July 12- IT'S A BOY!

Ron and I have been talking about getting a puppy for quite awhile now. With all of the medical challenges and resulting appointments we have put it off.  Now that the appointments are dwindling off, we decided to go for it. His name is Madrone and he's 3 months old. We got him from a rescue organization in Ucluelet/Tofino on the West Coast. He's really smart, energetic, and all puppy! His breed mix is Rottweiler, Labrador, Shepherd, possibly Pitbull, and ?  The old girls aren't impressed at all and the cats are barely coming out of hiding at this point. Technically we are fostering him until he gets neutered at about 7 months, when we will adopt him.

Ron's continuing to do better and it's so great to be able to hang out at home. I actually have a passion fruit developing. Some of the tomatoes are being eaten now and one of the cucumbers is just about ready for harvest. I only have a small number of vegetable plants since it's just the 2 of us most of the time. My ornamental oregano has come back and the bees are enjoying it.

We took Madrone to the Wednesday evening's farmer's market. Some of our friends bring their Lab by to play with him. Aurora and Isis basically tolerate him and aren't playing much these days. We took the old girls on a quick trip to the West Coast and neither one of them could move much the next day. 

We're heading to the big Saturday market tomorrow with Madrone and allowing the girls a short reprieve. Our hope is that he will eventually become a therapy dog to visit hospitals and care homes. Right now he's got two speeds; fast and off. He's definitely keeping Ron and I on our toes.