Pictures & Words
Grace in Alaska
Grace got to fly to Anchorage this weekend, as a guest of Connie and Steve Wight. What a cool opportunity for Grace! She took Mr. Darcy to show in juniors and in the breed ring, and she also got the chance to show one of Connie and Steve's Ridgebacks. On Saturday, she did nothing in the juniors ring, but being the only Field Spaniel there got her into the sporting group easily enough. What was unexpected is that she won the sporting group with Darcy! They went into best in show, but didn't get the win. This is Grace's second Group I finish, so big congratulations to her!!
On Sunday, she won her class in juniors, but lost out in the best junior competition. And in sporting group, she took a second place finish with Darcy—so a group I and group II in one weekend! Amazing!! She's probably not going to want to come back home!
Grace is out sightseeing today, and then taking the red-eye back and will arrive in town tomorrow morning. Big thanks to Connie and Steve for making this possible!
Thoughts on our dancing bear…
It's a sad day for our family. Greta, pictured below from this last weekend, passed away suddenly this morning. It appears that she had a tumor in her abdomen that burst, and she bled out from the time Jen noticed that she was in distress until the time she got her to the vets (maybe 15 minutes). Greta turned 11 a couple weeks ago, and for a very long time she's been my dog. At least that's the way I think of her. But she was Noah's dog too. And Jen's. And occasionally Grace's. And Max's when he's home.
She was just a great dog. Full of life, full of fun (just like a curly). I remember the day I picked her up at air cargo down at O'Hare. After a long flight from Sweden, she came flying out of the crate to see what all the fuss was about. Brave, fearless, and brimming with love. She carried that attitude for her entire life. She was a great mom to a couple litters of beautiful puppies, and was always willing to help with the other litters and puppies that graced our home. Her nickname of dancing bear came from her little dinner dance that she'd do when feeding time came around.
I'm going to miss her terribly—I loved that dog so. She has a special spot in my heart, right there with Johnny, Buddy, and Widget.
Here are some older photos that I found:
I'm not going to argue with 70's in March
We've had an unseasonably beautiful stretch of weather that's supposed to last into next week. It was a good day to take out her puppiness and play with sticks.
The old girl got out and got some exercise too.
I don't understand why kids are always walking into my line of sight!
Everyone had a really nice day. Grace made it to the finals of the junior competition in Lexington this afternoon (I haven't heard news since then), and Max and I went out to see The Lorax at the theater today. Great movie, and I was happy that I didn't get the Lorax part—the voice I used to use to read to the kids just trashed my throat...
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