ARF! Barking Fresh!

25/03/2026

My Father passed away a few weeks ago. He was a play and novel worthy character. His mountainous persona filled every room. His absence will never be forgotten. These past 3 years have been quite good and then there have been the days that can become weeks and months of why?
I moved home 3 years ago to be around for both my parents as my mother seemed to be quite ill which in turn was resolved with finally forcing stubborn professionals to change her medication and it’s magic when your meds stop giving you drug-induced lupus. As part of the move and change in my life I have had to adjust some things regarding store availability, reduced deliveries, etc… In someone’s passing grace is hoped for but unfortunately in this world they don’t make it easy for the widow/ers and for the next several months I will still be making my regular deliveries but my focus is on helping my mother get her life back in order. I thank every fan and customer for your dedication to my little natural doggy business endeavor and especially during these last few years trying to keep this pupcake baking dream alive. Thank you, Jeff

10/03/2026

My dad was a mountain, and I never doubted his will and determination to surmount anything, but in essence, we are still dust, and life doesn't know us from force of nature, powerhouse, or mountain.
He will be shown at Zoercher & Gillick Funeral Home on Thursday March 12, from 3pm to 7pm and Friday March 13, from 9am to 9:45am followed by a mass and meal at St. Paul's Catholic church.
Be with us either day, as we all are family.

Celebrate the life of Leon Klueh and join others in sharing memories, stories, and condolences.

05/02/2026

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!
This has been a rollercoaster of a year for them.
I feel I have to explain the pic of my parents at the nursing home. My dad has had a rough 6 months. In addition to cancer that has been under control and diabetes diagnosis, both in 2024 and a double foot surgery a year ago. 2025 was looking up. His feet were finally healed enough that his foot doctor cleared him to drive and was weeks away from wearing normal shoes again. Then in September he fell and compacted a disc, then down the list, hypersensitivity to the pain meds for his back that caused extended dramatic delirium, 2 additional foot surgeries, sepsis, pneumonia, two bouts of dangerous dehydration brought on and complicated by medication and back in a nursing home a few days ago for the fourth time to restart rehab.
My mom will never admit it but she misses complaining about dad always taking the longest way home. https://www.facebook.com/share/18MAbb3mDn/

🎉💖 Happy 59th Anniversary, Mr. & Mrs. Klueh! 💖🎉

Wow — 59 years of love, laughter, and memories! This is what true love looks like. 🥰

We hope your day is filled with joy, smiles, and maybe a little celebration (or a lot 😉). Thank you for being such a special part of our Heartland Villa family — we’re honored to celebrate this milestone with you! 🥂✨

04/08/2025

This little hummingbird. (Sorry for the low res. He never sits still when I have my phone handy) He makes his presence known when I’m outside gardening. He doesn’t linger long but always chatters to me. He hovers outside my bedroom window when the feeder is low. Yesterday, I was prepping an area at my parents house for a blue butterfly garden and he buzzed me a few times, then hovered directly in front of me at eye level, then flitted over to the broken feeder I’ve been intending to replace, and very slowly sat on a perch, then looked over at me. He then boomeranged around me and back to the feeder and looked at me again and went through the motion of using the feeder (bottom broken contains no liquid), looked at me again for a long time. Then flew toward me and away chattering. This red and blue feeder is his present to replace the broken one. He showed up last year as an overly aggressive adolescent, spending more time guarding than feeding. I talked to a birder who told me the more aggressive adolescent males often perish in their first migration from malnutrition and since he claimed our yard, putting up more feeders spaced far apart, could help. I guess it worked, though he is still incredibly territorial and now I have a hummingbird for a boss. ;)

12/06/2025

My facebook was recently hacked. I was able to secure it when I found out the next evening. Nothing seemed to have been done with this account. But yesterday I was told some posts had been altered and followers may have been contacted. There was no message trail and my posts all read the way I remember them. I don't think hackers clean up their mess, but, who knows. I felt I should say something in case. Thank you for following ARF! Barking Fresh!

05/02/2025

A special cake for Axl Rose the therapy dog at my local hospital. They requested a Guns-n-Roses themed cake. I thought “Appetite for Destruction” would be an appropriate album to build from. ;-)

03/02/2025

I was just asked to show someone a few cakes and I realized this cake was missing from my feed!! No idea where it went! Here’s to trying again!
This cake came about when I was asked to make a cake like one in a magazine. To make the palm trees, which were plastic on the original, and the sign, which was fondant, I sliced and dried the pith of a coconut and carved each piece by hand. Sounds tedious but no more so than messing with fondant and gum paste and the end result was natural and dog friendly.
This was one of my favorite cakes.

26/12/2024

Right after I made my Christmas Eve post, I told my mom I posted a pic of her tree. She panicked saying, “But the bows aren’t on the tree, I put your bows on every year! They make the tree!”. I like the tree either way, and the clarify, I had the bows made in 1992 at a local florist. They are still in perfect condition, and I guess if one is a bows on the Christmas tree person, then the bows do make a big difference. I like that almost every ornament has meaning to my parents or someone in our family and altogether on the tree everything looks how I think a classic Christmas tree should. I think of Christmas carols and get sentimental about my childhood, etc. So, here’s to bows or not on ones’s Christmas tree. And now most importantly my mom will be happy that people on instagram saw her tree how she likes it! Merry Christmas again! ;)

24/12/2024

Christmas ‘24 at mom and dad’s. Their tree is full of every kind of ornament bought or received throughout their 57 years together, especially the blown glass kind, the ones me and my brothers didn’t paint so well in the first grade, the special ones that mom bought when she thought me and my brothers were old enough not to break them, then found out she should have waited, and managed to save a few intact, that ornament you look at and say, “what the heck is this?”, and so many more.

22/05/2024

These days I don’t have much time to make the extra fun custom cakes. But, when I do…
I get to make things like this little enchanted pupcake forest. 🍃🍄🪺🥀🦄🦋🍂