I can't believe our boys hit their one-year last Thursday! They should still be tiny puppies! I don't know what we did without them!…

I knew this day was coming. It was a year ago today, Feb. 9, 2012, that our beloved Morgan “Stinky Wink” went to the Rainbow Bridge. I could never, in a million years, have imagined the pain I would feel as I held him in my arms while he took that last deep breath. My only comfort from that moment is in knowing that HE knew that I was holding him, and that he heard me whisper “I love you, Stinky Wink” in his ear, that one last time. That was the culmination of almost twelve years of…

I had no idea it had been so long since I had been on MyCorgi! I have been kept so busy with gardening and...yes...the two little guys. They are such a delight and are growing so quickly. They were seven months old last week. They have been really good. We have been house-trained for some time now...no accidents or slip-ups. We are, however, still learning not to chew rugs! :-)…

I like the title "Dynamic Duo" for my little guys. They are just that!! Good Lord, the energy those boys have! The fetch continues with the tandem return, and they would do that for hours. Tuesdays are my "genealogy days," so I spend most of the day (off and on) in the basement family room, going upstairs often to see what they're up to and to take them outside. We also play in the inbetween times. This past Tuesday we played more than usual. My wife was out of the house all day until early…

My mom died this morning--July 4, 2012, at 3 a.m. Her suffering is over. This has been a sad year, so far. We lost Stinky Wink in February, then my dad in May, and now Mom. There is definitely a cycle to life, birth to death, and all the things in between that make life what it is. The cycle includes people: parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends, spouses and children. It also includes pets that we love, who love us in return, for no other reason than the fact…

I have definitely been remiss in writing about the new babies. They are hardly babies any more! It is true that two furbabies are more work, but it's a good kind of work. The past two weeks, however, have been something of a record in my personal roller-coaster rides!

June 18th, my wife left for England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales--leading a group from her church. She took our granddaughter with her. They got back yesterday (June 29th). While they were gone, the roller-coaster made…

A number of years ago--too many really--The Carpenters sang a song called "Rainy Days and Mondays," in which Karen sang "rainy days and Mondays always get me down." Well, we finally had a rainy day here in arid Central Illinois and it didn't get me down at all. We didn't get nearly as much as we need but, at this point, anything is welcome. It was something new for the boys. We haven't had any "real" rain since they have been here. Since it rained most of the day, it was…

Huey and Taffy were sitting on the deck one fine afternoon, enjoying the lovely weather.

Taffy: Are Mommy and Daddy still in the house?

Huey: Yes.

Taffy: Have they gone potty yet?

Huey: No. And they're not coming back out until they do!

It's amazing how things happen sometimes. A couple of weeks ago, my wife was trimming bushes on the south side of the house. By her own account, she was somewhat mindlessly trimming away when she went over the nest of a Mourning Dove and nearly decapitated the resident--a not too young baby. Fortunately she/he ducked. The damage, however, was done. The nest was exposed and the hot sun beat down on it. She was so upset with her self and the plight of the mother and baby. I went to look, and…

Some memories make us laugh, and some memories make us cry. Either way, they remind us of something we loved. When the irises began to bloom around Stinky Wink's grave last month, floods of memories washed over me. I still cannot take a shower without seeing him sitting at the bathroom door, waiting for me to throw a toy down the hall.  I hear him when my wife would come home,…

Here it is only the end of May and we are in the hot days of summer--at least here in Central Illinois. And I'm not the only one that thinks that; two baby Corgis agree! It's amazing that when the weather is moderate, it is almost impossible to get the boys to come inside. With this blazing hot weather, it's difficult to get them to go OUT. To further complicate things, Taffy has fallen victim to what I call OBS (Obstinate Bowel Syndrome)! There are just TOO many things to do outside that…

I apologize that I have not posted more often. Two little guys can keep an old man running! We're finally sleeping all night. We were getting up about 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. Now we're getting up about 6-6:30 a.m. At first they were getting used to their new home. Then we went to the vet and they got worm medicine, which contributed to the frequent cries to get out of the crate in the middle of the night. But they didn't mess their beds. Unbelievable!

It's amazing to see their…

     It has been a while since I have written a blog. I apologize. We got Huey and Taffey on Friday, May 4. On Sunday the 6th, my dad died, and the following week was more than hectic--sister coming in from California, arrangements, going back home for the burial, etc. We had to leave the babies for a whole day, which was NOT easy. Our neighbor, a great lady, spent most of the day with them, and they have really come to love her. She comes over almost daily to the fence that divides our…

     It has been a while since I have written anything about Stinky Wink, but he has been on my mind much of the day--not that he's ever very far from my thoughts. We have been having a new deck built across the back of the house. Wink would have loved it because he could have viewed his little kingdom from a higher vantage point. When I look out the kitchen window above the sink, I can easily see his grave between the spindles of the railing.

     I was planting some annuals beside…

We are now counting down the days! We get the boys a week from tomorrow (May 4th). We can hardly wait. Taffy's ears are firmly up, but Huey's ears are being lazy . LOL  We are so anxious to get them home.…

Here are pictures of Taffy and Huey that were taken earlier this week.   I can't believe how much they have changed. We can't wait to get them home. May 7th isn't too far off.…

I finally got Stinky Wink's grave pretty much finished. I'll have to wait for the bricks to settle more, so I can level them, tighten them, and mortar between them. I am so pleased with the stone that Chris made and the Corgi statue I got from eBay.  The irises will soon be blooming on three sides. I am going to plant dianthus to the north side of the grave…

Here is a new picture of the babies--Taffy at top and Huey at the bottom. This was the first day the breeder had taken them outside. They had just had their first exposure to solid food. Much of it got on their noses and feet. In about five weeks we get to bring them home. We are going to see them again next Thursday. We can hardly wait!

I think I can finish…

     Missing Stinky Wink has become a part of life now. I still shed a few tears now and then...especially when I am reminded of something he used to do, or someting we did together. This morning I remembered a game we used to play at our former house. He was about 4 or 5 then. I called the game "Noise in the Bushes." We had a row of boxwoods along the garage, with ivy covering the ground out to the sidewalk. I would sit in a lawn chair on the patio and throw a small rock into the bushes. …

I've been working outside the past several days. The weather has been beautiful, though a bit warm for Illinois in March. I've had plenty of weeding and cleanup in all the flower beds. I'm not done by any means, but I have a great start for this early in the spring. The down-side has been the loneliness. This is the first spring in the eight years we have lived here that Stinky WInk hasn't been out there helping me. Every time I come around the house, I look for him to be lying in one of his…