Celebrating Bandit

  This morning we said good-bye to our dear friend and family member, Bandit.  She has been a treasured part of our family since 1997.  Before that she enjoyed herding doggy friends near the ranch she lived on.  Earl and I bought our house in 1997 and my sweet friend Anne convinced me we needed a dog (this dog!) to make it a home.  She was right of course!  Bandit was about 5 or 6 when she came to live with us.  She loved going for long walks, sitting on our couch, chairs and bed, and most of all, playing ball or catch for hours on end.  She was a kind and loving companion to all of us, a great mentor and big sister to Riley and numerous kitties, and incredibly patient with Emma and Parker as they grew and learned about doggies.  She had an endless supply of love and pretended to be a great watchdog.  She was a big fan of steak bones, belly rubs, cookies, cats and cat food!  When she could she liked to wander around the neighborhood looking for new friends, she was so adventurous!  Even this last year with her tired legs she managed to get herself arrested and was able to wander to the creek about a mile away to meet one last new friend.  We are taking comfort in the thought that Bandit can now play catch endlessly again and herd new friends in heaven.  We'll miss her terribly.  Here are some of our memories of Bandit.

"Will I still have to do this when you have 2 leggeds?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Honest Santa, I've been VERY, VERY good!"

     

 

 

 

An action shot - "I got it!"

 

 

 

 

"I love my new puppy (Riley)! She's a great new chew toy!"

 

 

 

 

 

Sharing the pillow, sharing the love!

 

 

 

 

 

         "Here's how you play catch young grasshopper"

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what you call "alpha dog"

 

 

 

                 "Come on in, it's not that cold!"

 

 

 

 

"Look Bandit, I'm learning!"

 

 

                                                Nearly equals.

 

 

 

 

Teaching Waffles how to "run with the Big Dogs!"

 

 

 

                                  Snoozing with Bobalu!

 

 

 

 

 

 

"It's hard work watching after the house all day!"

Merry Christmas

From our home to yours...Merry Christmas!

 

Joyful Mail!

I'm sure most of you feel the same way...any time I receive mail that is not a bill, I am so thrilled!  It is even more joyful when I receive a handcrafted card!  This time of the year is especially fun because it is the one time of year that many actually use the US Postal Service!   Here are some of the beautiful handmade greetings we've received this year.  Aren't they inspiring??

Domino Frame

This was another project we did at the gift camp.  Again, this was inspired by a swap I received at convention.  Unfortunately, I cannot find the name of the person who swapped this!  The frame is a $1 frame from Michaels (although apparently they are now in short supply here in the Austin area).  Images were stamped in Stazon and colored in with chalk.  At Saturday's camp, Lucinda shared that she has started sealing her dominos (she makes gorgeous jewelry with her dominos) with floor wax....BRILLIANT!!  If you keep floor wax in one of your aqua painters like I do, this is so easy to do!  Here are some of the ones that were made at camp:

Again, I missed several people's frames!