It is a good thing for you that I don't have pictures of Josey to post at the moment. She is getting better, but it is slow going, and the process of healing for her wounds is not pleasant to be around. Some of the wounds were so deep that there has been lots of drainage, and there are two or three large (size of my open hand or so) areas where things will get worse before they get better. In those places, there are large patches of skin that are dying and will have to be removed, leaving new open sores for awhile. The vet says it will be Christmas or later before we even begin to see a more normal dog. Still, she is eating and drinking water, and she very much appreciates the attention she is getting.
We are in WI right now, and it is snowing this morning. We came up here two days ago. The foliage is still pretty, though the reds are mostly gone and the peak shows are long gone. We are here to button up for winter, though that doesn't mean we won't be back for some skiing or other winter fun early in the new year. The hot tub has been winterized and covered with a tarp. The canoes have been carried up from the lake and put away. This morning, a neighbor will help me pull the dock and boat lift from the water and up onto shore for the winter. Later, I intend to put some deer fences around a couple of new plantings. Unfortunately, they already ravaged our sumac and chewed up my new Japanese lilac tree. I think they will both recover next spring though. We will put mulch over our flower beds sometime in the next few days. The boat needs to be washed, as the bottom gets brown from being in the lake most of the summer. I also need to winterize the boat motor, which involves oil changes, lubrication, spraying oil vapor into the cylinders, etc. I'll carry its batteries into the basement to keep them from freezing over the winter.
We will return to IA late next week in time to celebrate Kathie's birthday and attend a football game. I've returned to woodworking projects at home and have completed making a card table for our sunporch. Three other projects are well underway too, but they are gifts, so I won't describe them here just now--maybe later. Two of the gifts gave me a chance to start working with that kauri wood that I described a couple of blog posts ago. Working with a different kind of wood is always interesting, since each type responds in a different way to being cut, smoothed, joined, glued, and finished. For example, the kauri is a bit brittle, so extra care when cutting is important to make sure that edges remain smooth and crisp and do not shatter. But it does smooth and polish in amazing ways, and early indications are that the finishing is really going to bring out that luminescence for which the wood is famous.
Finally, an interesting event took place at our favorite Hayward grocery store recently. A bear wandered into the grocery and spent some time in the liquor store area.
You can read one of the local news stories about this event here. Some of you will remember the old Hamms beer commercials that featured a cartoon bear who promoted the brand. So, some folks claimed the bear was looking for Hamms beer. I guess automatic doors can't tell the difference between a human and a bear, so they opened right up and welcomed him in when he came near the entrance. Hibernation in a liquor store!? Now that's an interesting idea.
No comments:
Post a Comment