Tag Archives: dogs

When I’m 64 …

Posted on November 15, 2014 by mvobsession | Comments Off

This is Fluffy. He is 64 years old this year. I’ve had him since I was around 8 years old. Fluffy came from Germany, he used to be completely covered in rabbit fur but over the years a lot of it has been petted away. Fluffy is a little hard of hearing as one of his ears falls off from time to time. He is my dearest childhood possession.

Fluffy sort of has a Vineyard connection… but doesn’t almost everything in my life :) Ethel Souweine, who was a relative of my mother’s lived on Massasoit Ave in Oak Bluffs. Her two sons, William and Leon, and her daughter Vivian Carole were all in the army in the 1940’s and 50’s. Every time one of them would be stationed in, or visit a foreign country, they would bring back a toy for me and for their niece Carolee. Fluffy was one of those gifts.

Look at that face … his eyes look so real to me.

Nowadays Fluffy lives with the other animals and dolls in a comfy basket on a trunk. They’re a very close group

Fluffy doesn’t get out much but a case of wanderlust hit him the other day and he thought it would be fun to surprise Chappy by visiting him.

Seeing eye-to eye and nose-to-nose.

After exchanging pleasantries for awhile Fluffy decided to nap before his trip back to his basket family.

Back home with the gang.

Maybe an upcoming post on some of the other basket gang members.

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Tagged dogs, Family, Memories, Photographs, Toys

Still Unexplained …

Posted on October 29, 2014 by mvobsession | Comments Off

I repost this post almost every year as it touches me deeply.

My daughter Deb is a twin. Sadly her sister Susan was only here for a few hours.

One of my favorite pictures of Debbie (age 3)

Katy (Katama) was Deb’s first Boykin Spaniel. She was the first dog to go on vacation with Deb and me, no big surprise that it was to MV. Katy left us after 20 months and we feel that she’s now with Susan. Here’s Deb with Katy at Sengekontacket Pond on Martha’s Vineyard.

Katy

Chappy (Chappaquiddick) was Deb’s next Boykin Spaniel. Here they are enjoying the window seat at the inn we were staying at in Oak Bluffs.

We took lots of pictures of Chappy’s first trip to the Vineyard, especially on the beach and in the water. He really enjoyed splashing about and barking at waves. These pictures show a little of his fun at the beach.

Chappy

And then there’s this picture:

Is this a double exposure, or is it Deb and Chappy with Susan and Katy ? You be the judge. Just let me say that my camera, not a digital one, had never, until that day, taken a double exposure and never did so afterwards.

Happy Halloween !!!

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Tagged beach, dogs, Family, Martha's Vineyard, Pets, Photographs, water

Chap-A-Versary …

Posted on August 25, 2014 by mvobsession | Comments Off

13 years ago today, Aug 25, 2001, Chappy came home to NJ to live with us.

It was a dark and stormy night… no wait, that’s another story. It was actually a beautiful sunny, white puffy cloud, mild August day when Deb (his mom), and I traveled to Kittanning, PA to pick him up. We had been there two weeks prior to look over the litter of new Boykin Spaniel puppies and to sort of reserve the one that would be coming home with us today. We thought it went well, Deb chose the future Chappy and the breeder put a red mark inside his ear… he has since been referred to by us as… yes, red ear.

In the two week interim preparations were made for Chappy’s arrival… bedding, toys, food & water dishes, toys, crate, pillows, toys… you get the picture.

So off Deb and I went on Friday, Aug 24th to drive the 6 hours to Kittanning, spend the night and then pick red ear, oops, Chappy up in the morning. Deb had spent the day at work being anxious to get the day over with and get on the road. Deb didn’t feel well that night, stress, the long drive, the anxiety of picking up Chappy, it all took a toll. Soon morning rolled around and after a quick breakfast off to the breeder’s we headed.

The puppies were awake and adorable, they were playing and yipping and being all sorts of cute.

Except one…. he was off to the side looking all unsure of everything… yes… it was indeed ‘red ear’…. oh dear.

The breeder told Deb she was not under any obligation to take him as he wasn’t sure this puppy was adoptable at the time. And that’s when I saw my daughter fall apart. We thought we had it all worked out and would walk in, pick up the future Chappy and leave, well it wasn’t going to be that easy.

In the meantime other folks were coming in to pick out puppies and to be honest it was quite annoying that they would pick one up… look at it… say yes or no and be off. How were they doing that… was there some kind of pup-telepathy that we didn’t have ?

As we stood there and mulled over the situation two of the puppies scampered over to us and pretty much wore themselves out vying to be Deb’s choice.

I knew pretty much right off the bat which one I would choose and I really tried to hide my choice from Deb and let her make her own decision. She says she could read on my face which one I liked best and I’m sure she could. She was so distraught that at one point I blurted out that she could bring both of them home !!!

And so the competition continued… Mr Personality vs Mr Adorable. Mr Personality was sleek and energetic and was quite lovable. Mr Adorable was fuzzier faced and a little smooshed nosed and also energetic and lovable.

Which one did Deb choose, or rather who chose her. Why it was Chappy of course, or formerly known as… Mr Adorable. By the way, he was my choice from the very beginning… just saying.

This is Chappy saying good-by to his parents Buddy & Tawny. He looks a lot like his mom and has her sweet personality.

With the traumatic morning behind us we headed on our 6 hour trip home. Chappy slept in Deb’s lap for most of the ride only awakening when big scary trucks rumbled past or when we stopped for food or gas.

His first McDonald’s where he caused quite a commotion with his cuteness.

At long last we were home.

I love this picture…

and this one 12 years later…

Happy anniversary Chappy <3

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Tagged anniversaries, dogs, Family, Memories, Photographs

Boy And Dog …

Posted on July 19, 2014 by mvobsession | Comments Off

- by Joan -

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Tagged dogs, people, Pets, Photographs, posterize

Chappy Is A Teen-Ager …

Posted on July 7, 2014 by mvobsession | Comments Off

Today is Chappy’s 13th birthday.

He’s in this puppy pile somewhere !

As you can see he was being Vineyardized as soon as we got him home.

Soooooooooooo cute.

His first trip to MV at age 10 months.

All grown up.

Chappy with his favorite person, his mom Deb.

Happy birthday Chappy… we love you.

Chappy collage …

edited-used

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Tagged dogs, Family, Martha's Vineyard, Memories, Pets, Photographs

Meeting A Vineyard Celebrity …

Posted on June 2, 2014 by mvobsession | Comments Off

In size the biggest Vineyard celebrity would have to be Clifford the Big Red Dog. No one, either two or four-legged comes close to him in stature… or in popularity with the younger set.

In 1996 as time was approaching for my granddaughter’s (then age 7) and grandson’s (then age 3) first trip to Martha’s Vineyard I wanted to do something special for them. I know, just going to MV is special enough, but I wanted something different that would be impressive.

I knew that Norman Bridwell, the creator of Clifford, lived on MV so I decided to send him a letter telling him about my long time connection with MV and how my grandchildren would be making their first trip there in a few months.

Lo and behold a few weeks later I got a letter from him saying he’d be delighted to meet us. He told me what date would be good for him and gave me his phone number… to me, a complete stranger.

I told my daughter Patty what I had done and she and I decided to keep it as a surprise for the children. That was very hard for me.

When I arrived on MV a few days before my family there was a message waiting for me where I was staying… it was from Norman Bridwell making sure I’d gotten to MV safely and that our get together was still on. On top of that he also phoned me. How nice was that.

The second day of their trip to MV we went for a walk in Edgartown. While walking down a particular street I said to my granddaughter Tiffany “that’s the house where the man who draws Clifford the Big Red Dog lives.” Her face lit up and she smiled. Grandson Tyler was interested in collecting leaves at that point. I said to Tiffany, “why don’t you go ring the doorbell and see what happens?” She looked at me like I’d lost my mind, then glanced at her mom who agreed that we should give it a shot. So up to the door we went. Ringgggg….ringgggg. The door opened and there stood Norma Bridwell, “hello there, come right in, I’ll get Norman for you.” Tiffany stood wide-eyed at the door and then inched her way in. Tyler discovered they had a cat and scurried in to play with it.

Norman Bridwell stepped out of his office, greeted us and asked us into the living room. He’s a delightful man, full of interesting stories and he made us all feel quite at home. Since my daughter Patty and I knew we were going to be visiting the Bridwell’s she came bearing Clifford cookies and two Clifford books for him to sign for Tiffany and Tyler. I often wondered if they were suspicious of the cookie thing … like how did their mom just happen to have Clifford cookies at the ready !

It was a memorable morning, I’m so glad I took the chance and wrote that letter. :)

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Tagged dogs, Family, Martha's Vineyard, Memories, Photographs

Our Dogs On MV …

Posted on May 2, 2014 by mvobsession | Comments Off

This is Katy (Katama) our Boykin Spaniel in 2000, she was our first dog to go to Martha’s Vineyard… actually our first dog to ever go on a vacation with us. Here she is on the Islander looking happy and eager to get on with her adventures.

She enjoyed her first dip in the ocean… running and barking and trying to catch an elusive wave or two.

At Katama/South Beach, the place she was named for she was a little unsure of the waves so she mostly romped along side of them.

A quiet morning at Edgartown lighthouse was nice after going to the beach, shopping and meeting people. Unfortunately it was Katy’s one and only trip to MV… a year later she was hit by a car and died at only 20 months old.

Did you ever see such beautiful yellow eyes. She was a sweetheart and we miss her and love her.

And then along came…

Chappy (Chappaquiddick) our second Boykin Spaniel and our first boy dog. His first vacation in 2002, at age 10 months was of course to MV, and he of course also loves the beach…

…and Sengekontacket pond which is a little calmer then the ocean.

Relaxing at Vineyard Haven harbor is fun too… watching the ferries arriving and leaving and sometimes meeting an Island dog to chat with. This by the way is his mom Deb’s favorite picture of him.

Ocean Park in Oak Bluffs is always a nice place to spend time.