Glitzy Glamorous and Gaudy

Mr. Cooper would like to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes.  It's a miracle thanks to you!  This was his Merry Christmas picture that I'm not sure I posted.

This is him this morning, feeling oh so much better, though a bit haggard!!  There was no getting up in the middle of the night except once to let Kitters out.  She decided to stay inside where it was warm since there is now frost on the pumpkin every morning.  I'm sure we are getting in the way of her night life schedule.

We got up at 4:00 ... much improved over 3:00.  Coop slept through the night, has not been sick, and is eating like a normal dog again.  I did have a thought however ... the lady vet he saw last time that told me he should be on Senior food instead of Sensitive Stomach?  I think that was a BIG mistake, even though I mixed it together for over a week.  I think that change of food is what brought this on.  

SO ... we are going back to his old food with boiled chicken.  The less fat in this kids diet, the better.  He's so much better, barking for his treats, nosing the kitty away and jumping up on the couch.  That is major improvement!!  So thank you everyone for your prayers ... they really worked!!

First things first ... laundry!!  AGAIN!  And I still haven't washed the main rug from the rig.  Nor have I vacuumed the rocks and pebbles out.  I need a different type of tennis shoe that doesn't pick them up and deposit them on the floor.  

I had one OH CRAP moment when I realized I had turned the fridge off before emptying out the bottom crisper drawer.  That got a little messy.

After vacuuming out the last two carpeted rooms, and dumping a horrendous amount of dirt in the trash can, I went straight for my closet.  If the house smells, the clothes smell.  This is one of my vintage outfits that I no longer wear.  It's time for this stuff to take a hike.  Gals from the little town of Sonora up the hill are always looking for clothing to wear for their events.  They just got lucky because three of these outfits will be free.  The white thing is a hoop skirt to wear under the skirt.

I also FINALLY ... after all these years of hoping to wear them ... cleaned out the bridesmaids dresses, the short black numbers, the Hawaiian hula outfits and the glitzy glamorous gaudy Las Vegas wear, 16 dresses in all, to be donated to a friend and her daughter that can fit in them.  Everything comes around again in fashion, and they are right on target now.  I mean really, it's not like I'm going to wear a VERY short strapless dress covered in rhinestones ever again in my life.

While Cooper slept, I snuck out to pick up an online Walmart order.  SURPRISE!  When I opened the bags, I got four cans of corn, two deodorant bars and some sour cream I didn't order.  I double checked  everything and I didn't pay for it, so I guess it was FREE day.

I quickly mixed up a batch of turkey pot pie to use up the leftovers I had in the rig fridge.  I'll bake it with a biscuit on top for quick dinners.

All the while, Kitters sat in her adopted chair.  By the way, I had ONE shadow, now I have TWO.  They both follow me everywhere!!

When the football game came on, she adopted this position.  Every once in a while she would reach out with her paw and touch my shirt.

The claws would go in and out, but she never caught them on my clothing.  I guess that "Kitty" for I'm glad you're back.  

Two hours later, she still there.  I think Rex is right ... cats own YOU, not the other way around.  I must say however, she is fixated on FOOD.  No surprise considering she was starving when I found her.  I really think she is getting food somewhere else because she's fat as can be.  If she's not careful, she won't be able to jump up on the table any more!!

And so ended a lovely COLD day in sunny California.  

Cooper, Kitters and I will be ON THE COUCH!!

Houston We Have A Problem

 Welcome home to sunny COLD California.  It's a lovely FREEZING 39 degrees, that didn't get much better the entire day.  The sun must have run out of propane, because it didn't help one little bit.

SO ... here we go with another day of Cooper meds.  It's a knock down drag out fight to get one little pill down his throat.  I finally gave the peanut butter ingredients a good once over and I THINK there is no xylitol in it, which is lethal to dogs.  

I gave Cooper a tiny bit ... and amazingly, he ate it.  I gave him two more before sneaking in the pill.  He spit it out.  No kidding ... this kid .... it took two more bits to get the pill to FINALLY disappear.  

On the other hand, these big "cherry" pills, disappeared in a flash.  I had Cherry PIE for breakfast after I toasted my toast until it was black as coal.  

That's when I heard it ... the meows at the door.  This pictures doesn't even really show the wide body she has become.  The difference in this kitty since I found her is shocking!!

But FIRST ... this house smells SO bad!!  I steam mopped all the hardwood floors while I washed two loads of rugs from the rig.  Only two loads of rugs to go.  While the second load of actual clothes was washing, I vacuumed every carpeted room.  

In a flash, the vacuum said it was full.  How could that be?  Yup completely full of whitish dust like talcum powder.  I dumped that before taking on the spiders that have invaded the house.  We call them Daddy Long Legs.  I appreciate the fact that they eat all the little flies, ants and creepy critters, but they leave their carcasses in piles by the windows.  

Next I mixed up some hydrogen peroxide and water, washing down every counter in the house.  I was literally on a rampage!!  Finally done, the house smelled a little better, so I sat down on the couch.  In two seconds, guess who was tapping me on the leg for some scratches. 

Houston, we have a problem.  This cat is so affectionate and attention starved, she would not leave me alone for the next two hours.  Finally she cuddled up and was still for all of 30 minutes.

More cleaning ensued as I cleaned out the rig.  What the heck?  Where did all these come from?  Apparently I was planning for a happy hour.  By the way, those Dot's Pretzels are AMAZING!!  These were honey mustard and delicious with a capital D.

More cleaning ensued as I hit my bedroom and bathroom.  Two MORE loads of laundry appeared on the floor.  Today I'll take the vacuum out to the rig.  That little dust buster I got just isn't doing the trick.  Oh and every time I sat down, guess who joined me.  She was like velcro the entire afternoon.  I put her out three times, but she just cried until I let her back in.

By lunchtime, I discovered my cooking skills have disappeared ... I burned the grilled cheese.  I ate it anyway, along with some of those snacks!!

And yet again .... she must have been a lap kitty in another life.  Every time I let her out, she cried to get back in.  You KNOW what happened next.  She ended up spending the night inside.  

Houston ... we have ANOTHER problem.  She came in the bedroom at 1:30 crying.  I petted her a bit and put her out.  She cried.  I let her in and petted her a bit until she left the room.  An hour later she was back meowing.  She didn't want out ... she just wanted scratches.  I've created a MONSTER!

The best news is Mr. Cooper slept through the entire night ... or at least until 3:00 when we were once again AWAKE AND UP!!  Ugh .... if only I could sleep until 4:30 again!!  We seem to be stuck on Arizona time!!

And so begins another day of cleaning and getting rid of STUFF.  I've finally decided that those formal dresses in my closet from 43 years ago can be let go.  I don't want to say I'm a hoarder, but I still have Levis from when I was 21 years old ... because SOME DAY I will be able to wear them again.  Hey ... I've finally lost 15 pounds ... only 20 more to go!!!!

I THINK I OWN A CAT

 PROGRESS!!  Only got up three times with Mr. Cooper at the Indio Elks Lodge.  It was a nice quiet night except for all my door slamming.  The rig is so airtight that the slider doesn't close easily, and makes a loud noise.  I have to open the vent fan first, and even then it isn't exactly quiet.  

We left at 7:00, knowing it was going to be a  L O N G drive.   6.5 hours to be exact, but little did I know that would not be correct.  And so we were OFF heading out of Indio.

In order to "avoid the strong wind warnings" that popped up constantly on my phone, I took my usual shortcut North to Barstow.  Someone forgot to tell me about the Morongo Valley.  Good grief ... I was all the way down to 45 mph to keep it on the road.  Luckily there wasn't too much traffic.

Two hours later, we were fueling up at Barstow.  It was a miracle.  Diesel was only $4.69 a gallon.  I don't think I have ever paid less than $5.00 at this staton.  The worst part ... it's B20 fuel, that I am NOT supposed to use in this engine.  I'm going to have to find another fueling point.

All was going well until just as I was taking Hwy 58 to Tehachapi, there were trucks on either side of me and two big pieces of tire on the road in FRONT of me.  There was no missing them.  YIKES!!  And no place to pull over to see if there was any damage to my under-rig generator or propane tank.  

At last I ended up in Boron for a check and all seemed ok.  Has anyone stayed at the Arabian Knights RV park there?  In the old days, our group used to stay there a lot.  It's mostly full-time people now, and looks just as bad as it did back then!

Over Tehachapi I went, trying not to get run over by trucks.  In California, there are no speed limits.  These guys were going 65 mph and over.  The heavy-haul wide-load truck almost took me out by not even staying CLOSE to his own lane.  I really didn't want to tangle with the D9 cat that was hanging on for dear life.

Time for a quick stop in Bakersfield at the PIE SHOP!!  How could I not say hello?  Hey ... they have a Chevron station ... might as well top it off while I'm here.  Yes, it was $5.49 a gallon, but I only needed 10 gallons.  Unfortunately, I got a little irritated when I had to pull up to THREE different pumps to get ONE to work.  And I was off once again.

Traffic is just crazy.  NO ONE goes the speed limit.  I tried, but I kept getting stuck behind stinky trucks hauling who knows what that splattered my windshield.  I finally joined the crowd and went 75 mph almost the entire way home.  It took me 7.5 hours.  

We no more backed into the yard and Kitters came running.  Then she stopped.  She would not come to me and acted really scared.  Weird!!  I began unpacking necessary stuff and soon she was rolling on the concrete.  

She kind of wanted to come in the house, but was very wary, not letting me touch her.

There were NO purrs, and she would not let me pick her up.  It didn't take long however, after a few pets and scratches.  I think I own a cat!

Okay, you're being pretty annoying now, patting me with her paw and getting nose to nose.  Of course this morning, she was outside crying to get in.

Mr. Cooper seemed better the moment he hit the ground.  This is his territory and he knows it.  He slept for a bit before eating dinner, and I figured out how to get the pasty stuff in his mouth ... or at least smashed into his teeth so he has to lick it off.

We were only up once last night ... what a relief ... but at 3:00 am (4:00 Arizona time) we were wide awake and raring to go.  There was no "let's go back to sleep for an hour".

I did have a thought last night ... Cooper has never had any trouble like this until I was told by the Vet to switch his food.  Today I'm going to the store and go back to the old stuff he used to eat.  I'll make the switch slowly, and we will see what happens.  

I'm getting inundated with kitty rubs ... so I guess it's time to feed everyone.  I'm happy to be home, and oh so happy Cooper seems to be doing better.

Next up ... a deep house cleaning.  It smells like an old folks home in here, mixed with a little sewer because I forgot to cover one bathroom drain.  I'll leave you with that thought!

Heading Home

 Here's my baby boy, snoozing away.  I've noticed he sleeps a lot, which is probably a symptom of the problem.  Of course we were once again up most of the night.  Lucky for me I don't need much sleep.

BUT WAIT ... there's a yard sale with quilting supplies.  So off we went to not one, but TWO yard sales where I didn't find anything.  Cindy found a few items and even got a bag for free.  They dropped me off back at the house while they went to the quilt show.  I needed to get on the road, so I stayed with my kid.

I checked the weather, checked the roads and checked the destination.  What I didn't check was the time.  You guessed it ... just as I went through the border patrol check, I remembered that California is an hour earlier.  

What I didn't think would be bad was the wind at 12 mph.  Ooooweeee they must have been wrong.  It was crazy!  So bad that I had to slow all the way down to 55 mph.  That stupid Gust Assist came on time after time.  What a pain that was as it slammed on the brakes.  Not really visible here, but the sand being blown across the road gave me a good blasting.  You could still see, but it was quite cloudy.

On the other hand, I bet I can beat you at arm wrestling after 120 miles of trying to keep the van in the middle of the road!!

I turned North towards Indio as we passed date palm orchards, a sign I was getting close to Indio.  Hey Dan ... they fixed the hoop-de-doos on this road at the bridges.  That always had us flying out of our seats in our Class A's.

In no time, I hit the Salton Sea.  Time for a rest stop.  Most everything is shut down except an Off Road Rental building and the gas station across the street.  The wind was blowing so much Cooper didn't even want to get out.

The good news is the wind kept the smell at bay.  No noses were hurt from stinky fish smells.  In case you have never looked closely, the sandy beaches are mostly fish bones.  Yes really.

In no time, I was pulling in to the Elks Lodge where we would spend the night.  For those available Elks out there, they need an RV Host.  Isn't this their busiest time of the year?  There are probably twelve empty spaces ... maybe more, and no one to help you.

I spoke to a nice gentleman in a fifth wheel who told me where the dump station was so I could take care of that before parking.  Once plugged in ... uh oh ... nothing worked.  What's up with that?  I messed with it for some time, even switching plugs before it finally kicked in.  No idea what that was about.

Since I had to go inside to pay at the bar ($35.00 a night), I ordered lunch.  Wow ... this chicken sandwich is better than the one at our lodge!!  Except for the onion rings, which were cooked in the same oil as the Friday Fish dinner.  Ugh .......

So here we are, Cooper sleeping next to me as we contemplate the 63 degree weather.  What happened to sunny WARM Arizona??

I'll be off early this morning on the last long leg.  Lucky for me, I always take a route through the mountains that will mean no wind warnings, and head over the pass in sunny weather.  We will be home soon where Cooper can relax and I don't have to put his harness on constantly to go outside.  I'm happy to say he is eating and drinking much better.

By the way .... don't tell anyone I'm heading home ... it's a secret!!!

My Little Old Man

 So here's my best Bud Cooper, hanging out in the van.  I've been noticing things for awhile ... tired, sleeping a lot, not as active.  So when the real symptoms started to happen, I was pretty concerned.  This kid is over 16 years old, and has traveled all over Alaska and all the way to Maine with me.  He and Miss Jessie were the best companions a girl could have.

Poor baby ... he was wiped out.  

And so when I found this animal hospital in Yuma that had something like 1500 favorable reviews, I made the call.  Ray was kind enough to drive me.  I think he regretted that when it took three hours.  

So here we are, sitting waiting for the vet.  Here's what we found out.  They did a blood test that showed he was within range everywhere but the pancreas.  His numbers are not off the chart, but are above normal, meaning he has pancreatitis.  That is what she thinks is causing all the stomach problems and vomiting.  That in turn, caused dehydration.

He will still live a good life, but I will be required to treat the symptoms for the next two weeks and probably cook his fat free diet at home.  They gave him a shot to stop the nausea, and pills to stop the diarrhea.  They said he would eat them, no problem.  I said you don't know my dog.  He ate all around the food with the powder on it, fought me tooth and nail over the 2mm of gel I tried to get down his throat, and it took six treats to get that teeny tiny pill in his mouth, whereupon he spit it out three times.  Just open his mouth you say?  Well that wasn't happening!!

They also gave him fluids for the dehydration, which resulted in us being up every 30 minutes to go outside.  He will be on probiotics from now on, if I can figure out how to hide it in his food.  

And so I will be heading back home today.  I prefer he recover from this bout at home where he is more comfortable.  Once he heals up, we can travel again, but he will never overcome the main problem.  He's had a long and spoiled life, so I will continue to spoil him rotten!!  Maybe a year, maybe more or maybe less.  There's just no definite number.

Thank goodness for good Vets, because this could have ended badly.  Yes it was expensive, but he's worth every penny.  

I'll see you in Indio this afternoon.

Good News, Not So Good News

It seems life is always fraught with good news and not so good news.  Here was the good news from yesterday.  We went to the grocery store, got a big senior discount (only because I asked) and I got toilet paper.  It's the little things in life!!

We also got bits and pieces for Hawaiian Haystacks.  Anyone heard of that before?  Me either.  

This is a Hawaiian dish Cindy ate when she was living there.  The HAY is perfectly cooked rice.  The STACK is any or ALL of the above that you wish to add.  As you can see, I took a little of everything.  Not shown is a chicken gravy mix that went over the rice first.  What a fabulous dinner!!

On the other hand, into every life some rain must fall.  Mr. Cooper is still sick and I can't stand it.  If he is miserable, I'm miserable and I can't sleep at all.  Therefore this mornings decision is to head to Indio for the night.  If Cooper has a miraculous recovery, I will go to Quartzsite.  If not, I will be heading on home to take him to my Vet.  

In my eyes, I have no choice.  My Cooper always comes first!!  I'll let you know tomorrow where I'm going.

More Walking On A Lovely Day

 

Yuma Arizona ... land of the sun.  Sometimes.  Actually it's been quite wonderful ... not too hot and not too cold.  Just like the three bears, it has been JUST RIGHT!  

Since I was up all night long with Coop, I missed the WalkFit class.  Oh Darn!!  I still got in over 10,000 steps and over 4.5 miles.  Thankfully, Mr. Cooper is doing much better today, and even ate twice!!  He's now crashed on the couch!!  Hopefully we are over the worst part and on the mend with the meds I gave him.  It's always good to bring the kitchen sink just in case.

Breakfast was fabulous with bananas, pancakes, bacon and maple syrup.  YUM YUM!!  Cindy and Ray put on quite the spread!!

First stop of the day ... Green Tree.  It's a discount grocery store that has tons of food, and the same number of people inside.  I of course made a beeline for the ice cream freezer.  Oh yeah .... THREE containers of Haagen-Dazs ice cream for $1.00 each.  In California, this ice cream is $7.00 per container.  Expiration date Mar 2026.  Oh ... the Reese's peanut butter cups?  Halloween candy, $3.00 instead of $8.00.  We should have a store like this in our town.

I also picked up two bottles of poultry spice for $1.00 each ... expiration in 2027.  I love that store!!

As for house shopping ... here's one with the front porch screened in.  You can see out, but you can't see in.  It adds another entire space to the house.  The gazebo is awesome, but all the wonderful furniture inside it is not included.  It's pretty pricey at $255,000.  One bedroom, 1-1/2 bath.  Oh, and it's missing the all important STOVE.  It only has an induction hotplate.

Next on the list ... this one, maybe a bit smaller, one bedroom, one bath, but with a huge enclosed patio behind the trailer.  It's older, but has everything I need, including a tiny grass area for Cooper and gates to keep him inside.  These folks like it here so much, they bought another bigger place, so are selling this one.  

There's another one, the same as the first one, but WITH a stove and beautiful countertops.  Of course I can't decide one way or the other.  The prices are kind of high.  Bigger units go for $350-400,000, but I'm not going there. 

The day ended with another beautiful sunset.  I think if I didn't have any obligations in California, I would move here permanently.  Less to take care of, cheaper everything and very friendly people.  I even got a lesson in electric bikes just by asking one question of a lovely couple riding around the park.  

It was a lovely day in spite of the stress of Cooper not feeling up to par.  Sadly, we had another not so great night, but better than the previous one.  I've got my fingers crossed for today!!  For me, there's nothing worse than my "family" not feeling well.

On the other hand, I saw Kitters crawl into her house last night, so all is well on THAT home front!!  

AND I'm looking forward to the quilt show coming up!

Pain and Gain

 Here I am once again in sunny Arizona while rain pours down on my California house.  I'm happy to report however, that Kitters ate at 5:00 a.m. and crawled into her heated house for the rest of the morning.  YAY she's still hanging out!!  

We were up early on this morning, as Mr. Cooper is driving me crazy.  He wants outside, he wants inside, he wants outside, he wants to eat ... there is just no pleasing this baby boy.  

This is his "MOM ... I NEED FOOD" look.  To say the least, it has been a workout for my arms and legs lifting him in and out so often.  I found out later he had a bad stomach ache, which didn't end well.  The good news is he ate a bit this morning.

First event of the day ... Cindy tried to kill me at a walk-fit class.  Good grief ... I'm sure it lasted two hours, even if the clock only said 40 minutes.  We went two miles they said, but at the end of the day, my watch read over 10,000 steps and 4.5 miles.  My knee is less than happy!  

I walked very slowly back while Cindy did a yoga class.  Once inside, I opened the freezer for ice, but found this.  It was kismet!!  It didn't help my knee one bit, but my stomach didn't hurt at all.  

When Cindy returned she did some laundry for me.  Luckily I have just enough hooks to hold my wet wash.  AND ... it smells really nice in here!!  

Next on the menu ... yes I did ... I looked at some places for sale.  I want to, I don't want to, I want to ... back and forth I go.  This is actually one I did NOT look at because it was too expensive.  I've checked out two so far ... one small casita with no stove and one stucco mobile home with 2 bedrooms.  No worries, I won't buy unless the price is right.  

The problem is they are either big and expensive, or too small.  That means I don't need one, but it's fun to look anyway.  We may check out a couple more today. 

I had dinner on my own, trying to clear out the fridge.  Mr. Cooper is finally asleep after several trips outside.  Hopefully he does better in the morning.

The sunset was less than impressive, but the temperatures have been amazing, so I can't complain.  

And so ends another fabulous day in paradise.  

And another one begins with a very sick puppy.  We were in and out 13 times last night with tummy troubles.  I finally got a little medicine in him last night and a little more this morning.  Hopefully it takes affect soon!!  Say a little prayer for my Cooper please!  There's nothing worse than seeing them not feel well.