Well, it's been a weekend and a week to say the least .. Some good, some bad.
Let's start with the good.
Good News.
The Eagles won! Go Birds!!! .. Being in South Jersey, there's no shortage of support for our regional NFL team. While I wouldn't call myself a die-hard football fan, I do enjoy watching most of their games on TV and cheering them on, win or lose. They’ve looked tough all season, and I had a feeling they had a decent shot at making the playoffs and possibly heading to the championship. And they did it .. Super Bowl Champs!
To celebrate, I "painted the house green" .. With light, that is. I left our LED Christmas spotlights up for a few extra weeks in support of the team. The green glow felt like a fitting tribute. But with the victory parade happening in Philly this Friday, it’s time to wrap things up. I’ll take the lights down after the weekend, but it’s been a fun way to show some spirit.
Some more good news.
Another Orchid Bloomed!!!
On another happy note, our Cattleya orchid, 'Jewel Box,' finally opened her flower buds. What a beauty! That deep red color is simply spectacular. Only one of the two potential bloom stalks has opened so far. The other has a flower sheath present but no visible activity inside.
The light green leaf looking thing in the center (Flower sheath) does not show any signs of activity (for example.. Swelling with bud developing or pushing through)
I’ll give it some time.. Orchids like to test my patience. Meanwhile, our coconut orchid is also beginning to bloom, but I’ll save that reveal for another post. No need to overwhelm you all with too much beauty at once.
Now for the bad news.
Snow .. (Frown) ..
No birds living here in these conditions
Winter is holding on with a vengeance. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter. Snow, ice, cold rain, and just plain cold .. yay. I was hoping for an early spring, but here we are. Over the weekend, we got hit with an ice storm, and then last night, more snow. I’m so over it. Time to grab the shovel and deal with what Mother Nature has thrown our way.
Cleared a small spot for Huxley
One can always spot a little beauty here and there
The really bad news.
But the toughest part of the week was on Saturday. My mother-in-law lost her beloved 15-year-old Shih Tzu, Browley. She called me in a panic at 3 AM, and I rushed over to check on him. His breathing was labored, there was gurgling in his chest, and his tongue was turning light blue. I knew we had to get to a vet, fast.
Browley
We drove through the ice storm .. To the nearest 24-hour emergency vet, about an hour away. Not the most fun drive, but we didn’t have a choice. After four hours at the clinic, we got the heartbreaking news. Browley had suffered some kind of heart embolism, causing his heart to swell, pressing on his trachea, and his lungs to fill with fluid. There was nothing more they could do after several attempts to reverse his symptoms. My mother-in-law had to make the difficult decision to let him go peacefully.
Browley's Xray showing enlarged heart, pinched trachea, fluid filled lungs, etc...
The memories of putting Molly to sleep came flooding back. I fought back tears and tried to stay strong for her, but it never gets easier. Saying goodbye to our fur babies is the worst part of life with them.
So yeah, good news and bad.
That’s life, I guess. But through it all, we keep going, cherishing the victories and supporting each other through the losses.
