The big pup has been reluctant of late to do the stairs. He is almost 9 years old and over 200 pounds with weak or painful back hips or knees. Once in a while, his urge to be with us overcomes his reluctance and he comes up after I’m in bed, sits with hubby, then comes to our room to the doggie bed pads. Yesterday he was very hesitant to come down in the morning, whining and putting his front feet on the top step, then backing up and whining more. When he did finally work up the courage to come down the steps, he stumbled some but caught himself. I figured he wouldn’t come up last night, but he did and this morning, as I was getting ready for the Saturday morning Farmer’s Market run, dressed, called the pups and headed down the steps. The German Shepherd came right down, was leashed and taken out as the hunters had arrived only minutes before and I didn’t want her chasing down the field or exploring around their car. The big guy stood at the top of the stairs and whined. I cooked their egg, filled their bowls with kibble and his meds, topped with half a scrambled egg each and tried to urge him down with that. No go! I put the leash on him hoping he would come down with me, but he tugged back instead. I feared we had a major problem on our hands, two senior citizens with a 200 plus pound dog upstairs that needed to come down stairs. Hubby dressed and got in the act without much luck. We were about to just leave him upstairs and go on to the market, hoping he would come down on his own while we were gone, when he finally came down. He was taken out on his leash and both pups fed.
It was right at freezing when we left for town, the car windows had to be scraped. Because we were still in the first hour, the market wasn’t crowded in the frigid morning air, the guest CSA bag of veggies picked up (I really need to take a large bag with handles as it is in a large plastic bag with no handles and is heavy), turnips and red onions from another vendor, some beef, some pork, and lots of Chevre as this is the last week for it from them and from the local dairy that serves the Natural Foods Store. From market to breakfast to the Natural Foods store for more Chevre (it freezes great), hard extra sharp cheese, sweet potatoes, and a few other supplies, then on to the grocer. I don’t like going in the grocer with the number of Covid cases in the area, but I also don’t like the curbside store shopper picking certain items, so a quick run through there supplied us with some non perishables and a small turkey. Even though it will just be the two of us, I am going to make a real Thanksgiving meal for us and as cases are rising, I may not want to go in the grocer in a few weeks, so I got what I needed now and stashed everything aside once home.
The garden took a hit as expected last night. The peas were uncovered this morning after we returned from shopping and they did fine. The ground cherries are done in, the marigolds are burned. The peas will be covered every night now and uncovered during the day as we harvest fresh peas for a while. I am hoping to have fresh peas for Thanksgiving dinner.
The mountains look stark, the wind ripped the last of the leaves from the trees, so the drive from town has no color, just the bare skeletons of winter already. The hunters were gone when we got back. They apparently took a shot at a huge buck but missed. They left to get food and mourn their missed shot.
For now, I need to go process the basket of hot green peppers bought in yesterday. Some are going to be pickled. some dried as thin slices.
Last night I finished the sleeves on grand daughter’s sweater and knit them on to the body. I see an end in sight.