A Mixed Bag

Yesterday as E and I were driving through Cloverdale we happened to see this! It was sitting in a car lot among other vehicles. We drove in and gave it a good look and yes! it is my old truck! Has the ding on the left side of the trucks bed where the flag pole fell over and dented it, among other blemishes well known to yours truly! It has been polished up and is sitting pretty. When we traded it in, we were given $400.00 dolllars for it. We also would like to know if it has been repaired or just covered up? Who knows! And this is the price tag on it! Yikes, but that sounds quite high to us. No, I don't want it back, I like my Blazer a lot! Even if the airconditioner doesn't work just yet!

Solomon had an itch! He is bothered something awful by the little midges, no see ums or what ever you call those little biting things. They don't seem to effect the girls like they do him.

This is a messy job but some one has to do it! Living under so many trees, the leaves really pile up on the barn roof. Maybe if the roof were steeper, they would wash off when it rains, especially like it did today! We had 2 inches of rain in 2 hours!

About 4 weeks ago, we got up early (Starts at 6:00 AM and ends at 12:00) on a Sunday morning and went to the Cory Creek Trade Day. I think that is what it was called. It was chilly so early that morning, and hot later on when the sun was up high. There were rows upon rows of venders selling everything imaginable. Antiques, junk, garden plants and flowers, popcorn, walking sticks, small tractors, all kinds of household goods, handmade items, chinese stuff, everything under the sun! Chickens, dogs, goats, a calf, rabbits, someone said they even sell horses sometimes, but didn't see any that day.

One vender had baby ducks for sale and someone wanted to buy only the females. He reached into the cage and grabbed a duckling.

He would hold this string with a washer tied on the end of it, over its back. If the string swung on way it was a female or a different way it was a male. Now did he swing it whatever way he wanted to, or did some unseen something make the string swing? I'll leave that one up to you to figure out!

Another shot of the rows of venders. We had fun, it was a lovely morning to spend time together and enjoy each others company. I think between us we spent $5.00!

Babies!

I was checking out the weeds in the flower garden at Moms and came across this little guy, sitting in the old lilac bush. He was calling for Momma to bring him something to eat, I guess. I was within 3 feet of him, and he never did leave. I think this is a baby Chickadee. Love those tufts over his eyes!

One of our hens went broody and wanted to be a momma. We gave her two eggs to hatch and this is the result. Only this one hatched. It is the tiniest little chick I have ever seen! Lets hope this is a pullet baby. (a girl chick).

I spotted this flower in a friends yard and just had to take a photo of it. It is a Gerbera Daisy. I love the way it is colored! So pretty.

Signs of improvement with Missy are tiny, but we think we see a little. I watched her lick her back foot yesterday and she has not been able to do that up until now. We think she sits up on her chest longer too, instead of laying flat out all the time. Can't wait until she can walk again and I won't have to carry her outside and out to the back field to 'go potty'.

Missy And What Ails Her

We think Missy finally has a diagnosis. Weeks ago, I noticed that Missy didn't wag her tail or even lift it up over her back any more. She ususally carried it curled up over the top of her butt. But it just hung down all the time. The next thing I noticed about her was that she didn't go off and do her 'own thing' anymore. She tended to stay near us as we were out and about in the yard or at the barn. I even commented to E that she sure was staying with us all the time. And her favorite activity was to go out and dig in the clumps of tall grass and weeds in the fence rows. At the same time I noticed that she seemed more 'jumpy' than usual. She was reacting to any sound and with an abnormal quickness! Not like her at all, with her Terrier personality. She wasn't afraid of ANYTHING!

Then she started stumbling a bit, and couldn't get up the step onto the porch without help. Then she would fall down. I also noticed that she couldn't bark. When she tried, there was just a weird sort of squeak. It just progressed until she couldn't walk at all, couldn't get up, couldn't turn herself, could only stand for a few seconds, then would fall down. We took her to the vet again, and this time she took x-rays, changed her steriods, prescribed an antibiotic and a pain med. Vet couldn't find anything of significance on the x-rays. All her bloodwork came back normal. Vet was pretty puzzled, thinking she had a back injury but couldn't see anything on the x-rays. She has no fever, no nothin'. She has a good appetite, has normal pottying, but needs help from us to hold her up so she can potty. I carry her outside 4 or 5 times a day for her to potty. She doesn't always 'go' but she is offered the opportunity.

Last Wednesday and Thursday I had to be gone all day, so took her to the vets to board her for the day. I took her home at night, but at least while at the vets, someone would take her potty and turn her several times a day. When I left her I asked that the vet do one more evaluation and tell us whether she thought she had improved any or gotten worse. It had been about two weeks since she had seen her. We were ready to put her down as this couldn't go on forever like this. We couldn't make contact with the vet for a couple of days. Then on Monday morning she called me here at home, and told me she had been doing some more research and studing on Missy's case. What caught her attention was the comment I had made to her that Missy couldn't bark. After studing on it she thinks this is what she has. She has almost all of the symptoms of Coonhound Paraylisis. I never heard of this before but here is some information.

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/acute-polyradiculoneuritis-coonhound-paralysis/page1.aspx

And if you want to read a blog by someone else that had a dog with this, here is that link and this dog was a 155 pound Mastiff!

http://coonhoundparalysis.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_archive.html

I learned a lot by reading this blog and the different links they have. Also the comments are full of information.

Now we just have to take care of her until she is able to be mobile again. The vet said to make sure she eats and drinks and to be especially careful that she doesn't get pressure sores.

Any job seems to get bigger the more we try to fix it, doesn't it? The hallway between the living room and the bathroom had an uneven floor too. Since we had finished the floor in the back room, and painted the whole room and had it essentially finished, E thought we should go ahead and tear out the old carpet in the hall way and redo that floor! It was also concrete! Here he is trying to make some sense out of someone elses hideous repairs. Will keep you posted.