Always Spaghetti

HEN I WEAR WHITE...
It never fails...spaghetti sauce has a magnetic force to it...Just hope it comes out when I wash it.  Today I hung out at home listened to the birds sing all day, did some work on my garden plants. Repotted the pepper plants I over wintered, some didn't make it but some did..So hope they will come right back out I put some additional soil in the pots and a light feeding. 
I put some seeds in pots that I can bring in if it goes too low at night..Some green beans, sweet peas, transplanted some Swiss Chard seedlings...
The onion sets I put out a week ago are coming up and the broccoli is almost big enough to cut.  I picked the last of the Spinach leaf, and the Arugula, had a nice salad of that for lunch, and have enough for at least 2 more bowls of salad. In one of the pots I put the Swiss Chard transplants and in the other some radish seed.  By the time the chard and radish are done it will be warm enough to put the Zuke transplants in the pots, that is if the seeds sprout.  
The over wintered eggplant did not survive, so I will buy some transplants.  

Back inside I am trying to make my own coffee creamer, so I used coconut milk, which is thick by nature...and almond milk, I mixed it at about 3 to one ratio. So I hope it works.  Im doing this for 2 reasons.  One is so it's non dairy and the other is to not buy the plastic jug. So we will see.  

My dog Floss continues to not do too well.  She can barely get up from a laying or sitting position I have to help her..I've put a ramp at my back door it's been there for 4 months...and more and more she just cant stay up.  I have her on anti inflammatory dog meds..I just increased her 1/2 a tab daily to 1/2 tab twice a day.  More and more she is incontinent.  She goes out and she does #1 with no trouble...but then she doesnt want to do the walking required for her bowels to work.  She lost weight and she looks awful.  She is 14 in a couple months.  Annie is doing pretty good.  She has a bad ankle on the front leg, which means she can't do a lot of walking without going lame, but she can still run a little bit and she has no problems with steps..she has a good appetite, and she is plump and alert. 

I know they both came from the same Mom but did you know that in a litter of pups each pup can have a different father?  The reason is each pup is in it's own placental sack...So a dog releases many eggs and if the dog has multiple mate different sperm can fertilize one or two eggs.   So I can only assume they are half sisters.  Floss has long hair Annie's is more medium, Floss has long legs, while Annie is shorter. Annie has some chow in her with dark spots on her tongue.  Floss has some English Setter in her since she has the reddish tinge to her hair.  She looks like a flat haired retriever...While Annie is like a border collie mixed with lab. 

On the World Front...
Im really a bit afraid of what shape the world will be in when another couple of weeks passes.  I don't even understand WHY Russia is attacking Ukraine, other than they want to steal what they have.  I was not surprised that Trump said that what Putin did was genius.  Im sure he would have helped him get whatever it is he wants. NYC is the home of the Russian Mob, you could not convince me that they don't have some power over Trump...two of his wives are from the region Slovenia and Czechia. Both are south of Poland with Ukraine  to the East.  Ukraine is just a stones toss from Europe! It's less than 1500 miles from Paris to Kyiv. That's like from Tampa, FL to Ottawa Canada. 

Cold n

INDY 

so I hung around home...topped up the feeders, picked up all the camellia flowers that fell off due to the wind, I have 3 big bushes in full bloom...such a shame to see all the flowers on the ground, I picked some tender romaine, swiss chard, arugula, and cut some micro greens to top off a leafy salad, with a baked potato and the remainder of the black beans  that was dinner.  I ate early I don't like to eat late. 

The planting bed I dug out last week I put a layer of lime, 10 10 10 fertilizer, and some bone meal and dug that in.  I have some flower seed packs of California poppy I think I'd like to put those seeds in that area...with some Sweet William.  

 

I cut another broccoli head and one more is trying to form,,,it's late tho so may not make...the onion seeds I planted are coming up along with the onion sets..I hope the sets will be my early crop and then the seedlings if I can keep them alive all year will be a fall crop.

Recall the leaky supply line on the toilet, I took it all off again today put some pipe dope on it and still it has a small bead forming, SO tomorrow I will  take it off again and try one more time. It is coming from the left edge of the nut... Can't believe it's so hard to get that bead  to stop!  I did get the outside spigot to stop dripping so I think eventually I can stop this bead but it's been a real pain, 

Annie was not herself today she was limping a lot on her bad leg, she has an arthritic joint on the front.  Floss is doing a wee bit better since I put them on the Glucosamine and the she is getting prednisone 5 mg a day.  So I put Annie on it for a few days this cold air may be the cause and she may have over did it, they are 91 in human years so if the 7 yr ratio is correct...which I assume it is.  At 91 the body has all sorts of issues.

Both of these girls got off to a very poor start I found them along with 5 others starving trying to survive in the woods as pups...they were about 4 months old, Someone dumped them off in the woods near here...Mom and I found them and we found homes for the other 5,  they were all starving and wormy and they ended up with Parvo, an intestinal virus that can kill dogs if not properly treated.  In fact I still had their sister Daisy, and they all 3 had it at the same time.  So I took them to the vet, he diagnosed it and he said he doubted they would survive... I asked him to let me treat them at home. 

So he gave me 2 bags of Normal saline and some oral antibiotics He ran a dose of IV antibiotic into each one while they were in his office,  we crushed and put in an oral syringe and squirted that into their mouth...the prescribed ones,  We put each one on a heating pad in the kitchen...so  twice a day mom and I would give them each an under the skin infusion of the Saline, and I had a bag of Ringers Lactate still in my medical bag from my time as a medic it was still good so we gave them that too...And it took about 5 days for them to slowly come around to where they would lick a little liquid out of a saucer and eventually they all got well.

Not long after that we found a home for Daisy and then I told Mom I wanted us to keep the last 2 and that is how we got Annie and Flossie, 13 yrs ago.   That fall we found the 7 puppies Mom broke her hip and I had to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital and she  had hip surgery and a long rehab... that was a hell of a fall in 2008.

I found Casey on the side of the road in 2014..he was already up in age, so only got to share 6 of his years with him...but we guessed him to be about 15 or maybe a little more when he passed.  I've always had dogs, and I've said once these girls pass away if Im still alive, I want to be pet free for a while to be able to travel more if I can...it's hard for them now at their golden age to enjoy being in the van, they get stiff and they can't go on long walks on leash, they are used to being able to go in the yard here when they feel like it now they are having some issues dealing with the back steps.  Their last trip was in 2018 all 3 of them and went to CO with  us, and we took a long 21 days trip on the way over and on the way back so they spent Spring and Summer in CO and then we came home in the fall.  They have made 3 trips out west with me, and Casey went all over the place with me, and to Canada too. 

Getting old is no fun for woman or beast.

Best Friends,

ILL ALWAYS be in my heart. 

So I took off to check one of my favorite lakes for ducks, found some too, and that was good.  It was cold tho, so I was in and out of the van warming up.  I am always in a place of peace when Im birding.  I can be exactly in the now.  The best place to be present for.   

Also I saw a river otter in the lake...didn't get a photo of it, because I was just pulling in and parking the van.  That was a pleasant surprise. 

My sis has this dog her name is Patches and she was a stray living in the town and my sis was able to get her into her yard, and now she lives there.  But there is one problem, she won't come into the house, and actually there's two problems, she wont go on a leash.  She is afraid of being contained.   My sis has made a wonderful nest for Patches in her shed she has  heater, a bed and a dog house  in the shed to snuggle in,,,, so she is warm...but still it's fretful worrying that she is ok.  So now sis is hinting that "when I come see her" I have to bring Patches home with me.  Hmmm I would love that BUT

I have 2 dogs , they are sisters,  quickly approaching senior years, they will soon require medical help and physical help...I will have to and need to devote all my attention and funds to helping them and that is the only fair thing.  I've had them since they were 4 months old....Plus my sisters dog Jim is the same age as my girls and he is diabetic so I think she should keep Patches and try to make a stronger bond with her.  

I have been swearing, NO more dogs, it's difficult to travel  with dogs, ON cold freezing mornings I have to get up out of my warm sleeping bag and walk the dogs, and in Summer when it's HOT and  I am in Rocky Mountain NP, where dogs can't hike the trails of any NP, they cant stay in a hot car so that means I don't get to hike.  I have traveled and camped with all three of my dogs, I'm including Casey who passed in April he was a super sweet heart and I miss him so much. HE went on so many trips with me, long trips of like 8,000 miles and not just once twice but MANY times.  

So the longest stretch I was traveling with all 3 at one time was 22 days...camping and driving all over the country.  The dogs love to travel...I love to travel also so we have made it work, but Im getting older and it's getting harder to do...Floss cant jump in or out of the van, I built a ramp for them...I can not pick her up any more she is 55 lbs...and Annie is 50 lbs...and they are 13 yrs old. Both of them are lame, have arthritic joints and cant go on hikes even in good weather or where they are allowed...so it's just a huge challenge. 

                               The girls and I enjoying  a mountain hike ...Happy Faces

                                 and Casey and I  exploring a Lave Tube in California

                                                                                

  
I love dogs...