Posts from the ‘Pets’ category

Hitting the wall, bouncing back and moving on

So.

Saturday.

Saturday started with Farmer’s market.

Sunflowers, a mix of cherry tomatoes of various hues, a HUGE zucchini (courgette) and 2 heirloom slicers!

On returning home, Bear hit the side yard.

I missed the photo, but he had a nice roll on the stiff, brown (un-watered) grass.

And then the start of a nap.

But, the yellow jackets.

And the heat.

He came inside.

Meanwhile…

I chopped herbies…

For a chicken dish I’ve had my eye on.

BUT.

After I had the chicken marinating in the herbs and olive oil and lemon juice and garlic…

I went to the bedroom for something…

Bear was sound asleep.

I was dragging.

I put the marinating chicken in the refrigerator and then crawled into bed.

Bear stayed.

This was 1:00 ish p.m.

I came to at 4:55 p.m.

Bear was in the same spot.

Yep…we HIT the wall. I guess we needed it. Funny that it was both of us.

After the prolonged nap, we got up.

Had a good long walk.

I fixed a burger dinner for Bear.

I fixed a pancake dinner for me.

Another long walk.

We went to bed.

8:30 p.m.

Sunday.

A Fried Egg sandwich extraordinare for breakfast.

I finally cooked the marinating chicken… oh-la-la to the MAX! The recipe: My Little Expat’s Kitchen: Chicken with tomatoes and olives

Moving on:

Bear and I hopped in the Jeep and had a drive south to Swan Lake.

The leaves are turning and it looks Fallish…

But it was HOT!

Still.

We hit the wall, we bounced back, we are moving on.

Friday the 13th

Well, it does figure, doesn’t it ??? This 2013 “summer from hell” would naturally have a Friday the 13th :) !!

7 more days of this official summer.

It is not going down as one of my favorites.

NOT. AT. ALL.

Yes, well.

We must do our best to move forward.

The Bear-boy still stays close to me.

I stay close to him.

It is a mutual coping mechanism.

But, it WAS a beautiful morning…cool.

We had time to be outside, took a long walk about and even just enjoyed some time in front of the front porch before the yellow jackets woke up. They are giving us a little more morning lately and both Bear and I appreciate that.

7 more days of official Summer. NOAA has PROMISED a cool down again…but today they are also wavering about another warm up after the cool down.

GAH!!

Friday the 13th.

Promises, promises

Every week NOAA says that “next week” will be cooler and then as next week approaches…NOT!

It is not as hot as it had been, but it is still 10-15 degrees above normal for the 2nd week of September in Northwest Montana!

Some time ago, I stopped watering the grass… I noticed that the yellow jackets gravitated toward water sources so I decided to dry things up and see if that helped.

I brought in the herbie watering can, the boys’ water bowl (the boys were not out anyway), and shut down the sprinklers.

The good news is I haven’t had to mow!! I think I mowed 4 times before shutting things down. Oh, well.

The bad news is that it didn’t help the yellow jacket situation AND I lost my cilantro on Beardog Hill – not a show stopper for this summer.

Today, the high was 76F at my house…and an abundance of sun and blue sky.

Not horrible but it should be 66F!

But, Bear and I got outside a bit more than we have been.

Still…we got hot… and the yellow jackets – Bear likes them about as much as I do.

Inside sounded like a good idea.

NOAA…and Fall…Promises, promises!

Bottle feeding kittens aka how to chase away the blues!

No, I have not adopted a kitten or kittens!

I visited KittyMom’s Rescue this lunch hour to donate some of the pet steps (3 of 6!!!) and 2 boxes of insulin syringes. While at KittyMom’s there were some kitties needing lunch and I was happy to help.

And seriously…with kittens crawling all over me looking for food and then holding one and giving a small bottle… I ask you, could there be sadness of any kind??? I say NO!

And especially as the kitten I was feeding was all black except for a Mr. Bob orange colored streak between her vivid blue eyes. …vivid blue eyes which locked onto mine as she slurped up a special kitten formula…that left behind a milky-white mustache…her little paws holding my hand…and when finished she found a spot on my lap for a post-prandial kitten nap. Oh, boy.

But.

If it was just me, probably.

But there is Bear.

Bear is sticking close to me. He is not wanting to stay outside if I come in – even briefly. My sense is that he is feeling confused, disconcerted, unsure – where is Bob??? Mostly the same as me.

For me, it has been over 3 years …Karl, Bear, Bear and Bob, Bear, Bob… kind of a long, challenging, haul of emotion. Oh, and $$$$.

Bear has been through the loss of the person’s mother, the person, shuffling, cross-country move, adapting to Bob, Bob, losing Bob.

I’d like to think we could maybe have some “everyone healthy” time.

For the moment, we will just be two.

Yesterday, Tuesday, first full workday at home – a good day! A full workday, walks and play, we both ate well…AND…!!!

Some months ago, I took advantage of a pre-buy at deep discount…for some wood prints from my favorite photo lab: Simply Canvas.

I had until August 23 to place an order.

I’ve been dithering as I had an idea of some things to order but needed to find the original files.

Gah!

In the midst of the awfulness of the last weeks, the deadline. The lab gave me a short extension.

I ordered the above of Bob and am so very happy.

There are the 4.

WOW.

I’m not sure where they will all go. A major shuffling on my walls is in order.

For the moment, I am enjoying these new 4 right where they are.

And the capper.

This morning.

Sunrise, fog, the woods, thoughts of Bob and Bear, thoughts of Karl and Gus, thoughts of Zack.

Light and life and kittens and bottles and sun and Bear and love = NO Blues!!

Off to see the wizard!

Not to say our own Dr. Clark is not a wizard of a vet, but he doesn’t have a CT Scan machine thingy and no one else in the area does either, hence our trip to Great Falls to the Big Sky Animal Medical Center.

Bear was happy to hit the road.

We pulled out of our driveway at exactly 9:30 a.m. My hope and plan was to leave 9 – 10 latest so I was very happy with the 9:30 departure.

We hit a small snag between Columbia Falls and Hungry Horse…

Construction delay.

But we were delayed along the Flathead River with scenic views and cool morning air so we crawled along and watched the river.

Things cleared up at Hungry Horse and we zipped past West Glacier and through Marias Pass. It was hazy-smokey but still beautiful.

Today is the first time I’ve done this route in the motorhome. There are some drop offs along the road. It is vastly different in a motorhome, where you are up high and can really see over the guard rail what a long drop it is to the bottom…

A lot of traffic all the way…rvs, cars, commercial stuff. I go the speed limit but no one likes being behind a motorhome so I pulled over when I could.

The delay, the traffic…it made for a long and tiring day of driving.

The boys were champs!!!

The above scene from our lunch break. Considering his wobblies, Bob did very well negotiating to his food, some under table steps and even his litter box en route.

No problems with Bear and Bob and I am completely confident with them together – YEA!!!

Bob had a ground floor nest in a secure spot near both food and litter box.

We arrived at the clinic about 3:45 p.m.

Good news – wonderful people!

Bad news – the rv parking is just parking and no power and it was 91F so even with the generator running ’round the clock, we would be just barely comfy.

BUT…a KOA RV campground was near and that is where we landed. It is beautiful and I hope to get out with the camera at sunset as the campground sits on a bluff above miles of fields.

It is 7:30 p.m. as I write this…we are all beat, but Bear and I had several walks along the way and one here at the campground. We have all had dinner. I’ve had a cool shower and a glass of wine! All is well for tonight.

We take Bob to the clinic tomorrow morning. They will call when they have read the scan. In between, Bear and I will go to a gorgeous park we passed on the way in – along the Missouri River. The Missouri runs through Great Falls.

Thanks to all who sent emails of encouragement and prayer for our safe travel and a good outcome for Bob.

Early evening on a Sunday

A thoroughly pleasant weekend was had.

It was coolish compared to the prior (prior to Friday) 10-12 days – today barely hit 80F before starting back down again.

The Yellow Jacket activity was a bit less, although not enough less to allow enjoyment of the front porch :( !

Bob is slightly less wobbly on this day 3 of medication resumption. We should find out tomorrow where and when we go next.

I did a small-medium clear-out of some items that have been on my list…some glassware and dishes – family stuff that I’ve packed and moved and packed and moved and packed and moved! – things taking up space that I want and need for other purposes. I kept the things that really matter to me and the rest I donated. I spoke to both my grandmothers (both in Heaven!) as I packed and thought about how and where… It was good and I am confident that all will go where it should.

I took my first film photos. As I was taking them and changing camera settings, it occurred to me that I should record the settings. I am so used to being able to see the settings with the digital output that I forgot this was not going to be available with the film camera. And I made some notes about how different this little camera feels. An interesting exercise.

I made Chinese scallion “pancakes”…more later but they will be a staple. They are somewhere between a tortilla and a spiced up naan. Bottom line: delicious! ( Scallion Pancake Recipe – if you can’t wait!)

I have been reading a blog, a first book: If you lived here, I’d know your name and am partly into the 2nd (Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs) by Heather Lende. The first book: As I read her essays, I am reminded of Jan Karon’s Mitford series and the peace, contentment and wisdom that come from reflection on the simple happenings of life. And, by the way, Heather had a “good dog Carl” whose passing is written of at the end of the first book. Like her, I am NOT resigned…but I have made peace (mostly) with my own Karl’s passing. And although our lives have many differences, like her, I am grateful for all that is my life.