Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: Penny


by 29 Comments

Fly high,Tally

Penny here.

I’m afraid I have some sad news to share with all of you. My friend, sheltie Lance’s big sister Tally, a Gordon Setter, crossed the rainbow bridge last Friday. Tally lived with Lance and Katie’s half sister Payton and their mom and dad. As you know Peyton crossed the bridge in September, so the loss of Tally is doubly hard on her mom and dad.

My mom learned about Tally crossing the bridge on Sunday morning, shortly after she finished doing the Wordle puzzle. Sunday’s Wordle solution was “tally” and mom, of course, thought about Payton’s sister and smiled. And then she got the news and she wondered if anything in the world is truly a coincidence.

Anyway, I can’t say that I knew Tally well, I only met her once, and I have to admit I was something of a chicken then, cause she was a lot bigger than me!

She was nothing but polite though, and it was silly of me to be scared of her. She was such a friendly girl.

You might remember that Katie got to show Payton and Tally around her park in May of 2022. Tally had the best sniffing nose and just loved exploring new parks.

She was less thrilled to pose for my mom who is always taking pictures. But she did it anyway, cause she was a very good and polite girl.

Katie got to visit Payton and Tally at their house too. One time Katie and Payton were busy getting treats on the deck and Payton’s mom went in the house. Katie thought she was getting more treats, so she waited by the door. She sure was surprised when Payton’s mom didn’t bring more treats, but brought out Tally instead!

Tally got along with everybody, and was such a good girl that she didn’t even steal treats off the table! Katie was sort of jealous that Tally was tall enough to even think about doing that.

Tally and her mom were competing in obedience and she had already won lots of ribbons when she had to retire because she got sick with leukemia.

Photo from Tally’s mom Diane

She fought hard to stay with her family as long as she could, but last week she was just too tired.

Her mom and dad and Lance are missing her terribly.

Lance and Tally playing, photo be Tally’s mom.

Our only consolation is that she’s with her angel sister Payton, her angel mother Flair and of course my angel sister Katie. We know they’re exploring a new park every day with lots of things to sniff and the best treats ever!

If you’re of a mind to send positive thoughts, or prayers, or suportive vibes to Tally and Payton’s parents I know they would appreciate it. And poor little Lance, who has never been an only dog, needs support too.

Lance on the left, me on the right.

I hope that I get to see him soon. When I do I will remind him how much all you nice people and your fur babies care about him and his folks.

Thanks everybody,

Your sad girl, Penny.


by 23 Comments

Four Seasons Part 2

Penny here.

You might have noticed that mom is still missing. I’m kind of worried, even though daddy said it was all going to be just fine. But I’m also a bit miffed, cause mom has more beautiful pictures of me and she hasn’t posted them! So I guess I’ll have to do it myself.

Katie warned me there would be days like this.

So without further ado, here are the images from our second 4 season photo shoots! I think you will agree I am simply stunning.

Ahem.

November of 2023, where it all began:

Winter of 2024:

Spring of 2024:

Summer of 2024.

Fall of 2024! (My personal favorite.)

I hoped you liked my second set of 4 seasons images. Mom told me she had fun too, but NOBODY has as much fun as me!

Talk later,

Your professional model (who will be increasing her fees if she has to do all the work around here),

Penny


by 26 Comments

One Moment Please

Penny here.

Has anybody seen my mom? I can’t find her and she’s been missing for at least 3 days. Maybe more!

I’ve looked and looked in all her favorite places. You know, like in her bed, and on her sofa, and in her favorite chair and at the dinner table.

Maybe she’s lost in one of my parks! I’d drive over there to look but I don’t have a driver’s license!

I asked my dad, and he said not to worry, he says mom is fine, she’s just taking some “Penny-free time” for herself.

Penny-free?!?!?!

What the heck does that even mean?

Anyway dad said to tell you all not to worry, and that mom will get that Walktober collection post done as soon as she gets home. I figured you guys would want to know.

Meanwhile I’m going to sleep in her bed next to my dad every night. Maybe if I make her jealous she’ll come home to us.

Your lonely girl,

Penny


by 15 Comments

Four seasons, part 1

A year or so ago Karma, over at Karma’s When I Feel Like It, suggested we work on getting 4 seasons of an image from a single location. That means it’s a year long project, one you have to be conscious of as the seasons change. It requires some planning.

I knew when I saw this location that I had found my spot. Penny agreed.

Our first visit to this part of Penny’s park was in November of 2023, so technically this image is late fall. Or early winter.

And then I waited for some snow to fly, and we went back. Snow made it officially winter, at least in my mind. Penny said snow makes everything more fun.

It wasn’t long until winter gave way to spring. Spring was so pretty over in Penny’s park.

And then it was full blown summer, hot and muggy, but still fun.

I could hardly wait for fall, and I wasn’t disappointed. Penny and I went over there more than once, it was so pretty.

I guess, that makes five seasons, but I just couldn’t leave that first image out. I hope you enjoyed this series….because Penny and I have another one to show you soon.

She’ll probably do the honors because she is, after all, the star of the show.


by 68 Comments

The official launch of the 2024 Walktober

Well, it’s that time of year again…time to dust off the ole walking shoes, grab your phone or your camera (or both!) and head out to find something interesting or boring, pretty or mundane, to share with all of us in the world.

What’s it like this October where you live?

We didn’t have a lot of color on my walk, but I found a little bit of it!

Interested bloggers want to know!

The most eager Walktober participant I know is our girl Penny, so I’m going to let her kick off this event. She’s so happy she’s darn near panting with joy. Or maybe she’s just drooling. Hard to tell. Anyway…here comes Penny!

Hi Hi HI HI HI HI!!!! It’s me, Penny!

This is me on my Walktober !

This will be the second Walktober of my entire life, cause I’m not even two years old yet! But I remember last year and it was so much fun I could hardly wait for October to come around again.

We hiked on trails like this for most of our walk, but also across grassy meadows too.

Mom says I shouldn’t wish my life away, and time is short no matter what we do. But I’m just a puppy and I try to get as much fun stuff smashed into every day as possible. Mom says I’m exhausting.

Whatever, Mom.

So anyway, Mom took me on a walk in one of mine and Katie’s parks and I thought I’d share it with you as my Walktober 2025.

We started out in Katie’s part of the park and walked up and down the hills. Mom always tells me about Katie when we walk there. I don’t mind, Katie seems like she was a pretty awesome girl and I love hearing about her adventures.

I was quite proud of myself for jumping up on this bank.

After we got up and down the last big hill we arrived at a meadow and Mom had me practice my recall on the mowed path.

I’d say my recall is pretty spectacular…a long as she has treats! HA!

I’m coming, Mom! Get that cheese ready!

Then we wandered through the meadow and back into the woods and over to my part of the park. Mom and I walk over on that section a lot, but we usually enter it from a different parking lot that is about 1/2 a mile north (as the crow flies, lots further if you take the trail) of where we parked this time.

Pretty in purple.

Mom and I wandered around and she took lots of pictures. Eventually we made it to my pond. It was really pretty.

My pond.

It was after we moved on from my pond that things started getting messed up.

I wanted to go back to the other parking lot (which was still about a mile away from where we were) like I was used to when we visit the pond, and Mom wanted to head back to the parking lot we were actually parked in (which was also about a mile in the other direction).

Mom had me stand near the one tree that had changed color. It’s another sassafras tree.

Mom had never gone back to that parking lot from our pond before, but she had a photo of the trail map (because she’s a smart mom) so she wasn’t worried. She studied the map and we walked on a brand new trail that she was sure would take us back to that meadow and eventually back to our car.

There were lots of trails to choose from.

But it was winding through the woods and didn’t feel like it was going in the right direction. And Mom couldn’t figure out exactly where we were on the trail map. It was getting hotter and she didn’t have that much water for me.

So she started getting worried.

How about we rest on this nice bench, mom?

Me? I wasn’t worried! I just kept sniffing and tugging Mom along. Why I even surprised a mouse! Or, if I’m honest, the mouse surprised me, cause Mom says I jumped about 3 feet straight up into the air when I found it!

What’s over here?

Anyway, after awhile Mom decided we needed to turn around and go back the way we had come. That meant we added another mile or so to our hike, because we had to go back to the pond and then back to the trail we had come on, then all the way back to the car!

At least there was shade in the woods!

I didn’t like turning around, but Mom said not to argue with her just this once please, so I decided to be good.

But Mom, we were going this way!

We made it back to the pond, and then back to the meadow and then back to the car eventually. Mom was hot and sweaty and crabby.

I think it’s this way, Mom.

I, however, was a happy girl! Another long Walktober in the books for your gal Penny!

Mom found some interesting leaves and light.

So here’s what you need to do…go do your own Walktober (but you don’t need to get lost) and take a few pictures. Remember you can walk in the woods or in a town, even in your own back yard! You can ride a bike, or take a car ride, or jog or skip or even ride a unicycle!

Just do what you do and then show us your world by writing a post on your blog.

We were lucky to see this monarch butterfly too!

Then link it up to this post and at the end of October my Mom will gather up all your links and put them in one giant post so everybody can visit everybody else’s walk!

Mom says if you need a little extra time, or have questions, just let her know.

Even more purple!

Sound like fun? Then…..ready, set…..GO!

Talk later,

Your Walktober Girl, Penny

Me and my Mom after my Walktober.


by 32 Comments

Just do it

You know how sometimes you sign up to do something and when the day and time comes around you sort of wish you hadn’t because staying home and doing nothing in particular seems so much easier than getting up and out?

Yea.

Saturday morning I was signed up to go on a guided hike at one of Katie’s parks. I have been on a couple of these walks, and I always enjoy them, usually learn something, and am always glad I went.

Still.

Saturday morning it seemed to take a gargantuan effort to get myself up and fed and showered and out the door in order to meet over at the park by 10 a.m. Seriously, 10 a.m. seemed early to me. Even though for 30+ years I was at work every weekday and often weekends, by 8.

This is what retirement has done to me. It has turned me into a sloth.

Anyway.

By 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning a group of about a dozen people had gathered in the designated parking lot. We all set off up a hill to our first stop on the hike, the Davis Lake overlook. Our guide, the manager of parklands in our township, explained how the lake was formed and the importance of the hills and wetlands to the formation of the Shiawasee River which begins in our township.

At this park we have something called a ‘fen’ which is somewhat unusual. That’s a wet prairie-like landscape which is host to any number of rare insects, plants and even fish.

The park manager talked about all the partnerships our township has with researchers at universities around the world, adding that the research grants helps to pay for managing the land.

We went further into the forest where we stopped and looked at the tree canopy and the understory and the ground cover. He talked about different plants that grow in the forest when they have enough light and space to thrive.

He said a healthy forest would have a variety of trees, and within a variety, several different ages. He’s working to make sure we have young trees coming up to replace the older ones that have been around for over 100 years.

Then we moved out onto the fen, where we took a quick right, off the path, to see a wildflower, the gentian, a small, blue, fringed flower that blooms in the fall. I’ve seen other blue gentian flowers, growing on rocks along the Great Lakes, but I had no idea we had them in my very own neighborhood!

For me that little blue flower was the highlight of the walk, but we saw lots of other plants too. Our guide showed us the dying plants, the seed pods, and those hanging on with a bit of color. He described what they would look like next spring, and urged us to come along on the spring hike next year.

I, of course, have visited this park often, with Katie and now with Penny. It’s a beautiful place to wander through woods and meadows, around glacial lakes and up and over hills. The part I hiked Saturday, with the group, is unofficially named after Katie around our house. Penny has her own part of the same park, just a bit north of where we were. I took her there Saturday afternoon and we had a great time. But I’ll let her tell you about that when she’s ready.

Saturday morning our group had a beautiful day, with a bright blue sky, warm temperatures and a little breeze. It was such a wonderful walk, fun to be out with other like minded people. We all learned a little something and had fun doing it.

It was a reminder to me that when you sign up for something, during an optimistic moment, you should follow through and get yourself to the event. Even if you have grown into a sloth.

Because if you do, you’re going to be sooooo happy that you did.

I guarantee it.

(Now. You might think this would be a great Walktober. And it would be, but it’s not. I don’t think anyway. We’ll see. I hope you are all thinking about where you’d like to take us on YOUR Walktober coming to a blog near you sometime between October 17 and the end of the month!)


by 33 Comments

Balance, walking, Walktober!

I’m taking a community ed class, put on by my township Parks and Rec, and sponsored and designed by a local hospital system. It’s all about balance, and it’s designed for senior citizens.

I guess that makes me an official senior.

Hi everybody!

I’m 68, and I qualify as a senior citizen by any number of measurements, even if I don’t feel like one. So when I saw this class in the winter township catalog I thought…why not? I’ve fallen and hurt myself a couple of times and I’d like to learn how to fall more gracefully to avoid more injury.

Maybe even avoid the fall altogether.

Sometime just looking up makes me dizzy.

Which, as it turns out, is what the class has mostly been about. Avoiding the fall. There are about 12 people attending each week. We just had week 5, so 3 more to go. Each week there’s a topic, lead by a nurse and the head of Parks and Rec. They work well together.

There’s not a lot of color in the trees here yet, but there was still color on my walk.

We’ve learned some gentle excises that I should be doing daily. The basis of the class is that if you keep your muscles in good condition, flexible and fit, you are less likely to fall.

The colors are mostly subtly, but still beautiful.

In this week’s class we put together plans for meeting class goals. My end of class goal was to have an established walking program put together. I and the group decided I was going to walk 4 times a week for at least 40 minutes somewhere.

Saw this little guy on the path. He swayed back and forth if I got too close. So I just cropped the image.

Lots of places with walking options were suggested. One couple goes up to the mall every single morning (except Wednesdays when they come to class) and walks around the one mile interior perimeter. I used to go there and walk too, especially in the winter. It’s a nice place and I’ll likely start that back up when the weather gets bad.

But while it’s still nice weather I prefer to walk outside.

Some dogwood color.

Yesterday I went out to one of our parks, without the dog, and walked 3 miles. It was lovely. All the photos today are from that walk.

Turned around at 1.5 miles. Going back was pretty much all uphill.

I could use it for my Walktober, but I don’t think I will. It’s too early, there’s not enough color yet, and you’ve seen this park before.

It’s still mostly green around here.

On the other hand, if I don’t come up with something better than maybe this will be my Walktober!

Little bits of pretty things, way down on the forest floor.

Penny says it’s not fair that she didn’t get to go. I say, she stops and sniffs too much plus she barks at other people, bikes, cars, dogs and baby strollers. Oh. And joggers. So the walk is not relaxing when she’s along.

I saw a few bike riders out there.

If she ever grows up I’ll consider taking her. Meanwhile I just have to do two walks, one for me and one for her.

Next year’s milkweed.

So far she’s good with that plan.

Holding out hope for more color soon.


by 19 Comments

You can’t ignore me, mom!

So, once again, you may have detected a noted lack of Penny posts here on my mom’s blog.

I guess I shouldn’t feel all that bad. She didn’t even tell you that she went to Washington DC 10 days ago, did she. Nope. Obviously you guys aren’t top tier friends either. (I’m JOKING!!!)

Mom says it’s just that she’s really busy and hasn’t had time to write about every little thing. Every little thing? I ask you. Am I a little thing??

Actually I’m a quite large thing. I’m oversized for a sheltie, bigger than Katie was, but mom says that just means there’s more of me to love!

And did I tell you that she and I snuggle just about every single morning, most of the time with me sitting on top of her? Yea. I guess Mom is OK after all.

Anyway.

I’m supposed to tell you that Mom and Debbie over at Domer Mom have decide that we will in fact have a Walktober this year, and Mom will collect all your links on her blog and do a summary post at the end.

Mom said I need to hurry up and announce it since October is knocking on our door. Wait a minute, I have to go bark hysterically cause that’s what I do when anyone knocks on our door!

….OK. I’m back…

Mom says I can pick the official Walktober dates, because I’m really smart and she likes to keep me engaged. Otherwise I’m off doing stuff she doesn’t want me to do, but that’s another post.

So I think the official dates for the 2024 Walktober will be October 17 through October 31st. That way you have two weeks to plan and two full weeks to go on your walk (or ride, or jog, or drive, or skip or hop) and blog about it!

Of course, if you need to do yours a little early that’s fair, and if you need an extra couple days at the end just let us know. Mom will put everything together in her blog in early November.

And she says to tell you she’ll do an official kickoff to Walktober near or on October 17th so that you can all link to that post when you do yours!

Mom says if you have any questions just ask. She and I will do our best to answer and explain better. My excuse for rambling is that I’m not even two yet! So I get distracted easily.

Squirrel!

Pictures in this post are from several walks Mom and I have been on lately, cause daddy has been doing scary noisy things in the basement. Heck I didn’t even know we HAD a basement until now! Daddy says when it’s finished I’ll get to explore down there! Too bad it won’t be done by the end of October or I’d take you on a tour for my Walktober!

HEY MOM! MOM! MOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOM!!!! Where am I going to take the nice people on my Walktober? You better figure it out soon! It’s a priority, mother!

Signing off for now,

Your Walktober Ambassador,

Penny the Hiking Dog