She would never have understood why this has taken me so long!
Two years ago, our girl dog, Siena Lucca died. She is buried here on the farm, looking out towards one of her namesake cities, Siena. We will eventually have to move from this farm. I wanted a way that she would always be remembered. I thought about a carved stone, or a terra cotta dog. But none of those seemed just right. I really wanted to make a stone for her but didn’t think I could do that by myself. So back in June when Ted and Mollie visited I knew they were the right people to help me. Ted and Mollie had known Siena and have several dogs on their farm. And Ted is a very DIY type of person.
Imagine my surprise when he said that he had never mixed concrete before! But Mollie and I both had and Ted followed directions well. The engineer in him was more than a little upset when we figured out that it was not going to be a perfect rectangle but he adjusted. We poured.
I smoothed and added stones. And this is what it looks like.
In case you can’t make out the stones, it reads:
Siena Lucca
8’ 92-8’ 09.
The yellow and blue piece is a piece of tile that Siena and I found while stretching our legs at a rest stop here in Italy. I think it kind of looks like a dog pillow so I am really happy with it. And it was very kind of Ted and Mollie to help me get this done.
Ben and I both still miss Siena. And we agree that she would never have understood why it took us this long to get this done! That regal paw would have been waving in the air!
friends and family in italy 
That’s lovely. My neighbor came by last night and was commenting on the pet grave in our yard. A small cross holds my cat’s collar and it’s so lovely and fitting for a beloved pet.