Mandy's things

Some people have been giving me recommendations on what to do with Mandy's beds and other items. So, just for the record, all of her things are going to good homes! 

I gave several bags of Mandy’s unused food, treats, and supplements like Cosequin, to Jennefer’s friend Sherry and her German Shepard Gus. 

Mandy’s widely varied collection of squeaky and fluffy toys are on their way to my sister Otamay and her four dogs Xena, Connor, Alfie, and Shakti. (Update: Received! Shakti is having a ball with her new toys!)

Mandy’s tall stack of beds and the remaining paraphernalia are going to her loving friend Jen and her little dog Stella. Jen used to care for Mandy, when I was working or traveling. 

I’m keeping Mandy’s name tag, the whimsical paintings that Sheila made of her about 10 years ago, and the plethora of photos I took of her doing things with us, over the last 15 and a half years.

The backpack

I just ran across the "Mandy supplies" backpack that I've been carrying around in my car for so many years. This one was really tough to go through, without completely losing my composure. It has lots of small and large compartments, all of which were full of the items that I wanted to have nearby, any time we left home with Mandy, including lots of dog bags, treats, and regular food, dog coats and a sweater, an extra leash, some small water bottles, medicine for stings or other injuries, a small "pets and people" first aid kit, a reflective leg safety wrapper band. And of course, the wonderful little doubled-up traveling dog bed that Freddie made for her, from a soft fluffy Costco fleece blanket, which I would toss down on any restaurant patio, and Mandy would plop down on it and relax, while we ate.

This backpack has gone with us on more outings than I can remember. For sure, I have fond memories of walking with Ken and Mandy down to Blueberry’s so many times for a turnover or egg sandwich and a latte, but also to Abe’s Cafe, IHOP, Littleton Cafe, Peaberry Coffee, Egg & I, Stone Creek Grill, and Born2Bake for breakfast. 

We visited Kristan at so many hospitals and long term care facilities, and explored their surrounding neighborhoods. This photo is from when I brought Mandy with me into St Joseph Hospital for a visit in late 2011. She learned to do so well with the elevators there, after her first few very anxious rides.

I brought Mandy to work with me, when dog sitting alternatives had dwindled to nil. Then there were walking adventures at Sand Creek / Northridge Park, Cheese Ranch Historic Area, Bluffs Regional Park, Chatfield Park, Roxborough Park, Cherry Creek Reservoir, Centennial Airport, Bible Park, Washington Park, Cheesman Park, Cherry Creek Farmers Market, Denver City Park, Sloan's Lake, Red Rocks Park, Meyer Ranch, Flying J Ranch Open Space, Devil's Head Lookout, Indian Creek, Garden of the Gods, Breckenridge, Saint Mary's Glacier, Echo Lake, Idaho Springs Reservoir, Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Zion National Park, Steamboat Springs, and Aspen. And of course there were our long driving trips to Atascadero, San Francisco, Benicia, Lincoln, and most recently, Yuma, Arizona. And the multiple airline trips to visit family in Lake Tahoe, Atascadero, and Florence, OR. 

So. Many. Memories. 🥲

Remembering

We’re doing something a little different this New Year’s Day - we’re burning a candle today, in remembrance of everyone we’ve lost over the years.

 

And speaking of remembrances, Mandy was such a big part of our lives, for being such a little dog, that the impact of her leaving is tremendous. Everywhere we look, we have a comfy little bed or other special place for her, so she could position herself to be able to watch our every move. It’s so painful, each time I pick up a bed and put it on the pile of stuff to go out... so here I go, itemizing them all, and maybe that will help me process, and then let go of, some of my more difficult emotions right now. Feel free to skip, or scroll down to read the individual photo captions, as you like…

 

Mandy’s (and now Cleo’s) water dish in the bedroom, and also, her first bed, a folding wire-frame dog kennel, which we only used once the first night to confine her, and then immediately let her out, and brought her up onto the trunk at the foot of our bed. The next night, she weaseled her way onto the foot of the bed, and then finally she was rewarded with a spot on the bed between us. The kennel, with its fluffy pillow, became one of her favorite and most comfortable places to hang out in the bedroom, for many years. We got her so many dog toys, which you can see on top of the kennel, but she rarely played with any of them, but we still kept them for all these years. She has an even larger collection of even smaller dog toys, under the table in the great room by the sofa. She rarely touched them, either. 

 

Mandy’s special blanket on our bed. After our first few days with her, and we realized she was going to end up on the bed with us, we always kept a small blanket on top of the bed for her. For years, I would just flip the blanket over her, after she got comfortable, which was only after I had settled down. Lately she had a much harder time getting settling in, which was one of many small and large clues that she was nearing the end.

 

Mandy’s bed and blanket in the back of my car, which was brand-new two weeks before we got her. She spent so many hours snoozing comfortably back there, as we were driving cross country, or just on the mornings while she was waiting for me to get out of breakfast, so we could go for our late morning walks…

 

Mandy’s bed in Jennefer’s closet. This was one of the earliest beds that we set up for her, in locations throughout the house, and it was the place she would patiently wait for me to get home from work, after our caregiver/housekeeper/dog-sitter left. When I started bike riding, she would wait in here for me to return.

 

Mandy had a bed behind the sofa, so she could hang out and watch us prepare our and her meals. Then there were two beds here for the past few years, as Cleo at some point started commandeering Mandy’s bed, which left Mandy standing on the hard wood floor, gazing at us morosely. Now this one bed is just for Cleo, if she wants it.

Mandy’s bed in my basement office, by my (now-vintage) desktop computer, which I’ve started using again for some activities, as the larger screen works much better for me at times. She followed me down, in spite of the blockade I’d put at the top of the basement stairs, and would snooze comfortably for hours, as I finished up my various e-chores here.

 

Mandy’s bed in the Study, near my (relatively new) laptop computer, which I was "forced" into getting, because the old computer could no longer keep up with my favorite activity, flight simulation. She would snooze here at my feet for hours, as I would plan and fly my many trips using the X-Plane and Microsoft Flight Simulators. This became her favorite place, especially recently, and she would often detour into here, when she was roving the house looking for where I must’ve gone, and I'd eventually find her here, waiting for me…

 

Mandy’s collapsible traveling dog house, usually in the corner of the great room, but currently in the Study, to make room for Christmas decorations. This became yet another regular place for her to hang out and supervise us. Cleo quickly decided that it’s also a fine place for her to get some rest in relative privacy, while keeping an eye on us.

Mandy’s airline carrier, by the fireplace hearth near the TV. She traveled quite a few miles with us by air, but when we got home, this became yet another place for her to hang out and supervise us, as we were watching TV, when she wasn’t cuddled up with us on the sofa. Now Cleo has decided she likes to hang out here, and has taken over the supervisory duties. Oops, I just realized, there is a bunch of Mandy traveling paperwork and other supplies stashed in the big pocket on the other end of the carrier - so I have yet another task of unpacking and dispositioning all those items. 

 

Mandy’s bed by the table in the breakfast nook. In her never-ending quest to keep an eye on us, she would settle down in this bed, any time we were sitting at the breakfast table. I found myself looking there several times today, as we were getting ready to go out for an errand, as lately I've picking her up from there, to carry her to the car, for our drive to pick up breakfast. She didn't need to be carried all the way, but it was expedient sometimes, to skip the extra time she took to get out of bed, stretch, stretch again, and again, wander behind us to the door, sniffing a few things along the way, and then for us worry about whether or not she would make it down the garage stairs without a misstep, and then pick her up and put her in her bed, in the back seat of the car. 

This is the pile of beds and blankets waiting to go somewhere. You can see that we've already made a little progress on removing some of these items that also have strong emotional ties, from the places where Cleo doesn't seem to want to use them.

Devastating news - Mandy's gone

Mandy’s been having a really rough time the past few days, and thinking back, probably longer. Her regular Veterinarian hasn’t been answering their phone, and her regular Animal ER has moved far away, so I finally reached out to the new animal ER, CVSG, who took her in right away. It turns out to be bad - really bad - the kind of diagnosis where there will never be a good time without pain and drugs for the rest of her life. It is unbelievably difficult for me to say, but we came home without her. Rest in peace, my sweet little Italian Greyhound Chihuahua rescue dog. We had a pretty good run of nearly sixteen years, after her first two rough years. Jennefer and I are a couple of emotional wrecks right now. It’s helping a little to talk about it, while composing this announcement for all of you. Whew… This is a completely unexpectedly rotten way to end our year. Through my tears, I found some solace from knowing when she relaxed into my lap, that she didn’t have to suffer any more.

First serious snowfall

We enjoyed a gorgeous sparkly white layer of snow, on this 27°F morning in Littleton! This was officially our first "serious" snowfall of the season - and according to the News, dropped more snow than other "first" snowfalls of the season over the past several years. They said that the Denver airport got about four and a half inches overnight, which sets a record since 2011.

I snapped this picture last night, of the deck furniture coated with wet snow, before retiring to the bedroom. "Snow!", I whispered to myself...

 

 

 

The bedroom fireplace's pilot light needed to be relit, after months of suffering through wind gusts blowing down the chimney, last winter and spring. We enjoyed our first fire, on this 29° foggy snowy night...

 

 I found myself shoveling a layer of wet snow off the side walk at 2:30am, while the dog was heading out to use the neighbor's lawn (per agreement of my very accommodating neighbor). Then we awoke to this snow-encrusted view from the bedroom window. But this morning, the driveway was already clear, so, no shoveling required, before heading out to pick up our Friday breakfast. Bonus!

The last Fall colored leaves on my Crabapple tree were mostly obscured by the snow. 

My weather station wasn't doing much good with measuring wind speed and direction, all clumped over with snow.

 

 

Jennefer got the seed bowls refilled and out there, but there were no takers at first.

 

 

 

It wasn't long after Jennefer put out the bird feeder, that this Flicker made their appearance.

Nice frosty view of the mostly obscured foothills, in the distance beyond my snow-covered deck furniture. 

 

After the sun came out, we had a beautiful view of the foothills, as the low fog quickly burned off. Such a pretty morning…

 

Just a little flash of Fall color in the trees, with the clouds rapidly dissolving in the distance.

I love this sunny view of my snow-covered deck! It makes we want to go out there, and enjoy the day!

 

We finally got a few visitors to the seed bowls on the deck box, after the sun peeked out. 

 

We made a quick trip to Snooze Eatery to pick up our delicious Friday morning breakfast, and this solitary rose looked pretty special, sticking out of a big clump of snow. 

 

Peaceful sight of a House Finch on the tire swing bird feeder, with some wispy clouds enshrouding the foothills in the distance. 

Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween evening - we greeted 37 trick-or-treaters this year - plus a bunch of their parents and older siblings - and gave out almost all the "fun size" candy bars we had ready to go, in the huge mixing bowl. The last group showed up a little after 8:30… so civilized! (Picture obscured for privacy…)

Echo Lake

We had a fun back-country Thursday drive to Echo Lake, followed by a short walk along the lake, and a visit to help out the soon-to-be-evicted long-term owners of the Lodge and Gift Shop there. Couldn’t resist grabbing lunch there too.

We paused in Evergreen, to take a photo of the dam at Evergreen Lake, which had some nice Fall color

The Evergreen Lake dam and nearby Fall color looked even nicer, when we stepped out of the picture

Pretty panoramic view of a few fall colors (mostly Aspen) on the hillside, and the mountains in the distance, looking northwest from highway 103

 

Photo memento of the Echo Lake Lodge

Pretty view of Echo Lake, with just a little snow on the mountains today

A teeny bit of Fall red color by the trail

Starting out on our walk. We followed the short trail to the other end of the lake. The last time we were here, there was half a foot of snow on the ground, the lake was frozen over, and the freezing cold wind was blowing strongly. This was so much nicer.

Delicate pink flowers on some thistles by the lake

Enjoying the sparkles on the lake

Gorgeous view to the south. I suspect that Mount Evans (elevation 14,272) is in this picture, along with possibly Rogers Peak, Mount Warren, Gray Wolf Mountain, and Mount Bierstadt, which are all in a southerly direction, although, I can't identify any of them.

A little more red Fall color along the trail

Solitary white flower by the lake

Another great view to the south

Nice view of the lodge from the other end of the lake

Hard to see the Spanish Moss on the trees, but I liked the look. Reminded me of camping as a kid.

Closer view of the Spanish Moss

After doing our best to bolster the economy in the gift shop, I turned my efforts to the snack bar. Loved their delicious buffalo chili, and pudding cake with coffee.

Better view looking out the snack bar window

Not surprised to see that the road up to Mount Evans is closed for the season. This is the highest paved road in the continental United States.

Home again! I think I caught this Finch photo, just as they shook their head and threw a seed away

Two finches NOT attempting to coexist in the same location - one was incoming, and neither one was at all interested in sharing that spot