Sad news from Pittsboro - Princess, pictured here, is the lone dog now....Goldie, her litter-mate, had been deteriorating for several months. She didn't come home New Years Evening - and I knew she was gone then. I found her when I went for a walk Sunday morning to get the paper. It had been fairly chilly all that time and she just looked peaceful lying in the edge of the woods.

We picked up our "free puppies" in October of 1995, so that would make them about 12 1/2 years old. I was strangely emotional - I've always considered myself fairly detached from any animal. Duane and Robert came out and we dug a large hole - and quietly laid her to rest.....