Every year, I receive an obnoxious holiday letter and professional picture from my sister PL, I just can't stand it any longer! What would you do, if you were me ?

~~   Tickles a/k/a

Walnut Hill Tickle the Ivorys

Happy Holidays Everyone!

 

Wow ... it's been a very exciting year for me. 

 

In June I turned 9 years old.  Hard to believe, but amazingly I still feel and act like a pup.  Everyone thinks I am very youthful and my Daddy tells me "9 is the new 3".  My coat is shiny and full, my black nose shows no signs of wrinkles or flaking, and my waist size has not changed.  I'm a lucky dog, but afterall I've had, as you all know, a charmed life.

 

I spent most of the summer at my PondLilli estate and continuing with tradition, my sister, Tickles and my breeder and mentor, Barbara came to stay with us for a few days.  It was great spending time with them... picnics on the beach, lobster and scallop dinners, and just lounging around.  We had several photo shoots together and I have included one of our favorites.

 

We lost our butler this summer.  It's sooo hard getting good help.  But, we now have our groundsman, Scott from the Cape, and his partner, Dr. Steve living here in Boston to help out managing the household.  They have two dogs, Harvard, a coonhound and Vivo, a dachshund lab mix from St. Croix with whom I have become quite close.  Although Harvard ("Harvey") is somewhat jealous of the attention Vivo is paying to me, my Daddy says he will come around, so I know it will all work out.

 

Most of you are not aware but for many years I had a secret boyfriend.  I was not able to share the details because of the sensitivity of his stature and position.   It was Barney Bush.  But, finally now that he is enjoying his days at the ranch in Texas, I feel I can come "clean".  Additionally, some of you know my friend, Billie, the cashmere Goat.  Well, the truth is Billie is my lifelong guardian goat sent by Barney from the Secret Service to keep me safe.  Billie had constant contact with the "Big House" through his horns and that is how Barney and I communicated for the years he was in Washington.  Billie is now in retirement and living with us where he will have a home forever.  I know this all very exciting for you to hear and somewhat shocking, but my Mama told me it is all true.

 

We will be spending Thanksgiving at PondLilli again this year.  Over the Christmas holiday my Mama and Papa will be travelling and I plan to spend time with my dear friends, Melissa and Gary.  Gary is a wonderful cook and I plan to eat lots of good food especially vegetables which I love so much and keep me healthy.

 

Sending love to all and hope Santa is good to you ... I know he'll be good to me,

 

Walnut Hill Ms. PiccaLilli

 

---

In times of prosperity friends will be plenty, in times of adversity not one in twenty. --English Proverb

In prosperity our friends know us in adversity we know our friends.--Churton Collins

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us ---Washington Irving

CapeCod Beach Divas 2009

Don't ask me why I will spend hours futtzing around with pictures, modifying with a photo program, thinking of a catchy slogan for a dog ad. It has been compulsive, ever since I figured out how to send an email attachment!

Does anyone remember Campfire Girls? The group originated in Vermont as an answer to Boy Scouts of America. Later it became co-ed, and then much later completely family oriented, as anyone can be a life member. It is basically dedicated to environment issues (nature), ethnicity is encouraged, and "service" for others is the central theme.

WoHeLo  is used as a greeting, password, and motto. It stands for the 3 basics of a good & full life:  Work, Health, & Love

CampfireUSA is still active in many parts of the country .

I would be remiss if I let today go by without the effort of a personal post. It was three years ago today, that the worst experience of my life took place.

I have faced many personal challenges in my life with tenacity , determination, success, and pride. This one, without a doubt, is the most important one I face in all of my 53 years. It has personal meaning and broad implications, for pets in my home state of New Hampshire and perhaps across the country.

"What do you want out of all of this, Barbara?"

That is what so many ask me. That is what I have contemplated on for three long years, as my life has irreversibly changed. Happiness, peace, contentment, hobbies, friends and family relationships have a different meaning and will never change back to what it once was. Is it a "bad" thing?  Maybe not, but it will hurt and ache in my heart ,driving me in a direction on a path, I never would have chosen.

Justice is what I seek, justice is what I want, justice for

Pocket, justice for the humans that cared, justice for all the companion animals that have met the same fate.

I hope it isn't an empty word, I pray that it is truly obtainable, and I hope that it is blind, fair, and equitable.

Pocket

May 22, 1995- October 18, 2006

http://walnut-hill.bravehost.com

http://isaronline.blogspot.com/2009/10/why-animal-suffering-matters-by-andrew_14.html

Why Animal Suffering Matters, by Andrew Linzey. Reviewed by Professor Henry Mark Holzer

In the end, the first paragraph of Dr. Linzey’s conclusion, sums up much of his book: “Concern for animal suffering, like concern for the suffering of young children, ought reasonably to arise from the following considerations: their inability to give or withhold their consent, their inability to verbalize or represent their interests, their inability to comprehend, their moral innocence or blamelessness, and, not least of all, their relative defencelessness and vulnerability. These considerations, and the sheer volume of animal suffering, are masked, minimized, or obfuscated by a range of powerful psychological and linguistic mechanisms that prevent us from directly confronting our treatment of animals as a moral issue” (emphasis supplied).

(one of identical visions of Pocket  for more than 11 years!--thanks, Karen)

courtesy of Greg, thanks!

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Charges+calls+taped+veterinarians+fight+each+other/2052481/story.html

Excerpts:"

Well, I think he’s sociopathic.”

In another, she is quoted about stories she has heard about Bhullar’s practice:

“So . . . um ya you know stories about um operating, not putting animals down, and using them for practice for the guys who have to pass their CPE [clinical proficiency examination] and to spay . . . of charging clients he teaches, literally teaches his people to cheat the customer, you know? He shaves the leg [of the anima] right before the client comes to show where the ‘non-IV’ was with the fluids and painkiller. Um you know stuff like this uh . . . yeah scary.”

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Animal+cruelty+charges+laid+against+Langley+veterinarian+couple/1523715/story.html

Excerpts:"

METRO VANCOUVER — Criminal charges have been laid against a pair of Langley veterinarians who used an emaciated horse to try to pull their car from a ditch.

Mark Marohn and Carol Schoyen-Marohn have each been charged with two counts of animal cruelty in connection with the December 2008 incident.

The owners had tethered the horse to their sedan, which had gone off the road, and were trying to get him to pull the vehicle out of the ditch when the animal went down.

The young horse involved was so badly starved and exhausted it had to be euthanized at the scene.

The BC SPCA also seized five more horses from the couple’s Langley property. The horses were also emaciated and one of the rescued horses died four days later.  "