Day 4/365 The Amazing Portrait of Chewbacca The Wookie

Day Four is coming early since tomorrow I'll be running the child to her classes, checking in with my folks, etc etc. Since I also spend A LOT of time taking care of the pets, today's photos are of some of them (all that's missing is the upstairs cats, who weren't interested in participating. They are cats and do as they please). This is our new portrait of Chewy (for those who don't know, he's Chewyboo on ebay, and he was kind enough to hire me to write his auctions for him). His full name is Chewbacca the Wookie, Chewy for short, Chewyboo on ebay, occasionally
Boo-Boo when he's being a baby, and, lately, Grandpa Boo Boo, since he's getting a little white beard (he'll be 8 years old this fall) He answers to all of them. Jai Johnson did his portrait and you can find a link to her website along the side of my blog - Chewy highly recommends her.

This is our newest addition, Miss Serious Black (she arrived at our house on July 20, a year ago Sunday -her assigned birthday - and also the day of the last Harry Potter book release. She has a very quizzical-looking, serious face - so of course she had to be Serious Black.) Seri was found thrown in a dumpster at the tender age of 6 weeks, starving and flea infested. Of course she came home with DH, went to the vet, lived in the downstairs bathroom for a couple weeks, then moved upstairs to DD's room so the upstairs cats could talk to her under the door and trade pawpats. She blended in perfectly with them, but has developed into a thrill-seeker - never quite getting the whole "fear-of-dogs" thing, which drives the dogs crazy. Her favorite place to sleep is on my printer,and she's used to me picking her up so the paper can come out, and then laying her back down, while she's still sleeping.

These guys never get the same publicity that Chewy does, but they are his adoptive family - l. to r. Whiny, Lucky, and Dad Max. All are pure-bred Miniature Schnauzers, with the two younger boys being 9 years old and Max being 10 years old. They yap *a lot*, but are doing better now that the mean lady next door has moved.

This pic is several years old, but still one of my favorites of my DD and Miss Millie - the only female miniature schnauzer - mom to the two boys and partner to Max. Millie is almost a silver schnauzer, and cursed with very fine wispy hair that tangles and mats if you look at it. In the spring she is pink, because our county has dark red clay. It's an okay look for her, since she's a foo-foo girly type, but sortof hard on the boy schnauzers.

This is one of our last pics of Sweet Girl, our outdoor kitty who adopted us when we moved here 11 years ago. She was waiting on the front steps when we pulled up in the U-Haul truck, and just sort of stayed. As she got older, she would stay closer and closer to the house, but she would still follow me out to the garden to check it every morning, and she had her own chair out in DH's woodshop so she could keep an eye on him. In the winter, we set the garage up as her personal apartment, complete with a heat lamp, comfy chair, rug, food and water. Never once would she agree to come in the house, and only within the last 4-5 years would she let us pick her up or pet her. About the same time she also started keeping me company in my garage bookroom. We estimated her age at 15-19 years old when she passed away late this spring, probably from kidney failure, or maybe just old age.

We buried her out in the furthest corner of the yard, next to our other kitty, Grandma Ethel, under the butterfly bushes, with ivy covering their graves.

Someday, the upstairs cats will agree to be interviewed, and perhaps even photographed, if their schedule allows.