Wacky Weekend

After being sick with a cold all week, I had hoped to have a very peaceful weekend just sitting around sewing or starting some seeds in the mini greenhouse kits. Well, it was not to be. Joe takes Bud for a daily walk in the fields behind our house. He never keeps Bud on a leash and sometimes he runs off after the occasional rabbit or deer. Well, Saturday was no different. Bud usually ends up down the street at our neighbor's house, tracking mud on their finished deck and lounging on their patio furniture. Again, Bud followed his predetermined route and Joe went to get him after about an hour. But this time Bud was very slow to get up out of the lounge chair and he had a big gash on his back right leg. Bud gets caught up sometimes in left-over fencing pieces, sticks,vines, etc. He's blind in one eye and doesn't navigate some of the smaller outdoor hazards very well, especially when in the heated pursuit of wildlife. Joe noticed that this wasn't an ordinary reaction to a cut on the leg. Bud was shaking and not wanting to walk home. He laid down in the street several times to rest. We took him to the local Vet right away. She was kind enough to take us in without an appointment and shortly before closing time. She said she would check Bud out and call us in about an hour. Within moments of getting back to the house the phone was ringing and the Vet said she had found numerous cuts all over Buds' back legs, rump and belly. She suspected he had been attacked by a coyote! We've heard coyotes around here at night and I have actually seen one in our back field searching for food. Bud must have come up on one (or several) while they were sleeping and they chased him down and attacked him. The final result was 16 staples and a small drain tube for the wounds, $376 on the credit card and a large cone-like collar. The drain comes out on Wednesday and the staples come out next week. As painful as it was for me to charge that large an amount on the credit card I would do anything for my animals. I would never charge that much medical care for myself!

So Saturday went by in a blur, with little else done except watching Bud to make sure he rested and stayed comfortable.We had the first cook-out of the season up at another neighbor's house last night. Just a random put-together of whatever everyone had on hand. I made a cinnamon cake and some chili-cheese dip with chips. There was also a nice selection of grocery store fruits and veg and well all discussed how we couldn't wait until all of that was coming from our own gardens. We even made plans to have a "community garden" in one of the vacant lots in order to get more space for squashes, pumpkins and melons. I was such in a gardening mood that I even managed to shell the remaining black soy beans that had been sitting around in a basket all Winter. I just love these. They are a great low-carb alternative to regular beans without giving up on the flavor and texture. I planted two little apple trees that arrived in the mail on Friday. They are columnar apple trees, meaning they have no outward branches and grow rather like one tall stick with the apples coming directly from the stem. They only get about 5 feet tall, so they are perfect along our driveway where they will pollinate with the crab apple tree that is already there. I have Golden Delicious and Red variety apples. I also bought 6 'Bluecrop' blueberry bushes at WalMart on Friday. They are more like blueberry twigs right now. I have never had much success with blueberries so I thought $3.75 per plant wasn't too big an investment for and experimental crop.

Very little stitching got done on Saturday, but I did make a little progress on "Olde Burial Ground". If the weather holds out for the rest of the afternoon I may be able to finish it before I have to go to the gym. Here is the frame-up of "Heart and Hand" a very nice antique-looking frame from Hobby Lobby. It is a nice rust color to match the threads and has some "worm holes" manufactured right in.

I simply dread this week at the gym. I am subbing again for the Level 5s on Wednesday and I have two pointless meetings...one in the middle of the day on Friday, leaving 4 hours to mill around until my actual work shift starts. The other is smack in the middle of Sunday afternoon, my boss claiming this is the only time she can get everyone to attend. I am going to try to convert these inconveniences into an opportunity to get on the cardio machines on two days that I usually would not. Too much time watching FitTV and all the "buff brides" and "national fitness challenge" participants. Since "Cardio-Bud"(you've all heard of the Disney dog "Air-Bud" who played basketball?) is out of commission for a while, I need alternatives to keep me moving. I really want to slim down before the warm weather catches up with me and everyone else is wearing shorts while I hide in my big thick sweat-pants.