Tough Days

It has been awhile since I have chatted with you. I apologize. This past month was a tough one. My daughter's Great Dane, Quinn, has been in poor health for about a year. However, April really took its toll on him. He had cancer on his toe a year ago. We had the tumor removed in November, but we knew the cancer would most likely strike again. It did, in April. We probably could have dealt with that, but Quinn also had spinal stenosis. He weighed in at 180 lbs. and getting up was very painful and sleeping was horrible. So, a week ago I made the very difficult decision to let Quinnie, "cross over". It has been a sad time in our house. Quinn's litter brother, Eli, is lost without him. He stands at the window waiting for him to return. I don't care what people say, I will never be convinced that animals don't mourn the loss of their own. We are very grateful that Quinn was with us for almost 10 years. That is HUGE for a Great Dane. Most Danes have a lifespan of 7 years. 

On to happier news. My son graduated from the Detroit Police Academy and the official ceremony was fantastic. There were 33 graduates. My son was the class president, so he gave the speech. Made me cry. Took the breath away from the city big wigs. Police Chief Godbee was so taken with Joe's speech, that he kept referring to it during his speech. Also, my son received the Award for Outstanding Performance. This is only given to one graduate in a class and not every class has someone who receives this award. Again, I cried. He is now officially a Detroit Police Officer and his first duty, WALKING the beat. He was assigned to a very dangerous area and he and his partner patrol this large area on foot. The neighbors were all coming out asking what they were doing? They said there hasn't been police on foot in Detroit since 1980. The people were thrilled. 

  

Another milestone in our family, my granddaughter learned to ride her bike without training wheels. For 3 days straight, my daughter and I tried to teach her to ride. We ran along side her bike, holding on to her seat, trying to give her the reassurance she needed. It didn't work. She was SO frustrated. Finally, we said she will have to walk to the ice cream store this summer while all of us ride our bikes. Guess What?  YEP! She tells us she is going to go outside for a little bit. About 20 minutes later as I look up from my knitting on the porch, who goes flying by but Luiza, riding her bike like she has been doing it her whole life. Kids are amazing.

I have been knitting some of the animals from Mamma4earth. I am  so taken with these patterns. Most make up in a few hours. 

This week I am working on hexagons for the afghan for my daughter's room. I will post photos of the first row in a day or two. 


AND......I will be posting pictures of 3 new members of the family. Since I have no children who have had triplets, you can pretty much guess the photo will be of my new TURTLES!  Check back.