Saying Goodbye to Julie & Appreciating Life at the Lazy Vegan

It is hard to fathom how much can change in one week.  As we continue to say goodbye to Julie in so many ways, we also are very aware this week of how much is wonderful in the world and precious in life.  We plan on having a family memorial in honor of Julie at our house in a few weeks.  Then, we will celebrate her life and who she was and continues to be.

This was not an easy week at the Lazy Vegan, but as the days passed we felt lighter and really good about the care we gave Julie in her last days on the earth, and very happy that she was able to leave this world for another in the privacy and beauty of our home and property, with her family nearby.

Will be going through Julie's many photos in the days to come.

We took this as a "sign":  about a week before Julie passed, the foreman tried out the swing (after the tree was trimmed) and I showed Julie the photo on my iPhone.  She squinted and stared at it and said something like:  "I cannot believe that is my 64 year old son on that swing!"  We all laughed about it.  And then, a few days after she passed, the New Yorker arrived with this particular cover (below)...

Magical sunset in honor of Julie!

The foreman found a tarantula in the basement...which, without boring the blog reader with the details, we also took as a "sign".

Adorable frog.

More magic in the sky.

Karina and Claire came over days after Julie's passing and Karina made a super yummy dinner - garlic stuffed mushroom burgers.

And sage potatoes.

It felt good to sit around and talk about Julie.

Later, the girls went through some of her items and talked about their grandma.

 The grapes that the foreman planted a long time ago are now amazing!

 It took about a week to clean out Julie's room of all the hospice items and other things...and after a ceremony, we reclaimed it as our bedroom.

 Wasabi loves hanging out in the "new" bedroom but the bed is too high for her to hop up on...we may have to buy a ramp!

 THANK YOU to Grandma Snap for calling and reminding me that it was Bravo's birthday!!

He celebrated his 11th birthday with a dog cookie!

Snap and I walked to an estate sale at our vintage listing in Sebastopol...fun!

The foreman and I bought the bull print and Snap found a great animal book for me!

We also bought this really cool lamp that goes perfectly in our living room.

Critter cam videos from the past two weeks or so:  coyote, fox, turkey, deer, skunk and more!

AND, Paco and Luigi on the critter cam that I had strapped to their fencing - I started leaving the gate to their corral open at night so they can venture out into the "new" pasture area that's close to the house.

And playing during the day...