What do you do with 4 very large containers of ribbons your overachiever dog named ROCK STAR JAKE earned? Well, a lot of things as it turned out! It started about 3 years ago and the saga continued until today when I wrapped the project up by taking the last of them and hanging them by his resting place. So here is how it went.
First I did some sorting.. pulled out the best, most meaningful ones and created 2 hangings, one for Barn Hunt and the other for Scent Work. It had the highest ribbons from those sports. In Barn Hunt, his RATCH ribbons and the awards from 2014 Nationals. In Scent Work, it was his AKC Detective, Master, and Master Elite and UKC Elite and Champion ribbons.
Then there were lots of High In Class ribbons from Barn Hunt so I hung 10 of those on the barn with the straw where I could see them readily see them when in the yard. Others I made a hanging from and put on the porch. And what to do with the medals from Dock Diving... make a wind chime!
At the same time I took all his blue ribbons and shoved the in a jar and they looked pretty good! I's truly amazing how many fit in one jar!
What to do as a keepsake because everything else is temporary... a shadow box! And wow, did it hold a lot of stuff including his harness and something from each sport he participated in. And there is also the special stuff that made the "keeper" shelf in the living room where all the dogs have stuff!
So fast forward to several months ago. Still have a full container of ribbons to sort. Kept the ones with the metal hanger and put the rest together to include with Jake in his resting place on the hill behind my house when the time came. It just seemed fitting that he should have them.
And then today a month later I strung up the rest and put them around his resting place and around the training area and yard that he loved so much.
And that's it... I'm glad they all have a place and not packed away in a box. They will provide a lot of memories as I walk through the yard and house and eventually will all be part of Jake's resting place.
