RIP Rocco

Garden or Jungle

It's hard to believe that it is August and it is still this green.  Usually by this time things are starting to dry out and burn up with the summer heat and no rain.  This has been a "different" year as it rained in July.  Rain water is like a magic ingredient.  Everything has grown so much!  I got behind in "nipping" back the tomato plants and they are huge.  One night a high wind tipped them all over (cage and all). There are not a lot of tomatoes on them either.  I have heard of other people having that result this year too.

On Sunday I posted a blossom from the one volunteer pumpkin plant that came up this year.  I had lots of pumpkins last year.  I still have frozen pumpkin in the freezer so I didn't plant any this year.  One plant came up and I left it to grow.  It has gone crazy--taking over the whole garden with huge leaves and lots of blossoms.   I'm not sure if we will have many pumpkins grow to maturity before it freezes, but I'm giving it free reign to do it's best.

I only planted two pepper plants this year.  They are the biggest plants I've ever had, but I'm still waiting for the peppers to grow.  Other years I've had small plants loaded with lots of large peppers.  It is just a different year.

I planted four hills of cucumbers, because we had plenty of relish and pickles left.  They have really produced vines.  The cucumbers are coming now tho and I will need to share with the neighbors.   I'm glad now that I really didn't plant a lot of garden.  I just haven't had time to tend it or harvest it.  Cucumbers that taste like a cucumber are such a treat! 

Thank you to all of you who have expressed your concern and prayers for Rocco.  It has helped me a lot too.  I think I just needed to share my burden with all of you.   I was pleased to see Rocco laying on his back sleeping.   He hasn't slept like this since he started having symptoms.  I think this is a sign that he is feeling less dizzy.  He is walking some better, but time hopefully will be the needed healer.  Michelle was home for a couple days and he enjoyed that.   He spends a lot of time sleeping.  He's eating and drinking regularly, so that is probably a good sign.  

No sewing done yet.  I spent some time organizing yesterday afternoon--maybe that will help get me motivated.  lol

I'm not avoiding you.

 Rocco and I aren't avoiding you.  We are just hanging out and not doing much to blog about.  Rocco has improved in the last week.  He hasn't been circling and not much head tilt.  He is unsteady on his feet, but mainly I think he is blind and just unsure of himself.    We are doing some eye drops Dr Cooper recommended.  He said they might help and wouldn't hurt anything.  We are really sad for him and still hoping for improvement.  I had to take DH to the field this morning and it breaks my heart that Rocco has no interest in having his head out the window.   The cats can't figure out what is wrong.  He no longer chases and plays with them.  They seem to know something is wrong and gather around.  I know I'm sounding depressing and I am.  I just pray with time things will be better.  It's hard to not see Rocco enjoying life and making us laugh with his antics.  I have been doing a lot of reading and holding him.  I don't want him to get depressed like me.  lol  I hope our love can pull him through.

 

I thought I would show you how my English Ivy has gone wild.  I usually pinch it back, so it doesn't get too large.  I've been neglecting it and it has taken advantage of it by growing and growing.  I probably should re pot it, but don't really have a cute container to transfer it to.  I never think to look for something when I get to a place that might have something.  As you can see I still have the July  runner on the library table.  I love red, white and blue any time of year.

 

This is the Silent Sunday kitten that was sitting in the pan.  The black barn cat "Blackie" (very original name for a black cat) brought 4 little kittens to the house for feeding.   They were pretty timid at first, but this one and a black one are tame now.   He is  such a pretty gray cat.  It's fun to see them tear around the yard in the mornings and evenings when it cools off.  They miss Rocco chasing them.  In fact I hold the little black one while Rocco does his business or she will jump on him.

DH is busy mowing, raking and baling.  The wheat is ready for combining and we are waiting for the crew to come--not very patiently either.   I packed him lunch today so he can keep working without a stop.  I'll have left over shrimp fettuccine alfredo from supper last night for lunch.  I was so hungry for something that wasn't cooked on the grill.  DH isn't much for pasta, but I haven't made this for a year.  It was a treat for me and ok with DH.   He's more of a "show me the beef" and potato guy.

I'm going to try to harden my heart and do some sewing this afternoon. 

Vestibular Syndrome

Rocco has been diagnosed with Vestibular Syndrome, maybe.  Remember that fun week-end I had?  When we came home that is when it all started.  At first we thought it was just his eye sight from his previous eye injuries. He had gone totally blind.   So on Tuesday of last week I took him to Aberdeen to Dr. Cooper for an exam.  Dr. Cooper confirmed that he had no pupil reaction in either eye.  He couldn't explain why suddenly the vision had failed.  I returned home with a heavy heart, but hopeful that Rocco would adjust to being blind eventually. 

 On Wednesday, he began tilting his head, circling and definitely showing signs of weakness on his right side.  He was sick to his stomach too.  Instead of the 90 mile trip to Aberdeen we went to Miller to see our regular vet.  I had done a lot of reading on the Internet.  Could he have an ear infection or a stroke?   Had he been exposed to poison some how or injured his head or back?   I had also read about Vestibular, but it is more common in older dogs and Rocco only turned 4 in July.   Dr. Cain examined him and gave him a steroid shot for possible inflammation.  "Let's see if he improves".  Poor Rocco, so dizzy he can hardly go to the bathroom.  He was very lethargic.  His eye sight seems to have returned to what it was before these symptoms started.  Dr. Cain said there was light reaction in his left eye.

Yesterday day we returned to Dr. Cain.  Rocco isn't circling as much and doesn't have quite as severe a head tilt.  Dr. Cain thinks it is Vestibular Syndrome.  He did x-rays and blood work.  There doesn't seem to be any obvious irregularities in the x-rays.  His blood work and temperature were normal.  So we are just waiting for Rocco to improve.  Today he is very lethargic and has vomited a couple times.  He is drinking water, but not eating today.  He's very unsteady on his feet.  I carry him outside for potty breaks.

He seems to be most comfortable being held.  I'm not getting much done, but it makes me feel better to hold him too.

Have any of you had any experience with this syndrome?  I'd really be interested to hear if your dog had this and how long it took to get over.   It's been about 9 days of varying symptoms for Rocco.  
Please say a little prayer for our Rocco.

A Few of My Favorite Things Quilt

I finished up Rocco's quilt today.  This is A Few of My Favorite Things by Heidi Pridemore.  This is one of the kits I won from Quiltmaker.  The fabric is designed by Heidi too.  The sashing strips are leashes.  The borders have leashes, bowls, slippers and other doggy favorites.

I did fusible applique and button hole stitch by machine.  The embroidery is back stitch by hand.

Oops,  there's a string to pick off on the fire hydrant.  I wanted the quilt to be soft for Rocco, so I just stitched in the ditch around the blocks and echo quilted the appliques.

In the outside border I machine quilted Rocco's name and hearts.

Roc was a good sport about posing.  He knows what sit and stay mean--even tho he is kind of camera shy.  Sorry about the red eyes--note to Santa:  I could use photo shop software.  : )

I put navy blue minkee on the back. It is so nice and soft.  It also matches his new bed.  He's so spoiled getting his presents before Christmas.  lol

You may be wondering where my Christmas decorations are---they are still in their boxes.  Today is Jennifer's birthday.  She and I both have December birthdays.  I have always waited until after our birthdays to decorate for Christmas  So I better start looking in that dreaded closet--that may be another reason I have waited. 

We don't make much ado about Christmas in our family.  Jesus is the reason for the season and family time is the biggest gift we give to each other.  Some of that tradition comes from my having worked at the Post Office for 30 years.  Even tho I have more time since retirement, simple celebrations are the way we do our thing.   I'm not knocking the way other people do theirs.  I enjoy all the lights, music and commotion I see other people doing, but self imposed stress doesn't make anyone happier at our house. 

I'm off to start a little surprise Christmas project.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Building a House

This is the first house block I've ever made.  I had to look on the internet for a pattern.  I've never done  "wonky", so I did a traditional house block.  I wanted to make a house block because I read on Beth's blog Love, Laugh, Quilt that if I sent her a house block I might win a set of blocks for a quilt.  I thought that sounded like fun--plus there isn't any obligation to do it.  I'm always nervous about deadlines and if I'll get something done.  I forgot that I'm also nervous about sewing for someone else.  I had fun making the house block.  I'll get it in the mail this week.  It's interesting to see all the different blocks she's gotten so far.  If you would like to join in the fun, stop over at Beth's blog for details.

I started Rocco's quilt from the kit I won.  There are just 6 blocks to applique.  I used fusible and I'm doing a buttonhole stitch around them.

The borders have mitered corners.  I've never done mitered corners before.  I looked up a video on line, so I'll give that a try sometime this week.  There have been alot of fabric sales on the internet.  I ordered  some minkee for backings of three quilts.  Rocco's going to love his soft blanket.  lol  I've never used Minkee for a backing, so that will be a new experience too. 

It's been cold here, but the snow has missed us so far.  We've had trouble with waterers freezing up and one of the older fuse boxes in the barn burned out.  This week looks to be a little warmer--20's.  So there will be some wiring and fixing going on as usual.......

A New Shirt

The little scarecrow has a new shirt and I think it looks pretty good.   Down on the Farm is officially done!  We are hoping to  see the new baby, John over the Thanksgiving holiday.   Michelle has to work Thanksgiving Day, so we are still figuring out our plans.

I decided I wanted to make a zipper bag.  I used LuAnn's tutorial.  I have a zipper phobia.  I haven't put a zipper in anything since I was in high school.  It was an awful experience and I've just always avoided making anything with a zipper.  I've been saving tutorials for bags.  There are so many cool patterns on blogs now.  When I was at the Quilter's Corner last time I looked at their bag patterns and of course they had the turny thing full of Terry Atkinson's Snip, Zip and Go zippers.   I decided to buy a couple, so I bought a orange one and a black one, because Halloween was coming.

Here it is--with it's orange zipper.  I probably would rather have had a pink one, but this one will be for me.  It is my "over coming zipper phobia" bag.  I used two fat quarters and will have two bags.  The inner lining is pink--no picture.   Since I used fat quarters I didn't have fabric for a handle, so I have a handle made from different fabric.  I just used some yellow ribbon for a zipper pull.  

I used the left over batting from around the edges of the  baby quilt and quilted a grid pattern with the #4 stitch on my Bernina  2.0 length.  I like that little squiggle stitch.  I can see some more of these in my future.  I think my girls would like them.  I'll have to wait until I go somewhere for more zippers.  

The weather has gotten colder here and there is a touch of snow in the air.  They came to combine our sunflowers today.  I had meatloaf and baked potatoes in the oven for dinner, but switched to making ham sandwiches for a field lunch.  I baked chocolate chip cookies this morning, so they got some of those too.

Rocco spent part of the morning outside in his flannel shirt.  He's warming up his feet on the heating pad, so he can go out again.

Our quilting group meets tomorrow night.  We are going to work on another "fire" quilt from donated fabric.  I hope the farm schedule allows me to go--we'll see.   

It's a Finish!

It's finished!  I promise you won't have to see it again.  lol  As Terry would say "it's not perfect, but it's done".  Of course I had to free motion some of the backing to the back of the quilt, so I had to rip--that's pretty normal for me.  :)  Thank you to Red Pepper Quilts for helping me remember how to splice the binding together.  I also used Pat Sloan's method for machine binding.  I usually do mine by hand, but I know this will be used alot and washed many times, so I wanted something sturdy.  I think I will use it again on those quilts that are for everyday use.  I'm terrible about labeling my quilts, but I did do this one with the baby's name, birthdate, and weight.  I had a tussle with my printer.  It didn't want to use the fabric sheet, but I finally convinced it.  Michelle will be home for the engagement party this week-end and she will take the quilt to the new baby.    On to the next project!

It rained 3.55 in the last couple days.  This is the wettest year we have ever had.  DH hasn't been able to cut silage, so he went with me yesterday to take Rocco to the veterinary.  This is the 3rd vet.  He took Rocco's stitches out and said to give it time.  His eye is looking better.  Hopefully with more time and healing there will be a positive outcome.  The doctor thought there was some response to light.  Nerves take the longest time to heal.

Rocco has been a good patient.

I am in "fast" mode today.  The Wilson family will be here tonight for supper and the week-end.  I know the 3 kids will have fun with the kittens.  They also like to ride the 4-wheeler.   We don't have a 4 wheeler anymore, so I'm sure there will be some Rhino rides in the  UTV.  I'm decluttering, cleaning and changing bedding. 

Thank you everyone for the nice comments and encouragement in the making of Safari Star.  It was also good free motion practice.  I better get off the computer and on the vacuum.  Have a great week-end!

My favorite kind of roll

I received my favorite kind of roll in the mail yesterday--A Jelly Roll.  I won a Hello Betty by Chloe's Closet jelly roll from Scott at Blue Nickel Studios.  Scott designed Block # 12  for the Jelly Roll Quilt Along put together by Konda of Moose on the Porch Quilts.  I really enjoyed this quilt along.  I have all 12 blocks completed.  It's the sashing and sandwiching that is next on the menu--but now I'm trying to get baby quilts completed for new babies.  Thanks so much Scott for the jelly roll.  It will be put to good use.  If you have time, check out Scott's website.  There are lots of things to look at over there.

The silage cutting is complete at our place.  I wish I could have gotten more photos of the tractor packing the pile and the pile before we covered it up, but it just didn't work out to do that.  This is a picture of the big pile after we covered it with a 75' x 150' plastic tarp to protect it from the weather.  The large bales are holding the plastic down so this tarp that costs $515.00 won't blow away in the SD wind. 

We are glad to have this part of harvest completed.  This will provide lots of good nutrition for the cattle this winter.  DH will need to help the cousins with their chopping, but they are wetter down at their place, so it will probably be next week before they start there. 

I thought you needed some kitten pictures today.  They are growing like babies do--quickly.  Peanut has not weaned them yet and she is on constant guard to make sure all is going well for them.   They and the bigger kittens seem to be making friends, so everyone can eat together at the communal dining area.

I took Rocco to the vet yesterday and had the two stitches in the corner of his eye removed.  His eye is very blood shot and not focusing correctly.  Dr. Dave said to give it time and continue with the medications.  DH

continues to have a hard time with the whole experience.  I'm about ready to take him in to Dr. Dave and have him put to sleep.  (please pardon my sic humor, but I've about had it with him).  I had forgotten how DH was when the kids were sick or hurt--he just doesn't do very well in those situations.  I continue to pray and believe for the best outcome.  It does no good reminding him that it could have been so much worse.  I guess opposites do attract---glass half full people and glass almost empty people.  We will all survive with time.  Thanks for letting me vent!

Have you been freehand maching quilting?  I plan to get started with practicing this afternoon.  I've really enjoyed all of Christina's posts.  I was so surprised to read about Kathy Sandbach's diagnosis of dementia, so sad.  I happen to have her book and plan to pull it out and review it. 

I'll show you my progress later.........................

Where does the time go?

What a crazy couple weeks!  Of course, being gone and coming home and getting sick have made things all pile up.  I am knee deep in cucumbers and tomatoes, which is a good thing.  You can see by the header the hot temperatures and high winds have dried the corn out badly.   I was all set for a grateful post about good health on Monday and it's Friday already.  Wow!   So................................

I have been fortunate since retirement to not be exposed to the daily germs of working with the public.  Although I've never been a sickly person, I think I caught my fair share of the common bugs each year.  I haven't been sick for quite sometime.  I'm not sure what I picked up between FL and SD, but it layed me pretty low for longer than usual.  I spent a few days acting like it was nothing and trying to get things done.  Finally I slept most of Saturday and Sunday and was a new person by Tuesday.  I think I need to have this happen to remind me how blessed I am with good health.   I also need to renew my prayers for those that struggle daily to live their lives while living with illness or fighting illness.

Rocco is feeling better today.  I won't go into great detail, but it was a traumatic day for all of us on Wednesday.  As I said before it could have been much worse.  Time will tell how things turn out, but I know Rocco can live a wonderful life with one eye too.  He is doing well with his medications and resting alot.  He is of course pretty timid right now.  Michelle doesn't have to work this week-end, so she's coming home for the long week-end.   That will make Rocco feel better and all of us too.

Have you been over to Kaaren's for the First Friday Freebie this morning?  She has given us a wonderful pattern for a fall wall hanging.  It is so cute!  Fall is on it's way.  It was 44 degrees here this morning.  Just a taste of what's to come.  After the hot, dry, windy days of last week it felt rather good, but I'm not looking forward to a steady diet of it.

Just a quick post right now................I hope to have more time later to catch up with you all.  Thanks for all your prayers and support for Rocco and us!!  It has helped so much.  Hugs   Janet

Say a Prayer

Please say a little prayer for Rocco. I know alot of you are animal lovers who are my blog friends.  Yesterday Rocco had a bad encounter with DH's cousin's dog.  Rocco's little eye is in bad shape.  We learned alot about veterinarians and small animals yesterday too.  We are asking for prayers for Rocco's eye and eye sight.  I am so thankful that it wasn't worse.  It could have been much worse.......................

Thanks so much, friends.  Hugs