Duluth!

Here we are in Duluth during The Festival of Tall Ships. The weather was rainy but cleared off a little after dark. Cold though! About 52 degrees all day, and wet. It didn't stop us from going down to Canal Park and enjoying the ships. We were lucky enough to watch a freighter, or laker, hauling taconite out under the lift bridge. Nothing compares to Duluth!

 

Here's the rest of the gang, under the lift bridge waiting for it to come down on their heads!

 

I had to get a picture of Aren and Becky together. They are so cute!

 

Ok, here's one of the tall ships. We were there pretty late so my pictures were few. Plus I want pictures of them out on the water. I hope to get those tomorrow.

 

It's late so one last picture from Duluth:

 

 

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Workin' Hard

Well, it's Saturday when most people get to continue their holiday fun.I guess we aren't most people then. I had to work at the clinic - opened up at 7 although there were clients outside the door before then with their boat in the parking lot (they were dropping their dog off for boarding). It was crazy busy from then until 11:45 - just 15 minutes before we had to close. But I had a boarding dog with an eye issue that Jen had to look at. Turns out the vet these people use had done surgery on the dog's eye - for 'cherry eye'. He had left a suture (stitch) in that was rubbing on the eye's cornea and had actually started an ulcer on that eye. So we had to get hold of the owner for permission, knock the dog out, and remove the suture. The dog will be SOOO much more comfortable. Can you imagine having something in your eye, irritating you constantly? Jen asked me to stay until the dog was awake enough to be out of danger. Considering that the boarding kennel was full, I had plenty to do while I waited.



While I was working, Jacky was working too - in the hayfield. He raked and baled the neighbors 2 acres. So I hurried home to help put them in the barn since rain was in the forecast for tonight. 91 degrees, and it's hot. Seems like it's always in the 90's when you're trying to put hay up! I had to take several breaks since I was directly in the sun. I wore a long sleeved shirt too because my arms got all scratched up earlier in the week with our other hay. Jacky did most of the work and we put up 94 more bales.

Found this little guy on the barn floor. No, he didn't make it, but I had never seen so young a bat (except on TV) - hairless and blind still. When Jacky was up in the hay loft, he had to move 2 bats to a safer area! We actually have small piles of bat guano in the hay loft and I should shovel it out and put on the garden, it's supposed to be excellent fertilizer. This family loves bats (except that one in the bedroom last winter...). We really enjoy watching them at dusk eating all the bugs!

Cooled off in the air conditioning until I had to go to Amy's to take care of her farm. She went to Colorado Springs with her family. What's left behind is 3 ponies, 1 dog, several cats. Not nearly as many animals as I have! But her ponies have to be inside the barn at night and the dog is in the house so it means twice a day visits.
After another cool off inside, I went out and filled up all the bird feeders and picked more sour cherries before it got completely dark. The robins have been in the tree again, and mostly pooping it looks like! My beautiful red cherries are streaked with white. I did find some good ones and I'm soaking them right now, just in case.
Flowers are looking good. Have to take pictures to remember how pretty they look!

Happy 4th of July!

Well, finally a day off. We had beautiful weather today - about 81 and low humidity. Jacky went out and cut a neighbors 2 acres of alfalfa. We'll probably bale on Saturday or Sunday before the rain starts up again. Don't know how I'll fit that in too but I guess I'll have to.
Grilled hamburgers and brats out back and sat on Jacky's new lawn chairs. So comfy! Good for a long nap too...

Tonight I watered the tomatoes and I was happy to see teeny tiny baby tomatoes coming on. It seems to take them so long to show up. The broccoli and cauliflower plants have been eaten by the goats since I didn't put the fence up. Oh well, it's an unusual year what with all the rain, and the trip to Europe.
I did notice that our sour cherries are getting ripe. The birds have also noticed. 4 robins flew out of the tree when I walked up! And yes, there's quite a few with peck holes in them. Peck holes then call the flies who lay eggs in them...Yuck. Anyway, I figured I better pick a few, even if they could use another day or two of ripening. So I got 1 cup and cherry juice all over me. I may try to take a photo tomorrow, I love the sight of a cherry tree covered with red cherries. It always reminds me of the childhood game "Hi Ho Cherry-O!" that I loved to play!




This is not my picture but it sure could be. It only lacks the mosquitoes buzzing around! I'll need a lot more cherries to bake something with.
While I sat on the step taking out the cherry stones with the 'stoner', surrounded by dogs of course, I listened to the beautiful song of a male cardinal. It's funny but they never come to my bird feeder. I was surprised to see him up there singing. Of course, I had to fill 2 hummingbird feeders, 3 kinds of suet, and mixed seed in 2 places as well as sunflower seeds in one feeder and clean and fill the bird bath. It's almost a daily occurance but it's well worth it when you hear the songs of the cardinal, the two kinds of orioles, see the goldfinches and indigo buntings, the nuthatches, chickadees and, of course, the red headed woodpecker! Sorry, also the hairy and downy woodpeckers and the hummingbirds... They are easier to take care of though then baling and putting up the hay for the horses and llamas!


I made bacon and eggs for breakfast - my holiday breakfast (otherwise I go to work smelling like bacon on my clothes!). The smell of bacon cooking made me think of being at the cabin at Lake Vermillion with Mom and Dad, when Benjamin was a baby. I do wish we could spend time at a lake. Maybe some day, when the farm animals are gone. I love the sounds of loons on the water as well as the beautiful sunsets....

Friday

Another busy busy day. Holly still sick so I got front desk duty again. Nonstop phone calls and appointments. It's also July 4 next week so the dogs are starting to flood in to board. Each dog requires paperwork I do before and then they are checked in. If possible I check the dogs in myself - get a weight, write down feeding instructions, belongings, baths, nail trims, contact phone number...Some owners do notlike to spend the time doing this but occassionally I have problems with miscommunication and its the kennel manager that gets it, not the tech or kennel helper that screws up.
I didn't have much to do with the animals today. We did have something new come in, that didn't end well unfortunately. One of our clients had bred one of their cocker spaniels. We had done ultrasound to count puppies when she was pregnant, then after she 'whelped', we did x-rays to make sure she was done having puppies. She ended up having only 3, but the first little female wouldn't nurse. They talked to Jen who asked if milk was coming out her nose when they tried with a bottle. They said yes and her diagnosis was cleft palate.I didn't know puppies could ge that - just like people! The owners brought the puppies in today to dock their tails (cut them off) and take off their dewclaws. At that time, Jen examined the puppy and said there was not a way to repair it because it was too severe. She had to put her down.


This picture shows the palate or the roof of the mouth. This puppy has a cleft palate where you see the 'hole' in the middle of the palate. In a cleft palate, the palate does not form all the way across and so the mouth is open into the nasal pasageway (hence the milk coming out the nose). In children doctors can perform surgery and repair it but it is not that successful in dogs. I imagine some puppies die from it without owners ever knowing why. They basically starve to death because they cannot suck.
The two surviving puppies are fat and healthy. They will be really cute in a few weeks!




Hummingbird looking at me in the window wanting more syrup. I love the way they hover looking right inside the house. What are they thinking? I'm glad I hung the feeders up high this year.

Thursday

Busy, busy day. But there was one big change - the humidity went down! It was already so much more comfortable than yesterday that I hated having to start early at work. Usually I like to feed the outside birds in the morning, and water if I have time. Not today! Plus Holly was still sick so Beth got to join me to open up

My 2 surgeries didn't show up, again, so I got to sit at the front desk answering the phone and helping clients. That was ok, with Holly gone and it being Thursday, I was the logical choice. Pam was appointment tech and Beth had a lot to do away from the desk. My 2 surgeries were the same owner as last week who forgot last week. He has a litter of sled dogs he 'rescued' and they are all now old enough to get fixed. Last week was two boys and today was supposed to be one boy and one girl. Since he forgot again, we fit his boy in for tomorrow and had to put off his girl until next week. He will have quite a vet bill when he's all done!

Had a short lunch and stayed late....and I have to open up tomorrow again as Holly is still sick. She has a viral infection that may last 2 or 3 weeks! Hope she doesn't spread it around. Dr. Jen and Sharon helped some too but it still was a long day. When I drove up the driveway, I noticed that Jacky had finally started cutting hay. Yay! It may not be the best hay since it's so tall and is heading out, but you can't get good hay by leaving it alone. Jacky thinks it will take several days to totally dry down this time. If the weather is right, we sometimes bale in 3 days.

Jacky's in the background on the tractor cutting. He's wearing his new ear protectors he got for Christmas and he says they work great!

I discovered the strawberries have quietly been getting ripe while the rain and humidity have kept me inside.

Luckily I only missed a few so we may have strawberries with sugar and cream tonight! I had to step carefully to avoid this lovely fat toad. I think he brings Good Luck!

When I was done picking, I had to put the fence up, mainly to keep the geese out (who already ate all my broccoli plants...). You'll notice Trixie keeping an eye on things. She is not above snacking on strawberries either. Also look at how the plants are creeping out into the yard. Less to mow I guess!

 

Traeh is also watching. She loves being outside but gets tired easily. I think she's doing great though. She even runs sometimes! She's already lived three times as long as we thought she would once she was diagnosed with Degenerative Mylopathy.

Pretty Torenia flowers. Some plants have survived...

Also picked my two peony flowers. I hope the cats leave them alone. Now I wish I had more peony plants!

Now maybe a couple of strawberries before I head to bed. It's getting late and I have an early wake up call!

 

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Hump Day

Not too exciting a day. I was appointment and had a number first thing with Tom. It can be hard to stand there when you absolutely don't agree with what the doctor is telling clients. In this case, one of the things was how much to feed a client's new dog. He was a 35# rescue dog - very nice. Tom said to feed 2 cups of food a day. Yikes! That would result in an extremely fat dog. Obesity is such a huge problem in dogs now - as in people. My 30# dog gets a cup a day - and could maybe use less! Another doctor routinely tells clients to leave dog food out all day. NO! Absolutely bad for dogs. They are not meant (any more than people) to have a buffet in front of them 24-7. You can't tell if a dog is off his food, and you don't  control intake. One family who just boarded their 6 small dogs leaves food out "in case they want a snack". Most of the dogs are in good shape but one dachshund is so overweight, she can hardly walk. In fact, she had had a mild stroke 2 days before they left - probabloy from hauling all that weight around!
 Now really, which dog looks healthier?





Oh well, I just stand in the back and keep quiet as a good tech should do.
Emily seems to be trying to bottle feed a baby rabbit - wild of course. Another client's dog brought it (unhurt) to her - so young the eyes weren't open yet. The client felt bad and tried to drown it (really!) but got upset when the baby started fighting....(really!) So she brought it to the clinic yesterday and Emily has it in a crate with a heating pad and is bottle feeding it. So far so good. I've tried baby rabbits many times and have never been successful in the end.. Pam has though, and released them on her farm (amidst the cats and dogs...) I ususally stick to kittens although I've sworn off that now...


I guess I sound kind of blue today. It's been hot and humid, flies and mosquitoes are out and I'm already wishing for cooler weather. Guess I'm really not a hot climate person! Watched a show on Black Mamba snakes and realized I don't miss having snakes around here! Had enough of that in Arkansas! I had two collies bitten by copperhead snakes (both survived) and I had to kill  numerous ones up by our garage. I used to really worry when Benjamin started walking around! Nope, don't miss that at all.

Monday, Monday

In early to open up since Holly has the flu. I thought about bringing Sam in to be put down but I couldn't do it. I knew we would be short doctors - that Dennis would be the only one in clinic and for emergencies. So not only do techs take vacations at the same time - so do the vets! and without doctors for surgeries and appointments, there isn't as big a need for techs.
But, being Monday morning, the phone rang off the hook. busy, busy all morning. The afternoon slowed down somewhat, plus emily stole my place at the front desk, so I didn't have as much to do.One interesting animal came in though. Jamie Tennison brought in an injured owl! She thought it had gotten hit by the train in town, but it was in really bad shape. It was missing a wing and was really tore up. Luckily Dennis was there and not busy so he sedated it and then euthanized it.

Such huge eyes! It looked like it was a owl like this one, with the little ear tuffs. If I had more time, I would find out what kind. At least we could do something about his suffering.

Not too much else at work. But when I came home, I noticed a bird hovering over the ditch. It was very striking in coloration and I had seen it before and wondered what it was. This evening it actually landed and let me take pictures of it from the car...

Of course I looked it up as soon as I could - it's a Bobolink! A member of the blackbird family, it nests in hayfields and places like that. The song is just incredible. I will try here to post a link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TXIrXiyW6o. 

Let me know if this works. Just click on the link to go to You Tube and listen. It's about 4 minutes long, 

Be sure to listen to the whole thing. If it doesn't work, google Bobolink song and this is one that will come 

up. Just incredible! We are so lucky to live in a world with so many fascinating and beautiful creatures.