Phooey

I had such good intentions and I was off to such a good start. Then....

I've been busy knitting every spare minute. I've made several dog sweaters for the winter holiday season. here are some of them.

I think this one looks boyish.

There are several fancy ones for the  girls. Some have ruffles.

Some have glitz.

And some have both.

Some are in Christmas colors.

Monday evening I started knitting a pair of Christmas dolls when I started feeling some pain in my right hand. I took an aspirin and went on knitting. Tuesday the pain was worse, but I continued knitting. Yesterday I finally gave in. I recognize that I have tendonitis in my hand and the knitting is aggravating it.

So, the knitting needles have been put aside for awhile and I'm resting and icing my hand. I'm increasing my vitamin D and B complex. I'd like this to settle down so that  can get back to my knitting. In the meantime I'll try some crossstitch and see if that gets around the pain.

Catching Up

It's a new month and a new season and it's time to get started on new projects. First I thought I'd catch you up on some things I left hanging.

First, the Blues Brothers are settling in well. They eat a lot and play with the cage toys and make a lot of noise. As soon as I started calling them that, the names were obvious. The darker, noisier one, in the back, is Elwood and the lighter quieter one is Jake. They just polished off a bowl of diced apple, pumpkin and banana without throwing it to the dogs.

Holly is doing much better. She's come out of the corner, is eating and spends most of her time watching and hissing at the new noisy neighbors.

Morgan is just the sweetest little dog. Today she brought her ball to me and stood wagging her tail. How do I explain that it's going to be a long time till we can play ball again? Her leg seems to be healing pretty well. I've been able to cut back on her pain meds and she's walking now putting a little weight on the injured leg. She hates being carried and tries to beat me to the steps, but so far I've been able to grab her and lift her up the stairs.

Dr B thinks she's on schedule and this weekend we can start her physical therapy which consists of walking up and down the hill on leash. Going down is no problem, but walking uphill forces her to stretch out the muscles and work the leg a little.

Finally, my girl Samba. The MMM is currently under control and we've cut her prednisone back to a maintenance dose. She's using her jaw almost normally.

We've been unable to get rid of the kidney infection. I was given an option of using an injectable drug that would probably wipe out the infection, but I couldn't accept the side effects which include possible kidney damage and deafness. For now we'll continue to test regularly and possibly repeat the antibiotics.

As if all that wasn't enough, I discovered a large swelling on the tip of Samba's tail. At first I thought it might be a spider bite, but it didn't go away. I took her by the clinic and one of the techs thought the tail was fractured, but Dr B says it's scar tissue from an injury. Samba loves to bang her tail against doors and furniture and anything that makes a loud noise. Over the past few days the swelling seems to have come down a little and we're left with a crooked tail with a bump in it. We can live with that. As you can see in the short video above, Samba never stops wagging that tail.

So, on to a new month and we're going to try not to get any new injuries or illnesses.

Silver

Last night we turned off the lights, secured Morgan and Tsar in the bedroom and turned the volume up on a station showing old reruns of 'Law and Order' to drown out any outside noises. Then Rob and I left the dogs home alone and went to our favorite restaurant for dinner. To surprise me, Rob had invited our good friends who are also our neighbors and we all had a special dinner.

The reason for our night out was that today is our 25th wedding anniversary. Wow, 25 years is a long time!

This is my favorite photo of my husband. This was taken Christmas day in 1997 at my Mother's house.

I guess I never expected to be married for 25 years.

But, how can you not love a man who helps your dog learn to play the piano?

Now on to the next twenty five.

He's Back!

Look who's sitting on the swing. Mr Punkman is back. 

He just disappeared  after last Halloween and we haven't seen or heard from him and suddenly here he is.

Dad's moving him over to the steps so we can see him better.

Look everybody, he's back.

I can almost get my head inside him.

Dad's moving him again so that we can't chew on him. He's pretty tasty.

Look guys he's over here on the potting table.

We love you Mr Punkman.

Thanks, Dad, for finding Mr Punkman.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from Morgan, Tsar and all the Porties.

The Blues Brothers

People who say animals have no feelings annoy me. They more than annoy me, I think they have no brains. I'd like to take a few of them and lock them in a small room with a grieving Cockatiel that has just lost her best bird friend and make them listen to her mournful screeching for hours on end.

Holly continued to scream Thursday afternoon after seeing Cloud die. Finally I covered her and she quieted, but not before getting Samba very upset. Samba paced and whimpered and even peed on the carpet. It was much harder to calm her.

Rob and I discussed what our next move should be. We were concerned that when we uncovered Holly in the morning, she'd start screaming again when her friend wasn't in the cage next door to hers. Finally around 7 PM we drove to the pet shop.

Holly is too old now to put a young bird in with her, so we decided to get her a new parakeet friend and hope that they could bond. When we uncovered her cage Friday morning she immediately went over and looked at the floor of the cage where she'd last seen Cloud. Instead she saw the Blues Brothers.

All day Holly sat in the corner of her cage all puffed up. She refused to eat and didn't make a sound. I was getting concerned about her, but at bedtime she finally said 'hello' to me and I knew we were past the crisis. This morning she again hurried over and looked to where she'd last seen Cloud, but now she's starting to show some interest in the new birds. They're young and active and noisy and I'm sure they'll keep her entertained. Any ideas on names?

Cloud

This afternoon Cloud flew across the Rainbow Bridge.

Her friend Holly started screeching and wouldn't stop. When I went to see what was bothering her, I found that Cloud had died. Holly is still very upset.

I don't remember exactly how old Cloud was, but I believe she was about nine years old. We will miss her sweet song in the mornings. Rest in peace little Cloudy one.

A Break In The Rain

Finally yesterday afternoon the rain stopped long enough for us to have our party.

We took all eight of the PWDs into the back yard for Frosty Paws.

Rob commented that this is the longest time they're ever all quiet. We owe thanks to Purina for coming up with this treat that keeps their tongues busy for so long.

Everyone enjoyed their special treat.

Samba, as usual, was the first one finished.

 Fudge was distracted, but eventually got thru his.

 Sky was hoping for seconds.

 Look at those dirty feet.

Bailey was the last one done.

Because Morgan is a little unsteady on just three legs, we let her have her treat on the porch where the pups wouldn't knock her down.

Tsar agreed to keep her company.

Everyone agreed that it was a good birthday. We wish you could have all been here to celebrate with us.