In Memory of Scout.... 6-1-12 .. Golden Retriever ~ Golden Friend ~ 17 Years Of Joy !

In the Midst of a Wonderful Weekend at The Vintage Marketplace ... we suffered the loss of our Sweet Scout ..

Our little Bear Faced Golden ..with the sweet..gentle soul ..made her departure from this world ..and is now running and playing in the fields above ..and I'm sure our Maggie who paved the way ahead of her last Thanksgiving was waiting for her at the Golden Gates ..

After 17 years ..Scout was just plain Old .. She was the equivalent of 108 dog years in age.

She lived a long healthy life.

We came home Friday Evening.. I went to check on her in the yard and see if she needed me to help her to her bed .. and found that Scout had fallen asleep in the yard and passed on in her sleep which was an absolute blessing from the Lord which we had been praying for.

In the last 2 weeks Scout had began wetting her bed throughout the night and day and we changed it numerous times and bathed her down trying to make her comfortable ..as well she was having a very hard time getting up and walking ....and we decided this last wednesday that this coming week we would most likely have to make the hard decision to have her put down .

We prayed and hoped that if at all possible her life would end in her sleep in a peaceful way .. and our prayers were truly answered.

Of course the pain of losing her is great ..you can't help but hurt and miss her after 17 years of having her apart of our lives and in our home.

The last Year scout has been well cared for in her Golden years .. She loved being outdoors so we accomodated her .. keeping her thin body from age .. clothed in our old t-shirts ..made her thick - cushy beds from layers of blankets - and made sure she was covered from the outdoor elements of cool or windy and even rainy days ...

Scout was truly a wonderful friend .. and companion to our family ..she was our family and her spirit will be missed forever ..

The Beauty in her death ..is that the picture below which was taken last year ..is an almost exact replica of how I found her on Friday evening when I got home ..her paws were stretched out in front of her... her head layed down in them ..and her face looked like she entered a wonderful deep sleep and was at total peace..

Our lives will be changed forever without her .. and of course with Maggie having passsed on last Thanksgiving ..Our lives have doubly changed with both of them gone . We were given both of them from friend and family at the age of 6 weeks ..and they graced our home with their joyful spirits their entire lives.  

We are on a new course now ..with Sweet Flossie ..and so Thankful to God for blessing us with another Beautiful and Happy spirit to fill our home.

Scout ~ Scouterdoodles ~ Little Bear ~  We'll miss you !

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We are unloading and unpacking from the Vintage Marketplace this weekend .. which was absolutely wonderful .. and will share all about it and have lots of pictures for you to come this week ..

What's New at Sweet Magnolias Farm ???

What's New at Sweet Magnolias Farm ...???

A Sweet Magnolias Farm

Very Merry Farmhouse Christmas !!!

Where ?

The Vintage Marketplace at the Oaks

When ?

This Friday and Saturday ...

9-4 both days

RAIN OR SHINE !!!

Our local forecast shows 20 % chance of showers on Friday .. so 80% it won't right ???

And Saturday shows bright and Sunny ...

So don't hesitate to come out Bundle up and enjoy a winter's Day strolling through the park and picking up some wonderful Vintage and handmade Christmas decor and gifts from over 40 shops.

We'll see you there ..

AND ..

If your not local ...

Be sure to check out our Etsy shop

for our new line

of

Farmhouse Christmas Towels

5 designs to choose from ...

Plus more offerings will be added on Tuesday December 6th ...

We are running a bit behind this year on getting our offerings into our Etsy shop. As Many of you have read in previous posts our Sweet Golden Retriever Maggie had cancer. She fought a valiant fight and finally succombed to it this last Friday. The last 2 weeks were devoted to her care ..and we are tired.. and of course our hearts are aching. After 14.5 years with her that ache will of course be around a while as she was my sweet little girl and I feel a little lost without her. God and Time will heal our hearts. And for all those times I recently said I was going to not get another dog after Maggie left this earth ...well once reality sets in and a lonely house ..no pitty patter of feet, no dog kisses, and so on ... I'll be getting another ..I have too much love to give not to get another.

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas ...

Downs and Ups .. Ups and Downs ..

Life is full of them ....

That is Ups and Downs...

This summer has been boasting ups and downs here at Sweet Magnolias Farm... and I am finally feeling up to sharing a little about them with my sweet followers here in blogland ..

First of all one of my Ups this week ...... I was (1) of many talented artisans featured in the new August Issue of Somerset Home. My Farmhouse Dreams Lamp was accepted and featured for this issue ...and I am so thrilled to see it in print. Once again the Gals at Stampington have outdone themselves ..and I'm honored to be part of this magazine.

There are page fulls of inspiration in this issue ...so if you haven't got one be sure to go grab yours before they are gone from the shelves ..I know barnes and noble carries them as well as Joanns .. and of course you can order them directly from stampington.

This year we have been featured in 3 different stampington magazines ..and I cannot tell you how exciting it has been to share the work of our hands ( that is Gods work) with strangers and friends near and far away. Through it we have gained new friends which has been such an amazing blessing. And a Great "Upside" to our year ...

Since our last show in June .. alot has happened .. We have been re-working our home and putting it in order.

Approx. 5 years ago we moved into our home (a rental) which was supposed to be temporary.. our estimate was a year. Well long story short .. we had some unforseen medical issues arise in the family that stretched a long span and that kept us grounded here. With the quickness that these medical issues arose after moving in .. well we never really got our house turned into much of a home and the work side of the home was given an attempt of organization ..but never the full treatment ..so after several years of a slightly but not very organized life .. we decided it was time to get organized. We started on what we refer to as our work room ..which is where all the creative supplies are kept ..and there's alot of them !!! We spent a little over 2 weeks tearing every last item from that room rather it be in a drawer a box or whatever and casting out the yardsale or trash items and beginning with a new palette to begin organizing ... and little by little day by day each item was sorted into categories and a specific drawer or box was assigned to said item. What started out as we'll have this done in a week turned into alot of we'll have it done tomorrow's ..LOL !!!

Well it is now complete and it's actually quite freeing to walk in that room and know what drawer holds what item and the ability to actually be able to put it back where it came from.

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After that long arduous job ..we rested a week ..well sort of ..there's always some kind of work to do ...and that led to Washing our 2 sweet Doggies one afternoon. Scout our sweet 16 yr. old golden Retriever and Maggie our 14 yr old Golden Retriever.

While I was washing My sweet Maggie ..I decided to check how her teeth were looking as this last year she had been losing quite a few teeth which we contributed to her age. Upon checking her teeth I noticed there was a large tumor growing inside her mouth in the top of her gums in front and wrapping around several of her front top teeth. Let's say it was large enough that my concern grew immediately and I called the Vet instantly. I took her the following day for her checkup ...and they said she needed surgery to remove it and it was possible it was cancerous. We opted not to have the tumor tissue checked upon the reasoning that she was 14 yrs of age and if it was cancerous that there wouldn't be alot that could be done for her. A week later she had her surgery and all was good ....or at least we thought so! As I gaver her, her medicine and mouth wash the days following her surgery ..I noticed about the 5th day after the Tumor was returning and at a rapid rate. Again we headed back to the Vet ..where they informed me she had cancer and I might have 2 to 4 months left with her...




(My Sweet Maggie)

3 weeks ago today ..we began Maggie on her medication and a good healthy cancer diet for dogs ..and she's still doing well as of today. She had a few bad days when I thought it was time ...but the following days she rebounded. She's still eating ..still wagging her tail ..but the effects of cancer are showing as she has had a fair amount of muscle loss. It's been the one big down for us this summer. I've cried and cried some days and other's I'm just fine. I have been so blessed to have my Maggie for 14 years. She's been my undying companion day and night all these years .. she is the love of my life...she has been my child. The days and weeks ahead are sure to test my emotions but I know Gods Grace is upon me and that through this heartache each day I am learning compassion to a greater length and depth than I have ever known it before.

Sincer her diagnosis .. we have continued work here at our home .. re-organizing, cleaning and desiging our back yard and patio .. and this week we started on the downstairs work area of our home.

It definitely hasn't been a dull summer in the least ..every day has been chock full of work, or caring for our Maggie.

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On another note ... I had promised many of our Marketplace Customers in June we would have our Farmhouse Flour Sack Towels available in our Etsy shop within a few weeks after the show ..and with all that has taken place ..I wasn't able to get them made available until just a few weeks ago. So far they have been a great success ..we have sold a bundle of them and Below is a peek at the designs we have available in the shop right now. We also will have 5 new designs that we will be offering very soon . My hope is within the next few weeks.

Sweet Magnolias Farm Originals
Farmhouse Flour Sack Towels

Click HERE ..to visit our Etsy shop

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And Last of all ...we'll be starting on lots of new offerings for the upcoming "Vintage Marketplace at the Oaks" on September 9th and 10th . Be sure to mark your calenders and come out and see us, We are so looking forward to seeing all of our friends, clients and meeting new faces and friends !!!

In the meantime ..we'll be working and enjoying each and every day that passes with our sweet Magpie !

And We wish you all a Beautiful Summer full of Sunshine Dreams and Lazy Daze !

Farmhouse Blessings to All !!!

Morning Humor ...Have a Good Laugh ..Try again I changed the link ..

Maggie and I received a really funny Video this morning that made us crack up till our bellies hurt ...and we wanted to share this mornings fun with all of our blog friends ...

So ....

Click Below on the "Breakfast At Gingers" link .....

And watch for a Really Good Morning..Afternoon or even Evening Laugh !!!

Breakfast At Gingers

Wishing all of our Blog Friends a Beautiful ..Happy and Blessed Day !!!

Maggie Girl is feeling better WooHoo !!

It's been a while since I last posted about my Maggie ..I think the last post I wrote is how my heart was broken that she could no longer make it upstairs with me at night ..

AND

That has been the case ..ever since ..we both have adjusted ..although she has her bed at the bottom of the stair well and Yes you literally have to step over her at night and in the early morning ..I tried moving it about 3 feet out of the way ..and I ended up finding her curled up on the Tile floor in the morning ..So back her Bed went to the stair well ..Oh well I love her and she's worth stepping over anytime ..LOL !!

For those of you who aren't aware ..Maggie is a Golden Retriever..I have had her since 6 weeks old ..and she is now 13 ..That's an extremely long life for a Golden...anyhow she has severe debilitataing Arthritic Joints ..and Fatty Tumors on her body ..but She Smiled through it every day ...She injured her back leg one day and could barely walk ..and she weighed over 100lbs ..big for a girl I know ..Well I couldn't lift her so off we went to the vet and We had the best thing happen ..Did you know they now have Glucosamine shots for Dogs ?? They do it is called Canine Adequine ..they give a series of 4 shots in the first month and then 1 shot thereafter ..and it works in restoring joints in 90 some % of Dogs ..So I went for it with her ..

She has just had her 5th shot today which our Vet kindly allowed us a prescription for and to give it to her ourselves....

Anyhow all that said ..I wanted to show you my new improved Gal ..I shot these picts of her last week ..She was rolling like a horse on her back out in the yard ..having the best old time ..Her limp is gone and she doesn't struggle to get up anymore ..No she doesn't come upstairs still not that she can't she snuck up one day while I was gone so I now block our stairs off when I leave ... I just prefer she doesn't climb them there is no sense in re-injurying that back leg ..She's older and needs to be accomodated for that ..

Oh and I forgot we got her to lose a bunch of weight ..she never ate alot to begin with just about a cup and a half a day ..but She wouldn't lose weight ..And I was afraid I was going to starve her ..Well we got rid of the Dog food altogether and she now Eats all Natural ..Chicken and a mix of veggies and fruits and LOVES it ..and She has lost a ton of weight ...So that has been a big help too ..

well here are my picts of her ..hope you enjoy them !!!

hugs and Blessings ..to you all ..Sara