Oh so lazy

Oh gosh, I have been lazy with this little blog. Just like our furry girl on the kitchen sofa (she is pretty much the only one who uses it - stylish it is not).  The days just get away from me and then I wonder if I have anything useful or interesting to offer you.

So what have I been up to?

I had a craft market recently and sold enough of my scarves that it is now time to get another batch of designs happening. I really don't know how to use Photoshop properly, so every little thing I wish to do takes me an eternity. I couldn't remember how to do the simplest thing the other day!

I am a bit worried about the Aus dollar dropping as it will make my scarves more costly for me. Hopefully in the next week or so I will be putting in that order.

Being sick hasn't helped things. I am still wheezy and coughing, but at least I can get through the night without a cough attack.

Not much has been happening around the house. I have planted bulbs and am doing some tidying up and pruning, so that's always satisfying.

Regarding renovations, nothing has happened. It's frustrating but can't really be helped.

In exciting news, I was recently thrilled to get a new vacuum cleaner after my 11 year oldie died. I can recommend it people. Love the colour and yes I have to admit, when we went shopping for it, the colour was a consideration. I know, it's a bit tragic but I don't think the house has ever been so clean!

Anyway, I won't promise to be more regular with my blogging. It will just happen when it happens.

I do hope you are all well and I really do thank you so much for continuing to pop by and read my silly ramblings.

xx

Mollydoodle

We visited the vet this morning for a checkup on Molly's leg. As most of you will know, Molly had a second cruciate ligament surgery last December and then early January had stem cell injections into the joint. As part of the stem cell procedure we have checkups and fill in questionnaires regarding Molly's improvements. The questionnaires assist the stem cell company with research.

Well, the vet was very pleased with her. She even thinks the joint itself has reduced in size, which I was wondering the other day. Her knee was very large, or thick, as the vet put it. She felt sure it had reduced in size, which is good.

She told me today that Molly was in fact the first pooch to have the treatment at the vet and since her, they have treated 3 other dogs. You can see in the last image (above) when she sits, or begs, her leg (on the right) does sit out. She is unable to bend it like the other one, but it doesn't seem to bother her too much.

So, all in all that's pretty good news. We go back in 2 months for another check up and assuming the stem cells are doing their thing, the knee should continue to show some improvement for the next few months.

Do you know they are beginning to do this treatment in humans? Who has their hand up?

So, that's a pretty good start to the week, so is selling some of my goodies on Etsy last night. It's always nice to wrap up a parcel and send it off to its new owner.

Have a great week!

xx

Molly update

Look at that face. I thought I had better update Molly after her procedure last Friday.

When we picked her up she was very sore, hopping along on 3 legs. I wasn't expecting to see that and I think even the nurse was a little surprised. In fact, after we left she emailed the vet for some advice. The vet suggested we get some painkillers into her if it persisted. So, when the vet nurse rang on Saturday to see how she was, she suggested I pop up for those painkillers. I did.

So she is taking antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and painkillers for the next few days. She is walking okay but we won't expect to see improvement for a week or so. Apparently, if it works, it continues to work up until about 6 months time and then the effect plateaus off. Assuming it works it should provide relief for years.

It's still early days for this treatment in Australia and as part of the procedure I am expected by the manufacturer of the stem cells to fill in questionnaires about Molly's progress.

Do you know the cells come from the fat of Seeing Eye Dogs? They are a good candidate as their breeding, upbringing  and care are very controlled. The stem cell treatment is about 85% successful.
I hope Molly is one of the successful ones.
xx

Friday furries...off to the vet

We are off to the vet again today. Molly is having her stem cell injections into her knee.

We hope that is helps rejuvenate the joint that has quite a bit of arthritis it seems.

Cross fingers!

I am about to drop Molly off and will collect her after work. She will have a light general anaesthetic in order to get the injection in just the right spot and this will also give the vet a chance to see how well the ligament implant is holding up from the last operation back in December.

I am being a brave parent today and am confident there will be no tears when I drop her off. I am feeling quite positive about it all.

Yay for Friday. This week has seemed the slowest on record, but having said that, can you believe it's February already? Scary.

Have a good weekend folks :)

xx

Molly's Christmas video

Merry Christmas everyone!

It's terrible quality and has a bit of a slow start, but here is Molly unwrapping her pressies this morning....

Let's just say that her pressies didn't last long.

Have a safe and happy day!

Love to you all

xx

Molly update

Molly loves Christmas. Here she is checking out the gifts under the tree the other day. She checks them on a daily basis and if she gets extra excited, she has been known to do a little early unwrapping - just to help out the gift recipient of course!

She sniffed out her pressies which I had placed on the dining table, so they are now in a new, unreachable spot. I cannot put a pressie in her Christmas stocking until Christmas eve or we just never hear the end of it - she snaps at us, wanting to open it.

So how is her leg?

Well, I thought everything was going really well, up until Thursday. I took her back to the vet last Tuesday who removed the stitches, but did have to draw a heap of fluid out of the knee. Apparently its a common reaction to surgery.

The fluid built up again over the next couple of days and early Thursday morning it popped, leaking fluid everywhere. Nice. I had to wash a tonne of bedding.

So, now she has a hole in her leg where it popped. She had also started limping (very badly) on it again.

It has kept weeping so last night I took her back to the vet who has given her another course of antibiotics. The weeping could be a reaction to the synthetic material that was put in to hold the joints together. We will know when the wound had healed and when the antibiotics are finished. If her body is rejecting the material, it will swell up again. God I hope this is not the case.

Or, perhaps she has pulled the joint when outside for a wee and that's why she is limping. This is not good either as all our hard work will be down the toilet again.

Or, hopefully she is limping due to the hole in her leg causing her pain. (what a weird thing to say!)

I'm feeling really stressed about it and so frustrated after everything seemed to be going well.

Cross your fingers (and everything else) for us that it comes good, please.

xx

Molly update

As many of you will know, Molly had a second lot of surgery on her knee last Friday.

She has been doing well, and so far, so good with keeping the stitches in (unlike last time).

We have kept a very close eye on her. She is either locked in the lounge if we are about, or shut in the bedroom with a cone around her neck (we refer to it as her party hat). She hates it.

She is on painkillers, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. Why is it I get the job of administering it all to her?

We go back in around 8-10 days to get the stitches out and to have a look at how we are progressing.

All being well, we are booking her in for stem cell therapy on the joint in the new year. Stem cells are injected into the joint and this really aids healing and the growth of the good stuff in joints. As it was, when she had the surgery the vet discovered a lot of bad calcium growth, which was probably causing a good part of the pain. We would like to avoid that happening again and I think this stem cell therapy could really help.

There you have it! Thank you all for your well wishes. I really do pass on hugs that are 'virtually' sent over the net :)

xx

Friday furries... a stressful day

A very stressful day as out Molly dog goes to the vet for repeat ACL surgery on her knee.

I'm the meany who gets to drop her off this morning and leave her there. I hate it, but it must be done if she is to have a better chance to be able to walk without a limp and stand with all four feet on the ground.

We still have our mattress on the floor so she won't be jumping up (it's impossible to keep her off the bed) and we have a baby gate to keep her out of certain rooms where she might jump on the couch.

We are going to be tough on her in order to give her a better chance of recovery.

It will not be fun.

Look at that face. We just want her to be happy.

Send us positive doggy leg healing thoughts?

Have a good Friday and I'll be back with an update in the next few days.

xx

(last pic taken by my sister, the others by me)

Friday furries... Molly and her leg

I thought it time for a Molly update. As many of you will be aware, Molly had her ACL operated on back in March. Basically, she had partially torn the ligament and when she walked the lower bone in her leg slipped behind the upper, causing pain.

You can read about it all here. It was not fun.

(Demanding I share my icecream - yes, I did)

Well, a few weeks ago it seems she had torn it again, though it is hard to tell. All we knew is that she was three legs. We restricted her movement as much as possible, no walks and kept her inside during the day so all she could do was rest.

She had trips to the vet for a course of Cartrophen and pain relief/anti-inflammatories.

We even took our bed apart and are currently sleeping on a mattress on the floor, so she doesn't hurt her leg jumping onto the bed.

Well, it hasn't worked :(

I have now booked her in for a repeat of the surgery in 2 weeks time. I am not looking forward to it at all, but hope we can be better this time at keeping her quiet during recuperation, thus giving her a better chance at recovery. I feel like we were a little slack last time, not as tough on her as we should have been regarding jumping on the bed and such, which compromised her recovery.

So, that's were it is at.

Anyway, it's Friday and that's a great thing. I have the weekend off thankfully, but it also means I will be slaving behind the sewing machine getting my goodies ready for the market in a week's time!!! Eeekkk! I still haven't told you about it, but will share asap :)

xx

Friday Furries

It's finally Friday! This week has seemed slow to me, despite being super busy organising an event at work this weekend. I just had to share the above image of Molly and I that was printed in our local rag yesterday, promoting a doggy event. It's nice to have my girl immortalised. She was a bit of a temperamental model, to say the least!

Well, I hope you all have a lovely weekend. Many Aussies will be glued to the box tomorrow watching the football grand final. I'm not into footy at all I'm afraid (I know, I know), but will be joining in on some birthday/footy celebrations with friends. Have a good one!

xx

ps, I'm doing a Bits and bobs post on Monday - a 'red' theme :)

Anthropologie love (+more Molly)

Like many of you out there in blogland, I have long admired the goodies at Anthropologie. As the Aussies amongst us know, there is no store in Australia.  Well, I finally took the plunge and bought myself a couple of goodies online recently.

I bought this wonderfully colourful sheet set. I realise it is probably too over the top for the minimalists out there, but I love the fabric and pattern. I decided it was too pretty to cover up with a doona, so I turned the top sheet into a doona cover!

Molly really liked it when I layed it out on the floor. I thought the crazy pattern would also be good at hiding the paw prints that regularly appear on our bed.

Below is the doona and sheets on our bed. And wouldn't you know I caught a naughty, somewhat wet pooch (Molly) up there having come home from paddling in the nearby creek!

 And because I could I added this super cute ceramic punnet thingy in with my order. Pretty no?

Needless to say, I have the Anthro bug. I can't wait to do a spot of shopping there again, one day in person!

Are you an Anthro fan? What goodies have you bought from there?

xx

ps NOT a sponsored post :)

The Destructathon

Molly thanks you all for your sweet birthday wishes in the last post. She had an exciting time, though the weather was too horrible for a fun outing (plus I was stuck at work all weekend). She had some more pressies to open yesterday and I fear we have created a monster as the first thing she did this morning was go looking for more pressies!

We often refer to the little girl as our "Destructathon". She is just so good at wrecking her toys. She rarely ever keeps any of them in one piece. Lyn's parents brought her around the pink pig and Molly set about destructing it. At least she has a nice time!

Have a great week friends!

xx

Birthday girl!

 

Hip hip hooray, it's Molly's birthday! Our little girl is 8 years old today.

 

I took these pics yesterday. Last night I wrapped some pressies for her and she was onto me, sniffing them out. She's a super smart girl.

 

 

This morning when she got up she knew it was pressie time. I have never known an animal to love unwrapping pressies so much!

 

 

I made a very dodgy video of the unwrapping.

 

 

What a cute girl!

 

 

I love her fuzzy butt.

xx

ps are any of you experiencing problems with uploading pics? I am finding it almost impossible!

Friday Furries

Don't you just love the look on her face?

I took this just after I got Molly into the bath the other day. She had been a bit grotty and rather on the nose so I thought with a guest coming to stay this weekend that a bath was in order.

What do you think she is saying?

"Oh Mum, I was just starting to smell good, why do you want to make me all clean again?"

I love those eyes.

Normally she is happy to get in the bath, but she wasn't in the mood the other day. How are your pets to bathe? A dream or nightmare?

Happy Friday to you all friends. I have the day off today which is great. A friend who I haven't seen in about 16 years is coming to stay for the weekend. We plan on doing a bit of sightseeing so hopefully I'll have some pics to show you next week.

Have a lovely one!

xx

The spoilt one

Molly sits up in the car like the Queen of England. All she needs is a nice hat and matching handbag.

This is her recently waiting at the traffic lights on her way to be dropped off at Gran and Pops for a day of babysitting. We often see people chuckling at her whilst driving along, she looks a bit of a sight in my tiny red car.

Cosy on the couch

Her fur is starting to cover her leg again after her surgery. It was about 3 months ago now. I'm not seeing the degree of improvement that I would like to so I'm not feeling super positive about the surgery's success.

I suppose it takes footballers a long time to recover so maybe I'm jumping the gun.

I might take back to the vet in a month or so to see what they think.

In Lyn's chair. Bit of a squeeze.

As you can see, she is very content. Who wouldn't be with a big cosy, woodfire heated 'kennel' and servants (Lyn and myself) meeting your every demand?

Have a lovely week. It looks like being grey and dismal here in Hobart all week. If only I didn't need to go outside and strip paint off that darn window as well as getting some garden bed preparation done. I'd prefer to be inside in front of the fire with the furry one :)

xx

Doodle-whipped

Sniffing out treats on my photo shoot.

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but Lyndon and I are completely doodle-whipped.

A certain furry and rather domineering labradoodle rules this roost.

Each week I am compelled to purchase a box of Lucky Dog bones and generally every fourth week I also add a box of Brownies to the shopping list.

Over a year this adds up to $280! I had no idea until I calculated it yesterday whilst writing my shopping list.

Add to that the Schmakos and other treats, along with her regular food and this is one spoilt pooch.

I know, I know, it's all our own fault.

She is such a creature of habit and she has trained us so well. I have to say, Lyn is more "whipped" than I am.

First thing in the morning she gets a bone and after she's eaten her dinner she gets a "chaser" bone for being a good girl. Sometimes she's super sneaky and bothers both Lyn and I separately to score two bones. She opens the pantry door and lays in there with her head poking out, waiting for one of us to come along and treat her. Funny thing is that the bones are kept on a low shelf that she could reach if she wanted to.

It's just not worth the hassle to not buy them for her. As you can see in the photo above, if she doesn't get one she can get very snappy!

Peace is restored, the dog has a bone :)

Are you slave to your furry kid?

xx

PS. this is (unfortunately) not a sponsored post, but Purina, if you read this, Molly would be most happy to tell everyone how much she loves your bones if you wish to send us, say, a shipping container full. Thank you in advance :)

Molly

A couple of people have asked me how Molly is doing following her surgery (four weeks ago yesterday) so I thought it time for a bloggy update on the matter.

She is doing well, but it will still be a couple of months before she will be at her best.

Ideally she won't have a limp and will be able to run freely and not pull up sore. I have my fingers crossed for that. At the very least I just hope she doesn't feel the pain she was experiencing before surgery.

She is using the leg quite well though I can still see her favouring her right leg when she stands. I have started short walks around the block but she gets grumpy with me and wants to go further. I'll increase them as the weeks go on. She is still supposed to walk not run, but tell her that. I've just started letting her off the lead to go out for toilet stops and she's behaving pretty well. She can be such a ratbag.

Her wound is pretty much healed though I dare say there'll be a permanent bald patch there. The rest of her leg (and her chest where they did the lumpectomy) are starting to darken with fur and feel so nice to pat - silky smooth! I can't wait to get her into the bath. All that licking has left her a bit 'woofy' in patches. I'll do that soon.

Well, that's about it. As good as can be expected I think.

I hope you guys are all doing well and enjoying the weekend.

I'm working but am looking forward to next weekend when I have a girls' weekend planned in Melbourne to celebrate a friend's 40th birthday. Should be a lot of fun.

I've been so slow to blog lately, lacking inspiration. At least next weekend should give me some ideas.

xx

Pooch in pantyhose

(A canine fashion statement)

I thought it time for a Molly update.

Here she is making quite the fashion statement in a pair of crotchless pantyhose (cut to make room for her rudder).

Poor little girl, but it has been the only thing keeping her from pulling out more stitches.

She looks a bit uncomfortable but in reality, they didn't seem to bother her too much.

We went back to the vet (yet again - I'm losing count) and he has given her more antibiotics on top of the mild sedatives and anti-inflammatories she was given the other day.

Where she pulled some stitches is now a nasty fleshy wound. Keeping her from licking it is a real job.

The vet was amazed how well she was walking, so I hope that's a good thing. We are struggling to keep her quiet. She doesn't seem to understand the word 'convalesce'!

We are all so so tired. Tired of saying, "stop licking!".

It seems neverending and is very draining, but I realise she is only doing what comes naturally to her.

Sleepy pooch. Sometimes it all gets a bit much :)

Back to the vet on Friday to get the stitches removed.

xx

ps thanks for your offers to source me a zipper re my last post. I have been so slack (so tired and busy with Molly) that I haven't responded to your comments. The zip is under control :)

Molly update

Firstly, if you are not good with pictures of stitches, look away now :)

After her surgery on Friday just gone, Molly is doing pretty well.

Look at that big shaved leg! I have to admit I was rather shocked when I saw the massive amount of fur they shaved off. They left her fuzzy from the ankle down, so she looks like a bit of a punk dog. Her fur doesn't grow very quickly (she has never been clipped, unlike many doodles) so I suspect it will take quite a few months to look normal again.

During surgery they took a sinewy bit from her thigh and attached it over her anterior cruciate ligament (acl). The scar is about 6 inches long and she has 16 stitches.

Keeping her as immobile as possible is no easy feat, as is administering her antibiotics (they're huge) and anti-inflammatories. I have to camouflage them in pieces of kabana.

We are trying to limit her movement and have to avoid her jumping on the sofas and bed. One of her favourite spots is the kitchen sofa under the bay window. As we have no kitchen door I have borrowed a baby gate to keep her out. It's working well. We just have to remember to shut the bedroom door as well.

As you can see she has a shaved patch on her chest as well. She had a funny lump there for quite some time and the vet decided to remove it whilst she was under anaesthetic. So, another long scar and 14 stitches. Poor bubby! She is pretty bored so I'm giving her lots of pats and regular treats.

We go back in two weeks for stitch removal and then hopefully can start to slowly increase activity. At the moment she's on the leash to go out to the loo as we can't have her undo all the work by chasing a bird or the postman along the fence as she usually enjoys.

It will all be worth it if she can run like she used to :)

xx