Griffin: Day 4

 He really doesn't like his pills.  He doesn't like peanut butter either.  He spits the pill out but keeps the cheese and eats around the pills in his kibble bowl.  Lebanon bologna worked this morning.

He knows what happens when he goes down the stairs to the basement...a bath.  While he just stands in the tub and lets Paul scrub and rub him, it's not his favorite, so he has to be urged down those stairs. 

Sylvester is in a high state of anxiety any time he's upstairs.  He's better in the loft. 

King and Queen on their thrones

Griffin: Day 3

 We were told Griffin is timid around men. 

Tuesday night Griffin just couldn't settle.  He fussed and cried at the garage door which is where Paul disappears for much of the night.

Wednesday night he fussed but decided his bed pillow beside my bed would be adequate.  Much better sleeping arrangement. 

Griffin: Day 2

 His social calendar was packed today. We got up at 5:30a for a brisk (10 degree) morning pee, had a leisurely breakfast of soaked oatmeal and Proplan 30-20. Then he and Paul saw Dr. Kim at Centre Animal Hospital for a full assessment and all possible immunizations since he came with no records. Teeth and boosters will come later. He's a healthy 39# with a nice waist.

The afternoon was spent in the carriage house snuggling with Storm. They had lots of curiosity and tail wagging, but no hissing or growling.  

Kissy-kissy

While Griffin is in the carriage house, Sylvester spends some quality time in the sun. He is not comfortable or relaxed and listens intently for the click of dog nails on the wooden floor.  Then he's gone in a flash.  

After a full afternoon of love, Griffin came back to the main house and protected me from 3 deer in the back yard.  He watched carefully and growled quietly until they were out of sight.  That's the only time I've heard him growl.

Sleep didn't come easily to our new boy.  He knows which door leads to Paul and Storm and stands there talking to it, begging it to open.  Even after several trips outside and a change of bedding location he wandered, scratched, and fussed looking for his 2 lost buddies.  Maybe it was the vet visit that had him uncomfortable, or maybe this is his real personality, but this will not do, Monsieur. Perhaps we are looking at some separation anxiety.   

Griffin: First 24 hours

 He’s a gentleman. I’ve never trusted a first -night foster to be unattended all night. Griffin slept on the sofa from 9:00p to 5:30a. He might have gone longer but since I was awake, we went out. 

He's found his spot.

He has a badly flea-bitten rump which causes him endless scratching and biting. Paul gave him a bath immediately upon arriving home so there are no more bugs but it’s going to take a while for new hair to grow in. Benedryl isn’t helping. 

He’s thin but not emaciated. Wanda at Wiscoy suggested oatmeal and some proplan 30/20 to settle his digestive tract since he had been eating Pedigree, a sugary grocery store food with a 1-star rating from dogfoodadvisor.com. His stool is firm, so he probably doesn’t have a high load of parasites. He pulls off the trail into the weeds to poop just like Remington did. And he doesn’t travel as he does his business. 

He turned up his nose at peanut butter but likes string cheese and bacon. 

He knows “sit” and his name. He might know “wait”. He traveled in his 6 cars from Dayton to Julian well, in crates and tethered. He came with a new pillow bed and a lovely orange harness. And fleas. 

His teeth need attention. We don’t know when his last immunizations were. I'm sure hoping he’s heartworm negative. 

He hasn’t met Sylvester yet. Griffin and Storm ate dinner face to face with the breezeway door closed between them. Neither was fazed. At their appointments today for meets and greets in the carriage house, Storm stood still, murder mittens at the ready, as Paul and Griffin (on a leash) explored. Again, no worries by either. 

I brought Sylvester up from the basement while Paul and Griffin were out. He lasted about 30 seconds before he dove for his safe room. I’ll take his water fountain down to him. 

Griffin is a very calm, orange and mostly white Brittany, possibly 7 yo, neutered male with an elegant head and a long cropped tail with a stinger. We haven’t heard him make more noise than a talk to himself. We were told he doesn't like men especially, but he fusses when Paul leaves him behind. 

We could be in trouble if his behavior continues on this path. Just putting it out there now: foster failure warning.  

Sewing 2025

I emptied 2 large spools and 12 small one in 2025 mostly on charity projects. This isn't close to what I did last year, but I had a few months off this year.  

UPDATE: While cleaning I found 1 more large spool and 1 more small one.  

Florida

 

I spent most of October and December in Sarasota overseeing Mom’s recovery from a variety of health scares. The first was fluid in the chest making breathing difficult and followed by a stroke. Sarasota Memorial Hospital and its in-hospital rehab were great but there’s no place like home so Hoss and I contracted with Take Care for home care. Between the multitudes of caregivers and multiple in-home therapists, chaos reigned. Mom started cutting hours and Take Care couldn’t settle into an adequate routine with one or a couple of caregivers, so by mid-November Mom was down to 2 hrs/day/3 days per week with many caregivers. That wasnt adequate to monitor health changes. 

In early December Mom was at lunch with friends when she fainted, possibly caused by dehydration. Friends called an ambulance which took her to the nearest emergency room, Lakewood Ranch Medical Center. They fixed the fluid imbalance but noted afib. Rehab at Encompass and it was clear even to Mom this time there was no going home. 

Toni Nolan at Senior Living Solutions listened to my list of necessaries and good-to-haves. Pat and I toured DeSotoPalms at her recommendation. Sold. We’d had case managers at every other hospital room, all of whom were worthless. We could have save a couple of months of chaos and potentially a hospital stay if the first had listened to my concerns and advocated for DeSoto Palms instead of Sarabella which was 8 miles away and full of decrepit patients. 

It didn't take much cajoling to get Mom (and Hoss) to agree. I had papers signed and the apartment set up before discharge on Dec 22. 

DeSoto Palms put out a red-carpet welcome, full staff in attendance, as we pulled up to the front door. 

Meanwhile back at Lyndhurst the hvac had gone belly up. Weather was ok to ignore through Christmas but it had to be fixed before I left. Closed up houses in Florida grow mold and other nasties practically overnight. The long time hvac company determined we needed a new system that could be installed the day after I went home. Pat to the rescue again. 

Between on-site medical team, 3 meals, housekeeping, activities, and transportation to medical appointments and freedom to continue her previous friendships, I think we have struck the right balance between monitoring and privacy. 

UPDATE: She’s been there almost 1 month. Only a few more until the long-term care insurance kicks in. 

 

 

Merry Christmas 2025

 

The Demmerts have had a great year in the hills o central Pennsylvania near Penn State. Our health remains good so I’ll spare you the organ recitals. We are able to manage our 60 acres of woodland. We have no dogs to help as we are between fosters but our two tuxedo cats, both rescued, keep us laughing. They don’t especially like each other so they live in different parts of the house. They each manage to de-mouse their side. 

We went to Savannah for Leslie’s family gathering, Dayton for the Air Weather Assoc annual meeting, and to first grandson (Jennifer’s son) Jonathan’s high school graduation in Atlanta. Leslie had a few trips to Sarasota FL to help her mother through some medical issues. At 92.8 yo she just needs a little security. Paul kept the home fires burning. 

Jennifer is in Atlanta. Her son is a freshman at Auburn only 2 hrs away. Jonathan and Jennifer speak German to each other like a secret code that the rest of the family can’t understand. Her daughter is a sophomore and just beginning to think about next steps.

 Shannon is in St Charles, IL west of Chicago. She takes her 2nd degree black belt Karate test in January.  Her son is a junior and into football and her daughter is an elite dancer and in 8th grade. Oh, my, how time flies. 

Paul continues to enjoy wood turning and the local home brew (beer) club. Leslie finished out her term as president of the quilt guild and now has more time to actually quilt.

Merry Christmas to you all and a healthy new year too. 

New Driveway

 EBY driveway guys are finally beginning, just in time for snow at the weekend. How does asphalt lay in snow.

First up is to dig out the uphill trench to catch more water from the hill meadow before it gets to the driveway.  Then fill it with big rocks to slow down the rush. Two pine trees, rudbeckia, and lupines are in danger.

Then pave the middle third.

Feathers

 At the edge of the septic area, Paul and Storm found a large pile of turkey feathers.  Either a turkey is very cold and flightless or we have one less big bird on our Barony.  We don't see the flock very often and we never see the coyote who probably had a good dinner.

2 cats

 The cats now eat face to face with a closed glass door between them.  Storm is in the breezeway by the washer/dryer and Sylvester eats in the hall by the pantry.  Usually, food is priority over territory but occasionally after the food is gone, Storm will hiss and mumble something that offends Sylvester.  He then scratches at the door and might say something back.  It's not a violent interaction any more but it doesn't seem friendly either.  We'll continue this protocol for a while.  

Dinner at Antifragile where the choice is Philly cheese steaks.  Beer is also limited to hazy IPAs and a couple of other selections.  We've heard they will be building a larger space next year and brewing there, so maybe their menu will grow. 

#54

 Paul surprised me with reservations at ReFarm Cafe for dinner tonight.  We walked in to a private dining room but 6-7 tables were filled by the time we were finished.  It's definitely not fast food and it was definitely tasty. We started with a cucumber (cold) soup. My entree was s trout.

The farm has big solar panels now. At least they are to the side and don't ruin the view.

A saxophone was playing in the gazebo. We would have like to hear that music with dinner but opted to eat inside since it was a little breezy and flying, biting bugs have been prevalent after all our rain in June.  the birds aren't keeping the population under control.

Echo and Mowing

 After some light housekeeping, I had my annual echocardiogram. If this is the 4th straight year of no change, I/m calling the end of this procedure. It's certainly not painful and doesn't take much time but unlike some of my acquaintances, my hobby isn't hanging out at doctors' offices. Same with the cholesterol and blood pressure drugs.  They aren't fixing anything and are just making Big Pharma rich, I'd like a dr to tell me how to fix my bp "problem' and not mask it with drugs. What besides fluffy ankles are they doing? Is that why my left knee/leg is weak?  That's a question for next week.

When I had to reschedule the cardiologist appoint I had a choice of next week or January.  Seems like he's got too many patients that really need him.  I;ll give up my appointment for one of them.

It's 84 degrees and humid so I mowed the drivewsay verges and one meadow strip. The rest can wait. More tstorms tonight perhaps.

Planted 2 lavenders

 The garden club visited the Lavender Farm  Happy Valley Lavender Farm in State College on Saturday where I bought 2 tiny plants.  They are now on the patio joining their big sisters. They I planted 2 bags of red canna lilies under the kitchen window.  It may be too late in the year for them to flower and they may not get enough sun there. Whatever! I missed picking up a white calla last year and it's blooming now. I put in a few more callas under the peonies. 

Washed my sheets and a bit more. Made some hummer juiced and sweet tea for kombucha. All before lunch.

I like to sew first thing before I go out to get sweaty and dirty. Today I sewed together the gray-blue quartered square squares.  I've switched the blocks around on my "design wall" and couldn't settly on the prefect layout, so whatever was on the wall at 9:00 was deemed "it" Done. Now to find a border or 2 and a backing.

Now it's time to read and snuggle.

Storm as hunter and NBRAN Transport

 Storm caught a mouse in the garage.  She's all about hunting now: beetles, bugs, mice, anything that mores.  Paul often carries her between houses now since she spends so much time hunting. 

We transported 2 Brittany puppies (6-7 months) to DuBois.  Tjhey came from Cheri Heimbach, Gambol's breeder in Lewisburg. They have a neurological disorder that gives them very shaky movements.  Apparently, there is no cure or alleviation of this condition although it isn't painful. They were crammed into a 1-dog crate and didn't mind at all.  They traveled quietly. They are to be fostered by Theresa Bair in Canton, OH where I took Huck in April. 

Then the garden club had a tour of the Happy Valley Lavender Farm. It's 3 yo and has about 1000 plants.  It's not Provence or Australia and they are kept gumball sized so it's not English hedges, but it's very cool anyway.

Dinner at Champs.

Master Saver

 This is the record for savings on one receipt.  

have never saved $237 on one transaction before.  

Glamping

 We've been on the generator since 7:00pm yesterday when a short but powerful storm knocked out power to 36K in Center County. We only got .15" rain and lost a few branches but no trees.  However, streets are closed and 5 people died in other parts of the county. We have hot and cold water, refrigerator and freezer, and a few lights, but no cooking. Carriage house has nothing.   I'm glad the temperatures (high 40s to mid 70s) are perfect for this kind of glamping. 

I mowed for the first time this season.  OY! we have a lot of roses that I must have neglected last year when I didn't mow as widely as I guess I should have.  We had to jump start the mower after a winter of non-use, but Paul's new gizmo did a great job.

Darlene wants to fill in the ditch by her willow bushes that only grows weeds, and we have both fallen in with our mowers.  It is eroding at its head. She has a plan. 

Sylvester explores

 He sits by the door with a begging look but doesn't say a word.  We usually go out after lunch, I weed.  He explores but usually stays within sight.  Today he went further than ever; I don't know how far he actually walked but he was coming up the driveway from below the garden when I finally found him.  I'd been calling and walking around the house looking for him.  It looked like he picked up his pace when he heard me, none the worse for being out of touch for 15 minutes. At least he wasn't on his way back to Malvern.

Dayton: end

 I dropped Paul at the airport then raced him home. I had to stop at the Cracker Barrel to meet Huck's
foster since I'd neglected to give her his e-collar.  OOPS. She is pleased at how well he is integrating into her household.  She wants him to learn to hunt.

Then another 3 hours home. I drove up the driveway behind Paul.

FOY Hummingbird tonight at the feeder.

Dayton: Day 4

 Wine tasting led by Jack.  BBQ joint first for lunch. Back to hotel to wait for AWA dinner meeting.
We were able to watch all 4 of Lilly's dances today but will miss both tomorrow.
Happy birthday Shannon and Flotus

Dayton: Day 3

 Spent 5 hrs. at the National Museum of the Air Force. Four buildings showing planes and other air machined from WW1 to present including missiles and bombs, drones and everything that flies for the Air Force.  Fascinating and overwhelming but only a little over 5,000 steps on my pedometer. National Museum of the USAF

Back to the hotel for dinner. Paul bought General Chapman a drink. Chapman apologized for spilling water on him 30 years ago. Paul apologized for the pranks he and his buddies pulled 30 years ago.