HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!!!!!!  May our Lord smile upon you on this celebration of His Resurrection and His gift of Salvation.  Today I went to Mass at St. Mary’s in Delaware, Ohio, which was one of the churches of my childhood.  We lived in Delaware for three years upon our arrival from Brooklyn and Long Island, New York.  We moved every three years. I went to school at St. Mary”s in Delaware.  My father moved us to Ohio to open up a new Midwest territory for the Spicene Company located in New Jersey; Dad made huge money for those days and he excelled at his job until his compulsive gambling got the better of him.  Dad moved us to Ohio because there were more thoroughbred race tracks in Ohio than any other state. We bought our first string of Thoroughbreds while in Delaware;I grew up partially at race tracks as Dad and I shared the same passion for horses and racing often staying up night talking about horses and planning strategy. Horses were my life and losing them has made a permanent hole in my heart; my father left a much bigger hole as we were extremely close and I still miss him almost fifty years later.

There was no help for compulsive gambling in those days and at the end my father had gambled all of our financial resources away. He died at forty five leaving my mother and five kids in really dire financial straights.  I was fifteen when Daddy died; our youngest brother was three.  My mother leaned on me for everything.  People so often think I am so tough, but we had to be tough to make it and with the grace of God we did all make it.

At Mass today, I could see my father kneeling in Church in our first parish in Ohio.  Enough of reminiscing which I seem to be doing more and more in my later years.

My friend Melissa Charbonneau and her darling mother Mona are visiting during spring break so Melissa could tour Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware; Melissa had an interview with the Admissions officer which went extremely well.  Melissa has many options for college when she graduates next year, but her plan has been to go to Ohio Wesleyan and live with us as she shares my passion for Cavaliers and may bully me into showing a bit again.  Who knows what the future will be.  We will have to see what Melissa will decide; she has always wanted to go into medicine and although Ohio Wesleyan has a very strong premed program with nearly all of its premed students getting into med school, She is also considering Ohio State University which would also allow her to live here. Melissa is considering all her options.  Al and I do want her to come here as we have become her second set of parents.  She has a wonderful Cavalier who we think will grow up and become a champion, Rattlebridge Dusk Bunny, as she is by Clooney, our beautiful Ch. and Ch.  Rattlebridge From Dusk ‘Til Dawn.

Well my Faulkner stream of conscientiousness (spell check says word is correct, does not look right to me, but too lazy to get a dictionary) is over for today.  Happy Easter everyone!  May our dear Lord bless you all.

 

Our life has been in an uproar with our moving house.  We got possession on January 28th and the fun began!!–and what fun it has been.  We hired painters to paint (now I should be able to paint, but when I paint I get paint everywhere, mostly on me clear through to my underwear creating my new look in multicolored bras) We hired tile guys to put down really stunning porcelain tile in the rooms of the house which were not already tiled leaving only the bedrooms to worry about with sneaky little Cavaliers.  We hired a decorator just to put up the Staffordshire dog wall border that I have hoarded for 11 years for some reason never putting it up in our former home.  I guess I knew this home was waiting.  We love this house and its setting, truly love it.  The only flies in the ointment are that the dog yards are not finished due to weather and that we have not even had time to  get our former house and farm ready to sell. We moved in on February 21 and it has been non stop since.  Only a few of the dogs are with us as we have no fencing yet; we have barricaded the deck which connects the doors to the all season room that is going to be our dog room and the all season room which is already the family room/dog room. While the deck is an adequate size for the dogs to potty, we really want to be able to let our dogs run as they always have. Soon we hope!

 

 

 

 

These are two pictures of the outside of our new home.  It is so open and airy on the inside with two master bedrooms with their own baths on the main floor. Upstairs is an office loft with wrap around office set up, a bedroom with another complete office set up, huge attic rooms which could be finished as additional rooms, a guest bedroom and full bath.  It truly is the house for us.  We found it accidentally, and were under contract with all financing within two days. The way things happened could only be the work of God as I was so ready for a change and this house was the necessary impetus I needed.  I love my Cavaliers and still want to breed, but not on the scale we have done in the past with the search for the next great show dog or producer. For some reason, after all our success, joy and heartache of breeding and showing purebred dogs, I have lost my drive to succeed at the level that was so important to me in the past. There are so many interests that Al and I want to pursue together and independently right now; Al is my main concern  and I do not want to regret losing time with him because of the heavy show and judging travel schedules that have been my life in the past.  Al and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary last Monday.  I cannot believe the years have gone so fast.  I got married later in life and Al has been my only husband.  It certainly has been better than following my original plan to go into the convent; I would have never been able to follow all, or to be truthful, any of the rules.  Just ask my poor husband!

Our biggest worry right now is selling our farm. Carrying two mortgages is going to get old fast. The housing market is absolutely awful here.  We have a great realtor who has been our friend for many years and we have a great property to sell, but the market is awful right now.  Ohio is one of the leading states in foreclosures and still new houses are being built all the time.  We have subdivisions standing empty.  The economy is really not good here with so many companies moving or closing and so many jobs being cut.  I pray that our next president will be blessed with the capability to put us back on track, address the many issues challenging us, and keep the good of our country and its future foremost in his or her mind rather than political party or personal gain.  May our next president have the courage, the fortitude, and the ability to truly chart a new course for us.  Would you not like to go shopping to buy products “made in America” rather than other countries.  I cannot believe how few product seem to be made in our own country!  We really do need a new direction!

As soon as we get our new home organized and really livable with most of the little odds and ends completed, I will be moving back to the old house where my friend Cindy has been staying with my dogs; when I planned on living in the old house to take care of the dogs and get the house ready to sell, our friend Cindy said she and her Boxers would move in and stay so that I could go with Al.  I do so appreciate her kindness;  I am up there to see our dogs every day, but am frantically busy here putting finishing touches on this house.  I am so ADD that I am always in a frenzy trying to find this or that in the upheaval of unpacking boxes.  I just get everything in order and one of us brings up another load of boxes.  My local friends have been so wonderful helping all they can despite their busy schedules.  

On a different note, more and more anti dog and anti breeding legislation is being introduced throughout our country.  If we do not band together and fight for the right to breed and own dogs and without so many specific breeds being banned, we must be afraid that dog breeding and maybe dog ownership will be challenged at every level.  It is the PETA goal, buried in their manifesto, to end the ownership of animals. With PETA’a organization, money, and political clout,, PETA along with the Humane Society of the United States, must be challenged as to their beliefs, practices, and actions. Please become proactive in this fight.  Keep up with what your elected officials are doing in your community and state before it is too late to fight back. 

Until next time… may God bless!