yesterday is over and a new day begins

I want to thank all of you for your kind words and your prayers for Howie. I brought him home last evening. He slept all the way home..so much different than the ride to the Vet when Howie had his head sticking out the rear window trying to breath in all the smells...he makes me smile! When I got to the Vet's the assistant helped me to lift him in the back of my Jeep. I am thinking once I get home how am I going to get him out of the Jeep by myself...Tim was still at work. We get home and I open the back door of the Jeep..Howie moves to the back side door..so I open that door...he tries to get over the console and move to the front seat. He seemed very confused but at first I thought he was mad at me for taking him to the Vet and making him have the surgery! I left him in the Jeep and went in the house and got a treat..a piece of pretzel which he loves! I showed him the pretzel and he was not interested in it...he is sitting in the driver's seat so I take his leash and tell him that we have to go...now I am getting worried but he jumps out of the Jeep and makes a bee line for the door of our home. He comes in and finds a comfy spot and falls asleep. He was sound asleep until my little nephew knocked on the kitchen door..well Howie was up so fast and running to the door barking...Ahh my Howie is back and he is ok! He was then like his old hungry self..he ate so much last night even though the Vet said to feed him a "light meal"..that wasn't happening! It was great to see him finally eat like he did before..like a vacuum cleaner! I slept downstairs with him until about 2 a.m. and then I went up to bed. Around 7 a.m. Howie CAME UP THE STAIRS to get me up to feed him! SO he seems to be back to being my Howie. We are waiting on the biopsy report which should be back this Friday or Monday. Once we know the results we can decide on treatment. I am praying for the best news but I made peace with the fact that we may be dealing with control vs cure. The Vet told me that his lymph nodes are swollen..I think that was her way to soften the blow of the news we are waiting to hear. I know that if it is in his lymph nodes that is not a good thing. Today is a new day and I had my breakdown yesterday when I was alone with my thoughts. I lashed out at God which I should not have done but my emotions were on edge. And Tim and I are feeling so guilty...we are having our "what if" moments..what if we would have taken him to the Vet sooner... what if? Howie never showed any signs that something was wrong until last week and we called the Vet and made the appointment.

I have decided there is nothing I can do to change the fact that my Howie dog may have cancer but I am not going to let it ruin the time I have with him. I pray we have a lot of time left to love him and have him in our life...so we wait.

Linda, I read your blog about your Grand Dog, Brady. I am so sorry to hear that you are dealing with the same thing we are...You and your family and Brady are in my prayers. I wanted to leave you a message or email you yesterday but I understand.....

Howie has always been a dog that never let the burdens of life get him down..even when he had his old life..his life before we rescued him. Howie has taught me a lesson and I think it may just help me to get through this tough time..I will not let my burdens bring me down..I can dwell on the "what ifs" or the "why me's" But I won't.......I will be like Howie and stick my head out the window and smell the life around me and wag my tail and LIVE! And hope someone gives me a treat!

I will be back to blogging about life at The Brickhouse Craft Shop and I hope you stop by for some PORCH SITTING!

For today please give an extra treat to your pets and an extra hug!

~~Patti~~

Howie ....

I am so sad right now. Just got the call from the Vet and she thinks it is CA. Today he had x~rays and a biopsy. I will pick Howie up in a couple of hours and I will discuss with the Doc what the options will be for treatment and I am praying for healing. I pray that Howie will have a long life with us....A good life and one filled with lots of love and pizza crusts...........

My Friend Howie

A WOMAN'S BEST FRIEND.....My Dog Howie.....

About 7 years ago, Tim and I were living in New York. One Saturday in February the morning paper was delivered and I was reading through the newspaper and say a picture of a cute dog. He was at the local ASPCA Shelter. I called the Shelter to see if this dog was still there...they said yes..we went to the shelter. We adopted the cute dog and he is the best dog....I named him Howie and he has been my best friend for the last 7 years. Well, he has been acting strange and not eating so I took him to the Vet yesterday and he may have Cancer. He is on pain meds and tomorrow he goes back to the Animal Hospital for some further testing. I am praying for the best and I must say today he seems to be having a good day..he is up and about and wow is he eating! So maybe that is a good sign, I can only hope.
I urge everyone who is looking to get a dog to PLEASE check out your local animal shelters...the dogs there are the most loving and loyal dogs. Your life will never be the same when you rescue a dog..they will be a Forever Friend. Today I found this poem and I want to share it with you.

A Shelter Dog's Poem
Author Unknown

Once upon a time, you see, there was this little pup;
for reasons unbeknownst to me, his family gave him up

Maybe it was chewing everything that he could find,
maybe they were busy and just didn't have the time

They took him to the shelter and they just left him there
Outside, alone, in the cage...shivering and scared

Even though they knew inside, if he went through those doors,
he may never have the chance to find a home like yours

He sat there crying silently wondering what he did
that was so bad that they just had to leave him as they did

However fate was smiling on that little pup that day,
because a lady saw him and she whisked him right away

He got a second chance at life that others may have not
and now he's in a loving home with everything he wants

Everyday he gets that love that he was looking for
And silently is thankful for when she walked through that door

Others may not have this chance so open up your heart
and adopt a shelter dog to take and give him/her a brand new start

~~Patti~~

Flooding

Lots of rain and wind here today in Central PA. We are under a flood warning. If this would have been snow instead of rain...YIKES!

Flooded cornfield.

57.4 degrees on January 25 in Central PA...not normal! Wheel barrel full of rain.

Basketball hoop blown over.

A river running through our yard.

I just peeked down the basement stairs and YES we have water in our basement. I need to put my waders on and go down there and start cleaning up. Anyone wanted come over and help? I didn't think so...! I hope wherever you are you are nice and dry and the sun is shining bright. Have a nice day and please stop by our porch again.

~~Patti~~

Hopping into the Shop

Bunnies are hopping into the Brickhouse Craft Shop. Stop by the Shop and see how cute these Bunnies are....handmade for The Brickhouse Craft Shop by our great crafter, Teresa. I just love them but then I LOVE everything made by Teresa and so do our customers!

PICTURES!

Finally I was able to figure out the problem and I can upload pictures. Here are some pictures of some of the goodies that arrived today from Miss Beryl. Thank you Beryl..you are a KEEPER!

The loaves of bread are so real looking and I swear I was smelling Fresh Baked Bread all day today!

Love the flowers!

Little Prairie dolls..so cute!

This picture does not do this doll justice...you must see this in person!

This heart is wonderful!

Love this doll..check out the close up of the face and the hands..love those pot holder mittens!

This is a prim doll and she is holding a sprig of Sweet Annie and a grubby little candle. The picture is not that great but this doll is!

Make sure you stop by The Brickhouse Craft Shop and see all these wonderful creations..they won't last long!

~~Patti~~

New Goodies have arrrived!

First off I need to apologize for having a boring blog lately....I am still having trouble uploading pictures to the blog. I hate not having pictures to post on here especially today. I just had three boxes arrive from my good friend, Beryl. Oh my, you have to see what she sent for The Brickhouse Craft Shop. Words can't describe her amazing talent.....so I promise to work on getting this computer fixed so I can post pictures...BUT for all of you who are in our neck of the woods, you MUST stop by and see for yourself Beryl's creations. And remember if you are in the area and not sure if we are open you can call me and I will open the Shop for you.
This week I am heading out to my first Cash and Carry Show in Valley Forge. I will be going with some great friends and I am sure we are going to have some fun! Two of us are CASH and CARRY SHOW ROOKIES, so I think we have to practice some self-control! I can't speak for Tarrah but I have a feeling that I may want to CARRY a lot out of there! Stop by the Porch again and hopefully I will have pictures to post of our day at the Show.
~~Patti~~

Computer Issues

My computer is still not working as well as it should. I have been trying to upload pictures on the blog but for some reason I can't get the pictures on my blog. On Saturday our computer Doctor will be making a house call, so hopefully after that I will be able to post pictures.
I have been working on new goodies for the Shop. We are expecting new goodies from some of our wonderful crafters...can't wait!
Next week I will be going to my first Cash and Carry Show at Valley Forge. Tarrah from The Pottery Shed blog will be going with me and we will meet up with Teresa from Teresa's Primitive Treasures. Teresa is one of our crafters here at The Brickhouse and Tarrah is also a crafter and she is the lovely wife of our Potter, Bob of Indian Trail Pottery. I am looking forward to the Show and spending time with my friends. Oh and I will finally get to meet Tony and April, from Country Home Accents. Tony and April are part of The Brickhouse Craft Shop family...we have had their crafts in our Shop I think from the first day we opened our doors and I have never had the chance to meet them in person...but I will finally meet them at the show!
I want to let all our customers here at The Brickhouse Craft Shop know that for January and February the Shop will be open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 to 6....BUT if you call or stop by we will open for you if you are in the area and want to shop ..so our hours are not set in stone..if we are home we can open for you. Starting in the Spring we will be open more days and the porch will be open so make sure you stop by and enjoy some Porch Sitting Time with Tim and I.
~~Patti~~

Still here..

Just to let you all know that we are still here...we are having computer issues...and it is very annoying to say the least. I tried to do a post on our blog today and I could not upload pictures and I keep getting kicked off the computer. A friend of ours who is a computer expert is coming on Saturday to look at our computer and help us out. There seems to be some major computer viruses out there and I think we have been hit. We hope to get this all fixed and then we will be able to post more..so keep checking back. Hope you all are staying warm!
~~Patti~~

Our trip to Pa Soy

On Monday Tim and I headed out to Lebanon to pick up our candle order from Pa Soy. We made a quick stop in Harrisburg and we drove by Fort Hunter. There is a beautiful barn there that one of these days we really need to stop and see the inside of the barn...if it is as nice on the inside as it is from outside..wow!

We then drove towards Lebanon. We drove through Hershey and saw this barn. I saw a sign that said ANTIQUES.... another place to add to the list of places to visit. I came home and find some info about this place:http://www.crossroadsantiques.com/ I am making a trip there soon..maybe the next time we go to pick up our next candle order.

We passed a lot of beautiful farms and homes. Here was one that I found interesting...check out the little oval window.

We finally made it to Richard and Carolyn's farm. They have a beautiful stone farmhouse and barn and why I didn't take pictures I have no idea..next time! We went into the candle area and were greeted by two tired candle makers. They had a busy 2009 and were spending some down time in the Shop. Here is the CEO, Richard just hanging out relaxing and trying to nap.

And we spotted Carolyn, the Master Candle Maker..she was purrfectly content to just stay in her chair..poor girl was so tired.

Here are the soy flakes that they use for their wonderful candles.Looks like they are stocking up for another successful year of candle making!

An open box of the wonderful soy flakes..looks good enough to eat!Here are some pictures of the many scents that they use in their candles...reminds me of the flavorings for snow cones at the local Fair!

I wanted to take more pictures but we were so focused on talking with Carolyn and Richard that I didn't get any more pictures. Tim and I could talk with them all day and we almost did! We thought we would just go in and pick up the order and spend a little time talking with them. Well, we ended up spending over an hour and a half with them! They are two of the nicest people we have ever met. Tim and I enjoyed talking with them and we look forward to seeing them again. We don't think we will have to wait too long. Their candles are so popular in our Shop and I have a feeling we will be making another trip to their farm for another order of candles very soon! Here is our candle display in our Shop. This is all we had left after our Christmas Season at The Brickhouse..the shelves are really empty.

We now have more Pa Soy candles to unpack and get out for our customers. I have a feeling we are going to need a much bigger display area for the candles! Please stop by The Brickhouse and try these candles..we know you will love them! So stop by and take some time to smell the candles!

~~Patti~~

Looking Forward

Tim and I are so excited for what the New Year has in store for us. We are making some changes which will make our Shop even better. No, we are not expanding..that will be down the line...but hopefully soon because it seems we are quickly outgrowing the space in our little Shop..who knows....one of these days or as Tim would say..YEARS, we hope to expand. But in the meantime, we are working on getting a few new crafters for the Shop.
2009 was an awesome year for us and we are hopeful that 2010 will be even better.
Tomorrow Tim and I are driving to Lebanon to pick up our candle order from PA SOY and then we are making a few stops at some shops in and around Lancaster. For lunch we are planning on going back to a restaurant that we visited in the Fall, The Franklin House Tavern in Schafferstown, for a nice lunch. I am hoping that they have Tiramisu on the menu for dessert!

Tim and I would like to thank all our followers of our blog. We appreciate all your comments and the time you spend reading our blog. Even though we don't always get a chance to respond to your comments please know that we do appreciate you. And we would like to take this time to thank all our wonderful customers/friends who visit us at our Shop..we thank all of you. You all have made this experience so enjoyable...we love what we are doing and it is because of all of you. We wish you all a very Blessed New Year....we know that our past two years at the Brickhouse have been a blessing because of all of you...Happy New year. Here's to new beginnings and looking forward to all the blessings that the Good Lord has in store for all of us.

~~Patti~~