Sunday ; This morning we walked with Bo and Kaydee over to see the Miller's who helped us capture Kaydee two days ago. We wanted them to see the amazing transformation ! We visited with them for awhile in their lovely back yard. They are from the north end of the Okanagan Valley in BC ( we're from the south end ).
This afternoon we went shopping ( so what else is new ? ! ). First stop was Yuma Park N Swap, a.k.a. the Dog Track Flea Market. What a busy place on Sunday afternoons, typically "family day" for Mexicans. Yuma Park N Swap is more the Mexican flea market and Arizona Marketplace near Kofa Ko-op is more the gringo flea market. Joanne bought produce. I bought hardware and a case of Awesome cleaner, about a year's supply. Then it was over to the Indoor Marketplace, the newest and more "upscale" flea market
( as "flea markets" go ) to buy myself a new fanny pack. Last stop was Lowe's for yet more hardware.
This afternoon we trimmed everybody's claws. First Kaydee, then Sully, then Bo. Kaydee tolerated it without complaint, as she has tolerated everything so far ... except trying to clean around her eyes. She won't allow that. Joanne is eager to take her to a veterinarian to have her eyes checked.
We had a lot of neighbours / visitors come by today to see our Arizona room and Kaydee. Word travels fast in this park. We went on a pack walk with Bo, Spanky, and Kaydee. She follows the two males well, and takes her cues from their behaviour. At this evening's ice cream social, while Joanne made an announcement about finding a new home for her, I stood in the doorway with her showing her off. She's a pretty cute little dog. Alas, there were no takers ... yet. But we will persevere. I have decided to do everything I can to ensure that she is transformed into a "gringo" dog.
Monday ; This morning I trimmed Kaydee's feet ... and legs. I started out trimming just the feet, but ... the more I trimmed, the more there seemed to be that needed trimming. Now she looks a bit goofy, long hair on the body, skinny toothpick legs.
This afternoon our friends Lynn and Micha and their dog Gypsy came over for a visit. They have a winter home in The Foothills. Just as they arrived, the weather turned very cold. We took the three dogs for a pack walk around the dog park, then went inside the trailer to have some tea and escape the cold. By the time our visit ended a couple of hours later, the sun had returned and it was warm again. That was an odd weather phenomenon !
As Lynn and Micha left with Gypsy, Judy and Terry arrived with Spanky. Again we took the three dogs for a pack walk around the dog park, then Terry & Judy spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with us in the Arizona room. Bo and Spanky have become good friends.
While Joanne did laundry, I did our Christmas decorating. Now as she prepares supper and I type this, we're listening to Christmas carols play on the CD / DVD player. Dreaming Of A White Christmas ! ? ! PHHHHHTTTTT ... I don't think so ! ! ! I had to wear a long sleeved shirt today and I was unhappy about that ! HA HA HA !
Tuesday ; Wow ... heavy rain ! In Yuma ! ! ! How rare is that ? ! ?
This morning we took Kaydee to the Humane Society of Yuma's Spay & Neuter Clinic. Our new SKP friend Carol Mae had pulled some strings with her contacts there to arrange for their veterinarian to examine Kaydee's eyes. He diagnosed Kaydee's eye problems as simply an infected "trauma injury" consistent with being ejected out of a slow moving vehicle ... and landing on her face ! He prescribed an ophthalmic antibiotic / antifungal ointment ... which is proving to not be very easy to administer to her ! That diagnosis would also explain the inflamed gums that she had when we first rescued her. That gum inflammation has receded somewhat over the past few days. Poor girl was likely dumped out of a slow moving car at the front gate of the park, which is where we first saw her at dusk on Friday evening, and landed on her face ! The veterinarian examined her teeth and estimated her age at 4 to 5 years. I had estimated it at 3 years, so ... why don't we average it out and declare her to be 4 years old ? !
Thank you very much, Carol Mae. As a small gesture of our appreciation for the assistance she provided by arranging for the veterinarian examination, I gave Carol Mae the ceremonial privilege of being the first to administer eye ointment to Kaydee. HA HA HA ... that proved to be such a difficult task I'm not sure it was all that much of a "privilege".
This afternoon I took Bo over to our neighbour Sharon's for a trial run of him pulling a stroller with a small dog and a cat in it, for tomorrow's Christmas parade in the RV park. HA HA HA ! Bo was confused. "Why am I harnessed to this stroller ? And why do you expect me to pull it ? What do I look like ? A little reindeer ? ? ?" HA HA HA ! Good dog, Bo, pull that sled !
While Joanne went Wal-Martin' I gave Kaydee a haircut. SHEESH ... there's not much of her left after all that hair was cut off ! She's pretty scrawny !
Wednesday ; We have new next door neighbours ... from Oregon. The woman immigrated from Thailand not too many years ago. This morning she showed up at our door with a steaming hot plate of freshly prepared Pad Thai for our breakfast. How unusual ! MMMMM ... how wonderful ! Not your typical North American breakfast but ... great taste ! Sure beats porridge !
Sully thinks that F-16 fighter jets, with afterburners on, doing aerobatic manoeuvers over our RV park, is very disruptive to his nap time. HA HA HA ! Well, at least we didn't have a Cobra attack helicopter make a forced landing ( that's pilot speak for "crash" ) on our road, as happened yesterday in a different area of Yuma. Ya gotta love sharing your living space with the Marine Corps Air Station !
This afternoon we gave Bo a bath in preparation for tonight's Kofa Ko-op Christmas parade. After a pack walk around the dog park with Bo, Kaydee, and Spanky ... first time all the way around the dog park with Kaydee off leash ... we went to the regular Wednesday afternoon "happy hour / appetizers potluck". Afterwards it was time for the parade. Our neighbours Sharon and Susan had their bi-level pet stroller all decorated, with Sharon's cat on the upper level and Susan's dog on the lower level and Bo towed it as an ersatz reindeer. HA HA HA ! The parade route was up and down every street within the park, more distance than I had imagined. The parade route and pace were a bit too much for my sore knee and for Bo. Neither of us is as young as we used to be. Good dog, Bo, well done !
When the parade was finished I found Joanne standing by the clubhouse with Kaydee in her arms, chatting with residents from the other side of the park from where we're located. Joanne was "selling" Kaydee to Nancy and John. Their Lhasa Apso died at some point in the not too distant past, and they seem just about ready for another dog. We invited them back to our Arizona room where we sat around for awhile visiting, giving them a chance to get to know Kaydee. I am hopeful that after they sleep on it, they will decide to adopt Kaydee.
Thursday ; It's now been 24 hours since Nancy & John visited with us to meet Kaydee, and we haven't heard back from them. I guess they've decided not to adopt Kaydee. We're disappointed !
Today was a day dedicated to minor maintenance projects. One of the things I was going to do today was install a new passage set ( door knob ) on the door between the Arizona room and the storage shed / workshop. When I tore open the blister pack that the passage set was packaged in, it ( the passage set ) broke ! Maybe they could make those blister packs more difficult to open ? ! ? I bought the passage set at one of the flea market vendors and I expect their position will be "no refunds or exchanges / all sales final".
Kaydee's eyes have improved a lot in the last couple of days. The ophthalmic ointment is obviously working very well. Now we have discovered that she has inflammation / infection between her toes. I guess walking in shit for the dog's entire life, without bathing or hair trimming, will do that ! ! !
Friday ; Once again ... < sigh > ... we spent most of the day running errands and shopping.
This morning our neighbour across the street ( Sheila from Vancouver, BC area ) was trimming her cactus garden and offered me some cactus cuttings to transplant.
YES, PLEASE ! ! ! She gave me two agave cuttings and three prickly pear cuttings. WOO-HOO ! Along with my recently acquired Aloe Vera, these will be the beginnings of my cactus garden.
After a long, slightly boring day of running errands and shopping, we went out in the evening with Sheila & Ramon, and Judy & Terry, to have dinner at Mi Rancho, a Mexican restaurant, to celebrate Terry's birthday.
For the first time since we got her a week ago, today we were able to clean Kaydee's face around her eyes. She did not resist at all. It's obvious that she was in a lot of pain around her face, and no longer is, thanks to the eye ointment. Poor baby ! Despite being ( probably ) four years old, her intellectual, emotional, and social development levels seem to be those of a four month old puppy, not a four year old adult dog. Her sore / injured gums have healed, and her sore / infected toes are healing nicely. She's a very sweet, cuddly girl ! Who follows Joanne around as if they are attached by a string.
Saturday ; This morning I planted two agaves in the back yard. My cactus gardening has begun !
In the afternoon I demolished a large, heavy shelf attached to the front of the shed. I think it was a planter shelf. Then ... I installed new entry steps on the trailer. WHEW ... tough job !
This evening we went to the Tamale Festival in Somerton, a small town a few miles southwest of Yuma ... as close to Mexico as one can get without actually crossing the border. It was disappointing and we left without even eating a tamale. The only other tamale festival we've attended was in a suburb of Palm Springs. I guess we're "spoiled gringos". There's a world of difference between a tamale festival in Palm Springs and one right on the Mexican border in a little border town.
On the way home we decided to stop at Arby's to have roast beef dip sandwiches for supper. Arby's was closed for a staff Christmas party < sigh >. BAH ! HUMBUG ! Very late in the evening I worked on preparing and sending a Christmas e-card. I was tired, and rushing, and I sent it with a typographical error in the greeting. BAH ! HUMBUG !
While I was working on the Christmas e-card, on the sofa with the computer on my lap, Sully was cuddled right beside me. Joanne was also sitting on the sofa, with Kaydee on her lap. When I was previewing an e-card with cats meowing Christmas carols ... HA HA HA ... Kaydee's head was tilted at 45 degrees as she tried to figure out how / why Sully was meowing Christmas carols out his ass. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !
DSK
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