This has been one h*ll of a year and it isn’t even October yet!

Since this time last year I’ve had a bad shoulder injury, broken my toe and worst of all, said an unexpected goodbye to Sally – my dear friend and companion of almost 15 years. Seen below (center) in the last picture I have of her with Jayda (left) and Bryce (right) on Jayda’s birthday at the end of April.

So now Bryce and Jayda are learning how to be just “Bryce and Jayda”. They’re having a lot of fun together but it’s really strange – for the first time in over 15 years I’m in charge around here! Not that I wasn’t before, but there was always a layer of “middle management” taking care of everyday doggy decisions like “Should we bark at that neighbor” or “Should we play or take a nap now” or “Is the trash collector allowed to steal our stuff”? Neither of these two seems in any hurry to take control of those situations so they’ve been following me around CONSTANTLY and Bryce especially still seems a little “lost”. My money is on Jayda to emerge as the eventual leader – the cats seem to have already voted her into that role with ‘Bika now throwing herself against Jayda’s ankles in greeting the same way she used to greet Sally.

(Jayda, Bryce … and Bryce’s “Yucky Duck”. When you see Bryce, you can be sure his beloved ducky is never far away!)

So slowly but surely we’re picking up the pieces – here’s hoping things get better from here!