Thursday, November 27, 2008

Ginger



My darling dog, Ginger, died this morning. She collasped yesterday evening. The diagnosis was bleeding into the lining of the heart. She was eight years old.

She had come upstairs from the den and simply laid down and couldn't get up. Gary and I struggled to get her into the car and got her to the emergency vet within an hour.

She was a wonderful dog. Her gentle, kind spirit will be with us for a long time. I have wonderful memories of her.

She had never seen snow when we moved to Wisconsin two years ago. I'll never forget that morning I let her out in her first falling snow. She stood very still, tail erect and nose quivering. Then she started a long wild dash around the yard and frolicked in sheer joy. She loved the snow. This Monday's snow was for her. She was delighted and immediately went out to roll in it. For a California dog, she really enjoyed Wisconsin. I don't care if it snows again this winter.

I remember the first time I saw her. I have a picture somewhere from that first day that I will scan and post. She is about five weeks old and is sound asleep. I picked her up and sat with her sleeping in my lap for an hour. It was love at first sight.

Love comes in many forms, but the dedicated, unconditional love of a dog is a true gift.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Letting Clio Explore

This morning I let Clio out of her bedroom to explore the top layer of the house, which consists of four bedrooms and two bathrooms. I didn't have to worry about her escaping down the stairs to the rest of house as Ginger, the Golden Retriever, had posted herself at the bottom of the stairs. Ginger would have really liked to be upstairs, but listens very well and stayed as this very effect block.

Percy, the grey tabby, took one look and immediately went downstairs. (But no hissing or growling.)

Naturally, there was a great deal of conversation and a great adventure looking into closets, whipping around shower curtains, and standing at the edge of my sink where I am trying to wash my face. (Cats always express such utter amazement that we humans put so much water on ourselves. I am sure that they think it is most inefficient.)

She reluctantly returned to her room as I had to go to work.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

I think the right name is Clio (aka CoCo)

Cats rarely get the right names. People just don't listen hard enough. Some people get the first consonant, but mess up the rest of the name. I know that CoCo is not the right name for the new kitten. And, as T.S. Elliot reminded us, a cat has many names, only a few known by humans.

I am getting a very strong mental image of Clio Laine when I ask her about her name. I tried out Clio this morning and seems right. Gary said it suits her. However, I am not going to commit. Give it a couple of weeks.

Monday, November 24, 2008

CoCo and snow
















My friend, John, adopted a new cat, Bernie. Kitten fever had been building for the last couple of months, but it really set in when Bernie arrived on the scene. Sooo... Gary and I talked to a rescue organization that specializes in purebred cats, Speciality Purebred Cat Rescue. We now have a new baby in our house, CoCo.

CoCo is a Sabel Tonkinese, about one year old, and has the curiosity level and activity level of a ferret. She is in to everything. She also has one of the longest tails I have seen on such a little cat.

Unlike John's experience, I would be hesitant to refer anyone to the agency where we got her. When we arrived at the home where several animals were kept in a small, clean (but a pretty strong cat pan smell) in a basement room. We had already seen CoCo on the web and figured that she was the one for us.

When Gary sat down in the chair, CoCo immediately got up on the table behind him and put her front paws on his shoulder and leaned around to give him a rub on his cheek. Needless to say, that kiss sold him immediately. (Men are so easy.)

When I get around that many cats, I tend to tune out the humans and didn't hear that that the woman had a cat in another part of the house that had a virus (cold like). Gary did. Unfortunately, I didn't get that information until Sunday.

CoCo was sneezing and coughing by 5 pm on Sunday. Fortunately, she was cloistered in guest bed room, but, unfortunately, I hadn't been as fastidious with my hand washing and I certainly hadn't changed my clothes. My first concern was Percy, our big, old (16+), grey tabby. His last set of boosters was two years ago and I had no information on the duration of the vaccine. (Vaccines, including rabies, can be one, two, or three years.) CoCo had hers at the beginning of November. I called the woman and she confirmed that there was a virus in the house and it seemed to be a mild upper respiratory infection that lasted for four or five days.

I do know that there is no medicine for a virus, but by 7 pm I had worked myself into a snit. Gary knows me well enough that when I get like this that you just let me go. I piled the cat in the car and went to the emergency clinic. (CoCo, BTW, does not like driving in the car.) So with the cat yelling, we arrive at the vet. The vet examines the cat and says she is very good health, but really can't hear her breathe as she is purring too loudly. But in those short, minuscule points between purrs, the lungs sound OK. She does feel that this cough is one of these short viruses and tells me what I already know--unless any mucus is cloudy or colored, she won't give any meds. And that Percy will probably get it. Wonderful!

CoCo seemed relieved to be back in her room by 10 pm. Three car trips in a little more than twenty-four hours were way too much excitement. I too was very glad to get my shower and flop into bed.

My whole reason for telling this story is to tell how angry I am at this service for sending a cat home with someone who has another cat, when they know that the cat has been exposed to a virus. I would have been disappointed not to take her home on Saturday, but I would have gladly paid my fee to hold her and come back to get her in two weeks.
This morning I woke to a wonderland of snow. Mother Nature successfully blanketed my ire. Snow is still new enough to me that I still am mesmerized by its beauty. The transformation of the landscape is amazing. While the ground is cold enough to hold the snow for awhile, the ambient temperatures will be in the high 30's today so the roads will be clear.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The first dusting of snow



Winter has arrived with a dusting of snow-our first of the season. Temps in the teens and twenties.
Not much time this morning, but I wanted to share these with you.

Friday, November 14, 2008

The Great Apple Hunt

I've just written an article for the Ozaukee Master Gardener's newsletter, The Best Dirt. I thought that I would post it here as well.

"Wisconsin is a new home for Gary and me and this has been our second autumn here. We have spent several Saturdays and Sundays driving around and admiring the beautiful fall colors. During those drives, we have discovered another Wisconsin wonder, apple orchards. And that discovery, as so many new discoveries do, prompted ar question—how many varieties of apples grow in Wisconsin?
With over a hundred apple orchards in Wisconsin, the state is ranked 12th in annual apple production with over 1.5 million bushels produced a year. Many of those apples are the common ones found in the grocery stores, such as Delicious, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Honeycrisp, and MacIntosh. We knew about those and decidedly have our favorites. Now our search focused on finding apples we have never tasted. What we found were hundreds we had never heard of. We quickly realized that this was a multi-year project.
A quick search of the internet provided us with list of apple orchards of over forty orchards in southeastern Wisconsin. Where to start? We decided to explore antique varieties.
An antique apple is generally defined as a variety that is over fifty years old. That magic number is related to the advent of refrigerated box cars which arrived on the scene in the 1940s. Refrigerated box cars allowed apples to shipped great distances and doomed many apple varieties that didn’t travel well. Another common characteristic of an antique apple is that it has a historical record of someone first recognizing it as a distinct variety.
We located a very famous apple, Calville Blanc d’Hiver. This French apple was first recognized in the early 1600s growing in Normandy and was served as a dessert on a special plate to Louis XIII. Thomas Jefferson fell in love with this apple when he was ambassador to France and had several trees shipped to Monticello. The apple is pale green with light red freckles on the side that faced the sun. It has a lovely crisp bite with a distinctive spicy flavor. It stores well and is excellent for both cooking and eating.
Another apple that has become a favorite is Cox’ Orange Pippin. An English variety originating in the early 1800s, this apple is perfect for eating, juicy and intensely flavored. Ripening here in late September, it is a very delicate apple that makes outstanding cider. Often this variety is cited as one of the finest apples ever grown.
Arkansas Black, as the name implies, has a dark red skin, with crisp light green flesh. It originated in Benton County, Arkansas and was first described in 1886. This smaller apple stores very well and is good for cooking and eating.
Our collection has grown during the fall. We have focused on apples that store well. We’ve carefully wrapped our prizes individually in newspaper and are storing them in a cool part of the basement to tide us over the winter.
When you select apples to store, choose only the apples that have a stem and have no bruises, nicks, or cuts. Also, don’t store apples with potatoes, as potatoes emit a harmless gas that causes apples to ripen more quickly.
Those apples that do have a bruise or nick are prime candidates for applesauce, canned apple pie filling, or cider.
We’ve started building our “to taste” list for next year, noting the time of year that they ripen (from July to November) and which orchards have them. With so many to try, we simply get fascinated with the names: Chenanago Strawberry, Duchess of Oldenberg, Egremont Russet, Esopus Spitzenberg, Karminj De Sonnavile, Orleans Reinette, Swaar, and Yellow Bellflower.
As for the number of apple varieties grown in Wisconsin, we still can’t give you a solid number. It looks like it is well over 150. Hum, how many years is it going to take for us to taste all those varieties?"

Sunday, November 9, 2008

The Changing of the Closets

Well, at least this job is almost done. I have all the summer clothes moved to the guest bedroom closet and all the winter clothes moved to my closet. It was quite a mess. Normally, I perform this exercise twice a year. Last fall it didn't happen because I wore jeans and sweaters while working out of the house all winter. This spring it didn't happen because I shattered my left wrist. Fortunately, I had had a huge throw out when we moved from California to Wisconsin. But even so, there is this mound in the hall that needs to be dealt with and the sort/move has taken me most all day. Normally, this is a job that requires 2 or 3 hours max.

I do still have shoes to go through, but that shouldn't be so bad as I have bought only a few pair this year. Part of the job is getting all the leather shoes cleaned and polished. I think I will wait until next weekend to do that.

I have good clothes that I haven't worn in several years that I am sorting out to give to a local program that provides clothing to women entering or re-entering the work force. Others will be bagged to be sent to Good Will.

The motivation for all this activity is today's high -- 29 degrees. Gary saw a few snow flakes this morning. We probably have a few more weeks of autumn, but winter is giving us her first few kisses. I'll be delighted if she holds off the first real snows until December.