mudpies's Blog

Super day with old friends
Apr 29, 2012 | 5:28 PM PST

This was a red letter day.  C and I have friends who own a couple of greenhouses closer to Toronto.  They were built for their youngest daughter who has a green thumb and who needed some form of income.  She has been hugely successful.  One of my closest friends in our village has always wanted to visit Stephanie's Greenhouses, so this morning we hopped into the van and headed down.  I always enjoy visiting with Steph and her parents;  and I knew my friend, Barb, would enjoy their company too.  The greenhouses were filled to overflowing with plants, but they're not at their best yet.  It's a little early for this part of the continent.  I bought pansies for the urn at my front door and seven different succulents for planting inside.  If my planter matures in the way I've intended, I'll post photos.  I've always wanted a succulent container.  Barb loves garden ornaments - especially rabbits.  She bought a cute little bronze one.

While we were shopping, in came a former policewoman from the detachment immediately south of the office where I worked.  I hadn't seen Evelyn in more than twenty years.  What a treat that was!  After our visit, we took a tour around the countryside (despite the cost of gasoline) and stopped at a popular diner for lunch.  Barb has battled cancer in the past and has just learned that she needs to undergo radiation therapy in the very near future, so I was happy that we were able to have fun together before the side-effects of the radiation leave her feeling lousy.

Enjoy each day, my friends, and be kind to each other.

Hugs,

Myrna

Bonnie's on the mend, I think.
Apr 25, 2012 | 6:13 PM PST

The little rascal does not like being confined to the huge dog crate I've been trying to keep him in.  Every time I open the door to feed or medicate him, he tries to make his escape.  Fortunately, he can't run yet.  I've been letting him out a bit in the evenings and he acts like he's starved for attention - nips at my fingers when I quit stroking him.  His buddy, Clyde, has taken to sleeping beside the crate.

I got home just in time on Monday.  By nightfall we had about 6" of wet slippery snow.  It remained cold on Tuesday, but we lost about 4" of the stuff.  Today was just slightly below the normal temperature for this time of the year and everything's green again, thank goodness.

What a couple of weeks!!
Apr 23, 2012 | 6:35 PM PST

I can't believe how rotten some people can be.  My kitty, Bonnie, can be an aggravating little monster sometimes, but that's no excuse for kicking him.  He went out late in the evening on Friday, April 13th and didn't come in when I called.  Ditto the next morning.  He's stayed out over night in the past, but he's always back first thing in the morning for his breakfast.  I called and called, then searched and searched.  No Bonnie.  After our evening meal, I went out to search again, and there he was - curled up in my flower bed and crying pitifully.  I went to check on him and he was happy to have me rub his head, but not so happy when I tried to check his legs.  I came back into the house to get him some water and try to determine how to pick him up without hurting him.  He began to follow me, but  couldn't put any weight on his right rear leg.

I managed to get him into his crate and took him to our local vet who determined that his leg was broken and that there was blood in his urine.  She kept him over night and sent some blood to the lab to try to learn if he had internal injuries.  On further examination, she was able to determine that someone had kicked him between his hind legs.  Fortunately, his innards are intact except for some severe bruising, but the leg was badly fractured just above his 'knee joint'.  When she told me how much it would cost to restore him to good health, I told her she'd have to put him down.  I just couldn't afford that kind of money.  Because I've been a regular customer for many years, she agreed to cut her fee in half.  It's still way more than I'm comfortable with, but she agreed to allow me to pay it over a period of a couple of months, so Bonnie spent last week with her.  She put a pin into his leg and it appears to be healing nicely.  He can put a little weight on it and his injuries haven't affected his appetite or the by-products of his ability to eat and drink.  He certainly looks strange.  His entire right rear quarter has been shaved and a row of stitches make a neat pattern where his beautiful long black hair used to be.

My youngest daughter, Jacquie, and her daughter, Tori, came to help me bring him home on Friday.  The feisty little monster was still in considerable pain, but he was determined not to get into his crate for the five minute journey home.  We had to dismantle the crate, put him inside (with more than a little difficulty) and rebuild the crate around him.  He's on antibiotics and pain meds, both of which can be put into his food, thank goodness.  Jac and Tori looked after him while I went to visit my mom over the weekend.

Mom's doing amazingly well.  She had her final radiation treatment on her 93rd birthday.  Her mouth is sore and swollen.  We were warned that would happen.  There's not much left of her.  She's lost quite a bit of weight despite the fact that she eats fairly well and supplements with Ensure.  She can't wear her dentures just now.  She manages to move around quite well with her walker.

It's about a 5-hour drive to my sister, Betty's, home where my mom has been staying since early fall.  In order to keep the drive a little more manageable, I drive to my other sister, Hazel's, home which is only three hours away.  Then I get Hazel to drive from her home to Betty's.  I went to Hazel's Friday.  We went to Bet's on Saturday and stayed the night.  I stayed with Hazel last night and came home early this afternoon.  Thank goodness I got home when I did.  It's white outside now.  We've had snow in April in the past, but it's always been after a long, hard winter.  I was certain that we wouldn't get a late snow this year when we were getting high temperatures in March.  Wrong!!  Ah, well, it won't last.  It's supposed to be mild again by midweek.  I sure hope so.  I'm keen to get my veggies into the ground and tidy my flower beds up before I have my surgery.

Take care, all.

Myrna