Cathy Zielske's Blog

Remembering a very good dog

 

 

 

My sweet friend Chip went to the great dog park in the sky over the weekend. Right now, I would imagine she's running like around like a puppy, hearing every little noise now that nature can offer up and being fed toast crusts on demand. (Shhhh. That's what we used to give her as little treats during her many visits to our home.)

I'm thankful for all the time Chip spent with my family. She was a sweet and gentle part of our lives. Thanks to the Smith family for letting me come down to say goodbye.

She was a very good dog.

Out with the old, in with the new

Awwww. How could I refer to Chipina as "the old"?

All good things must come to an end, and Chippie has returned safely to the loving home from whence she came. After vacuuming up a goodly batch of dog hair, we found ourselves longing for the love, affection and camaraderie one can only receive from a cherished pet.

In that spirit, meet Atticus:

 

Full name: Atticus Fish Zielske.

Named by: Aidan.

Owned by: Aidan, and partially by Cole.

Cost: $40 and change for all supplies.

The point: Years of hair-free love.

Welcome to the family, Fish Boy. (I swear when he turns sideways like that, all I see is Gregory Peck.)

Who's a good dog?

We are happy to welcome our old friend Chippie for a two-and-a-half week stay here at Chez Zielske. While her family are off to decidedly far more tropical locale than here in sub-zero St. Paul, Minnesota, we are charged with her care and upkeep.

For you long-time blog readers, you all know Chippie well (you can read lots more about her by clicking here.) Chippie is my neighbor's dog who we took in for 6 months back in 2007 while they were out of the country.

Things have definitely changed with this old girl, even since her last stay. She spends most of her time sleeping, curled up on a big cushy dog bed, with not a care in the world. She doesn't hear very well. I know this because I can vacuum within a few feet of her dog bed and she doesn't even stir.

She no longer does stairs, so her long cozy nights sleeping in Aidan's room are now just a sweet memory, and I no longer have an office buddy at my feet. It's tricky enough for her to handle the stairs leading from our back door to our yard.

The yard is tricky too. It's covered with a foot of hard, icy snow. When she arrived last week, I had the kids go out and tromp down a section so she would have a place to go when nature calls. We call it Chippie's Poop Pad.

I know she's not my dog, and maybe making a scrapbook page about pets you don't own is goofy, but I look at it like this: I love this dog. We don't take it lightly when our friends ask us to take over the care, feeding and love of their pets while they're away. It's a very big deal.

I'm not sure how many more visits Chip will be making to our house, but rest assured, while she's here, we'll make sure she's warm, fed and above all, loved.

 

LAYOUT SUPPLIES: CZ Layered Template No. 28 • Buttoned Up Numbers, Foundation Cardstock (Katie Pertiet) • Bellissimo Paper Pack (Lynne Grieveson) • Dearest Script and Avenir fonts

Hello, Old Girl

Chippie's back. Just for a short week. Oh, she's a sweet old girl. Just wanted to share a shot. She has nothing to say for herself. She's old. And she's got some napping to do.

We're bringin' Chippie back…yeah

Them other dogs don't know how to act…yeah.

Okay, she's not actually HERE quite yet, but she will be here later on today for a stay through the weekend, as the lovely Smith family have need to be away for a few days.

I'm so excited, I don't think I'll be able to any work done today!

I've got it all planned out! We'll hang out and I'll talk a lot, and pet her incessantly, and she'll sleep. It's going to be GREAT!

I realize it seems that I should probably bite the bullet and get a dog of my own. But I know I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility just yet. All around me, people have these great dogs, and seem to be managing just fine. But me? Not ready. Not just yet.

Now if you'll forgive me, I  have to go start sterilizing Chip's drinking water.

thank you, chipina…and paul

She goes home next week, and I will be in Utah all week, and not present for the hand off. I could get all sentimental here, but I'm trying to save critical typing for work-related functions. Instead, I offer my photographic tribute to a very fine dog that I wish we would have been smart enough to have bred while she was here. Imagine those puppies!

I'm guessing, though…it would have had to have been an immaculate birth, but who knows…Chippie really is THAT good.

Thanks, Tim and Ann. Please don't be alarmed to find me loitering in your yard.

I'm relatively harmless.

Download farewell_chipina.mov

We love you, Chippie. You're a very good dog.

Farm dog

Easter Sunday. Down at the farm in Southern Minnesota. Chip the dog meets the cows. Chases down the resident peacock. And, makes friends with a 9-month-old poodle/beagle cross named Gordie. What a fun day for a dog, huh?

Seriously. Watching Chip run around the farm made me a) nervous and b) happy, because she totally forgot she was 11. I've never actually seen her in a flat-out run. It was pretty cool. Except that she was so tired last night when we got home, she refused to go outside one last time to use the...bathroom. Oh Chippie…we loves you, yes we do…oh, yes we do...

The other cool thing about this Easter was that the Easter Bunny brought Cole a CD, and that CD is part of Cole's newest musical thing. Want to take a guess who the band is?

I realize the George is a bit of a stretch, but look at Paul. Dude nailed that one. John's a bit Harry Potter-esque (um, because that actually IS Harry Potter, duh), and Ringo's pretty dead on too. Cole drew the beard on Ringo, for authenticity.

The CD? Yellow Submarine. Cole's favorite song is Hey Bulldog. We listened to a different Beatles CD on Saturday morning, during our weekend cleaning extravaganza (a new thing we've been trying for the past few months, and these words actually came from my husband's lips: "This maintaining thing really works!") and as I'm singing along to Paperback Writer, I'm thinking, "Seriously? How can it sound THIS fresh, all these years later?"

So…if you got you some Beatles…crank it up. And here's one from Coley, for you…

It's not just me, either

Everyone loves Chippy. But Cole has an agenda.

The reason he's feeding Chip in this shot is because he wants a lizard of some sort. I'm really a bit hazy on it, because every time he mentions the word "newt" or "iguana" my thoughts completely glaze over with the knowledge that I'm going to have to break his little heart eventually. Why? Ain't no lizard gonna be livin' in my house. Not happening. (I hope Coley doesn't decide that today, of all days, is the day he's going to start reading Mom's blog. And Aidan, don't you tell him I have no plans to ever get him a lizard! Remember, your birthday is tomorrow....right? That's what I thought.)

So he's been trying to prove that he can care for a pet. Ergo, the reason he is feeding Chip. That effort lasted two days. If it were up to Coleman, Chippy would be starving right now. And here's the fact: if he can't spend three-and-a-half minutes giving Chip her tasty morsels of deliciousness, he's not going to handle a lizard living in his room.

IN OTHER NEWS:
1. Thanks, Max. For cutting my hair, removing the mullet tails and restoring my inner peace.

2. Day three of sugar detox and I'm fairly certain I would sell one of my children for a little can of full strength Sprite.

3. I am reading the newest CK idea book, Computer Tricks for Scrapbooking, and I gotta say, good book. Great stuff by Jessica Sprague and many other talented scrapbookers who make me want to embrace the hybrid girl in my soul. Serious. It's good stuff, man.

4. Did I mention I got my hair cut?

chip waxes philosophic...

Dear Beloved Family,

It seems there've been some requests for direct updates from me…so while the Lady is off drinking her weird, hot dark water, and grumbling about "I didn't sign up to be a maid" while picking up soft, nice smelling things off the floor, I thought I'd dash off a quick note to let you know how I'm doing.

I'm doing fine.

I was surprised to learn that so many of the Lady's blog readers thought I was a boy dog. Hmmm. I don't think I look overly masculine, but you know how humans are. They think we all look alike. That always makes me chuckle. I guess if you're not sniffing butts, it's considerably harder to tell.

The snow has been great! Every time I go out, it gets all caked into my fur, and the Lady finally realized: you just have to wait until it melts out.

I've had a little time to myself this weekend. The Lady and the Man left for a good stretch of time. Something about a Pete Yorn concert. I overheard her talking yesterday morning. She said it was good, but that it was "no Park City, Utah show." Not as intimate. Too many people. And apparently she doesn't like people all that much. Which probably explains her attachment to me.

If only I could get across how the butt sniffing can really help you sort out who's who and how they stack up. Not only that, but sniffing, in general, shows you how to tell the flowers from the weeds. Helps you find the best places to pee, too.

Until next time…

Chip "I am female dog" Smith

see how the canine blends with her environment…

I realize that haven't included letters from Chip in a while, but she's been busy rec-creating, and sleeping, and being loved on. She doesn't have time to blog. I mean…come on! She's b-u-s-y.

And mostly, I had to post a new pic because I didn't really need to see that disturbing shot of me and Pete (taken later on tonight) because the proportions of my head were so wrong.

For the benefit of you non-Minnesotans, we did, in fact, get the storm of the week of the century. Holy snowblowers (and do I wish I had one about now? Um, yes) we got us some snow. Poor Chip can't even find a low enough ground level to drop the kids off at the....snow. I kept telling the kids to go out and make some snow angels.…just to give Chippie a poop pad. No such luck. So out I'll go later on and get horizontal in the snow. Sigh. Pet ownership is so hard.

In good news…the Pete Yorn tour bus made it to town. I know this because a) I stalk well, and b) he has a blog. Part of the state highway system were shut down over night. You know, that can wreak havoc on tour buses. But lo…the band blogged from Minneapolis. And they're here. Safe and sound.

In preparation for tonight's extravaganza, I just downloaded the Aqualung album, (see link at left) because they were good in Utah, and I'm guessing they'll be good tonight. Very nice music for working and chilling out.

Happy weekends. I'll tell Pete you all said, "Hi."