Love Me, Love My Dog

I think I can honestly say that I have never posted a photo that was not either by me or by a commercial photographer for whom I'd done styling.....It can become a bit limiting, but, I find it hard to see other people's work posted without permission or acknowledgement....Therefore, I've not posted some of my favorite photos I have taken...hate to put watermarks on everything.   So, please do not use my work in any form without my consent...thanks.

That said, meet the my love....my companion, (no, not my husband...although he is both).."Lil Missy"...When we rescued her almost two years ago, that was her name...now, we call her "Mistletoes", "Missy"  "Misty Toes" "Ms Toes" and love her to pieces.

She puts up with a lot, this one...(that's "Papa lying next to her"

 When we first got her, she didn't have the chic rain gear I have since created for her, so we resorted to cutting up my yellow rain poncho, and slit a red, plastic shopping bag...(she still hates rain)..

 So, what does this have to do with art and interiors, you ask?  I have been doing pet portraits of late, and she's my favorite subject.  We have no idea what her breed is, but suspect she is part beagle (nose attached to a dog) and part boxer (41 pounds of pure muscle)...She was in the "slammer" for many months, because people thought she was a pit bull, and that's bull...besides, pitties are wonderful pets..it's the meany owners that turn them.

Our dear, departed Raisenette Funicello Buttafuco (not Joey, he head-butted things) was quite elderly when we got her, and not at all interested in playing with her...she tried..believe me.

 She is ever-vigilant as far as sitting on my bed (I wipe her feet and you-know-what after every walk...she's not getting in my bed otherwise)...and looking for the kitties, who stroll down our driveway to the lake to get a drink of water...oddly, she goes berserk, running from window-to-window, shouting loudly.  Yet, she is terrified of "Bootsie", our friend's kitty, who has smacked her a few times.

 Meet Bootsie,and be afraid, very afraid (she is quite the little predator with regard to small woodland creatures...and does enjoy bringing them to us a gifts). gah.

 This translates into "Please, please, please like me, "K"?"

 This is her "glamor shot", and the photo on my business cards.

She is one of those breeds that "leans"...she sits patiently next to us at the dinner table, waiting for us to shout "Pre Wash", and then, scurries into the kitchen to, well, lick the plate (oh come on, we sterilize them in the dishwasher)...

She's allergic to beef, so I make her "cookies", using chicken broth, whole wheat flour, an egg, powdered milk, and a dash of salt...I don't have a bone-shaped cookie cutter, but I do have one shaped like a little foot print...she's waiting not quite as patiently for the goodies to come out of the oven.

Crisp and crunchy, that's how she likes them...

 She was found as a pup, in a ditch in a terrible thunderstorm...(she's terrified of them, along with planes, and anything that rumbles)...but, I'd say, she's a pretty happy little goof ball at this point.

 She has captured our hearts...

I try to have my camera within reach at all times, as she's just too fun to miss a shot.

 I made her jaunty rain coat (hound's tooth, of course) and lined it with red flannel...she still hates the rain, but it does look quite dashing on her.

 My friend, Marjorie, took this on one of our "adventures"...Ms. Toes loves riding in cars, and goes bazoo when a big truck goes by.

 My friend is teaching me colored-pencils, and this is going to be my first effort....my love's tiny paws.