As it is December 24th today, I thought I’d write about the best Christmas present I’ve ever received. But first a little back story… Andy and I first fell in love with English Springer Spaniels when we were on our honeymoon 25 years ago. During that wonderful trip, we traveled around southern England staying at Bed and Breakfasts and Boutique hotels. One place we stayed was a Manor House and it was here that our lives would be forever changed. The owner, who appeared to be on his own, as we never did see or meet his wife, had a slew of English Springer Spaniels! Their energy, good natured personality and beauty forever stayed in our hearts and memory as the years passed.

After our wonderful chocolate Lab, Hannah passed, Andy’s colleague tipped him off on a Springer Spaniel litter and this is when we brought Molly Moo Cow home. Molly brought to our family all the energy, good nature and beauty that we remembered from the English Manor House and the dogs we experienced there. Fast forward ten years… Molly is as wonderful as she was when we first brought her home but with our busy work schedules and her advancing age, I worried she was lonely being home alone all the time.

This is when Andy presented me with the best Christmas present ever! Enter… Daisy Doodle Bug! Ironically, also entered the Pandemic and lock down! Which means my original concern for Molly being lonely abruptly stopped as now we were all home, all the time 24/7. Talk about a complete reverse of circumstances!

We picked Daisy up one day before they imposed a total lockdown of Denver. We were seriously worried we would not be able to travel to Wyoming to pick her up and were making, possibly unlawful travel plans to cross the border to get her while trying to figure out how we could renter the Denver bubble know as Lockdown! Luckily, we did not have to implement those contingency plans!

And so, Daisy joined our family as my belated Christmas present and she is everything I could have asked for and more! Although she and Molly are both Springer Spaniels their personalities couldn’t be more different!

Daisy is a snuggler who often thinks or acts like a cat! Because she was a ‘pandemic’ puppy she has a huge need for attention often pushing Molly out of the way when it comes to getting scratches and pets and or if it is time for a walk.

She is comical in expression and despite her size is convinced she is a lap dog, which is funny because I remember sitting in the library before we got her thinking wouldn’t it be nice if our new puppy were a cuddler and liked to sit on our laps… ask and you shall receive – Daisy does both!

Because of the pandemic, and the time in which we brought Daisy home, training has proven a bit of a challenge as some of it has taken and some has not. I am noticing though as she moves toward her second birthday what was challenging, is starting to be less so, which is a good thing because it makes walking her more enjoyable and now we are able to walk both Molly and Daisy together. She is also able to safely join us on the front porch where we like to sit on a warm summer evening with a glass of wine or on a weekend morning with a cup of coffee… sometimes she sits and looking out, other times she crawls onto our lap for an awkward snuggle as the bistro chairs are not designed for both human and dog.

All in all, I must again say, Daisy Doodle Bug is by far the best Christmas present I’ve ever received as she has been a constant cuddle companion as well as a great emotional support dog during this crazy time, we call Covid. She is a beautiful and loving creature that I am blessed to call my own.

Merry Christmas!

Best Christmas Present Ever

Creating a Hairbrush Sculpture

More Holiday Traditions: Pumpkin Bread