Goodbye Puppies!!

It is time for the puppies of Blazingstar to join their forever homes.  They will be leaving this weekend.  I will always feel close to them as I have been in their lives, watching them grow & learn since they were 2 weeks old ♥

Here are the puppies 9 week portraits taken by Blazingstar, and their new names .....

Introducing
Puppy 1, Blazingstar Galwey

 

 

Puppy 3
Blazingstar Kishinena

Puppy 4
Blazingstar Blakiston

Puppy 5
Blazingstar Going-To-The-Sun, Higgs

Puppy 1 will be hanging around for a couple more weeks before going to his new home so I can go & visit him , happy dance!

Time Flys !!

My sister Debra and I have always been close, on Thursday I posted a picture for "throwback Thursday" on my Facebook page.  I was just looking at it now and it made me think of the picture that Liz took of us in September at her house. 

Here are Debra and I  , the pictures are 38 years apart OMG !!

Debra, Jolene & Ben, 1975

2013

Getting Closer

 I'm going out to see the puppies in a little while, it is getting harder as they are now getting closer to leaving for their new homes :(   They are 7 weeks old already!, they will be leaving in 2 weeks or so.  It is difficult, they are right here , now, one could be mine , but the universe had other plans for me .  I accept it, but I hate it just the same.  I want a puppy so bad it hurts, I've waited so long!  This is the first litter for Blazingstar in 3 years.

Some have wondered if perhaps my not getting a puppy from this litter means I truly don't want a Flatcoat deep down, that Collies are my love.  Yes, Collies are my first love, but Flatcoats are my second & that love is just as strong as my love for the Collie.

It is not just the fact that I realized Tate would not be around for a long time now, I hope he will be, but I need to be realistic, he is 11.5,  13 years is old for a Collie, really old.  There are more reasons that have made it impossible to have my puppy right now, reasons that are only mine to know, but I still hurt .  I am hoping that my situation will be different with the next breeding out at Blazingstar.  Puffin will be bred next year, so maybe, just maybe, the time will be right for us.  If it isn't I will wait.  I've made my decision,  Tate & Kort need to come first.

 Kort is done with all his competing in Agility & Obedience, but new doors have opened for us & we are going to concentrate on them.  There is a Nosework seminar on Sat. & we are in it, I am so excited!!! Kort will be great, he loves to scent.  This winter I will be getting out tracking again.  I am starting to feel excited about that.  It has taken a long time to get over the fact I can't do Agility & Obedience with him anymore, but slowly the excitement of tracking is creeping in.

 Funny isn't it, how dogs can turn your life upside down? , but I would never dream of not having them in my life ♥

A Tragically "Short" Video :)

While in Thunder Bay , Joanne , Debra & I went in search of my mom's dad's grave site.  Cool huh!  My mom has been looking for it for years, we finally got a map & went to find it.  I took my video camera so I could show mom if we did find it.
 
My grandfather, or Gido, is what we would have called him, had died years before my mom was even married, she was just a teenager I think, so I never met him obviously.  His name was Stephen Lewicka, this name eventually got changed a million times, it shows up as Lewiska, Lewicky, & Livitski.  The latter is what my mom went by.

Stephen was married before he married my Baba, that is why it says Anna on the headstone, mom's family couldn't afford to have his name printed on the stone, sad :(
This was an arranged marriage for my Baba who came from the Ukraine , he was quite a bit older then her, but he was a good, kind man.

I actually like going to grave yards, so much history.

What We Know

So Joanne got the results from her bone scan, she does not have bone cancer !!, but she has a break in her pelvis!!!  They are guessing that because of the radiation she had, it made her bones brittle, at some point she must have banged into something & broke it! The poor girl , she's been in so much pain.  She has to see a specialist now to decide what to do, they may put a pin in it.

They also found 2 lumps, one in her chest, beside her aorta, & one in her back, these lumps have grown in size.  She is waiting for her PET scan to confirm if these are indeed cancer that has metastasized.  They can't remove the one in her chest as it is too close to her heart so she would have to go through radiation & chemo again :(

So that is all we know right now, keep the prayers coming !

Leaving On A Jet Plane :)

Tomorrow morning at 5 am, I leave for Calgary to take a plane home to Thunder Bay.

My sister Debra surprised me by buying me the ticket as she knows how poor I am! , Debra is also bringing home her new boyfriend of almost a year to meet the family, poor guy !

I need this break so bad, things have been overwhelming for me lately, Kort's spondylosis, Tate getting so sick, and not being able to get my Flatcoat puppy are just some of the things.

It will be the first Thanksgiving we will all be together in a very long time.  We have alot to celebrate, my niece Sherri just got engaged, she is the only child of my older brother Brian.  Her wedding is next year on New Year's Eve, it will be a very happy time.

We are also possibly walking into some bad news though.  My middle sister Joanne who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2011 had a bone scan done yesterday.  She has excruciating pain in her pelvis, she will get the results tomorrow as to whether the cancer has gone into her bones.   We will take any prayers for her.

I am also worried about leaving my dogs, they will be with Amanda which is wonderful, but Tate is still so sore at times, I worry about him.  Kort is a mommas boy, I know he will have fun with all his friends, but I know he will miss me.

At any rate I really do need to go away,  just be with family.  I can hardly wait to get there :)

Unfinished Business

Yesterday after our Scenthurdle practice there was a CARO rally seminar being held.
 On the way home Amanda & I got to talking & I remembered that Tate had gotten his CARO Rally Novice title back in 2007.  He got it in 3 straight trials with 2 first places & 1 second place from the Novice B class.  I was never able to add the title to his name however as we got all 3 legs under the same judge, rules state you must have at least 2 judges.  We moved in October of 2007 to Lethbridge and I never did go to a trial to get the last judge to make it official.

To me this is unfinished business, yes I know Tate doesn't know he doesn't have the title, ( Amanda lol)  but I wish I had taken the time to do it, for me. 

This is not a post that I want comments on about how I shouldn't dwell on it, I have never dwelled on it, it just happened to come up in conversation , I am proud of each & every title my dogs get.  It takes hard work & dedication to get them & why not brag about them?

Anyway, I went back & found this picture of Tate the day he finished his CARO title with the 2nd place ......

April 15 2007

Stunning Scenery

I love Alberta! Southern Alberta actually, we get the most amazing cloud formations due to the mountains & the wind traveling over them.
On our drive out to Cowley this morning Amanda took these pictures of the sky,
I never get tired of looking up :)

My antenna topper made me laugh, I think I need a new one !

Real looking cut outs with the amazing sky

More cool cut outs

Hard Choices

I have been avoiding writing this post for awhile now as is not an easy one.....

A few weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night with a heart wrenching realization.......it might not be the right time to get my Flatcoat puppy after all :(   I couldn't fall asleep after that wondering why that thought entered my head.

My heart was all of a sudden telling me that I needed to be more available for Tate, and a puppy would take time away from him.  I am not sure why all of a sudden my mind went in this direction, but it did.  I talked with a few of my close friends & told them what I was thinking.   I talked to Liz almost immediately to tell her how I was feeling as well.  I didn't want to prolong it.  It was one of the most difficult things I've had to do.

Then within days of my decision, Tate became ill, it was like a sign that I had made the right choice.  I had many days of tears, but when it came right down to it I knew I had done the right thing for now.  Tate deserves no less.  

I continue to visit with the puppies,  I have a favourite which makes it harder, but at the same time I feel a connection with these puppies so I enjoy my visits so much!

I have no doubt I will have my puppy one day so I am doing better now.  Hopefully I can help with socializing & maybe have some weekend play dates at my house with a puppy :)