Painful

Painful for me to look at, and absolutely painful for Tandie, without a doubt. She's laying very still, staring into space, but every so often she shifts around to get more comfortable. (Not possible, from what I can see.) Dr. Jeff was quite descriptive in his narrative of her surgery today. Let's just say he had to dig deep to get the cysts out, and we hope this doesn't have to happen to Tandie again very soon.



Oh, Tandie, I'm so sorry you have to endure this pain. Let's pray tomorrow is a better doggie day.

Heaven On Earth

All I need to satisfy my sweet tooth: Breyer's Vanilla Ice Cream and A&W Root Beer to make a Root Beer Float. (Must be Breyer's, must be A&W, no substitutions, please.)

All Chris needs to satisfy his sweet tooth: a huge bowl of Breyer's Vanilla covered with Hershey's chocolate syrup. (Must be Breyer's, must be Hershey's, nothing else is the same.)

Don't tell the dentist. We'll deny everything.

Tandie's Turn

It's was the old girl's turn at the vet this morning, time for her annual check-up and more importantly, time for Dr. Jeff to take a look at her most recent lumps. She's had surgery twice before to remove fatty cysts from her side and neck, thankfully nothing to be worried about. This time though Dr. Jeff is concerned about the lump by her throat since it feels hard, unlike the usual fatty cysts that are softer. He didn't hesitate to say she needs to come in ASAP for surgery - the sooner the better, so we've got an appointment for early Tuesday morning.

Fortunately Tandie is an easy-going friendly dog - she tolerates the poking, prodding and needle sticking of an annual visit without a fuss. She loved the vet tech and could hardly stop licking his face while to talked to her. Oh, to be happy and carefree like a spoiled dog ... no worries at all.

Dr. Jeff volunteers his time at a number of local animal shelters helping with the care of their animals. He and his family have many pets in their home just like we do - he's got a big heart and wishes that every stray and abandonded pet had a good home. We've done our share of rescuing - we're up to 3 dogs and 4 cats and swear there will be no more - we're out of room! Those of you who read my silly little blog - do your part when you can, and adopt a pet from a shelter! They'll love you forever.

Tyson's New Look

Poor Tyson is cursed with bad hair - layer upon layer of silky gold and white dog hair. (His paperwork at the vet labels him a "blonde." That would explain a lot of his spastic behaviours!) During the summer he gets incredibly hot (so we humans assume, anyway) and though we've tried to trim him with our dog clippers, his hair is simply unmanageable. Too many layers, too much for the clippers to handle. His belly hair hangs down in wisps and he comes home from our walks in the park with all sorts of twigs and burrs sticking out from his fur. His back end is a tangle of fine white fur that resembles a shaggy petticoat - not very manly at all.



We gave him a good bath last weekend in hopes of taming his unruly fur, thinking we could comb out some of the excess - nope. He was a wet smelly mess for hours as he dried off. Pathetic. Doesn't he look like a poor little homeless doggie that needs to be rescued?? We concluded it was time for the professionals to intervene.

I made an appointment at the vet (for his annual check-up, and to get proof of his current rabies vaccine) and at the groomers at PetSmart. We headed off to Dr. Jeff's at 8:30 Saturday morning where he was declared healthy but overweight (weighs 43 lbs, should be closer to 35 lbs). Later in the day we went for a ride to PetSmart for his 4:00 appointment at the doggie spa. He was a little reluctant to go with the groomer, but by the time we picked him up at 8:30 he was one happy guy! We could hardly believe our eyes - his new look is stunning! Tyson looks like a young puppy again, and he seems .... slimmer!

I swear he was grinning from ear to ear all the way home, knowing how good he looks. I can only imagine that he must feel sort of "naked" when he plays outside and the breeze blows across his skin - there's certainly not much fur any more. Our conclusion: money well spent! Tyson's conclusion: I am so cool!

Attack of the Yellowjackets

"Yellowjackets account for about half of all human insect stings. Unlike honeybees, their stinger is not barbed, and they can sting many times in succession. They can be especially aggressive in defense of the nest. Stinging and injured yellowjackets release a chemical alarm pheromone that attracts other guard workers."

Well, I guess that would explain why they got really, really mad when I was pounding a nail in the deck, about 6 inches from their nest. I had no idea at the time that they even had a nest, and that my pounding would cause such a problem. I ended up being chased into the house by a couple of these guys, one of which burrowed into my hair and stung me on my scalp. OUCH (*#^!%*^) I was the only one at home at the time, so I ran down to a neighbor's house (gotta love having an EMT close by!) holding an ice cube to my head. Heather checked and found no stinger, just a bump ... I took my melted ice cube and went home, my scalp stinging like crazy for the rest of the evening.

This past weekend I asked the hubster to take a look out on the deck, because I had discovered to my horror, that a suspicious noise was coming from a support column on the deck, in the area where we had noticed the bees. The yellowjackets had been quite busy - most likely thousands of them - working their way into the cracks around the hollow column. When I put my ear up to the siding, I could hear the sound of yellowjackets "clicking" around and bumping into the sides of the column inside. Very creepy. Just picture a hollow rectangular column, about 10" X 12" in size, with the interior filled with angry yellowjackets. **shudder**

First thing Monday I called a pest control company and we set an appointment for Wednesday morning. Two female technicians showed up in a pick-up truck filled with pest-killing goodies. They came back to the deck and nodded knowingly as they sized up the situation, laughing (sympathetically) when I told them about pounding in the nail. They discussed their game plan and headed back to the truck to put on white Tyvek coveralls, gloves and hats. I watched from afar as they mixed up some chemical dust and filled a very loooong wand that would allow them to stay about 8 feet away while injecting the dust into the column.




I hovered by the back door and peeked out every few minutes to see what was happening. I could see dozens of angry yellowjackets buzzing around, and "poofs" of dust as they injected the column with the dust. (That blue glass ball is the item I was hanging up two weeks ago, when this whole saga began.) After about 15 minutes they declared the process finished, saying that most of the yellowjackets were probably dead, and over the next week those remaining would track through the dust and die off. Now that's good news! I can go out and water my flowers without fear of being stung again. Once a season is enough! I'd be really interested in seeing the inside of that column one day - if Chris every gets serious about tearing down the deck and building a new one, I guess we'll see what's left of the nest.

On a happier note, I did see a happy little goldfinch riding on top of my black-eyed susans while the yellowjackets were being "dusted."