About Me

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Recent retiree--35 year's experience teaching reading, English, adult basic education and volunteer leadership skills. Started this blog to exchange ideas and commentary with friends and others having an interest in joining the discussions. Greatest life accomplishments include: 1.organized my 3rd grade class to check out library books for me to get around librarian's weekly limit--Amazon.com, the Mullins Elementary 3rd Grade Class of 1956 is still waiting for "thank you" notes; 2. volunteered in the Peace Corps, island of St. Kitts, West Indies; 3.taught adults to read, earn their GEDs., and speak English as a second language; 4. bought a border collie puppy for $6, got evicted rather than give him up, and began a life-long love affair with all things "Dog"; 5. joined a physical fitness boot camp in my mid-50s--don't mess with someone who's been doing regulation pushups in wet grass at 5:30 a.m.; 6. walked across Northern England with best friend Sally--over 80 miles from the Irish to North Seas; and 7. travelled to many foreign countries for pleasure and work.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Fun Monday - Willie CloseUps


Our host for this week's Fun Monday, Sayre over at Sayre Smiles ,has given us a simple and totally enjoyable assignment. She wants us to share closeups of our pet(s).

Meet Willie Ray, my almost 14 year old buddy and goodwill ambassador for pit bulls. Willie has had a pretty exciting couple of weeks. He got his spring bath. Then he got introduced on Facebook. He also went to the vet for his annual exam. The vet said he was in fine form for a senior citizen--blood clear, all systems operational, only the beginnings of a cataract in one eye, waist trim and tucked from his daily walks. The only problem is that he has this pesky lump on his hip that may cause trouble. But at his age we're not going to dwell on the eventualities, just enjoy his senior years doing what he likes: hanging out, eating, sleeping, and walking.

Now, here are the results of several days stalking with the camera. Notice I didn't mention getting his photo taken as something he enjoyed. Here he is resting his head on the sofa arm, wondering when we're going for a walk:

Here's a totally functional nose that can still scout out a morsel of food at 20 paces:


These eyes are always on me. I like to think this is an affectionate stare, but have to admit that he's probably trying to hypnotize me, his servant:



Here Willie is on KP duty. He's in charge of cleaning all containers before they're pitched. He especially enjoys the yogurt ones:
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And, now for the end (ahemm-mm!) of his photo exhibition. Here he is at his KP station (the living room sofa) doing a bit of clearing. He finds that he works better on two legs for this job:


Hope you've enjoyed getting up close and personal with Willie. I'll be around to check your buddies out real soon. And visit Sayre for a list of players.

17 comments:

Sandy said...

Please give Willie an extra yogurt container from me!

joanygee said...

What a handsome guy!
Thanks for sharing...

Living Life said...

What a nice post, Faye! Hugs for Willie!! He looks like the perfect companion. That is a great idea to let him lick the remnants of containers. He gets a nice treat and your trash stays dog lickin' clean!

Jan said...

What a sweetie.

Jan n Jer said...

Wille is a faithful companion...You take excellant care of Him Faye...he is lucky to have such a wonderful loving care giver.

Debs said...

Great pics. He looks so sweet. :D

Sayre said...

I think he already HAS hypnotized you! What a love... I hope my dogs are in as good a shape at 14 - heck, I hope they make it to 14!

Thanks for playing!

Karmyn R said...

What a lucky boy to get to lick out yogurt containers!

Pamela said...

so, is his tongue long enough to clean his nose after the container?

ha ha... and then the end.

m (the misanthrope) said...

Hi my friend! I am so happy to see that Willie is doing well and is as handsome as ever. When he's done with your yogurt containers, send him my way, please...I have a few of those very same containers that he could take care of for me!

Willie is a wonderful ambassador for his breed. I have always admired pit bulls and I believe that they have been maligned due to the actions of a despicable few humans who have taken the finest attributes of the breed and exploited and twisted those qualities - and these beautiful, strong, loyal animals - in order to make themselves feel more macho or masculine or whatever.

(Aside: You want to prove yourself? Leave the dogs alone and sign up for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Personally, I find UFC to be gross and the participants not attractive at all, but to each their own and at least all the participants are adult humans who can consent to whatever the fight entails.)

And fabulous post about the Kentucky Derby! I was thinking of you on race day and wondering if it was near your neck of the woods. I'm also a fan of Calvin Borel (or Bor-rail, as I've heard people call him due to his signature move of riding right along the rail).Thanks for the local's insight into the most exciting 2 minutes in sports!

Gattina said...

What an adorable friend ! My cat when she was 18 also had lumps, as long as they are not dangerous it's only a matter of beauty. I didn't want to bother her either with that. H
Willie looks real fine !

Debs said...

thanks for visiting. :)

Buster is a black lab. He was a puppy when he showed up at our door. Well dryer vent. LOL No one claimed him. So he stayed. ;)

karisma said...

Awwww, he is adorable! Love the one with his nose stuck in the yoghurt! Too cute.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

What a handsome chap he is.

laurie said...

aw, sweet willie! how we love our dogs.

Lane Mathias said...

Oh what a handsome chap Willie is. He has a real serenity about him in these photos.

And he looks like an A1 container cleaner:-)

Lane Mathias said...

Oh what a handsome chap Willie is. He has a real serenity about him in these photos.

And he looks like an A1 container cleaner:-)