Me again:
Rita...Kismet is doing well. She really has a new lease on life now, instead of hobbling around on 3 legs. When I called the breeder in Texas, and told her she was breeding puppies with genetic faults, she said to me " if you send her back to me, I shall have to euthanize her, because I can't afford the operation." Her words exactly! I hung up the phone on her, and called the company who she listed the puppy with, Purebred Breeders. Part of the reason I used them was because they guaranteed the health of any puppy you buy from them for 1 yr. That was the contract I signed with them. Of course, I had to have 2 doctors send medical evaluations, and X-rays sent t as proof of Kismet's problem. A lot of running all over VT for 10 days. Kismet's operation cost just over $3500.00. More than I spend on myself. After the company sent me a partial refund, my out of pocket expenses were about $900.00. All this occurred 10 days before my taxes were due to the IRS, an even larger amount. Yikes. Had she not had this operation she would have suffered as she got older with pain from arthritis, and it would not been a good quality of life for her. But modern surgery and a very good surgeon guarantee a full and beautiful life. She is my good friend and closest companion. We have become even closer. Of course, she can be a total nudge at times, but I always forgive her.
Char....I don't know why these bears are coming closer to humans. They were NOT brown bears. They were as black as the 'ace of spades'. Forest ranger said they would come back if any food is left outside. I never ever thought they would attempt to climb so high up to get on my deck. That really astounded me. In truth, I was scared to death living by myself at 10 pm at night. Somewhere in my life I had heard that if you bang pots, and make a big noise, they would turn tail and run. It worked but the Momma bear was very frustrated that she couldn't get off the deck w/her cubs. She was panting, running back and forth, and then stopped to look at me and Kismet through my sliding glass doors. Then she pawed the window, I picked the dog up prepared to run if I had to. I leave those sliders open in the summertime to cool the house. Now I am uncomfortable about doing that. I also will not be taking Kismet outside after dark. Just too many wild animals up here. Yesterday, I had a groundhog on my front porch, who scampered away when I wrapped on the front door from the inside. I also saw a midsize snake on my next door neighbors driveway while walking Kismet yesterday. Only the 3rd snake I have seen up here in 50 yrs. This one was bigger than the regular garden snakes I had seen previously. We had a very warm Winter, but May has been cooler than usual. Could climate change have something to do with this?
I have only managed to get 4 daylilies planted. Very slow going. The earth is like digging in cement. This is new territory for me. Hope to get another 3 planted today before the rains envelop VT for the weekend. Temps will be in the high 70's, sunny and gorgeous. That's joy to my ears.
Rita, give 'Lily' a hug
from me. Later.
Alex
