| Daisy's Story |
| In the mid 1970's Lu had read an article in Family Circle magazine about Bearded Collies. The picture in the article resembled Muffin, a shaggy mixed breed that we had at the time and very much loved. We made a mental note that when Muffin would no longer be in our lives that we would give thought to getting a Beardie. Sadly, that time came in 1979. Feeling the need to fill the void from the loss of Muffin led Lu to contact the secretary of the Bearded Collie Club of America to request a breeder listing. |
| We would look for any excuse not to spend Christmas in Florida where we lived at the time because our northeast upbringing made us feel that a proper Christmas was to include snow. The northeast having a number of Beardie breeders was the excuse we needed to get in the car a few days before Christmas and drive up the east coast. When we reached Pennsylvania, Lu began calling the northeast breeders on the list. Only Jane Turner in Connecticut had a puppy available and at the age that we could bring home during our vacation. Our new Beardie girl, Mistiburn Daisy, arrived at her Florida home on New Year's day, 1980. |
| Daisy was to know Florida for only 1 1/2 years. In the autumn of 1981 we sold our Florida home and with Jerry driving a packed U-Haul truck and with Lu and Daisy following in our car we made the long drive to northern New England. We had no destination. We only knew that we liked central Vermont where we had vacationed several years before. We spent our first northern New England winter in a rented old drafty farm house where warmth was barely enough to keep the pipes from freezing and having cabin fever didn't help. Jerry rolled the car on a snowy highway that winter, but everyone including Daisy was able to crawl out of the overturned car without injury. A New England winter had defeated us. We returned to Florida in the spring of '82, but a hot, humid Florida summer had us pack up the U-Haul again and return to Vermont. It had been a very unsettling year for us, but it was Daisy who taught us resilience. No matter how cold or how deep the snow or how traumatic an incident, Daisy remained the happy, loving and devoted companion. |
| Daisy's presence helped us to have the determination to not give up and to pursue our dream to live out our lives in Vermont. We purchased land and designed a house. We moved into the unfinished home in '84 and spent the next several years finishing it. Daisy always was present as Lu, Jerry and the builder hammered nails and placed windows. Unfinished walls and floors and no interior doors mattered not to Daisy. She was home with the people she loved. |
| Lu and Jane Turner at Jane's Connecticut home 1979 |
| Daisy's first encounter with a mirror 1979 |
| Moving day in Florida 1981 |
| Daisy in her Vermont farm house 1981 |
| Daisy in her unfinished Vermont home early 1985 |
| Daisy died from nasal carcinoma in January, 1991. She gave us 11 wonderful years during our most tumultuous times. Daisy had greatly enriched our lives. Her ashes are buried near Muffin's on the hill overlooking her home and her meadow. |
| Daisy in her meadow 1986 |
| Having Daisy led us to the world of pure bred dogs. Lu handled Daisy in both conformation and obedience. No titles were earned, but the experience was memorable especially having the opportunity to meet other Beardie folks at the 1980 and 1983 BCCA Specialties. Also, the experience taught us lessons that later proved valuable when Breezy, our next Beardie, entered our lives. |
