An Animalistic Lazy Sunday

It's been an emotional roller coaster ride this week. Hospice brought over a hospital bed for Denny's dad and they will start sending a nurse over once a week to monitor his health status. Dad stays in bed most days now; we're hoping a tomato or two will ripen in time to brighten his eyes once again.

I took Mom to the hospital for a MRI of her head this week; she has been staggering, kind of slurring her words and seeming kind of out of it ever since Denny and I arrived in Ohio and I'm thinking that when she fell in March she either had a stroke, or the stroke caused the face-forward fall she took or something. Something is badly wrong with her and the decline in her health since we saw her last at Christmas is appalling. And I can't seem to get her doctor to see that for some reason.

We continue to have rain here, although not in the amounts of late spring and certainly not as bad as Iowa and other states have had. Our lettuce seeds have finally spouted enough to be able to transplant them and the strawberry picking season is over early due to the rains. We may be able to pick the broccoli this week and possibly even the cauliflower and it's still hard to keep up with the grass cutting at the rate it is growing with all this rain.

Don and Vicki will be leaving in a couple of weeks, so we have to get in a trip to Fort Ancient and possibly Serpent Mound before they leave. The two of them are happily planning their travel route for the rest of the summer and I have to admit, Denny and I envy them. With what is going on with our parents, I'm not quite sure when we'll be able to get on the road again.

Enough of that. The robins are outside the window by my desk singing to greet the morning, the hummingbirds have been sucking down the sugar water from the living room window feeder since before dawn and Denny is finally stirring. All the animals are up (sorry, Denny) so today's Lazy Sunday pictures are of animals we've seen on our travels.

We first met Penelope the pot-bellied pig in Ehrenberg, Arizona and then later again in Cambria, New York. I made a special effort to make over the dog in the pen, since Penelope seemed to get all the attention from the other campers and the poor dog was exceedingly grateful to be noticed.

After I fell and broke my kneecap in 2006, we had to store our fifth wheel in the back field of a friend's stables. When we needed something from the trailer, Denny would load me in the back seat of the truck and take me with him so I could watch the horses while he did his thing in the trailer. There were several foals at the stables and I loved this little guy who used his mom's tail for protection from the biting flies.

This is an Imperial Moth. He was sunning himself near the front door of the campground office. He looked so soft it was hard to resist touching him.

I have to admit, I did not take this picture and I don't know who did; the picture was sent to me in an email. I just thought it was a lovely shot.

This is Harley, one of a pair of Mini-Schnauzers owned by Melissa and Mark. Melissa used to work with me at the PD and now lives in South Carolina where her southern accent finally matches her environment. Hi Missy!

Could there be anything cuter than a wheelbarrow full of Papillons? I think not. A friend of ours breeds them to sell, but somehow one puppy from every litter manages to worm his way into their hearts. It's not hard to see why.

Meet Noel, who owns Rene and Barb who are "retired" RVing friends. As in retired from RVing, as well as employment. Noel, while a true lady, did NOT like the pink bows placed in her fur after her grooming and they soon disappeared.