Personal Note: Rosie Turns Twelve

For regular readers of Ashes From Burnt Roses, you will remember my Black Labrador Retriever, Rosie.  I have posted on her through the years, especially on her birthdays.  There are some great pictures and videos of her through the years in those posts.  It tugs at my heartstrings to recall them.

Last week on the twelfth, Rosie turned twelve years old.  She is now our longest living dog.  For nostalgia's sake, here are the life spans of our three dogs.

	Birth	Death	Life Span	Days
Sasha	Oct 5, 1991	July 18, 2003	11 Yrs, 9 Mths, 13 Days	4,305 Days
Brandi	Nov 4, 2003	Dec 1, 2013	10 Yrs, 27 days	3,681 Days
Rosie	Aug 12, 2014	Still Living!	12 Yrs, 7 days & Counting	4,390+ Days

We loved them all.

Rosie is still kicking!  To my surprise.  She had a bunch of ailments as a young dog.  She had Lyme Disease.  We were not as strict with her on the heartworm pills, and after Covid we rarely took her to the veterinarian unless it was an emergency.  She was not kept up on her shots, and frankly I wonder how good all those shots are.  She had seizures last year but it’s been a while since the last one.  She had and continues to have all sorts of benign growths, some very large.  Right now she as a growth on the right side of her chest about the size of three-inch-thick paperback, ten by six inches.  One large growth several years ago was on her rear end, and it grew so big that it obstructed her anus.  It had to be removed.  The surgeon said it came out as one large ball and it was all benign.  We suspect that large growth on her chest is benign also.

For the past year she has struggled with arthritis in her hips.  She hasn’t tried to run in over six months.  The video I posted on her eleventh birthday may have been the last time she ran.  It’s a struggle for her to go up and down the stairs.  Going up the stairs I have to help her rear half by placing one arm under her belly and the other on her backside pushing up and forward.  Once I give her a push she gets into a rhythm, pulling her back legs up the stairs as she pulls herself with her front legs.  We took her to the vet in April and he did not recommend any medication.  She also showed up with reduced kidney function in her blood test. 

At some point after her eleventh birthday, I started counting down the months to her twelfth hoping she would get there.  And she did!  It sounds depressing but she remains a happy dog. 

She, as all our pets, have been blessings to us.

We got her a floor mattress thinking she would prefer not to climb onto the couch.  In her doggy logic she refuses to lay on the floor mattress.  The best we could do was coax her to lay her head on it.

And guess who took over the mattress?  Tiger!  LOL.

She still gets on the couch, mostly by herself but sometimes with a little help.

 Being silly!

And with Rochelle.

In the snow in February. 

Here at the Vet in April.

Here is her most recent picture on her birthday last week.

 

Happy Birthday Rosie!

 

Personal Note: Tiger Turns Eleven

Our wonderful little cat, who we found as an estimated five-week-old kitten on May 14^th, 2015 turned eleven years old yesterday.  We date her birthday from five weeks before adopting date, which would put it on April 9^th.  He is still vigorous and outgoing, unlike our eleven-year-old Rosie.  I’ll post on Rosie’s old age in the near future. For now this is Tiger’s day.  He’s still a little devil and the king of this household.  Here are some recent pictures.

He still loves to climb.

He kind of matches our living room décor.  Here he is trying to get Rochelle to feed him early.

 

I recently found him sitting on my desk chair, looking kittenish and cute.

Being silly in the bathroom sink.

On occasion he will turn penitent for all his cat sins.

 Is there a feline priest to give him absolution?  But then again he can reign in his kingdom in the best of comfort.

If you wish, you can look at past posts of Tiger through the years. 

Happy birthday Tiger!

Personal Note: Rosie Turns Eleven

Rosie, our Black Lab, turned eleven years old a couple of weeks ago, and I did not get a chance to post anything until now.  Rosie has slowed down.  She has these spongy lumps and nodules throughout her body, and I’m afraid one of these days one of them will turn deadly.  She’s reached that age.  On the positive side she has not any of those epileptic episodes I mentioned on her tenth birthday.  She had that one in July of 2024 and one in December of 2024 which I never mentioned.  But nothing since, and if they were a result of brain cancer I would think that it would have really manifested itself eight months later.  She is arthritic and has a hard time going up and down stairs, but she still walks with me.  I just don’t push her as much.  I really should take her to the vet for the arthritis.  They have some pills that could help her.

If you click on the “Rosie” tag at the bottom of this post it will pull up Rosie posts through the years.

Here is a little video I took a few days before her birthday of her sniffing out a field.  She is the sniffiest dog I have ever had.  She could literally sniff every inch of that field.  They say that dogs sniffing is akin to humans reading the newspapers.  If that is true, Rosie reads a Homeric epic every time I take her to a field.

 

Here is a picture from earlier this year of Rosie and Tiger on the couch together.

Lord, I pray she makes it to twelve.  St. Francis of Assisi, St. Martin de Porres, and St. Guy of Anderlecht pray for Rosie.

Personal Note: Tiger’s Tenth Birthday

Today was Tiger’s tenth birthday.  Hard to believe it’s been ten years.  If you want to want to read on how we found him, you can look back where I posted here. Actually you can just click the "Tiger" link on the bottom of the page and pull up all the posts over the years on Tiger.  Matthew was five in those pictures!  Where does time go?  

I’m just going to provide some pictures, all taken in the last few days.  We didn’t do anything special for him, except maybe give him a treat. 

Well here he is looking up at me, probably urging me to give him his food.

 

He just loves to rub up against things.  I think it’s an act of marking his scent on things. 

 

Walking by his litterbox.

 

Here he is curled up on the ottoman into a little fur ball covering his eyes. 

 

And when I poked him, he gave a little squint.  I don’t think he was happy I did that.

 

Another time on the ottoman, just stretching out.

 

The life of a cat. 

 

He’s just so darn cute.

Matthew Monday: Fifteenth Birthday

At the beginning of September, Matthew celebrated his fifteenth birthday.  It was just a few days before he started school, his sophomore year at Monsignor Farrell High School.  So his birthday caps off the end of summer and anticipates the new school year.  We didn’t do anything special for his birthday except celebrate it at home with cake.  Some pictures, the cake and Matthew blowing out the candles

Man, do I hate that hair.  What kind of a hairstyle is this that is so prevalent?  I don’t even know what it’s called.  And yes that is meant to be that way; it is not from accident.  It’s like a shaggy rodent on top of his head that has gone feral.  If he continues this into adulthood, he’s going eventually become Cousin Itt.  Do you remember Cousin Itt from the TV series, The Addams Family?  

Here’s what Matthew is going to look like in ten years.

 

 

😛

But the day before starting school, he finally got a haircut!  He wouldn’t let me take a picture, so I chased him down and just as he was closing the bathroom door in my face, I snapped it! 

 

Now it looks like he was posing for the picture, but he was swinging that door closed…lol.  The hair is still shaggy but at least it’s shorter. 

Oh Matthew.  Love you my son. 

 

 

Personal Note: Rosie Turns Ten!

Yesterday Rosie, our beloved Labrador Retriever, turned ten years old.  We did have a scare on July 23^rd, about three weeks ago.  I had gone off to work, and my wife took her in the backyard in the morning as usual to relive herself.  All of a sudden she falls over and goes into a seizure, wailing her legs and frothing at the mouth.  It lasted a couple of minutes and she was shaken up when she came out of it, even growled when my wife approached her.  But that was only for a moment.  She then came back to her normal self, but definitely bewildered and frightened.

My wife called me immediately and I told her to take her to the 24 hour animal emergency hospital.  It’s only a couple of miles from our house.  Matthew was home and the two of them tried to get Rosie into the SUV.  Unfortunately Rosie could not climb onto the back seat.  It’s a new car and Rosie had not been in it yet, and no matter what they tried could not get her in.  Rosie is 90 pounds and the two of them couldn’t lift her.  Finally they gave up and just nursed her all day.  She did not have another incident, but she was leery.

When I got home, we got her into my car and took her to the animal hospital.  Blood test ruled out a blood sugar issue, kidney issue, or liver issue.  It was probably something neurological or perhaps a brain tumor.  But she was normal and there really wasn’t anything else to do but to observe her. 

Well it’s been three weeks and she has not had another incident.  Perhaps it was just some neurological misfire that is not significant.  That’s the optimistic view.  In my heart I have apprehensive premonitions that something is wrong.  Perhaps it’s me being older, but I know Labradors don’t live much beyond ten.   Brandi, our previous Lab, died at just over ten years old.  Sasha, our Golden Retriever, died at eleven and a half years.  Each of their passing was just wretched. 

Well here are some pictures of Rosie at ten.

Here she is underneath the kitchen table by the railing that leads downstairs.

And then we gave her a doggy ice cream as a birthday treat.  Here are a series of pictures licking it non-stop.  I’m surprise her tongue didn’t freeze from the constant suckle.

St. Francis of Assisi, please pray for Rosie.  We want her with us for a while more.

Personal Note: Rosie Turns Nine

Our Black Labrador, Rosie, turned nine years old on August 12th, which I think is now officially a senior citizen for a Lab.  She’s been a good dog all these years.  If you click the tag “Rosie” at the bottom of this you can pull up all the Rosie posts, including the one from when we first got the little pup.  

She’s still a pup at heart.  Ready to go for a walk or even run.  She is more settled in the house now, and of course her favorite thing to do is beg for food!  Well, here are a few pictures. 

Resting on the couch.

And plopping where the air conditioning vent will blow her.

And just looking up asking to be taken out.

Those eyes are just so expressive…lol.

And finally I got to take a little video clip of her at her favorite field.

 

Heaven for a dog is an open field to run and sniff!

Personal Note: 60!

I don’t know if I’m rejoicing, but I am thankful for having made it this far.

I have been truly blessed.

Matthew Monday: His Heart of Gold

I must relate something wonderful Matthew did last week.

It was my wife’s birthday and unfortunately I had to take an all-day business trip down to Maryland.  Three hours down, three hours back, and most of the day there.  It made for a long day away. 

The night before I told Matthew to wish his mother a happy birthday in the morning, and he nodded as he climbed into bed.  I would be gone before he got up, and I wondered if he would even remember the next day.

When I got home that night I found an ice cream cake in the freezer, partially eaten, but you could see “Happy Birthday” written on it.  I thought my wife bought for herself—possibly in a tiff since I didn’t do anything special for her.  But the next day she told me what exactly happened.

After school, Matthew made her take him for a ride to the ice cream parlor.  He had her wait in the car while he went inside all alone.  He selected an ice cream cake, had them write “Happy Birthday” on it, and paid for it with his own money.  Mind you, he’s been saving to buy a bicycle, and I only give him a few dollars each week when he helps me with some chores.  The cake came to over $26 after taxes, a few weeks of allowance for him.  He carried the cake out to the car and surprised her.

He made his mother feel so proud. 

 

I was looking for a picture of him to put here and found he took a picture of himself with my camera.  He never allows me to take his picture any more, but he’ll do this.  Go figure.

Matthew Monday: Eleventh Birthday

I know I’ve been absent.  The complications of life.  I’ll provide a personal note in a few days.  For now, Matthew had his eleventh birthday last week.  It was simple, just the three of us at home.   A home cooked dinner and a homemade birthday cake and eleven candles.

He’s getting to be such a big boy.  He’s growing too fast.  I want him young forever.

Matthew Monday: Matthew’s Tenth Birthday

Yesterday, September first was Matthew’s tenth birthday.  It being Sunday, we went to Mass in the morning, went bowling in the early afternoon, watched a little baseball in the late afternoon, went out to dinner, and celebrated his birthday with cake and candles at his grandmother’s house.  It was a wonderful day if I should say so myself.  Here are some pictures.

We went to Mass with my mother, and we took a picture in front of her house.

Matthew received a present from one of my friends, Mac, through being a Baltimore Orioles fan and he sent Matthew an autographed baseball, signed by a Henry Urrutia, who only played in the majors for a couple of months back in 2015.  Mac noticed how Matthew tried so hard to get baseballs when we were at a game together earlier this year.  He dubbed Matthew “the ball-hawk.”  We took a picture with the autographed ball and sent it to Mac expressing our thanks.

I don’t have any pictures of us bowling but it was pathetic.  I hadn’t bowled in over 30 years and Matthew is all talk.  We played four games and my highest score was 111.  Matthew must have guttered 50% of the time.

After dinner we had a birthday cake over at his other grandmother’s house. 

I have a little clip of him trying to blow out the candles.

Now today, September 2^nd, is Gotch Day.  If you don’t remember what that is, I explained it at the bottom of the blog on his fourth birthday, here.   You can also check out the pictures on his 4^th birthday and see how much he’s changed.