A Spectacular Day on Charlotte Harbor

Almost daily, after our walk, we grab a coffee and sit by the harbor at Bayshore Park.  Although the more southern parking area we like has been closed off, thanks to the building going on at Sunseekers, we did manage to find a couple of other areas with limited parking.  It's all good ;o)

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;o)

The View at Lunch

We took a ride to Ft. Myers to drop off a food donation.  On the way home, we grabbed lunch at Arby's then made our way to North Shore Park, located on the Caloosahatchee River, for lunch.   The picture is really nicer than our view because we ate in the truck, so I had to get out in order to take a picture.  Still a nice place to enjoy lunch.

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Stalking Geckos

Tessa is obsessed with the little geckos that are everywhere!  She sits by the door watching for them and when you open the door, she immediately runs circles around the outside table, looking for them.  It would be cute if it wasn't so annoying.  She is completely deaf when she's in gecko mode. ;o(

"What?!  I'm just looking..."

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A Visit to the Emergency Vet...Twice!

We were supposed to go to see Brigid's Cross this afternoon at the food drive, so we didn't go to breakfast, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  We took Tessa for a walk, had lunch at home and were about to put her in her crate when she started coughing, like something was caught in her throat.  Then her breathing got more labored and sounded kind of like snoring.  We packed her into the truck and drove to the Veterinary Emergency Clinic on Murdock, 10 - 15 minutes away.  We called ahead, at Wendy's suggestion, and arrived about 1:00.  Of course, she seemed better once we arrived but they triaged her right away.  After determining that she wasn't critical, they asked us to wait in the truck.  

I'm not sure when they called us in but Dr. Amanda, who actually lives and works in Key West, was on duty and looked her over really well.  She noticed that Tessa's throat was a little red and possibly somewhat swollen.  She also felt that her breathing was all nasal and not lungs.  We talked about what might be wrong and treatment.  The vet was leaning toward a reaction to something, rather than something in her throat.  We agreed that we would give her an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory but wouldn't proceed unless she didn't improve.  Tessa was very patient while we waited.

We left around 4:00 with her medication and a bill totaling $167, headed over the bridge to see if we could still donate the food we had for the food drive but, alas, too late.  Once we got home, I gave her a treat and we had our coffees and read for awhile.  Then she vomits all over her bed, so I threw that in the wash and Bill noticed that her stomach was distended  Ugh!  What the hell? Sooooo, we loaded her up again and headed back.  She vomited again in the back seat.  Poor girl.  Again, they took her right in to make sure she wasn't suffering from bloat, which was what I was thinking.  

Thankfully, the staff works a 12 hour shift, so we saw the same tech and vet.  I noticed that she had a wattle under her neck and her eyes were red.  Dr. Amanda felt more confident that she was having a reaction to something, but what?  They gave her an anti-nausea shot to begin with.  She could have gotten into something in the yard, or eaten a spider or bug...  Her stomach wasn't distended but her mammary glands were swollen.  So weird.  We talked about next steps and agreed to have bloodwork done.  And we waited...

The results were pretty normal, nothing that the Dr. wouldn't expect with a reaction taking place.  She felt she was dehydrated, so they gave her some subQ fluids and suggested we add Benadryl to the other meds and feed her a bland diet for a couple of days.  It was well after dark when we left with another bill totaling $397.  We ordered a pizza from Hungry Howie's but stopped at CVS first to pick up the Benadryl.  It was 9:00 before we got home.  

We did not sleep very well as both of us were listening to her breathing but by the next morning she seemed somewhat better and after a couple of days, she was back to her normal self.  We still have no idea what the problem was but we're happy she's feeling better.  

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Tessa Meets Mason

We took a walk around Ollie's Pond today and Tessa met a new friend.  He was a beautiful black dog, named Mason.   

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;o)

The Bigger Loser

It's Saturday, again, already.  Time for coffee, cribbage and a cookie.

Okay, I've admitted I'm a terrible loser.  It appears the farther behind I am when I lose, the bigger loser I am.  I did win the first game today, by a total of 14 points.

However, I lost the second game by 35!  What the Heck?!  

One cannot win when the cards aren't there, or so I've been told...  

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;o)

 

Tessa's First Photo Shoot

Admittedly, this went a LOT better than I anticipated!  Happy Valentine's Day from Lady Tessa...

She's not impressed

She looks kinda chubby in this one

Such a happy girl ;o)

These two are my favorites.

Tessa hopes you had a pawsitively Happy Valentine's Day!

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;o)

Happy Valentine's Day

Cooler today so we took Tessa for a longer walk along the Linear Path and around the block.  We stopped at Landmark to drop off some mail that we thought belonged to the owner but Trisha said she had no idea who it was.  Drove uptown to the In A Pickle food truck, which Bill is dying to try.  Unfortunately, the operator posted on FB that he wouldn't be there today due to a sick child.  So, we got Arby's and sat in the truck to eat.  Ugh.  Normally we might search out a nice neighborhood park but there was a lot of smoke in the area due to some controlled burns. 

Once home, I made the bed and Bill put the trash out.  I sat outside with my coffee and book, then played with Tessa while the coast was clear next door.  

The three of us left around 3:15 and headed to Venice for our annual Valentine's Day sunset.  Not quite the same having Tessa with us but we made it work.  We walked down the opposite side of the street, Bill found a bench to wait on and I crossed over to Ciao Gelato for our traditional sweet treat.  Bill got chocolate and I got half chocolate and half sea salt caramel.  I usually take a picture but I forgot.  We hung out at the bench while we ate.  Bill tied Tessa's leash to the bench and she was actually pretty good.  She gets pretty excited when other dogs come by but she is somewhat easily redirected.  She thinks she would like gelato, too.

I, too, would enjoy some gelato...

We didn't do any window shopping and I didn't get to wander through the quilt shop.  We did walk to the bathrooms, then back to the truck along a less busy side street which had some grass and we were hoping Tessa would pee.  She did not. haha We were nearly run over, while in the crosswalk, by a driver that was blinded by the sun.  

We arrived at the jetty around 5:00 and found a nice spot in the front row.  We sat on a bench on the jetty side and watched the boats going in and out.  We spotted dolphins and a manatee, which was cool.  Tessa enjoyed sitting on the bench with us.  Around 5:45 we walked down the road, on the side with grass, giving Tessa time to sniff and explore and pee.  Again...she did not.  Back to the truck, Bill stayed with her for awhile and I found a nice rock on which to perch.  No way was I sitting in the truck on the warmest Valentine's night in a few years.  69* ;o)

Bill gave Tessa the treat bone we brought, then joined me around 6:10 for the 6:20 sunset.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky, which means an unexciting sunset but there was a lot of smoke, so the sunset was kind of orange.  Not the best but not the worst either.  We have got to remember to stay at least thirty minutes after sunset for the best "after show" color!

6:18 pm

6:20 pm

6:27 pm

We headed home at 6:40 and arrived by 7:30.  I took a shower, then made popcorn for dinner. 

Hope your Valentine's Day was filled with love!

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;o) 

Tessa Makes Friends

We walked from the Veteran's Memorial, along the Harborwalk, to the pier by the hospital.  We met a couple of other dogs and they all greeted one another and sniffed and smelled.  Tessa was great, even with the super big furry guy.  His owner told us what breed he was but I can't remember and it wasn't one I was familiar with.

As much as I miss Titan and as much of a pain in the butt she is on a leash, it's so nice to have a dog that doesn't react to other dogs, other than she always want to say "hi".

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It's Saturday!

You know what that means, right?  Mercer's coffee and cribbage.  We split the games today, thankfully!  Bill took the first one, by more than a little...

I was on the verge of losing, AGAIN, and I told Bill if I lost, I was not playing next week.  That would have made five in a row that I lost and it's not fun to play when you constantly lose.  However, I had a decent hand and got a good cut, so I squeaked out a win.

Good thing I went out because he had a twelve count!

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;o)

Today is Brought to You by the Color Blue

Dropped Tessa at daycare and took our first trip this year to Venice for a walk along the waterway and pizza for lunch.  It was actually pretty warm so we didn't walk the 3+ miles to the Circus Bridge and back.  We did, however, walk a total of slightly more than 2 miles.  Bill's knee has been bothering him, so we took it a little easy.

We had lunch at The Soda Fountain, home to the largest slice of pizza in Venice.  While it is definitely a large slice of pizza, that is not beneficial when the pizza sucks.  We have enjoyed the pizza here for the past several years but today's slice was the worst ever.  Bill's was worse than mine.  He said it tasted like it was cooked yesterday and reheated...dry and tasteless.  I ordered a cherry lime ricky, which our favorite waitress Dina used to make for us.  Sadly, she is no longer there and the new people had ZERO idea how to make one.  One of the waitresses actually asked US if we knew what was in it.  It was a total bust.  We were so disappointed but we'll give it one more try.  If it sucks next time, we won't eat there again.  

Tessa was at daycare for a whole day, which is more than 5 hours, so we were in no hurry to return.  We drove down to the jetty and sat and watched the boats go in and out.  Not only did we find a parking place, we actually had a bench to sit on.  We stayed for maybe half an hour, then wandered over to the beach side.  It was a really beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky.

AND...Tessa was exhausted!  A tired dog is a good dog ;o)

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;o)