My Sweet Dogs.

 

My Sweet Dogs.

 

The look Thompson gives me when he is told to stop licking or chewing is just heart rending. Poor baby. Both of the dogs know what is being said and asked of them, but having had poison ivy a couple of times in my life, knowing one should not scratch and hardly being able to resist . . . Ah, life is not so easy if one lives with even just allergies.

 

So, Connie has made an “executive decision” and is driving me to the doctor’s office tomorrow morning. She will go in with me so that between the two of us, maybe we will get all the pertinent information. We will then have a meal at Pioneer before making a quick stop at Tractor Supply for mosquito dunks. Each day the hens get clean water, but the baby pool does not get emptied each day where Thompson and Sylvia go wading. Cleaned it out this morning and washed it thoroughly, but maybe a mosquito dunk will keep any wiggly little critters from forming the bad skeeters that bite like crazy. Did ya know that only female mosquitoes bite? Guess they have to have that blood in order to make eggs.

 

The dogs just saw another freaking squirrel outside in the front yard. Stepped out to see if it could be shooed away, but it had already disappeared. Dear Hearts, if you don’t think your AC is doing much, just step outside! Whew!

 

Took some fire starter out to the fire pit and burned the branches and stuff that have been accumulating in there for over a year. Discovered that the fire ants had made a humongous mound inside the pit. Had wanted to move the pit, but will wait until the end of the month when Lance comes up to see about cleaning it out. Think it can be tipped over easily enough, but cleaning up all the shtuff in it will be a horse of a different color. Lance will be better able to deal with the tipping and the shoveling, so waiting will be the wisest course of action.

 

Got a dozen eggs today! Pretty shocking to get that many right now, but if the temperatures keep going up, the egg laying will undoubtedly drop off. Still not getting that one little white egg that tells me that Athena is still a hen in her mind. She stalks around as if she might have decided to start wearing rooster feathers! Silly chicken.

 

SO appreciate my doctor and her nurse. Instead of having to go in to see her, she lets me ask for what is needed and deals with it. Will still see her this Friday, but for now will just take the meds she prescribed. Not many doctors do what Dr. Blackwell does—at least not among the kind of doctors we have here. She reminds me of our old country doctor when yours truly was just a little child. He was the one who gave me a shot of penicillin and then had to give me something else when the reaction showed up almost immediately. Who would have thought that a baby could be allergic to stuff like that? But he was also the doctor that knew my heart was damaged by a bad case of strep. Granddad thought his little girl had diphtheria and called the doctor before my parents could say no to the expense. Shaking my head and remembering how much love that old man showed his children and grands.

 

My sweet neighbor just came up and talked to me about how to kill fire ants without having to use any poison. He knows my hens mean a lot to me. So, like taking care of the fire ant beds on church grounds where children play, one can use soda water that will suffocate the ants and not leave any chemical residue. Imagine that! Learn something every day! And he said that the squirrels are about to drive his dogs wild, too! Guess we should be glad it is not armadillos!

 

 The dogs helped me finish off the squash casserole today. Think they liked it pretty well. But then, they also helped me later to finish off some broccoli with cream cheese and butter on top. Mighty tasty. Think this was one of the veggies the boys brought over one day that was immediately cooked and put in the freezer for later. Still have enough for one more serving for us. Kinda funny that servings include two hungry dogs’ appetites.

 

Back in the west it looks as if the clouds are banking up and getting ready to do something. Not sure if it will be rain, but the computer always has its opinion: “rain coming.” We will see. If it cools things down somewhat, why not! Well, it’s not like anyone has any choice about weather anyway.

 

Honestly don’t feel all that wonderful tonight. Jennifer said that she felt terrible all day Monday, and now Reece is sick, too. A quick note from a sweet lady named Frances L. said that she was sick enough that her husband took her to the ER. Hope this yucky stuff is not something going around. At least adults don’t get that hand, foot, and mouth stuff that the little ones get. That is going around as well. Jenn says that it stopped when everyone was so terribly conscious of cleaning hands and faces, but now it is back with a vengeance. Guess she is about right on that one. Sooner or later we all need to be more careful about who we are around and how much stuff we touch. No sense in getting paranoid, but still. Don’t think all this pandemic stuff has gone away or is going totally away. So, meanwhile, we should take precautions.

 

From the flowers in the yard to the dogs on the couch, so much gives me joy each day. May each of us let the Creator of such beauty and kindnesses know that we recognize the source. Rest well and know that you are loved.