Friday News
A good work week with MUCH accomplished.
Time to put my feet up and enjoy Friday evening.
Bear and I took advantage of what I’ve observed is a 5-6 p.m. lull in yellow jacket activity. We had our preprandial walk in the woods and then the temps (86F) and increased buzzing brought us inside to cool off, relax and think about supper.
I had a pasta & salad bowl. It looks like chili-mac but actually the sauce is my vegetable marinara with lentil-ricotta “meat” balls. The romaine is dressed with cucumber-yogurt-olive oil and rice vinegar. Half of a scallion pancake rounds out my dinner bowl.
Bear had kibble and his evening greenie!
Cherries, basil and lemon are waiting to be made into a half-pint jar of cherry preserves.
Actually, the mix plus some sugar is simmering on the stove as I write.
Wild Thing is home from her spa treatment.
She is smooth and shiny and all aglow from the wash and wax.
And ready to convey Bob, Bear and me to Great Falls, MT (220 miles) this coming Friday (8/16…also my birthday!). Mr. Bob has an appointment for a CT Scan.
Big Sky Animal Medical Center has RV parking on site – YEA! The plan is a fairly early departure on Thursday 8/15 so as to get settled and have a relaxing afternoon the day before. The BSAMC person(s) will come out to the motorhome for the pre-exam and then take Bob for the quick 30 minute, sedated CT Scan.
A surgeon, actually Dr. Scherr who did Bear’s first TPLO surgery, is available to immediately do anything the CT Scan turns up.
The hope and prime contender is that as the ear drums healed, they trapped some fluid in the inner or middle ear and that just needs to be drained. And maybe there is a polyp in there causing an issue. Quick fixes I am told.
Yep, there are worse things but no need to go there and the trapped fluid fits with everything.
Meanwhile, Bob is still wobbly but also still eating, drinking, etc. and normally active.
I am so thankful that this facility is available. The alternatives are the veterinary teaching hospitals: Washington State or Colorado State. Although, they are wonderful places, with state of the art equipment, the scenario would be much more stressful for Bob than a pick up from our own motorhome! Big Sky Animal Medical Center will be much more low key and Bob is likely to be sedated and unaware for most of the time he is in the facility, hopefully waking up with Bear and me in the familiar surroundings of Wild Thing. And the cost is about 1/3 of the alternatives which means a bit less stress for me, also :) !
Friday News. Pretty good news. Hope your Friday has good news also.
Light and Shadow: Beardog
From the corner of the sunroom’s vantage point, Bear can see the road and the game trail.
Light and Shadow.
Beardog.
Cool August night
YES!!
And rain, too!
August started with a whoosh of a cold front and then an afternoon, night and all day today gentle rain.
Hoo…I say HOO-RAH!
The forecast high today was 65F but it only made it to 60. I am ecstatic and dressed in fleece shirt and boots and long pants. AND, I even turned the heat on for just 15 minutes to take the chill and damp off…for Bob, you know :) !!
Rainy day Bob…
Rainy day Bear…
Rainy day me…
It’s ok. I was happy to sit at my desk and plug along at work while Bob and Bear snored.
In the wishful thinking department:
We started August cool and rainy
On Monday Bear and I saw a Cinnamon Bear on the game trail! ( we usually only see bears Spring and Fall)
Also on Monday, squirrels were working in the yard gathering stuff
There are a LOT of butterflies
Maybe it will be an early Fall …. maybe the yellow jackets will take the hint and do their Fall thing NOW!
A girl can hope….ok, a middle-aged woman can hope! I know Bear and Bob hope too!
Mr. Bob’s ear news… it is STILL going on. Last week we got an all clear from Dr. Clark via visual exam. To be on the safe side we continued the meds through Saturday. By Tuesday, Bob had the wobbles.
RATS.
DOUBLE-TRIPLE RATS!!!
We picked up more medication today and have calls in to 2 specialist clinics. We will travel either to Missoula or Great Falls or both this coming week.
On the plus side, Dr. Clark told me today that his gut feeling is that things look worse than they are. He was referring to my worry over Bob’s wobbly symptoms vs all other tests and as he said, his own intuition based on years of experience. As much as I try not to and KNOW that it does Bob no good to worry, it was so good to hear this. Bob is eating and drinking normally, normal output, he sticks to his normal routine and does not seem in pain.
So.
Onward!
The other good news is that originally, I was to pick up the newly washed and waxed Wild Thing today. That would have meant driving a fresh clean motorhome in the rain…on roads that had been dusty – resulting in yucky, muddy splashes. BUT…, the person working on WT called in sick and now she is to be ready next Tuesday AND staying in a nice garage bay at the body shop all this time. Another HOO-RAH! She should be home in time to load and head to whichever clinic(s) we need to go to.
It might not be exactly the getaway I had in mind, but we will get away and hopefully move toward full resolution of Bob’s ear infection. Dr. Clark does feel that is all it is…just bad, resistant bug or bugs. There is nothing to indicate anything worse.
The lastest wobbly Bob video…recorded for the veterinary diagnostic purposes.
Saturday morning lie-in
It has been hitting 90 during the day and forecast to continue. But the air is very dry so we drop into the 50’s overnight, making morning prime time to be outside.
By 8:00 a.m. this Saturday morning, we were back inside.
After breakfast, some of us went back to bed…
Most of us went back to bed.
At first separately.
But then together.
Saturday morning lie-in.