rescue dog Petal is getting stronger & gaining weight!
25 Sep 2010 2 Comments
in dogs, Petal, Pinenut Tags: Petal, Pinenut, rescue dogs
Petal is nearly 6kg now!
The lovely, gentle, Petal is with us just over 3 weeks now, and she is really doing well. She’s put on about 2kg- that’s 50% of her original body weight when found! Here’s a photo of poor thin Petal, below. (She’s not really keen on the camera, as you can see from her expression!)
Petal when found- about 4kg 
You can read the first post about her here, and a 2nd snippet here. Her hip is not bothering her, and the horrible abscess she had healed up well with lots of cleaning (by our other dog Pinenut- we nearly had to put a big head collar/satellite dish on HIM as well as on her in order to control excessive licking,) & antibiotics. Now, God love her, she’s in heat! I wonder if it may have been the returning health/weight gain that may have brought that on. Our other 2 are fixed, so a female in heat is new to us. She would like Pinenut to be her man, but he’s not really up to the job 
Spaying is certainly on the cards for her after this is over.
Pinenut is not so interested in girls!
Petal
She loves going for a stroll, but even in places when we can let the others loose to run, we now have to keep her on lead like this- no puppies are wanted! We want her to fatten up, but not that way! Note: if you are in the south Kilkenny area & would like to adopt a pet, check out the Inistioge Puppy Rescue- we got our wonderful Rottweiler, Jessie, there.
‘The Room’ reading/ Blogger’s Book Club note
21 Sep 2010 1 Comment
Just a quick note that Emma Donoghue will be reading from ROOM at Trinity College, 1pm Sat 9th October: bookings to dublinpubliclibraries@dublincity.ie
The Blogger’s Book Club will be reading her book for November.
Town of Books & Michaelmas Festival
19 Sep 2010 4 Comments
in books, craft, festivals, food, Ireland, the river Barrow, traditions Tags: Guinness, local craft, local traditions, Michealmas Festival, tasty food, town of books
The Town of Books is on this weekend in Graiguenamanagh, Co. Kilkenny, along with the traditional music festival. After looking forward to this all year, wouldn’t you know it, both my husband & I are too unwell to go enjoy them! I did manage to sniffle along to a few book stalls in the drizzle of yesterday afternoon & found 2 Michael Connelly mysteries for my (considerably sicker than me,) better half. Today (Sunday) I’ve got to work, so will miss Micheal Kelly of Grow It Yourself Ireland speaking at 3pm. The plan was to send The Hubby to listen & report back, so if anyone reading this went- let me know what you thought!
Next weekend is another favorite- the Michaelmas Festival ( their website is quite good, with interesting history & photos as well as the current events listing & such.) Last year we really enjoyed the lovely weather, beautiful breeds of farmyard animals & old fashioned farming items & skills on display, and some VERY tasty duck pie & steak & Guinness pie from one of the stands.
There’s lots more on offer, too, & we bought this lovely pitcher from a stall featuring local New Ross potters Lavery Pottery.
Not to forget the tasty pint or two on offer from the local pubs!
We didn’t win in the duck race (payback for eating a relative?) but it was great fun to watch, especially when the swans crashed the party!
I recommend this charming festival, & we’ll be taking our immune booster to be sure we don’t miss it!
PS: I’LL HAVE A NEW UPDATE ON OUR LITTLE RESCUE DOG PETAL (WITH NEW PHOTOS) IN A FEW DAYS 
our new dog Petal is doing well!
13 Sep 2010 2 Comments
Here’s Petal on the far right, waiting while doggie dinners are being prepped. She started out at 4kg when we found her, & now she is closing in on 5. The vet says we should aim for about 8. She’s a quick learner; watching our other dogs & picking up that the canine toilet is outdoors only, and that begging while human alpha male & female are eating is not allowed. Petal learned even more quickly that snuggling on the couch & sleeping in the bed with us IS allowed! Our little family feels complete again!
Petal- a starving stray dog no longer!
07 Sep 2010 5 Comments
in dogs Tags: dogs, Petal, rescue dogs, Shep
Petal
Here is the lovely little Petal; found by The Hubby as she was running around scavenging for food by the N7 a few days ago. She is skin & bone, & has a hairline fracture of one hip & a slight hip dysplasia on the other, but she is a loving, friendly, trusting little girl. She is about 3 yrs old, looks like a Parson Jack Russell mixed with a King Charles. We love her.
Hubby took her to the local vet to check her for a microchip & get her looked over. He registered her as found with the local vet & the ISPCA, (as well as calling to the local houses- tho ‘ if she was owned by someone there and let to run & starve like that, they don’t deserve a pet!) I’ve checked local and national lost & found websites, but she is not listed as lost. If she was, she’d have been lost a while to be in the extremely thin state she’s in now, so I checked to over 6 months back. That was heartbreaking- so many pets lost or stolen; most not resolved.
If she is someone’s genuinely lost pet, of course we will return her, but as you can imagine, we love her & want very much to keep her. About a month ago , our very 1st dog, Shep, died. We, and our other 2 dogs, were heartbroken. Now Petal is here, and she fits in wonderfully. We even know how to care for her while her hip mends, as Shep had broken his not long after we adopted him, too. (We think it was sheep dog vs vehicle. He got out one morning at our old house, and being a dyed in the wool car chaser before we adopted him, that is what he must have done. Thankfully, with time, neutering, & better fencing that activity ceased.) He was a true gentleman, and his loss is keenly felt.
Shep on a snowy walk
So now Petal is with us, and she is a true lady. She knows we are trying to help, & never growls or snaps, even when we unknowingly jostled her sore hip, or when the vet had to position her on the xray table and it was a bit painful for her. When The Hubby found her a song with the refrain ”you are my angel” was playing on the radio. And she really is.
I hope to post photos and updates as she fattens up and recovers.
