Alfred – The Hermits' Rest

Scary or not scary, books and dogs

What’s a book or movie that genuinely scared you?

Appropriately for today, I think, the first book that popped into my mind as genuinely scary was The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood. That book’s all-too-plausible dystopian future has come way too close to reality recently. Judging by how often women still dress as characters from the book during protests, I think it’s stuck with many of us. I could not bring myself to watch it on television or to read the sequel, The Testaments, though maybe I could try.

If you’ve not read this book, do so. It’s so easy to gradually shift a culture into something really frightening. As a woman, I’m always aware of how thinly societal norms hide the embedded sexism.

Blah blah. Today was strange in some ways, as well as a bit scary. Our weekly Mexican lunch was quite the fiesta, as you could imagine with a group of Democrats in an overwhelmingly Republican Texas place. Margaritas were drunk, cheering occurred, and I smiled so much that my cheeks hurt. The election results in the US have really shocked us, pleasantly.

I liked that we had good talks about what needs to be accomplished by the newly elected officials and what some potential issues might be. We each named what we would like addressed first. I wanted to get ICE out of our cities and back protecting borders. Others talked about returning Roe V Wade to its previous status. The one we ended up liking the best was getting rid of that Hegseth guy. Can that be done? Not sure.

And now for dogs

Scarier stuff came later in the day when Dr Amy and her team came to look at our sick dogs and advise us on how to deal with the flea invasion here. It’s so nice of her to make house calls. But then, when she comes here, she gets close to a day’s worth of patients. And a LOT of money.

Carlton inspecting our fine new stepping stones in anticipation of the dreaded visit.

Vlassic has been showing signs of pain in his rear legs, and been unable to get onto the couch and can’t walk far with Lee’s brother. He was our main concern. I hate to see my little buddy in pain. He received a shot and some pain medication to help him heal after some rest indoors. I hope it works. He also is having bloodwork done, as are Harvey and Alfred, who has been panting a lot and coughing strangely.

Today V is up to bothering the FedEx driver. No jumping though.

Harvey also got looked at, since he has been slowing down a lot. The issue is not his liver like we thought. He was severely dehydrated! I never thought of that, since he drinks plenty of water. Dr Amy believes his kidneys or liver might be causing the problem. He received a bag of IV fluid, which the poor vet tech had to hold up by hand, since they didn’t bring one of those IV poles.

Alfred got evaluated and they aren’t sure what his breathing issues are from. His arthritis is progressing, though, so Lee is adjusting his medication timing. His flea issue was so bad they decided to shave him. This time went way better than the first time we tried a number of years ago. Dr Amy has gotten very good at it. We laughed that she’s a very expensive grooming service for the most exclusive of clients. Dang, he had a lot of hair. And fleas. That poor dog. Well, now he’s all fixed up, including nail trimming (any dog that got sedated also got a trim).

Penney, Carlton, and Benito lucked out and didn’t have much done to them, but…

After much debate, we gave each dog the flea medication that lasts an entire year. It’s full of microbeads. This alone could explain a high vet bill. Ka-ching. To do this, each dog had to be weighed. This involved many hijinks.

Benny walked into the mobile vet truck, stood on the scale, and accepted his shot. He absolutely loved the vet truck. No problem. Vlassic got weighed ahead of time, so got to sleep through his flea shot.

Harvey was carried in by the vet assistants.

At this point I fell asleep. Oops.

Harvey, too, was out of it! Do I remember his weight? No, because I was off getting Carlton, who doesn’t like vet visits much. I was able to slip a leash over him as he tried to get into the house. I felt triumphant, because that was the easiest time I ever had getting him vet-ready. But I was so wrong.

I confidently took him to the screen door to go to the truck. But, no screen door for him! He proceeded out the dog door. I couldn’t get out the human door without dropping the leash, and I knew he’d take off immediately. So. I went out the dog door. Oh boy, am I glad no cameras were present for this undertaking. It was beyond awkward. My knees and elbows suffered, and I had to rotate my hips. Then I had to stand up. I’m fooling myself if I think I’m as spry as I used to be.

The good news is that Carlton just stood there and watched me through the contortions. But I wasn’t done. He was NOT interested in going anywhere. So I carried him, and at 100 pounds less than Alfred (i.e., 47 lbs.), it was like carrying a bag of horse food all that way. At least he let me carry him and was fine for the actual weighing and injecting.

Penney ended up requiring me, Lee, and the very patient vet tech to get her corralled and leashed. That was Lee’s turn to end up awkwardly on the ground. No photos. Once leashed, she walked right in, weighed, and got her flea meds. Once in the truck, she wanted to stand watch over the slowly awakening Harvey. It was kind of sweet.

Last but not least, we had to weigh Alfred. He was in the house recovering and not steady on this feet. So the vet tech and I got him going by putting a towel under him for support. That worked until we got to the steps. Alfred doesn’t do stairs. So, the vet tech held up his rear while I helped his feet onto each of the three steps. Eventually he was up, weighed in at 147 and then wagged his still-bushy tail at us. His heart sounded good, too, which ruled out one potential cause for his weird coughing episodes (congestive heart failure).

I forgive you all for removing my magnificent fur.

Getting him back down the stairs was equally challenging. He had to sit and rest afterwards, so the vet tech took the opportunity to shave his tail, which had been sorta hacked up in an attempt to get rid of the twig collection in it. When she was done, it looked like she’d removed another dog.

What a long adventure for all involved, canine and human. No wonder I fell asleep while writing last night! But today Harvey looks great and all dogs have forgiven us, except maybe Alfred.

Look how perky Harvey is (for a dog of his age and health issues)!

Today’s a new day and I’m daring to wear a political shirt, now that Greg Abbott is rolling into the sunset.

And my morning was made complete, because I was out feeding birds when I heard my favorite migration sound: the Sandhill Cranes! It was a small flock, but they came close enough to see them well. Do click an image to see the big birds!

On that squawking note, it’s back to work for me. I think there’s less of a chance that The Handmaid’s Tale will come true now.

Very happy with these stepping stones. Much less mud will get tracked in.

Loyalty and Devotion

Sometimes it hits you who your true supporters are. Tonight I know.

Gratuitous image of a circle around the sun.

Tonight, as often is the case, the large dogs have been barking. Occasionally, Penney goes out and frantically barks then runs back in. After a couple of hours, I started to wonder what the fuss was all about. I mean, I’ve seen marks from armadillos, skunks, and coyotes near the fenced-in area. I also know the dogs don’t like the owls to come too close.

I looked for “skunk” in the free photos on WordPress. There were three images of this mammal and over 20 photos of marijuana. Hmm.

I was right. When I went out I heard the coyotes in the distance. They’re often closer, so I wasn’t concerned. But someone else was. My great protector.

I looked up and a large, white blur was barreling toward me. It was Alfred. When he got to where I was on the back porch, he placed himself in front of me, between me and the perceived coyote threat. He gently started pushing me backwards. I just hugged his fluffy, matted mass and told him what a good dog he is. I tried hard not to start crying.

The big guy. He’s brave about everything but grooming.

The urge to protect is strong in these guardian breeds! I’ve probably mentioned before that he always places himself between me and men he doesn’t know, like delivery drivers and such. He is indeed my great protector. I admit it makes me feel good to have this devoted companion on my side.

(FYI: once he knows someone, he doesn’t even bark except to say hi. I never know when good friends, my son, my brother-in-law, the pool guy, or the house cleaner are here, because he doesn’t bark.)

Back to Life, with Dogs and Hotels

There was something like regular life last night and today. Work was normal. Animals were normal. Weather was spring-like.

Lee and I tried our darnedest to watch a Nature show about animals in the Rocky Mountains. However, Goldie decided to watch with us. Wolves and coyotes made her run out and bark away at the intruders. She liked the elk, but when they went into a city and caused traffic jams, the car horns made her run out to see who was visiting. This continued for most of the show.

(By the way, she also tried to ear Mr. Robotto again.)

Goldie had a love/hate relationship with this bear and her cubs.

Luckily she loved Grizzly 399, who had triplets. As the photo shows, she was fascinated. we were glad Penney ignored it and Carlton watched quietly.

Alfred has been having a hard time. A couple of days ago I noticed blood on the floor. No, Goldie wasn’t in heat. It was Alfred! He had a wound on his side. It hurt. I’ll spare you photos. So we sprayed Cut Heal on him, which pissed him off but stopped the bleeding.

We still don’t know what happened. We looked everywhere but found nothing suspicious. No one shot him, either. He’s been safely in our dog area. So, Lee gave him antibiotics and pain killers. He was sad for one day, but has perked up. Naturally, he rolled in dirt, which caked in the ointment. But hey, no blood.

There hasn’t been any other drama, just work, knitting, worrying about family, and looking for signs of spring. Here’s are some flying friends.

I drove to Austin today for a much-needed haircut. I finally got it short enough. On the way I saw some tornado damage that made me sad. On Chandler Road, the house with the dog training space looked awful and their neighbors had horse barn damage. I hope the horses were ok. I saw a couple that looked ok.

In my old neighborhood it looked much more spring-like than at the ranch. 80 miles south makes a difference! I love the redbud trees and Texas Mountain Laurel. Ahh.

My former neighbor’s yard was full of birds.

Another normal thing that happened was getting to go to book club. It was so great to see folks I really care about in person again. Plus I met Marsha, who bought the Bobcat Lair, which was a pleasure. And the discussion is always good. I get to host in the summer. I guess it will be at the pool.

And now I’m in that same weird hotel, but tonight in a quiet room. Ahh. I enjoyed trying out night mode on my phone camera.

Minor Miracles

One of the things I’m most grateful for is that little miracles keep popping up in life, and they keep me moving forward with a good attitude. Yesterday was filled with these wondrous occurrences.

After this, we even had a few drops of rain (and it rained a LOT to the north of us).

The first one was so many people reading the blog the last couple of days. I guess tagging a post “death” brings in readers, but really, the hits were a testimony to how much my friends care about each other. Thanks to all who said such kind things about Stephanie, Terry, Beth, and Alston.

Next came an answer to my prayers (more like a response to my internal curses). The County finally, at last, por fin, made a stab at fixing the road that runs by the Hermits’ Rest. Thanks, Precinct 2, for doing this before we lost another tire or shock absorber to your potholes that were becoming dangerous craters.

They put down some black stuff, and at least for the moment (i.e., until it rains again in a month or two), you can drive the speed limit! No more weaving and trying to judge which set of holes was less bad for your car. No more coming to a complete stop before daring to go up the hill to the cemetery. Wow.

Heading toward the cemetery. You can see they didn’t bother to cover the parts of the road without potholes, but that’s okay.

It felt bizarre going down the hill last night and not getting that feeling that you’re on a carnival ride. We feel so fancy now.

Maybe the people across the street complained. Since they are Cameron natives and from a Good Milam County Family, their complaints would be listened to. Gee, I hope all the cement trucks and heavy equipment for building our pool doesn’t mess up the roads again (or the trucks full of corn, cotton, or whatever).

And to me, this was an actual miracle: Alfred actually came up and asked to have me pull some of his tons of excess hair off yesterday. He even came back for more when I got tired of it. It now looks like it snowed in many parts of our property, but Alfred seems much happier. Good dog.

And this felt like a minor miracle, too, like a gift from my friend Terry. One of our friends found some pictures of us having parties at a conference we all attended. There were pictures of us having a movie night as well as us laughing so hard while reading a book about baby platypuses that we lost the ability to speak.

Paulette, Barbara, and Terry during our laugh fest. It’s been wonderful sharing fun memories of our dear friend. Photo by Elisabeth Lewin.

I’ve missed these positive memories about my supportive group of friends from back then, the majority of whom are still my friends now. It’s a miracle to have such lasting connections.

Movie night at the “Technology Room” at an LLLI conference, laughing with my friends Jo and Dave. Our lives have changed a lot, but we keep in touch. Photo by Elisabeth Lewin.

And finally, Lee and I went on a nice ride out in the country last night, to enjoy the daily miracle of a Texas sunset after a day that wasn’t too hot or humid (I barely sweated when I rode Apache around 5 pm). With all this open space, I enjoy either a lovely sunrise or a pretty sunset nearly every day, even when the air isn’t full of dust or smoke from fires and such. Or rain from hurricanes, which we won’t have, but our friends to the east are having way too much of.

Think about what miracles surround you, whether from people or Nature (yes, people are part of Nature; I realize that). These things help you get through illnesses, deaths, work stress, and more. Don’t forget to share your miracles with others! It helps to hear them!

Reluctantly, the Dogs Have Their Vet Visit

Every year there are more dogs to look at here at the Hermits’ Rest. It makes the fee for the vet to come to us rather than us going to her quite the bargain. Yesterday, while I was in Austin away from the heat, Dr. Amy came out to see all seven dogs (Alfred, Goldie, Harvey, Carlton, Penney, Gracie Lou, and Vlassic). I always feel like I’m forgetting one, but it’s probably because Fiona is the size of Alfred.

They didn’t get rid of all my grass burs.

The big deal was that Alfred got his big problem dealt with, his dew claws. Both of the ones on his back legs have been problematic since he showed up. They grow in a circular shape, and eventually start growing into his leg, leading to pain and infections. Every time we cut them, he has to be sedated, and too much sedation isn’t good for dogs like him. So, we came to the decision that he’d need to have them removed, even though we’d wanted to avoid it.

So, when he finally got zonked out, they put sterile cloths under him where he fell (the floor in the entry to the house), and did it there. Lee has instructions for caring for the wounds and keeping him out of pain. He already walks better. Let’s hope this makes a big difference in Alfred’s quality of life.

The other dogs got ALL their many shots (including rattlesnake vaccine), got de-wormed, and checked for heartworms (all negative). Lee says they all are getting a bit skittish. Maybe the horses warned them about vaccines?

We knew there’s have to be another sedation, because Vlassic was awful last time they went to trim his toenails, but his sharp toenails are a problem for poor Jim (and the rest of us, to be honest). When they went to get him, he showed up with a big…thing…on his nose!

Both Lee and the nephew had been playing with him earlier in the day, and he was fine then. Whatever it was happened during the afternoon yesterday. Dr. Amy said it looked like an encounter with something sharp, like a cactus or barbed wire (things we have in abundance).

It’s just horrible looking, though he doesn’t act upset. We have stuff to put on it twice a day, so it doesn’t get infected or worse. If he isn’t better in two weeks, she will try to remove it. It’s very weird that it came up so fast! Keep him in your thoughts. At least his toenails look way better!

In other ranch news, chickens laid eggs in one of their new laying box choices, so I took the two that didn’t work out away. Now let’s see if the young hens ramp up and start producing.

And Drew was so happy to see me when I got home that it made up for the fact that I had a tire blow up about a quarter mile from the ranch entrance. I knew those potholes would be my downfall! But, I was driving slowly, so I didn’t lose control, and it’s entirely possible to get it fixed, eventually. I’m not going to stress about that!

Yeah, Maybe Goldie Is Happy

Perhaps I’m posting too many dog blogs, but who cares? It appears that the dogs have come to truces and are enjoying each other. There are still occasional growls and snaps (Penney and Harvey), but we all had such a fun and funny day that I had to share. Goldie had breakfast in my office, for privacy.

Then she and Harvey joined Lee for some couch chatting time while he ate his breakfast. It was, I guess, cozy. Good thing she is gentle with furniture.

Much of today she stayed with me, but she did figure out the dog door at last, so she could go out. Carlton and Penney and Harvey made it mighty snug in my office, but they were pretty quiet!

After work (and a fantastic conversation with my wonderful dear friend formerly known as Nancy Jo), we all went out to play. At least it wasn’t as hot as yesterday! After running around, they had to cool off.

Alfred and Goldie looked like luxury liners out in the big pond. After explaining to the two guardian dogs that they did NOT need to bark at one of the cows, we all ran back. Well, Alfred and I walked.

I sat on the porch for a while to enjoy the breeze. Since the dogs were cooler, they could play. Carlton and Goldie looked like they were dancing.

That tired them out, so they got on the ground to rest. Then they rolled.

And, as I knew it would happen, even Alfred rolled. He looks so happy.

I missed getting Harvey rolling, but there was quite a lot of it. The grass is so beautiful right now; who could blame them?

Were you worried that Penney didn’t get to play? Not to worry. She stayed upstairs with Lee, but Harvey went up and wrestled with her when we came back in.

Now we are all cooling off again. I think Goldie is settled in.

Geez. She is a big dog.

Gracie, the littlest Hermits’ Rest dog, spent the afternoon on the porch in her favorite chair. But she did get exercise. She moved to her favorite INDOOR chair. Cutie.

Alfred the Brave, and a Scary Vet Visit

Once again, I was in meetings all day, 8:30-7:30. It won’t be that way too much longer, but I have a tired brain. Meetings meant I couldn’t be there for the annual shot day for the dog pack, where Dr. Amy drives her mobile office up to the ranch and get it all done with little stress.

There were lots of surprises, according to Lee. I wish I’d been there to see the dogs’ true personalities shine through. Gracie apparently took everything like a champ. Good girl!

No surprise here, but Carlton was in perfect health. He was also well behaved. That’s my boy.

Harvey was not our big brave boy. He cried and shook. But, he was well behaved and let them take care of him. Surprise! And he was not called out for being overweight! Double surprise!

I’m a big softy. But I’m not too big and soft.

Penney was not having anything to do with all those strange veterinary people. Then she noticed the other dogs were getting what she wants more than anything in the world: attention. Lee said she figured that out and ran over to get in between the techs and the other dogs. She is truly an Attention Hound.

I just want petting, even if I have to get shots.

And then there is Vlassic, the nicest dog in the world, right? When they drew blood, it hurt. He yelped and tried his damnedest to get away. He even snapped his teeth at a tech (a thing he does even when not afraid). So, he had to get tranquilizer. That let them also trim his nails, which will sure make Anita happy.

Butterfly break. I have no Vlassic photo, because he’s zonked out at Jim’s RV.

There’s one dog left, big Alfred. The plan was always to anesthetize him. He had to get his dewclaws trimmed again, because they were almost grown back into his leg.

While he was out, Lee asked them to look at a spot he’s had on his side for a while. It looked to us like he had a burr in his fur infect his skin. Imagine Lee’s surprise when they shaved the area and it revealed what actually happened.

He’d been bitten by a very large snake. They guess it was a couple of weeks ago. We never noticed a change in his behavior, other than a bit of lethargy a while back. And if it was swollen, we couldn’t tell for all his hair.

It’s good Alfred is so big. And it’s good he had the rattlesnake vaccine. It gave him some protection. But dang, that poor dog! Out there protecting us and being brave, and never complaining.

In fact, Alfred has been acting happier, more energetic, and more fun that he ever has. His joy at seeing us and playing with us is so endearing. I’m glad he’s okay. I’m glad we are able to keep all these dogs safe and healthy. It’s a commitment.

Alfred Takes a Long Strange Nap

Today was a very different day for Alfred, our immense Anatolian Shepherd dog. We had thought maybe we’d get by this year without having to anesthetize him to groom him. He’d done a lot better than last year, thanks to Carlton gnawing off many of his burs.

But then we noticed one of his huge double dewclaws had formed a circle and grown into his leg. It made him limp. That had to be dealt with!

So, our friendly mobile vet, Dr. Amy, who has probably funded her cool trailer off our pets, drove over to deal with our big, sweet boy.

The nice thing is that he got sedated in the foyer, on his rug. He didn’t even know what happened. Just he suddenly had to NAP NOW.

They fixed his nail and trimmed all the others, which we certainly can’t do when he is awake. Then he had a nice snooze for an hour or so.