Archive | August 2018

It’s That Time

When I got another shepherd girl, I decided that this time I would wait until she was a little older to get her spayed. The research is showing pretty clearly that early spay/neuter is connected to health issues, including hip dysplasia, as the dogs don’t get all the sex hormones they need to grow and develop at a proper rate. Since I also wanted to get her hips and elbows x-rayed, and it doesn’t make sense to do that before she turns two years old (barring obvious issues), I decided everything would wait until she was old enough and then we’d do it all at the same time.

Today was the day. I dropped Sassy off at the vet’s this morning, and put in a special request for more sedatives so we can hopefully get through the recovery period without repeating the horrible experience I had several years ago with Reyna. Sassy is getting spayed, she’s getting a prophylactic gastropexy (I am NOT going through another bloat if there’s a way to prevent it), and hip and elbow x-rays.

Doc said she came through the surgery well, which is wonderful. She’s got somewhere between 20 and 30 staples running up her belly. Her elbows look great, which means I won’t have to fret too much about working her over jumps and such (with proper training, of course). Her hips, though….well, let’s just say I’ve seen better. Granted, I’ve seen a heck of a lot worse, too. Reyna’s come to mind, as a matter of fact. I don’t think her hips are horrible, and OFA would probably rate them as fair, but I’m glad she’s never going to be bred. I think her hips are solid enough that I can do the work I want to with her, I just need to pay close attention to her conditioning and ease into any activities that could be potentially damaging. Not the end of the world, by any means.

Although based on this picture, Sassy certainly seems to think life is horrible. My poor little girl. She’s so heavily medicated right now that she’s doing good to even sit up. I think it’s time for a certain someone to toddle off to bed…

Colors!

Aug30

Yay! The Easter Egger girls are FINALLY starting to lay! They turned 25 weeks old at the beginning of this week, so it’s certainly about time. I knew they were late bloomers, but geez. Now the other two just have to get with the program…

It Could Be Worse

Aug27

Up until late April, I would just let the dogs out to run and potty (the yard is fully fenced). Well, since the arrival of the Goat Boys, Jake and Sassy have had to be on leash when they go outside. If they aren’t, they get all stupid and run the fence line, barking at the Goat Boys and generally being obnoxious. One night I happened to notice that Jake was acting oddly – staring off towards the woods or the road, acting suspicious, spooking at random things. This went on for a few evenings and I decided I needed to get him to a vet to get his eyes checked. Sure, it was possible that something had happened one night and he’d lost his confidence, but he’s such a Mama’s boy that I really didn’t think he wouldn’t have let me know if something had scared or hurt him that badly. So, to the vet.

Except Sassy developed an ear infection, so she took his appointment. I made another. Kodiak got sick and took that appointment. Then a couple of business trips popped up. By that point, the days were long enough that it was no longer an issue. We simply weren’t going outside after dark. And so the summer passed.

A couple of weeks ago, Kodiak had a few seizures. It was the middle of the night, but we were all up, so I figured I’d take Jake out for a quick potty run. Yeah, he wasn’t happy about that. Completely freaked, in fact. The next morning, I scheduled an appointment with the vet and I was determined he’d keep it, no matter what happened with anyone else.

Doc checked his eyes and noticed that neither pupil was constricting as much as they should with the pinpoint light. He turned off the light in the exam room to check Jake’s reaction. Even with me sitting right next to him, Jake became agitated almost instantly and practically belly-crawled to the door and the crack of light that was coming in underneath. Before we left, I made an appointment with an ophthalmologist. That evening, I tested the vet’s idea that there might be some leash reactivity involved. Nope, there wasn’t. I had to coax Jake to leave the circle of light on the porch, and when we reached a certain point, he simply refused to go any farther. Okay, good to know.

Today was the ophthalmology visit. Jake has retinal degeneration. He’s going to lose his vision and there’s no way to stop it. There’s a horribly expensive supplement that might help slow it down, but no guarantee. The good news is that it’s not painful. As long as he’s not hurting, we’ll get through this. He’s going to have plenty of time to get used to it, so it shouldn’t be a major stressor for him. In the grand scheme of things, this is not bad. Seizures are bad. Slowly losing vision, not so much. Besides, Sassy’s already working for Kodiak as a seizure-alert dog. No reason why she can’t train to be Jake’s seeing eye dog, too.

Another Step Forward

Aug20

I may have mentioned this before, but I’m really slow at transcription. I’m good at it, very detailed, triple-check my work and all that, but I’m slow. I know I’ll get faster with practice, but who knows how long that could take? So, anyway, I figured it would take me a good bit of time to meet the audio minutes required by the agency before I could take their proofreading test. I was wrong. My transcripts have been so good, apparently, that they’re letting me take the proofreading test with less than half the required audio minutes under my belt.

I have to admit, it makes me feel that my recent decisions are being validated.

I’ll still be transcribing for a while, since I’ll have to go through their proofreading training process, and that’s totally fine. The more transcription I do, the better I’ll get. And the more exposure to the different jurisdictions, the better. It’s very exciting, though, don’t you think?

Crustless Spinach Quiche

Aug18

Since the girls are laying a ridiculous number of eggs, I’ve been looking for ways to use them. The dogs eat some every day, but they barely make a dent. I like hard boiled eggs, but I go through phases of not wanting any. A (former) coworker suggested quiche, and I found this recipe for Crustless Spinach Quiche. The recipe is pretty simple, which I appreciate.

The first time I made it, I followed the recipe fairly closely. I swapped the ham for bacon (because, bacon), and I used half Monterey Jack and half Pepper Jack cheese. Oh, and I have no idea who Nellie is, so I used my own free range eggs. It made a thin but very tasty quiche.

The second time, I went with a lot more spinach.

On my third effort, I basically said why bother measuring, and I ended up using a lot of spinach, a lot of mushrooms, a lot of bacon, and a lot of cheese. And possibly one or two eggs more than truly necessary (note to self: 10 eggs is good, but 8 is better). It was very yummy. Since I use the Pepper Jack cheese, I don’t bother adding any additional pepper. This quiche reheats nicely, which, since I’m the only human in the household, is a definite plus. I can eat on this for several days, or freeze it to eat later. Added bonus, the recipe is relatively flexible.

Enjoy!

Total Time Prep: 25 min. Bake: 40 min.
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
2/3 cup finely chopped fully cooked ham
5 large Nellie’s Free Range Eggs
3 cups shredded Muenster or Monterey Jack cheese
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions

In a large skillet, saute onion and mushrooms in oil until tender. Add spinach and ham; cook and stir until the excess moisture is evaporated. Cool slightly. Beat eggs; add cheese and mix well. Stir in spinach mixture and pepper; blend well. Spread evenly into a greased 9-in. pie plate or quiche dish. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Test Kitchen Tips

To ensure perfectly cooked quiche, start checking early to see whether it’s done. Baking times are great guidelines, but because every oven heats differently, we recommend taking an early look, especially for cakes, cookies, muffins and delicate egg-based dishes.
For cheese that’s extra melty, shred or grate it yourself.

Nutrition Facts

1 piece: 251 calories, 18g fat (10g saturated fat), 164mg cholesterol, 480mg sodium, 4g carbohydrate (2g sugars, 1g fiber), 18g protein.

Originally published as Crustless Spinach Quiche in Country Extra November 1997

Last Day

Aug17

Today was my last day at the office. I have to admit to equal parts terror and relief. The last time I deliberately left a job with nothing solid lined up, I was 26 years old and had nothing more than an apartment and three cats. Now I’m significantly older and I have a mortgage, a van payment, three dogs, a cat, chickens, and goats. It’s pretty darn scary to realize that there won’t be a guaranteed paycheck for a set amount popping into my bank account every week. What I earn will be up to me.

The sense of relief I feel at getting out of that place, though… That very definitely outweighs the terror. Some things were said and done yesterday and today that really reinforced the fact that it’s a bad environment. I do not, for one moment, regret turning in my notice. I walked out with a skip in my step and a song on my lips.

I’ll give it a day or two to sink in, and then I’ll freak out.

Magic Potholder #2

Aug12

As much as I like the Magic Potholder, I decided I wanted something with a bit more texture. It occurred to me one evening – why not use the moss stitch? And so I did….

As always, you may use the pattern below to make your own, or you can hop over to Hamlin Craftworks and buy a few!

I used a J hook and one ball of Lily Sugar ‘n Cream yarn.

Chain 40 (or however many you like – this just happens to be my preference when using this particular stitch)

Round 1: SC in second ch from hook. SC across each chain and along the backside of the chain.
Round 2: Back at the start, sc in the first stitch. *Ch 1, skip 1, sc in the next stitch; repeat from * along both sides.
Round 3-20: SC in the first ch-1 space. *Ch 1, sc in the next ch-1 sp; repeat from * around and around. Generally speaking, you want to do half as many rounds as you do chains.

Fold the potholder in on itself to form a square. At the top of the square, ch 10 to form a loop, and slip stitch to join it at the start of the chain. Cut the yarn, leaving a tail roughly twice as long as the potholder.

Line it up stitch for stitch and whip stitch a seam, going through both loops.

Happy hooking!

My First Client!

Aug8

Woo-hoo! My first client sent me about 30 pages today to proofread and edit. She’s a published author, currently working on her second book. I’ll be getting the book in pieces, with a second pass after she puts it all together. Added bonus, she’s going to pass my information along to her fellow authors, so I might get lucky and get another client or two out of this. Onward, we go!

Yes, I Cried

Aug3

I’ve received the most wonderful gift – an offer of support, both tangible and emotional, from people who love and believe in me. Because of this gift, I will be able to turn in my two-week notice Monday morning. I am being given the opportunity to take control of my life, work for myself, and do something I truly enjoy. I never thought I’d be able to do it this soon, or even within a few months. But now I can. Of course, that does add a bit more pressure, because letting myself down is one thing, but letting someone else down is another thing entirely.

I can do this. I know I can. I’ll keep putting in time with the agency on evenings and weekends, and as soon as I’m out of that office, my new life will get my full attention. I can hear the bells of freedom ringing…

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