Her Life In Pictures: Twelve

Our twelfth year began in Baton Rouge, nursing Mabel Lou's granny back from hip replacement. Mabel hated the heat and never wanted to be outside. I had to force exercise upon her. But she adored her little cousin Bailey and her granny and uncle. She certainly made the best of five weeks away from home!  Here, she and Bailey are taking Granny for her daily walk. They would pace the long driveway with her, always staying close!

July was blessed and uneventful. Mabel and I were both overjoyed to be back home and in our own house and bed!  Mabel had issues getting in our tall bed after sleeping in Granny's low bed. One of her "creek uncles" made her a nice set of stairs!  Here she is posing with her Baby Lou...who took the trip with us to Louisana (naturally!). There are some funny posts about Baby and Mabel's adventures HERE.

Mabel was enjoying the new wider / longer fainting couch!

We were both sick girls in September. Me with a sinus infection and Mabel had giardia and a bladder infection! She was always such a love when she work up! I miss these mornings ...and reaching for her in the night.

We got some rain and cooler temps but our creek was mostly dry. But we had delicious hikes to the ponds with Otto Rotto. Mabel is stealing his stick here:

She got mad at me for putting a different blanket on my side of the bed and made me sleep on her side....

Even though she was getting older and complained (even more than usual), she remained a curious and playful girl til the very end.

Mabel and Baby Lou had a falling out. I don't know what happened. But they did make up... at 3 am!

I took Mabel to the lower Arroyo for her 12th birthday, hoping these trails would allow her a river exploration without a long mountain walk. I was right! She had a blast. I kept meaning to share the pics with you... but I had to do some editing because the aerospace company is in a lot of the pics and I refuse to print photos that may be a terrorist target... (I know, I'm silly!) Then, it just seemed silly to put them up. But this is my favorite from her special day:

She still adored finding a tennis ball on the trail:

And it's weird how the Universe gives you little premonitions. I wrote of my fears of losing her...just weeks before it happened! My girl at her beloved ponds:

And the last hike I took photos of... Mabel bossing Otto... three days before she passed. Note the placement of her forearms!

I'm certain she was fussing at him about something....She was bossy, domineering and The Queen Bitch of Everything to the very end!

Mabel hiked every day of her life, rain or shine, illness, fever, you name it...we hiked. I'm grateful for every single one.