Buckingham 2003-2016

This past Wednesday we had to say good-bye to our 12 1/2 year old Golden Retriever, Buckingham.  A few days before, I decided that we would go on a short hike up into the hills behind our house to the Sugar Shack with our daughter Margot and her girlfriend Hadley and their dog Brew.  It was a walk that he loved and he knew well.  I believe he knew every inch of those woods as well or better than my brother who hikes them all the time.  Although Buck had slowed down significantly in the last few months, and was all but stone deaf, he undertook that walk with some of the old energy of his youth.  We had a wonderful time and he loved every minute of it.  Buckingham came into our lives after we lost our Sebastian back in February of 2003.  I guess we just can’t be a family without a Golden so we went out and found Buck in a litter in Southern New Hampshire.  It was February and we were living in our house in Newbury at the time.  Lots of snow on the ground.  He had been litter box trained and we were given some of the sawdust and told to put it on the spot where we wanted him to go outside.  I am not sure that Buckingham ever was comfortable doing his business on grass.  He was trained to the snow and he always rejoiced when winter set in.  He would roll around in the snow, usually on a tennis ball that he had buried in a snow drift.  He also loved to eat sticks and we used to joke that he would poop fire bricks.  He was patient, gentle, had a mind of his own and loved us.  He loved North Hatley and the lake and would spend hours trolling the shore looking for fish or anything else of interest.  He was a great swimmer unlike his faithful companion, Miss Q, who pretty much sinks like a stone before surfacing.  Buckingham was also very concerned about people who went swimming and particularly the grandchildren.  He would try to rescue them and was very good at letting them hang on to his fur and he would pull them back to safety and the shore.   Buck,  we loved you and you will be missed.  All I can hope for is that you knew how much we loved you right up to the last minute you were with us here and that you are running in the woods and hills of North Hatley and swimming at Buck’s Corner, forever.

Health Update 2016

Another milestone was met this week when I went to Dartmouth Hospital in Hanover for a check-in with my wonderful cardiologist.  He and I have a rather amusing relationship as I hate pills and he is a traditionalist who dispenses pills.  I think he spends a lot of time trying to come up with ways to convince me to behave and follow the protocols he has used but also he is fair enough to be willing to work with me on keeping me healthy.  My husband sent me a text prior to my appointment telling me to be nice to him!  John knows how I can be.   Dr. Peter was very pleased with my EKG results and my overall health.  He has let me stop two of the medications because he says we are no longer trying to protect my heart as there was no damage to my heart during the episode.  Just keep the exercise going and eat right and take the Plavix to protect the stent from a clot and the baby aspirin and the blood pressure med which should keep it low although it was never very high to begin with except when I go to see him – white coat they call it!!!  So we made a compromise and I think it works for both of us.  I am so lucky I have lots and lots of the good cholesterol and the type of bad cholesterol I have is an inherited kind not from the food I eat.  I take Niacin for it and he was pleased about that too.  The technicalities are beyond me but for now I am happy with what I am doing and happy to keep working at the exercise and food that I eat because that is where my true calling takes me.  Before my appointment I went out to lunch at Molly’s in Hanover.  I don’t go out by myself very often but this was really a treat.  The salad special was a mixed farm fresh greens with blueberries and strawberries and citrus marinated chicken.  Well, you know I ordered that.  I also ordered iced tea which is problematic because I don’t drink caffeine so I had to ask her for hot tea and a tall glass of ice so I could make my own herbal version.  No matter, it worked and it was delicious.  I tried a calming cup of chamomile-citrus afterwards but it didn’t help my white coat problem at all.  Wine might have but not a good idea to drink wine before a doctor’s appointment, right?

Goals Attained and New Goals Set-Up

Last month was quite a challenge for me on the walking front as I had broken my toe right before my birthday in May.  It didn’t deter me from setting up my 100 mile goal but I wasn’t sure that I had a chance of getting close to that number walking with a broken toe.  The toeless sneaker really helped and then I found some funky looking shoes that seemed to work too.  I kept at it and lo and behold, on the last day of the month of June, I went over the 100 mile mark.  My daughter Katie is the one who has really motivated me to not give up.  She is getting up with the sun and walking before she goes to work.  Her determination has spilled over to me and we are both now posting our walks on Facebook.  I use an app called Runkeeper which I now love.  I couldn’t figure out how to get it to post to Facebook directly from the app for the longest time but once I figured it out – look out.  Now my challenge is to come up with interesting pictures to post along with it.  Just found out there is way to take the pictures from within the app and then choose to post one or all.  That makes it even more fun.  Ran into a lot of deer this week but the best was the kissing deer.   They came out of the woods from opposite sides of the road, greeted each other and then passed to the other side.  I stood and watched for a few minutes and then the two of them decided they didn’t like me and they joined three other friends and romped off into the woods.  They really are beautiful but they seem to be increasing in numbers around here.   Katie is here this weekend and we have been doing a marathon of walking with a 5.43 on Friday, 6.78 on Saturday and 5.29 today.  I think we are both on track for a good month.  No more broken toes please!

Life Goes On

John and I have never been without a Golden Retriever in almost all the years that we have been married.  We went a whole week once without one once and neither of us could stand it.  We know Buckingham would want us to give a home to another Golden.  We have been researching puppies and have found, through a series of wonderful coincidences, a breeder who just might find us acceptable as fur parents.  A litter may be due in early September and there will be puppies available.  They are located in South Carolina not far from Charlotte, NC.  The timing might work out for all of us.  We hope we will be able to adopt a new fur baby in early November.  We have sent in our application and hope to hear updates and some good news in the not too distant future.  In the meantime, we are a quiet family now with just one dog, Miss Q and one cat, her ladyship Portia, to keep us company.  A new normal for now but I am thinking all the time how to puppy proof this house and the one in South Carolina and warning Q and Portia to enjoy their peace and quiet for now!   Wish us luck.

Libby has been cooking up a storm this week and made the most amazing bar-b-q sauces and marinades which we thoroughly enjoyed.  She won’t share her recipe because she says it is different every time but I’ll ask her to maybe write it down the next time so I can share it here.  Happy 4th of July and a very Happy Birthday to our firecracker baby, Margot who is in Italy for her birthday this year.  We miss you.

If you love Boursin but don’t want all the artificial preservatives, try Katie’s boursin.  It is better than store bought by far!

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