Wolf's Den

Caena loves playing in the leaves. This time of year, it's hard getting her to come back inside.



An almost the picture of health Max kitty. He's probably about 98% back to normal. Well, what passes for normal for him, anyway.

We have achieved poop.

Never thought I'd say those words in my journal, let alone document the bowel movements of my cat.

He's still being force fed. He licks at the food when I put it in front of him but doesn't actually eat anything. So I take some of his favorite flavors of wet food, and puree the crap out of them with a bit of pure pumpkin for extra fiber. Then he gets force fed that and his meds.

He's starting to fight more, which is a good sign. I'm sporting 'war wounds'- a scratched back of the hand, a punchered tip of finger, and a bruised/scratched shoulder where he turned his head and got me when trying to spit his meds back out. (Yes, yes, I've thoroughly cleaned each one afterwards.)

The puppy is thoroughly enjoying the force feeding sessions, as that means she gets to be a vacuum cleaner and sweep the floor for bits of food that fall- which, about 1/4 of it does. Aries is hiding out upstairs much of the time, he comes down and checks on Max sometimes, but then goes right back upstairs.

Max is currently sitting by the front door- he wants to go outside.

Later, buddy, I'll sit outside in the sun with you later. First you need meds and feeding.

My parents have a dog, Cookie, a Golden Mix, about 6 yrs old.



Cookie is a bit overweight, thanks to my dad spoiling her with treats and people food. That and well, she doesn't get near the exercise she really should. Luckily, her most recent blood test results came back clean- she did NOT have Leptospirosis, they think it might have been a severe kidney infection that has now been cleared up. Yayness!

She had a basket full of toys that apparently she hadn't touched in years. That is, until Caena came along.



I saw a side of Cookie last week I hadn't ever seen. Cookie was playing. Mom said she'd not seen Cookie play in years. She started out being rather possessive of her squirrel toy. That is, until Caena ripped the tail off, and started finishing the destuffing Cookie started years ago.



There is a squeaker in the tail. Caena wanted that squeaker. She wanted it bad. Cookie, well, she wanted her squirrel back. Heh. So whenever she could, she take that squirrel and walk away with it. It was funny. Once, she even laid on it to keep Caena from it.

Then Caena met Hondo and Zita, my brother and sister in law's 2 Rat Terriers. I would LOVE to have a large fenced area of yard like they have (they have I think 10 + acres).



Hondo and Zita have a thing for tennis balls. Caena just liked to run. Hey, they were running, so she had to run too.



And run she did. Of course, they would usually out run her, but she did her best to keep up. It was hilarious.



Hondo made friends with Caena right off the bat. Zita took a bit longer, possibly because they're both (spayed) females and well, Zita might have been feeling a bit left out when Hondo would take the tennis ball to Caena and drop in in front of her.



The end result was that Caena developed a thing for tennis balls. Of course Cookie had one, and when we got back to my parents', that was the first thing she went for.



While Cookie and her did end up playing together, chasing each other around the house, even being left alone together with no incidents!, she still wouldn't take a ball out from under Cookie's nose. She would wait until Cookie moved away first. It was funny.



We ended up trading- Caena's bone (a real bone too, raw, one that had been cleaned by Caena within an inch of it's former life) for Cookie's tennis ball. I think Cookie liked that deal.



Mom says she thinks Cookie misses Caena. That she hasn't touched her toys since she left. I KNOW Caena misses Cookie. After all, they spent 18-20 hours together for nearly 8 days straight.
I have a few videos to edit and upload of the two of them playing. Can't wait until next year, when we all go up again, I bet they'll get on like they never parted.

Yes, I know, I skipped Day 2. I haven't edited those photos yet. Deal with it.


Sunday we had a get together with a couple friends from LiveJournal- and in one case, from years before LiveJournal as well- who live up here in Michigan.



Casey, aka color_full arrived first. Apparently she's bad at directions, as she turned the wrong way and ended up the town over, before figuring out that she was headed in the opposite directon. But she says she found a bead store even I didn't know about, so it's all good. And hey, she brought yummy cookie bars and a jar of homemade blueberry-cherry jam. Yum.

Annette, aka Zen Kitty on LJ, called and let me know they'd be at least an hour late, due to unforeseen incidents and forgetting of much needed inhalers for another friend. So while we waited for her and her husband to arrive, we went out back and played with Caena. Who decided the dirt back there not only needed digging in, but sampling as well. And the sticks were good too. And that Casey made a good playmate.



After Zen Kitty and hubby arrived (yay!), we stood around for a bit just talking. They brought me a gorgeous speciman of Petrified Wood, from before it was illegal to take any. It's currently hidden from my dad. I has a new ROCK!, whee! They also brought what my mom says is delicious hummus, pita chips and some wonderful pasta salad. Even though everyone was told they didn't need to bring anything.

Caena took right to both of them. I think Zen Kitty and hubby were the first people, other than Casey, she hadn't woofed and growled at upon first meeting. It was amazing!



Dad manned the grill and cooked up the hamburgers and hot dogs. Mark and I moved the picnic table where the food was spread, not once, but twice. Everyone set up chairs in the yard while mom, me, and the kids (my nieces and nephew were here and 2 are still here.}:P) brought out the spread.



Emily brought out cups and plates and such.}:) We had, of course, more food than needed, but oh well. If you're going to have a get together, you might as well do it right and have more than you need- fresh veggies and olives prepped by Allison, Emily and me, deviled eggs, mom's potatoe salad, mom made her beans that morning, unbeknown to me until I came in from the camper, we had Zen Kitty's hummus and pita chips, as well as her pasta salad, Casey's cookie bars, then fixings for the hamburgers- lettuce, onion, tomatoes, and a variety of Michigan cheeses, pickles, iced tea, ice water, pepsi, mountain dew....

After we all stuffed outselves, we sat in the chairs under the old Silver Maple and talked. And talked. And would have talked for hours if Zen Kitty and hubby hadn't needed to get that inhaler to their friend.}:( So it wasn't near long enough of a visit, even if it was great to finally be able to put voice and face to the name. We have standing plans for this to occur next year as well, when we come up again.



Casey stayed for a few more hours, showed mom the sock she was currently knitting. Talked about lace knitting, which had me looking up patterns for mom today. Yeah, thanks, Casey.}:P

Caena was curious about her bag that she carries her knitting in and nearly tried to make off with the ball of yarn. I gave Casey a box of fabric- just over half was hand dyes, for her to use in whatever she wanted. I think that was a fair trade for a jar of homemade jam and evil cookie bars.}:P

The kids' other grandparents came by and picked up Emily and Colin, and took them home. I took Casey with me and we took Allison home, so we could see her ride Zoey, her horse. That was fun. Caena actually got to meet Zoey. The next photo is courtesy of Casey's cellphone.}:)



She wasn't scared of Zoey, in fact, she wanted to play with her. I guess she thought she was just a big, strange smelling dog.



When we got back, about an hour later, it was time for Casey to head home. So we had Mark take a photo of us with an uncooperative Caena. And made plans for Casey to come back on Thursday, so she could go to Binder Park Zoo with us. Apparently, she turns into a 12 yr old at the Zoo. So instead of FOUR kids (Allison, Colin, Emily and Mark), I'll have FIVE kids.}:P

More photos on that day too. As well as Day 2. Day 4 was spent mostly around the house, then running to the store and the library.}:) I do have a few photos of buildings downtown. So I'll edit them and eventually post them as well.

I must say, you'd never know this was the first meeting face to face for any of us. We hit it off right away and it was as if we'd been visiting each other for years. My mom in particular really enjoyed having Annette, Mike and Casey at the house. This will definately happen everytime we get the chance, methinks.}:P

Made it to Michigan late yesterday evening. Had downpours and lots of rain in West Virginia, for most of the drive through. Then kept hitting traffic and road work the latter third of West Virginia and part of Ohio, until we hit Dayton. Then we had the start of rush hour traffic.



Caena rode reasonably well. she tried playing contortionist when we had her hooked in with the car harness, so we ended up unhooking her after she tried strangling herself with the seatbelt.

She laid right down and was happier. I'm so glad she rides so well.



Just past Dayton, Ohio, we stopped at a 'Bark Park' (dog park) and met up with a friend from LJ- Wolfwyndd, for a quick late lunch/early dinner. The place was HUGE. Caena didn't know what to do with herself, she wanted to see everything and go everywhere at once. It was funny watching her walk the fence line, trying to find a way out, as she just knew there was more interesting things on the otherside.



Meeting Wolfwyndd was great. It's nice being able to put faces and voices to names that you've seen online for awhile and 'talked' to via replies and such, but never really met in person.}:P
And of course, he's a computer geek like Mark. Heh.

The rest of the trip up was pretty uneventful, thankfully.

Mom and Dad got an actual camper trailer awhile back and never told us, so we assumed we'd be sleeping in the pop up camper instead, until we pulled in and saw the big one.
So, Caena is sleeping out there with us as well.

Cookie isn't too sure about her. She's been growly and snippy at the puppy. But then, she hasn't been feeling well either, as well as being an older dog. Julius the cat, hated Caena from the get go. The minute she hopped out of the car, he came racing over, hissing and spitting. Batted Caena upside the face with his claws and actually drew bloood.}:/

This was the first time anyone had seen him act that way, so we've been keeping Caena away from him. Especially since he tried attacking her through a closed screen door earlier today. Yeah.

Today, we went over to the bro and sis in law's, Caena played with their dogs, got to meet Allison's horse, say hi to the goat, Bucky and now the kids are back over here for the night.}:)

Tomorrow, Zen Kitty and Color Full from LJ are coming in from an hour away for a 'get together' here, in the afternoon. Yes, there will be more photos.}:P

Heading to my hometown in the morning, bright and early. Taking Caena with us. Going to be gone an entire week. I hope to check in a few times while there.



In the meantime, be safe out there.

My mom called.

Cookie, their dog, was diagnosed with Leptospirosis today. She was sick enough that if they'd waited one more day to take her to the vet, she'd have died.

Her vet, upon hearing that we'd be bringing Caena up, recommended that we get her vaccinated for the Leptospirosis BEFORE we come, to be safe. Seems Cookie got it from the yard.


So now, I need to call my vet tomorrow, explain what's going on and try to get Caena a vet appointment before next Friday. And hope it's not super expensive.

As well as hope that Dr Eick says not to take her to Michigan. Otherwise, we won't be going home on vacation.}:/

I swear, I just cannot win lately.

Sometimes, simple things can lift a spirit. Like these 6 sparrows giving themselves a dust bath on the back hill, courtesy of Caena digging. Sometimes I think she's trying to bring the hill down on us.

The birds seem to love it though. Flipping themselves around, shaking their wings, burrowing out little wallows in the fine grit that's been dug out of the slate and shale by an exuberant puppy's digging.

Yes, there are six Sparrows. Trust me.



The first time Mark saw one out there, having a dust bath, he thought it was injured. He'd never been privy to these strange ablations by the birds. Usually they do it out in the gravel of the driveway, and while he's at work.

He called me to the kitchen, wanting me to see, thinking Caena had actually gotten a bird.

She hasn't ... yet. But she has cornered one before. Poor thing died of fright, despite my trying to herd it to a save place where it could rest.

Anyway...



Scenes like this can really make a person smile sometimes.

No matter how stressed I am over heading to Michigan at the end of the month, taking Caena on a 10+ hr drive, the longest she's ever been on, to a place she's never been, with a dog I don't even know will get along with her, and persons there that I'd rather NOT know I was in Michigan as they've already bugged my mom back in May about wanting to get a hold of me AGAIN. Look, after 30 yrs, get it through your head that I don't WANT you in my life, ok?

No matter how depressed I am that my sales have tanked, partly thanks to the economy, but mainly thanks to Etsy screwing with the SEO/meta titles and tags and knocking nearly all shops out of search engines due to blacklisting because of tag stuffing. Among other things.

No matter how depressing it is to read that yet another friend has lost a beloved pet. Yeah, really starting to hate this year.



And yes, there's still six Sparrows. It's rather like a seek and find picture, isn't it?

Sometimes I wish I was a bird. Not a care in the world. Dust baths, free bird seed when the squirrels don't eat it all. No bills to pay, no family to want nothing to do with...

And all the free dog hair to line your nest with that you could want when that strange human brushes said puppy of half her fur, because she's blowing coat and now it looks like someone shaved a dog out back...

Only a half grown puppy that likes to run after you and scare you to death. As if she'd ever be able to catch you. She's quick though, that puppy. Well, most of the time anyway.



Sometimes she's just lazy.

I think she was laughing at me.

All taken yesterday morning.

A very special little Akita was born.

After a rocky and uncertain start, she thrived and eventually found me.



She's not Dante, no dog will ever be Dante. But I see a lot of Dante in her, and honestly, I'm thankful for that.



While she's not Dante, she's gone a long ways towards filling that emptiness Dante left behind.



She's my happy-go-lucky, silly pupper.



And today.. she turns a year old.



Happy 1st Birth Day, Caena Kamikaze Ryu. Thanks for being a part of my family. Thanks for being the silly you.

It's rather hard to believe, let alone accept that it's been a year already. I keep hoping, occasionally, that I'll wake up and it'll have all been a bad dream, that she is still here and always will be. That I never lost her in the first place. That she never left me. That her body never wore out on her, when her spirit never did.



I know, I know, she'll always be with me in spirit. But it's not the same. It never is. And honestly? It doesn't make me feel any better. I want my Dante-Inu back. And I can't have her. I want my four-legged best friend and soul mate. I want to see that smile whenever I want, feel her fur whenever I need to, just know she's there when I need her. I won't have that ever again.



Mark saw her the other night, at the top of the stairs. He thought it was Caena until he came back downstairs and realised she was sleeping next to the couch, in the same spot Dante always did.
He said he was sorry, because she showed herself to him first. I said, I see her every night, she's the last thing I look at before I turn out the lights. I have a framed photograph of her on the nightstand next to my pillow. It helps a little bit.



Having hundreds of photos of her helps too. It's not the same, it's not like running my fingers through her fur, or feeling her lean against me when she knows I'm upset, but it helps. I wish, sometimes, Caena could have known her, especially in her later years when she had mellowed out drastically in regards to other dogs.



I miss her so much.

Taken today. In just over a week, she'll be a year old.





I've said it before, I'll say it again- it's her couch, we just get to use it.}:P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1vRhoAHl8U

Neither cat, nor puppy were harmed in the making of this video.

Max does not, surprisingly, use his claws, he just intimidates Caena by sheer size and sound.

Caena, of course, thinks it's all fun and games. This is the third time Max has beat her up and she keeps coming back for more.

Max now hides under the end of the bed and waits for Caena to come find him, whereupon, he springs out, hissing and snarling. Never a dull moment here, I swear.

We moved the living room around last Sunday(and cleaned the crap out of the entire room as well). The couch is now under the front window, which means Caena has a new favorite spot. Well, when Max isn't in the window anyway.





Max has started not only coming downstairs more often, but staying downstairs for upwards of an hour at a time. Usually it's spent in the window, but sometimes, just sometimes, he'll wander into the kitchen and look around. Currently, he's camped out on top of Mark's desk, while I type on the pull out shelf below him. Heh. I think I need a keyboard pullout shelf upstairs. Hmm...



This is her most common position these days. When Mark comes home, she jumps up on the cough, tail wagging madly and watches him walk up the walk to the front door, where she greets him. When he leaves for school in the evening, she'll race him to the front door, then jump on the couch and watch him leave. It's too funny. Birds are a constant source of entertainment for her. Ravens are the bane of her existence though, she threw a fit the other day when one was out back and she couldn't go chase it off. As soon as I let her out, she immediately sniffed every place it had walked and peed on it.



Hard to believe she's almost 11 months old. Hard to believe, it's been nearly a year since Dante left me. Where has this year gone?


I think I cleaned too well, she's now barking(woofing) and growling at her reflection in the glass of the liquor cabinet. Hee.

When you're creating a new piece of art, what can distract you and take you away from your work?

Is it your cat(s)?

Maybe you have young kids at home, or you homeschool.

Maybe you just have a busy life outside the home.

Or the warm weather and sun keeps drawing you away outside.

Whatever it is, it sure can put a damper on your creative processes, I'm sure.



For me lately, it's Caena.

Yup. An Akita puppy. A 10 month old Akita puppy.

A 10 month old Akita puppy who wants to PLAY! PLAY! PLAY! 24/7 or until she wears herself out.

For example, I'm working on a new 2 drop peyote stitch cuff. I sit downstairs, and do my beading on a TV tray while sitting on the couch. This keeps me away from my computer so I'm not distracted by the Internet, another huge timewaster for me.

Of course, sitting downstairs, on the couch means that Caena can jump up next to me. Whereupon she proceeds to paw at my arm, climb in my lap, chew on my elbows, or just stretch out and try to show me off the couch.

Now, Caena has Chrondrodysplasia, a bone and joint disorder, and as a result, is a dwarf Akita, who at 10 months, weighs maybe 40lbs. Despite this, she thinks she's twice her size and acts it.

Last night, as I was trying to finish this cuff, so I could hopefully use the natural sun to get great photographs, she decided that mom needed to play instead. This entailed not only chewing on my elbows, climbing in my lap and pawing at my arms and hands, but something else that was, while distracting, utterly hilarious.

See, I'm using a mix of Miyuki Delicas and Matsuno seed beads in this cuff, so I have them mixed and in a flat container that sits in front of me as I stitch. Well, Caena decided to 'taste' the beads.

Yup. She decided to stick that floppy tongue of hers out and into the container of beads. Luckily it was just the tip of her tongue, but still. I grabbed at her mouth and manged to swipe most of them off and into my hand, along with Akita puppy slobber. Then I sat there, laughing at her, as she looked up at me, with that oh so hard to get mad at face of hers.

I wonder how they tasted.

Red bud blooms at Fishburn Park.




My pupper girl.

At nearly 10 months, she comes up to roughly my knee at the top of her head. Definitely a dwarf due to the Chrondrodysplasia. But such a happy girl.



And now, my hair is green. ALL my hair. Hee.

After 6 months, he deigned to not only go downstairs, but out the back door to lay in the leaves I'd piled up there, waiting to be bagged up. Caena was wrapped around the garbage can and couldn't come anywhere near him, much to her dismay.

So, we moved the shelf portion of Mark's childhood desk back upstairs to the Studio. I needed shelving in here, we want to get a nice 6ft bookcase that matches the new ones in the kitchen for downstairs, as well as rearrange the living room- maybe, still undecided on that part.

His old desk is an antique now. It's a 2 piece corner desk, with the shelf part that is angled across the back, rather than just fitting into the corner. Means less actual desk space, but lots of shelf space. Now, I have a place to put my Bead&Buttons, my QuiltArts, my Cooking Lights, my various papers, and storage containers, etc, etc, so one and so forth. It's also the most organized/cleanest part of the Studio, currently. Heh.

Oh yeah, as well as a space for the Boys to claim as their own without fear of something falling over on them. Yes, a portion of the bottom always HAS to be set aside for the cats. Cat owners know this. Otherwise, they will TAKE it, hell or high water.



Between Mark's old desk and my actual desk, is a 3 drawer fabric storage caddy. On top of THAT, is a quilt in progress and a folded throw. Luckily, Aries and Max are relatively good at sharing a space. Max was the first to claim the new curling/sleeping spot on the desk, where, yes, I placed a folded afghan. I am not stupid after all, and it's either that or sacrifice yet another art quilt in progress to their comfort. When one is sleeping HERE, the other is across the room, in the Box on the makeshift table by the other bookcase. Yes, it is almost an imperative to have multiple sleeping places in the Studio. Otherwise, they'll take over my desk AND the design table. Being large cats, they do both quite easily.





Max likes to think he rules all he surveys. We accommodated him in this thinking and laugh at him when he's not glowering looking. From his vantage point here, he can snarl and hiss at Caena when she stretches up to look out the window. Surprisingly, Max has actually lost weight. This is good. Finally, he has stopped wheezing when he lays on his back. Raw food and Solid Gold Indigo Moon for the win. He's also finally starting to wander back downstairs. This is very good.





Aries... is the Instigator. Don't let this laid back look fool you. He's constantly thinking up new ways to get Caena into trouble. He generally takes over this spot in the evenings, when Max moves to the other Box. From here, he can see precisely when to jump down, nonchalantly walk past Caena sleeping on the floor, and wait in the hall for her to notice him. Then he'll either fly down the stairs, causing her to take off in hot pursuit, or he'll try to worm his way back into the Studio, yeowling at her in the process, waking Max up and causing HIM to come waddling running across the design table to yeowl/snarl/hiss at poor Caena, who just wants to play. He also likes to sneak to the bottom of the stairs, peer around the end of the couch to see where Caena is and when she spots him, go tearing off back upstairs, with her on his heels. This is getting old. He didn't do this with Dante.

Needless to say, much of this is a daily thing. So this, basically, was a Day in the Life of Max and Aries. Heh.