Home Again - Trip Pics

I'm tired so comments will be brief but I'll try to update with trip details and more pictures in a few days. Happy to be home and working around the yard again.

1st night camping at Rufus, OR. A noisy night!

Pahranagat NWR in NV, heron

Pahranagat Lake, our campsite on the way to AZ

From the cabin in Arizona...

Funny new growth on the saguaro

More chia growing than I've ever seen

Hattie learns to catch Frisbees 

My cutie

Hawk

Old friend, the Chuckwalla that lives behind the cabin

Desert Lupine 

Pack rat

The pool garden survivors

Heading north again...

Pahranagat camp on the return trip

Another view of camp

Tux and Valley Fever

We head back to Sequim tomorrow. While in AZ I took Tux to the vet for an annual check. After getting prices for her Fluconazole in WA (quoted $180 to $300 for a 45 day supply) it was clear we need to continue to buy the compounded version through this vet. Tux has been doing so well and maintaining her weight that I thought for sure her Valley Fever titer would come back negative. Seven months ago it was down to 1:16 (from a high of 1:256) but this test came in higher at 1:32. Disappointing to say the least. The poor dog is into her third year with this disease and it's just not getting any easier. The good news is that her lungs sound good (no sign of VF pneumonia), and other blood work came back normal so everything is functioning well.

History of meds

Initial treatment was Fluconazole but it was clearly ineffective and the dog was nearly dead after six months. Fluconazole acted synergistically with her anti inflammatory meds and caused nose bleeds so  she can no longer take them and is now limited to Tramadol for arthritis pain.

Next we treated with Itraconazole, acquired through a Canadian pharmacy for affordability. It was highly effective and there was a substantial drop in her titer immediately, but she developed sores on her leg after a few months. The sores didn't clear up with reduced dosage so we had to stop. 

So we were back to Fluconazole, now adding Terbinafine, which acts on the fungus at a different stage of its development. Now even fish oils cause explosive nose bleeds so she can take nothing at all for inflammation. The two anti fungals together seemed to be working, albeit slowly, until this latest test. If a second test confirms these drugs are no longer effective I guess we are back to Itraconazole and treating for the sores.

What a frustrating journey this has been. 

So Long

We're heading to the desert for a while, leaving the ducks to the neighbors' care. They have been enchanted by these little charmers, too. I'm not sure what is, but even the electrician hooking the power to my studio said he was going to tell his wife to get ducks instead of chickens after spending a few hours with them. Here they are waiting for me at the garage door. I am going to miss them something terrible.

Enslaved by ducks

I've done the last bit of trimming on two additional porcelain pots. They should be dry by the time we're back. First one has sandhill crane carvings. (Two different light sources in the garage produced some yucky photographic colors.)

Cranes pot

At least the flash worked for this one.

Porcelain

I'll be away from the computer while we're gone so I don't expect to update the blog till we're back. And maybe, just maybe,  I'll get bringing a new pottery wheel home with me....

Porcelain

Here are three small pieces I made during the porcelain e-class. Two others broke in the trimming. It's not apparent in the pictures but they are quite thin and fragile. I'm working on another pinch pot and two V shaped pots bigger than the one below, but trimming porcelain is a much slower process than stoneware and it's taking forever to dry them properly for each stage because of the high humidity. The real challenge, firing, won't happen until some time after we get back from Arizona. Will they melt, crack or delaminate?

Hooper's Day

I remember Hooper every day but especially this day we would have celebrated her 15th birthday. She was a special dog, always taking care of me and Tag. Here she is in 2006, young, alert, and happy. I miss you my girl.

Two Ducks a-laying

A storm is blowing in today. Crazy wind. This was a nice surprise to find when I let the ducks out of their house.

Walk to the Beach

Winter storms drastically changed the beach trail. The lagoon was opened when all the log debris washed out so now the creek flows steadily into the ocean, but it makes for easy access to the beach when tide is low.

The bluff collapsed destroying all the stairs that had provided means to the beach for many years, and even the tree that served as the eagles' perch was washed away. 

Pictures of the dogs playing on the beach. Tux and Hattie have become close friends already.

Clay

Porcelain, actually. I'm several weeks into the e-course, first week doing pinch pots (aggravating my carpal tunnel), then doing two different thrown forms. Results below, before trimming, which we do next week. My right hand is stiff and swollen today. The garage is cold and damp, even sitting between two blasting heaters, so I don't enjoy spending much time in there working. Looking forward to finishing my little shed/studio which is small enough to actually get warm when a heater is running.

Hattie Sick / Pasta

Hattie had a rough night. Lots of vomiting, today diarrhea. Trying to limit her activity (haha) and feed a bland diet until she's over this thing. There must be some law among dogs that the most expensive rugs, furniture, whatever, in the house is what you throw up, pee, poop or bleed on. With all wood floors and a bunch of cheap throw rugs spread throughout the house, somehow the messes always end up on the nice wool rugs.

You can't possibly mean me!

I tackled homemade pasta today. Result below. I bought attachments for my Kitchenaid mixer after having a delicious dinner at the neighbor's. He has a very old pasta machine that belonged to his Italian grandmother but those machines really need two people, one to crank and one to handle the dough. The Kitchenaid attachment does the cranking so I can work alone. It's pasta and pesto salmon for dinner tonight. For the people, not the dogs.

Linguine

A Gift From the Ducks

What a surprise. I was not expecting to find anything at this time of year and almost overlooked it in the duck house this morning. I think it is Emerald's. Bob is preparing to eat it!

First egg

Nothing is happening

Boring, routine days. We've done some chores in the garden, cleaning up flower beds and preparing for another go at veggies. The most exciting thing is filling up the duck pool now it's warmed enough. This morning the ducks came running after me quacking like mad because I hadn't given them enough water. Had to go back and finish the job before they would calm down. And so it seems I am enslaved by ducks as well as dogs.