Mr. Fox

Early one Saturday morning, I went out for a walk and I came across a tail-less fox.  His red hair gleamed in the rising sun and his fluffy coat looked so very soft and easy to cuddle.

He wiggled over to me and when I looked into those big brown eyes, I knew I had to have him.

As luck would have it, I had a red leash with me, so I could lead him home.

Gimli photobomb!

I was trying to get a picture of Gimli's stocking, which you have already seen, when Mike and Gimli photobombed it.

Merry Christmas!

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

It's Christmas time again and Mike and I would like to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas.

Gimli, because many generations ago his ancestors frapped around Wales, wishes you a "Happy Christmas".  He so likes to pretend he's a royal corgi.

This year, let us remember what is truly important in this world - the love we share with our family, our friends and each other.  We are all stuck on this big blue planet and we had better start loving each other.  We know what happens when we hate, let's love instead.

Christmas list 2012

Hewo,

it is me agin, Gimli!

i kno it has bin a long time since i got to rite to you.

it is Christmas time agin und i hab my list.

For me:

a squeaky toy
cheese
a wubba
apple, pear, cucumber, bread, orange and carrot
another toy
some food
choclit - candy is always eating but she won't share. i want some of my own.

For candy:
some choclit
a corgi puppy, i pomise to be nice und share my toys
new slippers for me to steal

For mike:
cookies so he will share wif me
a new leg so he can be moar actif

da spider und i are looking for u Santa

Christmas Tree 2012

This year on the Christmas tree, we have a number of new ornaments.  If we keep this up, we're going to need a second, smaller tree to house them all!

Our first religious ornament. We picked this up at the Kathe Wolfahrt store in Rothenburg.

Our Rothenburg ornament along with the date.

I thought this rocking "horse" teddy was cute, so I grabbed him.

My new Maleficent ornament :)

My new Evil Queen ornament :)

Our Disneyland 2012 ornament.

Our stockings

Gimli's stocking.  It has 2 jingle bells on it and I cannot touch it without him running up and trying to see what's inside.

Lastly, our tree.  There's no angel at the top because our old one has fallen apart.  We haven't been able to find a suitable replacement.  Hopefully next year.

We've also put up garland and lights on the banister and around the windows downstairs.  It seems each year, we do a bit more.

I was also crafty enough to create a custom wreath!  Not to shabby huh?

I saw it on Pinterest and used the instructions found here: Ribbon Wreath Craft. A word of advice, if you're going to make this, be sure to purchase your ribbon from your local craft store by mid-November.  I had to go back to Michael's at the beginning of December to find a ribbon for the hanger portion and all the samples I had used were gone.

Next year, I want to do some doggie footprint ornaments.

Saturday Smiler - Lookin' out the window

Wordless Wednesday - First prize

5 things going on in our house - December

1. I still have a huge backlog of posts to put up.  I had hoped to finish chronicling our vacations by the end of the year, but I don't think it will happen.  Next year, I'll have to be on the ball to put them up sooner rather than later.

2. All our Christmas cards and shopping is complete, YAY!  It's not even the middle of the month and we are done.  That means no running around the mall with the crazies looking for specific items.

3. There's no snow yet.  Well, no accumulated snow.  I'd really like to take Gimli out to play in the snow in the backyard or at the park.  The weather reports state that we probably won't have a white Christmas this year, booooo.

4. Mike's present.  That's all I can say without giving away what it is.

5. Am looking forward to having a few days off next week.  We've been very busy lately and it will be nice to sit, relax and enjoy the quiet.

Gimli, the slipper burglar

Gimli's a shoe loving dog.  Since he was a puppy, he's had a thing for shoes. Any type of shoe - sandals, slippers, sneakers, boots, any shoe that belongs to me.  He doesn't go after Mike's shoes, nor does he go after socks.

The majority of the time, he's content to lie next to them or on them but he's never stolen them... until this past week.

That morning, my feet were cold and I went looking for my slippers.  I found one, but not the other.  I looked everywhere, but no slipper.  Something told me to look in Gimli's crate, where I found this.

I suspect Gimli stole it Monday evening and put it into his crate.  I had left them under the desk and assumed they would still be there on Tuesday morning.  When Mike put him to bed, Gimli lay on top of it so Mike didn't see it in the crate.

I really hope he doesn't make this a habit, the little thief!

Toy Hospital

Most dog owners have a few stuffed toys that have been torn open by their doggie's chewing.  Gimli has a great many of them.  When they are ripped open, we hide them away until I can find time to stitch them back up.

A couple years ago, we gave Gimli a sheep for Christmas.  He wasn't sure what to do with it, though I think he just likes having a toy that's bigger than his other ones.  For some reason, the sheep snorted, but Gimli didn't seem to mind.

You can see him with his sheep here: Gimli and his sheep.

Unfortunately, the snorting sound stopped working and then Gimli started ripping a hole at one of the seams.  We took it away and the poor sheepie has been sitting on our dresser for a few months.

Fast forward to yesterday.  Mike and I picked up some Christmas toys for Gimli and a package of replacement squeakers.  I decided I'd get my act together and start fixing the toys and the sheep was the first one.  Because Gimli follows me everywhere, he saw me grab sheepie and Gimli followed me all the way to the couch where he proceeded to oversee sheepie's surgery.

Yes, he stared at me with that face.

Turns out the noise mechanism, which was just a plastic hose in a plastic bag, couldn't be repaired.  So, sheepie is silent, but he's been stitched back together, much to Gimli's delight.

 

I have maybe 5 or 6 toys to fix and replace with squeakers and I'm sure Gimli will be right next to me to ensure his toy is fixed properly!

12/12/12 = 12 cookies

I've heard today is an important day because it's Dec. 12 of 2012, thus 12/12/12.  I've also heard that it's a good day because it signifies a new beginning and so on.

In the spirit of today... sort of... Gimli received 12 cookies for dessert.  I, unfortunately did not get 12 cookies or 12 chocolates for dessert, because that would translate into 12 new lbs.

Flat Gimli Friday - Waldeck

Mini jail?

Flat Gimli doesn't need a box to see over the wall.
Extra point if you can name the movie.

A Medieval punishment device.  The guilty party was chained to it and had to stand in the elements for a set amount of time.  Not pretty.

A Special Day

It's my birthday today!  YAY!

It's also Walt Disney's birthday so I thought I'd share some pictures of places where he actually walked.

Schloss Waldeck - Mists

I've had this post in my head the day this happened and I've been hoping I don't forget.

As I've mentioned, we were fortunate to stay at a real castle - Castle Waldeck, which is perched above the shores of Lake Edersee.

When we arrived, one of our guides suggested waking up early to see the mists retreating from the lake.  The first morning, we didn't wake up early enough.  The sun rises quite early in Germany in July and even though we were up around 6.30, the mists had disappeared.

The next morning however...

Mike was up around 4 to use the washroom and he realized the time.  He shook me awake and I hastily pulled on my jeans under my nightshirt, threw on my sweater, grabbed the camera and key and headed out.  Mike, however, went back to bed.

I opened the door and the hallway was quiet.  The glass walled elevator, which was in a tower, sat in the dark.  I pushed the button and the elevator hummed as it climbed up to our floor.  When the doors opened, the inside light came on and as I descended, the light came with me down into the darkness.

I stepped from the elevator and into the courtyard. And my breath caught in my throat.

The mist covered everything.  I couldn't see the far end of the courtyard and it was deathly silent, except for the clanging of the flagpoles.  I walked to the battlements and stood with my hands perched on the side.  All I saw was mist, whiteness as far as the eye could see.  I turned back and could barely see the walls.

I stood for while in silence.  Thinking how many soldiers stood on these battlements standing watch, knowing the enemy was in the valley below, but unable to see them.  Wondering if they would survive the fight.

I looked down and it hit me again that I was standing on stone.  I was standing in the courtyard of a castle!  A real live castle!  The lump in my throat came back.  I never believed I'd be able to spend the night in a castle.  Hell, I never thought I'd make it to Germany.  I thanked God, I thanked the Universe for sending this opportunity and for us being able to grab it and run with it.

I took this video just as there was a break in the mists.

I stood on the battlement, thinking and marveling and just drinking it all in, before I realized I had been out for about half an hour.  I raced back upstairs and poked Mike until he woke up.  I remember saying, "Get up, you need to see this!"

We stayed for a short while later before we returned to our room to get ready for breakfast.

This castle is officially one of my favorite places in the world.

Waiting for puppies

Yesterday started off a little unconventional and in retrospect, I should have figured out that something disappointing was going to happen.

Yesterday morning, Gimli was very clingy and wanting to snuggle. Instead of our morning walk, we sat on the floor for a while, while I gave him belly scratches and massages and kisses. The rest of the day, he was never far away.

Then in the afternoon I received the e-mail from Gimli's breeder. Turns out we won't be getting a puppy in February. The Momma dog, Gimli's 1/2 sister, had a false pregnancy and so there are no puppies. The breeder only realized something was amiss when Momma dog's milk started to dry up. The breeder's going to breed Gimli's other 1/2 sister when she comes into season in January, but she's not sure if she'll breed this last Momma dog again.

This means waiting til June before a little four legged creature get's to join our family.

After work, I took Gimli on a walk and we ended up going through the park.  It was getting dark and there wasn't a soul around.  We had a good run back and forth, Gimli played with the leash and wiggled his butt and, as silly as it sounds, I felt better.  I felt grateful that I had Gimli and that I get to see him every day.

Wordless Wednesday - Soft and Fuzzy

Schloss Waldeck

After our day in Alsfeld, we hopped onto the Autobahn and headed to Schloss Waldeck, (Castle Waldeck).

I must admit, though I knew we were going to stay in a castle for a few nights, it hadn't actually dawned on me that this was where we were going to stay.

Legend has it, Schloss Waldeck is the castle on which the Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs story is based.

We arrived in mid-afternoon and we had to park the bus at the base of the hill because there was no way that bus was going to make it up the narrow, sloping road.  Of course, if the bus couldn't make it up the hill, then we had to trudge up the hill to the narrow entrance to the courtyard.

Mike struggled and we were fortunate enough that one of our fellow travelers helped push him up the hill because there's no way that I was strong enough!

At the top of the hill, we met up with the King of the castle and he allowed us to enter.

We were taken to the rampart where they had a small area for refreshments set up for us.  Then we saw this and my eyes widened.

The body of water below is is Lake Edersee, on which we were scheduled to visit the following day.

We received our room key and headed in to relax and change before dinner.

I'll leave you with some pictures of Schloss Waldeck.

Next in the series is an experience I had that I never expected.

Saturday Smiler - Can I come too?

Flat Gimli - Wolfie

You know you're crazy when you ask a guy dressed in a wolf costume to pretend to be a flat version of your dog.  I do hope this poor man isn't scarred for life.

Wordless Wednesday - Tucked in

Little Red Riding Hood - Alsfeld

One of the delights we experienced in Alsfeld was the play, "Little Red Riding Hood".

There are local performers that put on various fairy tale plays for the many tour guides that visit Alsfeld.  The tour took us through the winding streets as we took up pursuit of the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood aka "Rotkappchen".

Now now Red, don't go talking to strange creatures.  Especially men in wolf suits...

Guess who?

No no, I couldn't possibly harm a nice little girl walking by herself in the forest.

Grandma???

Apparently after you eat a little girl, you must drink large amounts of wine.

Red and Grandma are saved, all the while the wolf sleeps with a belly full of stones.

Take aim!

Poor wolfie