Catch up part 2

In my previous post I told you about my awful September. And was I thankful when that month was over.

Rory's new trick. His idea of giving a hug!

Getting ready for the show

October began with two busy weekends of dog shows. Just what I needed to help put September behind me. Both weekends were wonderful. Getting together with good friends and spending all that quality time with Rory. Rory didn't win but did get one point towards his Grand Championship. (He'll need 25 points for that title.) It had been a couple of months since his last show and the first weekend of shows Rory decided to play games in the ring. Dancing and sitting and just being obnoxious! He was so bad that my local setter friends now call it a Rory when their dogs decide not to behave in the show ring!! Rory and I had a long talk and I had to be rather stern but he was a good boy in the ring the next weekend. I was happy with that. Since Rory is still very young I am not going to enter him in anything until after New Years. I'm giving him a little time to mature and grow coat. Then in late January/early February he should be ready to get back into the show ring. I can't wait.

Ferry Ride Home After the Shows

October also meant Halloween and what would any holiday be without some silly costume photos of Rory? A local pet store held a Howl-o-ween parade and costume contest so of course we had to go. Rory won third prize. Not bad. Of course first would have been better. Just kidding. I had three different costumes this year for Rory. So here are some photos. He is such a good model. :)His Royal Highness -- King Rory!

Sir Rory -- My Knight in Shining Armor

Super Rory--My Hero

This brings us to November. I have been spending my weekends relaxing and stitching and playing with my new camera. And of course taking photos of my favorite subject. As for stitching I did the bulk of my exchange stitching in late September and October. Unfortunately I don't have many photos since I didn't get the new camera until the end of October and most of my stitching photos were on the camera and laptop that was stolen. I promise to take some new stitching photos for my next update. Instead I'll leave you with some of Rory in the fall foliage.
Until next time Rory and I wish each and everyone of you a Happy Thanksgiving filled with good food, love and laughter.

Love and stitches
Kathy
and Licks from Rory too

PS. One other nice thing that happened in October was that a former co-worker interviewed me about my love of my Irish setters for his blog. If you like you can find the article HERE. The article is called Kathy and her Irish Setters. What else?

Catching up - Part One

It has been a while since I last posted hasn't it? For that I apologize. I have a good excuse too. I just didn't have it in me. For a while there I lost my blogging spirit. I miss it. I do and I have started this post many times. It's just that none of the words I wrote sounded right. Well this time I will post right words or not.

So much has happened in the last two months. So much that I am not sure where to begin. So I'll start with where I left off. The last weekend in August was my weekend trip to Rochester, NY, for my nephews wedding. It was beautiful and always a great time visiting with the siblings and family who were able to make it. Unfortunately many couldn't due to Hurricane Irene. And yes, she sure left an impact that was felt by thousands. I ended up staying at my brothers home in Rochester, which only experienced some clouds and wind, for an extra day since many roads back home were flooded or closed. I made it home late on Monday only to find that there was no electricity in my neighborhood. I had a few tree limbs down but thankfully no other damage. Being without power was bad enough. Power was finally restored on Friday! Six days without power. No hot water and no stove (it's electric) and no lights! I managed to get some stitching done during the daylight and found that trying to stitch by candlelight was impossible.

After my Irene mini-vacation it was time to get back to work. September is traditionally a very stressful and busy month for me. I am in the publishing business and the end of September is my closing of the latest edition of the book I work for. Lots of proof reading and updating going on throughout the month. And this stress was only made worse by an event that shook me to my core.

Monday, September 12th, someone (or two) broke into my home while I was at work. They kicked in a screen in my dining room and squeezed right past Rory who was in his crate. They stole my laptop (with ALL my photos!), my digital camera (with an almost full memory card), and 90 percent of my jewelry. That included all the pieces my Mother had bought me over the years, pieces that belonged to my grandmothers and a few that my cousin had recently given me that were my great-grandmothers!!! They dumped my dresser draws scattering my underwear and nightgowns all over. They stole entire jewelry boxes! You see I always considered myself a bit of a tom-boy but when it came to jewelry I was a true girly girl! And I love boxes. All kinds of trinket boxes. All sizes and shapes. Many of those are now gone and they broke many of those they didn't take.Above is a pendant that many of you help me win in the Facebook contest in July. One of the few things the thieves did NOT get because I had left it on the kitchen table after I took this photo and forgot to put it away in one of my jewelry boxes.

I am so very thankful that they didn't hurt Rory. Just snuck right past him. I have also discovered that Rory doesn't make any noise when he is in his crate so I imagine that they didn't even know he was in the house. And of course when they did they could see he was no threat. And before you say it, Yes, I have an alarm system but not the windows. This whole thing has really been devastating for me. The sense of invasion that you feel is sometimes over whelming. It took a while before I could sleep a full night. Now my main worry is every morning when I leave for work. I don't completely relax until after I know Rory's babysitter has been by. He would call if anything were out of place. I know that since he feels so guilty for not noticing the broken window that day.

After fighting with the insurance company for weeks I finally got my settlement. Not nearly enough but enough to get a new laptop and a new camera. I also had to buy a new fridge since that decided to die on me. After Irene it never got cold enough. I guess the week of no power or a surge or something was too much for the 25 year old appliance. Oh well, I now have a nice new one. Mentally I still jump at some noises. Worry when I leave Rory alone. Mourn a piece of jewelry when I put on an outfit and think of the set I would have worn with it. I know life moves on and I'm getting there.

Rory continues to help me through all my down in the dumps moments. It is so hard to keep a frown when you have this silly guy with you. The only effect from the robbery I find is that he wants to be in my lap more than usual. Which means less stitching. (Hard to stitch with a 75 pound lump in you lap. But I wouldn't have it any other way.)

Many of you who are on facebook with me and have seen the Rory photos I post there. Facebook is my addiction. And thank goodness for those Facebook photos because of them I still have some of the ones that were on the stolen camera and laptop.

So that more or less brings us to the end of September and I am going to end part one of catching up right here with a few September "Back to School" Rory photos for you.





















A special thank you to those who have sent me emails, you know who you are, asking after Rory and I. I really do appreciate them. It is always heartwarming to know that people miss you.

Next up will be some stitching and October. Then maybe things will almost be back to normal.
Until next time...........

Love and stitches,
Kathy
and licks from Rory too