Kaymusings

I have been a little concerned about Rusty recently.  He’s not been eating well and some times he looks sad.  I think he looks sad in this photo but he eagerly ran to the car and jumped in when it was time for us to go visit my friend.

Yesterday he didn’t want to eat and I realized that he was trembling.  I called the vet and she wanted me to bring him in right away, even though there were no appointments open. She would work him in when she could.  Rusty’s vet is in Erie, about 30 miles away.  She thought it was important for me to bring him right away so my friend and I did that. When I told him I would take him with me, he eagerly ran to the car and I thought that maybe he wasn’t sick after all, because he seemed perky again.

But the verdict is that he has the beginning of a heart problem.  Dr. Sue thinks it can be controlled with medication, which she has started already.  She kept him overnight, to do more tests and observe him more and I was to get him today.  However, we are wrapped in another major snow storm and Dr. Sue advised me not to try to make the trip today.  I’ll bring him home tomorrow, if the storm has abated and the roads are open.

Meanwhile, he’s eating well and already is responding to treatment.  Dr. Sue and her staff really like Rusty.  He’s a very sweet natured animal and responds lovingly to people who care for him.

What caused his heart problem?  Well, they tell me, it could be a genetic thing or it could be from malnutrition when he was young.  Bingo.  He was abused before I got him.  He was skinny as a rail, with spine and ribs showing.  He was in the pound for 38 days before my husband and I adopted him.  He was so grateful to us.  He’s been beautifully behaved.  We both delighted to give him the food and nurture that he needed after the abuse he’d been through.  Now I find that the abuse has probably caused an internal injury.  I do hope that we caught it in time and the medication and loving care he’s receiving will bring him out of this problem.

Tomorrow I should get him home again, –weather permitting.  He’ll be so happy to get back into the car with me.

Some time in late summer, Rene and I worked at putting this 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle together.  It’s a puzzle he’s had for years but he doesn’t remember when they put it together last.

It’s a real challenge for me.  I like jigsaw puzzles but I am not very good at doing them.  There have been times when I only got one piece fitted into the puzzle.  Lately I’ve had few sessions when I got 10-20 pieces put into it.  The last session we were able to get some of the little “island” groups fitted into the body of the puzzle.  That was a cause for a small celebration.

At the rate we’re going, this puzzle could take another year.  It’s a good thing it’s in a puzzle caddy and can be easily moved to an out of the way location.

I had marigolds growing in this pot this summer.  As winter approached and the plant died, I took the dead plant out of the pot and took the pot to the basement.  After some weeks, I noticed that little plants had started to grow in the pot.  I brought the pot upstairs, into the living room and put it by the window facing east.  The little marigolds have been growing slowly but they are growing, so green and healthy and full of promise.  I’ve enjoyed watching them grow.  They are growing from the seeds that were dropped by the parent plant which flourished in the pot in the summer.

I hope I’m dropping seeds of good all around me, —seeds that will grow into maturity and bless others.

Meanwhile, I am enjoying seeing my house plants respond to the bright light reflected from the whiteness of snow outside the windows and the increasing amount of daylight each day.

Happy growing!

When I was disposing of an old couch, I realized that the two cushions from it would make a very good bed for my dogs.  Yes, dogs!  At first I had Rusty and Desy and they each had one cushion and Rusty curled up and fit on the one cushion without too much problem. When he’d be fast asleep, sometimes part of him would hang over the edge of the cushion somewhere, but he seemed to have no problem about it.  Since Desy is gone, I’ve put the two cushions together and draped the old wool blanket over them and he stretches out on it often, instead of being all curled up.  He still drops off the edge in places at times, but for the most part, he fits quite well.

Rusty has been having a lot of enjoyment from being in the snow with me while I clear off the porch and feed the birds and work in the driveway.  He’ll stick his whole head under the snow, and he seems to be able to smell odors more keenly in the snow than from grass or shrubs.

When it’s bedtime, even if he’s been in another room, he comes to his own bed where he spends the night.  Maybe he dreams of running and playing in the snow.

Jewel is now 95 years old and her next birthday is in February.  Here she is sitting in a comfy chair, at a three family get together for Christmas cookies and conversation.  Jewel looks good in red.  I think she looks like a noblewoman in this picture.  Although she is frail now and doesn’t participate much in the conversation around her, she enjoys being with people when it’s possible.  We were happy that she could be with us for the little get together.