Last of May socks

I am attempting to post this last pair of CIC socks to the SAM 3 KAL but so far having no luck. I knitted them as Magic 32s, 2 socks on 2 circulars, sz5US, and Cascade 220. This is my very favorite wool worsted and I confess to having enough of it in single skeins to keep me busy for quite a long time.

Health problems for Robin

Poor little Robin has swollen eyelids to the point that the eyelid pimples up at different points and pops, then drains.  The blue eye is much the worst, but it is happening to both of them.  SOme folks on the MiniAussie list have suggested that she might have eyelashes growing inward.  This seems different to me, because of the pimpling, but I will cover it with the vet this week.

Now here's the worst.  Remember those 2 seizures she had as a little pup?  At the time we decided they must have been caused by getting whiffs of ant killer before it had dried, and I now only kill bugs with dish soap and vinegar.  And I stopped worrying.

She is now 24 weeks old, and has had a seizure on each of the last 2 evenings.  The first one happened up by the chicken compound, and we thought she had been poisoned somehow because it came on so fast.  One minute she was playing, then all of a sudden her foreleg drew up tight against her body and she fell over.  I grabbed her up and ran down to the house and put salt down her to induce vomiting.  Poor little thing barfed for an hour but then seemed to be fine.

In retrospect, I shouldn't have induced vomiting, because last night she had one while sitting in DH's chair.  FIrst her eyes get wide and scared, then her foreleg draws up (the other one this time) and she fell over in the chair.  I stroked and talked to her while it lasted, 60 seconds or so.  Within 5 minutes she was acting perfectly normal.

THe books say that if a dog has epilepsy, seizures can be triggered by most anything, but that the seizures follow the same pattern and duration.  All of these have done that.  She is also in heat.  I haven't had her spayed yet because I have been reading that it is better to wait until her growth plates close, especially if there is a suspicion of hip or elbow problems.  So I was planning to have it done at 14 monhs, but may do it before that, say at 8-9 months, depending on other things.

One good thing.  She is completely recovered from the lameness she had been exhibiting a couple of months ago.  She is still reluctant to jump down from things, but doesn't exhibit any pain when she does.

Help, I have never owned a dog with so many problems.  Is it because she is so small, or what?  I have also read that small dogs that don't eat well are subject to hypoglycemic attacks which look similar to epileptic seizures, and at first I thought that might have been the trouble night before last, because she hadn't eaten all day, but yesterday she ate off and on all day. so that couldn't have been it.

THis is so scary.  Have you ever run into anything like it?

 

 

AJ Wischmeyer, Quiltmaker

ajwisch@joimail.com

http://luvkuku.blogspot.com/

 

 

more May socks

Here are 2 more pair of Magic 28s for CIC and for the SAM3 KAL.
I am working on a pair of Magic 32s that I hope to finish by the
end of the month.

Sz5 US, 2 socks on 2 circs, Cascade 220

Pat's puppy update

Well, yesterday's note has turned out to be wrong.  Pat just couldn't go through with it; she feels that life with Tuesday, no matter how much trouble she is having is preferable to life without Tuesday, even for a few days per week.  I have to sympathize.  I would hate to not have Robin around all the time; she has wrapped herself around my heart.

DH is going to spend more time trying to teach Pat how to teach her dog.  Its hard because she can't make sense of what she reads.  She was of below-average IQ even before developing bipolar disorder and ADHD.  So she has promised to watch the VHS about Puppy Training that arrived with Tuesday, and I will look for others to get for her.

There's no doubt how much she loves the dog.  DH is just afraid that it may be too much dog for her.  THe half Queensland seems to be dominating right now and the nice quiet gentle mini aussie would have been better.  Oh well, maybe that side will surface as she matures.

 

AJ

 

 

Pat's puppy Tuesday

I have hesitated to give progress reports on Tuesday because there wasn't any progress (by my lights) to report. 

Tuesday is a very nice little dog, and DH says that she will do anything for HIM when he visits, but that Pat just isn't able to train her, or even take care of a puppy full-time.  I know it doesn't seem like much to take care of and train a puppy, especially when you don't have anything else to do, but she isn't coping with it.  All Pat has done, for all she says she's trying, is teach Tuesday that you never have to be any place you don't want to be right then, you'll get attention if you make enough noise, and you might as well pee anywhere you happen to be because nobody can tell when you are getting ready to go.

So Tuesday is going to come live with us part of the week and just spend Saturdaythru Monday with Pat.  Evidently Pat never gets to sleep because Tuesday either barks nonstop or won't leave her alone if loose.  I think we can take care of that  pretty quick.  Crate and exercise pen are ready.

Also, she isn't getting near enough exercise and that will be solved immediately too.

Robin's nose shouldn't be too out of joint as she will still go to work with me and Tuesday will have to stay home alone. (4 hours 2 days a week, big deal)

 

 

AJ

CIC-Magic 28-SAM3 KAL

Here's a pair of CIC socks I just finished, using the Magic 28 pattern, sz5US 2 socks on 2 circs,
Yarn Treehouse Wool Print, 100 % wool. It is actually a heavy worsted or chunky gauge, so I
think I will go up a needle size if I make the whole sock out of it again. It has so many good
colors in the variegation that I am planning to save the rest of it for trims and stretching other
scraps.
This is my first pair for the SAM3 KAL, and I hope to have another pair by the end of the month.
I have also made a pair of Horcrux socks for the SixSox KAL in April and a pair of Little Child"s
Socks for the Vintage Sock KAL this month, but I don't suppose the SAM3 will accept them, as
I finished them last week before I knitted these.

Little Child's Sock

Well, here are my May Vintage SOck KAL socks, the Little Child's SOck from the book.
I used Regia Cotton in (obviously) red, sz0US needles, 2 on 2 circs, and still had to cut the
stitch count from 72 to 64. I also didn't make them near as tall as the pattern called for.
I seem to be prefering my sock tops shorter and shorter, probably because of the increasing
heat. I better get to work and just knit some footies.

Predator loss

I know this is retribution for being smug about no predator losses, but we lost a mother hen, a Dark Cornish, to the neighbor(1/2 mile away)'s dog yesterday morning between 6:30 when my DH lets them out of the coop into the yard, and 7:30 when I went up to feed them.
There were feathers everywhere, and at first I couldn't figure out where she had gone, as the fencing had fallen back down over the hole.  I went out of the yard and walked the perimeter and found the tracks, then identified the hole.  I was just sick.  The 6 baby chicks are all right; they and the mama were the only ones in that coop and yard.  The youngest ones are 3 weeks old, and this IS central Arizona, so they are feathered enough to be OK. 
I have been seeing poop from a strange dog near the coops, and somebody got into our trash the last time we butchered, so should have been prepared for this to happen.
I phoned the neighbor and left a message asking if his dogs had been out at that time, since they had tried to get into a coop about a year ago and failed. He showed up at the house almost immediately, very apologetic.  His dog had actually taken the carcass home with her to chew on at her leisure, I guess.
He offered to pay for the chicken, but I refused.  If this happens again, and I have to shoot the dog, I don't want him thinking we had a deal to trade dead chickens for money. He assured me it will never happen again, but did tell me that she had killed all his daughter's chickens at their other place; they have only lived here about 4 years. She's an Aussie, and I love the breed, but a wrong Aussie can be very, very wrong and too smart to be thwarted in something they really love.
When my DH got home last night late, I told him and he was all for going over to the neighbor's house and thrashing him, but I was able to deflect him, thank goodness.  I really hate being enemies with the neighbors, and if it never happens again, I want to avoid that route. 
DH really prizes his Dark Cornish, and she was one of 3 out of 4 Dark Cornish to go broody AND do a good job of it.
Forgive me for this rant, but I needed to get it off my chest.

 

 

 

Buff Catalanas

I ordered 25 Buff Catalana chicks from Ideal back in March, and lost 4
the first few days. So, of the remaining 21, I seem to have 13 girls
and 8 boys, one of which is definitely NOT a Buff Catalana. We will
eat him first, as he is of no recognizable breed. I plan to keep 2
cocks, so I have left those 2 with the pullets and separated the other
6 to a grower pen.
Of the 8, 2 have bright blue earlobes, and 2 or 3 of the pullets do
too. Has anyone else seen this in Catalanas?
Like Jesse's Buckeyes, there is a lot of size and feather variation,
but I will keep choosing and choosing to try and improve the next
generation. One cock was/is always the first to try anything and the
biggest from the very beginning. Regrettably, he is also the lightest
colored, with the shortest tail of all the boys. I am hoping his tail
will catch up.
I'll probably switch my keepers a dozen times before it is time to eat
the others, but it is fun.
I phased out my Fayoumis, as the eggs were just too tiny, and the hens
too aggressive. Wali, my roo, is now living the good life with a
mixed flock of heavy layers with my DH's boss. I have only a
BR/Fayoumi pullet, pure black, and an Ameraucana/Fayoumi pullet, dark
grey, who saved her own life by starting to lay green eggs.
My DH is in love with Dark and White-Laced Red Cornish, and of his Dk
hens, 3 have set, 2 successfully, with 4 and 2 chicks respectively and
of 2 WLR, one set, with one chick hatched. All the chicks are WLR. The
Dark cock turned out to be infertile (we also tested him on other
breed hens) and made excellent chicken and dumplings. That is surely
the reason for the poor hatch rate too. THey all started with 7 or 8
eggs, and one poor DK didn't hatch a single one. She has gone broody
again, and I will get her a few feed store chicks then end of this
week. Poor thing, wants to be a mama so bad.