A Sweet Shot

Over the summer, Pig Pen's buddy, Lloyd, from work went on a vacation and we kept an eye on his pooch.  Now, Pig Pen tells me this the day the dogger is supposed to show up.  Was it a planned sneak attack?  I think so.

Yet Boomer came!  And ya know what?  He was such a good dogger that we were sad to see Missy's best friend go. 

For those of you who have never seen the difference between a Chocolate Lab and a Silver Lab, maybe this will help:

Our silver is on the left, Lloyd's chocolate on the right.  They look guilty as sin!  The nose prints on the door are never ending...

Last night, Lloyd brought one of his two-legged critters over for a visit too.  She's much cuter and drools much less...

Here she is after Dad tucked her in his truck with a 1 oz honey bear:

Yup, she was drinking it! 

A Sweet Shot in more ways then one.  :o)

Mending Ami

Ami is up to some old tricks:

You might be able to tell that she holds her left leg.  No weight, which is to be expected.  She has become an even more finicky eater.  But that's OK.  She has mastered the three-legged hop/run very well.  No jumping allowed, ever.  Clearly, her barker isn't broke.  She's always at the ready when the vacuum attacks.

It's probably due in part to this:

Ice Cream and Cheerios.

But more likely, it's from lots of these from Grama:

Maybe even all the cyber hugs she received:

Thank you Chicken Mama and Mama Pea for the glorious photo cards!  There's only one problem...I wont want to give them away!!

No dog left behind:

I have to hold her floppy ears back.

Never put your hand in front of this dog...she might lick you too!

Thank you all for inquiring about my little Ami, she feels very loved!

My Little Girl Friend

Yesterday I got an email from Chicken Mama and oddly the talk about her "this" and my "that" were relatively close to heart.  She was working on something bittersweet and I was trying to catalog sad news.

I wasn't going to post this, but she told me I should and that it wouldn't be perceived all downer like.  So here goes...

Wednesday night, the FedEx man came to the door.  Like any other knock on the door, my little dogs go nuts.  I generally have to squeeze myself thru a space a mouse could use and step out.  That done, I hear all the usual ruckus going on behind the door.  You know, one dog trying to eat the other.

Step back inside and suddenly, Ami - my less than 3lbs and nearly 14 year old Yorkie, is limping.  She's been known to do this three-legged hop thing for many years.  So I wasn't too concerned at first.  But then I noticed that she wasn't snapping out of it like usual.  Her foot wouldn't go to the ground and it was actually crossing behind the other hind leg.

After watching her closely, I realized this was not her usual antics at all.  She got a little mopey and wouldn't let me investigate.  Ok, maybe she would sleep it off?

Thursday morning after a fitful night of sleep worrying that every move she or I made would aggravate her leg, we got up and still...the leg was the same.

I was able to get her to the Vet in the afternoon.  Naturally, Ami tried to bite the Vet.  Ok...that's normal and a good sign in my book.  That means there is feeling in the leg and she is trying to get this mean lady to knock it off!  Besides, she doesn't have lowers in the front, just uppers.  So it only counts as half a bite.  Right?

So the Vet took x-rays.  I was prepared to hear she had a sprain or ya know, something simple.  It's never good when the Vet says, "This isn't good."
 
Little Ami dislocated her hip.  The first thing I thought of was how every time you hear of a human breaking a hip, it almost always leads to the end.  And folks, if you've never seen a pint size x-ray with a bone some place it shouldn't be, and ya never had kids and your pets are your kids or ya have kids and your kids are your pets and your pets are still your kids, then ya know how heart breaking it is.

The options are:

 1)  Put her under and have them relocate (I suppose that's what its called) her hip and then sling the leg for several weeks.  There is no promise that it wont happen again.  To the tune of about $500.

2)  Medicate her with anti-inflammatory and pain killers and pray that she adjusts on three legs and can live out her remaining time peacefully.

3)  Put her down.   

As you probably can imagine, I am not ready for what's behind door number 3.  And neither is Ami.  She has been one tough little codger for some time now.  Last year, when she went thru her neurotic pacing and I thought I was going to lose her, it came down to the equivalent of Doggie Alzheimers.  Did you know there's a pill for that?  She's tough, she pulled thru!  And why wouldn't she?  She simply has to prove to me what I always knew when she was little and constantly up to no good ~ I used to tell her she would live to be 15 just to piss me off!  Yes, I regularly talk to my doggies.

Any time I have an animal issue, I always call my SIL Laura who has been a Vet Tech for over 20 years.  How she managed to decipher what I was telling her over the phone thru all the tears and blabble is beyond me.  She is obviously used to the heartache pet owners display when faced with difficult decisions.  And trust me, I have cried my eyes out all dang day/night.

I asked Laura what she would do if it were her dog.  We decided to try Option 2 and medicate her along with a healthy dose of Ice Cream on a regular basis.  According to Jane, this helps all dogs.

And I figure she deserves it.  She's been a really good friend.  Ami (pronounced Amy) is short for Amiga.  Which in Spanish is "girlfriend".   I will do whatever for my little girlfriend.  And I promise, I'll know "when".

In the meantime, I hope she pulls her stubborn little butt thru. 

Maybe with the Ice Cream and a little help from Pig Pen.  I'll take one of these in a Pint Size version, please.

Hot Hot Hot - Dog Days!

Funny thing about the Dog Days of Summer, gardens and groves still need to be harvested.  Like it or not, when it's time, it's time.  That said, I always get a good chuckle when anyone says:

"Don't ya want to wait until it cools off?"

Nope, I wanna sweat my kahunas off. 

Oops, scratch that...I meant "glisten" my kahunas off.

Am I tattling on anyone?  Mmm-Hmm.  The Mom's.  Mine and His.  Both of whom I love dearly, but both of whom have said to me in the last few days that it's too hot to do this or that.  My Mother-in-Law laid the best one on me today though...She said it was too hot to go swimming!  Huh??   

So is it just a Mom Thing?  Dunno, but dern it if someone would let me know how to tell the tomatoes or apples not to ripen in 110 heat indices, I sure would start talkin' to those plants instead of beating them up!  And in case you were wondering, it's all in good fun that I poke at them!

How do you keep cool?  I think Pig Pen needs to put the pool up for next year.  It's just sitting in our barn.  Cuz ya know, he has nothing else to do, tongue and cheek!  That man works harder than anyone I know!!

I drink lots and lots of water and iced tea and yeah...I am one of the goofy ones that can even drink coffee all summer long.  I'm a freak, remember?

But what about the little doggers?  It's not like it's winter and they need a sweater yet...but just in case, my little Ami is all ready to go!

My good friend Tricia, the one who bailed on me and moved to Nebraska, made this!  And the best part - the most AMAZING part - right before she left a couple years ago, I told her she would need a hobby.  So I taught her how to knit.  Basic knitting!  She made me these on her very first efforts:

I told her I would never ever use them because they are too precious to me and someday she would look back and be able to see her progress...And today is that day!!  Hellllllooooo...can you SEE her progress?  She taught herself how to Knit in the Round!  She makes all sorts of stuff and has really come a long way!  I am so proud of her!  And I thank my Tricia for Ami's new duds!  I love you!

Since it is just a wee bit warm for Ami to wear it though, I gave her an ice cream cone so she could 'cool off'.

What?  Doesn't look good to you?  Watch...

So now you know my dog is a freak too, albeit a well dressed freak!!

(I'll crack out the vacuum cleaner and get that someday for ya's)

Have a GREAT weekend all!

Complaint Duly Noted

So I got a complaint because I hadn't posted any progress on the Coop Construction...

You already saw the beginning phase:

Here it is under further labor:

And here it stands today:

Seriously??  A complaint??  Why don't we all just tell Long and Lanky Loren to 'stuff it' and get back to work with Pig Pen?  Harumph!

How about some cute puppy pictures instead?

She has a messed up grill!

The ole lady of the house!

Oh wait, that's not a puppy!  My bad!

Pork N Beans

This is my Jenny-Girl weekend!  In an effort to continue to corrupt her to "Country", I took her here:

My cousin Phillip and Kristi's Farm...well this is the barn actually.  Where the corruption continues!  The cute young dude is their youngest son, Kyle.  He is "The Pig Whisperer".  He is also about the sweetest kid around!  He reminds me of my nephew, when my nephew was sweet.  Now my nephew is just sassy.  Any way...

Here is my Jenny-Girl doing her best to look at ease amongst the flies and poop:

Now here is a face any girl could love, no?

"The Pig Whisperer" names all of his little oinkers even!  I just call them "Bacon"!

Here is "The Pig Whisperer" giving us a demonstration on leading.  He shows his piggy's and has won lots of Fair Ribbons!

He bathes the Bacon daily even!  Complete with shampoo and a loofah!

Jenny-Girl even petted a piggy!

When we got home, Squatter Kellen had smoked us a nice beef brisket...

Which we all oinked out on!

This is Little Kellen, of the Low and Lofty Boys, and our dog Emma.  Who mistakes herself as a person very often.  It's so much easier on the vocal chords just to go with it!

And what would a story of Pork be with out the Beans?

Soakin' em up to make my first batch of canned Baked Beans tomorrow!  

How else now shall I corrupt my Jenny-Girl??  I already taught her how to spit, so I need to be creative and keep her Dad on his toes!

Death by Destruction!

What could cause this much destruction?

Here Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!  I made a big mess!

NEVER trust a clean cook...or a clean dog...

Missy

Why is it when you are up to elbows in goo...

...someone wants to go potty?  It would have to wait...

Emma

Chelsi...oh Chelsi!  Guess what time it is?!

Not only did my house pay dearly for this little excursion, but I have at least 30 skeeter bites to show for it.  They were man-sized eaters! 

I wish I were joking...but not so!  I feel like Phoebe from Friends...could some one please duct-tape some oven mitts to my hands??

If you haven't guessed it...It's time for Blueberries!

I got there early and picked about 10 pounds.  I am going back for more I think!
So I wanted to share with you, the fruits of the labor.

Fresh Blueberry Pie - Chelsi...I hope you do this one and report back!

1 C Sugar (Aunt Bev's recipe calls for 3/4 C brown sugar and 1/4 C white sugar, I like it best w/ all white)
3 T Tapioca
1 t Salt
2 T Lemon Juice
1 T Butter for 'dotting'
3 T Water
4 C Blueberries

Blend all ingredients except the butter and place in your pie shell.  (see link for pie dough how to)  Dot w/ Butter.  Place top crust, flute edges and slit the top.  You can do the egg white and 2 T cream wash if you want and sprinkle with Cinnamon and Sugar if you like.  Bake in 375 degree oven till golden and just starting to bubble.

This is my favorite Blueberry Pie!  I will be making one for my Brother-In-Law, Eric pretty soon here! 

He has a "thing" for squirrels...and hunting.

However today, I made Blueberry Pie Filling, compliments of the USDA guidelines and as follows:
Makes 7 Quarts

6 Qt Fresh Blueberries
6 C Sugar
2 1/4 C ClearJell
7 C Cold Water
1/2 C Lemon Juice

Wash and drain blueberries.  Blanch in large pot of boiling water and boil for exactly one minute.  Drain and return to pot and keep lid on to keep them warm.
Combine in large stock pot, your sugar and ClearJell.
Add water and place on Medium/High heat.  Stir till thick and bubbly.  It gets real hard to stir after a while!
Add Lemon Juice and boil exactly One Minute.
Fold in Blueberries.
Ladle into hot jars and seal with hot rims and lids.
Process in Hot Water Bath for 30 minutes.  Remove.
Let them rest for 12-24 hours.  Lightly check seals.

If you want to freeze your blueberries, you actually are not supposed to clean them.  All you do is place them single file on a cookie sheet and give them a 'flash freeze' then Bag.  You clean them as you use them.

So today I made a special trip to the POST OFFICE!  Yeah!!!!!  Congrats MamaTea!

And I wanted to share a picture of my bestest little girl with you...

This is my puppy-dogger, Ami.  The little gal is getting up there and I am heartbroken that her time is so close.  But today isn't that day!!!  She has puppy Alzheimer's.  I love her to death and am fighting the tears.  But not today...not today!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!