Good News, Bad News

The corn is drying out, that is good news.  Boyd is trapping squirrels and skunks like crazy, that is the bad news.  This morning, he had a cat in one of the traps.  I let it out, but not before it hissed and writhed and went crazy.  When I opened the trap it ran straight for the culvert.   Needless to say, I didn't take the dogs for the paper this morning.   Boyd let Jasmin take care of one squirrel for him and while we were taking care of Buddy, she got the other one out of the bed of the truck.  She takes them and buries them around the farm.  Boyd says she is working on her own food storage.
Tonight,  I went with Boyd to dispose of something in a trap at the other farm.  Now, I not only smell like a fish, but a skunk also.  

While there, I took these shots.  

Fish Face

Well, fish neck is more like it.  And, I promise you, I am not making this stuff up!  I couldn't if I wanted to.

Look closely, that is a fish hanging

off of Buddy's neck.

 I tried to brush it off with a stick, but Buddy winced each time.  I knew I would need help, so I called Boyd hoping he hadn't left to go to the South Farm yet.  He said, "Whaaattt?", when I told him Buddy had a fish stuck to his face.  Yeah, I don't think he will answer too many more of my phone calls.

 We tried to pull it out, but we could tell it was really in there good.  Boyd told me to call the vet.  The vet said he had never seen a catfish actually penetrate the skin, it was probably just twisted in his hair.  Nope, one of the barbs, whiskers, whatever you call them, was INSIDE his skin.   He said we should get pliers if we had to, but that we could just pull it out.  

 So, after pulling chunk,

 after chunk off, we finally got to the last part.   And it did require pliers.  I held Buddy's head and skin, while Boyd pulled.  This is what came out.  It is about 1 1/2 inches long and was completely embedded in the dogs neck. 

   My hands smelled like dead fish and soap and water wasn't cutting it.  I tried a little vinegar and now I smell like a pickle!

Jasmin caused her own trouble at the river.  She ended up covered in burrs.   Gotta love it!

Shots All Around

Wrestling, scratching, wailing and bleeding, that's what filled our morning.   Wouldn't have been so bad if we had been a little smarter, but you live and learn, right?

 Buddy and the two cats were due for their rabies vaccination.   We got an early morning appointment for the cats' sake.  They aren't easy to find later in the day and they certainly wouldn't like being kept in a kennel for hours on end waiting for the appointment time.   So, the plan was, go get them first thing in the morning when they expected to be fed, carry them to the kennel in the back of the truck and head to the vet's office.  Well, we found them just fine.  I was supposed to carry Satan because she doesn't resist being carried like Gilligan does, but she moved from me.  I took Gilligan and we made it outside just fine.  Boyd had Satan and put her in the kennel while I tried to get Gilligan in also.  He made a run for it and I don't know what happened next, but it involved a lot of flying fur and pain to the humans.   At some point, Boyd had a cat by a leg or tail in each hand, I get the kennel out and on its end so they can't climb out, in go the cats and it was over.  It happened fast, but it was frantic.  The cats were uninjured, but wailing the saddest moans you ever heard.  The humans (mostly Boyd) were bleeding from a variety of claw marks and bite marks.   Had we been smart, we would have hosed off the dog scented kennel and left it in their sleeping quarters all night.  That is what we did the only other time the cats went to the vets and we didn't have so much trouble.  Yeah, well, we aren't smart.

  

Getting the dog there was a breeze.  I opened the back of my car and in he hopped.  Now, getting him to stop shaking, trembling and other wise freaking out in the vet's office was another story.  Buddy doesn't do well in strange places.   He relaxed a little when the vet came in and did a blood test to see if anything obvious was wrong in regards to the two seizures he has had this past couple of months.  The vet said his liver was healthy and his blood sugar was good, so just watch and see if it happens again.  

The cats were great in the vet's office.  Gilligan did do a spread eagle and try to hold himself inside the kennel, but other than that, they were fine.  The vet said that Satan was the epitome of health for a cat her age.  Her teeth were so clean he thought we were flossing them :)   

So, the dog and the cats got their shots and because of them, Boyd and I now need tetanus shots.  And, if we were the drinking sort, we would down a shot or two of something else to calm our nerves!

Colorful Skies

Something's Lurking Underneath

When I got home from school tonight, Jasmine already had a great start on digging a hole in the tomatoes.  Anyone want to wager what is living underground?   Whatever it is, it made a small tunnel and kept her interest all night.

Inside of hole, notice tunnel.

Exhausted after digging.

Pumpkin Update

It's turning orange!

Black and White

I still haven't learned enough about Photoshop to do what I want in it.  I have been thinking for months that I want to mess around with black and white photos and then do some sort of color enhancement on just a small portion of the photo.  I also want to do some cool edge effects.  For now, this is all I have accomplished and I used iphoto instead.   I figured I had better get something posted before I got an e-mail from my mom wondering if I was still alive.  I think this is how she checks up on me.  :)
Everyone can thank Boyd for buying me an Airport Express.  Now our internet range reaches out past the dog pen, I can even get a signal at the chicken coop.  He says he did it to be nice, I think he just wants me farther away from him!   At least, it takes away any excuse I had not to post daily.  Maybe that could be my new goal.