Author: Liz

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Bob is doing well

I met with Dr. Webb at 2:30 to look at Bob’s CT Scan. No tumor, no cancer but more than just fluid, in fact there is no fluid. There is some polyp like tissue that is feeding the infection. The surgery is a tough one and would mean he stayed at the hospital for 2-5 days until pain is manageble by oral medication vs I.V. drips.

His blood work is a bit rough in the kidney enzyme department.

Bottom line, I have to make a decision about putting him through this.

He is staying in hospital over the weekend – they suggested keeping him on fluids to see how he responded, i.e. if the kidney numbers come up a bit.

They are also sending the scan to a specialist for reading.

Monday is decision day. Dr. Scherr, who owns the clinic and is the premier surgeon is available.

I visited Bob after speaking to Dr. Webb and then had to run around town to get a bigger litter box than they had, but smaller than his own…and more of his brand of insulin. Around these parts, most of the clinics fill a different type. To add to the excitement it was 101F here today!!! Thankfully, a nice young man here at the park offered to keep an eye on Wild Thing and Bear. I HATE leaving Bear in the motorhome when it this hot in case power would go out or some other AC problem, but it was far too hot to take him in the Jeep. And the Jeep staged a small revolt in protest of the heat and I had to let it cool off in the middle of the running around. It was rather an exciting birthday…

But all got done and Bob has all of his stuff. He has a nice large kennel. I’m sure he’d rather be home and I miss him terribly but I also think this is our best shot at a good outcome. I told Bob all of this. He looked good and only hissed once at Dr. Webb. And everybody loves Bob! This hospital is staffed 24/7 and I’m told they will be updating me and calling if there any concerns at all.

Bear and I found a gorgeous place to walk along the river which we did this morning before it got too, too hot. I did a little work but was a bit distracted and then the run around town.

Bottom line, things are not as bad as they might have been and Bob is one tough cat. I will be quietly considering and praying about what to do. Bear and I will stay here in Great Falls until we can all go home together. We are in a comfortable place, near Bob and I am so grateful that we can do this fairly easily.

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Evening walk: Great Falls

This KOA campground is filled with gardens: vegetable, fruit (raspberry) and flowers.

We guests may pick whatever we’d like. Tomorrow, I’m going to get some stuff!!!

But today, I just scouted.

The rv park sits on a bluff that overlooks miles and miles of fields…

The evening colors as the sun headed down were beautiful.

The big sky and big country of eastern Montana.

Another garden…I’m getting stuff tomorrow!!

Our little spot in this place.

The skunky looking bit in the lower left is the back end of Bear.

Evening walk: Great Falls

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Off to see the wizard!

Not to say our own Dr. Clark is not a wizard of a vet, but he doesn’t have a CT Scan machine thingy and no one else in the area does either, hence our trip to Great Falls to the Big Sky Animal Medical Center.

Bear was happy to hit the road.

We pulled out of our driveway at exactly 9:30 a.m. My hope and plan was to leave 9 – 10 latest so I was very happy with the 9:30 departure.

We hit a small snag between Columbia Falls and Hungry Horse…

Construction delay.

But we were delayed along the Flathead River with scenic views and cool morning air so we crawled along and watched the river.

Things cleared up at Hungry Horse and we zipped past West Glacier and through Marias Pass. It was hazy-smokey but still beautiful.

Today is the first time I’ve done this route in the motorhome. There are some drop offs along the road. It is vastly different in a motorhome, where you are up high and can really see over the guard rail what a long drop it is to the bottom…

A lot of traffic all the way…rvs, cars, commercial stuff. I go the speed limit but no one likes being behind a motorhome so I pulled over when I could.

The delay, the traffic…it made for a long and tiring day of driving.

The boys were champs!!!

The above scene from our lunch break. Considering his wobblies, Bob did very well negotiating to his food, some under table steps and even his litter box en route.

No problems with Bear and Bob and I am completely confident with them together – YEA!!!

Bob had a ground floor nest in a secure spot near both food and litter box.

We arrived at the clinic about 3:45 p.m.

Good news – wonderful people!

Bad news – the rv parking is just parking and no power and it was 91F so even with the generator running ’round the clock, we would be just barely comfy.

BUT…a KOA RV campground was near and that is where we landed. It is beautiful and I hope to get out with the camera at sunset as the campground sits on a bluff above miles of fields.

It is 7:30 p.m. as I write this…we are all beat, but Bear and I had several walks along the way and one here at the campground. We have all had dinner. I’ve had a cool shower and a glass of wine! All is well for tonight.

We take Bob to the clinic tomorrow morning. They will call when they have read the scan. In between, Bear and I will go to a gorgeous park we passed on the way in – along the Missouri River. The Missouri runs through Great Falls.

Thanks to all who sent emails of encouragement and prayer for our safe travel and a good outcome for Bob.

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Popcorn: the way I remember it

I was born nearly 58 years ago.

No microwaves, no computers, not even electronic calculators!!

We had black and white televisions. My one set of grandparents had a tv that got mostly snow with maybe a 7 inch diagonal screen in a big box! My other grandparents and one aunt and uncle had color televisions but getting people to not look green or pink was a constant adjustment process and sometimes just ignored.

Phones were wired into a wall outlet and they had rotary dials.

We made popcorn in a pan on the stove. It was a special thing as I remember. Sometimes we had Jiffy Pop which I just googled and is still made! It is advertised as being better than any microwave popcorn…that’s funny!

Last weekend, I visited a specialty vinegar and olive oil store to pick up more white balsamic vinegar: a new obsession. I highly recommend trying it if you like to cook. The store has some kitchen ware and various condiments and goodies. I picked up a package of some of the goodies: Funky Chunky Sea Salt Caramel Chocolate popcorn and cashews. It was good and not horrible ingredients. It got me thinking about popcorn.

I went through a time when I always had some microwave popcorn in the cupboard but have not had any lately…as in years. I remembered that a number of cooking blogs had various flavored popcorn recipes.

Can of worms.

One thing led to another.

I looked at air poppers and popcorn pans with handles and paddles and finally found instructions for making popcorn the way I remember we used to when I was a kid. Oil and a couple of kernels in the pan, heat the oil until the kernels pop, add the rest of the corn, shake a bit until the popping stops.

Guess what??

It still works.

It took maybe 8 minutes start to finish…10 if you count dithering about which pan and what kind of oil to use.

I used a 2 quart sauce pan, 3/4 T of clarified butter (ghee), 3/4 T olive oil and 1/3 cup white popcorn kernels.

I threw on some salt and started munching.

Better than any microwave popcorn.

Minimal clean up, too.

Huh.

Today, I decided to try the salted caramel chocolate version.

Yep, that works, too :)!

A little more labor and cleanup but not bad. I lightened up the amount of caramel and chocolate and salt – one of the benefits of making my own.

Overall, I’m more of a savory snacker and will probably stick to butter, salt and maybe a bit of cheese powder on my popcorn – which I will be making more often – but this makes a fun, sweet treat. And I think a bit healthier than a handful of cookies. It is supposed to last for several weeks in airtight containers.

I am easily entertained…this was fun!

*** I used this recipe except I substitued coconut oil for the butter in the caramel sauce and sprinkled sea salt over all after I drizzled the chocolate.

***the next day: I put the salted-caramel-chocolate popcorn in mason jars, in the refrigerator as even my coolest cupboard is a bit warm at the moment. A taste test this morning reveals that it is good cold and the flavor is even better than the fresh. I am pleasantly surprised!