This morning the ground was bare. By 6:30 a.m. there was a dusting of snow. Then the sun came out and the ground was bare. And then it graupelled.
A LOT of graupel.
It graupelled for nearly half an hour!
I headed to town with Bear after lunch. We had an appointment at the vet to have the incision staples removed.
I arrived early to buy Bob’s food and Bear’s supplements, but they were ready for Bear and all was accomplished quicky. We ended up leaving 5 minutes after our original appointment time – yea!
Bear was VERY glad about the short visit. It was a bit nerve-wracking for him to go there again and he made no bones about wanting OUT OF THERE!
Dr. Clark came out with the tech and Bear and told me how well Bear was looking at 11 days post-op.
A good report and on we go.
We had stopped for a walk on the way to town. Between the walk, the Jeep excursion and the VET visit…
Even better, they are Blood Orange Chocolate chip muffins.
Not to make light of the carnage in Ireland, etc. but here is the story from my past…
My Grandmother Ruth had an incredible memory and she knew a lot of detail about family history. As the oldest grandchild and the only girl grandchild until I was 21, I spent a lot of time with her. She spoke to me as to an adult and imparted some of the history. One of the tidbits that stuck with me was that a direct relative – maybe her great-grandfather – was an Orangeman. Orangemen were a fraternity per my current reading but what I knew about family history was that we were Protestant, i.e. Orange and the Catholic Irish wore the Green.
Fast forward to 1967-68ish and I am 12 or 13 and in charge of decorating a small bulletin board in my 7th or 8th grade science classroom. The teacher, who was also an athletic coach, left me to my own devices. I planned to decorate with green shamrocks – traditional! BUT…there was no green construction paper. There WAS orange construction paper. Ha…I would decorate per my own family history and so I cut out orange shamrocks.
My mother was called.
It was the late ’60’s and VietNam war protesting, hippies, etc. Still. I was a straight-A, goodie-two shoes student. They might have just asked me.
So here we are 44 or 45 years later and I made orange muffins for St. Patrick’s :)
And my orange cat supervised. Actually, his nose is out of joint as I kicked him out of his house/my lightbox to take the muffin photos.
Onward to more bending of U.S. tradition…
Soda Buns. The recipe is New York Times’ Melissa Clark’s riff on Irish Soda Bread. She’s Jewish.
They are actually more scone-like in flavor with a bread-like texture. Good for breakfast and good with salty corned beef, but not Kosher for Passover which begins a week from tomorrow.
The corned beef. I do NOT like the “boiled dinner” of corned beef and cabbage and potates cooked until they are all grayish. I read somewhere that the boiled dinner is not even traditional in Ireland. The last several years, I have braised the meat and it comes out wonderfully tender and flavorful…sliceable as well as shreddable. Perfect!
And for the leftovers: Pumpernickle bread for corned beef sandwiches.
St. Patrick’s Day: my way!
Bonus photo… I was shooting the food and Bear was napping. Every time I looked his way, he was a bit further off the bed. He’s been sleeping a lot with his head off but this was a full body slide.
I made an early morning run to town to catch a big sale at a favorite natural food store. It was such a gorgeous morning. This week I was out early on Monday and Tuesday for Bear’s surgery and now this morning. I turned to Bear, who was watching the scenery and told him that we needed to go out in the morning more often!
Out, as in down out of the trees to see the sky and the clouds and the light in the valley.
On a roll, I took a detour turn on the road to Somers. Bear and I do not walk the trail in Somers like Karl and I did. There are more people and dogs and they are developing things along the trail … just not the best for Bear and me.
But, the road is scenic and there is this barn that I love. It has been painted since I last was past…a perfect red.
Although, it was a little gray, the ground was bare and the air was fresh when we arrived home this morning at 8:15. As we walked around the house, I was grateful for the dry ground – a LOT easier than the slushy ground last post-op.
BUT…a surprising one inch of snow fell mid-morning. It made everyone, including me, sleepy. I DID manage to grab a 10 minute cat nap on Bear’s bed as he was on his pads in the corner.
Even just over 24 hours post-op, Beardog on duty!
But mostly it was a low key kind of day. Bear did not seem uncomfortable at all except for figuring out how to deal with the bandage weight and stiffness. We’ll take that off tomorrow and I think he will feel more confident. He is already toe touching. It is just getting up and down that is awkward with the wrap.
I’m having my post-op fade. It will be an early night for all of us.
I did make a bit of a change in the recuperative suite.
The “mattress” from last round was rather tall and made me a bit anxious so for this round, I procured a foam mattress topper with a mere 3 inches of height.
The topper is the same brand I have on my own sleeping system and after the foam expanded, I laid down upon it and was VERY impressed with how comfy just the foam on the floor was. I hoped that Bear felt the same.
Ok.
Lookin’ good!
Huh???
Oh, dear!
???
Whatever.
***Srlsy…WE are in good shape for surgery v2.0. A little different this round as our new vet, Dr. Clark, is the surgeon and his anesthetic/pain protocol is different than the first TPLO. Bear will have a spinal epidural vs morphine. I am in agreement with Dr. Clark for this protocol although it means that Bear stays overnight…but since Dr. C’s clinic is not staffed overnight, I will transport Bear to the local ER for the overnight. I have met with the ER staff at the overnight clinic. Dr. C has done this handoff previously, i.e. all is set for the transition. I am very happy with how all is to be handled. I hope to be able to post surgery outcome late afternoon of 3/11 and have Bear home with Bob and me by very early (8:00 a.m. or sooner) 3/12.
