My son Mark, my grandson Jack and Henry the 3 month old Airedale Terrier, not paying any attention to me.
Reviews of the book The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete click here. Mark and Erika did a beautiful job training Murphy.
Ooops Jack jumped off and Henry noticed me.
Dear Blog Readers,
Just after midnight, WordPress notified me of the blog’s anniversary. Four years.
So today’s post is the beginning of year five!
The blogging effort got off to a slow start, I didn’t exactly know what to post and wondered if anyone would look at the posts, let alone follow the blog.
There were spaces between days of blogging.
I’d taken a Purposeful Blogging class with photographer John Craig at the Silver Eye Center for Photography and at the end of the class, I wasn’t sure what my purpose was but I plunged in anyway. A photo. A thought. Something My first post was just a photograph of my grandson Michael in “time out” and the family dog Murphy the Airedale, waiting for him to get out of the corner. You can see the very first post by clicking here. Michael’s going to be 8 next month. And Murphy passed this Spring.
Thanks to everyone for your support and encouragement, your taking time to look at my photographs and leave some good words now and again, for clicking the “like” button and for understanding my not being the best replier. Being part of the WordPress Blogging Community has added much to my life.
Grateful for family, friends, fellow bloggers, guest bloggers, readers and followers. xxooxx Ruth
Anna jumps in the pool to get on her mark for the back stroke heat.
Many people have a favorite dog breed. In the list of the top ten most popular breeds in the USA, the top three are Labrador Retriever, German Shepherd and Golden Retriever. Forget the ranking, Airedales are tradition in my DIL’s family.
Henry, the 3 Month Old Airedale Puppy, is the newest member of the family. He is exuberant and happy with all the care and attention he is receiving from everyone. You’ve seen glimpses of him in a few posts.
Henry hails from Michigan (Aberdeen Airedales) and has already been in West Virginia and Virginia and resides in Ohio. He was really good on the seven hour ride to Virginia! Both ways so that racks up 14 hours in the van.
Mark was telling me about the Presidents who have had Airedales – Scott Brown of Cerebral Caffeine blog wrote “After The Great War (World War I), the Airedales’ popularity rapidly increased thanks to stories of their bravery on the battlefield and, in America, also because Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, and Warren Harding owned Airedales.”
Although Airedales are not in the top ten most popular breeds in 2013, he is one popular little guy in the family.
Can you see how big his paws are?
Learning to go down the stairs
Henry in introduced to his cousin Penny the Golden Doodle.
Puppy Portrait
Each of the kids sat on Dad’s lap to help steer.
My DIL Erika took this one on her iPhone as Mark held Henry the Navigator at Smith Mountain Lake Virginia
(Mark asked me if I remembered Toonces?)
photo credit to Erika, guest contributor
Henry and his new family.
Maura, Anna holding Henry, Michael and Jack in Hardy, Virginia.
Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia.
Michael talks to 3 month old Henry, (the Airedale Terrier puppy) on the boat.
Henry wore a life jacket and did a bit of doggy paddle with the family but was glad to get out of the water and shake off.
Henry is losing his black puppy hair on his face and as Mark said today, he is looking more “Airedaley”.
We’re celebrating the Fourth of July in Virginia. I’m grateful for another birthday.
When I was Maura’s age I used to think all the fireworks were just for me on my birthday. Ha!
Not sure if there will be fireworks to celebrate the fourth as there’s rain and more rain.
My granddaughter Maura (4) sings the Star Spangled Banner with a slight alteration of the opening lyrics.
“Okay, can you see?” or more like “O-O-O-Okay can you see”
The title for this post could also be How to Photograph Four Kids at a Time. I’ve had a lot of practice. It’s not impossible but to get ALL four with their best expression is not an easy task. Add the new puppy Henry to the effort.
I’ve used the -get ’em in action method- quite a few times. On the playground, the backyard, the hula hoop, the swing, the bicycle. Anything so they aren’t conscious of Grandma’s lens.
The sitting around all in a row or even staggered grouping and looking at my lens with the old CHEEEEESE doesn’t work for me. Or them Not that I haven’t tried. Canon 70-200mm L series lens ISO 100 f/2.8 1/125 I’m up on the front porch.
On Your Mark-
And they’re off-
Uh oh not that view of Henry. Henry, turn around.
Oh Henry, turn around. Nah, too posed looking. ACTION!
Maura, Anna, Michael and Jack and Henry
Here they come.
Anna calls to Henry to join them.
He’s getting it now
A moment of childhood captured.
Maura doesn’t like coming in last. Henry is watching the cows in the field next door.
This week’s challenge is companionable
Synonyms for companionable
Dear Blog Readers,
Thank you for the thoughtful expressions of sympathy, your comments and emails yesterday, on the passing of Murphy the Airedale.
It means a lot to the whole family to read such an outpouring of love, care and concern. Your words offer comfort and understanding. xxoo Ruth
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For years the Gulf Tower Building ( built in 1930) had a beacon that displayed the weather- red lights for fair or blue lights for precipitation
Now The Gulf Tower has a fancy installation of programmed LED lights that change with the holidays, sporting events and special occasions but still tell the weather at five minutes before the hour. The combination of lights can produce any color.
Designed by Cindy Limauro, professor of lighting design at Carnegie Mellon University and husband, Christopher Popowich, partners in C&C Lighting LLC.
This photo was taken from my car window while waiting or my sister to buy her train ticket back to NYC at the AMTRAK station downtown.
Murphy Joseph McGrath. Murphy passed today. He just turned 11. He was patient, loving, loyal, humorous and adored by everyone. What a personality!
It is a very sad day for the family.
If you’ve been following the blog you’ve seen his photograph many times. I swear he smiled for the camera.
He was one of the first posts on the blog, Murphy Waits for Michael.
So many of you expressed sympathy recently on the passing of Erika’s parents Italian Greyhound, Cleo. It’s been a hard month.
Today’s tribute is for Mark and Erika’s, Anna, Michael, Jack and Maura’s dear sweet boy- Murphy!
When Mark and Erika brought each of the babies home from the hospital, Murphy was there to welcome them into the family. Murphy was a pup before M & E got married. He was a loving and well loved member of the family. ( Erika would get mad at me if I called him “dog”)
There are no words to describe the sadness, the missing. You may remember the photos from his Tenth Birthday post last year.
Anna is nine now but here she is just home from Mercy Hospital
Murphy’s favorite tree in Virginia. He represented for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Peaceful. 
Photographed by Erika
In Hardy Virginia
Rest in Peace Murphy
The suggestion of the WordPress Photo Challenge is to select 12 pictures to sum up the year. As I looked through the folders from this year’s collection and started to pull a few here and there, I remembered what an Art Professor’s comment when he went through my portfolio. “Hmmmm. Peopled or unpeopled?” I was really mixing it up. You know how I love to find the unexpected- reflection, expression or scene.
Photograph what I am eating or where I am at the moment. When I look at this collection I am grateful for a patient and loving family who allows me to capture them in pictures. Like Matthew said at his college graduation, ” This is what my mom does. It’s annoying now, but later you’re glad.”
But my 2012 Pictures are Peopled! I read how some bloggers went to see which images received the most hits and then they would pick from those but some of my biggest hits aren’t from 2012. So this posting is to honor my grown up children’s Pop, who passed last month. As Matthew said to him, “look at all your descendants” when he showed him the photo of them gathered on the stairs.
You’ve seen some of these before if you follow the blog. Thanks for looking and clicking the “like” button or writing a comment this year.
Looking forward to 2013. Happy New Year!
Murphy sat on the back porch before bed. When I went to let him in, I saw a popcorn looking sky from the moon and the glow of the porch motion light- on and off, on and off- as he turned his head. The deck wood looked red.
No time to get a remote cable and eliminate camera shake.
A deep breath as I propped the camera against the edge of the sliding glass door. Depressed the shutter button while I held my breath. No worries that WordPress forgot to issue their weekly photo challenge.
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