a sad day.....

Tiffany.... a very special girl. I loved her from very close up when I visited...and from very far away the rest of the time.














This is a pic of her from last summer when I visited my sister and got to play with all of the cats and the horses. Much as I suppose I should not admit to having a favourite... she was mine. She would sit beside me for hours..just enjoying the company... getting sleepy looking and finally her head would droop to her paws and she would doze for a bit.. but, somehow, still vigilant, and always ready to follow and check out what you were up to if you moved or went somewhere else. Her whites were sooo snow white and her coat always luxurious and fastidiously cleaned... sometimes she cleaned her soft tummy so well that she had it totally bare in a few spots... we never did know why she did that. We chalked it up to nerves although she seemed so calm it was still strange to think it could be that. Maybe it was just a bit of OCD.... and she was like my sister... overzealous with cleaning....

Sadly, two days ago she finally succumbed to a mysterious illness.... nobody could find anything at all to indicate what it was despite x-rays and continuing blood work... She had not much interest in eating for the past few months and was losing a lot of weight... but my sister made every effort to entice her with every imaginable food many times a day. She was able to coax her to lick a bit on this and that.....and Tiffany did her very best to comply even if she seemed a bit confused that anybody would offer her so many food choices. She would look at her as if to say...okay Mom..I'll give it a try. She was still bright, alert and tried to play the "light" game with mirror reflected light ..or to jump up on to the picky post and bat around the little furry mouse... but did get quite tired and slept a lot in a special bed made for her in a quiet room. Her coat was still as luxurious as possible... which seemed a bit unusual if she was not healthy. It was all just weird.
We have all been down the road before. Finally forced to make gut wrenching decisions... and as Vikki said, "despite my best song and dance efforts"... Tiffer finally just told her it was time when she stopped eating and drinking anything at all. Her sweet vet and an assistant went to the house, gave Tiffany a sedative and then helped her to go gently to sleep for the last time. That's exactly how it went. It was completely peaceful and for that I am so grateful to those ladies. How I wish we could make the passing of humans as easy as that. It would be a blessing.
I cried for them both when I read the e-mail and then just cried myself to sleep... probably a little bit for me too, because I was not there to offer any help or any consolation. And, now.... a special little friend is gone.

She loved to hang out where you were.... looked at you with love in her heart....gave the best and gentlest little head bonkies and smeary soft kisses... ... had learned to play "tunes" on some miniature chimes for extra treats or just for the joy of hearing you say what a clever girl she was.... and then she would do it again and again for you. She had a soft and gentle purr-song when she sat on your chest and padded and picked at you like she was ever so gently plucking an expensive and beautiful harp....



























Tiffany was also a specialist in 24 hour a day caregiving. Seven years ago my sister fell and seriously injured her head. During months of lying nauseous and/or almost comatose on the couch.... just waiting to try to feel well enough to stand without vomiting or passing out.... Tiffany waited too.... she was a very special little nurse and totally instrumental in the final outcome of a long and frustrating journey back to the land of the living .....

How we'll miss your beautiful face....

Through the mountains..and over the bridges...

Still plenty of snow through the passes.....

























right down to the highway in spots....










the new highway ..up on stilts from the look of it... last year under construction..now..can hardly see much of the huge canyon area from the finished road. Good thing...it is a looong way down there...makes ya feel kinda queasy.... see those tiny trucks over there?... it is huge too.....










here is what it looked like last year...we were still driving under it on the old road....












ahhhh...the peace and quiet of the little farm.... Actually at times it was more noisy than the city. Busy traffic along the nearby road.....big trucks at silage time, hauling all day and most of the night.... chainsaws bucking up fallen trees.. (the Pine Beetle is killing every single tree in the province) more pics to come... .... the farmer baling across the way... 3 tractors in operation til way after dark. I was watching the lights moving around the fields well after midnight the first night of baling. ...the guy on the property below using a Bobcat to move some earth and the guy next door chopping things alongside his driveway with a motorized weed cutter... . our patio in the big city is a morgue in comparison. Okay ...a morgue with birds .... lovely chirpy birds.













Ohhh.... Sweet Tiffany was waiting..... such a velvety softie....













...but, clever too... look at the trick Vikki taught her. She plays chimes on command....













..and, this week, she played them plenty.. all on her own... just milking it for all it was worth. It was like she remembered me from last year. Remembered what a push over I am. Back and forth she went... playing her chimes and coming straight to me for a pet and a "good girrrlll" ... and perhaps a tiny chunk of dry kitty chow.....

We came home on Tuesday evening, but,the yard and garden have been taking up most of my time so I haven't been on here more than a few minutes to check some blogs. I think I got weaned cold turkey from "computering"at my sister's fat farm. Well, she said perhaps I could call it the Fit Farm or something more exotic instead... either way...it was supposed to jump start my fitness program as I haven't done much this whole year and am getting soft and feeble. By the end of the second day I could hardly move.... She motors around like it is no biggy.... all day....... Then she falls into bed and sleeps like a log. I kept up all day and fell into bed and tossed and turned..fell asleep about 3 a.m.... got up at the crack of dawn...and went again...dragging my butt and yawning...but still keeping up. Honestly, for the past three days I have been sleeping in and enjoying it.... she gets up too early. Well, too early for me. But... that is me... I think if it is too early for me it is too early. I am definitely opinionated.... and rarely diplomatic or tactful. She has dial up....reeeellly slow dial up. No wonder she doesn't bother reading my blog...(plus she has absolutely no time anyway) it takes so long to download.. that it kicks her off before she ever gets to see it. I couldn't even check my mail. But...we were so busy I didn't even miss it. By the time I got home....I couldn't think what to write, seemed to have no desire to spend time on here and definitely needed to spend some serious time in the yard. Still have pots to plant... need to mix some new dirt and compost and add it to the cement-like dirt in the garden areas. I did nothing out there last year because of my broken foot.. ....and it shows. Yards and gardens are a huge commitment.... thank goodness now the perennials have filled in most of it...but I still like to plant some annuals for a special show of colour when the early bloomers have finished. This fall I definitely want to get some tulips planted as well. Funny how that has gone for years now...by October...I am finished gardening...and never get around to digging in any bulbs.... perhaps this year.....