so pheasant season is here and for the first time in 13 years, the husband is hunting without his trusty black lab, sidney. he tried taking her with him this weekend to just ride along and sit in the truck, but as soon as she figured out they were hunting without her, she barked for them to come get her. she is not a dog to waste her words and the husband said he could hear her barking about a mile away. 

it totally broke my heart. 

he said they came back with pheasants and hid one in the weeds near the truck so sidney could "find" it. she had a hard time even with that--this coming from a dog that could out hunt any dog, any time, back in her day. walking through tall weeds is too hard and it seems her sight and nose just aren't what they used to be. 

fortunately, she does enjoy a good sunbeam and a chew bone. we'll have to make the most of those on the weekends now, maybe throw in a bowl of ice cream every now and then. she won't like staying home with me, but we'll make the best of it. that fireplace sounds better than a freezing day walking fields anyway, right? it might take some convincing, but i'm determined to make her HAPPY to have to stay.

that's what i will be doing this fall. stop by and visit us on the front porch. sid and i will be talking about the glory days when she brought in all the birds and left the professional dogs in the dust.