Garden Du Jour

In spite of the house's best efforts to the contrary (see previous post), gardening is actually getting done. To whit:

Establishing shot 1

Establishing shot 2

The little pig shaped sign is from the Doc. It is a lament on the dearth of bacon seeds. And yes, weeding is needed.

Top bed, garlic & onion; middle bed, lettuce, peppers, and more onion; bottom bed hidden melons seeds.

Kitchen bed, oregano, basil, rosemary, strawberries, and onions. (And maybe my finger?)

Future melon patch.

The Salad Box: onions, orange bell and Dragon peppers, and salad (Red Lettuce and Red Romaine).

Garlic and onion.

The Oregano part of the patio border,

Strawberries on the left. Bare patch is hiding two Russet potatoes that got overly sprouted. #ScienceExperiment

Blackberry (This time for sure!! </Bullwinkle>)

Lastly, three potted tomatoes. I have had less that stellar success with them over the years, due to what I called 'dry rot'.  I gather that it is a soil issue, and rather than carpet bombing the beds, I thought I'd try a pot. Another #ScienceExperiment

I have also attempted to organize better, and not over-plant. I've tried cramming far too much into the beds, with the result that some things could not produce as well as I hoped. So, this year, potatoes all by themselves, a bed of nothing but garlic and onions.  The salad box will only have enough peppers to thrive, surrounded by onions and lettuce. Melons all to themselves, too. The biggest problem was all of the tomatoes I tried to cram in. They made it difficult to impossible for much else to thrive.

And thriving is good!

It Ain't Pretty

I finally decided that I had been slacking off quite enough, thank you, and that it was tie to Start Work On The House.  Absent the Leveling Of The Floor, getting the Squirrels Evicted and the Soffeting Repaired was pretty much next on the list, along with Fixing The Leaky Downspout.

I am soooo glad I procrastinated, and that I decided to look at the condition of the roof before I got out on that corner to attempt downspout repairs. I don't think it would have supported my weight, either on the roof or on a ladder propped against it.

The corner. Notice the dry rotted 'sister' to the dry rotted rafter.

A closer look at the corner.

About two rafters back from the corner. Squirrel bedding cruft visible.

Bedding cruft on the floor.

And more...

...and more

Dry rot on both south and east facia.  Note the missing chunks of roofing boards. Some of the flashing is visible.

More dry rot on the end of the rafter, which is no longer long enough for the facia to be nailed into. There are four like this.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom ceiling, the probable cause of the electrical short.

No, I won't bore you with any more pictures of the bedroom ceiling that the one above. The cadaver was flat and dry. Visual inspection leads me to suspect electrocution was cause of death, based on a blackened stripe along the abdomen, which looked like a third degree burn.

It looks like the nest was mostly outside over the soffeting, not so much over the bedroom ceiling, based on the amounts of nest cruft I found, which so far has filled about  half of a 30# dog food bag.

So, the plan is to sister the four rafters that have rotted away from the facia, so I can attach a new one. Once the structural repairs are done, I'll put up new plastic soffeting  that has ventilation built into it.

The bedroom will need the entire south wall, and about three feet of the east wall and ceiling replaced due to water damage.

It's gonna be a fun summer!

In the best of all possible worlds, the thing to do would be to replace the roof.  I'm guessing that it would be about $5,000 - $6,000, based on the estimate I got for replacing the roof over the original part of the house last year.  The sealer is holding quite nicely, so my plan is to do nothing to damage it, and pray that it holds until such time as a new roof is affordable.

Suzu

Another bad weekend.

Suzu had been failing for the last year or so, losing muscle mass, and at some point coordinated use of her hind legs.  Even so, she was able to get around and feed herself.  When I got home Monday, she had, for no apparent reason, lost the use of her left front leg.  She has holding it up, and when I extended it, she had 'paw drop' - no control of it.

I was able to feed her and get her to drink by use of a large syringe. Tuesday and Wednesday, she had a fairly decent appetite, and drank pretty well.  Since Wednesday, however, her appetite started to disappear, and she would not drink as much water.  (And, lemmie tell ya, when a Shiba says 'No', she means 'No, dammit!!')

I discussed her situation with a couple of friends.  Though about building a cart for her so she could get around.  No consensus from my friends, and I wasn't sure that a cart wold make any real difference.  So, this morning, I decided that a trip to the vet for a consult was in order. (OK, I was pretty sure I knew what was going to happen, but 'consult' let me get us out the door and into the car.)

I took her to the same clinic I took Dakota about three years ago, and was happy to see that the same vet was there - Dr. Lisa Miller.  I had worked with her when it came time to let Koda go, so I knew that we were in the best of hands.

Her assessment was honest, unadorned, sympathetic, and not good.  A cart wouldn't be of use.  Suzu's dog breath indicated that her kidneys were starting to fail.  Her left pupil was fixed and small, which suggested a lesion or possible stroke, which would account for the loss of use of her front leg.  The prognosis wasn't any better - nothing to be done to alleviate any of the symptoms, and I could expect her to crash rapidly in the near future.

All of which confirmed my thinking, so I decided to let her go.  I held her while Dr. Miller administered the drug.  Suzu slipped peacefully and quitely.  She was almost 16 1/2 years old, which I understand is a bit exceptional for a Shiba Inu.

A bit of her life in pictures, below the fold.

So long, sweetie.  I miss you.