Song of the day: “Forever” by Chris Brown. I’ve got it back on my phone’s alarm tune and yes, it wakes me up with a smile again. The friggin tune, some sort of freaky ta ta ta tata taaa. Aaargh. Drove me insane. This is much better.
So bad news first. This very morning I had to go to the vet with one of our older Huskies and have her put down. The poor thing was diagnosed with cancer about two years ago. It started with a small bump in her lower jaw, but when the vet tested it, it became clear that operating it didn’t have much use, due to the location.
The problem with bone cancer in the jaw (we heard and noticed with another dog in the past) is that it is very aggressive. Sure, it can be removed but due to the bone structure (at least I’m presuming that this is the case) there it will start growing incredibly fast immediately afterwards. The other dog we had with the problem had gone through a terribly difficult and painful operation, only to end up with a jaw that had basically grown shut. *sigh*
Since this is not something we wanted to put Iris (13 year old husky) through, we decided not to operate and just have her live out her life naturally until she could no longer enjoy herself.
This day arrived the day before yesterday when she ceased eating, and basically didn’t want to get up anymore.
Which meant that it was time. So she is, as of this morning, no longer with us…at least, not in the way that matters, except for memories, of course.
She was a great dog. Sweet, unassuming, and a screamer once she got excited. Seriously, there was a plenty a morning when grandpa would come into the house and she would be howling her head of from sheer pleasure. She will be missed, but I am grateful that she didn’t really suffer and that her passing happened in less than a five minutes with nothing more than falling asleep.
On the most part the past few days were spent in the gardening. What with the rapidly warming weather, there is a lot to be done to prepare for summer. Crops need to be hardened for the outside, earth needs to be turned and fertilized and plants planted in-between bouts of watering them all.
The tomato plants in the greenhouse are doing splendid. They’re up to four feet high now, and the tomatoes are already starting to form. We’ve got the heart shaped ones, sandwich tomatoes and a few cherry tomatoes, I think. The rest will be a surprise, because so far I can’t make out the difference yet. Hah.
Today was spent digging in the south part of the yard. It is a particularly secluded spot with little wind and lots of moisture. The peppers did extremely well there so we now have ridges with ten of them. Along with four butternut pumpkin plants, which did well there as well. We only put in one tomato so far, because it just isn’t warm enough for them yet.
Lettuce is doing extremely well at the moment, and the last of the cauliflower need to be put in the ground before it, in turn, gets to be too hot.
According to the weather reports there should be rain within the next few days and even though my body and soul are screaming an extremely theatrical “Noooooh!!!” I do know that we can use every single drop before summer commences. *sigh* We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess.
Yesterday we went to pick up the Daewoo from the shop. We arrived there fifteen minutes to closing time, and they had already put all the cars inside, so the poor guys spent another ten minutes getting everything out again and handing us back the car. It did need new brake shoes, and also a cylinder (also in the brake system. Quick breaking works fine, slow breaking is dangerous), which will need to be done somewhere around next month because this month’s budget is already well underway of being thoroughly shot. Darn it.
Since we were in town anyway, and I had Knight II along for that very reason (he was a hit at the garage, by the way. Apparently the garage dude had two Danes at some point, and he loved the breed…can’t blame him. Sure, Knight II might be bonkers, but he is a darling too) we (big brother and our friend Dani were there too) went for a nice jog near the town’s industrial area. We found a horse path there leading past the river, and we ran there for a bit, allowing Knight II to stretch his legs, and me to get red in the face again. Hah. Seriously though, all things considered it didn’t go all that bad. A definite good side effect is that Knight II is a lot quieter at night when he went for a run…also, he’s eating a lot better these days. Phew.
Dax’s ear has healed enough for me to leave the damage uncovered since this morning. He was happy as a clam about that, and tried to get to it with his tongue for at least an hour, but since his ears are not long enough for that, this is not going to be an issue. Much relief for me, that, because he was so insecure with the sock over his head that he was literally attaching himself to me…an throwing a screaming tantrum whenever he wasn’t allowed to. Jeez.
I’ve got a new drawer cabinet in my bedroom. It is six levels high (wonderfully massive) and since I painted it during the course of the past four days, I put it in yesterday. It looks rather nice, if I do say so myself. And the storage possibilities thrill me. I spent the following two hours sorting through my closet and organizing everything to satisfaction until my horizontal surfaces (through out the room) were once again horizontal.
There was of course laundry, and other small chores, but what the heck. Edits are still going steadily, sending A.T.O.L. closer towards the very middle of the manuscript. Soon I’m going to have to review the query letter again, maybe tweak it a little and then the end of April will be nigh. Yikes. Time goes way too fast.
This morning was also used to get gas and another batch of cement (for the wall, remember?), which then had to be hauled to storage behind my cabin. This meant walking thirteen bags of 70 pounds of cement down the mountain. Yes. I had my fitness today, thank you very much. *sigh*
Now, after a full day in the sun, with only an hour break in the middle for potato salad over paper edits in the shade, I’ve gotta admit to be pleasantly spent and more than willing to call it an early night. Yay.
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