Name Three Things - 2020

[Furballsmom]

Eventually orchid-ed out (is that a word?)

lol

For $21 I need to fall in love with the plant, right?

heh, I'd say so!

Fed the cat his meds early tonight and ted the fish their dried bloodworm treat
Start the dishwasher
gather up trash for trash pickup tomorrow

 

[Winchester]

C catapault Your picture is lovely. I like orchids, but am afraid I won't take proper care of them
artiemom Yes, her name is really Jackie. A couple years ago, I started calling her Yon Beast, which eventually went to The Beast. And that's what everybody calls her now. It took a while for her and I (OK, mainly me) to get used to each other. But she won me over. Yeah, she makes me crazy sometimes, but the house would really seem empty without her. I think I mentioned that we took the gate between the living room and kitchen down back around Christmas. We kept it down and she comes and goes as she pleases. My biggest concern was that she's right behind me when I'm cooking and I'm so scared I'm going to trip over her and dump something hot on her (or me). But I'm really careful and we deal. Thank you all for thinking of her.

The Beast seems to be doing better this morning. She went outside and walked around, albeit slowly. But she ate all her breakfast (for the first time since last week), and wanted more. I cut up a couple carrots and put those in her dish and she scarfed those down, too. In another couple of hours, we'll try more food. The tail is wagging, not waving, but wagging, and I'll take that. I miss the waving tail.

• Breakfast for the girls, emptied the dishwasher, and am drinking my coffee. I have to scoop the boxes and have to raise the blinds in the shed.
• I put the first of two loads of laundry in the washer.
• We're going into the market this morning and running some errands.

 

[catapault]

Winchester when I had gall bladder surgery - quite literally decades ago - it was major abdominal surgery. These days it is done laparoscopically. No idea how it is done for dogs. The anaesthesia would likely be the major concern.

 

[Winchester]

They said it would be considered surgery, so I'm thinking they don't remove it laparoscopically (that's how they did the surgery on me, too, and it was very minor). But it's not just the anesthesia. Her liver enzymes are really high and they don't know why. I asked if it could be related to the gall bladder and she said she didn't think so, so it could be yet another problem. The real kick is that Jackie's heart is really good; the vet was surprised at just how good it was. She doesn't even have a hint of a heart murmur or anything. Her kidney functions are completely normal, which also surprised the vet because she does have some kidney/bladder issues. She's on special dry kibble for kidneys. She said we've really taken good care of her. Which makes it all even harder.

And just like with people who have gall bladder surgery, sometimes dogs can end up with diarrhea afterward. That could be ugly, too.

I'm convinced that pet owners get "punished" when their pets live long, healthy lives. We do the absolute best we can do to take care of them, only to turn around and get kicked in the butt when they pass from something we had no control over anyway. It really sucks.

Sorry, but this distresses me more than people realize. I love this girl so much and we're going to lose her. And I know life isn't fair, but she doesn't deserve this.

 

[Mia6]

C catapault The pic is awesome Sounds like you and s.i.l. had a fine time
Winchester Pam, So happy to hear the Beast is feeling better and
her beloved carrots! I'm sure the wave will come back soon.

• Boxes
• Tea
• Went back to sleep for a few hours as helper called off. Had a hot bath, and washing a few throws now. We 're supposed to have sun today which is rare in Ohio during this time of year. May walk to the new deli if it warms up. Supposed to get more snow starting this afternoon and continuing until tomorrow morning, maybe 4 inches. Unknowingly, I stepped on a hair ball and thrown up cat food, so gross. Poor Cal hides after she throws one up. I've never yelled at her so maybe her old mom and dad did.

 

[Mia6]

They said it would be considered surgery, so I'm thinking they don't remove it laparoscopically (that's how they did the surgery on me, too, and it was very minor). But it's not just the anesthesia. Her liver enzymes are really high and they don't know why. I asked if it could be related to the gall bladder and she said she didn't think so, so it could be yet another problem. The real kick is that Jackie's heart is really good; the vet was surprised at just how good it was. She doesn't even have a hint of a heart murmur or anything. Her kidney functions are completely normal, which also surprised the vet because she does have some kidney/bladder issues. She's on special dry kibble for kidneys. She said we've really taken good care of her. Which makes it all even harder.

And just like with people who have gall bladder surgery, sometimes dogs can end up with diarrhea afterward. That could be ugly, too.

I'm convinced that pet owners get "punished" when their pets live long, healthy lives. We do the absolute best we can do to take care of them, only to turn around and get kicked in the butt when they pass from something we had no control over anyway. It really sucks.

Sorry, but this distresses me more than people realize. I love this girl so much and we're going to lose her. And I know life isn't fair, but she doesn't deserve this.

Oh Pam I know it hurts.but maybe there will be a miracle. I'm keeping all
of you in my prayers and sending healing thoughts your way.

Love,
Mia

 

[Furballsmom]

Her liver enzymes are really high and they don't know why. I asked if it could be related to the gall bladder and she said she didn't think so,

I personally think you're right, but I'm maybe biased, thinking of when Poppycat's whole system (liver, gall bladder and pancreas) was involved last spring when he got sick.
My thoughts and prayers are with you all!
For anyone who's interested;
AboutKidsHealth The liver, pancreas and gall bladder

I'll start the recurring review of TCS articles comments sections for any new posters unfamiliar with websites such as this who post questions/are looking for help, in the comments sections.

Fed the and the

Clean the cat boxes, put that in the trash barrel for pickup today

 

[catapault]

Mia6 Winchester If you liked that single image from the NYBG orchid show - wait till you see what's here:
BelleWood-Gardens - Diary

So today I
1) created this entry for my web site. And let me tell you it takes a fair amount of time
2) That was this afternoon and evening because - it's Wednesday - in the morning I went to the knitting group
3) and somewhere inbetween and interwoven with those events I did a load of laundry, fed man and beast, etc

 

[Mia6]

C catapault Just stunning, I like the second pic the best, with the arbor bu they are all amazing!
Winchester I hope the Beast is feeling better and wagging her tail.

• Boxes
• Tea, Chai today
• Started some throws, I find by not using liquid fabric softener, the itchiness really decreased and I now always do a second rinse. Drug Mart now carries Peril? the old Wisk. Next time I need laundry soap I'm going to try it. It's so much cheaper than Tide. I stopped using the soap for babies because it wasn't removing stains so I'm back to Tide and Suavitel dryer sheets.It was bliss yesterday w/o my helper, hee.I had tuna salad she had made on Tuesday, HD strawberry ice cream. and cornbread, oink,

 

[Winchester]

C catapault Your diary about the show is beautiful. I've been to your site before, although not recently, and I've enjoyed my visits. I love your curse on plagiarizing; I was going to post the curse and then realized that I'd be plagiarizing and......not going there! Not with that curse! It's almost garden season! Well done!
Mia6 I'm glad you had a good day yesterday.

The Beast had a fairly good day yesterday, which is being followed by a really bad morning today. Rick had to practically carry her up the steps after her morning pee and she said, "No way" to breakfast. She's sleeping. When we got up this morning, she was stretched out on the couch, snoring away. She woke up, looked at me, said, "Morning.....I think" and went back to sleep. Rick had to prod her to go outside. She is still pooping and peeing OK.

• Breakfast for the girls and I'm drinking my coffee. No walking for the rest of the week as my left foot is hurting and it seems to be a bit swollen. I'm hoping the tendon isn't acting up.
• I need to go out to the shed, mix up some African violet food and water the plants. Raise the shed blinds. All that good stuff. I should vacuum and do a bit of a swiffer out there, too, while I'm there.
• Followed by a vacuum and swiffer in the house. Rick's been promising me a steam cleaning in the living room, but it hasn't happened yet.

We went into the market yesterday, but didn't buy much. I stopped in at work to say hi; I do miss those guys. Came back and took the recycling down to the center; we were really overdue for recycling, boxes everywhere.

We found out that our neighbors are looking for an assisted living facility. They say it's time for them to downsize as they're both having health problems and can no longer do the basement steps. They're both 83 years old. When they leave, that will make us the old farts of the neighborhood. Not funny.

 

[Mia6]

m glad you had a good day yesterday.

Thank you, Pam I'm happy to hear the Beast had a good day. So she likes the sofa, so sweet!! I remember you posted a pic of her once and she looked so beautiful. Poor baby being carried by her daddy. I hope she got rest yesterday and will have another good day today.

• Boxes
• Tea, it's so cold this morning
• I'm going read today, may watch a movie, not sure.My helper was awesome yesterday.

 

[Winchester]

Mia6 Yay you with the awesome helper! Kudos, my friend!

We had The Beast admitted to the hospital last night. Since we put her on the meds, she's had one fairly good day. So while we're really trying with her, we're not doing well. She's going to stay in the hospital for 2-3 days with IV fluids and antibiotics and they hope that will bring the infection down and give her the fluids that she needs. She was listless all day Thursday, wouldn't eat anything, wouldn't drink water. Then in the afternoon, she started salivating to the point where she was just dripping. She was really out of it and wouldn't respond. Rick called the vet, we did an emergency run, but til we got down there, she was ok again. They're not sure, but they think that might have been a seizure. It was obvious, even to Rick, that we had two options: 1) Put her down, or 2) Admit her to the hospital. At first, we chose to put her to sleep. But we couldn't. We just couldn't. We felt that we owed her a chance, so we admitted her.

The vet that we saw last night is the same one we saw last Friday. She said that she has done gall bladder surgeries on dogs and she really wouldn't recommend it. We'd have to take her to Allentown. The poor dog spends three days deciding whether she wants to live or die, it's that rough. The gall bladder is connected to the liver and the doctor has to cut it away from the liver and then remove it and the duct. It's definitely major surgery. It's not a good operation, even for a younger dog and she really doesn't think Jackie could handle it, although there's always that chance. We're not going that route.

Seems strange this morning with no Beast to say Good Morning! to me. It's just weird. Rick didn't even get out of bed. No need to as there's no Beast to take out to pee.

• Breakfast for the girls, emptied the dishwasher, made coffee for Rick and stuck it in the fridge, and am drinking my coffee. Rick will scoop when he drags his butt out of bed. (I was considering making breakfast in bed for Rick for VDay, but my heart isn't in it. Maybe some other time.) I did vacuum and swiffer the shed yesterday; I'll go out in a few minutes to raise the blinds.
• We're going down to see The Beast this afternoon.
• We may visit with Rick's mom today.

There's not really much going on and we want a quiet day. We'll see how that goes.

 

[Koveshnikov]

C catapault The pic is awesome Sounds like you and s.i.l. had a fine time
Winchester Pam, So happy to hear the Beast is feeling better and
her beloved carrots! I'm sure the wave will come back soon.

• Boxes
• Tea
• Went back to sleep for a few hours as helper called off. Had a hot bath, and washing a few throws now. We 're supposed to have sun today which is rare in Ohio during this time of year. May walk to the new deli if it warms up. Supposed to get more snow starting this afternoon and continuing until tomorrow morning, maybe 4 inches. Unknowingly, I stepped on a hair ball and thrown up cat food, so gross. Poor Cal hides after she throws one up. I've never yelled at her so maybe her old mom and dad did.

do you have a new assistant or reeducated old?

 

[Mia6]

do you have a new assistant or reeducated old?

No Alex, the same one. She has been good this week and one day she wasn't here.
She got a bit snippy with me today when I asked her to vacuum, she said she didn't
think she would have time. It was 10:00am and she leaves at 10:45am, ha!!, and she
had finished everything else on the list. Oh, well, at least she did it.

 

[Tobermory]

I made brownies this morning using a recipe from the King Arthur website, and holy moly! They are scrumptious! And they were quick and easy...too easy. I’m going to have to control myself or we’ll be having brownies every day for the rest of our lives! And we’ll be very large.

On a not-as-positive note, when I went in to clean the litter boxes this morning, I discovered that Lily had peed half in and half out of the box, soaking the jute litter mat. So I spent part of the morning cleaning the floor and trying to clean the mat. We’ll see how that goes. Lily pees only once a day so it’s a substantial quantity of urine. It’s a first for her, and I really hope it doesn’t happen again!

And now I’m drinking my afternoon cup of tea, posting on TCS, and getting ready to pick up my Miss Fortune mystery where I left off!

 

[Mia6]

I made brownies this morning using a recipe from the King Arthur website, and holy moly! They are scrumptious! And they were quick and easy...too easy. I’m going to have to control myself or we’ll be having brownies every day for the rest of our lives! And we’ll be very large.

On a not-as-positive note, when I went in to clean the litter boxes this morning, I discovered that Lily had peed half in and half out of the box, soaking the jute litter mat. So I spent part of the morning cleaning the floor and trying to clean the mat. We’ll see how that goes. Lily pees only once a day so it’s a substantial quantity of urine. It’s a first for her, and I really hope it doesn’t happen again!

And now I’m drinking my afternoon cup of tea, posting on TCS, and getting ready to pick up my Miss Fortune mystery where I left off!

Now I'm hungry for brownies!! I hope it was just a one time thing for Lily.

 

[Mia6]

Winchester Oh Pam, I didn't see your post about the Beast, poor baby. How was she when you saw her yesterday? I have tears running down my face as I have grown to love her through you. Please give her a big kiss from me and Cal.

• Boxes
• Lots of tea
• Well, it's 7 degrees with a wind chill of minus 4, yikes! I'm wearing pjs, a robe, jacket, hat, warm socks, and boots. My dulex was built on a cement slab and the floors are like ice in cold weather, but this compared to Storm Dennis in the UK and Europe. Hope everyone here is safe. My dryer had a funky smell all week so Ryan (nephew) came by after work yesterday and found water in the vent. I remember a week ago Thursday, Sherry putting heavy throws in the dryer and saying "These are soaking wet!" I asked her to put them back in washer and do a few drains/spins but the water was left in the dryer. So from now on I am doing an extra drain/spin on all loads and maybe 3 on heavy throws. Today I will rewash some things as the smell has gone.

 

[artiemom]

Winchester I just saw your post. it is a dau late, and after having visited The Beast, I am certain you are much more at peace with your decision.

I feel so bad. The watching and waiting are the worst. At least Jackie will have pain meds and be under watchful eyes. Poor thing.

It is a horrible thing to undergo— for all.

All I can do is add my love and support for all three of you. I, too, have come to love The Beast, through your eyes.

 

[Winchester]

Thanks guys. When we saw her, she was so excited to see us. The tail was waving, not high, but waving, and she was prancing around. I think she thought she was going home. But she refused to eat anything, just as she had all morning for the vet. I brought freshly cut apples and carrots and we stopped at the store for a can of Blue Buffalo. She had her dish and I brought a bit of bottled water to mix in with the food. Nothing. She lapped the water and that was it. She was very alert; the tech said that was the most alert she was all morning. She kept going to the front door of the exam room, then she'd look back at us, like she was saying, "Well, c'mon! Are we leaving?"

But she has to eat or this is all for nothing. Rick is going to call down and see how she spent the night. It took me a while, but I truly love this dog. Thank you for your thoughts.

• Rick got up this morning to fed the cats; he let me sleep in. I never budged and slept straight on through. Finally, Mollipop started yelling through the bedroom door for me to let her in and I awakened. Drinking my coffee now. My day to scoop boxes and I need to raise the blinds in the shed.
• We're going to check on The Beast this afternoon. That's if they don't allow her to come home yet. I have a feeling that she didn't eat again this morning and they're going to tell us that they've done what they can. If she acts like she did yesterday (all happy and prancing), we'll bring her home and hope for the best.
• Rick's been in the shed, watching a show on Prime about his Eagles. He spent several hours out there last night and I'm hoping he goes back out today, so I can get some work done. It's difficult trying to clean house with a husband around!

We were in single digits overnight. The grill covers have frost on them as do the cars. I'm sure the grass is crunchy. It wouldn't be so bad, but it's really breezy. It's a beautiful sunny, but really cold day.

Tobermory Our Ms. Pepe peed half in and half out of the box a couple times. It is a mess to clean up. I hope Lily doesn't do it again. And you've made me hungry for brownies. I have some applesauce in the fridge; maybe I'll make a pan of applesauce brownies; they're not chocolate, though, dang.

 

[artiemom]

Going to have a really lazy day, with Geoffrey
First regular morning stuff: dishes, shaking out litter from rugs, quick vacuum of scattered litter, shower.

Then change bedding. Throw some trash out. Perhaps pick up mail.

Then there is nothing to do except watch tv, read and cuddling with Geoffrey.

Who I woke up, it was 9 degrees. Brrrrrr.
Now it has risen to 14 degrees. It is predicted to be in the 20’s today. Good day to stay in.

Planning on soup for supper.