Rooted in Mississippi

I wanted to include some photos, most of which were not posted here before. They cover the span of time he was here, including his last days.

Our first indication of his health problems was a bout of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis in November, where we rushed him to the Vet ER and they put him on a IV.  His albumin was shockingly low.  We picked him up in the wee hours and then took him to our regular vet, who thought the test may have been wrong. When Rudy was retested, his protein was still super low. In all of this time, even with all of the medication, his albumin rarely got above 1.  When we took him MSU Vet School in January, they shaved his belly to do an ultrasound before the endoscopy and biopsies. I took the blurry photo of him trying to drive while we were heading up there.  He was in good spirits. We got our diagnosis after a couple of days (inflammatory bowel disease/lymphocytic plasmocytic enteritis) and a new treatment plan.  From that point on, it was a series of ups and downs.  There were a couple of times when we thought he would not make it, but he always pulled through. He would get a little better, but as soon as we thought he might beat this thing, his health would fail again. We switched him to a lamb and rice diet, a beef based diet, a turkey based diet, a low residue diet, and finally a duck and potato diet.

Not all of the pictures are happy. I decided to show the photo from June, where he looked so bad.  Rudy was going downhill fast at that point, but he perked up when we brought Burt home.  He gained a little weight, the sores on his skin had healed and the hair on his belly was finally starting to grow back. I also included photos from his last night, when the vet let us bring him home with the IV catheter taped in place.

I miss his sweet, fuzzy little face.  No doubt about it, Rudy was my little heart dog.

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Rudy was my constant companion for the last several years.  We spent hours and hours together daily.  He was always interested in my stitching.  I miss him so much.  These are some of the photos of him from this blog.

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After nearly a year of fighting inflammatory bowel disease, he died in my arms this morning. Rest in peace my most favored boy…you were the most amazing dog a girl could have.

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I was recently interviewed by Burt Case for a segment on WLBT’s 3 on Your Side. The branch director of the YMCA Downtown called him about all of the animals that are dumped near her rural Rankin County home. Trust me, if I had known I was going to be filmed for TV, I would have worn make-up and decent clothes.  They came to get me during yoga class, so as an added bonus, I was sweaty!  I looked terrible…but I was on point with my message.

Many thanks to Kandy who found him, cleaned him up, removed his ticks and wormed him.  She was calling him Oscar but he did not respond to that name, so we dubbed him Burt, which has morphed into Bertie.  He is learning his name, which is good, because it helps me correct him when he tries to pee or mark his territory…which is a problem since he is still in tact!  The vet said Bertie has a swollen lymph node, probably from the tick bites, and is on medication for the next two weeks.  Because of that, the vet will not be able to neuter him right away.  He is clearly a dachshund mix, his legs are too long and his face is a little too sharp and short….so he would not be appropriate for a breeding program…so I am not sure why he was not fixed.

Anyway, today we got him his first real tag, next will come the microchip! He is officially one of us.  Scary, no?

What better to post than videos of dogs?

Burt’s First Day on YouTube

Advanced Dog Play featuring Roscoe and Bertie

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OK, so my ex-husband was the first to mention how long it had been since I updated my blog…but he was not the only one.  My blog has become a victim of FaceBook.

I thought I would share a few dog photos here too.

The first is Princess, being a snarly pants on command and being a sweetie.  Plus, a photo of Rudy before the vet school shaved his belly.

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So, by now, you have probably surmised that I am stitching a lot lately.  For my holiday, I stitched all morning, then my husband took me to lunch at Aladdin Mediterranean Grill.  Next, I ran some errands with Trish,  before I got back to stitching.

As I looked down, I thought my little stitch companions by my side were so cute that I dug my cell phone out of my pocket to take a picture.  If I had gone for my real camera,I am sure they would have shifted or moved.  Please note that neither Rudy (left) nor Roscoe (right) has been spared the indignity of random thread snippets.

In other news, there are now two belly dance classes at La Salsa!  The Saturday class has moved to 5 PM and they added a Monday class at 7 PM.

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I finished yet another biscornu the other day, but the batteries in my camera were dead and my recharger is acting wonky.  Before it crapped out, I managed to take some pictures Rudy and Roscoe who sat with me while I stitched. The other dogs are a little more independent, but these two just love it when I stitch for hours on the sofa instead of in my studio.

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This is the second time I have picked our fig tree this year and, as usual, there are more figs than any ten people could eat! Figs have no shelf life, they rot at lightening speed.  I am not one for making preserves, but I suppose I should, even if I end up giving them all away!

My husband calls these Delta Figs. All I know for sure is that they are a small variety that grows well locally.  This year has produced the largest, most tasty figs in recent memory, despite the lack of rain.  The trees seem to respond well when you harvest the fruit regularly.  In addition, this past year, the neighbor trimmed the trees, because the branches were hanging over his driveway.  I need to remember to trim them again next year, a couple of the branches go over our roof, where you can not reach the fruit.

Princess sat out back on her ragged throne, surveying the landscape.   Please note the mud on her snout, she has been enjoying the ground that was softened by the recent rain.  Now that it is drying up, she is losing a little of her enthusiasm for digging.

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OK, so I have been diligently working on making the tops for more biscornu pincushions.  Here are three versions of “Sweet Biscornu by Periphaeria  Designs” from The Gift of Stitching, Issue 18 July 2007.  I like using variegated threads.

I also could not resist sharing a couple of photos of my favorite stitching companion.  Rudy is curious about everything I do.

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We have this awful looking, weathered camp chair out back. We do sometimes sit out there, but the chair is in sad shape.  Omar the cat used to like to sharpen his claws on it, when he was not using it as a hammock.  I willingly admit that it is an eyesore.

Recently, Princess has taken to hopping up into the chair. If I open the door, she will jump down and go “protect” whatever hole she is currently digging.  So the only way I have been able to capture her image, is through the glass of the back door.  It makes for a less than fantastic photo, but she is just so darn cute, I could not resist sharing.

Ann-Marie, I hope you appreciate these!

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