Saturday afternoon

[ksmith]

According to the Tribune weather page, today should have been rainy and cloudy with temps in the mid-70s. Currently, there is not a cloud in the sky and the temp is closer to 80F. Out on the deck, me, taking advantage of one of the last days of summer. Could be dealing with highs in the 50s by midweek, so I will savor the warmth while it lasts.

Dinner came out well. Food Network recipe again, this time Giada’s grilled salmon with citrus salsa verde, couscous with basil, and a greens and grapefruit salad with honey-lemon vinaigrette. No onions. No fennel or cucumber. Chives instead of scallions. Still very good, thanks to the dressing. I dug out an electric countertop grill and set it up on the deck so I could grill outdoors–otherwise, the house would have smelled of fish for a week. Glad I did. The salmon was still a bit frozen when I started cooking it, and I was able to leave it on the grill for a good long while.

King had his six-month check-up today. According to the age chart, he’s about 80 yo in human years, but he’s in very good shape (::knock wood::). Teeth are good. His weight is OK at 115lb. Eyes are a little cloudy, and the body isn’t as firm as once it was, but that’s just age. He does have some stiffness in his hips, so Dr Vet suggested Adequan, which helps stop cartilage wear and promotes rebuilding of same. She uses it on both her Bernese and her horse, and found it efficacious, so we decided to try it with King. He had his first shot today–it will be two shots a week for a month, and then once a month or so thereafter. I think it’s a good move. King has a hard time getting up when he rests on the hardwood floor, and I can tell he’s stiff in the morning (though he doesn’t seem to be in any pain). If this can give him another couple of years of full mobility, it will be worth it.

Another bunch of tomatoes are ready to be picked, so it looks like tomorrow will be a marinara day. And while the basil plants are stubby, there are a lot of them, so it may be a pesto day as well.

I spotted turning leaves this week on some of the smaller sugar maples. They’re always the first to go.

I’m not ready for the cold.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

Comments

[cabri729.livejournal.com]

A coworker has a yellow lab leader dog who's retiring in a couple of months. She has started getting up slower and slower, and Karen says she has just stopped in the middle of working twice in the last couple of months. I know they've started giving her something, I'll check and see if she's heard of Adequan. Poor baby still wants to act like a puppy when we visit with her, but the good days are getting rarer and rarer.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of info online, and I found this post by a Scottish Deerhound breeder informative.

My vet said that King was a good candidate because while it was obvious that he suffers some stiffness, he wasn't yet debilitated. I hope Karen's pup is treatable if they decide to go that route.

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

Hey! We haven't even gotten to the hot yet! Still got a bit of winter (summer) here before (Indian) summer arrives. Feel free to come out...the whole house will be down at Tassajara working on trails in the heat, eating like pigs and soaking in the hot springs...

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Does it ever really get hot out there? I know it heats up on the other side of the mountains, but in SF itself?

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

Usually we have a number of consecutive days in the 80s and sometimes 90s in October.

Today was a harbinger...low 70s with onshore breezes and pollution. The really hot weather is rare and random...can happen any time during the year, usually it is related to adiabatic heating of a weather system coming out of the
Great Basin. All I can say is 100+ is nasty, even if it is dry, bonus nasty from the stagnant smog that is usually associated with it (or one year, forest fire smoke).