In Memoriam

Sophie Marie Leissner

4/7/07 -- 5/21/2013

We drove out on a Sunday afternoon to pick out our new puppy.  We had extensively researched the kind of dog that would work for our family.  We needed a breed that's independent, happy outside, protective of the farm animals, a good guard dog for the family, smart and easy going.  The Anatolian-Great Pyrenees cross seemed like a great dog for us.  We'd just lost our Annie (our first Anatolian-Pyre cross) to osteosarcoma, bone cancer that is common in big dog breeds.  Having just moved to our newly built house in the middle of what used to be a pasture, we'd already lost 4 turkeys to bobcats.  We knew we needed to hurry and get another guardian.

I don't remember how many there were, but the little building where they'd been corralled for our visit was teeming with wriggly puppies. Some of them looked more slenderish Anatolian, some more bulky Pyre.  All the all-white pups were eliminated from competition because Annie had been all white.   She had been fiercely loyal and kind of shy, preferring to stay under the porch of our old house and scare the pants off visitors by barking ferociously rather than trotting up for a sniff and pat. (More than once people called us on the phone from the driveway to ask if it was okay to get out of the car.)  I liked that about her and wanted to find another quiet, cautious, protective girl.  I saw a little girl standing apart from the crowd of yipping, jumpy litter mates and knew immediately she was our girl and we were her people.

She grew to be much more social overall than Annie had been.  She liked to hang out with us on the porch in the sunshine, play in the yard in the cool of the morning, noodle the cats with her snout, and occasionally full out chase the guineas, especially when they got too close to her food.

One springlike morning this January, Sophie was doing her puppy run where she would race in circles around the yard at top speed.  As she made a sudden stop, she let out a whimper and limped a little on her hind leg.  I thought maybe she'd just given herself a little sprain or something.  She was really too old to be acting like a silly 130 pound puppy anyway.  But the limp never went away.  We knew this could be very bad.  And it was.

Having already experienced osteosarcoma, we knew the symptoms. We also knew that by the time symptoms show up, it's too late to do much.  We'd taken a chance with amputation for Annie, but we really didn't want to put Sophie through that. We just decided to let her enjoy the time she had as much as possible. The vet said we would know when it was time.

There's been terrible tragedy in our country in the last few days.  I pray for our neighbors in Oklahoma and grieve for the families of those lost, especially the children.  In no way do I equate my animals with my people.  She was a dog.  But she was a sweetheart of a dog.  She made me feel special when she chose to jump up on the bench right across from my chair on the porch even though there were lots of other benches she could have chosen.  When she deliberately placed her paw on your arm, it seemed like a friendly gesture....a sort of doggie hug.

When she looked in the back window in the mornings while I made coffee, I'd raise my hand and give her a wave.  She'd give me a wag in return.  I'm really, really going to miss that.

We are so thankful for the six fun years we had with her.  We hope we made her a good family. I think she was happy here.  It was a great pleasure to be her human.

We know we can't replace her.  Just like Annie, she'll hold a special place in our hearts, memories and family album. But we do need dogs around to protect the critters and keep the cats in line.  We also thought a puppy now would help our other dog Samson not be so lonely for his almost lifelong companion. Finally, we thought it might help us bridge our loss too. We've been looking high and low across the state for Anatolian-Pyre pups and were about to make a deposit on some a two hour drive away when we just happened to see some at our local monthly flea market.  These two little fur balls came home with us this past Saturday.  

Baxter and Ellie Lu don't know yet how big the doggie shoes are they have been called to fill.   Right now, the sock nibbles and puppy breath are doing all we need.

May the good Lord bless you and your family today and hold you in His loving embrace.

<3 Lori

Facing My Fears

Well, technically, it's not fear.  It's not really hatred either, although that's closer. I'm not actually sure what it is, but some very strong emotion has overtaken me in the past when I have contemplated this: 

::cue scary horror movie music:::

I have test driven a lot of crafty hobbies over the years.  My (Great) Aunt Sybil taught me how to crochet when I was in middle school.  I did that for a long time, but I never learned any fancy stitches.  I made lots of square things. I tried to embroidery, too, because my grandmother did lovely embroidered pillow cases and cup towels, but it never caught on for me.  I liked latch hook rugs, but the kits went out of fashion and how many furry wall hangings does one person need anyway?  Then there was counted cross stitch.  'Bout made myself blind with that one.  At our tiny high school,  everyone was required to take both Ag and Home Ec, so everyone got to make a bench and an apron.  I was pretty good at sewing straight lines. I made baby blankets for my kids' nurseries and curtains for our first two houses.  But I'm bad at math, so I didn't really enjoy it all that much. 


Roben-Marie Smith is an artist who adds lovely sewing to her journals, mail art, and hand painted fabric.  She inspired me to get my old sewing machine down from the top of the guest room closet, try to remember how to thread it and make my first tentative stitches on paper.

And then I went kind of nuts making these book marks.  Do people even use book marks anymore?

 I don't know, but I love them.

No seam ripper required and so fun!  There'll be more paper sewing projects in my future. 

In the meantime, anybody need a bookmark?

Until next time, may the good Lord bless you with good books to read and cute bookmarks to hold your place.

<3 Lori

It's Been a Long Time

It's been a long time since I've been here.  I'm sorry.  I'm making things like a mad woman for the arts and crafts show I signed up to do in July, which seems far away on the calendar but is very close in my head.  So close it is sucking my breath from me.  When I take time to think about it, though, I feel pretty good that I now know I can create under pressure, something I was not at all sure of until now.

products piling up on the ping pong table

I've been posting some of the stuff I'm making on Etsy and on my Facebook page as a kind of bets- hedging method.  I'm sure all artists feel this way at one point or another..unsure if what they are making appeals to anyone but them (and their mom. :|)  I'm feeling some of that uncertainty as I pile up the things I'm making and when I go to Hobby Lobby for paint but come out with paint plus 10 new surfaces (albeit little ones!).  I really hope this works, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much in case it doesn't.  I'm trying to be brave.

And so we start another week and almost another month.  It's about this time of year that I get antsy for vacation.  We are not sure we are going to get one this year together since we'll have one high school graduate heading off on an as yet unknown adventure and another one entering high school.  Some friends of ours were headed off today to Myrtle Beach. I've never been there, but it's caused me to start thinking about a beach somewhere and to think rhyming beachy thoughts.

The Sea

I wish that I could 

See the sea.

And let the waves

Wash over me.

So very happy 

I would be

If only I could 

See the sea.

May the good Lord bless you until we meet again with things to do, people to love, and sights to see.


<3 Lori

Moment of Silence

I lay my hands on their faces.
Reaching through time and distance.
Pleading for God's grace
To ease their pain.

Silent images on a screen.
Touching hearts.

"Evening and morning and at noon shall I pray and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice." Psalms 55:17

Tidbit Tuesday--The Stuff of Nightmares

You are probably not going to believe this.  When I think about it, I think it must have been some kind of crazy, bad dream.  You might want to sit down.

I was in a beauty pageant.

Ha!

No.  Seriously. I wrote that, and it made me laugh out loud.

I really don't remember how it happened. I must have blacked out or something.  I would never have taken a dare like that. There's really no explaining how someone like me ended up on stage, even a tiny one like the one there must have been for the Miss Throckmorton Pageant.

When I was thinking about writing about this, I was so thankful that I don't think there remains any historical documentation of this event.  It went like this, "Dear Lord, thank you so much that there was no YouTube in 1983."

I sang a version, although perhaps not recognizable, of this song:

See...in the tiny school I went to, there was no band or choir. We barely had enough kids for a six man football team, six cheerleaders and a sad troupe of a pep squad.  I learned to sing in church....the Church of Christ ....where there are no musical instruments.  We sing a cappella.  When we went to practice with the piano lady, she basically ended up saying, "Just sing, and I'll try to keep up with you." 

For the love of all things holy....

That pretty much tells the story of my one and only pageant experience. I think there was also a group makeup lesson, a homemade dress, a crazy bad "sporty" ensemble (you mean that doesn't mean a basketball uniform?),  but I've blocked out most of the rest of it.

Dear Lord, thank you so very very very very much for the blessing of no cell phones, no YouTube, no twitter, no instagram, no blogger and no otherwise wireless or digital recording devices in 1983.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

<3 Lori

A Day in the Life

It should come as no surprise, if you've been here very long at all, that I am a homebody.  When the kids were little, I called Saturday "Stay Home Day".  I still call it that in my head.  When you have little kids and a full time job and live 30 miles from "town" and have a huge porch to enjoy, why would you want to leave?  So I usually don't.

Today, though, I was lured out of the house to the nearby flea market that happens once a month. There are only a few of them that are neither too cold nor too hot.  March, maybe April, maybe October and November. I wanted to get away from the computer, and it was a BEAUTIFUL day!

My girlie and I enjoyed a little music on the way.  She entertained me with a rendition of "Call Me Maybe".

There was a pretty good crowd.  We were late getting there and it was starting to get hot.  In March.  90 degrees. Too hot for me usually, but I needed the sunshine!

There was some good stuff, like these old sewing machines.

 And some other stuff, like these goats.

We got this cornflower blue fountain for the yard.  If the red one hadn't been sold already, I would have wanted that one. It had a bird on it. :::heart:::

I don't think the roasted corn people were kidding about this:

While the boys were still shopping the chicken/turkey/guinea area, girlie and I ran off to town for a frosty, tasty treat.

A good time was had by all.  Sometimes not staying home on Saturday is really good, too.

May the good Lord send sunshine for your face, frosty treats when it's hot, and loved ones to share your day.

<3  Lori

Tidbit Tuesday--Introducing My Introversion

Okay.  Here's the deal.

I'm an introvert.  That fact has surprised a few people in my online world. But that's the thing about introverts, apparently. We like communicating in writing. So on Facebook and here on the blog, I'm doing the Macarena and wearing lampshades.  In person, I'm quiet at first.  I tend to hang back and be watchful to gauge people.  I make friends slowly and keep them for a long time.  I don't have a legion of them in real life.   I have a small collection, but they are treasured.  I once forgot my own name during introductions with a new person and called myself the name of someone I went to high school with. Awkward.

I'm reading this awesome book about introverts.

Reading it makes me feel vindicated for being called "hermit" repeatedly by an extroverted type. I'm not a hermit. I haven't withdrawn from society.  I just need more quiet than some people to feel contented and fulfilled.  I'm a people person....as long as they are in small doses and don't try to force extroversion on me.   I have a few close friends whom I've had for a long time and love very much.

I don't do grown woman sleepover parties. I don't like to talk on the phone much.  I'd rather spend a Saturday at home on my porch with the kids and the man and the cats and dogs or upstairs doing art than shopping or going to parties or socializing in big groups.  I'd rather stab myself in the head with a spork (repeatedly) than do public speaking.  I can do it well enough with enough lead time. I just don't want to do it, and I don't like it.

There ya go. If we ever meet in real life and I forget my own name, you now know why.

May the good Lord give you good books, all the quiet time you need, and people who value what you bring to the world.

<3 Lori