Friday, February 3, 2017

FMM - The Groundhog Knows Nothing About Texas

Ahh, spring.  It's just around the corner, if you live in Texas.  Seriously, it was 79 degrees here on Wednesday!  Which is why I started working on our pot plants - I needed to cut back the dead stuff from our two-day hard freeze (aka winter) in January.  Unexpectedly, one of my potted mums had new green growth underneath the dead stuff - I thought mums were seasonal at best - but look, there's green stuff here:
I'll take any amount of fresh greenery in early February!

As a refresher, this is what the plant looked like last October:
Maybe there are different types of mums - the purple one that we also bought was completely dead.  Which is OK, as I have that pot earmarked for a bougainvillea just as soon as they show up in our local garden centers.

I was also trimming the dead stuff off the plants in the front yard, but kept puncturing my fingers with thorns on a fern, so I made a quick trip to Home Depot, where I came home with garden gloves and a new, sharper pair of clippers, plus some more clay pots for my succulents:
I felt like a gardener when I brought in my goodies.  A gardener who doesn't like dirt and the bugs who live in it, but a gardener nonetheless.

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Poor Paco has been sick for about a week and a half now - big time tummy troubles.  He's been vomiting a lot, and not eating...even when we offered him some chicken and rice, he very half-heartedly picked at it.  I took him to the vet on Monday; they ran blood work and everything came back fine, which meant no organs were failing or anything major like that, and he was given an injection of an anti-nausea medicine along with an antibiotic.  I've been giving him pills of the same meds since then, but he's still not doing great - this was after being on the medicine for 48 hours:
Sleeping, and shaking, next to me on the couch.  And then he'll suddenly sit up and *blorp* - barf with no warning.  Fun times for all of us, let me tell you.

I may call the vet again today if he's not showing any more improvement, although I don't know what they would do at this point.

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I've been having so much fun knitting little mitered squares out of my leftover sock yarn!  Naturally, I couldn't resist beginning to join them together - according to the pattern, I was supposed to knit the first row of squares individually and then begin joining them when I had the desired width for the throw/blanket.  Well guess what?  You don't always have to follow the pattern; this is where my "knitting is supposed to be fun" motto comes into play.  First I had this:
Holy cow, I was actually able to pick up stitches AND knit these together!

And then, a few days later, I had this:
It's coming together!  I have no idea when I'll get bored, and I know this most likely will be a project years in the works simply because I'm using leftover yarn instead of yarn that I purchased specifically for this throw, but for now, it's a fun distraction - I can start and finish a square in a short amount of time and have the satisfaction of completing something, even though the project as a whole is still a work in progress.

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It's Superbowl weekend!  Which means nothing to me, except for the commercials.  But if you have a stake in it, I hope your team wins.

Have a great weekend!

32 comments:

  1. I use to think I was a gardener until I realized my neighbor actually enjoyed planting and weeding, etc. I like purchasing flowers, and I like the RESULTS of gardening, but not the actual gardening part.

    Poor Paco. Please give a Monday update. Not my dog, but I sure do love him!!!

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    1. Haha, you and me both, Kim - my favorite part of gardening is choosing the flowers and showing Jeff where to plant them.

      You are so sweet - Paco seems a little better now? On the advice of a couple of friends, I offered him some canned pumpkin, which he ate right up. Then I gave him a couple saltine crackers, because that's what I eat to settle my upset stomach. He's keeping this down...fingers crossed that he's on the upturn.

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  2. Poor Paco! I hope he's ok. Maybe he ate something outside that is making him sick?

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    1. We've gone around our yard several times and haven't found anything weird that he might have eaten, but that's not saying much if he ate it all...

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  3. I hope Paco is well soon! We all love your fur baby he is a big star on your blog:)

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    1. I know, Paco is the reason most people come here!

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  4. Oh no, poor Paco! I hope he starts feeling better soon!

    I love those knitted squares! That's going to look so cool whenever you're finally done with it!

    I don't even want to comment on your weather... except to say that there was a "feels like" temp of 1 degree here when I woke up to go to class this morning. 1!!!! Very jealous of those warmer temps.

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    1. Feels like 1 is so wrong! I applaud you for getting outside in that kind of weather.

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  5. Paco! I hate that he feels so poorly :( And I feel for you with the unexpected barfing - sort of like having a toddler, eh?

    Gosh, your little squares are coming together nicely. Whoooooo care if it takes a long time to make the quilt!

    You are my kind of gardener - beside the fact that we both garden in patio pots, I have those same shears and felt like I had conquered the art of gardening when I bought them hahahahahaha!

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  6. "two-day hard freeze (aka winter)"--LOLOLOL. Mums will usually come back year after year. But for me its a lot of plant care for a once a year show. I got mad at them a couple years ago, so MLG planted them across the road (he hates to kill plants.) They lasted there for quite a long time, and then they were deer food. I love getting new garden equipment! And now you have inspired me--this is the year I am going to get a bougainvillea! When I was a kid, we had one that ran all across our front porch. Up here, they have to be annuals. But it will be worth it to enjoy it for the summer.

    Paco. He is one sad little guy. He does look like Sophie's more handsome cousin. Its been a while since I had to deal with dog barf. I'm sorry...

    Little squares! Blanket!! You know you have infected me :) And I bet its not too long until you find just the right whole skein of yarn to add to your blanket :) why not? I love your darker more neutral colors. I don't have any like that so far. But I did find a few leftover balls of handspun out in the shed that I think will work.

    Great post!


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    1. Bougainvilleas are annuals out here, too - but our annual season is so long that I'm going to splurge on one and enjoy it until it freezes to death...I bet I'll get 8-9 months out of it, though.

      Some of the yarn I'm using came from samples sent when I was in a yarn club - the weight worked out for the blanket. I need to get my neutral color, but I want to buy it in person at a yarn shop...maybe next week, if I find an open shop in SA.

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  7. Oh no!!!! I'm praying for Paco!! And for you as you watch Paco struggle with his health issue, whatever it may be!!

    I love the squares. It's a fun project because it's easy to add a few here and there and then tuck it away for a while then pick it out and do some more! :-)

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    1. Exactly - this project can be worked on, and go into hibernation...no deadline with it.

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  8. Poor Paco! We had a similar situation a few years ago with our golden retriever. Vomiting, low food intake, weight loss, etc. And normal lab results. When Bentley didn't improve, the vet put him under and took abdominal x-rays. Lo and behold- Bentley had eaten 3 golf balls and a squash ball!! The vet took him to surgery and removed them, and Bentley was as good as new. Yay! And we had 4 nasty souvenirs and a big vet bill. I've since heard many stories of dogs and bowel obstructions from eating non- dog food (thong underwear and socks seem to be favorites).

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    1. The vet asked if he ate anything funky but he's not a chewer like that...x-rays are on the horizon if he doesn't improve.

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  9. Aww man, I feel bad for Paco. I hope he gets better asap :(

    I love your scrap yarn project! It's going to be so colorful!

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    1. Thanks! I'm enjoying revisiting all the fun colors of my sock yarn!

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  10. would definitely take Paco back to the vet, they are always concerned when you can't get a dog to eat anything!!!

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    1. He's not a great eater even when he's well, so this is hard to see. He did eat some canned pumpkin and a couple of saltines today - so far, so good. Fingers crossed he's turned the corner.

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  11. Aww my heart is breaking for Paco! Our winter weather here hasn't been bad but your 79 degrees is definitely making me jealous!

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    1. We are going to be in the 80s next week...as long as we have cool mornings, I'm not going to complain.

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  12. Aww poor Paco. I hope he feels better soon. Great idea about the squares but you need the same gauge wool, right?

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    1. Yes, the wool needs to be sock weight/fingering weight. I have enough to make a decent dent in the throw, but eventually I'll run out - that is, if I don't make any more socks...but we both know that's not going to happen, LOL.

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  13. Feel better soon little Paco!!!!! AWWWWW!!!!!

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  14. Praying for a speedy recovery. He lights up my day!

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  15. Just catching up with you poor Paco! Hope he feels better soon. How old is he?

    79 degrees?! I can only dream about it, but I shouldn't complain because overall we had a very mild winter. Which means one of two things - we'll skip over spring completely and hit 80 degrees in April, or we'll have a March blizzard :P

    I am working today so no Superbowl for me - it's a Steak DIY night, and I am wondering how many women may have signed up for the class not knowing it was Superbowl Sunday - I imagine some men might have the game going on their phones! Enjoy your Sunday!

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  16. Keep us up to date on Paco - hope he is feeling better!

    I have those same nippers from Fiskars :D

    I have hit and miss luck with mums. The cheap mums anyway. I get them from the big box store cheap and I will plant some in the ground. Some years they come back and others they don't.

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  17. Oh no, poor Paco. I sure hope he feels better by now. It's terrible to see our fur babies not feeling well, especially since they can't say what's the matter.

    No sign of Spring here yet, Spring flowers are no where to be seen yet while normally around this time you see them already. Well at least it's dry most of the days and not too cold.

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