Hooper, still with us

The old girl was feeling better by yesterday afternoon. Today she's more like her old self. We started an antacid to help settle her stomach and will continue the Carprofen to make her comfortable, probably reducing the dosage if she makes it through the next week or two. It's likely she doesn't have too much time left anyway. If she gets another infection like the one she just had I don't think she'll make it. She was out and about today keeping track of me while I worked and it was very good to see that.

A Hot Saturday

It was a scorching 87 degrees today, much too early for this kind of heat. We spent the day visiting gardens on the Master Gardener tour of gardens but it was too hot to enjoy them.

Hooper's temperature is back to normal but she barely eats and is unsteady on her feet. She sleeps a lot.

Bob is building a duck house for the girls. Here's a shot of it as of this morning. There are two ventilated, hay-filled three sided "rooms" for wind protection that open to a central yard of gravel where they can play in their water without creating a mud pit. The tops open for cleaning, collecting eggs, feeding. There is a duck door on the other side that will open to a future garden area that right now will serve as the duck pen. Construction will be completed in the next few days and I'll post more pics. The ducks spent the day in it and seem to be happy so we're keeping them out there tonight. It will be much more comfortable than the garage in this heat.

Duck Hotel

A very dark gladiolus

Raspberries

Time to pick!

Dog Diaries: Hooper / Update

Fever seems to be down but I don't have a digital thermometer to check it. She is more alert and eats sometimes but the antibiotic messes with her appetite. I can get her to eat before giving a dose but not after until next dose is due. This morning the neurological problems were severe. She tried to get up to go outside but wasn't able and urinated on the floor where she lay. I lifted her up and she tried to walk to the garage wobbling like a drunk. She bumped into walls and seemed very confused. There is occasional heavy breathing which might indicate pain despite the Tramadol I'm giving three times a day. I guess we will give her the weekend then decide if it is more humane to let her go, and we'll decide about Tag at that time also. His health is good but he is wandering aimlessly in circles, stumbling and losing control of bodily functions.

Afternoon update:

Hoop's doctor wants to try giving her an anti-inflammatory for the weekend - 50 mg Novox (Carprofen) twice a day - to see if pain is contributing to her difficulty walking or inflammation. Anti-inflammatories are quite hard on the kidneys but since her kidneys have been quite stable for the last couple years, a few days of the medication will not likely hurt. She is sleeping most of the time but her eyes are bright when she's awake. She tried to walk up the steps from garage to house but collapsed. Just trying was an improvement though.

Tux's blood work: Her liver values are good. ALT, which indicates liver damage and was slightly elevated at the last test, is now normal. ALP, however, is mildly elevated but is probably of no concern right now. Results will be sent to her doctor in Arizona who may have a different spin on it in light of her experience with Valley Fever.

And lastly, just when we were thinking the worst about Tag's condition he did something quite remarkable. He herded the ducks into their pen with me! The herding instinct must be very strong in Border Collies, even geriatric ones with cognitive disfunction.

Dog Diaries: Hooper's Crisis

Our girl Hoopie is very sick. She's lost four pounds, has a fever of 104.6, shows blood in her stool, is unmistakably in much pain and unable to get up from the floor. She needed subcutaneous hydration yesterday at the vet. We were afraid her kidneys were failing but her blood values are only slightly elevated, consistent with dehydration and whatever is causing the fever, so we can rule out kidneys and liver. We started Clavamox last night. This morning brings only slight improvement. She seems more alert and is drinking water now but not very interested in food, and while she can walk a little steadier than yesterday, we do need to lift her onto her feet. Her symptoms don't suggest anything the vet can pin down yet so we're hoping a little more time on the antibiotics will help. 

My very sick girl

New Patio and Garden Pics

I am very excited to share pictures of the new patio. 

• Located on east side of house for morning and afternoon sun. 
• Curvilinear layout complements the curves of the sidewalk from the front of the house. 
• Paver colors match existing stone facing on house. 
• Protected from the cold ocean breeze
• Our new morning coffee spot

Walk to the back yard from the patio

Patio view looking south

Future peony bed with fig tree

View looking west, kitchen bay windows

A dream come true. I am growing food!

Yellow beans on little plants

Ghost blueberries, no birds allowed 

Greenhouse

Jalapeno peppers

Squash  and beans

Summer squash

Tomatillo 

Waiting forever for yellow tomatoes to ripen

Zuchs - harvesting one a day now

And the newest family members enjoying the yard.

Dogs and Ducks

Hoop lost interest in food yesterday. I'm adding chicken juices to the K/D food today to see if we can perk up her appetite but she may be moving into the next stage of kidney failure. The arthritis seems to be causing considerable pain but I can't give her an anti-inflammatory, only Tramadol.

Tag sleeps most of the day and night. When awake he wanders aimlessly, goes in circles, bumps into walls. The socks on his back feet are for traction on the wood floor so he doesn't slip and slide. 

The ducks are growing quickly. I take them into the garden for a little sunlight every day where they poke around and try things out. They ate their first worm yesterday.

Ducks!

We brought home four female blue runner ducklings, eleven days old.  They are in a wading pool in my studio and are already very happy watching me work on clay projects. They saw Hooper walk in and jumped out of the pool, so we're stacking taller things around it until we can find a big box or something more secure. I tell them peep peep peep and they settle down nicely. More on the ducks later if I manage to find time to post. The garden and geriatric dogs keep me pretty busy otherwise.

As the Garden Grows

Despite the cool weather our veggies are slowly coming along. I'm happy to report that things are recovering from the initial bug onslaught in the greenhouse. The coveted blueberries are taking forever to ripen. We check on them several times a day. Bob's latest project is building a shed. It's going to be a cordwood construction like the one we made at our place on Sauvie Island. I finally plugged in the wheel and threw some clay. It's nice to get back into it. The dogs are OK. Tag is hanging in there but I'm not sure what's going on in his head. He's nearly blind, doesn't hear well, walks with difficulty (we pull him in a wagon for the evening walk) and sometimes he doesn't seem to know where he is, but there's still enough of him there to hold off making a decision on euthanasia. It's difficult.

Blueberry blush 

Clematis

Snow pea 

A peek under the dome

Peppers, tomatillos and tomatoes

Raspberries

Digging foundation hole for new shed

Future summer squash

Cherry tomatoes

Zuchinni

Tux

Clay practice

Kohlrabi and Hooper Update

The kohlrabi in the greenhouse is growing fast. I picked the biggest one today, afraid to let it go much longer and get woody in the greenhouse heat. The plants outside are not nearly so far along. Anyway, the stir-fried greens mixed with leftovers from Chinese takeout last night were delicious. We'll have the bulb in a salad tonight. Cherry tomatoes are beginning to ripen and I'm finding snow peas on the very small vines, too. I hope it warms up a little so the plants will put on some growth. Temperatures are still hovering in the 60's. We prepared a new bed to plant asparagus next spring, and are trying out an artichoke this year. We're just planting things and seeing what works.

A load of kohlrabi greens

Purple kohlrabi

Hooper Update:

The swelling is down and her eye is looking good. I'm putting a steroid salve in there twice a day for another week or so and it's amazing she allows me do it. This is the dog that won't be touched. She's much more comfortable now.

Nothing wrong with these eyes!