High hopes for the calendar to be available to order later this week. All Hail Beth!
In the meantime, Beth said it would be okay to share a sneak peek.
We bring you… JANUARY!
What a lovely idea John had to include In Memoriam in this year’s calendar!
HeleninEire
Is the calendar gonna match the pet with the owner?
beth
@HeleninEire: Hi, Helen. Some people don’t want their name/nym used so in the interest of consistency I only label the pet.
beth
Also, I apologize for how late the calendar is this year. I had a window of opportunity and then an series of unexpected events consumed my December and overtook January. I’m hoping to have the calendar finalized and uploaded no later than Wednesday.
geg6
Oh yay! And thanks to Beth! Can’t wait to order. Koda, Lovey and Cleo should all be there.
trollhattan
I spy a kitler.
WaterGirl
@beth: I was trying to give you some wiggle room. :-)
frosty
It looks great, I had no idea! I, too, like the In Memoriam quotes.
WaterGirl
I think John’s idea to add that this year is brilliant. And touching. I got a little teary when I read the quotes from The General.
BQuimby
I unexpectedly lost my exceptional and hugely beloved cat Sunday morning – Bunn (Bunnzola). She was an excellent foster mom to Gilda (see her in January – lower right). Missing the literal heart and soul of our clowder.
jackmac
Love it! (And we’re delighted to see our entitled little white girl — Precious — at the bottom of January’s entries).
satby
@BQuimby: Deepest condolences BQuimby. So heartbreaking when it’s out of the blue like that.
PaulWartenberg
Thank you for including Ocean!
WaterGirl
@BQuimby: I’m so sorry. That’s heartbreaking.
WaterGirl
@PaulWartenberg: Is Ocean a kitler? Quite handsome.
Ruckus
@BQuimby:
Damn, always a shame that they go so seemingly fast.
I had Bud, lower right corner for only 2 1/2 yrs but he was the best buddy ever. I had to give him back to the rescue org in 2012 as I just could not keep him, what with the recession and living where I did. But he was about 14 then and the rescue org president kept him as a family pet, which I bet was new to him as he was a real one owner dog. I’m sure he’s gone now, he’d be over 20. Great companion – his nickname was Ornery Bastard and he earned that. We got along just fine. I respected him and he did the same once he figured out who fed him. Miss him everyday but life doesn’t always give you what you want or need.
WaterGirl
@Ruckus: That was your Bud! Before they had the names, I wondered if that might be Lil Bit, but I didn’t think she had the brown eyebrows.
Beth
@BQuimby: oh, no! I’m so sorry!
sab
@BQuimby: I am so sorry.
I still have my Starscream, who has turned my five cat crew from a glaring of cats to a clowder.
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
I thought I saw some where you said you wish you knew how to allow the picture to zoom.
Anyway I just click on the image and then copy the image to another tab. When you click that tab you can enlarge the image. On mac I can enlarge 300% which is most of the time more than enough and the quality of course goes down as you enlarge too much. So 300% is pretty good.
WaterGirl
@Ruckus: Actually, I played with it and then edited the comment after I figured it out.
I set it so if you hover over the image, you get a hand, so you can open it in a new tab and then enlarge it as much as you want.
The image wasn’t clickable until I did that. I learned something today. I guess I can go to bed now.
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
Little Bit is very similar in coloration. Also Bud was beginning to have joint issues but I found some treats that he seemed to like that had glucosamine and chondroitin which is supposed to help and they seemed to do the trick.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Ruckus: I’ve got my girls on some pills from Costco for joint health, as the kid said last night, just like humans.
WaterGirl
@Ruckus: I remember how much you loved Bud and how hard it was for you to let him go. Life sucks sometimes, but I’m glad you knew he had a good home.
HeleninEire
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
It allowed me to click and open in a new tab.
But I do this all the time with images so I’m used to it. Making it clickable for everyone is great.
I gained a lot of knowledge when I owned my bike shop and I had been publishing sports rule books for a decade before that using Quark, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. My cousin did the basic coding for the website and I went in and modified/added/changed a lot of the content. And maintained it over the time I had the shop. So good experience to use computers.
Ruckus
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Yep.
@WaterGirl:
I had gotten him in SF, not far from my shop and had to send him back that way. I had to put him on a plane, found a guy in Van Nuys who flies his plane around the country doing pet transport. Not too expensive either. I had to watch him be put in the plane with about 20-25 other animals and the pilot. Everyone else there came with people, I was alone so the pilot had me guide him in taxi so I’d have something to do besides stand there and cry. Didn’t help much.
His name was Bud, short for Buddy, which he was.
WaterGirl
@Ruckus: The things we do for love are some of the hardest things we ever have to do.
My first cocker was named Mellon, which you may recall – from the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings– means “friend”.
Miss Bianca
@beth: looks beautiful, can’t wait to see the rest! Thank you for putting it together
@BQuimby: Oh, sadness. I finally submitted pet pics this year, and of the four, three are gone, including the bestest, bravest kitty in all the world, Lefty. I feel your pain.
WaterGirl
@Miss Bianca: I’m not crying, you’re crying! okay, yes, I am crying.
I lost 4 in one year and it was beyond brutal. hugs.
Libby’s Person
Thank you, Beth! I can’t wait to see my much missed Libby and her little brother Bo (who’s taking care of me for her) in amongst such fine company.
Miss Bianca
@WaterGirl:
IKR? We surround ourselves with fur persons we know won’t outlive us, can’t outlive us, usually, and our hearts crack each time we say goodbye to them but we can’t stop ourselves, one or more of them will come along again and insist on trying to mend them, and we must love again. Cracking and mending, cracking and mending…what does Temple Grandin say? Animals make us human. Hugs to you too.
lurker dean
wow, the calendar has really progressed from when I bought one a few years ago, it looks great! the pet names and general stuck quotes are perfect.
sab
@Miss Bianca: It is very often tragic for them when our pets outlive us, so I am okay with the different lifespans.
On the other hand, my dogs are old, my cats (older than the dogs) are middle-aged. I am also early into being old, but there. So I cannot responsibly take on a new young pet, because it will outlive me.
Unpleasantly odd to face mortality looking at my remaining dog years.
My dad (95) is in a nursing home. Took his longtime devoted cat partner to visit him. Stressful for each. Neither was much interested in the other.
On the other hand, my late uncle’s cocker would give anything to have him back. I hesitate to even take him for a visit to my nephew, because dog thinks he is going home. He is 14, and owner/ dad died two or three years ago.
WaterGirl
beth, the more I look at January, the more I love it!
all the guys in black and white and gray. the crossed paws, the big ears, the tummies exposed.
and oh my gosh, the two black & white guys just to the right of charlie look like a perfectly matched set of adorable, sweet and crazy, hanging out with the flying nun next door.
i love general stuck welcoming charlie, who was the perfect match for the general, and then stuck welcoming in the new year. love and tears for the general.
i would love to see us gift each “in memoriam” family with a copy of the calendar, if we still know how to get in touch. greennotGreen’s sister, efgoldman’s wife, laura, too…
rikyrah
@BQuimby:
So sorry for your loss ???
Laura Too
Late as usual. What a wonderful calendar!!! I will order a bunch for my family-some who will know what it is and most who will just appreciate the awesome pet pictures.
Laura Too
@beth: Thank you, this is beautiful!
Laura Too
@BQuimby: So sorry for your loss.