A Christmas Rhyme

It's a very busy week before Christmas

And the dogs are being good at our house.

While Ms. Yellow spends hours relaxing on the back of the couch.     

Sheba is comfy on the forbidden chair...  

  And Charlie is sure St. Nicholas is out there ... somewhere .... 

I'm in the home stretch with my baking done and all but one package mailed.  My cards are nearly all written and mailed. The only thing I don't have is a lot of time to read blogs and catch up on your news.  I hope to be able to do that this weekend.  I hope you all are well, and as always, thank-you for stopping by my blog today, your kind words and friendship!  

~The lovely little Cricket~

The Taste-Tester

Our week ended with my office having our Christmas party at my personal favorite restaurant. It was a delicious meal, and a lot of fun!  I work with a great group of people, even if they aren't all animal lovers.

Gus's week ended with a visit to his regular vet for a check up and to refill all of his medications and supplies. For several reasons, this past week wasn't a particular good week for him.  Gus has lost about 5 pounds that he didn't have to lose in the six months that he's been with us. He's noticeably thin and both of his vets and I feel that it's a combination of two things -- One is loss of muscle, and the other is because he has a mass in his abdomen that we think is not allowing him to absorb needed nutrients from his food. Despite knowing that, it's still  troubling to see his ribs even though he's fed twice as much as the other dogs.

~Gus stalking the lovely Ms. Yellow~

The trip to the vet is getting to be too much for Gus. I'm able to move him easy enough with the harness.  But everything from the slippery floors in the office, his having to stand, walk, falling along with the jostling around, getting in and out of my van, really takes a toll on him.  This time it left Gus almost totally immobile the next day. Thankfully after a good day of rest, he's rebounded and he is up and around.

Today Gus was feeling up to stalking the cat.  He even stayed with me in the kitchen while I did some baking, and was my hopeful taste-tester.

I think it made up for the vet visit.  I know it did for me.               

The Rule Breaker

~Sunrise~

The week has found its rhythm as I've done some Christmas shopping and am working on getting our Christmas cards addressed and mailed.  Our boy Beau who is not one of the main characters at our house took center stage this week. I know I don't write about him often, and it's just because there's not much to tell.  Beau keeps to himself, and sleeps most of the time on a dog bed that he's claimed as his own. I think this is partly due to pain he has because of his chronic ear infections that we can't seem to clear up, no matter what is done, both at home and by the vet.  I've made an appointment at a dermatologist for the end of the month in hopes that perhaps they have a trick or two up their sleeves that will resolve them once and for all.

Beau did return to the ophthalmologist a couple of days ago.  

~Watching people before our appointment~ 

The eye lift he had in September was a total failure and a waste of money.  The only solution to the entropian is surgery. But because of his age, (about 14), the Ophthalmologist does not recommend it.  There is good news however, the two medications are providing relief for his eyes, and they are no longer red and irritated. So we've decided to manage it with the use of medications.

~Waiting for the Opthalmologist~

After Beau's appointment with the ophthalmologist it was back to work for me in the afternoon. To save time, I took him with  me. You may recall how the non-dog-loving-doctor I work for is very understanding and lets me bring the dogs into the office, providing that a few rules are followed. One is that they stay quietly in our break-room. I was with a patient when I heard a "woof."  Then silence.  A few minutes later, another "woof."  It wasn't a distressed woof, more like a "hello?" Then there was another. I thought I'd explained the rules to Beau, but apparently he didn't care. Who knew that Beau was such a rebel?     

-The break-room at my office-

Unfairness and Injustice

The week passed at breakneck speed with work and vet appointments that I'll update you about later.  Computer problems arrived on Wednesday evening (thank-you Carl!) and he seems to have gotten it all sorted out for me since he was the one that caused it. (Below, another appearance of our resident Barred Owl yesterday.  I was only able to snap 2 photos before my camera battery died.)

My day off on Thursday that was supposed to be a relatively uneventful one, turned out to anything but that. It ended with my making a cinnamon creme coffee cake for a co-workers birthday that I baked in a pan that was too small.  The result was a smoke filled house that the Golden's didn't seem too worried about, despite the smoke alarms going off more than once.  I think they were hoping for a bite of whatever it was that was burning at the bottom of the oven.  (recipe here)

Todd however, refused to come back inside until the smoke cleared. I decided it was because he knew better than to come running back into what he thought was a burning house.  He's smart that way.  

The week ended with another visit from the holistic vet to see Gus. As I mentioned last week, Gus really enjoys the extra attention and the treatments.

The other dogs however, as you can hear below in the video, vocally protest to what they see as an injustice of being put into the office while Dr.E is here. Cissy echoes in agreement to the unfairness of it all!