Bee-dle Juice, Bee-dle Juice, Bee-dle Juice!!

Originally Bee's name was going to be Aoife - I had researched names trying to find something dignified and a little unusual. It's a gaelic name that means "joyous, beautiful" and is the name of a warrior princess in legend who freaking wins everything. But before I committed  I gave it a test run and quickly realized that it sounds very much like "Ava". The other problem was pronouncing it based on the old irish spelling - there are a lot of lovely old irish names but unless you're from Ireland or the late 1700's chances are the rest of the population is going to mangle the crap out of it on a daily basis. When we used to go to the beach back on LI there was a little girl who's name was Y'aile - it was a lovely french name - unfortunately no one who frequented the beach happened to be french. You always knew when she was around because you'd hear this little voice saying "NO, my name is not Yale! It's YA- aile!" - I'm sure at some point in her life she has given up and is now a lovely woman named Yale. But I digress. I hung in there thinking maybe I could use the american spelling??, but that is no longer the romantic Aoife, but Ee-Fa. yeah, no.

But then the breeder had sent me a few short videos of a white pawed puppy zipping around nosie-rosie - I had to laugh and that is how her name instantly became 

Bee. 

It's turned out to be a very appropriate name - she is bouncy, zipping around at all times. And it's one of those fun names - Busy Bee. Bumble Bee. Bee-nie. Beedelia. Bee-a-roni. Bee-dle Juice. I can go on and on. Having a puppy in the house is a lot of fun and quite exhausting at times. Her first project was to try and electrocute herself by chewing on wires. David suggested NO and a squirt bottle. I pointed out squirting a dog with water while they chewed on a wire was probably just going to kick it up a notch and suggested maybe just putting the wires up til she got older. With the girls visiting that added a whole other dimension as I pulled Polly Pockets out of her mouth for the 400th time along with crayons, barbie, and other sundry items. We spent days with no one leaving anyone alone but they all had fun. The girls loved Bee and Bee loved them. Christmas evening Bee got sick - I think it was because there was so much food she did get some and just a lot going on. She had awful going every hour diarrhea - she does not want to go in the house so she'd cry and out we would go. Again and again. 

She is better now, she's been to the vet and has medication, despite all the diarrhea she somehow managed to grow anyhow and gained 3 pounds. She is eating everything at this point, the vet suggested rice, yogurt, chicken and bone broth - I have little hope of her ever eating regular dog food again. She is growing so fast she will be a dog in no time - and we are so happy to have a dog in the house again, let me tell you! A dog just adds so much to your day - someone to play with, walk with, snuggle in the morning. David has started training her so she can be a great gun dog and I'm hoping in the spring to find somewhere to start hiking again. We have a lot wrapped up in you Little Bee. 

 

Busy Bees.

So the past 3 weeks have been busy busy! Our Bee is a great joy to us of course, a lot of work she is but so nice to have a dog back in the house. We had planned previously on having the girls here for the week - had not thought the 2 four year olds and a puppy thing out. Hmm. I picked them up on Saturday morning, they were great on the way back and ran around over the top excited for the first few hours. The first day was rough - Bee was jumping and biting, the girls were shrieking, which made Bee crazier....ARRGH. But by the next afternoon everyone was better. The harder parts were keeping all the little toys from Bee, teaching the girls not to feed her.... but we got it done. C and D are very fun this year - both are super into arts and crafts so it was a Crafty Christmas!

We did cookie baking and you can do that sucessfully with preschoolers - the secret is to have everything out at once - if you turn your back on them to get the flour they'll polish off a full bottle of sprinkles before you can say STOP and knock everything on the floor. Use cups to cut out the cookies - they seriously do NOT expect to be doing reindeer and santas and it's too hard for them, a circle is very do-able. We did a simple sugar cookie dough with colored sugar and sprinkles, it went very well. We also did a construction paper chains, we made lions with glue on googly eyes, played Candy Land in which they shamelessly cheat, declared themselves the winner and leave. We went to a playground in town where we were the only people in the park - it was like playing in Cherobyl but they had a full 45 minutes of running around. The neighbor stopped by one day on his tractor, D was devestated when no one got a ride but Poppop saved the day by pulling out the lawn tractor and they rode down to Mr. Sam's to visit the cows and horses. 

Brandy arrived on Christmas Eve - they were very excited to see her after almost a week apart from her. Kim and Steve arrived along with Celia, Gabe and then there were four dogs in the house! Bee was having a great time romping with a crew of tiny dogs and yes, we did observe COVID guidelines, we were less than ten, two households. I broke out the china - I have a full set of Noritake circa 1961 in the sputnik design and we had a wonderful dinner. Celie and Gabe have never seen the house so they got the Grand Tour, we had a big ham and a tofurky roast - it felt like a real holiday.  The next morning it was  mayhem - C &  D are at that age and it only took about 10 minutes for the living room to turn into a sea of wrapping paper and toys, with occasional  chasing Bee to get back contaband. I made lasanga for dinner since we'd done the Christmas ham the previous day and then it was bath time. 

It was a good day.

Saturday early afternoon they packed up and left since we all have to go back to work on Monday. 

During this Bee developed diarrhea - we spoke to the vet on Saturday and gave Bee Pepto to see if it would help - it did a little but she continues to have bouts of it so she will see the vet tomorrow. It's been exhausting, she does not want to go in the house so we are up and down with her throughout the night. She's still eating,drinking and playing so hopefully it will be something that passes soon. So, but aside from that its been a wonderful week and holiday - such a relief after all that's happened   this year. 

 

The Covid-bury Tales

Last week we finally got our puppy - She started off in Colorado, Jeff met Daniel in Utah to transfer the puppies (he picked up a total of 5!), then off to Washington arriving Saturday night. We live about 5 hours from Jess which is where they were being dropped off before all the prospective owners arrived to Moses Lake. They were very well traveled puppies by then. Since I knew ahead of time the when and where's I took Monday off knowing we would not get home til Sunday afternoon. Then I made the reservations which can be a little dicey when you've never been somewhere. Fortunately there were some major chain hotels - sometimes it's fun to stay in a non-national brand but we have also had some interesting stays in places that looked straight out of pyscho type movie set. I made the reservation online ( and if you have AAA - use it! You can get some pretty good discounts). But then I called the next day, worried that they might be closed due to COVID - I was obviously not the first person double checking because the desk clerk was yes, we're open, yes you have to wear a mask, yes, we still have breakfast.......

 

We left early Saturday morning and decided to take a secondary road since we've never been to that part of country, the first part was really fun. We drove through all sorts of small towns, the weather was good for the first part of the trip, but.......here is much different than the east coast. In NY if it's cold on LI, it's cold upstate, if there's snow upstate, there's snow in PA,etc..... When we left Clatskanie it was sunny and in the 50's but as we drove the temperature went down and it got all icy and rainy. One thing we had not realized was our road wound through the Cascade mountain range so we were driving in 23 degree foggy weather up and down mountain roads. Along with this we were going through some major ski resorts. On a Saturday where it is madatory that everyone out to ski must spend at 30 minutes standing around in the road admiring each other's ski equipment. Suffice to say that was not fun. 

We were glad to get done with the mountain ranges - it flattened out and on we went. We stopped at a rest area and I forgot my mask in the car, but it was still pretty early. Of course someone came in the bathroom and it was a super strict person who when I went by her acted as if I had committed a crime against humanity - 😨

The rest of the trip was uneventful - COVID makes weird because you can't stop at a restaurant, every time you get out of the car you have to mask up, etc... we arrived at the hotel with the desk clerk stationed behind a giant sneeze guard, checked in. The pool was a waste, only one person allowed at a time(?), what ever! We had brought food and our coffee gear with us - the coffee gear of course most important. I have a mini kureg, coffee creamer and sweetener I bring so we don't have to get up too early. Dinner was take out - I feel terrible for all the restaurants - it's stupid really. We can fly on planes, etc.. but we can't sit in a restuarant? We went in, ordered, sat and waited while chatted with the woman behind the cash register - there were only two people running the place! We left a good tip and back to our room. I went out for a little while, it was ok. We made it Jess's first thing in the morning , so glad to finally have a dog back in our house!

 

Get Out Your Erasers

So. The last we spoke David and I had put the Astoria house on the market, we had a few lookers - and then it hit the fan. Just a heads up, there might be some bad words peppered here and there but over all it's not bad. The market here was strong but with the recent turn of events with the election and COVID our RE had told us things were cooling a bit. It was shown a few times and we knew it was going to take longer than it usually does since the house was in the upper range pricewise. You still have people looking but the pool is much smaller - still no big. We are in a good spot and can afford to hang out a bit. Then someone really interested looked at it, they were considering dividing the lots, wanted to give us a big down payment, a couple  monthly and then a big payment - we were mulling it over. We cannot be 100% certain but we are pretty sure The Shithead in an effort to encourage us to sign ran down to the local town hall and gave them a lot of false information about David doing work without a permit.

Grrr. 

David went down to speak to them and yes, there were a few things, most of it due to the fact we are not familar with things here but most of it was nonsense. The straw that broke the camel's back was when the town hall guys said to David "we understand you were doing work in the basement"(when this person was looking at the house David WAS in the basement which is why we suspect who it was). David looked at them and said " I was PAINTING the walls, do I need a permit for that too???". This whole thing plus a local rumor mill has just put us off. We've had worse Small Town HIjinks and Nonsense but honestly, we are just tired and our Bullshit tolerance is at an all time low. The deciding factor though was our accountant whom we should have called first. We still have our wonderful guy Tom Graney in  Irwin PA if you need a guy - we just love him. He ran the numbers and with the RE fees plus capital gains we were looking at a major hit. So, in the end it was actually a good thing because had we gone through with it we could have stood to lose a lot of money unnecessarily which is never our intention.

So we needed Plan B. 

The Astoria house will add about 20 minutes or so to my daily commute which is not great but given that I was commuting 3 hours a day in PA not the end of the world. To add to this is I work from home most of the time so if I can get most of my field work on two days a week and I continue working 4 - 10 hour days, hmm. That's very do-able. Kim and Steve will be half an hour closer to us, I think everyone is excited about that. We are planning on moving in January which will give David time to finish this house - there are things that we needed to finish and for us to move to the other house. We're going to use a property management company and make sure we are protected before renting this place - the rent will cover our small mortgage and taxes for both places. In two years we can sell the property in Astoria without capital gains as it will be our primary and then can either move back to Clatskanie for two years or just sell it. We are hoping to retire on the beach when all is said and done, a little place with a boat and hibachi and of course a guest room for visitors. 

 

Playing with Food

For the past few months I've  been enjoying cooking  - I've always enjoyed it but due to my long work hours in the past  was not able get too creative. I tried a little here and there but you know if you're short on time you almost always screw it up. There's nothing worse than trying to short cut your way through a complicated recipe only to end up dumping the whole sorry -and often expensive - mess in the trash. To add to it you have to either find something to replace it or just order a pizza, I had just found it too anxiety producing in the past. As we get together every week  with our friends it's a fun excuse to find something new to serve. Kim is working to control her blood sugar and we are both trying to lose weight -  that makes it challenging. It could be annoying but it's not - I've been having a ball low carb, low calorie no sugar wending my way through all sorts of different foods. And yes, I've had a few bungles - but that's to be expected. We've discovered that low carb/low calorie does not always translate into low blood sugars - we quickly discovered a lot of the rice based foods - rice crackers for instance sent the glucose readings through the roof. UGH. We both have been tweaking different foods  and researching - it's interesting to see what works and tastes good at the same time.

Recently I've been experimenting with different types of cuts of beef - since I can't eat it I have to cook blind, I use David as my tester if he's around. He's a good sport though occasionally flinches, like when I handed him a spoonful of pesto - that's one of those foods that looks horrifying but tastes great. He's gotten more adventurous and found he liked it, then went on to try the peppers. This weekend for our weekly dinner with Kim and Steve I made a Beef Roulade, Tofu Roulade, rolled stuffed roasted peppers. You might say.......

I was on a roll.😅😆😛

I had bought a flank steak that cost $23 - ON SALE so you know I was being careful. To start with you have to butterfly the meat and it is recommended this be performed by a butcher as opposed to a vegetarian  that has never seen a flank steak- despite all the cautionary articles I read  at the end it was not that difficult. I had frozen it so when it was partially defrosted I started cutting it - it was easy.  I beat it with a rolling pin to make it thin, then marinated it for 24 hours. I stuffed it with fresh mozzerella, pesto and spicy peppers - rolling it up was a whole other ball game trying to do it evenly without pressing it too hard while keeping the whole thing from sliding around as it was covered in marinade. I had boiled whole sweet peppers and peeled them, I used riced cauliflower, sauted onions and low cal whipped cream cheese and rolled that up. It was supposed to be an appetizer but they were freaking huge so they became a side dish. The tofu roulade came out way better than I thought it would, I used flax meal to stiffen it up and then used the same ingredients to fill it. 

I roasted butternut squash and teeny potatoes, we use Whisp Parmesean crackers for the cheese and crackers - not only are they low calorie/low carb but they don't wreak havoc with Kim's diabetes. Kim made sugar free brownies for dessert and we've found a lot of no sugar creamers that taste pretty decent. In the end the menu was 

Wine and Beer 

Parmesean Crackers and Brie

Caesar Salad

Roasted seasoned small potatoes

roasted and seasoned butternut squash

Stuffed peppers

Beef Roulade

Tofu Roulade

Sugar Free Brownies and coffee

And it was as much fun to make it as it was to eat it.

Bon Appetit!!

 

Vacation Days

We've been here for about a year and a half now, we've done a little exploring but nothing too major. Kim and I had discussed doing a weekend somewhere and a couple of weeks ago I had mentioned I would like to see Long Beach. We've done a few events there but it was more driving to and then home.  Kim and Steve thought this was a great idea and offered to start looking for a place to stay. They're frequent users of air bnbs and just love them - I've never done that but it sounded interesting. Kim found a lovely place within walking distance of the beach. It was a townhouse - 2 beds, 2 baths, full kitchen, living room, fenced patio, dining area. So if you've never done an air BNB it's a bit different than renting a hotel room -  the initial cost is $177.50 for two nights which is 355. But then you need to add in cleaning fees ($100), service fee ($64) and then occupancy taxes and fees - 58.67 which raises it to $577. BUT then you have to half it - $288 which comes to $144 a night which is reasonable. Plus you're only eating out if you want to so overall it ends up being cheaper - but the best part is you don't end up feeling like you've spent the weekend sitting in your bedroom. It was really a lot of fun. Kim brought thier little dog Piggles since dogs are allowed. 

We left a little early - check in was 3 but I wanted to look around and there was a yarn shop I've been dying to  visit. We arrived in around an hour and a half (not far at all!), the yarn shop was lovely and there was a great pyrenees to pet. Kim called to let us know we could check in early so off we went. The town house was beachy themed, we brought out own coffee, beer, wine, snacks and breakfast food - this I really liked because I do like to eat out, I do not like to eat out all day. We went off to explore the town as the place we were staying was right in town AND 5 minutes from the boardwalk. The stores were very touristy, fun to look in and nothing I wanted to buy. Moving around a lot you tend to lose

your taste for buying random knickknacks. Dinner was at the Lost Roo, food was great. We spent the evening playing a card game and then off to bed. David and Steve cooked breakfast, we lounged around playing with the dog and chatting, then off to the boardwalk. Everyone is distancing and a few people were wearinng masks but it wasn't really necessary, was it? The surf was full of green algae, that apparently is normal for this time of year but oh my, how yucky.  There are whale bones but they did not live up to thier hype. I had visions of Pirates of the Carribean sized bones, rising from the surf  with a house sized rib cage. Sigh. They were poking out of the grass and knee high. They were a bit sad. After that we drove to Cape Disappointment to see the light house ,  then to Oysterville. We went to Long Island, then back home to eat out again. We had a great time and it ended much too soon. David had to meet the heating guy out at the flip but not a big. We had to be out by 11am, so we started the towels and stripped the bed, took out the trash, wiped down the counters - that's the other difference. Did you know the airBNBs rate the guests? If you leave the place a shambles you get a bad rating and then good luck renting again! Since  a lot of them are privately owned it makes sense. So we said goodbye and drove home to unpack, then David left to meet the heat guy. It was fun arriving home in a little over an hour was great. Wash is started and everything is put away, it was a short vacation but it was a lot of fun. 

 

Water, Water.

A couple of weeks ago I heard David go outside at some point during the night- I briefly wondered why but then fell back asleep. FYI - I am not your Go To person for emergencies, I tend to sleep right through them. Years ago our yard was on fire during the night - the whole nine yards including firetrucks, neighbors, etc... yep. Slept right through it. But I digress. I got up a little later to get a drink of water......nothing.  

No water.

 

Here in Oregon you can have a well, city water or....a neighborhood community water system which we have never had. Water can  be quite expensive here, especially when you get inland. We had never heard of community water before. Here is how it works:

Where we live they can't build anymore houses, there are a total of 16 which are supported by one big pump house. The big benefit is the cost - $15 dollars a month for unlimited spring water - no chlorine, no chemicals - it's a clear as a bell. It's actually weirdly clear but we love it. Then there is the downside - you cannot leave your hose running as it will reduce the water pressure to the other houses, not  a big as I wouldn't do that if I had city water either. But the big drawback is if it breaks - you get a leak, the neighborhood is responsible. And did I mention it's an honor system? And not too many are honorable? From what I understand from the neighbors years ago most of the people living here were farmers so everyone was essentially home. If it broke you had a lot of hands. Later, there was a group of retired guys who considered the water system sort of a hobby. And now, now you have a small group that goes out. Unfortunately we have a much larger group of people that hide in thier houses waiting for someone else to fix it. 

David waited til the sun came up, took his shovel and headed to the neighbor's, he and two others worked for about 10 hours - then had to stop. The next day another showed up but David said two of the neighbors on thier daily walk stopped to thank them for their help(??) - I wonder if not everyone knows they are supposed to be helping too. The leak was underground so one of the neighbors called his friend who is a witcher and he came with his dousing rods. David said that was pretty neat and he found the leak pretty fast. This is only the second time it's happened (once before a cow stepped on the line) and thankfully it never goes on for a long time. And it's not all bad, David does enjoy spending time with the neighbors, everyone standing around after telling stories and laughing. I suggested to David maybe they need  a rotating roster but he said maybe when they have the yearly meeting - he said he was pretty sure the lazy neighbors would be raising the roof over that! It's not a huge deal - more of an annoyance - while it's being fixed if it goes on for longer than a few hours they turn it on for an extended period of time so you can shower, wash dishes,etc....   and we do store water just in case - glad it was over fast. 

Happy Halloween!

So, we knew it was going to be  short visit and planned accordingly. With Covid people have been trying to figure out how to the kids can celebrate carefully and still have a good time - I think we did it. Brandi and the girls arrived Saturday morning, they arrived like barnstormers - petting the cat, hugging poppop, up the stairs, down the stairs, tallying what toys they had here, bouncing on the beds, in the potty, outside, on the balcony, finally sitting down to pancakes and sausage, we love every minute. I bought pumpkins to carve which  was done with great enthusiasm, which is pretty much the way they approach everything. The trick or treat was, well, it was a bit trickier this year. People were handing out candy here and there - but they are still pretty little and the houses were too far apart. Thankfully, the town was great - all the local businesses handed out candy so we went uptown and they got to trick or treat for an hour or so. Everyone admired thier costumes, they got enough candy to make them happy but not too much. By the time we hit the last store they were ready to go home - it was perfect. 

Kim, Steve and thier chihuahua Piggles came to dinner - the girls asked about Rueben and we just told them that he was in heaven with Molly, I think they get it to a point, but they did understand he was gone. Piggles is very good with them, enduring endless pets, hugs, little kisses - Kim gently removed him when he was in danger in being over-loved but overall both the girls are very good with animals. We had appetizers and they discovered they do not like Brie - one of them stuffed a chunk in and then loudly announced they had to go brush thier teeth NOW - yuck! We ordered out, since it was a short visit plus Halloween it was easier. Kim and Steve dressed for the girls and the Piggles wore his little costume - it was just fun. We lit the pumpkins with real candles (Nana's old fashioned  - she admits it) and put them on the railing facing in so the girls could admire them. We have no neighbors except for the cows so it worked. 

This morning was just playing in the yard, collecting walnuts and leaves. The winter coats I bought are a tiny bit big which is perfect, I'm amazed at how quickly they are growing. I've been buying clothes for the past couple of months - no longer in the T's, they wear a girls small - they're real kids now. I had washed and detagged everything - ugh, that takes forever. They just need to put a sticker on it and leave it at that - before I can wash them it's a drawn out process of untangling hangers, plastic security things, tags, stickers, tape, bags, etc.... I usually end up with a pile of trash by the time I'm done and  even after all of that one of them was running around still with a tag dangling under the arm of her new coat. 

They left around 1, the beds have been stripped and the washer is running, the house is already too quiet. As much as I miss them it is such a joy to live close enough for a quick visit here and there, I love it - it's such a comfort to know it will NOT be a year before we see them again. We are getting busy, I have not said anything but we are supposed to be getting a puppy in the beginning of December - it was an unexpected and such a happy turn of events! The house is Astoria is on the market, we are making plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas and even a short vacation!!  I'm sure there will be some bumps in the road, aren't there always? But it's so wonderful that even when things go south my best friends and family are just a short car ride away. 

 

Rain.

I continue to heal well, my right leg is pretty much healed but there will be some scars, my left leg is doing better, there will be some scars there to which is good because I hate to be uneven. But the infectioned bites look better, just taking awhile. I'm done with all the injections and now moving on. Here in the fall is the rainy season, ugh. It just rains and rains, fog hangs over everything and it's chilly and grey. We did have a couple of days of quasi sunshine and I got 2/3rds of the lawn done but then.... rain... rain..... ugh. Our yard has been infested with crows and all sorts of birds, the walnuts are ripe and fall constantly, reading outside is just asking to get bonked in the head. And I swear the stupid crows bounce them off and aim for me. Jerks. Walnuts are odd because they have a thick, green covering and don't look anything like nuts, but once they fall the covering rots off quickly and they look just like the supermarket. The birds know this too. There were about a hundred stupid crows the other day, squawking and trying to hit me with walnuts, I chased them off but they just sneak back  - I gave it up. 

We went OUT to Rogues this weekend - and sat inside and stuff with Kim and Steve. David forgot he asked them to help paint so we were doodling around the house when Kim called to see where we were. Then David was all "I thought Julia told you the RE moved the photographer to next week so it doesn't have to be done today" then I was squawking because that was a Total Throw You Under The Bus Fabrication since I didn't even know about the painting. Yeah, you can walk that back David. They were fine with it and we got there an hour later and yes, David paid for lunch the scallywag. Going out to eat these days is a bit complicated, the restaurants are trying so hard to follow the weird guidelines to stay open. you wear your mask in, they have a menu propped up for No Touching, then you order through a plexi-glass screen, take whaever you ordered to drink, get a table number.....and then someone brings you your food? Hum. David had no idea what to do about the tip, I mean we were sort of, maybe served?? Maybe not? They had a big tip jar on the counter so he just stuffed 15% in there and let them figure it out. 

We are slowly working on the puppy thing, it will take awhile but it will happen. Brandi and the girls are coming down for Halloween which should be fun, Kim and Steve will come by to visit. Other than that things have settled down a bit, we are still yardsaling a bit when we find one. We went to one the other day - wow! The road was a winding gravel road so high up my ears popped - but it was fun. I got a few things and so did David, a fun way to spend the afternoon. The house did not get listed this week due to the rain which worked out for David - he wanted to get a few more things finished and then we just sit and wait. Hopefully for not too long. 

 

Changes

There is a buddhist saying that life is static, ever changing. The past four months have been a weird rollercoaster of events from super fun highs to devestating lows. I had my last rabies vaccine injection this past Tuesday, it went surpisingly smoothly and quick, not much fanfare . I have been injected over the past two weeks about 17 times - she asked me if I'd like a flu shot and I very quickly said NO - we both cracked up laughing, out the door I went, done. The bites on my lower right leg are healing up well  - the one on my thigh which was the worst is taking it's time - it's very annoying. I had contacted and sent pictures to the Oregon Wildlife and Fishing to see what they thought - the concensus was a raccoon, a coyote or another dog, but leaning towards the raccoon. The dog one was interesting but whatever it was it didn't make any noise at all and I don't think Rueben would have gone after another dog that aggressively. Not to mention we've never seen one loose dog in the year and a half we've lived here, so one hanging out under the tree next to the house  at 4:30am would be super odd.  I guess I'll never know for sure. 

I picked up Rueben's ashes today - cried of course. I cannot wrap my head around the fact that four months ago I had two silly,lively dogs - eating cheese, playing with each other and hogging the bed - to nothing. The silence here is deafening some days - the hardest part is coming home to just opening the door - no joyful dancing, no rush to go out, nothing. We are starting to look for breeders and I've sent a few emails inquiring but we're going slow. Grief can cloud judgement and I don't want to accidently end up with two irish wolfhounds because that was what was available now and regret it later.

 I miss them both so much. 

We got the bill from the ER - wow. Super glad I have good insurance now! My co-pay was $200 and I have to pay a part of my deductible so the whole thing was $450 which sounds like a lot until you see the bill was over $10,000 - Jeezy pete!! My insurance back in PA would have probably covered the 8 dollars and  65 cents so I'm very grateful.  Ten grand - and  that doesn't even include the 3 following  injections. The The dogs get a booster every year and I think it's 30 bucks, it's crazy how much everything costs. But I'm done and that's the important thing. 

I've been knitting a lot lately, I bought myself a Namaste Train Case in red from Jimmy Bean Wool - they're on clearance for the weirdest of reasons and I really want to write to them to ask but not sure if it would be PC. They are discontinuing the Namaste knitting bag line because - and forgive me if I'm being racially insensitive - the word "namaste" is offensive to some people???? The product line has been around for over 30 years and I cannot figure out how the word is offending people, as far as I know it's hindi for "peace" - I don't know either. Anyone figures it out PM me - but I'm keeping an eye on the website and might order one or two more bags before they are all off the market. I've been knitting up socks and trying out different needles which is fun. A friend of mine gifted me with a set of Neko needles which are like double points but bent in the middle - they worked great. Now I'm trying out Addi Flips which have a short flexible cable in the middle, they are interesting - the size is smaller than I'm used to so hopefully the socks will come out. 

Friday we went to Canon beach with Kim and Steve, we'd never been before. We went to Ecola park first to see the cliffs and the lighthouse. The light house is called Terrible Tilly, no one can get to it! It was shut down like ten years after it was built because it's too dangerous to man, a private concern bought it and now it's full of creamation ashes. Weird! After we went to Canon beach, then out to lunch, then walked around. For east coasters it reminded me very much of East Hampton - shopwise and pricewise!! I did find a yarn shop, Kim was teasing that I can smell yarn and I didn't buy anything. Since I'm trying to knit up the sock yarn I have I cannot even make myself add to the pile, but it's always fun to look. It was such a lovely day and we had a great time. David continues to work on the house, it has been shown twice and it's not on the market yet so keep your fingers crossed! I so want to be done with that too.

 

It Never Gets Easier.

We have owned.....hmm.....8 dogs together through almost 40 years - 8. We've had them pass in their sleep, from very old age, the last 3 all died from aggressive cancers which floors me. We have never had one escape and get run over thank goodness. I'm usually not great about it, who is? but realistic. Your dog will not live as long as you do, we all know that - but this. Since I was fourteen I have never not had a dog. That's almost 45 years of ongoing walks and pets, lapsitting and waking up to being stared at by a party who would like to go out. Now. 45 years of mixing dog food, occasional waving of a well chewed shoe in front of the (fake) sorry dog, cleaning up after a not yet trained puppy, endless strolls around parks, yards and forests. Car rides with the windows rolled down, scrubbing the delighted poo-encrusted roller, shelling out a bazillion dollars for the best kennels when we vacation to exuberant reunions when we return.  

Losing one dog was devestating of course, but we were starting to feel better, had just started asking around about breeders....then Rueben and I got attacked, then we had to put him to sleep - I think my theme song is now Wake Me When September Ends -  and no,the raccoon bites didn't kill him but I do think it accelerated his decline. No difference though, he is gone regardless of the whos and whys. And now, now....

we have no dogs. 

I cannot get over how quiet the house is, when I come home there is no joyous leaping, no barking for me to hurry, no greeting. I have a constant feeling of - it feels like I've forgotten to do something, you know it was something but you just can't put your finger on it.... I am not used to having no reason to go outside many times throughout the day. Over the years I've gotten good walking and reading - I love to read and would take my book out when the dog went out, trailing behind or sitting on a bench under the trees while Molly and Reuben took note of who had been in the yard, marching around Completely Offended when they caught the scent of some local tresspasser. So I take myself out to go sit reading under the trees, it's very much not the same but I do it. The other night I got up around 2:30am and found myself in the living room - it took me a minute to realize I was about to let a non-existent dog out to pee, I guess this will take a while. 

I'm healing well, I did one day at work last week and will be returning tomorrow. I take my last antibiotic pill tonight and although it's still pretty sore all the wounds are healing and are no longer red, angry looking things. I wore pants for the first time in almost two weeks yesterday. My last rabies vaccine is Tuesday - I'll be VERY glad to be done with that! I still have bouts of crying but that is getting less too, the house is just so quiet. Yesterday Kim and Steve met us over at the flip house, they had volunteered to paint - David has lost a lot of time between me and Rueben so he welcomed the help. With the four of us we got all the walls, ceilings and trim done, then we went out to a late lunch at a sit down restaurant - it was nice to have some normalcy in my day back. The flip house should be on the market pretty soon and in the meantime I've started looking a little for when we can a puppy. This has been the longest 3 months ever. 

 

My Rueben.

I hardly know where to start, I cannot believe Rueben is gone. Rueben. My Rueben. With the cancer he had we knew we were on borrowed time, but I think this past week just tipped the scales for him. The stress of the attack, the injuries, all the additional medication.  We went to Seaside on Saturday and he had a ball playing with his tiny friend Piggles, eating cheese, chicken, crackers, lots of pets and hugs for my guy! But Sunday - we could tell he was starting to work and the swelling in his abdomen was worse. Everytime I sat he moved to be near me, he was so quiet and sad - but he tried. Everytime we spoke to him, said his name that tail wagged, his happy face for a brief moment but....

I knew it was time. 

The funny thing is the first couple of weeks after Molly passed I would look at him and think he wouldn't be with us too much longer - no, I don't think I'm psychic or I can predict the future, it was because they had been together so long and so perfectly it was hard to imagine Boo without The Boss. He was quieter after she left us - but still happy. That tail of his wagged the day away, even if you just went to get the mail when you returned Reuben greeted you like you had just come into port from sailing around the world. Loved to snuggle and spoon - early morning David and Boo had a routine that he would sit up in bed with his coffee and Rueben layed on his back with his head against David's chest - it was his greatest joy to start each day with the human he loved best in the universe. And he loved David with all of his fiber - and all of it was returned and more. 

Reuben was born happy and hyper, rarely destructive. He had one incident as a puppy, we had just started keeping him out of the crate while we were out and he had been so good! But I came in and our other dog at the time ran up the stairs - I walked into the livingroom into a sea of ?? foam, fabric, wood? and Rueben. He had taken my brand new wingback chair down to the frame - I got a hold of his collar and quietly put him outside so I wouldn't kill him. I was so mad!! Yet....greatly amused. Rueben was the most cheerful, nonaggressive dog we've ever owned - he never met anyone he didn't like and everyone was a friend. We often laughed that he was a Guest Slut since anyone staying overnight he felt it was his duty to sleep with them and maybe share the pillow. He was the sweetest dog we have ever owned. 

On Monday I called our vet, at 2 pm we arrived - I just wanted to put him back in the car and go home, just for a few more days. Years. There was a blanket on the floor so we could sit with him - it's a quiet room away from everything else. The vete gave him anesthesia first - like with Molly all the stress just flowed off of him, he fell asleep and then as we held him and kissed him goodbye he left us. This is so hard - the house is so quiet now with no boisterous dogs bouncing around, no one eying me for a biscuit. Obviously I know dogs die. I understand that the life span is so much shorter than ours and if you wish to be a dog owner you'll be saying good bye a few times before you yourself pass on. But some dogs are harder to let go of - Molly and Rueben were two of the best dogs I've ever had the honor of being thier friend, companion and family. I'm sure Molly has been waiting for Rueben to continue thier adventures. I hope they're running the elysian  fields together, the sun on thier backs through the tall grass. It was an honor my beloved Rueben, it was an honor. 

 

Shoot me now.

This has been a long haul, hasn't it? Do not ever get bit by a wild animal, the attack takes moments, the aftermath just goes on and on. I am very sore. The bite on my thigh where it really clamped on and caused a lot of soft tissue injury is now black, blue, red, purple and continues to leak - I'm guessing it's due to the depth and according to the doctor I saw today it's also infectioned. My other leg actually has about a dozen puntures ranging from very small to sorta big, not to mention the claw marks parading up the sides. I had posted the pictures on the local community bulletin board to see if anyone could identify what type of animal it was and general consensus is what I originally thought - raccoon. Despite thier cute trash panda persona they're also known as fierce, aggressive and relentless. Other suggestions have been

coyote

bobcat

honey badger

a very short vampire

chucacabra

The multiple injections I've had along with pulling various muscles adds in to the fun and I'm just tired in general. But last night I slept finally! really slept and I'm taking tylenol for the pain, I feel a bit better today. After I got done with the ER I had to make an appointment for the rest of the injections  - ugh. Calling to make a set appointment for  3 days specifically  is a nightmare around here, trying to do it after getting out of the ER makes it worse. You don't call the clinic itself, you call the Scheduling Department (which is about 100 miles away),they look at the schedule and put in for the next available appointment - which works well for things like physicals and evals. I will admit part of the problem is I was not thinking clearly so what the woman was trying to tell me was not getting through. However, the bigger part of the problem was the genius on the other end was trying to make a video appointment for me. For an injection. At the end of the month. Then told me I was being difficult. This went on for about 20 minutes until she said well, maybe I'll transfer you back to the ER and MAYBE THEY CAN HELP YOU. I told her that would be fine which further annoyed her but she did it. The doctor in the ER got right on the phone with me and 5 minutes later I had an appointment for today,

My appointment was for 9:30 and I was all set to drive myself. David took one look at me back in bed again and said maybe for this one he would drive me. Off we went. Got there, in a room, assessed by the nurse, then.......sat. And sat. After an hour the doctor came in apologizing as they are running behind, I completely understand that and was relieved to get started. She proscribed another week of antibiotics for the infected bite, then went off to order the injection and get the camera for pictures of the wounds. I waited.....and waited.....about 40 minutes later the MA came in, took pictures and then down to the lobby ........so I could wait for the nurse to call me to actually get the shot. Two hours after I arrived I finally left, my poor leg was throbbing by then as I cannot sit on hard surfaces for long as it aggravates it. David had forgotten his phone so I was not able to call him, I felt terrible he'd had to sit in the car for over two hours, but I was done, finally

We put on our seat belts.......and the car wouldn't start. 

Thank goodness for AAA! My battery had died and the bolt that holds it on was so corroded he couldn't get it off. But we were only a mile from the shop so he jumped the car, we followed him back to the shop and about 20 minutes later we were on our way home for real.The next two shots will not be as bad - one of the things that took the Dr. so long is rabies vaccines need to be registered with the state or something, that was part of the hold up. Rueben is better today too, the swelling on his back leg is almost gone and he has full use of it again. Kim and Steve stopped by yesterday and brought pizza for lunch, I've been doing Noom for about 6 months and have not had any pizza so it was a fun treat. But on the upside I've lost over 30 pounds - 30 more to go! David has been great through all of this, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate him. 

 

Morning Shinanigans

So, what exactly happened this morning? I got up a little after 4am as usual ( I know it's weird but well, it's me).Since he's on prednisone which makes him pee like a madman Rueben goes out right after I get up.  I put on my shoes, coat, his electric collar. There are no lights and I don't turn on the porch light, I just beep the collar so I can see where he is, it works for us. I know the yard well and enjoy looking at the late stars while Rueben sees a man about a horse. This morning it was raining,  I let him out while I got my umbrella and the next thing I hear is Rueben yipping and barking at something - I still don't know what - growling and snarling - I dropped the umbrella and ran, yelling Rueben's name at the top of my lungs. He was on the ground and in the pitch dark I could see him locked in a fight, I screamed his name and started kicking towards them, not hard but trying to get whatever it was to leave. My foot connected a little, I kicked out again still yelling  expecting it to stop and run away - and that's when it turned it's attention to me. 

It sank it's teeth deep,deep into my thigh and I really started screaming then - you cannot imagine the panic and pain, it would not let go. It finally dislodged and went right back at me - I have about 4 bites on my right leg, claw marks down the entire length. David first could not make out what all that noise was and then bolted out of bed, it was bedlam out in the yard, Rueben was in full gear, I was screaming blindly and that thing was still going at us. He put the light on and started yelling and finally, FINALLY it left. Rueben staggered up to the door, David not realizing I was injured was looking him over. By the time I got to the door the blood was just pouring  - you read about a pool of blood but let me tell you, standing in your own personal pool is a little freaky. David ran and got towels to hold pressure - I could not stop shaking, Reuben got a couple bites on his back leg but seemed ok. I finally calmed down enough to think clearly for a few minutes - I took a quick shower to wash out the wounds, dressed in a skirt to make it easier and off  we went to the ER. David pointed out on the way there that I could now cross Being Attacked By A Wild Animal off my bucket list. 

I enjoyed when asked why I was there to say "I was attacked by a wild animal", it is also the most epic sick excuse EVER. I had texted my equally early riser co-worker to ask if she could let them know I wouldn't be in and after a little sympathy got a request for pictures which I sent because I would have asked for them too. I got some bandages before I went in as I was still rather cheerfully bleeding all over the place. After I got settled on the gurney the doctor came in and a few other people because believe it or not it 's not every day someone comes in looking like a meat pie. The doctor agreed that it was most likely a large racoon, the wounds are not large enough for a bobcat and I'm not sure if I would have survived that. At that point it was decided I would be getting a full course of rabies injections, a tentanus shot and antibiotics since the alternative would be hunting down the animal, killing it and bringing it in. Not to mention it's not normal behavior for a wild animal to keep attacking like that. I sent David home to check on Rueben and  come back. With coffee. Please. 

So, rabies shots. 

They do not give them in the stomach anymore. 

It's given with a large, IM needle and it's multiple shots as they inject around the bites. I got about  8 around the bites on my right leg which hurt, but tolerable. The two deep IM injections I got into my left thigh was historic and epic and any other word you can think of. Wow. Ouch. Not done yet! One more rabies vaccination on my right detoid and a tetanus on my left. Oh, the wounds needs to be washed out, don't they? The nurse asked me to scale my pain as the tech was washing out the deep one on my thigh, I casually scaled it at a 41 until she was done then it was a 4. David came and got me and we headed home, Rueben's back leg was swollen now and he was limping. So off David went AGAIN, this time to the vet. Mr. Boo is now on predinsone, antibiotics and  pain medications, given his current terminal condition this is the last thing he needs. We gave him his pain meds and the prenisone he missed this morning and are just letting him sleep. I have my second rabies shot on Friday morning - yes everything really hurts, I suppose it could have been worse. But honestly, this is bad enough, thank you.