Sunday, April 30, 2023

04.30.2023 April showers.....

 ....... bring May flowers. Or so we are hoping! 

What a month this has been for our family (human and canine). We have had some incredible sadness with the loss of a special family member as well as a dear friend of 25 years and a favorite neighbor's teenage daughter was seriously injured in a car accident. We are all praying for her recovery. And all three of my pups have had one health challenge after another. When it rains it pours. We went well beyond things happening in threes. 



My dear little Gunnarr has been ill all week, including having to go outside every hour during the night for the last few days. He was seen by the vet and is on medication for an infection and crystal bladder stones and with luck he will get better sooner. If not, then back to the vet for more tests. And my dear Fionnegan now has bladder stones too and lots of bleeding and will be having an operation just like Gunnarr did last year. Shorty has new gi issues but he seems to be recovering. I suspect it is because they eat the sorel weeds in the yard along the fence causing them gi distress. And I am back to doing multiple loads of laundry per day! Let's hope the washing machine keeps working. And I need new brakes on the car. Maybe May flowers will bring better luck!

But we are still having fun. The boys went to the spa (Petco - where the pets go!) for their haircut and look really cute when they came home. No new pictures of the haircut as they were not interested in going outside in the rain and I was not interested in white clean paws getting muddy! Maybe new pictures tomorrow if the sun shines. Shorty and I had a few hours alone and he just looks at me and wags his tail. And I do give him some special treats. He has been left alone twice this week and he seems to just roll with it. He does initially get excited when he thinks he is going too and is disappointed when his harness is not readied for him, but of course he does get a special treat when I have to take the twins to the vets or spa. I normally like to take him out for a special walk while the twins are at the spa but it was raining again today, and he had no interest in going outside for any reason! I also did not feel like trying to wash his paws even though he does not get as dirty as Finn and Gunnarr. So we just had treats and watched television and read a book (me not Shorty).

Some of our azaleas are in bloom. We had very few daffodils and no tulips.  Maybe I should plant some bulbs this fall. I say that every Spring but when Fall arrives I am generally too busy. But maybe this year I will make it a priority.





    




Every year I but a few hyacinths for their beauty and fragrance. Then I plant the bulbs in the garden. We had a lot of hyacinths blooming this year. 
  

The boys posing for the camera - as happy as can be. Photo taken before their haircut earlier this week.


How have you all been? How is your Spring? Do you have a garden with flowers? Have the flowers been in bloom? Our bunnies are back and I suspect they will enjoy a few of our flowers. Just hope I can keep the pups away from the bunnies, but there are signs of them all over the front yard. No more carnage, I hope.

With such a big smile, it is hard to believe Gunnarr is also sick.


Same for Fionnegan. He is mostly running and playing and doesn't seem to have any pain from the bladder stones. And I can say this, they both are tired of my watching them empty out their bladders. I have to observe them for blood and other signs of distress. So now they go right next to the lily plants, and it is hard for me to watch them!


Shorty.


Until next time................. Stay well.




Sunday, April 9, 2023

04.09.2023 Happy and Blessed Easter


It was a beautiful day - warm and sunny. A perfect day for a celebration and get together with family and friends. Flowers are slowly starting to bloom and soon we will be in the gardens preparing them for the Spring and Summer shows! We all had a nice and restful day. Hope you did as well. Please enjoy a few of the flowers in bloom.

 


The birds definitely have Spring fever. Here is a handsome robin. We also have a pair of Carolina wrens building a precarious nest in the Christmas wreath on the front door. They built one there two years ago and hatched 2 little ones. This one seems a little more sturdy - not by much - and I am going to leave it alone until they are done. So there may be no pictures while they are nesting.




No Spring is complete without Johnny jump ups in the grass. Here is an early one.







The boys had their Easter baths and towel rubs. They smelled so clean and fresh.



May you all have a Happy and Blessed Easter Sunday.