An Unexpected Blessing

First of all I want to express my sincere thanks to all of you who left encouraging comments on my post about Poppy.  Many of you had little tidbits of advice as well.  I sure appreciate hearing from all of you and the tips from those who have dealt with this problem are so welcome.  Yesterday was a bad day and Poppy was extremely uncooperative and hard to handle.  Felt like giving up but of course we won’t.  Thank you all.


We woke up this morning to NOT rain, but sunshine peeking through our curtains.  It was not expected so that made it a double blessing, as well as an unexpected one.  MUCH too nice of a day to sit inside and do chores, especially since the rain is due to return tomorrow.


We wrestled with Poppy for a while trying to get her pill and shot taken care of and then we took her with us to run a few errands.  Her urine test was still showing extremely high levels of glucose so we gave her a larger shot of insulin and did not want to leave her home alone. 


Poppy has had a bad infection in her foot and the vet has kept it bandaged.  To keep it dry, he taped a rubber glove over it.  However, after Poppy’s insulin shot and having an antibiotic capsule shoved down her gullet, I think she had had enough.  Although she is not normally a rude dog, I assume she was making her feelings known here.  Draw your own conclusions.



Our most important errand today was to get our new Lane County Parks Pass.  We get one of these every year.  For those holding a senior America the Beautiful Federal parks pass, the Lane County pass is only $15.  That is one heck of a deal as it provides free day use to any Lane County park that charges a day use fee.  Our favorite park at Fern Ridge Lake is a fee area so we get our money’s worth early on with that pass.  You may have read my blog earlier in the year about Harbor Vista on the Oregon coast.  That is also a Lane County Park so we get free day use whenever we go to Florence. 

So after that errand and a couple of store stops, we loaded up some lunch, threw the dogs in Therapy, and went off to the lake to eat lunch and take a little walk.

We had to park in the trailer area and can’t see the lake from there but it sure felt good just to take a ride in the motorhome.   As we were parking, I noticed a guy walking across the earthen dam at the top of the picture.  Before we got out of Therapy, he was down to the sidewalk telling us how he used to have a Lazy Daze and how much he liked it.  Of course we invited him to come on in and have a look and he sure seemed to enjoy visiting.  He was a nice guy and after having a look inside, he was off to finish his walk.



Surprisingly, Rusty wanted to go too and with a little help he was able to get into and out of the motorhome just fine.   His first priority was to see the lake.  Fern Ridge is as full as I have ever seen it.  We have had so much rain lately that there is standing water and near flood conditions in many areas.  Normally you have to walk DOWN the gangplank to get to the pier, but today it seemed like the gangplank walk was slightly uphill.



There were a couple of boats being pulled out as we walked by.  The wind was picking up and it was too choppy to have a smooth ride.  The waves were breaking near the sidewalk as Rusty went to inspect the water.



He decided the water was too rough for wading and then Poppy had to check it out.



After a quick check she too decided Thanks, but no thanks, and edged away from the water.



It took a lot out of Rusty to walk as far as he did and he was really stumbling by the time we got back to the motorhome, but he was a happy dog.  The moon was already showing over the park – such a pretty sight.



After a little drive we arrived back home.  I am happy to report that Poppy FINALLY had a normal reading on her urine test!  Now I have to watch and make sure she does not go too low but at least I feel we are making progress.  If we can just get her dosage regulated to provide the maximum benefit, we will feel so much better about everything.  We have again placed all travel plans on hold until we get this thing figured out.

For the first time EVER, Poppy lost control of her bladder in the car yesterday.  She was so embarrassed.  We have noticed a couple of wet spots in on the bath rugs where she naps too so I think that is a problem with the high blood sugar.  She drinks excessive amounts of water and what goes in must come out and she doesn’t always make it outside.  We cannot travel with her having a problem like that so we will just wait until things are more regular.  Her foot looks better this evening too so we have some hope of progress.

And just to show that things are starting to bloom here is the chilly Pacific NW, here’s a dainty little flower we found blooming at the lake. 



Do you think spring might be just around the corner for us in the cold, cold north too?