Happy Birthday Violet!!

A year ago today, our first child Violet the Pug, was born to Belle by a crazy breeder. We never imagined what the next year would bring or if we (or Violet!!) would make it through, emotionally or financially, but despite its challanges we love our little Violet and are happy that she is a member of the Ciano (and Fisher) family. In between the frustration and tears she brings joy to our lives each day.

What we love most about Violet, other than how cute she is......she is a little clown and makes us laugh everyday.

What we would change about Violet, other then her OCD/craziness......her ability to be housetrained!! Uggh!!

Violet has improved over the past year but still needs lots of work and takes a lot of patience. Even though Cashina isn't born yet, I can imagine that it will be like having twins during Violet's high maintenance moments. Let's hope she gets better with age.

Pug Model

Since before we even took Violet home, I had dreams of having professional photos taken of her. I had found this wonderful photographer's blog online and told myself that WE HAVE to come have her shoot our little girl. And, with Violet being so cute, we couldn't pass up the opportunity.

We had scheduled the shoot a few times but had to cancel due to all of Violet's "health" issues so when we thought she would be able to make it a couple of hours without spinning and most importantly, when we thought all of her shaved spots would be grown back, we scheduled again.

She did amazingly well during the shoot and was such a ham. We think her true calling is Pug Puppy Model. Li, from Fat Orange Cat Studio, was fabulous to work with and she loved Violet just as much as we do. She took some beautiful photographs which has made it tough to decide which ones we want to have printed. Decisions, decisions. Li posted some of her favorities on her blog. Check them out: Fat Orange Cat Studio

Mill Pond

There is a small park and pond at the end of BHL, Mill Pond Park, which is part of Ashland conservation land. We haven't seen anyone canoeing or kayaking but there is an area to put in a small boat if you wish. Personally, I just thought it was a pretty and hope that during big storms we don't have a flooding situation on our hands.

I am sure the foliage in the fall will be beautiful as well so I can't wait to see how it is transformed.