WWD February '09

Saturday was, once again, my turn for Women's Work Day. WWD is akin to a barn raising - instead of spending months building your barn (or your rock wall, or laying tile, or catching up on pruning/weeding) you have your friends come over and help you get it done in one day. It's a fabulous concept and we have 3 women in our group. Each month we rotate and go to the next lady's house, taking on any and all tasks given (we really are superwomen, aren't we?) Of course this time each year, my apple tree is in need of pruning. Janet is fabulous with a pruner, saw, and chainsaw so we just stand back and let her go at it. This poor tree hasn't been cared for in years so each year we shorten or sculpt it a little more with the chainsaw, and clean her up around the edges. Last year was a MAJOR pruning and we really worried, but we ended up with more apples than we can have imagined so we aren't worrying.

The coyote bush was next - it has nary a leaf or spindly branch left but the shape... oy vey! The shape is beautiful! I promise to post pictures soon - you won't recognize her from her previous self. Typically J does the coyote bush pruning, but last year his son came to stay with us and pruning got put off for bonding. This year wasn't going any better and the bush was getting taller, so I went out and whacked about 40% of her - GONE! Janet came along and cleaned her up - she's lovely now.

Daryl was gracious enough to weed weed weed my oxalis. All around and in between, diligently and paying attention to detail. All the stuff I hadn't the time/energy to do since Doggy needed so much time and energy for her care. We got the alyssum in the front cleaned up, we found the daffodils hidden under the old alyssum and they are blooming beautiful and yellow! I feel a huge sense of relief. Thank you ladies, once again, thank you!

RIP Cheyenne 5.17.1997 - 2.18.2009

you who barks in the mic, to hear it echo in speakers

you who herded the sheepies, and listened to teacher

you who bark at the planes, that leaves lines in the sky

you who did what you were told, and didn't ask why

you who bloodied your paws, protecting kids in the pool

you who sniffed all the breezes, whether warm or cool

you who buried your food, for later on treats

you who never disliked a person you'd meet

you who barks at the door, and wags your nub when it opens

you who shares your heart, and all of your luvins

you who grumbles when your backs rubbed, cuz it's such a great pleasure

you who finds all the treats, that mom hides like treasures

you who made the ideal ambassador, for the Rottweiler breed

you who kissed all babies, and licked all their feets

you who hated the times, when you were alone

you who only wanted to be part of your family and home

my big love for 12 years, my sweet black and tan

you who smiled all the time, my big love Cheyenne

Happy Valentines Day!

Doggie update 2

The vets office finally called back Wednesday as I was leaving the parking lot of my work, to go home. We are removing her from the Deramax and only giving her Tramadol, full dosage of 4 pills. I bought some pill pockets and she seems to like those. Doc says that if Doggie is being difficult during meals, give her whatever she wants as long as it's bland. Chicken broth, unseasoned chicken, plain white rice, ground hamburger meat rinsed after cooked... so that's what she's getting and she's pretty damn pleased with herself. She used to eat a full raw diet before (pleasantly referred to as BARF - Bones And Raw Food) but the ex switched her to dog food. Well, toss that crap out! It's nothing but nummies for her from here on out. A little time consuming to cook and prepare (not to mention expensive,) but I'll make a large batch of chicken and broth tomorrow and save it for the rest of the week.

For the past two days she has decided that me going to work alone isn't such a good idea. She's tired of being alone in the house all day, without even having cats to entertain her, so when I leave in the morning she bolts out the door. I know, a dog with bone cancer bolting, seriously?! But alas, she bolts as soon as I open it and then I have to watch her all depressed as she gets reprimanded and sent back inside. It's truly sad to see... truly. No matter how many times I tell her, "doggies don't go to work," it doesn't matter.

Seed planting starts this weekend - before it gets too late! We've had beautiful rain (yes, I said BEAUTIFUL - it's not a typo) and last night a wonderful storm rolled through. Course I didn't hear it because I had my earplugs in trying to drown out the man snoring and the dogs incessant lick lick licking... but I heard it once, in the middle of the night, when I took Doggie out to pee.

Garden crawl photos

Every year my friends and I gather for local garden crawls. Locals with enough money to hire professional landscapers, or local master gardeners (my faves!) open their yards and their landscapes for others to tour, photograph, and admire. We always go to admire and to generate ideas for our own homes. Here are a few of my favorite ideas.

Sharing our space with Mother Nature's other inhabitants:

Whimsy:

Romance:

Plantings between stair steps (the bottom step has fabulous thyme growing there):

Doggie update

Friday night we picked up Cheyenne from her 'home in the garage.' My understanding was she could barely walk or stand and was ready to be put down. My intentions were to bring her home for the weekend to give her peace and take her to the vet on Monday for an appointment with a needle of dreaded Blue Juice. Instead, she came to the house and promptly made herself at home. After being in the cold for so long, she panted all night from the warmth of the house and finally settled in quietly about 11pm. She is a bit wobbly but still happy to walk, and slept most of the night.

Saturday I created a sling from an old beach wrap, that slides under her chest so I can help hold up some of her weight and ease the pain of the cancer that is eating her front leg bone. I use this sling to take her in and out of the house when she needs to take care of business. I ran some errands late morning but was home by 1pm so we went outside to sit in the sun. She barked at planes overhead, bullied some squirrels on the fence, and generally guarded the backyard as she is supposed to - it's her job and she was ready to work. There is no way she is ready to be put down, as her previous caretakers said. Her diet now consists of 1/2 dog food, 1/2 white rice, a spoonful of whole milk yogurt and her pain meds. Her stools are now firm and her gas is nearly gone. Thankfully, it was typically more noise than stench.

Sunday was another good day, followed by Monday. Her back legs have stabilized and are not so weak. I figure with her previous 2 ACL surgeries and arthritis, living in the garage was too cold for her and affecting her rear strength and balance. Living inside, laying in front of the heater vent, she's built up the warmth in her bones that she needs to function properly. She is able to walk in and out by herself without the sling. She has energy and pep, she just has no stamina to back it up and tires after about 10-15 minutes.

Monday I worked at home, it's a repeat of the previous 3-4 days. I spoke to her vet late that night and let her know that we had a positive update. Doggie isn't ready to die yet...

Tuesday morning Chey was licking a lot. She licks when bored or when sore (hence the sock on her foot in the picture,) so I figured her pain meds were wearing off. Before I could give her more, she vomit saliva. I took her out to potty and brought her in for breakfast. She looked depressed, was very uninterested in her breakfast. She refused food and pain meds, spit everything out. I was able to force 2 of her 4 pills down into her and she decided eating bread was the only thing she wanted to do. 3 slices later, she was full and I left for work. An hour later the call comes that she vomit her pills and bread. I call in to the doc but she's not there so I leave a message. I'm thinking this is her last day and she's deteriorating quickly. BF goes to check on her at lunch and her attitude is better, she's eating the breakfast she previously left. Once I get home from classes at 9pm that night, she is indeed a happy girl again. She refused to eat the rest of the dog food from breakfast unless I hand feed her. {sigh} She has become smart in realizing that hot dog bits and bread hide pills. Now she smells anything that I offer her before taking them and refuses any that she smells inside. I try to force her but she's crafty and accidentally bites my thumb. The vet never calls back.

Wednesday she wakes in the middle of the night and I end up battling her in attempts to give her pain meds at 3am (it was a tie - I got 2 of 4 pills in her.) We slept in the living room to give BF some peace to sleep a full night. In the morning, she refuses dog food but laps up the chicken broth I offered her. I mixed some broth with rice and poured some over dog food. She eats the rice and broth & only eats the dog food that gets in the way. She refuses the rest of it. I offer her more rice and broth, but only after trying to force wienies with pain meds in them. She hides it, swallows, and when I release her she spits the wienie out, intact. Before I can swipe it to try again, she smells it and eats it on her own. ARGH! I give her the 2nd wienie and she gladly swallows it without a fight. Oy vey - too much drama - I'm tired of fighting & physically exhausted, so I clean her bowl, put in a cup of dog food and leave her in the bedroom with the food, in case she wants more during the day.

Care of the Convalescent Canine, Cheyenne

After nearly 12 years, my faithful Rottweiler has been diagnosed with bone cancer in her front forearm. It's powerful and aggressive, making her mobility limited, but her spirits are still good. This morning she woke up with pain and by 7am was continually licking her leg in attempts to find relief. I created a sling, wrapped it around her chest and helped her to half-walk and be half-carried out the front door to pee. She was tired after walking through the house, and ready to lay down again. Back in the house I prepared some weinies full of both pain medications, some white rice (to settle her stomach) and a bit of her kibble for breakfast. She gobbled it all down, drank a lot of water, and settled in.

She started to get excited and sassy after the pain meds kicked in and though still sore, was ready to play. Its really too bad her body doesn't keep up with her spirits. I don't think I can wait til her spirit breaks to put her down. Somehow, I think that would be meaner than keeping her around. She still has energy, she just doesn't have the stamina to back it up. The sight of our cats excites her, she loves all friends whether they have 2 legs or 4, and while she wants to play, they want nothing to do with her and have removed themselves to the rear bedroom of the house coming out only to eat, drink and use the litter box.

Her rear legs show the effects of her ACL surgeries. They are slightly twisted as is her front right foot as they try to compensate for the pain in the left leg. It's obvious she's putting a lot of pressure on her other limbs to move around and seeing her in pain is heartbreaking.

Spring classes start in Winter, dontcha know?

It IS still winter, isn't it? Despite the 70* temps and the volunteer tomato growing in my backyard, right now, as I type, it IS still officially winter. So why do they call them Spring classes? I'm not quite sure, but at the local community college I attend at night, they've begun.

My Environmental Biology class is right up my alley - I'm going to LOVE this class! The immigrant girls who sit around me, barely speak english in class with a teacher that has a lovely Scottish accent, they will hate this class. During our first lecture I was able to follow right along and nary a time came when I was at a loss for answers to his questions, or lost trying to figure out what-the-hell-is-he-talking-about, like I do in my Chem 2 class. And said girls think I'm brilliant, asking for my phone number and email address so we can do study groups. ha!

As we finished Chem1 last semester, my lab partner warned me "Chem 2 is filling up quick, you better register now." I had never received my "preferred student - now is your time to register for next semester" email so I was behind signing up. By the time I got to a computer later that day, the class was filled and I was #8 on the waiting list. SHOZBOTZ! Fast forward 2 months to this past Tuesday. I arrived to class early, but the instructor was only allowing registered students to come inside. All waitlisted students had to remain outside in the hallway. Eventually he let us in, but with no guarantees we would be able to actually join the class. We went through his syllabus, carefully noting any important dates, and at the end of class we had an introduction period. "Please state your name, what you did last semester, why you are taking this class, and something you like to do or a hobby."

Halfway through the students, the boy with the sideways hat began his introduction. "My name is Tan, I attended part time school last semester, I don't work, and my hobby is party boy."

"Excuse me? What was your hobby?" asks the professor.
"Partyboy... partyboy!"

This is where I rolled my eyes and asked "is that really considered a hobby?" I need to move...

What happened to winter?

Nary a cold day nor rain has come through - my plants are so tee-totally confused and they aren't quite sure what to do. Yesterday I got off my big butt and went out back to take care of some weeding. I've been hoe-ing the oxalis for the past 2 months and leaving the semi-dead plants to rot on the surface, but this time, it was time to remove everything I could find that didn't belong. While I was cleaning up the bed along the back of the house, I found not one, but TWO volunteer tomato plants. Hello? In February!? Unprotected and no water, but there she was - sprouted and tall and proud as could be. Go figure!

Below are my before and after pictures. Around the Coyote bush before I weeded the oxalis, and after. And my little Calla Lily bed before and after I tackled the oxalis.

Can everyone say along with me, "I HATE oxalis!" Thank you class, that's all for today. Dismissed...