Oh, happy morning! When it got light this morning, I took the dogs out for their morning walk. The grass was soaked, and the dogs were happily inhaling all the moisture-enhanced scents. The forecast when I went to bed last night had a 63% chance of rain, 0.13" predicted. The actual: 0.72" – that's wonderful news for all the plants around here, and most especially for the field crops just planted.
Our south field changed quite dramatically overnight. The little two-leaf alfalfa sprouts roughly doubled in density (plants per square foot), but the real change was the co-planted grass. That wasn't even above ground as of yesterday afternoon, but this morning there are lots of 2" high grass stalks, and there are a few topping 3". The entire field now has a tinge of green, and I'll bet by the end of the day that's changed visibly. Our north field now has been thoroughly watered, with perfect timing for the newly planted seed.
Things are looking up from a botanical perspective :)
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Mo'i update...
Mo'i update... He's still hanging in there, and we're cherishing every day we're lucky enough to have with him. You may remember that back in January he developed an odd excessive drinking (and subsequent urination) behavior that the vet could find no cause for. We started using diapers with him as a defensive maneuver, and we also keep him on tiled floor when he's in the house. Mostly this was not a problem, except that he would start barking around 2 am every morning to wake us up and take him for a walk. That was a challenge, even for early risers like us :)
The past couple of weeks, he seems to be drinking (and urinating) less often. We have no idea why, but we're not complaining – because now he isn't barking to wake us up before we would normally get up (around 4 am, most mornings). That's quite ok by us :)
Otherwise, for a 16 year old dog with cancer he's doing really well. He can still walk just fine (though the stairs present a more serious challenge these days). He's walking around a half mile a day, on three separate walks. With his hearing completely gone and his vision pretty much shot, you might think he'd not get much from the walk – but his nose seems to be working just fine, and he explores the world with that. Yesterday during one walk he met up with our neighbor's dog (Annie), and that nose of his was working overtime – he smelled her carefully and deeply from head to toe, while Annie stood perfectly still to let him. His tail was going a mile a minute the whole time...
The cancer in his muzzle was supposed to have overwhelmed him by about six months ago. That was the assessment of a veterinary oncologist early last year. Later in the year, the oncologist could see no particular growth. We have no explanation, but his cancer doesn't seem to be expanding at all – we can see no change. He has a couple of fatty tumors, non-malignant, that are growing – but those aren't life-threatening.
So Mo'i just keeps right on trucking, a little bit more slow-mo than before, but still hanging in there...
The past couple of weeks, he seems to be drinking (and urinating) less often. We have no idea why, but we're not complaining – because now he isn't barking to wake us up before we would normally get up (around 4 am, most mornings). That's quite ok by us :)
Otherwise, for a 16 year old dog with cancer he's doing really well. He can still walk just fine (though the stairs present a more serious challenge these days). He's walking around a half mile a day, on three separate walks. With his hearing completely gone and his vision pretty much shot, you might think he'd not get much from the walk – but his nose seems to be working just fine, and he explores the world with that. Yesterday during one walk he met up with our neighbor's dog (Annie), and that nose of his was working overtime – he smelled her carefully and deeply from head to toe, while Annie stood perfectly still to let him. His tail was going a mile a minute the whole time...
The cancer in his muzzle was supposed to have overwhelmed him by about six months ago. That was the assessment of a veterinary oncologist early last year. Later in the year, the oncologist could see no particular growth. We have no explanation, but his cancer doesn't seem to be expanding at all – we can see no change. He has a couple of fatty tumors, non-malignant, that are growing – but those aren't life-threatening.
So Mo'i just keeps right on trucking, a little bit more slow-mo than before, but still hanging in there...
Bored little old ladies at the flower show...
Bored little old ladies at the flower show... Via my brother Scott...
Two little old ladies, Connie & Evelyn, were sitting on a park bench outside the local town hall where a flower show was in progress.
The short one, Connie, leaned over and said, 'Life is so boring. We never have any fun anymore. For $10 I'd take my clothes off and streak through that stupid, boring flower show!'
'You're on!' said Evelyn, holding up a $10 bill.
So Connie slowly fumbled her way out of her clothes. She grabbed a dried flower from a nearby display and held it between her teeth. Then, completely naked, streaked (as fast as an old lady can) through the front door of the flower show.
Waiting outside, her friend soon heard a huge commotion inside the hall, followed by loud applause and shrill whistling.
Finally, the smiling Connie came through the exit door surrounded by a cheering, clapping crowd.
'What happened?' asked Evelyn.
'I won $1,000 as 1st prize for 'Best Dried Arrangement!'
Comet 67P on tax day...
