Aug 09, 2021

Changes

It has been so hot and dry that leaves are falling off one of our trees. We have given it and the other tree lots of deep watering.

We discovered this past winter that this casement window was not set right ( probably since the house was built )  and we had a large area for the cold air to pass into the house. Colin stuffed it with aluminum foil last winter. We have been looking for a repair since the spring but no one wanted to come out. I found the name and phone number of a fellow we used two years ago for a small project. He was here within the week and had it totally repaired for $80.00 cash.

We are at the stage of non stop tomatoes and cucumbers. Now the beans have begun to appear. Still no zucchini. Anyone can grow it, why not me – this year?

We have two pots of tomatoes here in the yard that are called patio tomatoes. They don’t get very tall but they cluster very tightly together as they grow plus they split like the three bottom ones.  No idea why.

The fires are mostly doing better but tomorrow things will heat up and dry out again.  Our city, Kelowna, is in that dark brown area make D4 – Exceptional drought. What next?

If you are interested in reading about that twice in a century event click here. Between all the new Covid cases and this article, I have chosen not to read it. I can’t take much more.  By now you probably have read the article based on numerous scientific studies released earlier today.  Earth’s climate is getting so hot that temperatures in about a decade will probably blow past a level of warming that world leaders have sought to prevent, according to a report released Monday that the United Nations called a “code red for humanity”. Too much negativity in one morning for me but if you want to read the article just click here.. Does this mean that I should just start to spend all the money we have and enjoy life to the fullest because in 10 -20 years life may be unbearable?

Carlie has had problems digesting her food for a few months now.  I came to the conclusion that she eats too fast which causes her to vomit all she ate within five minutes. We saw the vet who said it could be caused by many issues. We decided to get a dish that slowed down the eating to see if that helped. and it has.

We got two of course.

They both love and seem to enjoy their new bowls and have slowed their intake but for the first time ever they are always hungry and want three meals per day ( 1/4 scoop kibble per meal ). I was surprised by how much Ciela enjoyed her purple dish.  Before they free fed and only ate one to two meals per day but sometimes  Carlie would eat everything quickly .Carlie has not been sick since we started this program last Friday.

It has become a game for them.  They have been very good at only eating from their puzzle dish but here they are both looking for the last two pieces of kibble. So we have purchased the 3rd bowl in the series and soon will start switching out the puzzle bowls. Amazing how fast they figure out how to get food quicker. Now they only check out the others dish when a very few kibbles are left.

To make a long story short, I thought that Carlie had been bitten by a bee.  I was out doing a poop pick up Friday when she screamed. Once inside I put her on the bed so that I could examine her easily. I could find no evidence of a bee sting or anything else. Carlie just wanted to be on top of all the pillows on Colin’s side of the bed  ( no idea how she knew that was his side ) and it was evident that she was very stressed and in pain. She just wanted to sit up there with her head under the pink blanket. Meanwhile Ciela was upset about her sister and ever so quiet.

I did call the vet and they said to just let her ride it out. Needless to say that when Colin got home she got the royal treatment for the rest of the day.

Sunday I made a shrimp stir fry. Love the meal but so much prep. FYI we use frozen wild shrimp from Argentina purchased at Super Store. I refuse to eat farmed fish.

Well worth the effort. So tricky to get everything perfectly cooked at the same time. It depends on the thickness of how each veggie is cut.

This morning the girls were out on the front step as per their usual routine. Carlie on the right in the shade and Ciela sunbathing on the step down.

Love how she is using a dinosaur fossil for a headrest.

This afternoon I had a treatment for the veins in my right leg. These are the cotton balls that covered 44 injection sites, there were more that did not get the cotton ball bandaid.  I have been doing this treatment for close to ten years now and I am furious  ( because of how they are changing appointment schedules ) but today is not the post to discuss this. Likely next week when I need to have a blockage dealt with. Sadly my next appointment might not be until December ( will I even be here ) because they have so many new patients and referrals that now everyone has to be spaced out. So the older patients like me get kicked to the curb?

Love this one.

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10 responses so far

10 Responses to “Changes”

  1. You are right about the negativity of the news and sometimes it is good to just live your life and tune out all that stuff.
    Your dinner looked yummy with all those fresh ingredients. Why your tomatoes split I have no idea. Maybe Google knows. As a rule tomatoes don’t like water on them so rain will cause blisters and splits.
    Your two doxies are very skinny (they look healthy) but are you sure they get enough food? 😉
    Hopefully the weather will cool down soon. All the best!

    • contessa says:

      Well the other tomatoes are now being eaten by rats.Grrr. Huge sigh!! The girls are 3.5 and 3.7 kg. They are allowed 1/2 – 1 cup of kibble per day. We give them 3/4 of a cup over three meals ( the vet wants us to feed three instead of two meals ) plus a few treats here and there, mostly a tiny tomato per day and frozen carrots. We use their kibble as the occasion treat. The vet gave us a lecture about keeping then slim.

  2. Maxx Trails says:

    My cousin said she can’t get zucchini to grow either, and my cucumbers are flowering and winding all over my garden but the cucumbers are the size of my baby finger.

  3. Pauline W says:

    The puzzle bowls are amazing! I timed Opal once when she was a puppy, before the bowl, and 1/4 cup of food was gone in 10 seconds. No joke. The bowls definitely help with slowing them down. I’m glad the girls are eating more. It’s fun to watch them chase the last piece of food around the bowl:-) Have you tried a blueberry yet, they’re slippery and tricky to pick up.
    I agree dinner looks yummy. I wish my kids (hubby too) would eat like that;-)

  4. Jim and Barb says:

    We have that same bowl for Dakota and have one that Daisy used to use. It really helped slowing them down eating. So far Zoey does not need one, she is a slow eater the way it is.

    • contessa says:

      I guess are late to the party. We so love this bowls. Today we switched them out and the girls didn’t blink an eye but went with the new challenge. Yeah Zoey, Miss Perfection.

  5. Michelle says:

    The girls are so smart and curious. I live outside New York City and this has been a terrible year for zucchini. I also haven’t gotten one. I had 3 very fat cucumbers, starting to get cherry and regular tomatoes. I have gotten a lot of kale, kohlrabi and radishes. Also one giant Sunflower and lots of smaller ones. My most successful crop are weeds:)

    • contessa says:

      Yes our girls are smart, sometimes too clever. NYC is one of my favourite places in the entire world. In my younger days I used to visit annually. Sorry about your garden. I have heard from someone else that they are having zucchini issues as well. We have lots of cucumbers, well we id. Now with the extreme heat weather we are no longer getting any blossoms.So sad how things are being affected. What a crazy year for us all.

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