's just not there, highly unusual for her. She did miss us terribly while we were gone, our son told us, and hardly ate at all for the entire three weeks we were away, but we've been back for several days now and she's still mostly shunning her food. She visited the vet yesterday and tests were run and suggestions offered. The vet called today and the results of the tests are mostly good news, with a small concern due to a lower-than-ideal protein level in her blood. Not below normal, but it should be higher. We are now tempting her with higher-calorie food and will continue to monitor her food intake. I hope all is well.

Hug your pet today!

Back on terra firma!

Hello all .... if anyone is out there, that is! The captain and I are back from our cruise on the Disney Magic; we docked this morning and were off the ship about 8 a.m. How sad to have our vacation almost over!

The above picture was taken yesterday, on Disney's beautiful private island in the Bahamas: Castaway Cay. We had a wonderful time over the past week and were particularly delighted to have our stop in Grand Cayman changed to Key West instead. It was too choppy to tender in Grand Cayman so the switch was made. It turned out to be a terrific change; we were looking forward to our Grand Cayman tour but Key West turned out to be an absolutely delightful place where the captain and I will definitely return. Way too much to explore in just one afternoon!

We will be heading back to Toronto early next week but are enjoying just a couple more days of Florida sunshine. Be back to reality soon!