Papa’s Tribute to Grandma OC (as told to Pippin)

OC, or Ornery Cuss, earned her name by the way she treated her brother as a puppy, and she lived up to it her entire life.  (She's the one on the left of her Mama, Mist) As a puppy, she was taken to Grammy’s Special Needs class, and showed great potential as a service dog from the way she acted around the kids, so we decided to raise her, and then donate her to a Helper Dog Group that used a Corgi  in their Logo.  We contacted them, but they only took large breeds, and since, by then she had wormed her way into our lives and hearts, we decided to keep her.

OC loved “road trips” where Papa, Grammy, and her Momma, Misty, would take long trips over the summer in the 18 wheeler that Papa drove going to Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Northern California.  She missed these trips after Papa got a local job, but still went everywhere in the car with her people.

Two years ago, she got to go on her last “Big Truck Road Trip,” as Papa’s company built a trailer for overseas, and Papa got to take it to Jacksonville, Florida to be shipped.  

   
She spent 10 days going coast to coast in a Big Rig with a Walk-In sleeper, with Grammy, Papa, her son BG and two grandsons, Gimli and me (Pippin).   All her other trips had been in a truck with just a sleeper berth.   

She got to “lay over” in Houston, Texas, on the way back, when Grammy and Papa visited with their grandkids.

 

The Lord knew what He was doing when He allowed us to keep OC, as she did become a Helper/Service dog for Grammy.   After Grammy was injured at work and had to retire, OC worked at picking up and fetching when Grammy could not.  She also herded the goats for them until an old billy goat crushed her against a wall and hurt her hips.

During her last years, this caused her to be in a “wheelchair” that Grammy’s son, Robert, built out of P V C pipe and Rollers. With this, she could still run around the property with the rest of us doing “squirrel patrol,” which meant checking every place where something could hide and then chasing it if something came out.

Her last months, when she could not even walk in her wheelchair, were spent keeping track of Grammy and the other people she loved, laying on a bed near them, always watching everything with her “bright eyes. “   

She also loved going camping in the Travel Trailer, with all the new places to smell and dogs to bark at, while still being with her loved ones.

She really enjoyed her last trip with us when she got to go to her first Corgi Picnic.  This was my tribute to you, OC girl.   I will miss your head on my leg on trips…  Papa (as told to Pippin—Papa’s Pup)

Camping is FUN!!!

We had a WONDERFUL time camping in our new Trailer this past weekend! I got to go, along with BG, Gimli, and Pippin.

GrandPaw Robert had put the camper shell on the pickup and they put our foam mattress into the bed for me and Gimli to lay on during the trip. We got a BIG SURPRISE when we found out that Grammy’s Kody Bear was getting to go with us because it was his parent’s wedding anniversary.

Grammy’s sister and BIL brought their trailer and their Shih-Tzu puppy, I-Lee, and had the campsite right next to us. They also brought two of their grand-daughters which get along wonderfully with Kody, so they really had a blast!

We were right on the river and had the last two campsites on that side, so no noisy neighbors.

Our people had most of their meals together. They always carried me over there with them, too.

It has warmed up quite a bit this past week and so the weather was absolutely PERFECT! It was in the low 70’s… not to warm and not to cold.

I got to lay out in the sun ALL DAY instead of having to stay inside on my pillow!

I could roll in the grass and pee when I wanted, without having to wait for someone to take me out! 

And I could watch when Papa took the boys for a walk. It was WONDERFUL, and Grammy said I smiled all day long!

I didn’t have to stay on a leash because I can’t move on my own, but that is the one thing the pups weren’t very happy about. They DID have to have a leash on whenever they came out of the trailer. Still, they LOVED having actual GRASS to run around and roll in!!! Grammy had taken a 50 ft. long lead to give them plenty of room to roam.

Gimli liked watching everyone and watching the river with the ducks swimming around on it.

Saturday, there was a “Fishing Derby” for the kids until 4 p.m. and then anyone could fish in the big pond where they had planted the fish. The kids had fun trying to catch something, but no luck.  :(  Kody was pretty disappointed.

But Pip and BG had fun watching, and Pip almost dug a gopher out of a hole!

I-Lee was content to just stay near her Mama while she fished. She’s about 5-6 months old now, and is a pretty laid back pup.

The only problem came when BG was able to get under Papa’s chair and grab Gimli by the ear again, shredding the end of it and making it bleed all over. 

They ended up being tied on a line that ran from one tree to the other, only made so they couldn’t get near each other.

The trailer was really great too! It is so roomy because it has a “pull out” in one side.

Pippin enjoyed laying in Grammy’s bed when Papa was in the trailer, except at night of course, when he slept with Papa and BG in the BIG bed. Grammy has to sleep almost sitting up because of her breathing, so she had to make up a bed that would let her do that.

Papa made Grammy a wonderful omelet for breakfast on Sunday morning, while her sister and BIL took the kids out fishing again… (still no luck for them, though.) It had kielbasa, bacon, cheese, onions, sweet peppers and celery in it. It was so pretty and she said it tasted GREAT, too! (I thought so too, but she only shared a little taste… :(

We felt bad for Dott and Mercy because they didn’t get to go. They weren’t happy about it either, but we already had to many dogs that went, and the ranger said only two next time… :(

They’re Leaving AGAIN!

Do you BELIEVE it?! Papa & Grammy are leaving again, probably for at least one night. They plan to take Grandma OC with them because of the extra care she needs, but not the rest of us!

It seems that they want to see their newest grand-daughter that was born last night! The baby’s name is Anna Elizabeth and weighed 7 lbs. and 9 oz. She was 20 inches long and has black hair (Grammy says “at least for now…”) She is supposed to go home from the horse spit all today, which is probably a good idea cause little babies shouldn’t be around a lot of horse spit. This picture was taken by a cellphone and she wasn’t very happy, just being born and probably COLD!

They better come back tomorrow because it will be our BIRTHDAY!!! We will be one year old, and you don’t think they would miss THAT do you?!!! 

Pippin’s Peek at the Past #4 Winners!

We only had 2 winners this time, though 3 others got really close, only missing one question of the three each.

Congratulations to:

1. Dory and Mama from Dory’s Backyard

2. Ruby and Penny from Ruby & Penny – 2 Mini dachshunds

You two can copy and take this Winner’s Badge to your blog if you’d like, and your names will be put into the drawing for the Grand Prize in just a couple more weeks!

We want to thank Ruby & Penny, and Betty & Koda for pointing out that our link wasn’t working AGAIN, fairly early so we could get it fixed. I’m so sorry about that.

The Questions & Answers were:

1. What did the pups find in the back yard? A tarantula

2. What was BG’s little ex-mistress doing in the picture? Riding a horse

3. What did they find in the tackroom when they went to feed the horses? A snake

I think some got fooled by the “BG’s little ex-mistress” part cause Sadie was sniffing the tarantula in one of the pictures, but she isn’t BG’s ex-mistress, and some were fooled by the “doing in the picture” part because the WORDS DID say that she was helping to feed when we found the snake. 

You 3 were SO CLOSE!!! I guess it was a bit harder than I thought, but at least those that missed THIS time, have gotten it right at least some of the other times, and everyone still has another chance to get your name in during our Fifth and LAST Pippin’s Peek at the Past Puzzle.

So far, here is the rundown on the Weekly Winners:

Mango   (1) from #2

Chatty Crone   (1) from #2

Angela   (1) from #2

That Corgi   (2) from #2 and #3

Khyra   (1) from #2

Ruby & Penny (3) from #2, #3, & #4

Rudy (2) from #2 and #3

Dory (2) from #2 and #4

Mayzie (1) from #3

Congratulations to all of you!