Oh Camp! I am so sorry. I'd rather you were having good adventures.

Even without successive "storms of the century," winter is the hardest time -- for garden plants, and for old dogs. Old dogs should be able to fade out of life in pleasant summer.

Dogs are our life, here. Moreso than roses, to be honest. So we have lived that nightmare too many times. You will be in my thoughts, this cold (for us) day.

Jeri
(Dog Lady)

It seems like a very short time since the last storm and this one seems even bigger. So tough to handle one blow after another, and your doggie's increasing fragility being the most bitter pill of all. It's the curse of loving our animals so much. Please stay safe (no standing under trees and gazing up at the wildly swaying branches please).

Ingrid

Well thank you: that puts things in perspective. I've been moping about this morning as a fairly astonishing ice storm last night sent a large magnolia grandiflora branch crashing onto one of my favorite camellias, chopping off its top half. Your post has reminded me that a decapitated camellia isn't the end of the world. I hope your life gets easier, C.

Wishing you and everyone else on my favorite islands safe passage through the storms.

Sorry to hear about your dog. Wishing her a bit more happy time together with your family.

Old animals are heartbreaking aren't they? Such a huge chunk of family life with them at the centre of it - we measure years, whole childhoods by Dog years (Lila is 4th in my adult life). This is, of course, at the heart of my miserable venting (although she nearly had my hand off when offered a sausage so not totally worried yet....but it's in the post for sure).The rest is just the usual end of week moaning (our local farmer e.mailed to say he thought our wood would be OK and woohoo- customers are crazy (enlightened insight of the century)

I wish I I could tell you that the weather isn't worth worrying over and that you could believe me, but I know better. One hurricane and two busted levees snatched away five years of my life. I have PTSD and I'm afraid to buy a new car even though I desperately need one before next year's hurricane season. There was a tremendous amount of good that came out of it despite all the people and things that were lost. It wasn't worth my health to stress over something I had no control over. My husband and I still haven't finished the repairs on the house, but all that nasty flood water sure made things grow like gangbusters. The whole city got a new coat of paint and very old beautiful homes got the repairs they desperately needed. The housing projects were torn down and replaced with beautiful mixed-income neighborhoods. Children who needed to get out of the inner city got free tickets to places with better schools. There will always be some good with the bad, thankfully, because the bad isn't going anywhere. I recommend purchasing a good gas-powered chainsaw.

Uugh, yet another duplicate.

This post was edited by Evenie on Fri, Dec 6, 13 at 16:34

Our collie is 11 now and slowing down. So bitter-sweet and precious is this time. Our dogs fit us like a favorite old warm coat, both having molded to our unique quirks. I focus (and refocus) on enjoying the now and refusing to look ahead. After a loss is time enough for grieving.

I trust your garden will be safe and pray so.

Cath

Aha Evenie - the new monster chainsaw is precisely why I am not chewing my fingernails to bleeding stubs....because we are no longer tree-falling virgins, having had a joyful felling session (7 of them, the clearing looked like a riot scene)....and now fully understand statistics are on my side. It would have to be insanely unlucky for a tree to actually land on top of the horsebox when it has 5 acres to fall in.
Oh sympathies too - it is extraordinary how intense stress can also birth amazing fortitude and resilience.
Cath - there are a few old dogs (and old walkers) who we meet with in our local graveyard - we are the ones who are shuffling along at snail pace while the dogs huff together and glare at boisterous pups (and snarl if sufficient respect is not shown). A few of them are a bit deaf and blind so there is always a LOT of sniffing. This is a core activity for Lila although for the first time in her life, she has wanted to be on a lead, close to my legs but nonetheless, while she can still manage this little jaunt, all is still well, mostly.

At one point, our entire family of dogs began to depart, one after another. Well, they were all in the same age-range.

Our wonderful vet, with tears in his eyes, said:
"Will you guys PLEASE get some younger dogs?"

And of course, we did. And of course, those dogs in their turn grew old. And now we have a family of three -- all in the same general age-range. HORRORS.

Jeri

Oh Camps.

I feel your pain with your customers. My parents attracted a wide variety of unique people. As a kid, we had some of them even living with us. Many are still friends so there are some unusual thinking guests that visit at times. (sure hope I said that nice enough....lol cause most of them seem rather intensely interested in my personal life much to my dismay and do not enjoy my lack of "communication" skills with them)

You communicate beautifully. :-)

Jeri

Beautiful old pets. It says how well you have cared for them that they could reach old age. In the wild, they never get to live that long. I was reading how the early people were studied and the idea is that most people only lived to 40 or so in the wild. Anyone who has passed 40 is living a gift. This is the gift we give our pets. A gift of a second life because they live twice as long as wild animals would. Every day with an older pet is a blessing. One more day to be together. That's how I feel about every day over 40. It's nothing to be sad about because it's a great gift to be able to see the people and animals you love and see the sky and work in the garden.

I'm wishing the storms would not come and worry you. Would they let you clear the trees around the horsebox just so you wouldn't have to have that danger as a possibility. It would be great if you could have a small place to go to if you wanted to. Customers can be a pain but it's worse having a crazy boss. I've had great bosses and some really bad ones. My guy has a boss who is brilliant and also a lunatic at times. You wouldn't want the stress of that. I'm glad you work for yourself though it can be aggravating but still, you never have to worry about pleasing anyone but your customers. I hope you get to see some spectacular gardens that makes it worthwhile. Maybe you can meet a young designer just starting out to collaborate with for big things.

Please winter, be kind to our friend and bring a mild spring and a peaceful summer to her graceful wood.

Beautifully written, moving posts. This thread feels somehow like a book to me, short but powerful.

Campanula -- your writing has a swift, natural flow to it, fully of sparks. Ever consider writing? I would be be a diehard fun. :) Maybe a book titled "Antique Rose Forum"?

This is a very interesting thread and I'm particularly glad to hear that, with all the destruction, some of it still felt years later, some good did come out of the New Orleans hurricane. Thanks for the report, Evenie! I was visiting family in north Florida when it hit and read the headlines and got an indirect dose of the horror that ensued. The hotels in Tallahassee were filled with refugees escaping along I-10.
Suzie, I hope you got through the storm all right. Did your horsebox survive?
Melissa

Camp, I'm sorry about the weather and sorry about your dear dog. Kitty is right. Every day more with an older dog is a blessing. 16 years is a wonderful long time for you to live with your pet. It looks like this weather is a good warning for you that living all year in the horse box in the woods might be too difficult.