Smoky Mountains and the Big Brave Rudy.

One of my favorite things about where we live is the close-ish proximity to Gatlinburg. Scrape up some pennies, get some friends together and break out the camera. It is beeeyootiful.

Lucky for me my parents and Auntie have been visiting from my native land of Eng. There may be no better place to celebrate a reunion. That said- the start of their visit was spent on the white sands of the Florida panhandle and I'm fairly sure I already declared that it doesn't get any better than that. In many ways, it has been a very charmed month.

The view from our cabin, of another cabin (with more cabins behind it).

 It's very cabin-y around these parts.

This photo of my sister basically sums up family holidays for me. Tea and games, games and tea. 

My main concern this past month has been our eldest Fluffy: BigRudy. After discovering he had a fungal infection in the bone of his leg, we endured an extremely nerve-wracking few days when it was grudgingly decided he had to have his leg amputated. The world has been spinning at a blur-inducing pace lately. 

Despite my tendency for profuse worrying, I am happy to report Rudy is putting forth great efforts towards recovery. His surgery seems to have gone well, and the surgeons all fell under the spell of Rudy's sweet and gentle personality. Nobody is resistant to the charm of that boy. 

He is showing some teenage-like distaste about the cone-collar that is a necessary addition to his daily attire, but admittedly I enjoy his spirit in the matter. We are hoping against hope that the infection didn't spread beyond his leg and that the amputation has taken care of the issue. Bravest boy that he is- three legged-ness will certainly not defeat him. Plus he has received all manner of fancy new toys, bedding and accessories. Our bank account is crying some pretty big tears! My heart remains clenched, but we are hoping for positive reports from our vets in the coming weeks. 

    

All this talk of Rudy and it's almost as if we forgot about Felix! As if he would allow such a thing.

Luckily, my wonderful parents took it upon themselves to keep Felix very busy while I was Nurse to BigRoo. Never has one dog received had more ball-throwing, play-dates, walks and attention than has been bestowed upon Felix this week. I suppose it was inevitable that (eventually) he would find a comfy chair and take a nap.