A New Month Is Closing In On Us!

 June is nice usually warm and full of sunshine. And it brings us more of these to delight our senses.

Some Cat Mint new to the herb garden

 

 The come lately seedlings in the green house is Banana Melon. The seeds were shared last fall from one of the fiber ladies and I had all but forgotten them until I rummaged through my stash of assorted goodies. Now a week later all but two of the compartments have nice healthy seedlings worshiping the sun.

Two containers of cat grass not yet sprouted. It will be fun to see what the five cats who live here think about the offerings when they reach cat meet grass levels.

June brings several birthdays in our family. My sweet daughter Annie and my first born granddaughter Aubrey share a birthday three days apart. I will out of respect for Annie not count out the difference in years. But Miss Brey will be 20. No not days, not weeks, not months but years. How did *that* happen. It seems as yesterday when the phone rang at one in the AM and the other end of the line was my son now a proud Papa with a daughter in the background wailing like a Cantor.

 Brey in red and Em in purple at about 3 years.

The birthday girl graduating a few years back and her cousin who will be celebrating the big 20 in a few more months. Look at that from kids to young women with bright futures in the click of a mouse!

In our county of residence June is also fair month. In Fresno county October was fair month so it seems a bit odd even with six years of living in Shasta county. So the months leading up to June are consumed with weaving and spinning to have a go at some fun competition with the other local fiber folks.

Yarrow update which pretty much speaks for itself. Up to her eyeballs in kibble feeling much better and eating with her old gusto. Yarrow has only three days left of her course of treatment and is pretty much acting as if nothing ever happened. Take heart Susan your "sister" in treatment (except the sun isn't an issue with her) is as good as before as you will be too I expect.

For me now back to the fair entry prep. As we march through this last day of May and roll into June have a wonderful weeks end to celebrate all that the warmer weather brings.

Saturday Last All Aboard For The Cottonwood Royal Wedding

 Remember a few weeks back when the bride to be wore the winning tissue bridal gown ? She was dazzling even then at the bridal shower. And look at that wave the Royal couple has nothing on the Cottonwood Royals.

Brittany's grandparents my dear friends Donna and Dallas played a large part in her life. What better then to be escorted down the isle with her Dad on her right arm and beloved Grandpa Dallas on the left.


*That* kiss !

The happy couple with Brittany's Mother and Grandmother on the left . Grandma Donna on the right.

The bridal party full of smiles.

I have known Brittany since she was a "bump" and her Daddy went to Jr. High and High school with my son. I was thrilled to be not only at this wonderful occasion but to be included as family sitting next to Donna as vows were recited. Brittany you are as beautiful inside as out. Your new husband is all that you deserve. Many happy years ahead for the EMT and the firefighter! And yes I cried .

What Yarrow My Mama Dog Gave Me On Mother's Day

This was Yarrow half of my livestock guardian team when she was just about 12 weeks old. Stink'n  cute wasn't she?

This is her a few years ago. Still cute but more like stylish. And to this day she is pretty much the same beautiful well behaved (except when she is yelling at Sherman) Mama dog I love. 

Well until about a two weeks ago . I started noting changes in her behavior and I was a bit worried about her. Yarrow has had seasonal allergies for pretty much most of her 6 years. She , like myself, tend to get weepy eyes, nose and ear issue when the Buck Bush aka Scrub Oak starts blooming.She then gets cranky with Sherman "Dude back off you are breathing my air." Of course I am much more well behaved. 

The standard treatment which Doc Lydon brewed up for me to give wasn't working. So I realized that maybe there was something else brewing. She got crankier and pretty much continued on as always. Taking her walk with me each morning and holding up her end of the working team at night. This breed is tough. They are pretty stoic. I usually say regarding this trait "You could put a stake through their heart and they would look at you with tail wagging." In other words when you job is to deal with the bad guys nightly never let them know you are down.

A week ago Tuesday I noted Yarrow was leaving some kibble in her dish . Each night a bit more and on our walks even though she pressed on her spark was missing and she hung closer to me than usual. And she got crankier with Sherman. Poor boy he didn't know quite what to do. I tried to console him with "Buddy it is gonna be ok, giver her space."

Come Saturday of last week most of the meal was left. She was letting Sherman do the lions share of the night job with the bad guys. She started drooling (Yarrow isn't a drooling Pyrenees) and pretty much was flat. I decided then to take her into a local clinic that had Sunday hours and called to leave a message I would be at their door the next day.

After accessing her symptoms no vomiting or diarrhea and temperature within normal limits I had the vet run her CBC and chemistries . All of which came back pretty disgustingly normal. So I took her home after an injection of Cerenia  , a great anti nausea drug and a potential treatment plan in hand. 

 

The next morning she was not so nauseated and didn't get green when offered a bit of cookie and when she looked at the water bucket. We had our walk still abbreviated but she navigated a bit easier. I then took the lab results and zipped up the mountain to see Doc and decide what we were going to do with this. There were multiple symptoms and possibilities so a plan was decided on what could be done that would cover the two strongest possibilities.  

 

Yarrow has been on a rice and chicken diet since Sunday when I got her home . She was given the Cerenia once daily through Wednesday and has tolerated the withdrawal of it well. To date no return of extreme nausea symptoms. Doc started her on Doxycycline  400 mg  once a day for 21 days. A nice steady moderate dosing that should knock the stuffing out of the potential offenders. 

I am seeing gradual improvement daily and she went back to work Tuesday. She is no longer being cranky with Sherman . And she will have her first meal with her usual kibbles making up 75% and 25% comprised of rice and chicken. 

 

I was waiting to post this until I felt we were in a less guarded place with her. These two Pyrenees are the reason I sleep at night. I love my two hard working dogs to bits and the thought of losing either of them is cause for concern. So now a week out from a time when it was possible the ending may have not been so positive I wanted to share the story.

 

 

Happy Mothers Day

For A Girl Who Didn't Pull Weeds. . . Gardening Is A Strange Bedfellow

For as long as I can recall the division has been clear. Geoffrey is the gardener and I am the quilter, weaver,spinner,knitter and most important animal person. So how the heck did I go from that to this?

It is a mystery to me. Our first garden in 1972 or so was my idea. After harvesting a copious amount of cantaloupe, it makes everyone look like a hero, Geoffrey shook his head and took over. I was happy to pull out the counted cross stitch and scratch the dogs head.

Then we entered the barren years for me. Well garden wise we added two Irish Setters to the mix, I was in love. I went back to school eyeballing a zoology major and got pregnant. Um school had nothing to do with that part. Except that part now known as our son was my focus and the dogs.

A few years passed and a second addition came along our daughter. I decided that I had found my calling with critters and children. Heck I even killed off multiple African Violets just to prove plants and I did not hit it off. 

 The two footed and four got older. A Border Collie x Aussie joined the mix and we moved to the county. Then there were goats. And chickens , drop calves , 4-H , bigger gardens not mine. I stayed in livestock and companion/ working dog land. Canning 150 quarts of our garden bounty was as close as I got to the garden each year.

Well time passed again, has an interesting way of doing that. I met medicinal herbs. I made soap, I made honey and infused it with herbs. And I started to grow herbs. But I was still firmly entrenched in the animal kingdom.

Then we moved to the Log House on Ash Creek. A really weird thing happened there. I found myself really involved in the gardening gig. I kept the garden alive and growing when Geoffrey was hospitalized for close to a month. It was as if that was the point of being bitten by a serious interest in plants.

Then I read an article in Mother Earth News on how to build a greenhouse with a dog kennel. That was another push forward . Grow food in the winter ? How cool would that be?

When one really thinks of it gardening, livestock and children all have something in common for  me.

They all require nurturing. And I have found in the later years of life that nurturing is something I am pretty good at. I think this dirt gig is not such a bad spot to land. 

Pretty As A Picture

Some fresh roses from the rose garden. Lending their color to the flower plate my sweet mother-in-love had and I now use in my home.

More roses and my word does my log home now have roses scents of many colors in the air.

Loving my new roving from a fleece of Romney/Coopsworth that arrived last week from the Morro  Fleece Works.

My oldest (in time and age) friends granddaughter. Her bridal shower was yesterday and three of us plus the lovely young woman won the tissue paper wedding dress designer game. I have known Brittany since her baby shower when she was just a belly bump. She has grown to be a beautiful inside and out young woman with a bright future . I couldn't be more excited for her to walk down the isle in two weeks.