Rest In Peace, Pib

While we were moving in back in late November, I walked out on the back porch to find our 18+ year old Chinese pug curled up in a galvanized tub with silk flowers. He looked so cute that I went back inside to get my phone and snap this picture.

A little over two weeks ago he disappeared.

We assume that after surviving being run over twice and mauled by a pack of dogs, old age got to him. He had arthritis, could barely see or hear...but come feeding time, he was as spry as the puppies.

We will all cherish many fond memories of our Pug In Black.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Paw Prints On Our Hearts

Today is

LOVE YOUR PET DAY

And since we just lost our beloved puppy, Boots...I wanted to honor the pets that remain with us.

Alli and Hoss

 Alli is our rescued yellow mountain cur dog that followed William home from elementary school one day and decided that we were hers.  From day one, she guarded our back yard and kept the teenaged boys that were visiting our daughters on their toes.  She is super sweet and lovable, but you don't get on her bad side.  Just ask Derrick what happens when you try taking her bone away from her.

Hoss was born to a stray that wandered up to our property in 2008.  We have no idea what his lineage is other than mutt (his mother looked like a lab mix).  But he is the kindest and strangest male dog we have ever had.  We have nicknamed him 'the eunuch' because he is constantly at Alli's side.  He defleas her and bows to her every whim.  He is my sidekick when I go for walk...unless Alli comes along.  You should see him trying to decide who to defend when other dogs come around.  He runs from me to her to me to her.  It drives him nuts!

Pib protecting Elliot when she was a baby

 This is our oldest pet, a black Chinese pug named Pib.  Pib came to us via a client of my mother's when the kids were still pretty young...around 1998 or 1999.  He was two years old then and had lived with a Doberman Pinscher and a Pit Bull...so he had a bit of a little man complex.  It was a good six months or more before he even barked.  He is such an old man now.  And looks like one.  He has been hit by two cars and mauled by a pack of 'teddy bear' dogs since we got him...and yet, he is still kicking.  He can hardly see and barely hear so things can be quite interesting when I go to wake him up some mornings.  He was Meagan's baby...and then Brian's...and finally Will's...so now he just tolerates Jim and I most days.  That's okay, he has earned the right to be a grumpy old man.

Butkus (Photo taken by Brianne and borrowed from her Facebook page)

 This is Butkus.  I have no idea what kind of dog he is.  He is another rescue dog that looked at Jim with that sweet face and found his way to our house.  Jim stops at a local convenience store on the way home from work most days.  During his routine stop Butkus followed him in to the store.  The cashier chased him out and Jim drove away...but soon turned around and picked him up.  He is a SMART dog and loves to sit with me in my chair when it's cold outside and Jim feels sorry enough for them to let them in.  He likes to sit like a human though.

And finally...

Zoe's favorite spot...on top of any book I am trying to read.

This is technically NOT our pet...but Brianne's.  However, she has been living with us until Bri and Josh have their home free of cat-killing dogs.  Bri found Zoe in our driveway after school just before she turned 16.  She was tiny...so much so that Bri was able to hide her in a drawer for two weeks before she asked to keep her as a birthday present.  My only condition was that I never had to clean the litter box.  UMMM....yeah....do remember that deal, Bri?  We think she is a Maine Coon Cat with beautiful tortoise shell colored markings and long, fluffy hair.  She is getting bossy in her old (ten year) age though.  Especially when it comes to food!  

Our New Family Member

I think Jim must be concerned about what we are going to do with ourselves once the boys have moved out because he brought home a new 'baby' on Monday night.

Meet Butkus. He followed Jim around at a local convenience store Monday evening.  Jim pulled away, but circled back to pick him up.  The first night was tough with all the whining and carrying on...but I've gotten better since then.  Last night was much better but I think that had to do with Davin being over yesterday and wearing him out.

Oh, yeah, and Davin calls him 'Butler'...while Brian calls him 'Samson'...we will see which name sticks.

The Herd

Have you seen our herd lately?  

We are up to eleven (11!!!!) head of cattle!  

Miss January

Miss March

Titter

Daddy's Girl

Wild Child

Arya

"The Steer"

Joker's Wild

Yoo-hoo

Black Bart

& the yet to be named baby bull

Watching them graze causes a calm to wrap around you like a warm blanket on a cool morning.

And then THEY see YOU and the bellowing begins.

..so enjoy the calm while you can.

I'm Blue (Da Ba Dee Da Ba Di)

I often steal pictures from the girl's Facebook pages of our precious grandchildren.  But today I am stealing Bri's picture of our grand-dog, Blue. He is hiding his hedgehog to keep it away from Belle (Bri's boxer puppy).  Isn't this the sweetest face?  I just had to share the adorableness with all of you today.

One Fish, Two Fish, BIG Fish

I apologize for the delay in posts. I promise to get our family vacation photos up soon. You see, I have been suffering with some pain since we returned. First I couldn't use my left arm due to pain in my forearm and elbow. When that finally cleared up late last week, I began having severe pain in my right wrist. So much so that I had Jim take me to the ER early Saturday morning...only to have the doctor say, "I don't know what it is. Go see an orthopedic." I seriously wanted to punch him in the face when they presented me with a $200 ER bill as I left.

Tomorrow afternoon I hope to get a few answers. So, please say a little prayer for me.

I have had the following pictures loaded to the blog since last week waiting for the commentary to be written.  I hope you will understand why this is going to be short and sweet!

Back in early April, Jim and I made a trip to our local feed store to buy fish for stocking our new pond.  The pond was dug last year during the drought and it had taken it that long to fill up enough to support its own ecosystem.

Brianne getting ready to introduce the catfish to their new home.
Those plastic bags held 50 catfish each...so you get an idea of their size.

This was one of the little devils before it took off for deep water.  You can see its size in relation to the blades of grass growing in the shallows beneath him.

Jim has been faithfully feeding every evening since we stocked the pond.  I love to go out with him and watch them eat.  Over the past month or so, the catfish have begun to 'skim' across the top of the water with their mouths open to take in more food.  They looked to have put on some size since stocking day, but they swarm the food so fiercely that it is hard to get a good look at them.

We had three boxes of night crawlers left over from our vacation trip to Lake Conroe, so Jim and I decided to take a fishing pole out to the pond on Thursday evening to see if we could catch anything. 

I don't know if you can see it very well in this picture or not, but there is a cork floating out in front of Allie.

Allie is NOT a water dog.  She is a yellow mountain cur and usually you cannot get her to get her paws in the water.  But, when she figured out that fish were coming up on the other end of that line, she would nearly swim out to it in hopes of being the one to catch the fish first.

We caught one each, though we didn't get a picture of mine before letting it go.  So, when Jim brought his in I made sure to snap a picture of it with his phone.

Look how fat that little fellow is!   We didn't have anything with us to measure him while we out at the pond, but Jim took a measurement of the tailgate when we made it back to the house.

His fish was over 12" long!  They still have a little bit more to grow to be table sized, but they are certainly big enough for the grandchildren to have some fun out on the pond.  We can hardly wait!

Our Mother's Day Weekend

I have been so busy this week, trying to get the last wedding pics up and get Will ready for prom on Saturday, that I forgot to post the pictures from our Mother's Day Weekend! Yikes!

Okay, this first one is a just a glimpse into our Saturday night gathering "What Will It Bee?"  Meagan and Derrick decided that they wanted to make the gender reveal a reason for celebration this time around.  So, they went to the doctor on Friday evening for the ultrasound BUT they didn't let the technician tell them what they were having. 

Instead, they called Kristi at Kristi's Cakery (she did Bri's cakes), handed the phone to the technician and LEFT!  That's right...it was also a surprise to them! 

Saturday night we gathered to the cutest decorations.  Meagan had everything in theme.  After enjoying a dinner of barbecue and playing a game of Pictionary, it was time to cut the cake to see if the inside was pink or blue.  Davin did the cutting and...

it was pink!!!  If you are friends with Meagan on Facebook you should take the time to watch the video of when they cut it.  You will see how excited they were and how surprised!  But, when I asked Davin what pink meant, he said, "It's a boy!"  Oh, well, he'll enjoy his sister too. 

(Meagan will probably be posting pictures of the whole event on her blog soon.  She is in Arkansas with Jim for Casey's graduation this weekend.)

My family spoils me rotten on Mother's Day.  I thank My Hero for this fact.  He set the bar high when the kids were younger and encourages them to keep it high.

I was the first one up on Sunday morning, but other than make a pot of coffee, I did NOTHING!

A little later, Bri and Meagan came in with these.

Aren't they beautiful?  And those sprig-gy things bloomed a few days later to make this.

I don't know what it is but it looks like tiny orchids on each stem.

I was then sent to my room while they got my Mother's Day gift ready for me.

I loved all the red and white.  I told Jim that they were getting me ready to celebrate the Razorbacks National Championship next season!

After a delicious meal of Grilled Pork Loin (Jim), Green Bean Casserole (Meagan) and Company's Potatoes (Bri), we sat on the back deck and talked until it was time to head out to the pond to feed the fish.

Davin was fascinated with the....

tadpoles!  He played with them the whole day and even took some home with him in a Mason jar.

While out at the pond I snapped this picture of Meagan and Derrick chilling on the four wheeler.

Jim jumped into the paddle boat at one point and headed out to the middle of the pond with the dogs.

The yellow one, Allie, is Jim's dog.  Hoss, the black one, is mine, I guess.  He was born on the property and though everyone claimed him at one time...now he hangs beside me when I am outside. 

You can tell Hoss is part Labrador retriever because when I called him from the middle of the pond...

...he dove right in...

...and swam across the pond to me.  Allie is not a water dog.  She may look like a yellow lab, but she is a yellow mountain cur and wants as little to do with water as possible.

And for fairness sake, here is the 'baby' of the family.  Pib has been with us since the kids were little and he is the only one allowed in the house.  (With the exclusion of thunderstorms, when Allie has to be inside too!) 

We call him the 'Old Man' because he is getting very gray.  He has passed down along most of the children and is now William's dog.    Not sure how much longer he is going to be around, but when he is gone, remind me that I NEVER want another house dog!

Everyone left around dark and headed home...but it was a good, good day! 

Things That Make Me Smile

In no particular order...just photos that make me smile.

Brooke in her new dance wear that Pappaw and Nonna got her for her birthday.  I love seeing her poses!

A bird sitting on the mailbox outside my doctor's office after my last visit.

Looks good enough for a Spring postcard, huh?

The 'Texas Smile' Cactus

I don't know if you can see it very well or not, but in the middle of this prickly pear someone painted a blue smiley face.  Earlier this year the road was closed for some bridge work and when we were able to travel this way again, there was the smile.  And it still makes me smile every day when I pass it!

Our dogs, Allie and Hoss, sunning with me on a beautiful autumn afternoon.  If we had known that Hoss was going to come along eventually, we probably would have named them Salt and Pepper...because they are never apart!

Hope you were encouraged to smile today too!

Guess Who Came For A Visit?

Look who rode home with me last Friday!

Maddux with his chocolate milkshake face.

Brooke posing with her cherry slush.

Their Daddy was taking their Mommy out for her birthday.  It isn't until the 24th, but she will be in Arkansas with us while he has to stay home and work.  So, the kiddoes came out to visit Nonna and Pappaw for the night.

The first thing on their 'to do' list was to go with Pappaw...

...to see the new calf.  We have discovered that he is a bull and his name is Jed.  (I will let Brianne tell you why his name is Jed.)

The kids were enthralled with all the cows.  Until they got too close that is!

Next on the list was to ride the four wheelers.

Maddux still hasn't quite gotten the hang of the 4-wheeler with the pedal.

...but look at the smile on Brooke's face! 
This was her first time to ride by herself and she was absolutely beaming!

Maddux decided to hang out on the Ranger while Brooke was riding.

And then Brooke wanted a picture with Pib.

And all of that happened in the first fifteen minutes after we arrived.  Needless to say, when their Mommy picked them up the next day...Nonna took a nap and still slept good on Saturday night!



Nice Surprises

Jim and Bri have been bantering back and forth over the past month guessing as to whether or not Lady January was expecting.  Our herd of three were taken to the vet in early October for vaccinations, worming and a general check up.  Jim began noticing signs after their return, but wasn't sure.  Then on Wednesday evening he made the declaration that we were expecting a calf.

Imagine his surprise when he walked into the pasture on Thursday afternoon to see this.

 A freshly born calf!  I raced to the truck to grab my camera and by the time I made it back, Mama was nudging it up for it's first walk.

 It was so cute on it's wobbly little legs!

 She then moved it to the back corner to soak up some sunshine. 

For some reason, Lady Jan loves to birth babies on the afternoon of the coldest nights of the year.  Last night we saw temperatures bumping the freezing mark and I was a little worried about our newest family member. 

But when I walked out to check on it this morning, I found it lying in the hay.

Mama wasn't too happy with me out there taking pictures, even with my long range lens...but this calf just looked too cute to pass up! 

So, Jim was right about our expecting a new baby on the farm.  We're just beginning to wonder why the vet didn't mention it!!!

Top 10 Easter Pictures

Blogger is being a bit tempermental today, so I will keep this as simple as I possibly can.

Here are my 10 Favorite Pictures from Easter. (There were others made, but not on my camera evidently...so this is from the ones that I have. I will have to get the others from Meagan.)

#10: My boys being boys!

#9: Egg hunting with Maddux. Evidently it takes four adults to help Maddux find eggs. Actually he was so content with each egg he found that he had to be coaxed into looking for more.




#8: Kelli, Brooke and Maddux. All looking at the camera!

#7: The Goode Five in the kitchen. I love seeing them all together pitching in to get lunch on the table.

#6: Will and Hoss. He didn't pose for this picture, I just happened to catch it between takes of the wandering preschoolers. Even our pets try to sneak into the family pictures!

And because Blogger doesn't want to load more than five pictures on a page today, you will have to scroll down to the next post to catch pictures #5 through #1.

A Little More Decorating

I have a few more pictures from our Christmas Tree Decorating that I wanted to share. I hope you don't mind!
The Goode Family: (back row) Brian, (middle row) Kelli, Fonda, Jim, William and Meagan, and (front row) Bri.

Nonna and Pappaw with our babies: Davin, Maddux and Brooke.

When our children were little, we started the tradition of buying them a special ornament to commemorate something in their year. I thought that when they married and moved away they would have a nice start for their Christmas trees to take with them.

However, the girls didn't want to take their family ornaments. They wanted them to still hang on the family Christmas tree. Each child, son-in-love and grandchild still get a new ornament every year...hence the need for a bigger Christmas tree soon! (That is at least 11 new ornaments a year, y'all!)

As Derrick was helping Meagan hang ornaments, he commented to the date on one of the ornaments and how long ago that was. It got me to thinking about the oldest ornament on the tree...

1981: Mine and Jim's first Christmas as man and wife

I had never put up a theme tree...or so I thought. But the more I think about it, ours is a history tree. A history of the Goode Family. Of the Texas branch at least!

Derrick, Davin and Meagan...

and Meagan's first Christmas baby doll ornament. A gift from my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bobby the year she was born. (She was the first great grandchild on the Jenkins side and a little bit spoiled!)

Kelli and Brooke (Maddux would not sit still for the pictures)...

and Kelli's ornament from the year that Matt proposed.

Bri, Josh and Blue (the only baby she says she will ever have! We will see about that.)...

and their picture from two Christmases ago. Unfortunately, a lot of Bri's ornaments were lost when we moved from Alief. But, since Kelli did find my china this past summer, I am still holding out hope for Bri's lost ornaments!
Bohemian Brian...
and his ornament from the year he got his dirt bike.
Will...
and his ornament to commemorate his 7-point buck a few years back. (The horse beside it is Bri's from when she thought she wanted a horse. I told y'all my tree was packed with ornaments!)

I hope your holidays are filled with wonderful memories and traditions that bring your family together at this blessed time of year!

This was originally supposed to be posted a few days after the first...so please forgive any repeats. I was so busy these past few weeks that I never got around to finishing it. So, here you go. Two posts in one day about the same thing. I just didn't want to move pictures around!