Animal Invasion! - TTT

*Disclaimer* 

This is wordy and has happy/sad topics but I feel the need to write about them. If you aren't in the mood for an emotional roller coaster and just wanna skip to the bottom, I have an exciting linky party idea/announcement that I'd love for you to check out! I'll be linking this to Rebecca Lynne's Thursday Think Tank (go check out the other "thinker" posts!) and I added a quilty pic down at the bottom to end on a light, happy note :D

It's been a busy week since my last post because friends, family and mammals have been taking up all my free time! My sewing machine is collecting dust, but I'd like to share some of the good and bad that's happened over the last seven days.

We were out in the boonies celebrating Halloween and my friend's 26th birthday last Saturday night with a bonfire, costumes, bathtub full of beer etc, when this emaciated dog ran in and interrupted. I'd never seen a dog so skinny! Maybe it was the booze but I was immediately attached. My friend already has four dogs so I took him home with me.

I called him starvin' Marvin and vowed to find him a good home, or at the very least get him into Wayside Waifs in KC, a huge no-kill shelter from which we adopted our family dog, Sydney, seven years ago. They had no room for him and neither did anywhere else, so as per usual my parents' 24 acres out in the country seemed like the best temporary option (evil laugh!) since he's a big hunting dog that needs space. Good thing my dad was out of town for work all week so my mom could nurse poor Marvin back to health in secrecy, LOL. I took him to the vet and got him all checked out and fixed up with shots, dewormer, etc. 

My mom, loving on Starvin' Marvin

My mom was hard at work all week trying to find him someplace else to go. It seemed hopeless and she was considering having him put down since he was a lot to handle and wasn't getting along with our llama, sheep, sheep dogs... the list goes on!

I was debating bringing him back to my tiny house with no yard when a lovely veterinarian in the town where I went to high school decided to adopt him!!! YAY! He has three school age daughters for Marvin to play with and the means to give him the very best care, so we are really very grateful and excited and I can't wait to go visit him in a few weeks to see how much better he looks. All was well in the world!

Lucy on a giant doggy bed

Here's where it gets really heavy. Last night Lucy and I were snuggling on the couch when I got up to take her outside before bed. She didn't move. I called her name and she just stared at me. I went to grab her and she was stiff in her neck and body, not able to move. I panicked. I lost my shit. LOST it. The only signs she was still alive were her faint heart beat, shallow breathing and glassy, confused eyes giving me a look that broke my heart. She made no noise as I frantically tried to make her better, feeling quite certain she would soon be dying in my arms. Worst 20 minutes of my life. 

my mom with Lucy and Scooter

Don't worry, she didn't die. It's pretty serious though. The emergency vet visit at 11:30pm was pricey but I was prepared to pay much more after losing my Scooter boo (on the right in above photo) just two weeks ago. He disappeared and we have no idea what happened to him, but he's gone. That was hard and I'm still not over it, so losing Lucy was just not an option. The lovely veterinarian who met me at the clinic was looking just as tired and disheveled as I was. 

Diagnosis? a herniated disc in her neck, probably caused by my big fat ass squishing her tiny body when I carelessly hopped up off the couch. After a shot of prednisone and some muscle relaxers she began to regain function. Strict crate rest for the next four weeks and she may heal up. There is a surgical option which I'll get more info on this afternoon when I take her back for a checkup, but the cost is incredible. If she does get better I will still have to keep her from jumping up or off of things and be really careful with her, so no more snuggling in bed at night because it would be too risky. I'm having a hard time with guilt after treating my delicate doggy like a rag doll, but I'm feeling lucky that she is still here because I truly thought for a half hour that she wouldn't be. 

Hank and Scooter all up in my bidniss

Apologies if you made it through all this text and now you're feeling gloomy, that wasn't my intention! But I wanna share an idea I had. I know lots of you love animals and they keep us company while sewing, so I was thinking about hosting an "Animal Invasion" linky party for anyone with photos of their beloved pets in their blog posts! 

I think it would be super fun to check out each others' critters invading our creative spaces, laying on our lovely quilts or just plain being there in our lives. It could be a weekly deal or a one time thing, but please leave me a comment if you'd be interested in participating and also any advice for figuring out this linkup technology as I've never tried it and tend to be computer illiterate at times :D

here's that quilt pic i promised!

 

Thank you so so much if you read all of this, I know it was a LOT! Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!