Santee, CA

Boots tongue seems to have improved slightly. So, while we are still on a mush diet (though truth be told Ruthi does sneak away and get a burger every once in a while) we might be able to have Sushi soon. That’s the meal/food most missed by us both.

Plans for Thanksgiving will be simple – cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, mushy stuffing, gravy (and rolls for Ruthi), and pumpkin pie/whip cream – carb heaven. Ruthi was never much into the meat anyway. So, except for Boots’ favorite yams it isn’t much different from when her tongue wasn’t causing so much pain. Maybe the tongue pain will just go away quietly like it came.

Hope you all had good Thanksgivings.

Santee, CA

Well, Boots got the results of her MRI. We guess no news is good news. Nothing showed up on the films and her doctor is advising to wait a couple of weeks and then return for a more extensive exam. He has no ideas as to why Boots has the pain or how to stop or ease it. Remember medicine really is an art not science.

Santee, CA

Karma returned to her original Camp Bow Wow Daycare in El Cajon, CA. She was exhausted after we picked her up. She slept in late on Saturday morning – we’re loving it!
Boots throat/tongue had her MRI’d today to rule out some things and provide a better basis for the diagnosis. Now, we just need to wait out the review and doctor’s return call – never a speedy thing.

Santee, CA

We woke up to discover a nature “kill” of a rabbit. The bunny had been torn apart and fur was everywhere. Half of the rabbit was left behind and some of the guts. So, we talked with the camp ranger (who came to clean up the rampage) and our neighbors. We couldn’t figure out how a coyote could have possibly been the aggressor and Karma not waking us up. A cat would be challenged to avoid the rabbit’s back feet kicks and kill the bunny.

Later in the early evening, we figured out the culprit. A Red-Tailed Hawk showed up looking for his dinner. It was a beautiful bird, about a foot tall with a very broad chest. The hawk just swooped down outside the desk window that faces the back and sat in the grass. He was close to where the rabbit parts had been. We think he was looking for his kill for dinner before flying up into a nearby tree to think about his loss. Boots has gotten a fleeting glimpse of it as it flew away from the kill site early that morning and thought it might have been a turkey vulture or such scavenging the remains.

Santee,CA

Since we’ve gotten here, Boots tongue pain has increased and totally impacts her ability and choices around food. As she is the cook, we are having a lot of mushy foods. Good thing I love Polenta with anything. It hasn’t impacted her speech or anything else. It’s been getting worse over the past 3 months. So, Boots is off to see find an ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) (as per recommendation of our primary physician in Reno).

Santee, CA

We are back at Santee Lakes Reserve Park for the winter. Last year we were in a newer section (Oak West). The trees were shorter and spaces were smaller. Now, we are in Willow backed up to a stream. [The park reuses waste/runoff water into this stream and to water the green grass sections.] The space is a bit larger and better shaped so we have room to sit out in the grass and watch the stream. We even walk Karma in the back at night. It gets very dark here very early (by 5pm) because we are set between a couple of rolling hills. What with the great weather, we are hoping to get in daily walks and bike rides.

We’re hoping to get some work done on the rig: kitchen (table over cabinet, adding more counter space and breakfast bar), office (desk needs to be stabilized) and basement (carpeting needs to be replaced with linoleum). Gees, this is worse than a stick built house.