Last December: the loss of the ZIgman and the Arrival of Bella

 I started writing this in July, obviously I never finished. So, let's see how far I get this rime.

My first post this year. I haven't been feeling like writing much, obviously, I'm having trouble being motivated. But I will plow on through on the warm, hazy July evening. (Now a damp September morning.)

Christmas was fun, as usual, maybe a little less hectic, we toned down the cookie baking although the void seemed to be filled in with pies and cakes. The usual trio arrived from Massachusetts for 3 weeks. Ember and Kaylee had a blast playing constantly. Ziggy just laid about and ate goodies and stuck close to me on our walks. 

Jan 5, 2025, 2 days before I lost him

I lost Ziggy in January, on the 7th. On the 4th we discovered he had a mass on his spleen, and it was bleeding internally as he had become anemic. Three days later it had to have burst, he couldn't even stand up on his own, so I had to take him to the vet the day my sister left for home. I miss that little guy, it was a really tough loss, but I couldn't let him suffer and being practically 14, (I celebrated his birthday on the 8th) surgery would have been iffy, though I still find myself regretting not trying more.

Kaylee became depressed with me. I took her with me to the vet so she could sniff his body afterward. They were best buddies. Because the ground was frozen, I had him cremated. His ashes are sitting ijust outside my bedroom.

In happier times last year, I'm sure a lot of other stuff happened, it's just whether I can remember. I know in December while my sister and M were here with Ember, M and Hal retrieved the old semi-trailer refrigerator truck from the farm, a mile down the road and towed it with the farm tractor and dropped in off behind the pole barn. Hal is planning to use it as storage for things like the excess steel siding pieces from the house build and other crap from the garage so he can finally use it for his truck.

Hal was ill most of December through April. He had all kinds of tests, saw all kinds of specialists. He was lethargic, coping with muscle pain, had a cough that still hasn't gone away completely. In the end he finally was given 3 weeks of antibiotics after we suggested Lyme disease. He also tested positive for Mono. We're still not sure what he had but he's definitely better.

After 2 months without Ziggy, I finally looked online a little for another dog. The first couple of times I gave up, my heart wasn't in it, but eventually a couple dogs caught my eye. I meant to visit a few at some more distant shelters but then I saw a small photo at the shelter in Lincoln. It wasn't a good photo but she was only 10 miles away along with Siberian Husky that had been in and out there for 5 years. Hal wanted my next dog to be smaller like Ziggy was, (Zig was half beagle, hence his smaller size), so I wasn't even considering looking for a labrador, no matter how much I love the breed.

So here is that photo of Bella at the shelter. I'll post better photos in a later post.

As I've said before, I hope to make more posts sooner than later.

Happy Birthday, Kaylee!

 Kaylee turned 6 years old today. She got some beef brisket and french fries when we got back from the Mountain with John tonight. Ziggy got some, too.

Ember

 I was lucky enough, through Kaylee's original owner, Dave, to find a puppy for my sister. Met the guy who bought 2 of Kaylee's sisters which he had bred to an AKC registered dog named Cash. Between Abby and Sadie there were 17 puppies. Abby's were born on Sept 7 and Sadie's on Sept 27th. My friend Tom and I drove out to his house on Friday and I asked for one showing retriever tendencies and she also seemed to be the biggest of the 11 still available, one of Abby's daughters. So Kaylee is an aunt, just like Luna was Lyra's aunt. Kind of cool.

My sister named her Ember and will finally get to meet her mid December. Here are some photos in no particular order.

trying to keep up with the big dogs

we visited John and Seamus before we got home

last night Kaylee made peace with her

yes, another photo

nope, nothing to see here

don't know what it was but it must have been important

we stopped just before we got home for her to pee, (she didn't)

day I brought her home

This is Abby, Ember's mom and Kaylee's sister.

Yard Light

 The guy who did our septic field suggested we should put in a yard light while we had trenches dug. He provided the pole for it which turned out to be a huge utility pole, I have no idea how tall it is, over 30 feet I think. It's out by the pond which wasn't very full when this photo was taken at night. I suspect there may be more light reflection now. I'll have to test it out. It's 15,000 Lumens, all LED.

night of the install

Speaking of ponds, this is how it looked yesterday afternoon after about 4 days of slow filling just leaving the flowing well open.

This photo shows the location of the light pole.

Originally Hal was supposed to install the light while the pole was on the ground but the septic guy was worried the light might get damaged if something went wrong will erecting the pole so he brought his man-lift over and said he wouldn't charge for the rental. Hal is the tall guy seemingly attached to the pole wiring it up.

Hal on cherry picker installing light

This is how deep it is after the digging was finished. It's probably about 8 feet at the lowest point.

Finished depth

Kaylee checked out the pond shortly after the heavy rains.

after a couple days of rain

Time to go over and see how deep it is today.

Doggy Swim Fun

 Being in the pond became a daily, sometimes more than once a day ritual for Ziggy and Kaylee during the 90+ degree days. For the most part Kaylee just likes splashing about the edge looking for frogs but Ziggy likes a nice swim often trying to drink at the same time which causes him to cough a lot when he gets back to shore. 

And of course, after a good swim, rolling in the grass must commence!

These shots were from different days but they certainly enjoy themselves. Time for the morning walk!

Speaking of Forsythia...

While walking Kaylee and Ziggy yesterday between bouts of gardening and wall erecting, we wandered down Luna ridge, named by Hal as Luna is buried there. We paid our respects at her grave, with Rocket's daffodils blooming above her. 

Farther on I saw the 5 forsythia we planted one summer when we were still living in Virginia. They were in full bloom. I was totally surprised, as it was so long ago I had forgotten about them. They're in clay, untended, unfertilized, it's no wonder they're still small but it pleased me to see.

20 plus year old forsythia

It's Done, We're Moved, The House Sold

So we did close on August 28th and took 5 days to finish moving out and cleaning the house. We were out on the September 2nd and the new owners arrived the next day. Heard from the wife a couple of times about internet and how to turn the heater on, they used the thermostat for the wood stove rather than the propane furnace, I forgot to mention they were separate systems. 

We are in the farmhouse that was Hal's parents' and is now owned by Hal's older brother, MSS. Plenty still left to unpack but things are a little tight because the small kitchen attached to the family room as well as a part of the family room has stacks of things purchased for the vacation home MSS and wife are building right next door. Hal's sister, C, is also staying here for a bit (leaving today) and has been extremely helpful with the cleaning of the old house and and unpacking and finding places for things. I'll have to take some photos later of the chaos.

The dogs are a little confused. We've been here a week but I'm pretty sure Ziggy thinks we can go home anytime. Kaylee seems to be handling it a bit better, but she only lived there  2 years, Ziggy, more than 9. But they got to see my neighbor and Seamus 2 days in a row when they came for a visit, so that helped. Plus as there is no fence around the house, they have to stay in the old pheasant pen which is very large and grassy but as they can't run in and out of the house anymore, they spend a lot of time barking, howling and whining. I hope they get used to it, but we're too close to a busy road to leave them loose, and Hal's cousin, who has lived in the mobile home across the driveway for more than 20 years, seems to be afraid of dogs and threatened to pepper spray them, so, better safe than sorry. Just makes things more stressful.

Hal is finally getting back to work on the new house today, he rented a trencher for laying the electric cable between the utility pole and the house, so that is a good thing. He hopes to have it done soon so the garage floor can be poured and the large doors attached so we can heat it in winter and work all winter long. We shall see.

Time for a walk.

Wildlife 1, Kaylee 0

So take a good look at the photo, at the nose end. She never even squealed when it happened, but suddenly she was barreling past me on our afternoon walk, around 1 pm, and when she finally stopped, there they were, about 20 quills in her nose. The vet tech said she must have just nosed the porcupine because they only needed half the dose of anesthetic to get them out. (Still had to pay for the full dose, of course.) So Kaylee was up and running about by the time I picked her back up at 3:30 and took her home. Hope she doesn't try to play with it again.

Ziggy and Kaylee

Just a few shots of my friendly pups being themselves. Kaylee is especially friendly to neighbor John.

Kaylee's usual spot when visiting neighbor John

The pond is probably closer to completely open today.

April 1st

 Look mom, I found mud!

Yesterday Kaylee discovered the pond is thawing

 Snowball chasing isn't as fun any more.

After throwing a few last snowballs (upper right corner)

 Let's go, we're ready!

Ready to go visiting

Best water in town!

Ziggy's favorite beverage when visiting friend Tom

Well, 2020 Sure Does Suck

Excuse my language, but damn, I sure wasn't expecting the world to be falling apart from a damn virus! So this is Day 8 of the Stay At Home policy started by our governor last week. Fortunately, Hal, the dogs and I seem fine so far, as are my neighbors, family and thus far the county we live in. No reported cases yet for Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency, Oscoda (as of 3pm today, Oscoda now has 2 confirmed cases) and Presque Isle, of course that could change any time. I haven't been to the grocery store in 13 days and hope to stay away for a bit longer, have plenty of frozen veggies and canned fruit and of course, the freezers are still full of venison. I did just have to call in some prescription refills though so I will have to hit the pharmacy before the week is out. I do carry hand sanitizer with me.

The dogs need their heartworm tests but except for emergency, the veterinary practices have been shut down as non-essential to help maintain social distancing. I have plenty of pills so unless they tell me otherwise, I will be starting them on their heartworm meds tomorrow, April 1, same as every year. I gave them their first flea and tick pill of the year today.

So it's kind of depressing. Since the stock market tanked, so have our investments which is what we've been living on. Hopefully we'll be spending less.

Hal has a new hobby, cabinet making which he started this year. He hopes to get good enough that he could build some of the cabinets for our new house. I have the final decision on that though, Because I know what I want and that would be really nice cabinets. But he is having fun and has confidence he will get better.

I haven't done much hobby wise, I keep trying to get back into quilting or crocheting but my heart isn't in it Eating seems to be my thing, the keto diet has gone out the window for now. That fell apart when I was downstate visiting Hal's sister and buying a new car. Two days later his mom died, she was 85 and we were expecting it but that and this virus thing has dampened my spirit a bit. I had lost 9 pounds but that came back. At least I am still down 10 of the 40 I lost last year. I call it a win.

Maple season came and went fast, barely got 4 gallons of syrup, Hal only ran 2 lines and the screwed up weather shortened the season. (there is no snow left and at the end of March that is unusual.) We just have to can what we have now. Hopefully we'll do that sooner rather than later. We waited till August last year to get around to it.

Well, that's enough for now, I have been very negligent this year posting on my blog I shall try to do better, what else is there to do?

my 2017 Chevy Equinox and Ziggy and Kaylee

Autumn Pups

It's hard to get them both to sit still and look at the camera at the same time. But I did try.

One Year Ago I Brought my Little Kaylee Kitten Home

Such a feisty pup she still is!

 She was so tiny a year ago!

Kaylee is 1 Year Old!

Today is Thursday, she actually turned 1 on Sunday, the 16th. I had to work on the house for a bit that day but she didn't get ignored and she got a new toy, a huge grunting hedgehog. She seemed to like it for a day or two but now mainly plays with her grunting rubber chicken. Puppies!

She didn't really want to be photographed

She's a big girl, must be over 80 pounds by now

Future Doggie Door

Bought a doggie door the other day. Hal fitted it into the new house and built the tunnel through the wall for it. He has removed it since. Needed the tunnel to be able to attach the exterior wall around it. Hopefully that can happen soon as the weather is still too windy or rainy to do any more roofing.

inside with inner door

from the outside, doggie door removed

It's made by PetSafe, it's aluminum, and large enough for Kaylee to get in and out of and low enough to the floor for Ziggy to get through, too. Hopefully they won't find going through a tunnel too intimidating.

Kaylee is a Healthy Pup!

The several urine tests showing bits of red and white blood cells in her urine has been bothering me for the last couple of months. The vets even sent a sample to MSU in East Lansing for testing to see if there was any more bacteria. Nothing grew so it was just why was there blood. She was also spayed on Feb 7th and the vets wanted another sample 3-4 weeks later to see if perhaps the juvenile vaginitis she had was the cause.

Well today I brought her in, they used a needle to take a clean sample from her bladder, and yippee, no blood, totally clean. I, as well as the vets are very happy, as is Kaylee I am sure. They think it probably was the juvenile vaginitis after all. So she won't need any more of these tests unless she gets another UTI. Ironically, if she hadn't gotten the damn UTI there wouldn't have been any tests, no evidence of blood, and none of this needless worry. Ah well.

I also took Ziggy in for a blood test to ensure the carprofen he's been taking for his bad back was not detrimentally affecting his kidneys or liver. And those numbers were within the normal range so I have another bottle of pills for him. This is good because he was really messed up the last 4 days. I even had to give him tramadol 2 nights in a row his pain was so bad. Poor boy.

But he's feeling better now so for now all is right in my pups' world.

No Puppies for Kaylee

Last Thursday Kaylee was spayed. It's kind of sad that she can't have puppies now, they would have been beautiful but we don't need more puppies, there are always puppies, and older dogs out there needing homes. The hard part since then has been keeping her quiet, not jumping up and down, etc. I've managed til today when she jumped the fence to play with the neighbor's dogs who came into the yard. It's only a 30 inch high fence but I am sure it didn't help those stitches in her belly. But I don't think it did any real damage either.

I took in a urine sample that morning as well since she had been treated for a UTI and trace amounts of blood were also detected. Unfortunately, though the bacteria seems to be gone there is still blood so a sample has been sent off to MSU (MI state university) for analysis. I hope nothing serious will be discovered. I should hear something in another week.

Thanksgiving 2018

Thanksgiving was fun. It was my first one in this house since I moved here 18 years ago. Till now it has been with Hal's parents every year. I invited my neighbor John and his dog Seamus. And my brother was here, too. Hadn't seen him in a little over 3 years. He seems to really like Kaylee, who likes him a lot, too. Ziggy was not ignored either. There was plenty of puppy love to go around.

Dinner was turkey, of course, and mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn (forgot the green beans and the corn, but managed to get the corn done at the last minute). gravy, mushrooms, and wine. Then blueberry and pumpkin pie. Everyone was well fed. The dogs got a bit here and there, too.

I know someone took photos of the table but I can't find them, so you'll jusst have to believe me that it looke good.

Christmas 2018

Christmas was AWESOME. The 4 of us humans had absolutely nothing to complain about and the 3 dogs seemed to have had a good time too. Here are a few photos.

Hal got lots of flannel

There was venison roasted over an open fire, caveman style

Kaylee and her best friend Seaums on top of Seamus' dad

6 month old Kaylee is as big as 10 year old Lyra

little sis enjoying unwrapping her big present

me and my gift box from big sis

wrestling with Kaylee, Ziggy and Seamus

My neighbor John and Seamus, his furry friend, joined us for dinner with was a ham with pineapple stuffing on the side and , green beans, asparagus and mashed potatoes with a pinot noir and a late harvest riesling.