My Baby Girl Has Not Been Well!

It has been a busy month (which has flown by!), but my main concern has been Rosie. I took her to the Vet about 2 weeks ago for the second time with very generalized symptoms - labored breathing, low energy, not wanting to go into the building (where all of her favorite people are!), hiding out in the bathroom, etc. Nothing specific, just things a pet mom would notice. Her previous bloodwork was fine, but the Vet took blood again to test for lymphoma. Thankfully, the lymphoma test came back negative. She also did another X-ray of her heart. She has a slightly enlarged heart and a heart murmur graded at 4/6. It also showed the bronchioles in the lungs, indicating inflammation in the lower airways. We left the office with 4 medications, not including the 2 she already takes. She is difficult to medicate, and I had no idea that I would get all of that into her, to say nothing of keeping it all straight! Thus, the spreadsheet! That's the only way I could keep it all straight! I'm pleased and shocked to say that she took it all, probably due to the steroid!! Anyway, she will finish the last bit of steroids over the weekend. We had a follow-up visit on Wednesday, just when she was beginning to act like she felt a tad better. After reviewing everything, the Vet felt the major issue was back and neck pain. She gave me a medication for arthritis, which I'm to begin 2 days after the last dose of the steroid. I'm hoping and praying that it does the trick. I'm not 100% satisfied with the labored breathing, but that's difficult to judge now that it's warmed up. I'm hoping I can get that girl feeling better. She's 13+, and something like this is very frightening to me, and I've had my share of weepy days! Like me, she's at the age that anything can happen, but that's still difficult to accept. She's such a sweet girl and deserves to feel better. Please keep us in your thoughts.💕

I may have mentioned this before, but every month we have a "fine dining" evening. Rather than the dining room, it's held in the Bistro, which our Executive Director decorates to the nines. It really is a nice evening, and the food is beautifully prepared and presented. It's always a nice evening. Our next one is June 4th, and I've invited a guest.

One morning, we were offered a tour of Lush Acres Farm, which is part of Thornwell Charter School. I've been meaning to take photos of the school as the campus is lovely. You can check it out HERE. Before being a charter school, it was an orphanage dating back to the post-Civil War period, which you can see HERE. We were just touring the farm associated with the school. It was a lovely morning and nice to be out and about - to see geese, highland cows, pigs, alpacas, and especially the cute baby goats!! There were about 6 newborns, and they were just adorable. You can see there was one that was just adorable and wanted to be social. So sweet! We also picked up gallons of strawberries that were to be used for our monthly birthday celebration the next day.

On the 20th, we had an all-day outing to Flat Rock, NC, to see Kate Hamill's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice at the Flat Rock Playhouse. I'd never been to Flat Rock and found it charming, and the playhouse area was very picturesque. We had lunch at Cracker Barrel (first time in years!), and relaxed in the rocking chairs before heading to the play. Everyone there was very welcoming and helpful. I went to take a photo of the statue, and a lady in black told me that the artist did it in one day, with a chainsaw, barefooted! I could almost picture it in my mind's eye!! The play was very cleverly done, and I enjoyed the whole day. Had I not already bought the ticket, I probably would not have gone with Rosie being ill. The cleaning ladies assured me they would stop in and take care of her, so I didn't feel too bad, and I am glad I went. We were also given the option to go up again in July to see Footloose, which is the one I really would have loved to see, but not enough people signed up for it.

You know me, I had to see Annie Andrews when she was in town. I saw her several times when she was running against Mace, and she has really come into her own. I told her that and thanked her for running against Graham! I'm hoping she wins the primary, and I feel sure she'll cover a lot of territory between then and the November election.🤞

In that same vein, as I'm researching for the midterms, I printed out my sample ballot. I happened to think the ladies at my lunchtime table might like a copy (as well as Peter, a former PC professor, the first liberal I met here, because he had a "Resist" bumper sticker on his car!). So, I distributed them, and they were so pleased. Then they started asking me for whom I was going to vote. I then went home and wrote up the info I had on those I would vote for - as well as the suggestion that if two unknowns were running for an office and one was a woman, vote for the woman!! We need more women in politics. I printed that on the right side of the sample ballot, and handed them out again! I wasn't qualified to tell people how to vote, but I was happy to provide the information. I've been fairly stunned by how uninformed many are leading up to the elections, and I wonder how you go in and vote without knowing anything about the candidates! Scary and sad! I think that's gotten us where we are today. Anyway, if you're wondering how to generate interest, sample ballots may be a start! Two days this week, the community has taken residents over for early voting, and I went on the first day of voting! It's nice that they do that for us.

I'll close with just a few glimmers from the past few weeks. We've had lots of rain lately, and a tiny snail, about the size of the end of my little finger, took up on the outside of my storm window. He was so tiny, but he could move around, and once in a while, he would tuck inside his little shell. By the end of the day, he was gone, but I loved watching him. We also have a couple of blueberry plants around the building, and I'm enjoying watching them mature. The hydrangeas are right outside my bathroom window, and I've been watching each head fill in over time. This is the first time I've been close enough to observe the process. 

I hope this finds you doing well and living life at a comfortable pace. Let me know what you've been up to. Hugs!💖