"OLD MAN" WILLIE LOYAL TO THE END!!

Another cloudy,cool day here in the mountains. Left early to make my Avon deliveries and do a little shopping for my Samaritan's Purse Christmas Child boxes.I have been slack this year,in years past I put together a box every month, but for some reason I haven't done it this year.
This year has been full of ups and downs and this is not the only thing that slipped my mind believe me!! Anyway I'm making up for lost time today. I also found a new rug for my living room but decided not to put it down until after Christmas,as I have a Christmas one to put down and I'll start decorating this week end.As I came up the drive I looked over at our pond and there was a flock of mallards sitting on the water,I took some pics,however as I discovered later pictures don't turn out to well without that little card in your camera!!!
D-in-love brought g-son here and helped me carry everything inside. We didn't get off to a good start today as mom had taken him and got him a grilled cheese and a cup of apple juice on their way here,we set it up for him on a table in the living room so he could watch TV while he ate.He wanted to watch a DVD,so I was trying to get the sound on the DVD when I heard him say "oops",I turned around to see a river of apple juice running off the little table into the floor. I said "do not get out of that chair"(remembering the time he had peed in the floor and danced in it), and ran for a towel and then my swiffer mop to clean up the sticky mess. All the while he was curled up in the chair saying "I've got to be happy again,Nena you've got to be happy",I looked at him from my knees and said "do I look like I'm not happy, wonder why",to which he replied "I love you Nena,please be happy again" and melted all my mad right away,it's funny how an innocent child knows exactly what needs to be said sometimes. I had to have a long hug and kiss before he left because I won't see him again until after Thanksgiving day as they are going out of town for Thanksgiving day.Willie,known affectionately as the "old man" is about 14 years old,he is very arthritic and doesn't go far from his bed anymore but he is still with us and will be until he passes. Willie was the 2nd Australian Shepperd we ever had,the first which was also a blue merle male got hit by a car and later died from his injuries. We soon after saw an ad wanting to give Willie away,he was 2 years old and they didn't want him because he wouldn't stop jumping up on them. We brought him home and in about a week I had him trained to stop his jumping.
This is a trait of this type dog as my Annie does it now and I'm working on getting her to stop but it is going to take longer with her as she is only a little over 1 year old. Willie has been a faithful guard dog for the farm and has been known to nip strangers. Once the UPS driver reached up to hand me a package ,I guess Willie thought he was reaching for me ,so he nipped him right in the backside. As he grew older we had to put out signs and watch him closely. But on the flip side we didn't have to worry about strangers messing around the farm.Willie's eyes have gotten a lot of attention,they are icy blue and beautiful. Several people have mistakenly thought he was blind,1 fellow paid for his thoughts as he tried to push Willie out of his way. Although Willie didn't like strangers he has always been drawn to g-son as if he thought he needed to protect him by staying close by his side.Even when he looked like a tiger!
Sadly we all know Willie's days are number and our goal is just to make him as comfortable as possible while he is still with us and make sure he doesn't suffer when the end comes. Living on a farm thankfully gets you accustomed to animal life and death,but it still hurts,especially when something has been a part of our family as long as Willie has. So for now Old Man Willie will take up his guard dog position and bark so the younger dogs can go investigate as he watches.
Daughter came in from work and went right to work on her baking,she has orders for tomorrow as well as I do. She and hubbie helped me box and load some of our orders in my van tonight,I don't know how I'll fit it all in there. I iced caramel,chocolate and coconut cakes until midnight tonight. I have more than 20 orders for tomorrow so that doesn't leave a lot of selection. Tuesday before Thanksgiving is always a crazy,busy day at market. Wish I had some help but everyone is working so maybe everyone will be patient.
Thank you Lord for a wonderful day and be with #1 son's family as they travel tomorrow.Good Night.