Hola Amigos,
It's another beautiful day in the neighborhood...temps in the low 80's, a few clouds in the sky, and a gentle breeze blowing. Doors are open and most of the ceiling fans are on full time.
We are enjoying our Nopal Cactus blooms now. They are so pretty, and we have several of these cactus throughout the yard, so we'll see lots more of these!
Many of you have been wondering how Zoey is doing, and sorry to say, not a whole lot better...yet. You can see in this photo where she sticks her rear legs straight out instead of tucking them under herself. We have been making regular weekly trips to visit Dr. Felipe Martinez in San Jose, who has a very good reputation. (He cleaned out a bad infection and stitched up Sam's rear end when he got bit by a German Shepherd 8 years ago). He was hoping to see more activity in her rear legs by now, but she hasn't been improving much there. Yesterday, we finally got a TEMS machine that works well on her, and have started electrical stimulation to her rear legs and back. It takes about an hour to do, two times a day. We have 7 to 8 positions to place the pads, and 8 minutes for each place. You can tell it's working when you see her legs jerking in time to the impulses! We have seen some improvements, including a wagging tail, and using the squat impulse when she needed to pee outside. In the meantime, I've been doing a LOT of laundry, but I've come up with methods to save myself some work. I use plastic shopping bags for her to lay her rear end on in her dog bed, topped with a pieces of flannel scraps that I had left over from making diapers for the grandkids. We also wrapped her dog beds in big black garbage bags, then cover that with old beach towels. We take her for walks with her rear end in a sling, and she can move pretty fast! The challenge is to keep her from going through the dog door (we don't fit!!) or under a desk or chair. We're hoping for more improvement soon. She can scoot around pretty well, and if she wants to get somewhere, she can. She is also on diet dog food, with the goal to lose some weight so she doesn't have so much to carry around. Ryan really wants to get a wheeled contraption made for her, but I'm hoping she'll start using her legs and not depend on a wheelchair.
In other news, we've been going to some pretty neat birthday parties. Peter always has a great birthday party at his parents home at Lighthouse Estates. I think he liked us singing Happy Birthday to him!
Last night we were invited to a surprise birthday party for our friends Babe and John. And they really were surprised, which is a major accomplishment in this small town! We had great music; a singer / guitar player throughout much of the night, and a top-notch Mariachi group from Cabo San Lucas. They had four violinists, a trumpet player, a bass player and a guitarist. And they could project their voices just fine, thank you very much! (Birthday girl Babe is at the table wearing the black top with the white yoke.) I don't have a picture of John, but he turned 90 yesterday!
You know that we enjoy bird watching in our yard. A few weeks ago, we saw a bird like we've never seen before! Unfortunately, we didn't have our good camera outside with us. A few weeks later, it returned; I slipped inside and got my camera, and we were able to take photos of it. We sent these off to our local bird expert, and he and others identified it as a European Starling with a deformed beak. Hmmmmmm... maybe. I'd like to think it's a more exotic tropical bird that we've discovered!! What do you think?
There is progress in our little town! Two dirt streets have been paved with a decent amount of concrete...they even put in curbs, and they meet Highway one with nary a bump or dip! We're trying to figure out who has money or political influence that lives up there on the hill! We are impressed, but we're wondering what will happen with the first good rain storm. Where is that water going to go? You're right...it's going to go downhill. What is going to get washed out? (No storm drains or sewers here). We wait with anticipation for this big event!!!
Not the best photo, but that is a nice concrete street running up the hill, and there are curbs.
Ben has been working hard on getting our boat ready for some fishing in May, but guess what? The engine needs to be pulled to repair something beneath it. Sigh.... guess we should have sold it a couple years ago. He hopes to figure out what he needs and buy it in the US when we're up there this summer. (Then we can fix it in the fall......and SELL it!!!! Ha!)
More photos (will be) in our 2016 April album, including a video of the Mariachi band (I hope).
Hasta mayo!
Tus amigos en Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam and Zoey
It's another beautiful day in the neighborhood...temps in the low 80's, a few clouds in the sky, and a gentle breeze blowing. Doors are open and most of the ceiling fans are on full time.
We are enjoying our Nopal Cactus blooms now. They are so pretty, and we have several of these cactus throughout the yard, so we'll see lots more of these!
Many of you have been wondering how Zoey is doing, and sorry to say, not a whole lot better...yet. You can see in this photo where she sticks her rear legs straight out instead of tucking them under herself. We have been making regular weekly trips to visit Dr. Felipe Martinez in San Jose, who has a very good reputation. (He cleaned out a bad infection and stitched up Sam's rear end when he got bit by a German Shepherd 8 years ago). He was hoping to see more activity in her rear legs by now, but she hasn't been improving much there. Yesterday, we finally got a TEMS machine that works well on her, and have started electrical stimulation to her rear legs and back. It takes about an hour to do, two times a day. We have 7 to 8 positions to place the pads, and 8 minutes for each place. You can tell it's working when you see her legs jerking in time to the impulses! We have seen some improvements, including a wagging tail, and using the squat impulse when she needed to pee outside. In the meantime, I've been doing a LOT of laundry, but I've come up with methods to save myself some work. I use plastic shopping bags for her to lay her rear end on in her dog bed, topped with a pieces of flannel scraps that I had left over from making diapers for the grandkids. We also wrapped her dog beds in big black garbage bags, then cover that with old beach towels. We take her for walks with her rear end in a sling, and she can move pretty fast! The challenge is to keep her from going through the dog door (we don't fit!!) or under a desk or chair. We're hoping for more improvement soon. She can scoot around pretty well, and if she wants to get somewhere, she can. She is also on diet dog food, with the goal to lose some weight so she doesn't have so much to carry around. Ryan really wants to get a wheeled contraption made for her, but I'm hoping she'll start using her legs and not depend on a wheelchair.In other news, we've been going to some pretty neat birthday parties. Peter always has a great birthday party at his parents home at Lighthouse Estates. I think he liked us singing Happy Birthday to him!
Last night we were invited to a surprise birthday party for our friends Babe and John. And they really were surprised, which is a major accomplishment in this small town! We had great music; a singer / guitar player throughout much of the night, and a top-notch Mariachi group from Cabo San Lucas. They had four violinists, a trumpet player, a bass player and a guitarist. And they could project their voices just fine, thank you very much! (Birthday girl Babe is at the table wearing the black top with the white yoke.) I don't have a picture of John, but he turned 90 yesterday!
You know that we enjoy bird watching in our yard. A few weeks ago, we saw a bird like we've never seen before! Unfortunately, we didn't have our good camera outside with us. A few weeks later, it returned; I slipped inside and got my camera, and we were able to take photos of it. We sent these off to our local bird expert, and he and others identified it as a European Starling with a deformed beak. Hmmmmmm... maybe. I'd like to think it's a more exotic tropical bird that we've discovered!! What do you think?
There is progress in our little town! Two dirt streets have been paved with a decent amount of concrete...they even put in curbs, and they meet Highway one with nary a bump or dip! We're trying to figure out who has money or political influence that lives up there on the hill! We are impressed, but we're wondering what will happen with the first good rain storm. Where is that water going to go? You're right...it's going to go downhill. What is going to get washed out? (No storm drains or sewers here). We wait with anticipation for this big event!!!
Not the best photo, but that is a nice concrete street running up the hill, and there are curbs.
Ben has been working hard on getting our boat ready for some fishing in May, but guess what? The engine needs to be pulled to repair something beneath it. Sigh.... guess we should have sold it a couple years ago. He hopes to figure out what he needs and buy it in the US when we're up there this summer. (Then we can fix it in the fall......and SELL it!!!! Ha!)
More photos (will be) in our 2016 April album, including a video of the Mariachi band (I hope).
Hasta mayo!
Tus amigos en Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam and Zoey
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