It's a cabin not a shed

Whatever you call it, it's looking good! Weather is scorching but nothing stops Bob. Today's progress...

To Forks for Shakes

We drove to Forks, west of Port Angeles in the wet country, yesterday to buy hand split cedar shakes for the cabin roof. The big trees around Lake Crescent were amazing. How I wish we had a few big trees on our property! Anyway, Bob has begun putting on the shakes. He works from a 2 x 10 suspended between the ladders, moving it up the ladder as he goes higher on the roof.

The Days After

Work continues on the shed. Here it is ready for roofing. We're going to Forks next week to see if we can find some hand split cedar shakes. The memorial garden is to the right of the shed. I planted Ceanothus 'Victoria' and a compact Strawberry Tree that will grow to about 8 ft and form a foundation for other plantings. Right now there is English lavender on Hooper's grave and blue sea holly on Tag's. Later will come white poppies and other drought tolerant flowers, red flowering currant, mock orange and ocean spray. Maybe some white rugosa roses that are tough enough for the soil here. 

We're gathering things from the garden daily. The ducks are getting into the greens. They need to be blocked before they eat everything. They're quite big now. The squash are going crazy and I'm trying to keep up with freezing everything. I'm even freezing tomatoes. I haven't been paying close attention to the garden and found a new branch on the zucchini that grew the giant squash in the picture below. They aren't the best eating when they get this big but Bob wants me to try cutting it up and batter frying it.

I took impressions in clay of the dogs' paws and am making ginger jars to hold their collars, tags, leashes and other special things. The house is awfully quiet without the sound of their toenails clicking on the wood floor from all their comings and goings. There was seldom a moment in the last fourteen years I didn't have at least one of them near by. I miss them so much.

Tag (left) and Hoop 

Hooper's jar drying

Tag's jar, not yet trimmed

A Sad Birthday

I am 64 today and this date will forever serve as a reminder of my loving pups.

Hooper and Tag

The dog gravesite is next to the shed which seemed appropriate since it will be a reminder of Sauvie Island, where Hooper joined our family. I'm planning a memorial garden for the site.

The shed and memorial garden site

The Duck Girls, fully feathered

A doe stopped to feed her twins

Tux on the alert after spotting the deer

Hooper and Tag

We have a secret, you and I

that no one else shall know,

for who but I can see you lie

each night in fire glow?

And who but I can reach my hand

before we go to bed

and feel the living warmth of you

and touch your silken head?

And only I walk woodland paths

and see ahead of me,

your small form racing with the wind

so young again, and free.

And only I can see you swim

in every brook I pass

and when I call, no one but I

can see the bending grass.

Dog diaries

Do not go gentle into that good night

Hoop is a fighter. We didn't expect her to last the weekend yet she is here Monday morning. She drinks water but no food so is very weak, but her eyes are clear and bright and she lifts her head to watch everything I do. She just doesn't have the dull eyes and look of impending death that would make it easier to accept what is happening. As I work I pull her on her bed room to room so she won't be alone. I don't know how much longer she can last but tomorrow both dogs go to the vet to discuss options. Do we start the financial drain of endless medical testing, medicating, force feeding, sub-q fluids in the hope of getting a few more months of life? And my sweet Tag, so isolated with his loss of vision, and hearing. Walking in circles, bumping into corners and walls, pacing endlessly, back legs collapsing over and over again. The only senses that seem to be intact are smell and touch, so I hug him and brush him and he responds, but he doesn't seek out that attention any more. Does he even know who I am? He and Hoop have been inseparable the last 14 years, they are like one, so maybe it is fitting they go into the long night's sleep together. But how do I make that decision when they've been just as much a part of me?

About the Dogs

Hooper rests comfortably on her bed at my feet. She won't last much longer. She's been at my side almost every moment of the last fourteen years and I want to be with her till the end. Even now she lifts her head from time to time to make sure I'm OK and wants to follow if I step out of the room, but she can barely walk now and has no interest in eating.

How much longer Tag can last is anyone's guess. He is still strong with a healthy appetite. The neurological problem hindering his mobility is the worst issue. Loss of sight and hearing makes it difficult to communicate with him and may look like cognitive disfunction, if it isn't actually that as well. The poor guy wedged himself between the water softener and the wall in the garage last night. (See bottom picture.)  He is pretty much limited to forward motion or a right turn, in fact he seems to navigate by taking two or three steps forward then making a small right circle before going forward a few feet and circling again. Either it's mindless motion or, since he can't see what's around him he's locating himself in the surroundings. Anyway, he must have gone into the space and just tried to push through, getting wedged in firmly instead. It must have been some time before Bob heard his hoarse barks over the sound of the movie we were watching. We wear headphones so we can adjust volume as needed individually, but it leaves us deaf to other things like a dog barking in the garage. Luckily Bob realized there were no dogs in the movie to explain the sound and went to investigate, finding Tag in this impossible position. We've reached a point where we can't safely leave him unattended. 

The yellow bag of salt is blocking the point where Tag got into trouble. He tends to hug the wall when he walks around a room and must have just worked his way from right to left without avoiding the tanks. He was somehow wedged behind the two tall, thin black tanks!

So goes another day in my life.

The Shed Grows

The two ends are up, ready for the rafters next. Once the roof is done the shed is more or less serviceable as a shelter (or large dog hut) and Bob can take his time with the cord wood walls. 

Tux stays close during construction and I think she'll be happy to take the shed over as her private place. She needs a coci titer test in a few weeks and I'll be surprised if she isn't close to zero. 

Yesterday was a rough one for Hooper and I was sure we were losing her, but today she is a little more alert and active, and eating slightly better. She's getting small amounts of a rice and squash slurry every couple of hours. It isn't many calories but she doesn't tolerate anything else. Tag seems to be keeping a nervous eye on her as if he knows she is near the end.

Middle of July!

Bob is moving right along on the garden shed. He's building rafters and the neighbors offered to help get up the first one that is pretty heavy with the siding on. It's looking good.

Tomatoes ripening. Yum! Three on left are Cherokee Purple, big red one is a beefsteak, two smaller reds are Stupice.

The ducks are growing. They hunt in the raspberry patch, eat berries and  pick up a bug or two, I hope. The neighbors bought some nightcrawlers and traumatized the poor things. We put a few in the pool hoping they would dive for them but they refused to get into the water until the worms were removed. Today I will introduce mealworms - much less intimidating. 

Caught in the act. Here is one of the girls dripping raspberry juice.

And Hooper. It felt like I was on a death watch today until she started eating again. She can have whatever she wants, not worrying about the kidney disease at this point. We just want her to be comfortable and happy.

Harvesting

I've felt bad about filling the wading pool with water for the ducks in the midst of this drought, but Bob suggested using the dirty water on the veggies. Great idea! So I scoop it out by the bucketful and deposit in the garden instead of just dumping it. The ducks manage to dive and swim in circles under each other when the water is filled to the brim of the pool. They are so cute.

The squash is going like gangbusters now. It's hard to keep up with. I'll have to start looking for things to make. I made raspberry jam last night and am freezing the rest of the berries as they ripen. The strawberries are producing and the slugs aren't getting them. Kale and chard plants are steadily putting out new leaves, enough to give us, the ducks, and our neighbors daily greens.

Underneath everything in the picture is a load of basil for another batch of pesto. The tomatoes and peppers are getting close. We ate the first beefsteak tomato this weekend and all I can say is what's sold as a tomato in the grocery is a poor imitation.

Hooper is doing well, starting to eat a little more but still refusing the kidney food. Tag is steadily getting worse, sight, hearing, stability, but he eats well and wants to go out every evening for a walk. If I don't keep an eye on him he might get stuck in a corner and pee, I guess thinking he's outside, if he is thinking at all. I usually have to help him to his feet and guide him outside soon as he wakes or there will be a mess. Poor old guy. I have a gallon of Nature's Miracle on hand to clean up after both of them as Hooper was just as bad when she was sick. Tux is doing well and I feel a little sorry for her, stuck with these old dogs. She is good to go for long walks but the old ones limit what we can do.

It cooled off a bit today with some cloud cover and the smoke from the fire in Canada seems to have blown out. The day would be nice except for the news that neighbors on either side of us had their sheds broken into.

During the Heat Wave

Hot weather continues.  The air is still and smoke filled from Canadian wildfires. We're shutting up the house and using air conditioning to minimize our exposure. Latest pictures below. Yellow cast is caused by the smokey light.

Monster blueberries 

Hanging in there

Veggies 

Onions!

Progress on the shed

The ducklings are growing by leaps and bounds. They were introduced to the "pond" yesterday. This is the same pool they lived in their first few weeks with us. Being ducks, they love water and will sit in it for hours, softening the sheath on their new feather growth. It won't be long before they are in full adult plumage. Their house is finished except for paint and I'm going to wait on that until it's a little cooler. I think it's the best duck house ever built. 

Playing like wild ducks

The ducks' entrance

The human entrance