Time flies. My last post here was in November of 2021. Life took over and my blog efforts got lost in the shuffle, but the dogs did not. I went into the pandemic with thirteen rescue dogs. I now have four. It has been a hard few years and I have said goodbye to nine dear companions. Old age issues, like cancer and organ failure claimed most. Sudden, catastrophic kidney failure, likely a result of Lyme’s disease, took two. And idiopathic epilepsy stole Ike, my three year old Border Collie, in July of 2022.

I closed my business and took early retirement toward the end of 2020, but the financial and physical/mental toll of trying to save Ike was too much, so I decided to look for a job. Thankfully I found one that I thought was perfect for me. I packed up my six remaining dogs and my very old cat, put my home of twenty seven years on the market, bought a house in a postcard perfect town two hours from where I had lived for thirty years, and embraced my new adventure, at 65 years of age.

Not so fast, pilgrim. The boss ended up hating me. We started out as great friends. The program was going well, we were gaining traction with downtown development efforts, but she got her knickers in a knot. The final showdown came when she publicly screamed that “EVERYONE hated me and I was a HORRIBLE person.” (Just to set that moment for you visually, she was dressed as Mrs. Claus, sitting next to Santa Claus, on a stage, as vendors were setting up booths and shoppers were starting to gather.) Long story short, the nonprofit board choose to support the hometown girl, never formally addressing the staff’s three written HR complaints, so staff quit.

My sad tale goes on and on, but you are here for the puppers, yes? Yippee is now twelve. He is a chihuagi, a chihuahua/corgi mix. There are two beagles, Lady Bug (with me 6 years), and Molly (with me 4 years). Both of them were likely hunting beagles that where dumped or got lost from the pack-standard practice here, sadly. They were completely shut down when I fostered them for the Orange County (VA) Shelter, but now they enjoy being house slugs. And then there is Harley. He is Ike’s full brother. He joined us before Ike passed and he has been my stalwart partner ever since.

That catches us up on the fam. Simon Snitz, my yellow cat, is twenty now. And my house came with two feral cats that are feral no more. They live on the front porch and I provide food service twice a day.

So here goes! Welcome back to our crazy, chaotic, loud, dusty, dog hairy world! And if you are so inclined, visit my Facebook page at The Patchwork Dog. I am planning to start posting there again too.