Awaiting Tests - Laying Low At Home - Doggie Dilemma

With this horrible increase in covid, we have decided to stay in and stay safe and lay low.  We did a big curbsite pickup of groceries again, just like in the spring.  We are set for about two months, with the exception of fresh fruits and veggies (but we have frozen or canned), or milk and eggs (which the kids can bring over and drop off on our porch).  So we will be fine again. And yes, we have enough toilet paper... LOL

As for awaiting tests, one of our darling daughters is making it possible for us to be together on Thanksgiving!  They all took tests on Friday, and are in isolation until they get results.  Their 3 kids are off all this upcoming week from both the daycare and their schools... so they are now isolated safe at home and not out anywhere getting exposed.  Once they get the "all clear" either later today or tomorrow, we will be reasonably assured that none of the kids are carrying the virus.  That means they can come and spend the upcoming week with us!!  It's not all of our grandkids, I wish it was, and that they could all take turns.  But at least we can get with some of them.  

Their parents thought it would be a good idea to have them remember "that year in 2020 when we got to spend Thanksgiving week at Grandma and Grandpa's under quarantine".

We have made lists of ideas of things to do, projects to help us with, and stocked up on baking and cooking supplies (and snacks!). The kids will help cook Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.  They are also going to help us set up our tree and Christmas decorations and village.  It will be fun.  They are sitting at home right now, ready and packed up with clothes, jammies, and craft supplies, ready to rush over here once they get the negative test results.  

We have been texting and emailing and zooming with the grandkids, but having some of them here in person will be soooooo satisfying.  I think we need this more than they do?

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Our stubborn little dog still isn't eating on his own, and I am feeding him softened dry kibble food, one piece at a time, placed in the back of his mouth and tilting his nose back until he swallows it.  

This is how we do it: 

For added calories, we found one type of wet food he slightly tolerates (after buying 12 different types and kinds) and I scoop up a small amount on a wide popscicle stick and slide it into his mouth, kinda scraping it off on the roof of his mouth and he swallows it.  It's like a beef stew with tiny carrots and peas and rice. 

It's not cheap, and it's in small containers for tiny dogs.

He doesn't ever act hungry or even show any interest in food. This is so strange because he used to be a dog with clock in his stomach, and he would remind us each and every time it was time to eat.... and his world revolved around his food dish. 

Sometimes he will eat one tidbit of people food from our fingers, but that is usually in unison with Binney getting a treat at the same time, inspiring competition.  But once he has one bite, he doesn't even want a second one.  He is not a happy dog about this. 

He has lost almost a third of his entire body weight since all this started, so we can't just "let him starve until he decides to eat".  He just won't eat. Unless we force him. 

So I am feeding him 3 or 4 meals a day, once little bit a time, and patiently getting food into him.  His bathroom situation is now normal, because we are getting enough of the fibery kibble food into him, even if the food is softened with warm water ahead of time. That is a relief.  Otherwise we were washing his backside 4 and 5 times a day. Ugh. 

BUT  BUT  BUT we may have finally figured out what is going on with him!  

After a thorough recheck by the vet, his teeth and gums are fully healed. She said maybe a mental association of food with dental pain? 

WELL...  WE NOW THINK the cause is from his dental work, infections, and 3 extractions, the resulting inflammation has caused him to LOSE HIS SENSE OF TASTE AND SMELL!!!   

We looked it up and it's not uncommon for inflammation in the dog's mouth to cause temporary or even permanent damage to the olfactory system, resulting in a loss of taste and smell.  It even happens in people!

It has been just over three weeks since he had the surgery, and we only noticed this last day or two now that he has been SNIFFING outside at things when we walk him, like he's experiencing the world for the first time???  Almost frantically taking in scents and smells from anything he is walking past.  Like where the deer congregate by the apple tree, or where the new sawdust is on the ground where Steve cut down the trees.  He stops and sniffs the air with his nose straight up, like he has caught the scent of something really really good.  

The moment I noticed a change was yesterday when I set down a little plate of heated up soft doggie food stew and he was sniffing at the plate with interest!!! This is the first time I can recall him even being interested in any food at all. 

So maybe we are on the upswing about this, and in a day or two or three he will start eating the softened food on his own from his own dish.  I can feel he is putting some weight on, and we don't feel the sharp bones of his spine and ribs protruding as much any more.  

I am hoping with the grandkids here, he will start scooping up the goodies being dropped from the table, and the little tidbits snuck to him from their hands when they eat.  It might help! 

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We are pretty much set for the upcoming winter weather. We might get some snow this week. Steve has the snowblower tuned up, the shovels ready, and a big bag of sidewalk salt in the garage. We have our outside tasks accomplished, and the only upcoming house project is the new windows, which are on order.  They are due to arrive by mid December, and we will start replacing them one at a time, which is done from the inside.  It will be fun and interesting and make a real change.  Right now the 100+ year old wooden ones leak and rattle and have a lot of moisture built up on the inside already.  And frost on the outside!

 

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Five years ago today, my Dad passed away. Just as he wished, in his log cabin, on his couch, after watching the Packers win... 

  

I am sure he is watching the Packer game on tv right now,

while up in a log cabin in Heaven... 

or sitting in a garage in Heaven.

Packers are winning today, just for him! 

 Each time the phone rings, I still think: "It must be Dad".

  

Assistant to the Lumberjack

Steveio was on a roll today.  His goal is to remove seven junky box elder trees from growing around the cement slab foundation in our backyard. He calls them "weed trees". He would like to use the slab in the future to build a cute Little Red Barn for a garden shed. 

He figures that the sooner he gets the trees out of there, the better it will be. It will be easier to remove or burn out the stumps. If any of these half rotten trees were to blow over during the winter, their roots could pull up and damage the cement slab that's already there.

So far he has cut down five of them with the chainsaw and most of them are rotten on the inside.  So he was right in getting them down out of the way. 

Today he had the last two to get rid of. The only problem is, exactly where they would drop is where he has two beautiful trees that are growing up nicely. One is a ornamental crabapple tree and the other one is a nice black walnut tree. So his problem was how to guide them down without harming the nice trees, as they land on the ground. 

So that is why he had called upon his Assistant to the Lumberjack-- (ME).  It was up to me to sit behind the steering wheel of our Saturn SUV with a rope attached to the hitch.  This is why:

See these two angled trees in the picture? The two with the Red Arrows? Those are the two that he wanted to take down.

The two trees with the yellow arrows are the good ones that he wants to preserve and not get damaged during the process.

They are leaning far over to the right and he wants them to drop closer down to the left in a straightforward position. So that's why he needed me to drive to the far left with a rope on the hitch as they were going down...

He got everything ready and got the big thick rope into place. Now it was my turn to help out, while he carefully cut the trees from behind.  The Saturn (and me) would be far far away to the left when this all happened. 

This was my view point from the Saturn in the front driver seat. He would tell me when I should ease the throttle carefully and help pull the tree over, as it slowly was cut away to reach the ground. He uses the hinging technique with wedges instead of a straight drop. Much safer, and a more careful process to land the tree onto the ground.

TIMMMMBBEERRRRRRR~!    

Well, actually  timber   .....It just eased gently to the ground. 

First one down, and the rope technique did the trick! It didn't damage anything and landed exactly where he wanted it to go.  He said he knew it would.   See?  No where near me or the Saturn. 

Soon the second tree was safely down and he was able to take care of cutting it all up into pieces this afternoon. We have two nice piles of wood now for the neighbor, and Steve has removed all seven trees from around the cement slab.

He will probably spend the winter 

drawing up Little Red Barn plans...

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Our next project today was to permanently make sure that our fireplace is closed off that nobody will ever want to try to attempt to build a fire from inside. Both the building inspector and our insurance company wanted to be assured that it was taken care of. Because we closed off the chimney from the top on the outside on Monday, we needed to make it obvious to anyone in the future that it could no longer be used.  We already knew the fireplace from the inside had been closed off years ago by the previous owners / renters. There was a firm metal structure covering the entire flue as well as a bunch of insulation above that, blocking it off.  We checked that out before we even bought the house.  

We went one step further to add a second metal barrier with words of warning written onto the sheet of aluminum. 

Steve cut it to size, to fit the flue exactly. It was now double layered to prevent any heat losses, as well as warning anyone that it is permanently closed. 

He was able to maneuver around and get the metal up into place and attached to the sides of the brick walls, as well as the other metal flat surface.  Good and secure.  Then he sealed it all around with adhesive and a thick bead of mortar caulk.

I aimed the camera up to take this pic to send to our insurance agent.  There is no doubt that the chimney is closed off, and now sealed around all of the edges.  No more drafts or heat loss. 

We will plan sometime later to add an electric fireplace, or a vent free natural gas one like we had in our home in Chilton.  But that will come later, much later, as the budget allows. For now, we will keep the existing fireplace doors in place.  They aren't too pretty, but they will suffice.

Steve cleaned up his mess, and I told him that to a woman, this is a turn on, to see a man who is washing windows. Well, glass fireplace doors, but who cares... it's glass and he is washing them!  LOL   That's my guy! 

He slid the newly repaired glass fireplace screen back in front of the doors.  I am glad we were able to fix it and keep it as part of our livingroom decor.  Someone looks pretty satisfied that he did a good job. The King of his Castle.

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I started a little project today myself, because I needed to take care of something that has been bothering me. When we put the ceiling up in the she shed entryway, we used new pine V-groove boards. It is also known as "Car-siding". Because it was new wooden boards, the knots were not fully dried out. Even with a coat of primer and two coats of paint, the knots have bled through over the last 12 months.

Here are the unsightly knots that make big tan blotches all over on the ceiling in the entryway of the she shed. I think it looks terrible and it was time to do something about it. 

When I first noticed them, I first thought they were roof leaks, oh my!  But no, they are just bleeding through from the knots as they dry out. 

Good Old Google Research to the rescue. I read where people that have been doing a lot of shiplap wood planks, and lately have noticed the same thing.  Especially when using fresh new wood. They said the best stuff to use is this Zinsser shellac spray primer. Not the water-based stuff, not the brush on stuff, not the Kilz brand, it has to be this one. They said it's the only stuff that really works. So I will give it a try.

It was a warm enough day to open up the doors and windows to have adequate ventilation to use this product. It's very stinky!

Wow, look at this! This is just with the primer on and I haven't even painted yet. What a difference.  Maybe tomorrow I will get out my paint bucket and little roller.

Today I was finishing up weaving the final section of this wool rug. It was a different pattern I was trying out and I really like the way it was coming along.  While Steve was stacking wood outside, I stayed cozy and warm inside weaving in my She Shed. 

(I unrolled it a bit to see the pattern in the pic)

This is a very thick rug of wool fabric from men's suit coats. Recycling at its finest. I just have to add the tag and hem up the ends and it will be ready to list in my Etsy online store for for sale.

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Finnegan is doing much better. It's been 4 days now since his tooth extraction. I think he's playing us and faking to take advantage of the situation. He has moved on from wanting things like cheap hot dogs and shredded chicken to more expensive things like bratwurst and shaved deli ham. The flakes of grilled salmon was good for two days but he decided that even that wasn't good enough. He's thinking that the raw tenderloin that we used to give him his pills in is more to his liking. No way Jose.

He is talking Binney (in the pink scarf) into begging for the "good stuff" instead of plain ole dog food.  They are conspiring against us, I am sure.  We just took two hamburgers off the grill, and they seem to think that the burgers were for them!!  Look at those faces!!

I think it's time to start weaning him back to soft canned dog food, and then the dry kibble that he is used to, and stop tempting him with all of these treats. He is finally eating better now that his antibiotics are done. I think they were making him nauseous and made the food taste funny?  Either that, or the little stinker is taking advantage of us. And I think he knows it!

Huh? Who? Me?

Somehow, he knows I am typing about him right now, doesn't he? Dogs are pretty smart creatures.