The Dogs

Feelin' sentimental. Old dogs, sick dogs, my dogs.

Good times

Tux, one year later

Had to do another blood draw yesterday for the latest Valley Fever titer. This will give us a baseline for a change in medication. 

Dr. Cartwright and the clinic staff were amazed at how good Tux looks (weight 61 lbs!), and admit they had little hope she would even be alive now much less thriving. She conferred with Dr. Shubitz at Valley Fever Center for Excellence and came up with a new treatment plan. Based on titer results, the plan is to go back to Fluconazole with the addition of a small amount of the tablet form of Lamisil which somehow improves the uptake of Fluconazole. Unless this is a fungal strain that is resistant to Fluconazole, the Itraconazole may have knocked it down enough that Fluconazole will prove effective this time around. The blood test takes about a week so Tux gets to enjoy a little more time free of these nasty anti-fungals.

Before the Hickory

Over the next few months the new floor will be installed. This is how it's looking as of mid November. 

Water damaged spots were removed to check for subfloor damage. We confirmed that the damage most likely came from leaking potted plants. 

Rolls of old carpet and pad

All this wood comes out

Designing a cherry inlay

One of two pines we put in. This is the Japanese black pine.

New Pieris and heathers

New stuff here

Rose still growing in Nov.

Love the purple heathers

Front bed cleaned out

Our patch of trees

The Blue Hole

We're planning our trip back to AZ. Weather all around is stormy and bad for travel; here it is cold but beautifully sunny. I'm going to miss the farm fresh foods and color everywhere.

Free Day at the Park

It's Veterans Day and the entry fee was waived at Olympic National Park so we took a drive to Port Angeles and out Hurricane Ridge. Weather was unpleasantly cold and windy, and despite a cloudless sky heavy haze detracted from the views. Park policy for dogs is they can go, leashed, anywhere cars can go, which is to say they can walk on the road. Oh well, it was 26 degrees, colder yet with wind chill, and we didn't have winter clothes so hiking the ridges wasn't at the top of our to-do list.

Looking towards the Dungeness Spit and Canada

Ridge tops in the Olympics

Mt Olympus from the visitors center

Mt Olympus to the right of the glacier

Model showing rugged Olympic topography

(Headless) Blue Grouse 

Raven

Dog Woes

Complications from Valley Fever Meds

Once again, off to the vet we go. There is another lesion on Tux's leg so I suppose this will mean discontinuing the Itraconazole and trying another azole. With luck we'll be able to get it at a more reasonable cost in the states this time, and if prescribed by the vet in WA we can order online if that's the best price. My AZ vet says by law they can't provide online pharmacies a prescription and then balks at handing over a written prescription to be used that way. I guess that's the kind of small government you get in a Republican state.

Not happy with another bandage

I'm afraid to ponder just how much we've spent in unused medications treating this fungus. I have seven boxes of Itraconazole (105 capsules) we won't be able to use in addition to the unused Fluconazole, appetite and nausea meds, arthritis meds and anti-inflammatories. 

Ouchy

The Rain in Sequim

This map of rainfall on the Olympic Peninsula over the last 24 hours shows a classic rainshadow effect, the "Blue Hole" this area is known for. Compare rainfall on the south and west sides of the Olympics to the north and east. 

Avian Pests

The crows finally picked the neighbor's walnut tree clean and took off for parts unknown. While it was interesting to watch them repeatedly drop walnuts on the driveway to open them, we didn't appreciate the litter of cracked shells they left. Now we have another kind of mess as a flock of gulls has moved in. The driveway and roof are white with guano. At least we're getting enough rain to clean it off. 

A few of the gulls making themselves at home

A Birthday

Happy 14th birthday to Tag. He is a very sound sleeper these days.

A Buck and Small Things

A buck visited today, feeding just outside the fence. I tried to sneak up on it to take some pictures but didn't get more than the back side.

Pacific Treefrog

Rough-Skinned Newt

The newt is particularly toxic if eaten. Hope the dogs don't get a hankering for newt meat.

Rainy Days

Some things like gray sky and wet weather.