Kate is improving

Paulette and I stopped in to see Kate during visiting hours yesterday afternoon. As you can see in the photo, she was a little groggy. She was curious to look out the windows, however, and chew on the IV ports in her leg. I think she'll be able to come home later this afternoon. No lab reports are back yet to indicate why the pancreatitus got started this time.

We gave a nod to St. Francis as we left the hospital. I'll post photos of a perkier Kate soon.

Vigil

Kate became ill around 3a.m. and at 6:30 a.m. we piled into the car and headed to the Lorain AnimaHospital-, about 40 minutes away-the same place we took Kate on Thanksgiving Day.She was vomiting foam and excreting pure blood even as we drove there. Acute pancreatitus is the problem but the underlying cause is not yet determined. It was 7:45 am by the time we were settled in, and we were surprised to learn that the emergency clinic closes at 8:00 am. Dr. Talbot gave her some injections to calm the episodes down enough for our 30 minute drive back to Huron to home base, the Firelands Animal Clinic which opened at 8:30 am. Mary Ann Socha, our vet, met us at the door.

Kate is being carefully monitored and is hooked up for pain meds and antibiotics and they are giving her fluids.  She'll be there for several days. Apparently, Miniature Schnauzers are known for a problem of high cholestrol and a low fat diet and other medications can help ward off these bouts of pancreatitus, which if severe enough, can be  deadly. Our Alex did not suffer from this at all, so we are surprised about this inherent problem. It is too, too quiet in the house. The boys, Jack and Louie, seem overly mature without the antics of Kate in their midst. I know she'll be in good hands with Mary Ann, Cindy and Lisa, three awesome vets, and, I'm confident that Kate will survive this bout. Prayers to St. Francis are in order, however, and that's that.

Salon magic

Kate spent the afternoon at the salon and you can see the before and after photos here. She spent the morning in my office, lounging around and the afternoon at Purrfect Pet Salon. What a life! We've taken a few walks around the block to show off the new 'do.

Of course, this angelic look can fool you. The next day, Kate was back to one of her favorite activites, digging holes in the backyard. According to various dog breeding histories, the miniature schnauzer is from terrier stock and terriers were useful vermin catchers. terrier, from the Latin word, terrarus, of the earth.So, with that background, I guess digging could be expected. To be fair, both standard poodles have been diggers and probably taught Kate how to dig a nice wide hole. All of this digging has led to quite an unsightly back yard. You know where this is leading.....we need a new landscaping plan!

Maybe we could add a large ground deck, or extend the brick patio, or both! Hey, let's put in outdoor kitchen and fire pit, too. Hmmm. I've always wanted a gazebo and pergola, so, how about putting those on the list. Wait! Screening in the back porch would be nice.....eek! Back to reality. How about if we just stop the dogs from digging. A few hours of training would cost a lot less than a whole new "outdoor room" and some grass seed and dirt would be a quick solution, too. So, I'm back from fantasy island much to Ron's relief. P.S. I might just get that screened in porch after all and keep the dogs in there with me! To be continued.....



Spinning dreams

Like a true fiber fanatic, I love to see the beautiful animals that provide the raw material for spinning! Even in Sandusky, I didn't have to go far to find them. On Sunday afternnoon, I went back to Osborn Park, the same park that has the great place to walk with Kate, Louie and Jack, as I had noticed that the MetroParks has a farm site just across the street. Now, to be perfectly honest with you, I do know that the first photo is of a sheep-but, I have no idea what kind. I love the black face. Boy or girl, young or old, I don't know.

Ok, I think this is a llama, not an alpaca, but, I'm really not all that sure of that. This is kind of embarrassing for me to admit, and I was going to leave the photo uncaptioned so as not to make a complete fool of myself, but I think you should know who you're dealing with in this blog.

This is a goat. Yep, I did figure that out, and I know goats produce mohair, which I love to knit, and that I have recently learned to spin mixed with wool.

The barns below used to be called Steinen's stables and a friend of mine boarded her horses here. The Metroparks bought the barns and property and have turned this into a petting farm. I feel lucky that this land wasn't sold to become been  a housing tract. There are horses, chickens and roosters here as well. One of the horses was laying down and I wasn't sure what that was all about, so, I decided not to take a photo in case it wasn't such a good thing. What do I know, I grew up directly across from the 14th green of Lake Shore Country Club in Erie, Pa. and  I know a lot more about golfers than I do about farm animals. I don't think spinning is going to turn me into a farm girl, but, I am starting to like the scene better than the golf course.I mean, what's not to love about these sweet faces!

Kate's first look at the dog park

Kate and I went to check out the dog park at Osbourne Metropark yesterday. This park was constructed by volunteers, including Ron and Bob. The first donations collected were in memory of Max, our first standard poodle, from the library staff. There is a large photo board featuring the dogs that were memorialized and next to Max are photos of Alex, our beloved schnauzer,and Beau, beloved standard poodle and brother and BFF of Jack, who belonged to Bob and Paulette. There is  also a photo of Brandy, Janet's lab that Ron found for her. So many memories of wonderful dogs! You can just see the photo board on the sturcture in the shot below.

Kate decided the park looked a bit intimidating and passed on the adventure for another time. Jack can't visit the park very often as he has an embarrasing habit of trying to run down other dogs as prey, scaring the owners and dogs alike. Louie does much better, making friends with everyone as if they are all part of his big family. The park is four acres of fenced area and is about to be tripled in size.

 Kate and I discovered a cool treehouse in the adjoining wooded area. Can you see it in the middle of the photo?

Some bunny loves you

Kate is visiting the Library today. I don't think she is exactly thrilled to be wearing rabbit ears, however. What is it that makes people put funny hats on their dogs? I can't seem to resist doing it.  Give me a silly hat and I have to put it on Kate. It isn't as if she isn't all ready cute enough.

 Her next visit to Purrfect Paws Grooming Boutique is on Tuesday, so, today, I'm enjoying her scruffy look.

The bunny ears looked pretty swell on my sheep,too! This rocker is available once a year at this time from Pier One Imports. I've had mine for quite awhile and love it.  

This afternoon I'm taking my needlepoint rabbit canvas to Wool & Willow to be finished on an antique footstool. I started the piece 2 years ago and completed it last month. It is a 10 pt painted design kit from Beth Russell and is based on a William Morris tapestry. It is 14X14 and uses Appleton's 100% wool yarns. I haven't done any needlepoint since the early '70s when it was very popular. I was pleased to see how popular it is now and there are some fantastic shops that deal exclusively with needlepoint. I will say that it is much more expensive than knitting or spinning even taking the wheel price into the mix. I love that Kaffe Fassett is into both and his books on the subjects are true works of art.

It's true,bunnies multiply!

Paulette has decorations for every major holiday, but Easter is a favorite. I've taken a few photos and hope they turn out well. This is my first post directly from the blogger ap on my iPhone. It all goes well, I'll get my bunnies on display and add another post with photos of those. Since it is already Thursday, I'll need to get moving on this soon!
I love to get a bunny in my basket, and last year it was a needlepoint canvas (no calories). Kate and I surprised a really rabbit on our walk last Saturday, but, we didn't  take a photo!