Some Thoughts and Photos

“Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road.” ~ John Henry Jowett

 

Hi! November is nearly gone and, while I realize that my "Happy Thankgiving" greeting is late for the holiday, I believe that being thankful for our many blessings should be a daily reflection. We so often focus on our problems and the negative things in our lives that we wish would just go away. We allow them to overwhelm us, bring us down, and make us forget that it is the positive things, as few and as small as they might seem to be, that make life worthwhile and that arm us to work through the problems.

Life is good!!

November brought us some devastating family news -- an unexpected break up of a marriage and family. Angry words that cut to the heart and cannot be taken away once spoken. A disruption in the lives of three people, welcomed only by one of the three. A sad 10 year old who cannot fathom what is happening and why, but whose cry, "I don't want to be one of those kids!" cuts straight to the heart.

So yeah, life is good but sometimes it really sucks too -- all the more reason to seek the good and give thanks for what you find.

Among my blessings are those of you who read the blog and of course the puppy buyers who have maintained a relationship, send emails and photos, and obviously love their Lhasas so much. Thanks to those of you who sent emails or cards after reading about Walker's passing. That meant a lot. Many of you have experienced the passing of one or more of your own Lhasas and understood what I was going through. I am happy to report that Secret seems to have recovered from her depression over Walker's absence. She is still very frail in body, but her spirits seem better.

Maggie left for her new home on November 19. She joined two of her offspring and all is going well at last report. Catherine wrote, "Just wanted to let you know Maggie is doing great!  She is just a cutie!  I can see where Mallory and Magoo get their personalities!  Mallory enjoys playing with her, and Magoo naps nose to nose with her!  She is just making herself at home!  Thank you for the toys you sent to Mallory and Magoo, they love toys!"

Here is a photo of Maggie taken the day she left.

Maggie -- Ch. Joyslyn's Moonlight Magic

A big surprise was that puppies were born on November 16! While it was not a surprise that we were expecting puppies, they were not due until the following week, just before Thanksgiving. The puppies were small but eager nursers. Now two weeks old, their eyes are open and they are beginning to try to get up on all fours to walk. They are not having much success, but they are trying! Their mom is Shadow. Sire is Josh. The litter has two black females, easy to tell apart because one has white on both front feet. There is one gold female and a gold male. I'll soon be going down our waiting list, contacting people in order, and seeing who actually wants a puppy that will be ready for a new home in the middle of January! Brrr....

Two black females - 2 weeks old

Gold female on left, sleepy gold male on right - 2 weeks old

 Josh's photo from the Top 20 competition during the American Lhasa Apso Club's National Specialty week finally arrived. The competition had a western theme, thus the cowboy hats on the judges. Josh was selected as the Judges Choice in the Owner Handled competition.

Our GCh. Ch. Joyslyn's Inherit the Wind had his 5th birthday yesterday. Wow...that time went fast. I heard from the owners of two of his 5 siblings.

Here is the litter when it was one hour old. Both parti-colors were eventually named Griffin. The other male is Gabe. The girls were Olivia and Grace.

This is Gabe and Rafe when they were 7 weeks old.

Gabe on left, Rafe on right - 7 weeks

Mary sent a note from and a photo of Gabe. "Today is my "5th" birthday!  I'm sure you remember when I was born. You took such good care of me until my "forever mom" adopted me. Sending you hugs and please tell Rafe Happy Birthday too! Luv and woof from Gabe."

Here is Rafe

 This is Rafe on the day after he earned his championship at age 8 months! He won the Best of Breed competition over 4 older champions! I have many great memories of showing him. Judges loved him and he racked up both championship and grand championship points quickly. He did not especially enjoy the show ring and pulled all kinds of stunts to let me know it!

 And here is one of the Griffins!

Griffin

Tom and Penny wrote, "Joyce, Griffin says hello on his 5th birthday.  Attached are recent pictures.  Griffin is the most wonderful and handsome little boy.  You've heard this before from us.  Griffin continues to generate smiles and pets from strangers when in public areas with us.  Sometimes the strangers cannot even restrain themselves. It is amazing.   He is a very social dog, and affectionate.   He loves our family, especially the grandchildren with whom he loves to play. Griffin doesn't socialize with non-family dogs.  He is smart and cooperative for the most part.  He is not a walker -- rarely beyond a stone's throw from our home -- and is satisfied to do his business quickly and in the back yard.  He is more dependent than independent.  How he knows there are other dogs walking in front of our home when he is sitting on the floor in the house or without a view is beyond me.  We take Griffin everywhere we can, but we don't think he would be comfortable in a Sherpa bag on a flight.  You could have made Griffin another champion.  We are overjoyed that he is our special little boy.  Best regards."

Windy, who is a half sister to Rafe (same sire-- our Walker) and mother to Josh,  is definitely enjoying her new home. Here is a recent photo of her:

Windy -- Ch. MLS Dakota Dancing in the Wind at Joyslyn

Lynn and Robert sent Thansgiving greetings and a photo of Amie with her buddy Poppet. Amie (on the right) was one of the puppies in our summer litter.

Amie with her buddy Poppet

Here are photos that Sadie's owner sent. Sadie is a litter sister to Amie.

Sadie

Sadie "enjoying" a bath!

Cindy sent a photo of Luther, who is one of Maggie's offspring. She wrote, "Luther is my Mr. Velcro. He loves me way too much if that's possible. He lays not at my feet but on my feet so he can keep track of me.  We've trimmed all that gorgeous golden fur because he bullied me every time I tried to groom him until I surrendered. I think we are both happier. Glad to hear all the show results and love all the pictures!"

Luther

Denise sent a photo of her two Joyslyn's Lhasas, Duncan (named for his sire) and Lily. She wrote, "...I wanted to send a picture of Duncan and Lily on Santu's favorite rug... I know Lily can still feel him. She would always approach him on it with caution and lie down with him. :)

Duncan and Lily

The Santu that Denise referred to was their much-loved Joyslyn's Lhasa.

As we approach the end of another month that seemed to whiz by, I leave you with two thoughts.

The first is from Marcus Aurelius, who wrote, "Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.”

And the second is from me!

Life is Better When You Have a Lhasa to Love You!

Joyce