Wit, Wisdom & Wonder

It looks at this point like we're going to need to bring Martha in to a vet to be humanely put down. We'd hoped, as you do, that she'd pass quietly in the night but while her body seems to be rallying, her brain has not.

I think she's had a stroke or similar neurological episode - one of her pupils is huge and she's blind, she doesn't respond to light or movement. She doesn't appear to be closing her eyes. She will eat when food is put in front of her, drink when an eye dropper is put in front of her. She cannot move to walk around and can barely move on her own violation. She has been soiling herself and I've been cleaning her roughly 4x a day, with a bath at least once a day. She jerks and over-reacts when touched as if she's being attacked. Only after speaking to her for some time and calmly rubbing her does she slowly relax. I'm not sure if she can hear (no response to snapping), though she does respond to vibrations. I'm not sure why, but she insists on lying on her right side, I've tried to turn her on to her left and she seems to have some kind of reflex panic, flopping around until I resettle her. She cannot rest on her belly. She does appear to rest comfortably and I am keeping her temperature constant by the temporary use of a heating pad on mild (it cycles on and off), which I move on and off her, with a towel as a buffer.

Today is Joshua's birthday. *sigh* And of course, this is one of his favorite rabbits. We'll see about getting her in tomorrow.

The Filipino BBQ was a huge success. We will definitely being doing that, again.

Josh thoroughly vacuumed the entire house, which really helped. I'll be washing the carpets this week in the bedrooms, I'd be hoping to do it today but Tiger ran out of dogfood and needs me to run her to the mainland. Again. With no warning. *eye roll*

We picked up a nice shoe rack/entry bench at one of the garage sales in the neighborhood. Its almost exactly what I wanted and it looks great in the foyer. Just a simple IKEA-type white shoe organizer with a pad on top, I'd have preferred a taller one with more storage. There may be an add on so I'll check the website for that. I folded a thick wool blanket around the seating pad until I can find a indoor/outdoor fabric to cover it. Its now become Libby's favorite place to hang out. Making our little huntress happy is always a good idea. We'll be hanging some of the Navy propaganda framed prints in the foyer, which should make the room look inviting and colorful without mucking it up with too much stuff.

Josh bought the pieces necessary to hang the gate in front of Buhalla/Duckgard. I'm hoping he'll have time during the week to do so. For anyone wondering, I went on strike and refused to go in there until he fixed that damn gate as I'm tired of screwing up my knee climbing over it. So the boys, who were shouldering all the work feeding and caring for the critters, finally prioritized the gate. Buhawahahahahaaaa. They also screwed the wood "bars" across the front of the pens to keep the fencing from snagging and giving me somewhere to hold on when I have to step into the pens. I'm thrilled! We're going to hang another set of lights out there, those soft squishy holiday rope lights that work so well.

I'm still trying to organize the back porch for a comfortable Winter hang out. I'd love a chimnea, but its not in the budget right now though I'm combing Craigslist and Freecycle for one. We'll be moving one or both of the chairs and table sets from out front to the porch, because now that the rain is setting in no one wants to hang out in it!

I've started Halloween decorating, though as always I'm stymied by the lack of flat places for the decorations. I'm still looking for some cute lights for the porch roofing. Josh and Kevin have a brand new idea for a new yard menorah this year, so I'm already dreading that.

The doggy napbomb has gone off, so the dogs are napping in the chilly house. This sunshine isn't very useful at present, though we're expecting more sunshine this afternoon. For hubby's sake, as he needs a stress-relieving ride, I hope so.

Likely just another bout of allergy sinus issues, likely from hanging out at Kevin's on Sundays. I slept until almost noon and I'm barely staying awake as it is. Definitely going to be a quiet day, though I'll get started on chores soon. I'm thinking chicken enchiladas for dinner, another easy-peasy mid-week meal.

I'm still trying to get a decent picture of our new bantam chicks, but given they are mostly black and insist on jumping around constantly, its been a real trial. I'm going to try again this afternoon. After a nap.

*zzz*

The contractor, unsurprisingly, showed up an hour late to finish texturizing the wall between the living room and dining room. It took roughly all morning to do and its now hardening, with the help of a space heater and fan. If its dry by evening, he'll be able to return and give it a final sanding. After that, it will take a few days to completely dry so by this weekend I'll be able to put on the protective base coat. That'll need a day or two to dry, which should leave it in plenty of time to be painted by James.

I'm likely overly excited about all this, but this stupid project has dragged on for over two years now. I'm going to put down Textured Walls as a deal breaker for buying a house going forward. Grrr.

The dogs were locked out all morning and into the afternoon, so after whining and working very hard to look cute on the back porch, they are now exhausted and napping everywhere. Doodle had a Mexican stand off between his stuffed Dino toy over a carrot earlier, which had me cracking up for an hour afterward. You never know what kind of wacko thing these dogs are going to do to have an adventure. Next time, I'm going to sneak a carrot UNDER the Dino and see how that goes over with Doodle. Knowing him, he'll likely pout and beg Dino to give him some.

I'm having a wonderful time reading the "After the King: Stories In Honor of J.R.R. Tolkien" anthology, edited by Martin H. Greenberg. I almost never read anthologies in order, I basically just open up the book and begin reading the closest story. Emma Bull's "Silver or Gold" is my favorite, so far. I'm going to try to find a few more books by the author at the library. I'm still wondering what the hell any of these stories really have to do with Tolkein, however.

Ice and snow storms really take it out of me. The extra work is my choice, as I chose to have animals and be responsible for their well being. And well being takes a work. Lots of it. And resources. Can't forget those. Its tiring and I will whine about it, but I am grateful to be able to do it. I won't always.

I have somehow stupidly managed to get sunburned. In February. During a snow storm. I will be treating the sunburn and wearing sunscreen until the snow is gone.

Kevin texted me around 3pm today and asked me to drive him to Mount Vernon, on the mainland. Which basically translates to "Drive me to the Harley". So I popped in the shower, scrambled to get around and then ran around taking care of the outdoor critters. Which took longer than I thought. But we made it to the mainland in plenty of time, handed the dealership the check and walked out with the owners paperwork for his new bike.

Given that I'm absolutely not ready for that kind of ride (1 hour, highways, ice on the road, darkness when riding home) and that Kevin does not yet have his endorsement (I have smacked him up the proverbial head for not yet signing himself up for his FREE class), we're having the bike delivered to his home Thursday afternoon. At this point, I'm just praying the ice and snow is gone so he can start zooming around and getting accustomed to the bike. Unfortunately, he lives in absolutely the wrong neighborhood for this. Lots of blind hills, blind curves, kids, dogs, no sidewalks and irregular roads.

As I write this, its 22F. I need to do another round of waterings before bed. The dogs are ready to go to bed and I'm soon to follow.

Spent part of the morning helping Synapsepi bring a bureau home for her son. Josh had a plan to change the oil and tune up both vehicles, which never happened, because we came home for a panini lunch and promptly both passed out for several hours worth of napping. Accidentally.

Josh has been working in his motorcycle shed, re-organizing and tidying up. I've been doing the same in the front of the coop. To review, the shed coop is divided into three sections: the far back and middle are for the chickens. The front third is for feed, poultry first aid kit and whatever other little bits and bobs I need to take care of the poultry. That said, the chicken coop fencing between the front and middle needed replacing as the ladies had pushed it to the side and have been pooping everywhere! Granted, its still dusty as all get out. Perhaps tomorrow.

Laundry has been caught up with and done. Recycling organized and put out. A burner fixed on the stove. Little gifts of time and attention that will be missed.

Tomorrow promises to be a day of football and movies. I'm going to bring a few books and a project, perhaps. I'm really not fond of football. *eyeroll*

Summer has finally arrived in Western Washington and Whidbey Island is bathed in sunshine. To celebrate this, I took advantage by finishing the painting job on the front porch and getting the first coat of paint on the exterior side of the front door. I'm hoping to get another coat of paint on the front and get the other side painted today, as well. Might even try my hand at painting the backdoor, too!

I bought a sofa cover for the 3-seater, which is apparently somewhat undersized. The cover is about 1/3 too big and settles in soft wrinkles that look very Basset-like. There weren't any smaller three-seater covers so I'm considering doing some very intensive work to make it fit. There's likely some short cuts I can take in the meanwhile to give it a face lift, per se. Much to think about and possibly some Googling to be done.

Had a no show chicken buyer today, which is fine, we'll just sell the gals to someone else. We have more appointments scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

We're going to have to spend tomorrow cleaning the front 1/2 of the house in preparation of Jason's arrival. Dusting, vacuuming, scrubbing - it's exhausting just to think about it.

All work is done and completed for the Counseling Process class. I still have a 8 page paper to write for Thursday's Ethics class, then I'm done with this session. One week off, then back to the old bump and grind.

Meanwhile, I've finally had a chance to walk outside without hurting my foot worse. The pullets were very thankful to be let free of their pen, the ducks and Spike were happy to be fed. And all the while soft rain fell from the most verdant bright green new growth on nearly everything in the yard. I'm always caught surprised by how such a simple thing changes everything: the smell, the shape of the bushes and trees, etc. Amazing stuff and I might have missed it today.

So what might you have missed if you didn't take the time and effort to look around?

It's the week before finals and I'm absolutely buried under the workload of two graduate classes: one take home final, three thought papers, three essays and 1 journal entry. That's not even counting the in class final a week from Thursday. I've already registered for the next two classes: Advanced Psychopathology & Sexual Dysfunctions and Treatments. Oh joy. Now, I just need to order the books - $300 worth.

I'm co-teaching a class tonight on chickens with our local Chicken Expert, a guy named Stinger. Mostly he's building confidence, so my being there is just a backup. I'll bring Scarlett, Opal and probably the Hamburg (who still doesn't have a name!) as well as books and magazines for folks to look through.

Spike was neutered yesterday, much to his dismay. That's a once in a lifetime kind of experience, according to Josh & Kevin who were stuck assisting the vet in the procedure. Josh and I have made the difficult decision not to keep Spike. We're very fond of him but he's not happy without other pigs to be with. This unhappiness takes the form of destructive boredom and periodic aggression toward our dogs. We've managed to find him a great home in Gig Harbor with two female pigs, thankfully. We're still working out the details so I don't have specifics just yet. More to come on this.