A house is not a Home without the love of a dog. We have three.

While our cottage week vacation is a great place to untangle our minds, it’s also a place to remember a very special friend.

It was on this vacation week last year that the sudden and devastating onset of a brain tumor took the life of Bert, our amazing 8 year old English Setter.

Bert has a powerful connection to the life of this Blog… you see him every time you visit this site because he’s the joyful dog pictured in the Pye Acres masthead.

A favorite photo is a favorite memory, and the one of Bert hunting our property will always be mine. I’m glad that Cathy snapped that photo of Bert as it demonstrates that no one will ever enjoy hunting and exploring our property better than our English Setters, especially Bert.

When we set Bert to rest on July 28, 2011 on Pye Acres, we made him a promise that we would not leave him on the property alone for very long. With tears in our eyes at Bert’s grave site, we looked up the hill to our proposed building site and instantly decided that it was time to put our long range dream home plans into higher gear.

Our promise to Bert was a motivation to go full speed ahead on every home selling and home building preparation we could think of. Here we are today, back at the cottage with an empty space still in our hearts for Bert but at the half-way point on a family home that will forever overlook him.

We miss our dog dearly. We can’t wait to open the sliding doors of our dining room, walk out onto the deck, look down and say “Good morning Bert. We didn’t leave you alone. Your family is right here on the hill.”

We love you Bert.