Posts from the ‘Pets’ category

Day One post fox encounter

It is always hard to let go.

I know the statistics for outside cats.

Gus and Bob both beat them. I hope Auggie does also.

When I got my first cat, Gus, I thought he’d be an inside cat. But he made it VERY clear from early on that he wanted to be outside.

Bob came to my house as an outside cat.

Auggie, as did Gus, made it clear that he wanted to go in an out.

So.

Gah!

It is hard. Especially so after an encounter with wild things.

I love the darn critters so much and yet I also want them to LIVE…and so I’ve let Auggie be an in and out cat and every time he goes out, I hope he comes back unscathed.

So far, so good.

We are in for the night…well, Auggie is in. Bear and I will go out twice more…on leash.

Day One post fox encounter.

End of April

Kind of hard not to like the weather this last day of April!

Next week is to get cooler and rain or ?? so we are enjoying the sunshine and warm afternoons.

Hmmm… what’s behind the curtain?

Auggie-cat…making himself a sunshine-y cat cave on this last day of April.

End of the week

Tax day cometh and with it so much to do in addition to the usual, so it was a FULL week.

BUT, the weather…the WEATHER!! – it was beautiful and in defiance of the forecast it was mostly sunny and warm.

Friday afternoon with a forecast of a stormy weekend, I stopped work early and enjoyed the outdoors with Bear and Auggie. I am fortunate to have flexibility in my work schedule and decided I’d rather enjoy the sun and work over the weekend in the rain/snow if the weekend forecast was to be believed.

In addition to tax day etc., I saw my local herbalist this week and came away with a regimen that included 7 nights of hot baths.

My little house has a LARGE walk in shower, but no bathtub.

Huh.

The herbalist folks suggested a kiddie pool. That led me to my local “home and ranch supply” place and lo and behold that place had a SALE on a 100 gallon stock tank (Rubbermaid) … as in a watering trough for stock: horses, cows, etc.

I bought one.

Ya… Montana hot tub…I can hear neighbors Mike and Nancy laughing!! (THEY have a REAL hot tub :)! )

But, it worked and it was wonderful and I wish I’d thought of it sooner. My instructions were to soak for 30 minutes in as hot of water as I could stand.

So I did.

On the front porch.

And it felt SO good! Afterward, I took a quick rinse off shower, went to bed and slept wonderfully.

I can’t wait until tonight, to repeat.

This afternoon – Saturday – it is blustery and cool and feels more like Fall, than Spring. The gusts are causing the pine trees to rain pine cones which sent Bear and Auggie inside…

… to nap.

End of the week.

A mixed bag

Spring in Montana is always a mixed bag … weather-wise.

Snow this morning.

And it felt cold after the few warm days.

The chairs said: “Really ???!!??”

Auggie came in for a nap…

Bear, too.

And then the sun came out … and a bit of blue sky!

Jumping for joy … or maybe a bug…

“Are you laughing at me ???”

Ready to roll

Just to clarify…Bear is not seeming to be ill. I did have the feeling that he did not seem 100% comfortable and so when we went for his 6 month Senior Wellness exam, I asked for a full blood test even though all other parts of the exam indicated healthy dog. The one number is VERY high and has been increasing over the last 8 months and it indicates something… Still, as of today, Bear is Mr. Happy Boy: eating well, maintaining weight, playing, etc. … mostly normal…just that niggling feeling on my part that he is not 100%. Based on some other history I made the decision to jump directly to a specialist.

But, today we enjoyed a very springlike day – that is Bear digging on Beardog Hill.

So much fun!

Meanwhile, after considerable dithering, I de-winterized Wild Thing. She is full of water which allows us to live with “normal plumbing”, i.e. shower, hot water – all running water enjoyment! This is versus kind of camping in her using bottled water and the rv park showers. I am unclear why I was on the fence about this because it does not take all that much time to winterize OR de-winterize, but at this point, I am VERY glad that I decided to de-winterize and we roll tomorrow with a normal rolling house!

And I am calm about all. I have little control over any of it so it is 1 step/1 thing at a time and I am focusing on just enjoying each day whatever it brings. Worrying is not going to change a thing and although it has taken a significant part of my almost 60 years to get to this point, I am grateful to be here.

Auggie was in and out of Wild Thing as I did the de-winterizing and a bit of loading.

I think, like me…and like Bear…He is Ready to Roll!

Officially Spring!

What is this???

Jars of herbs…hydroponic herbs.

So pretty!

Even if the herbies don’t grow, I will have a rainbow of jars for my window.

I decided to start with just one jar as the instructions have temperature and “hours of sunlight” guidance…

I started with Greek Oregano in the yellow jar.

We have sun!

Auggie is very into bug hunting!

The Bear-boy… and a request.

Bear had a recent checkup and bloodwork and the scary thing in blood work is back. We are headed to Missoula (100 miles south) on Monday. Bear, me, Auggie…in Wild Thing…will go to Missoula leaving Monday noonish. Bear has a late afternoon appointment with a Veterinary Internist. I didn’t want to drive home late and/or need to be staying for follow-up appointments, hence the Wild Thing trip as well as my request for prayer and/or good thoughts for the Bear-boy. He is a sweet boy and I hope and pray that this is just an “ageing” thing.