Well, it wasn't food allergies.

The sudden change for the better when we switched foods was just a coincidence. On Sunday, we looked at her paws, and decided that they just weren't getting better (and in fact, looked to be infected), even though she had stopped (for the most part) trying to chew on them. Time for the vet!

We took her in yesterday, and the vet found 5 grass seeds stuck up in her paws. It was so GROSS! There was blood and pus everywhere... the room looked like a murder scene when we were done. She was SUCH a good girl, too... she let the vet dig around in her paws to get all the grass seeds out without complaining (much).

Anyway, this is yet ANOTHER injury caused by our unlandscaped mudpit of a backyard. (Previous ones included the lump scare last summer). We've now spent enough on vet bills for our pups related to grass seeds to have fully sodded and installed a sprinkler system. Which, I think we need to finally do. We've been putting it off for years, getting the rest of the house presentable and then front yard looking nice. But, the wild annual ryegrasses and other poky weeds NEED to go, if only to protect our pocketbooks. Not sure where the money is going to come from... but it sure seems like a sound investment!

Molly Update

We never made it to the vet. We started feeding her only chicken and rice on Monday evening. After two days of ONLY chicken and rice (and peanut butter for her pills), Molly had stopped chewing her paws. When we woke up on Wednesday morning AND when we came home, the socks were still on her feet, proving she really hadn't even tried! BIG sigh of relief! Things were so good that we canceled the vet appointment after talking with them... they said it sounded like we had things under control.

Molly is sitting on her favorite blanket in only baby socks over her bandages... she hasn't needed the muzzle or the cone for 4 days now. We'll still do it for night for a while longer... don't want any set backs. The paws are still raw and nasty looking, but slowly improving with each wash and bandage change.

Now to figure out exactly what she's allergic to, and what food to feed her now. She was on a very limited ingredient fish and potato food before, so that is out. I think we'll try California Naturals Chicken and Rice first, as that has a pretty short ingredient list. But, we'll give it a week or so on the plain chicken and rice to clear out her system. She's LOVING this.

Introducing Mollybal Lecter

She's been trying to eat her paws for the past week.


But this isn't where we started. We started with Bitter Apple, that foul tasting substance that you spray to prevent chewing and licking. When that failed, we tired a pair of cute little baby socks. This worked for our other dog when he had foot surgery...



...but it didn't work for Miss Molly. The paws became even more swollen, bloody, and inflamed as she kept licking. We tried an Elizabethan Collar...



...but Molly is too smart for her own good, though, and figured out how to chew her feet with the ecollar on by pinning her foot between the collar and the floor, and pushing down to collapse the collar. This caused untold torture to her poor little feet. That's when we resorted to the basket muzzle, ala Hannibal Lecter.



The smart girl figured out how to lick out of the side of her muzzle, however, so we paired the muzzle with the ecollar...



... only to find that her paws were STILL being worried somehow, and were now bleeding pretty badly.

I don't understand how she can still be reaching her paws through a lampshade, a muzzle, gallons of bitter apple (which she hates), yards of gauze and vet wrap, and baby socks. We have washed, bandaged, antibacterial oinmented, anti-itch sprayed, soaked in Epsoms Salts, and done everything we can think of... and every time we think we are getting somewhere, she rips them open again overnight. And, I am at the end of my rope. She's going to the vet tomorrow at 5 pm (the earliest they could get us in)... hopefully they can give us a sedative or something to help her.

Paint. And plywood. And one more stack of beadboard.

Also, the rental of a nail gun and air compressor to easily install the beadboard and plywood. THAT is what I would buy with a $200 gift certificate to Home Depot. Now... I don't have a $200 gift certificate, but luckily the fine folks over at One Project Closer are giving away just such a gift certificate! You can enter, too, but only if I win. Deal?

To Fred and Ethan: Pick me! Pick me! Can I send over fresh baked brownies?

Beadboard Ceiling!

While browsing through the Habitat ReStore in my city, I discovered a large pile of pine paneling, left over from some job or store closing. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that some of it was beadboard paneling. The best part? Each bundle of 6-8 foot boards was only $6! These bundles sell for $30 each in the store. I bought all they had, which was 6 bundles. This leaves me about 1 bundle short of the whole ceiling (after factoring in waste). Total cost for beadboard should be about $70 total after buying one more package at retail price.

It's decorative grade beadboard, so we will intall plywood first onto the open rafters to prevent warping. Our inspiration is Craig and Yvonne's gorgeous Victorian House, and the front porch ceiling they created. We will have to do a similar vaulted ceiling to avoid the window headers on our house. We are leaning towards staining it darkly just like they did, as well... would it be too fancy or dark for a little house like ours?

I'm really excited about how this porch project is coming together. We probably won't start true contruction before Memorial Day, but I'm going to start repairing the posts, staining or priming beadboard, and more. That way, we will be ready when the free time hits!

Tentative Porch... a Pictoral

A very nice person over at the Old House Web forums photoshopped the blue columns onto my front porch! Thank you so much, wletson! Just ignore the shutters on the house; we decided we don't want them.



They are really growing on me. I realized that these are just the right size for the porch. It would be prohibitively expensive to buy new posts that are a true 6 inches wide! (At least $300 each, I'm guessing, though I can't even find any that aren't really 5.5 inches.) I think we will just stick with these, unless something comes along first.

UPDATE: They may or may NOT be upside down. (This was photoshopped off of the old pictures- I think it gets the point across either way). I'm convinced it's an optical illusion to all of you! I have evidence in the bottoms of the posts, I think, and I'll take more pictures of the both ways. Plus, I think the posts look REALLY weird the other way... very top heavy.

I Want this HOUSE!

This one, in city we'd like to move one day (I work there) and in a great location nestled against the mountains... the second picture shows why. It's listed as 1924... seems a little early for that, but who knows. It's a short sale, too. But no house buying for us... we've plenty to do here.



http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2404-W-Elizabeth-St_Fort-Collins_CO_80521_1102479994