Remembering Sophia

It very hard to say goodby to a long much loved companion. But you do what is the best for them.

Sophia Gardner

September 30th, 2009 (Forever Home-5 years old)

To

January 8, 2020

I had my dedication to Sophia on another blog but have decided to come back to our Time For Poodles.com.

Take Care & Stay Safe

Terri

The Scottish Poodle

A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, I was rummaging through my mini bar stash and came across a bottle of Drambuie liqueur. I didn't know I had it, couldn't remember why I bought it.

Turning the bottle, the back label read: "After the heroic Jacobite rebellion of 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie escaped from Scotland leaving the legacy of his royal recipe, which remained a secret for generations on the Isle of Skye."

What!???? I am someone more than happily reading Diana Gabaldon's 4th novel (Drums of Autumn) and owns seasons one and two of Starz's Outlander series but who didn't know she had Charles Stuart's favorite drink!? In her own possession!?

I immediately knew that I had to find a cocktail that uses Drambuie--or create one.

I started researching cocktails in Mittie Hellmich's Bar Book-The Comprehensive Guide and found The Bent Nail which called for Drambuie, Kirsh and a blended whisky. I made it, but for me it was just too strong and I didn't get enough of the cherry. 

I was determined. A quest to Lucas liquor was in order, a search for a high quality but mid-priced cherry liqueur. With the help of a nobly kind clerk, I settled on Heering Cherry Liqueur from Denmark. It has a lovely, festive red color and just the right amount of sweetness. Just in time for the holidays.

My blended whiskey for this cocktail is Triple Crown. Triple Crown is locally produced nearby in Weston, Missouri. Everyone probably has their favorite. I know I have also used Canadian blended whiskeys before. 

I've come up with a delightful holiday cocktail that is enthusiastically approved by my much-esteemed panel of critics (my two daughters). So I present............

The Scottish Poodle

1 oz Drambuie

3/4 oz Cherry Liqueur (I used Heerings)

1/2 blended whiskey (I used Triple Crown)

chilled Club Soda

Maraschino Cherries 

Instructions

In a cocktail shaker mix the Drambuie, Cherry Liqueur and whisky, add ice and shake. Fill an Old Fashioned Glass half full with ice and add strained cocktail. Fill the glass to the top with the club soda, stir, add cherries and enjoy!

Here are two other ways that the men in the family found to use Drambuie and Heering at Thanksgiving. Michael added Drambuie to Dr. Pepper and soaked it up. Son in law, Lark, made his own version of Cherry Dr. Pepper with Herring. I did sip both of these and will say they were very good. But the girls and I will take our cocktails any day.

Sophia and Niko

Getting into the season is Sophia and Niko in their Christmas plaids that I made for them a couple of years ago. Niko is so funny when it comes to pictures. Normally he is a big baby, funny and just "Nicky". When he knows it is picture time, he sits up straight and gets his macho on and becomes "Niko", his given name. Sophia never changes for anything. She just likes to get dressed up. 

And just for fun--while sipping on my new holiday cocktail--I had to do something for this post in Photoshop. Meet Greyson from Clan McPoodle.

Every one have a blessed, calm and joyful holiday season. Take care until we meet again.

Terri and the Pack

Happy Early Valentine's Day

Happy early Valentine's Day. This post should have happened last year. The dresses and vest you see were started about this time last year. Needless to say, I didn't make that deadline. But, I decided it was ridiculous that I couldn't get them finished for this V-Day. 

On Super Bowl Sunday, I did a spiff up grooming for everyone. I have probably mentioned before that after we adopted Sophia, I taught myself grooming. I just knew before all was  over, I would have more than one Poodle. Usually I try to spread the grooming out over a week. But I decided to just go for it and get them all done. I guess you could say we had a Super Groom Sunday. 

Now to the garments; I loved to make frilly things for my girls when they were small. But now I only have grandsons. So Sophia and Millie have to put up with a few ruffles! I can't leave Niko out, so he has another vest.


The fabric is from Hancock Fabric (last year). 

Sophia

 

 Niko

Niko

And finally, our senior citizen and my Foster Fail, Millie

 Sophia taking a break. Modeling is hard work!

 And just an extra one of Niko. He seems to like having his picture taken.

 
The one down side to all this this is that I can't find the tie and collar I made for Dylan. He got to wear his for Christmas and now I can't figure out where I put it. IF I find it by Sunday, he gets his own post!

That's it until next time. Take care.  Terri and the Pack.

Today we are taking part in Thoughtless Thursday kindly hosted by And a big shout out to Rukus The Eskie, Owned By A Huskie, M.K. Clinton for hosting the Hop. 

Breakfast With Millie And Sophia

Sometimes it just nice to have breakfast in the bedroom and get away from those pesky boys. They are brothers but sometimes it's just good to have some girl time. 

Did we need a new bowl? Of course not. Did Sophia have to have a pink oh-la-la bowl with Poodles and the Eiffel Tower, YOU BET!

And Millie just loves food. It is the high light of her day. I just really love the blue bowl that we got a couple of months ago in our Bark Box.We use it all the time.

Well that is it for our Thoughtless Thursday and Barks and Bytes. 
And a big shout out to Rukus The Eskie, Owned By A Huskie, M.K. Clinton, Heart Like A Dog and Two Brown Dawgs for hosting these two great hops.


Terri and the Pack

 

Sophia and Nicky for Sepia Saturday

Hello on the Saturday. I hope the weather is treating you good wherever you are. It is going to be blazing hot here (upper 90s). For today, I found a photo of Sophia and Nicky lounging on a pillow I had made them. It already had some orange in it, so I thought it might be a candidate for a Sepia. 

So with some layer adjustments (including one art filter), this is what I came up with. I pumped up the contrast a bit and layered a more pinkish brown on it. I like the way it came out.  

I decided it would be fun to post the original so you could see the difference. 

So, there you go. Have a great weekend and see you later.

Terri and the Pack

It's A Windy Day Out There

Today we are taking part in the Friday Pet Parade Blog Hop. And this was a very windy day. It wasn't good for anyone's hair!

Hope your day is a little calmer and have a wonderful weekend.

Terri and the Pack

Traveling With Sophia

We are on the road today in a very windy Iowa. And this is the first time I have ever did a post from my iPhone using the Blogger ap. Thanks to 

Nola and Sugar for hosting.

Happy Valentine Caturday

I love that V-Day falls on a Caturday and just had to do this pic of Taz sleeping on my vintage Bertoia. I guess he came out of the woods and across a pasture to my back door( and I mean quite literally) so he could sleep on classic chairs. That's a Siamese for you.

He does look a bit grumpy, but I did just wake him up trying to take a photo. It's not very Valentiney, but those colors just don't go with pink and red. 

This is one cat the Poodles should be jealous of! So I am going to spend today sewing Valentine stuff for them. If I get things done by tonight, I might add them to this post. 

Here is my Poodle Valentine

And I had to show what was on my Valentine card that my husband gave me.

Happy Valentine Day Everyone

Terri

And just a little more about Harry Bertoia, if you are interested.

Here is my IG version. I hate changing my original concept for the format, but that is what you have to do :-((.

 

Poodle Nails

Today, we are taking part in the  Thoughtless Thursday by Ruckus the Eskie,  Owned by a Husky and M.K. Clinton. Check down below for other great blogs to read!
 

Today's post is a bit off in left field. But a few times mine are, so here's just one more. Now remember, I am a retired art teacher so this might explain some of my madness.

Yes, today's post is my nail design for my other blog. Nail polish is one of my retirement discoveries. I just didn't have time when I worked. And being an art teacher, my hands were always in water. I just didn't even look at nail polish.

I am participating in a 52 week challenge. I only have to do one nail design a week This week's promp was domestic animals. Well, that was a no brainer.

It was the first time that I tried to paint something like this with polish. You can use acrylic paints and that would have been a lot easier, but for some reason I decided not to do that. And most of this was done with a toothpick. My dotting tools just didn't seem to be small enough.

Now the cool thing is that on my nail blog, I included some photo's of the my poodles. So the folks over in that world probably are thinking that was weird for a nail blog. So it goes when you do what I do..................

Here's My Poodle Nails

And Here Are The Photos That Are On My Nail Blog To Go With The Design


The first one was of Sophia. It was a poster that I made to celebrate her first year forever home anniversary. 

And then there was Niko with his big chew. I think this was back when I was doing Wordless Wednesday. 

And finally, I used this photo of Millie. I took this during the summer because I wanted some glamor shots of her. But, I didn't capture that sweet, happy and lost look that she usually has one so never used them. However, it does show off her ears which are her best feature.

So that's it for this week. If you made it down here to this sentence, Thank You!

If you are sort of interested in the original post, here is the LINK to my B'Nails blog. 

OK, that's it. I hope everyone is doing good and take care........Terri and the Pack

Wordless Wednesday-Gotta Run!

Sorry Cat-Mom's Calling, Gotta Run!

Wordless Wednesday-Sniffing And Smelling

Sniffing And Smelling...............

               Smelling And Sniffing.................

Tasty Tuesday-Carob Brownies For Your Pup

This a recipe I have used many times. From big dog to little dog, everyone at our house loves it. When we do Forever Home or Birthday celebrations (or for just a de-lish snack), this is the recipe I turn to.

I know it is her celebration, but don't I get one too?

Here is the recipe that I make:

Bow-Wow Brownies

½ cup vegetable oil (I used Canola)

2 tablespoons honey

1 cup whole wheat flour*

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup carob chips

½ cup carob powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

1.Preheat the oven to 350’ F.

2.In a medium-sized bowl (I used my mixer) blend oil and honey thoroughly using a wooden spoon.

3. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

4. Pour into a greased 15- by 10-inch baking sheet.

5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.  I will warn you, it is very bubbly while it is cooking.

6. Let cool, and then frost (I never do) if desired.

7. Cut into bite-size squared and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator

Optional Icing (I don't do the icing)

12 ounces fat-free cream cheese

1  teaspoon honey

1  teaspoon vanilla

1. In a small mixer, blend all three ingredients.

2.Use a spatula to spread the frosting over the pan of cooled brownies.

* I found myself Sunday without any whole wheat flower.  However, I had wheat germ and white rice flower. I used ¼ cup wheat germ and ¾ cup rice flour. I am now thinking about experimenting and making a gluten free brownie.  I would prefer brown rice flower and will look for that next time I go shopping at my health food grocery store. 

This brownie is a recipe that can be found in the book Real Food For Dogs. It's a book that I have had for a few years and I think it is one of the better cookbooks for dogs. 

Recipes are vet approved and my dogs seem to really like everything they have tried. This time around, I had to make some changes to the brownie recipe. 

This is a very good book if you are looking for some options for home made dog food.  I do buy regular dog food, but occasionally like to treat everyone to something special.

This book can be found at Amazon and you can actually see some of the recipes (including the Bow-Wow Brownie
in Amazon's preview feature.

And in closing:

YES! This is more like it!

Tivol, Bling, And Rescue

A Rescued Poodle Helping Out Rescues

When you think of Tivol (a Kansas City based jewelry store), a few words come to mind: elegance, quality, and beauty are some. And now, new words can be associated with Tivol, such as "going to the dogs"! I mean this in the very best way.

This Fall, Tivol developed a sterling silver dog tag with either a pink, blue or white quartz stone inset. The name of your pet and one phone number is engraved on the front (Tivol's name is engraved on the back). Better yet, part of the proceeds from the sales go to the Great Plains SPCA.

I read about this just before Sophia's 4th year Forever Home celebration and decided that this would be a very fitting gift for her. 

I ordered ours over the phone although you can order online. They would have sent it to me, but as we are only one hour from Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, I decided that Sophia and I could just pick it up. 

Tivol had only a certain amount of these tags made. And when they are gone, they are gone. When we picked ours up, I was told there were still quite a few available (this was at the beginning of October). They are $42 and I think a perfect idea for Christmas. 

You can find out more about Tivol and the Great Plains SPCA tags at Tivol's website. 

I am throwing in another picture. It has been a while since I did a photo session with Sophia and couldn't make up my
mind which to use, so I went with two.

I'm glad I got one for Sophia. The tag is beautiful and it is for a great cause. 

Happy 4th Year Forever Home Anniversary Sophia

Happy 4th Forever Home Anniversary Sophia!

 It has been four years ago today that Sophia and I found each other. I made this poster a few months ago and decided to use it today.

Four years ago today, I met Sonja (of Riverhill Rescue) and a small and wary Apricot Poodle that I found on Petfinder. I had to wait a couple of days longer to get the little poodle than I wanted. Sonja insisted on taking her to the groomer so she would look less like a ragamuffin and more like a Poodle.

For Fraggle (that was her name), this probably was just one more trip in her life. She had spent her short life in the puppy auction and puppy mill system. However, she had some good luck and managed to find her way to Riverhill Rescue and then to me.

For me, it was love at first sight

Life with Sophia has been a challenge at times. At the time of her adoption, I had never heard of puppy mills and all that goes with them. Sophia got out pretty early, so she does not have the severe emotional damage that I have heard of other owners facing.

Little did I know the direction my life would take because of one little Apricot Poodle.

Black and White Sunday

Sophia Resting

Our First Black And White Sunday

I love black and white vintage photos so it makes sense to me to also work 

in black and white. It's so much fun. Happy Sunday everyone!

Wordless Wednesday-School Time

Hi, It's Sophia

Here I am looking like I am ready for my first day of school. Mom is a retired teacher, so I guess I should expect to less. She loves me so I put up with her silliness.

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Wordless Wednesday-Sarah

Hi, It's Sophia. Today I would like to show a photo of my cousin Sarah. She is wearing a scarf that Mom made for her (she now has three). We call them her security scarfs. She really likes wearing them.

I told Mom that scarf was just to cute for me not to have one. Guess what?

I have one too!

Licks and Kisses

Wordless Wednesday-Come Walk With Me

Hi, It's such lovely weather to go for a walk. But I always have a little brother tagging along!

Calming Sophia

Hi, Sophia here

This post is really about me so I thought I would introduce myself and give you a little history of my life. Then, some of my tiny problems might make more sense.

Unfortunately, (and I know I am not alone in this), my life started out in a bad situation.  I was stuck in the Missouri puppy mill and auction system. By some miracle, I was saved and ended up with a nice lady name Sonja who has a rural rescue named Riverhill.

Sonja put me on Petfinder and Mom saw me. She decided I was exactly what she wanted. That was a little over three years ago.

 You can imagine how my life changed. I really didn’t like going anywhere and had to make sure Mom was right there with me. Slowly, I have gotten a bit braver. But I still don’t really like anyone as much as Mom. In April she spent almost two weeks in Florida with her sister and left my two brothers and I with Dr. Michelle. My brother Niko does great anywhere, but Dylan and I were having a few problems. 

Dr. Michelle came up with a solution for Dylan and I. It’s called Adaptil and it worked great for us.  So Dr. Michelle and I made a video explaining how we used the Adaptil to make me feel better.  

So I am in this video coming up.

Now, I must warn you, I was having a very bad hair day. Dr. Michelle is a wonderful veterinarian but she does not know how to fix my hair. I need my Mom for that. I just wanted to warn you. 

I hope you enjoy the video.

Just Click Here To See Me And My Video