Flower Time Lapse

I hate how fleeting spring flowers are, in just a couple of months they'll bloom and go and you're left with just the stocks. Sunday afternoon I cut them all down, this is important with all bulb flowers so that the bulb will stop trying to keep the greenery alive and put its efforts into making a bigger, better bulb for next year.
It took a good hour since I have so many in my backyard now, but we also pulled some weeds while we were at it.

Here's a time lapse of the flowers' journey:

Very beginning of April, still some snow in the shade and still pretty chilly:

End of April:

 

Beginning of May:

 

End of May, all cleaned up. 

The ones still standing are my irises, lilies (my backyard flowers seem to be on a later blooming schedule, I think it's because they get more shade) and my summer gladiolas. I'm slowly adding more flowers, but I think it'll always be a work in progress. P.S. Winston killed the middle tree by ripping the bark off, hence the chicken wire on the others. I wonder if he has $150 to fork over for a new one!

Some of my favorites:

 These purple tulips were so tall and had a unique bloom to them, delightful!

 These are a breed of parrot tulip, they were the very last to bloom and I'll definitely be buying more of them.

 

 Queen of the Night tulips are also towards the end of the blooming season and so purple they're almost black. I have some if my front yard and love their dark hue.

I talked about my favorite daffodils in this post.  

 

Now it's waiting time for my summer flowers in the front yard. I'm always battling the cats that use my garden as a litter box, but I did win the snail battle so my dahlias made it. No more flower posts until the next thing blooms! 

Sigh

Yes this post is titled Sigh because that it exactly what I did just a half hour after meeting a new vet. After Winston's last ear infection stressed everyone out I vowed we wouldn't put us all through that again and googled home vets. A very small pool to say the least, but I found Dr. Brett Packer's web site. I read through his site and decided to give it a go.

When I started explaining Winston to the doctor he asked if we happened to train with K9 and when I said yes he said that he had heard all about him. So nice to not have to go through detailed explanation for the 100th time! I scheduled the appointment for last Tuesday at 7PM, which I loved by the way since I didn't have to take time off work or wait for John to get home and rush to the vet only to get there late.

Dr. Packer and his wife bring such a calming effect into the house that I knew all was going to go well. Winston was so stocked that people came to see him and had no idea his ears were getting treated, it was a relief.
We still had to muzzle him, but when you're that big it wasn't a shock. Dr. Packer's wife held Winston down and Dr. Packer squirted in the magic goo. Much less painful for everyone involved this time.

When we let Winston outside to shake the gunk out of his ears we all sat down to talk about Winston, his wobblers and how to keep him around for as long as possible. Dr. Packer is the exact vet I want in my pets' life. He's more holistic, supports raw wholeheartedly, and only wants to do what is necessary. It was nice to not feel rushed and I felt like it was just about us since it was at our house. We'll be giving Winston fish oil pills (cheaper than the salmon oil we were giving him already) and a monthly Pentosan injection for his joints.We'll also be seeing Dr. Packer in 3 weeks to check on Winston's ears, but I can text the good Doctor any time and with any thing.

Surprisingly all of this was cheaper than Winston's last ear infection and all we got out of the was his ears treated and him totally stressed out. Dr. Brett Packer is definitely who I'll be calling all the time now!He's not paying me to say this, I'm just saying this because I know how stressful and hard it is to find a vet you love.

Winston's not drooly like the last time, but he is sleepy now!

April's block of the month

I knew that the Bear Paw was a block I'd be teaching because it's one of my favorites. There is a lot of cutting and ironing so it takes quite a while, but everyone got it done....even though it took an hour past class end.

 

Time to try again

After adding the live rock to the saltwater tank we had to wait for our tank to cycle again and with some bigger water changes we were able to get our nitrates down. So we decided to add a clean up crew because our tank has gotten pretty nasty algae wise.

 

We added 5 turbo snails to the display tank and 1 to the sump to clean up the algae.

 They're big guys at 2 inches and crazy algae eaters. The flat rock we first set them on is now completely clean.

We also got 4 bumble bee snails, they're one my favorite because their shells are so cool. They're really tiny though and like to hide so we haven't seen much of them. They eat uneaten food, sandworms and decomposing organisms.

We bought 2 nassarius snails for the display and 1 for the sump. They live in the sand bed and we won't be seeing much of them.

We also bought a cleaner shrimp, but the poor thing didn't make it. His bag rolled off the counter and it was too much of a shock for him. I'm not happy about it, but we'll buy another one this week along with some peppermint shrimp. New rule, livestock bags stay on the floor.

Not extremely exciting additions, I know, but there really aren't a lot of good fish stores around. There are quite a few that sell, but the fish are either close to death or sick. We don't want to spend money on sick fish or bring home sickness to our tank. So really the only place we'd like to buy fish is in Lindon. If all goes well with the snails and the shrimp we'll be buying fish in the next few weeks.

Winston back into training

It was so nice when I could stop planning Winston's funeral. Seriously, I really was. I'd bawl my eyes out when I was in my car alone thinking about having to put him down, but then one day he came downstairs. That was his turning point and I started thinking of ways for him to enjoy his life instead of ending it.

Because of this turning point we have started his social training back up again. I don't plan on taking Winston on too many hikes unless I know that the trail is wide and not on the edge of a steep cliff, but I'd still like him to interact with other dogs peacefully. Our annual Friend and Dog vacation is coming up in July and I'd really like it if Winston could come and participate.

K9 Lifeline has been such a life saver for us. There are many training facilities available, but none that do what they do. Most facilities would turn Winston's dog aggressive behaviour away, but K9 welcomes him with open arms and wants to help make him better. There is no way would could have had trips like our Bear Lake trip without them. So I knew that that was where we'd be going again.

I didn't want to leave Winston with K9 in the state he was in...

so before his two daycare sessions I knew he'd need a bath. I hate Winston bath time. It's a fight every time that involves harnesses, pulling, pushing, swearing, and sometimes it ends in broken appendages. Mainly me and mainly my toes.

After I mentally and psychically prepared for Winston's bath, I made the mistake of announcing it to Winston who then took off into the kitchen and far from the tub. John then geniusly coaxed him into our bedroom and I blocked off the hallway so Winston couldn't escape. I thought Winston would go into panic mode once he saw that there was no exit, but he calmly walked into the bathroom with no fuss. After I picked my jaw off the floor, I asked Winston to get into the tub thinking that he'd turn tail to run back into the bedroom. He shocked me again by stepping in as graceful as a ballerina.
I don't think any dog in the history of the universe has been praised as highly and lovingly as Winston was after that moment.
I did still have to use his halti to attach his face to the faucet because he has this annoying habit of curling his body into a "U" so all the water drips onto the bathroom floor.
I them gave him a good scrubbing and he calmly stepped out. Glory to God!

Winston is spending two days at K9 Lifeline so they can re-evaluate him to see if he can join in to their Pack to Basics again. That post will come soon!

"Home" for summer

I finished my "Home" "O" for May, June and July over the weekend.

I'm not a fan of how it's not proportional, but I didn't notice this until after I bought it and opened to package.

This is my favorite of the series, it turned out so cute!

August's is a watermelon and it has kicked my butt so I haven't finish it yet.