Happy Fourth of July!

After a semi-frantic week of cleaning and packing the fifth wheel for our upcoming trip, we arrived at the farm on Saturday, July 2.  This will likely be our last visit until November, so we have plenty of chores to do.  

But chores should never get in the way of fun.  When we got in, my brother and his wife, their two daughters and families were already there, and fun was definitely on the agenda.  We unpacked and joined them for a fish fry, with flowers for the table provided by Rachel, Laura and Jamey.

A water-balloon toss followed, but John and I had sense enough to stay out of it.

Allan and Jef's Brittany spaniel, Molly, gave us quite a scare on Sunday.  While I had the dogs out for a walk, she appeared to vomit or cough up several tablespoons of bloody mucous.  She was also panting and breathing rapidly…much more so that she normally does, even after exercise. 

I took her home, and Allan and Jef immediately contacted Dr. Josh Lackey of L&L Vet Clinic in Hamilton.  Dr. Lackey made special arrangements to meet them that afternoon to examine Molly.  He was unable to do lab work, but thought the problem might be ingestion of rat poison, or heart failure related to a heart murmur that she has had for some time.  He gave her meds and kept her overnight for observation.  On Monday, she appeared improved, but later that evening she was clearly not feeling well and the rapid breathing had returned.  

On Tuesday, Jef took Molly to a vet in Fort Worth where they did a number of lab tests to try to determine the cause of her problem.  The tests were inconclusive, but she seems to be doing better, so we hope she will continue to improve and will be back to her old self by the time we return.  She is a very special girl, and has been a member of the Bagley Pack for 11 years, since the time of Lucky Dog, Nickie and Feathers.  Things wouldn’t be the same if she couldn’t run with her cousins.  We’ll be praying for her speedy recovery.

We said goodbye to family, farm house and cows and left to pack for our summer RV trip.  Oh, and remember that sweet little calf that was born the last time we visited.  It turns out he is a she, and quite a pretty one at that.