Giant Schnauzers

A Whirlwind of Two Weeks

About two weeks ago Tom and I went back to Indiana to see family, particularly my mom who turned 86 while we were there.  Mom has always been an inspiration to me.  She is the reason I do animal rescue.  She got me a pup before I was born so I would have a dog to grow up with.  So many dogs are turned into rescue because the couple becomes pregnant.  Not my Mom!  One of my favorite pictures of her is on her riding lawn mower cutting her acre of grass.  She finds it hard to use the push mower these days but still uses her riding mower even though she has lost much of her sight to macular degeneration.

We traveled on a short trip to Clay City, Indiana to visit the Clay City Pottery. My grandfather was from Clay City and the pottery was started three years after he was born in 1885.  It is still run by the same family. Most of my family has these beautiful blue bowls in their kitchens.  You can find them online at www.claycitypottery.com.

There were a few of my favorite flowers in bloom while we were there.  One of them is this dogwood which is not the typical wild dogwood found in that area.

This purple clematis is not the original one that has been in our family for some time.  That one bloomed just after we left.  The late blooming one is one that belonged to our grandmother.  She had left it at house where they lived when they moved from Terre Haute to Indianapolis.  The house was going to be torn down to make way for a gas station.  I had just gotten my driver's license when we were over in Terre Haute visiting family.  My brother and I were given permission to drive over to see the house.  When we got there, we found several plants she had left behind.  We both remembered the purple clematis crawling up over an old wagon wheel at the farm where they had once lived.  It held a lot of memories for us so we found something and dug it up and put it in the car along with a few other plants which are long gone from my memory.  But the clematis has moved at least five times since then with Mom and where ever she moves to.  There was only one poor flower left on this vine so you will have to use your imagination with the picture.

I always groom Mom's two dogs when I am back there.  Poor Riley is a chow that one of my brothers found wandering a freeway one Thanksgiving on his way down from Chicago.  A state police officer helped him catch him and then told if he could find a home for him to take him.  He had seen him wandering for some time in the area.  So he went on and found a home with Mom.  He normally has a beautiful red coat but sheds like he feels obligated to provide wool for someone weaving a rug.  To help Mom out, I clip him down to the skin.  Duffy is part schnauzer, so it is easy for me to groom her.  This is Riley before.

Here they are wanting in the house.

Here is Mom with my brother's beautiful dogs, Bear and Scout.

We went down to Bedford, Indiana to vist one of the cemetaries there which is filled with the most incredible tombstones many of which are carved of limestone by incredible artist or stonecarvers.  It is really an amazing place.  Visitors can pick up printed self guided tours.

Our trip was over all to soon and we returned to Phoenix.  In the week that we have been back our oldest daughter and her son spent the Sunday after we got back in the emergency room with migraine headaches, on Monday we took Schultz into the vet for a cough and he had Valley Fever and on Friday Tom went to pick up a prescription at the VA and ended up being admitted over night for something that hit him very suddently and violently.  We are not sure what is was but we are glad the week is over and hoping this week is a big improvement over the last one.

Here is our giant schnauzer Schultz when he was younger. He is on meds now and we are hoping for the best.

And There Was Water Everywhere!

And There Was Water Everywhere!  Last weekend Tom and I flew to see my mom in Bloomington, Indiana.  We had gotten the tickets about eight weeks ago having no idea of the weather that was to be in the area at the time.  We arrived in Indianapolis about 10:30 at night and picked up our rental car.  Before leaving the plane everyone was advised to check with relatives and friends as to what roads were open and possible routes to take safely.  The night before parts of the area had had more than ten inches of rain!  My brother called the county sheriffs in two counties and routed us directly south and then east to Bloomington.  By some stroke of luck the people had not lost power so their outside lights were still on by the barns out in rural areas.  As we drove south down the center of a two land road that was lightly covered with water, we could see water as far as we could see in the dark on both sides of the road.  It was quite eery driving at night through awful lonely  flooded areas in central Indiana. The pictures are of the next few days AFTER the flood waters had receded some.  It was much worse that night.  And later that week almost three more inches came down on Friday and heavy storms are predicted for tonight. 

These pictures are of the West Fork of the White River in southern Indiana.

In many cases the water had been over the roads we were on 24 - 48 hours before.  Some places had large steel plates where the water had washed out parts of the road or undercut the road.

And many people in the Midwest are still dealing with these waters and more in the few days since we were there.