My Poor Sidekick ....

 Weird is all I can say about the weather, and you know when it's weird, people talk about it.  We are back to the 60's during the day, with more rain coming.  Add to that the normal Vail gale of hair wrenching wind and you know you are in Arizona.

The good news is the birds are coming back slowly.  I usually have big numbers of quail, but this year they are few and far between.

I seem to have a small covey of baby mourning dove that sit on my fence and wait for breakfast to be served.  I put out a small bit of seed on the grass for them, then they sit for a couple of hours before heading out.  You can tell they are babies because they are a little awkward.

And then the wrens ... remember this?  I'm still working on it.  The birds of the U.S. quilt is the only "wren" picture I have.  They are too fast for the camera.

I spent the morning finishing up this quilt.  It didn't turn out too bad after all, but is very small.  A picnic blanket for one I think.

After waking up sufficiently, I put on my big girl pants and unloaded the propane tank.  That's the easy part.  For a mere $16.00 I got my 7 gallon tank full of 6 gallons of propane.  The guy had a hard time lifting it up on the tailgate of my truck.  I thought that didn't bode well for me.

Back at the rig, I backed up as close as I could so I didn't have to carry it so far.  Surprisingly, it went in the easiest it ever has.  I'm topped off with propane and ready to head out.   Not yet, but soon.

Just for giggles, I decided to try and put my new table together for the first time.  Ingenious how these unfold.  Unfortunately, getting them folded BACK is a lesson in frustration.  I never could get the table top back in the original configuration.  I finally gave up and luckily, it fit in the bag anyway.

Then it was off to the Vet for my little sidekick.  My poor baby .... he needed two shots, Parvo and rabies.  While there, I mentioned he was chewing on his foot.  Although I felt nothing when I checked it two days ago, I DID feel something this time.  They said they would check it out.

OMG ... they took him OUT of the room and didn't come back for over 30 minutes.  I was getting pretty concerned since I know two shots cannot take 30 minutes!! 

Good grief ... he came back with a huge leg wrap like he had a broken leg ... all the way up to his hip bone.  WHAT THE HECK???  She said she found a sticker in his foot and when she took it out, it left a little hole.  She soaked it in Epsom salts and wrapped it up.  You can tell he's not a happy camper, poor baby.  He can't bend his leg at all!!

The wrap was so huge he couldn't walk and was obviously VERY uncomfortable.  So much so that I finally took a pair of scissors to the bandages.  I know, I'm not a vet ... but I've been around animals enough to know when they are in pain and how to fix it.  I cut off 3/4 of the bandage, making it much easier for him to walk.

That worked pretty well, but he was still not feeling good at all.  I drug out this little kennel thing and set it up, in the hopes of keeping him from walking too much today while I'm gone.  He has never EVER gone in this willingly.  

As you can see above, I spent the next five hours on the floor ... oh my aching butt ... until out of the blue, he walked in, laid down and went to sleep.

Although restless for awhile, he finally slept like a log ... so much so that I kept having to check to see if he was breathing.  This morning he was more like his happy self and ate his snacks with relish!  Not hamburger relish, but you know what I mean.

It was a rough night for both of us, but I think he's going to live.  The bandage will last until tomorrow when I'm supposed to take it off and soak his foot.  That oughta be fun, right??  What I REALLY need is a magnifying glass so I can see in between the pads on his feet.  We don't want to go through this again!

In the meantime, I'll leave him in the little house while Miss Patty and I head out to a quilt show for a couple of hours.  Not that I'm buying anything now.  That $338 bill, $60 for the wrap on the leg which I cut off an hour later, just killed my fabric budget!!!  It's okay ... he's MORE than worth it!!!