I am enjoying my down-time very much these days, no doubt due to the near complete lack I had while I was in school. I'm relishing every waking minute and sleeping soundly each night. My grief over losing Willi has abated somewhat, leaving me with more time to think about her without crying. Certainly, I still miss her, but I've had a bit of closure now that I have her ashes.

Included in the package from the vet was a little card bearing to impressed ink paw prints, her perfect little feet. When I opened the envelope in which they came, I naturally started to cry, but I am very happy to have the impressions. Mom plans to have them mounted, either plaqued or framed, along with a photograph. And, yes, they are most definitely her little feet. I even have a Christmas ornament made of dough bearing her print that I can match them against. I don't have to, though, I know my little girl's feet. The ashes came in a lovely little cast faux-sandstone urn that has been left unsealed (at least I hope so) and I was surprised at how nice it looks. I don't know if I'll keep her remains in it when I take her to the cottage, or sprinkle them. At any rate, in order to guarantee we don't forget her when we go up there in August, I had the bright, if somewhat macabre, idea of storing them in our travel cooler.

I was helping my mother out in her garden earlier, doing some lifting and digging. It was pleasant to work up a mild sweat in the garden. Both Chester and Melody came out and joined us and... slept. Exciting, they are not. There is definitely a missing personality, though, as Willi is not there to dash about and yell at me. Chester no longer looks for her, and Melody hasn't noticed she's gone. Anyway, Mom and I commented on the walnut tree that was so badly warped from growing under a much larger, imposing basswood (the one the storm ripped out like a carrot three years ago). This is the same tree Willi enjoyed climbing right up to the top. Anyway, now that it no longer competes with the basswood and gets all the sun it wants, it is slowly straightening out. It's pretty amazing how something so apparently rigid like a tree can actually be flexible and adaptable.

That is all for now.