FFF - Nature Friday - Lawn - by Phod

Today is that special day in the month where Aunty-Yam's FFF and Rosy and Sunny's Nature Friday collide. 

Grass and flowers grow

Bees and dragonflies flutter

My lawn is alive

(It is also the best place to go and roll)

The Terrible Ear - by Phod

Dear pals,

As you may recall I had issues with a hematoma in my left ear. I had it drained and it came back and was like the size of a golf ball. So yesterday, my Man took me to the vet. It was a new vet because our vet moved really far away. My new vet is only like a 20 minute drive instead of an hour (or now it would be an hour and a half). 

The bandage so I didn't bleed in the car. 

I can't say I like her. The Man said he thought she was very nice. The people also pointed out, we can get the same care for less money as our new vet is in the province we live in and vet care is less expensive.

At any rate, the not so nice vet Lady said my hematoma came back because it didn't fully drain before it healed so to make sure that didn't happen again, she put in a canal. I have to have the stupid canal for 3 weeks. Because of that I have to wear the cone for 3 weeks so I don't pull the canal out. 

Shame . . . . 

The cone is terrible. It is so terrible that when Callie came over to she was terrified and high tailed it back to her yard and barked at me from behind the bush. I think the worst part may be that I can't swim for at least 3 weeks.  Lady says I will get short highly supervised breaks because I am bleeding a lot on the cone and it will need to be cleaned several times a day at least to start. 

Trying to eat with the cone

Did I mention I also have a yeast infection in my ears and got meds for that. Also, Lady and Man have noticed an increase in stiffness and anxiety so they gotten me a big pill to take every night that should help.  

Life sucks right now, so if you have more POTP, please send it.

The saddest boy ever, Phod - who hates his cone

Wordless Wednesday - Best Friends

 

Not So Tasty Tuesday - A Photo Essay - by Hailey

 

Why are the people eating things from a treat bag?

Man, let me try some.

Don't think they taste too good

What? Callie is eating them?

Give me

Still don't like it, but I will eat it!

Mischief Monday - Hard To Pick the Winner

 Dear pals,

Sorry we have been a little MIA, we are ok. Life has been something and Lady has been busy. 

Here an update on her - Her birthday was perfect (thanks for all the kind messages); her car now has a new battery, and they were able to fix something they had broken and not fixed at the same time and so far so good; she did a complete face plant at pickleball on Saturday and is very, very lucky (she went down hard and fast and people thought she had had a heart attack or dropped dead!) and the only lasting damage is bruised knees and she re-injured the finger she sprained in November putting tires in the car. 

Now on to us - After a week of good behaviour, we started peeing in the house again. We ruined another dog bed and we found a way to move the new gate to go pee downstairs when the people leave us and it rains. Phod's hematoma is back and bigger than ever. He and the Man meet the new vet Wednesday. Please send him some POTP if you have a little to spare. Lady has noticed us both really, really slowing down and as she mentioned before is sad and joyful. We don't love the heat. 

Nature update - As we prepare this post the smoke has moved in again, and it is as bad, if not worse than before. We have had a few minor smoggy days, but this is an outside for short business trips only. It is hard to capture the amount of smoke in the air, but we hope these pictures show it. The only blessing of this, people seem to be taking the fire ban seriously and have not been doing fireworks.

Now this post makes it sound like life is all bad, and that is not true, there is lots of love and laughter and fun and beauty. To end this post, we share the flowers the Man got Lady for her birthday. She is slowly moving towards the gardening life (and in 6.5 years when she is not working can see getting more serious about it but will want something that is low maintenance). 

Lady loves them all but is very excited about this Bee Balm and hopes it brings lots of bees!

Land Shark

 

Wordless Wednesday - Welcome Summer

 

This and That - by Lee

 Hi pals,

Things continue to be something here.

Watching the world go by

The smog returned. It wasn't as bad and as the fires continue we expect it will return. Between it and the bugs and the rain, we haven't been outside as much.

Don't mind if I do

Lady has picked up extra work so she is crazy busy.  If you keep reading, you will see she needs to work to make the $.  It and dealing with 'life' is keeping her from doing all the things she wants to (like visiting all of you).

Trying to catch a deer fly

Her car, which had a whole new transmission put in less than 2 months ago, got sick again. It now has a new battery.

The pump in our basement toilet went (needed as we are on a well and it is the basement) and the house smelled like poop for 2 weeks until it was replaced and when it was replaced it smelt really bad. Poop also got on the walls and Man had to clean that. 

I have a new habit where I won't sleep through the whole night. Sometime between 3-5 I want to get a drink and go for a pee.  Due to my free range peeing, the bedroom door is closed at night and this way I at least ask if I can't hold it. If the door is open, I don't ask or don't ask in a way the people here. 

So basically we keep on keeping on here. We hope life settles a bit. 

Taking a quiet moment to enjoy the outdoors

Happy Birthday Lady

Today our Lady celebrates her 48th ride around the sun. It is a really slow ride, so we see why the theme parks haven't picked it up.

To celebrate, she made us take selfies with her before she and the Man went to the Opera on Saturday night. Forced selfies and then being abandoned - not a great day for us, but apparently it is all about her!

Happy birthday to our Lady, who on a good day, we would give a solid B for her efforts as our Lady.

Nature Friday - Pot of Gold

Last week, on Lady's way home after abandoning us for 87 million days (3 days), she and her colleagues were treated to a lovely rainbow. 

The pictures don't capture it fully. It ended up being a perfect double rainbow. Lady and her colleagues don't remember seeing one so amazing. What is even cooler is that they drove through the end of it. The way it was reflecting on the road, they were in it. So they were the pot of gold. They hoped that would be lucky and maybe it is, but one colleague's dog met a porcupine the next day (she is fine) and then Phod needed the emergency vet. We are waiting for the good luck to come!

Enjoy what Lady could capture as the passenger speeding down the highway!

Thanks to Rosy and Sunny for hosting this event. 

Disc Time

Please throw it

Chase it

Catch it (hopefully)

Wordless Wednesday - After You Sneak to Poop on the Neighbour's Lawn

 

Trouble on a Tuesday - Air Quality - by Lee

 Dear pals,

As many of you likely saw in the news, last week we had a serious smog problem because of all the forest fires.  At the time of writing this, there had been 444 active fires in Quebec and over 730 000 hectares burnt. 

Not thinking (so being herself), Lady had left the windows opened last Monday night and was awoken early Tuesday to the smell of smoke. Her body jolted her out of sleep quite suddenly and it took listening to the birds (who were not distressed) and then a short walk to convince her brain the fires were far.

The start of the haze. Lady didn't get out for a good picture when it was at it's worst.

For a few days we didn't really have walks. We had short trips to the yard. The yard smelt like a big old campfire. It is amazing that we can be far from fires (we were a few hundred km from the nearest) and still be so effected. It started to clear up Friday and this week we should be getting a lot of rain, which we hope will help. 

The smog in Toronto, where Lady was for work for a few days. 

Lady, in her usual not really optimistic self, proclaimed she was only here to watch it all burn, so she is living her life purpose. We all think she could be a little more positive. It seems too soon for that. We hope that worst of this season is behind us and humans and nature can find a way to coexist better.

Lee, who missed her walks and really didn't like the fire smell. 

Mischief Monday - Ear Troubles - by Phod

 Dear pals,

As you may recall, I am prone to ear infections and often this requires medical attention. This year I thought I would try something new with my ear. 

On Friday, while Lady was out of town, the Man noticed my left ear, wasn't pointy. On careful inspection he saw there was a fluid sac inside. It was kind of late and I seemed ok, so he left it. Lady got home very late and very tired and put my ear on the future project list.

The next day, Man called what is going to be our new clinic, to book an appointment. They could only see my Thursday, but suggested if it got worse I seek emergency attention. 

Well, yesterday, it was worse so after some planning, it was decided the Man would take me to our old clinic which is now 100% emergency services. First, I threw up in Lady's car. Next, I was anxious enough they gave me some meds to help me relax. I was not happy when the tech shoved a pill down my throat. To see if the drugs were working, they did a hug test. They gave me a hug and touched my ear, I passed it. 

Mostly, there was a lot of waiting. I was a good boy and told my Man when I needed to make a business trip and not just use the floor (although I would not have felt too bad about that). Man and I were very bored. 

Turns out I have a hematoma in my ear. I likely got it from shaking my head or scratching. They had to drain it. The vet said, for the next 10 days I need to keep my ear wrapped. In the first 15 minutes I was home, I unwrapped it four times. Lady and Man tried all the things, but I kept getting it off, so they have given up, apparently they have things to do other than wrap my ear). This also means no lake for 10 days. I am now the saddest boy ever!

Wrapped at the vet

On a positive note, I don't have an infection in my ears. I also got to meet a cat who meowed at me. I was gone for 6.5 hours and both the Man I were tired and hungry when we got back. It was not the kind of adventure either of us wanted.

Re-wrapped at home

If you have some extra POTP you could send that my ear heals fast, I would appreciate it. 

Your pal, Phod