Quiltlady's Gardens: A Tribute To My Darking Penny

There's bad news in Maine this week. My darling companion for the last 13 years has gone over the Rainbow Bridge. She has been with me thru the good times and the bad times these many years. Her loss was unexpected. She was under the vet's care for possible sprained shoulder muscles from maybe slipping or losing her balance on a patch of ice. I thought it was her age since she had slowed down so much in the last couple of weeks. From trotting ahead of me during our walks, she was lagging behind her last days. You know how we go to the doctor and perk up a bit, well she did the same and his findings were good steady heartbeat and good lungs but he wanted to do a complete workup and x-rays right after Christmas to rule out other hidden problems.
I guess she had us all fooled. She was on anti-inflammatories and one day she seemed to get a bit better but then she was lagging again. I checked her first thing one morning and she had [assed in her sleep. No suffering, which is good, but I was devastated.
When one has a fur baby, they are the light of our lives. We plan our days around them. We love them We cuddle them. They are our shining lights.

Penny loved the snow and wandered thru it if it wasn't too deep.

When snow was deep, she had my son's Golden to break trail for her when we lived together. He short legs struggled thru snow if it was deeper than 6 inches.

Her double coat kept her warm and toasty even during the coldest days. We walked together in all weathers. She was my anchor and reason to get out and do my daily walking exercise 4 times a day.

Oh, what fun we had.

Trips outdoors if wet or snowy meant a good rub down, especially the feet when we came into the lobby. She knew the routine. She would lay down and roll over so I could wipe down her chest and her feet. It was automatic for her.

I think those rubdowns felt mighty good to her.

Even blizzards did not keep us hidden indoors.

Here she is waiting for the elevator door to open after one of our walkies.

But I think our favorite walks were the ones in spring and summer when we could run in the grass and smell the flowers along the way. Her nose was always working.

Here's Penny checking out the daffodils.

We have a pair of Canada Geese that come back each summer to raise a new brood of chicks. This is Penny following the trail of the family as they headed back to the river.