it's thursday.....

 i'm in love with the summer salad at panera. 

it's the one with strawberries, blueberries, chicken and walnuts that all go swimming together in the most delicious poppyseed dressing. yep that one. do you know it?

well if you do, or even if you don't, it's the easiest salad to make at home. 

the only thing i leave off {from panera's version} is the fresh pineapple. i'm not sure why, but i do.

oh...

and panera even sells their salad dressing at target, so there's no way to screw this up.

 thanks to a little inspiration from kim, i took a rock out of our landscaping and

loved all over it for a little bit. i think it looks happier now.

my hostas are beautiful this year. 

i wish i had an entire yard full of them.

and

these totally nasty, disgusting things are back. 

japanese beetles.

really, why are they here?

*

ps....thank you, so very very much, for all of your prayers and thoughts for sophie. 

little sophie's update....

i'm sorry i haven't kept you updated regarding sophie. 

sometimes, bad news just isn't the kind of thing you want to write about or even talk about.

~

after her liver scare, it was confirmed that she has kidney failure. unfortunately at her age, it's not something she will ever recover from. all we can do now is to continue the fluid treatments to help flush the toxins out of her body, keep her stress free, pray that she eats anything and love all over her.

if you walked in my front door, you'd be surprised to see a very happy dog, based on what i just told you. at this point she doesn't look sick. 

her tail still wags and she still runs around happy to see me if i've been gone even a few minutes. 

but she sleeps deeply for hours, yet can still make it outside on her own to go the bathroom.

~

that will all change.

we don't when or how quickly, but the disease will progress to the point where she'll be in pain or simply miserable and we'll have to put her to sleep.

~

until then, we watch her sleep and laugh while she dreams. her little legs move like they're "running" and she makes little dreaming baby noises in her throat. 

based on the photo above, i think she's reliving her days at the beach in seaside.

what a great dream to have.

*

almond or coconut flavored, please....

"when you have nobody you can make a cup of tea for, when nobody needs you,

that's when i think life is over."

~audrey hepburn~

i'll be back to my "regularly scheduled blogging" in a few days

~

here's to a beautiful week

*

at her house....

shadow

{my favorite cat}

when my older sister visits, it's easy to spend time with everyone at my little sister's house. 

it's the kind of house that's rarely quiet and never boring. where not everyone has to do what everyone else is doing. where laughter is heard almost constantly. 

and where sitting and doing nothing or everything comes naturally.

mom cross stitching and my older sister knitting

the real "down dog" position

cats, dogs and chickens aren't enough. 

a real house also has to have a monkey.

an old photo of us...i'm on the left with the furry trimmed hood.

noodles

how lucky my sister is to have fruit trees in her backyard. 

and in case you were wondering, apple trees make the best climbing trees.

*

happy weekend everyone

*

{ps....sophie had more tests today and the results will be in tomorrow morning}

did i tell you.....

that my sister is here?

~

she lives in maine and i plan on spending as much time with her as possible,

which means i'll be relatively quiet here.

i'm so lucky that all of you totally get that. 

so just like my mama always used to say...

"be good while i'm gone"

*

because you said i could.....

yesterday 

you all said you could handle more sweetness

{and i hugely thank you for that}

adorably precious....

these sweet little {eat em right up} darlings, are cousins

and honestly, they pretty much took my breath away during our photo session last week.

~

in my head, i had planned the most perfect outside shoot, but the sun ended up being too bright and my striped beach umbrella kept blowing away, so inside we went. 

surprisingly, inside worked much better then i had anticipated.

~

later in the week, i think i just might have to share more of this total cuteness with you....

but only if you think you can stand it.

*

bags, lines and needles.....

the good news...

sophie's liver levels are a bit better.

the bad news...

her kidney levels are worse.

so now i play nurse.

daily, i'll be giving sophie fluids, just like you see in the hospital, in order to flush her system.

thankfully large needles don't bother me. what bothers me {just a little} is the fact that i have to stick those needles in her back. 

~

one of the technicians {thanks nikki} at our vet's office, taught me everything i need to know and thank god she's got a sense of humor and patience. 

the first needle i put in her was perfect, considering inside i was thinking, "can i really do this?"

unfortunately, there was still a small opening in her skin from the last fluid treatment, so the fluid going in, was coming right back out...and leaking all over me. 

the second try, sophie squirmed so much we simply had to stop. 

but the third needle, after we swaddled sophie in a towel to make her feel safe, worked like a charm and  200 ml {minus what was all over my shirt} of fluid was safely in my baby.

~

as a child, i was often a nurse. a few cotton balls, a plastic stethoscope and an ace bandage and i could save the world. if only it were that easy now.

*

happy weekend everyone