State of the House

[ebonypearl]

It's significantly cooler than yesterday - 90ºF compared to 108ºF, but it's still hot, windless, and muggy.

Xoco and Rhapsody have dirty ears, so I mixed up an ear cleaning potion to clean them out. Now they have clean ears.

Rhapsody is fully recovered from the stomach virus, so she doesn't need the poop firming medicine anymore. She still has hte puppy mange and will take a few weeks to recover from that and grow her hair back. She had it bad, so bad she gets chilled even in this heat. The pet store had puppy tank tops on sale, so I bought her a week's worth to wear until she grows her hair back.

I should have bought 1 size larger, she's growing so fast.

Xoco is still suffering a bit from the stomach bug, but is recovered enough to not need the poop firmer. She still has a touch of the puppy mange but she never lost hair over it, just got spots like acne and those are going away. She'll have to take the mange medicine until she weighs 3 pounds because it's also her heartworm medicine.

Itzl is the worst affected by the stomach bug. He, however, doesn't have mange so all he needs to take is the bland food (which he likes) and the poop firmer so he doesn't have runny poops. Those distress him because it gets caught in his bloomer fur and he crouch-walks to me to clean him off. He hates being dirty.

Other than that, they are all doing well. We caught it all early enough that none of them suffered much for it or needed a lot of care over it.

Xoco has gained 3 ounces since we got her and now weighs more than a pound. She's still very tiny and chills easily, too, but they don't make doggie clothes small enough for her. I made her some fleece "t-shirts" to wear, and she has a bed bag to crawl into when she feels chilled. The bed bag is a quilted pouch held open by a band of stiff horsehair. It's like a small portable cave for her and she adores it.

Xoco also likes the Dawgie Bags a lot and will crawl into one on her own now.

Rhapsody tolerates the Dawgie Bags and prefers them to the dog car seat when traveling.

In gardening news - my bee balm is open and the bachelor buttons are harvestable now. My sunflowers have gone to seed and I need to start weaving lavender wands, there's so much lavender to harvest. I have rose petals crystallizing and this year, my rosemary and sage set beautiful bounteous blooms, so I harvested and candied those for later use. Now, I have to hustle and harvest the rest of the herbs. My basils are beginning to bloom and I need to make pestos before they do. The mint is starting to bloom early in this heat so I need to harvest them, too, and I have some rogue marigolds that came up in the middle of the yard. I think I will let them go to seed so they spread more. I like having rogue plants pop up, like the lamb's ears, the bluebonnets, and the cosmos.

Comments

[ravan.livejournal.com]

Rose petals crystallizing? How do you do that, when do you harvest/pluck them?

[ebonypearl.livejournal.com]

That's what it's called when you candy them - clip off the white heel, brush the petals with beaten egg white,lay on a bed of sugar and cover with more sugar. In a day or two, sift out the petals and use the rose sugar to sweeten drinks and the rose petals to decorate cakes and cookies.

You harvest the roses after they open all the way and just before they 'blow".

[bat-cheva.livejournal.com]

I will have to try this. I have a rose bush that has the most amazing scent. That would be delicious.

[ulesegi.livejournal.com]

So glad to hear your little animal friends are on the mend. I hope poor Itzl will have clean pants again soon. The Chihuahuas I have known were all fastidious little creatures.

[ebonypearl.livejournal.com]

Thanks. They are all doing much better - better enough I can start adding non-bland foods to their diet.

I'm glad the worst was just really soft poops and not full diarrhea.

[thesecondcircle.livejournal.com]

Ear cleaning potion would be appreciated. My big guy could use some.

Thanks!

[ebonypearl.livejournal.com]

It's a simple potion: 3 parts each water and white vinegar and 1/2 part hydrogen peroxide. Put it in a squeeze bottle. Gently squeeze it into the ears while playing with them and praising the dog. Massage the base of each ear.Let the dog shake his head,then wipe out the excess with a cotton ball. Never use cotton swabs, only cotton balls.

Repeat as needed.

You might want to do this in the bathroom or outside because it can get messy.

[thesecondcircle.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you! I use a similar mix of hydrogen peroxide and water to unclog human ears (particularly after an illness) but it never occurred to me to use it on the dog. I'll add the vinegar and give it a try on Oakley. He's such a big gentle fellow, and he's used to getting his ears washed and wiped (big floppy ears always need care. I completely concur about doing it outside though -- ick!