I’m bushed!
Well, we had to run Vera to the vet this morning. As I mentioned, she started with the itching about 10 days ago, and she always has ear difficulties. We learned the drill from Hercules- limp them along the best you can, and a couple times a year count on a trip to the dog doctor. Yesterday I noticed that her ear was hot and yep, she had something “cooking” in there- just like a little kid- time to get the ear infection treated. So she’s got some super duper ear drops, a course of prednisone for relief and some prescription shampoo. The BIG challenge for the next month is she has to be on an “elimination” diet. She’s to get nothing but Nature’s Recipe Venison/Rice formula- dry and canned, but no goodies! That’s what will be hard because she’s a mooch. The Vet wants to see if she gets better and she knows that brand is beef, corn, wheat free. The Vet is somewhat concerned because she’s lost three pounds since March- so Vera gave up some blood to see if something else is going on. This all may help get some weight off Tesla. I’ve noticed that as Vera has been getting thinner, Tes is overweight- probably because I leave food around hoping Vera will eat it and Jabba the Dog gobbles most of it. Now, I can’t leave the regular food laying around, so they’ll be offered food 2x a day and if they don’t eat- no grazing!
It was interesting dog day at the Vet. When we came in we met a male American bulldog named Dexter. He had a beautiful coat and a cast on his leg. Vera was trying to pick a fight with him. I nagged her, “that’s a male bulldog- are you crazy?” There was also a French Bulldog there- that’s the little one with the batty ears. So cute- it made interesting sounds, like singing more than growling or barking. And then I met my first in-person Cairn terrier! I love terriers anyhow. This one was smaller than my Jack Russell terrorist, Coors,but bigger than a Yorkie. She had long silky hair and just as sweet as could be.After the Vet, I had to run up to Westminster- 10 miles in the other direction, to the Pet Smart to get the venison dog food!
Then I came home to work on the Canning Project, Round 2.
I decided to make a batch of jam with the tart cherries. A pie around here is gone in a couple of days, but four or five jars of jam last longer! Got them pitted, pureed, and put away in their sugar overnight. I also bought a quart of “Shoji” plums. I’d never heard of them, but they looked neat. They’re yellow with a little blush and about half the size you’d expect of a plum. This morning, they got diced up and pureed for jam too. So after the running around, I had to get this stuff cooked! The cherries got cooked with a little cinnamon stick and “put up” and yielded five jars of cherry jam. Then I had to clean up things and get ready to do it again with the plums. I decided to put just a little bit of ginger in with the plums and make them zippy. The puree of the plums was about the color of apricots. The yield was four jars. It tastes great! I have about a half jar of “overrun” to have with toast tomorrow.
p.s. that’s not our stuff in the thumbnail- it’s somebody’s pantry from the 1940’s. viva inspiration!
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