Spring In Idaho

[Stormy Peak]

I let my dogs out around 4:00 PM, and the wind was blowing cold, and there was some cloud cover.
Then around 6:00 PM I opened the door to let them out again, and this is what I saw.
(12 second video)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E_QlUB9Ty ... e=youtu.be

So, how is your spring going?

Stormy

[Zach Wentzel]

It's not that extreme in pa but one week we had 5 60 degree days and the next week we had 5 30 degree days lolll

[Ren Marston]

thats beautiful!

[Lily Wilkins]

I'm in the Greater-Seattle area, and we've had a cold snap this past couple days too. We had this gorgeous 70 degree and sunny day, and I was out in the backyard doing Pilates and HIIT and felt SO good, and then the rain and cold moved back in, as did my "SAD". Luckily the snow didn't fall at this low of an elevation.

[Gwayne's World]

Mid 80's tomorrow in Lincoln, Nebraska.

50 on Wednesday.

[Stormy Peak]

This is what it looked like this morning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY_zIIdY4SA

I probably shouldn't narrate a video during the morning when I haven't had a cup of coffee yet...lol. My mind was struggling to remember what that stuff was that the dump trucks spread on the roads in the winter.

Also in the clip...

I mentioned that I found 2 lumps on AU...and at 11:30 we have a vet appointment.
One lump, to me at least, feels like a fatty cyst. I've had several dogs in my life that had those, and they are kind of roundish, or egg shape and will move a little bit.

However, the other lump is a bit softer, and I can only best describe it as like a saucer sized pancake. It's kind of flat, then and about the size of a tea cup saucer. And that worries me, because I've never encountered a fatty cyst in any of my dogs that was shaped like that.

If he has cancer, I'll let him live as along as he's comfortable, and then when the day comes to put him to sleep, be a week or several months down the road, I'll go ahead and also have Jaya put to sleep on the same day.

When I had to put my other golden retriever to sleep...my beloved HaHa, Jaya spent 7 months...every single day...looking for him, and she's just as attached to AU as she was HaHa. I won't put her through that again, not at her age and her being near the end of her life anyways. I took her to the vet before winter kicked in, just to get a good opinion on if Jaya had a good chance of making it through this winter...and we decided to go for it. Jaya also has an enlarged liver and heart that press upon her lungs...as well has arthritis in her hips. Also, older dogs can have strokes.

I can't bury a dog in the winter, and I can't afford cremation...and that would also mean a 180 mile trip out of town to do that, and then get the ashes back. So for winter...the only other thing would be send a pet to the animal pit up at the dump. I haven't asked yet, but *maybe* the vet has a morgue freezer...so that might be a possibility if I should lose an pet during the winter.

Anyway...as of now, Jaya has meds for her hips, and she's fine, but they do go down hill fast once they hit a certain age. I dread the idea of losing both of my pets at once, but I have to think about their comfort/quality of life over my desire to keep them with me.

Stormy

[Gwayne's World]

Mid 80's tomorrow in Lincoln, Nebraska.

50 on Wednesday.

As we speak, the temp here is, a balmy 89 degrees.

[Stormy Peak]

Well, I got home from the vets with AU this afternoon...but was too tired to post anything...as I haven't really slept since Friday night.

The vet said that both lumps look to be fatty cysts. The one I was worried about...I discovered it when AU was laying flat on his side. But when I went to show the vet both cysts, the 'flat' one seemed smaller and thicker and a bit more 'egg shaped' - so we laid AU on his side and felt for it again and that time it was flat-ish, wider, and not as thick.

My vet said that, most of those kinds of cysts are kind of between the skin and the muscle...but that particular one, might be 'stuck' a little bit on the muscle and is changing shape a bit between the laying down and the sitting position. And, when AU was in the sitting position, it felt like a fatty cyst to me...and again, I've had about 3 or 4 dogs in my life that each had more than 2...some left in them, and some surgically removed when in a place that was causing discomfort.

So...my relief at that news is almost overwhelming...and as mentioned...by the time I got home and felt all that stress leave me, I also felt all the exhaustion hit me...and I had to get some sleep.

As far as the weather front....more snow is suppose to be here Thursday night. And the low for tonight is suppose to be around
13 degrees ( -10.5 C )

Stormy

[Stormy Peak]

Mid 80's tomorrow in Lincoln, Nebraska.

50 on Wednesday.

As we speak, the temp here is, a balmy 89 degrees.

I can't even imagine that kind of heat during this time of year.
It might be some time in June or the beginning of July here before it gets that hot.

Stormy

[Carolyn Eaton]

Stormy, I'm so relieved for you! I know how precious every minute is with the fur-babies!

[Darcy McBride]

I'm glad AU didn't have bad lumps today; hopefully you will have a bit more time with both of them.

[Stormy Peak]

Carolyn and Darcy.... sorry I didn't reply sooner. I lost so much sleep since Saturday, when I found the lumps that yesterday and today, I pretty much slept, then would wake up for a bit then go back to sleep...and repeat.

I've spent days, with a lump in my throat, and as mentioned, not sleeping and doing some stress crying...always though when the dogs were sound asleep too... I rarely ever let my dogs see me stressed out and crying...it just stresses them out and they don't understand or know what to do about it. Especially Jaya...she really can go off the deep end with panic attacks if she is around strong emotions.

I was dreading so much a future that might mean me losing both of my dogs on the same day...it's bad enough that I know my time with dear old Jaya is coming to a close...but I want AU to have a long life too...and he, like HaHa...is just to young.

It's snowing hard again tonight. I let them both out for about 5 minutes and they came in totally coated in snowflakes...which they promptly shook off and showered me in them...lol

Stormy

[Kelly Haggerty]

On the bright side maybe you won't have a drought this year, although it looks like a lot of the northern US isn't going to have a spring, either. I am glad your dogs got some good reports. The power our pets have over us is really something.

[Stormy Peak]

It's about 2:45 AM and I went to let the dogs out and it is snowing great big fluffy snowflakes.
I'll see what it looks like when the sun comes up and maybe take a photo.

Spring time in Idaho : )

I hope you are experiencing a little warmer weather.

Stormy

[Craig Mcgee]

I feel for ya Stormy. I do not miss those spring blizzards . I grew up in the NE corner of Wyoming so I feel your frostbite lol. Sending you warm thoughts from Louisiana where it is a frigid 92 degrees farenheit at 6:05 PM.