Bonjour or "Woof -woof " to all

Hi guys; it's me, Rocky.
Coming to you live on Blogger from my favorite rug.

Barbara wanted to take these photos of me to share with you all . Wow;she knows some really cool people out in the world to care about an old dog like me.
You guys are the best !

I even had a personal visit yesterday by her friend Leesa !

I'm doing good, Merci.The meds are helping me walk better. You should see me now when I go down those my 3 steps like the big dog I'am !
OK; it's not too cool that I get two pills down my throat every morning , and a third every evening.

Barbara called the Vet because André and her noticed 2 things about me ( he he); I eat like mad. I eat the portion that I usally get and then hang around for more. And I tailgate anyone who is eating or preparing food.
My Vet said one of the meds stimulates my appetite and she's right; I'm always hungry !!

Then ( oh oh... ), I get what you call the "runs".
I did a bad bad thing Sunday night... Barbara had to clean & disenfect the floor at almost 10 p.m.
The Vet told her to give me just one pill every 2 days for the first one ( and we can crush it in my food; hurray !) and for my second med ,instead of 2 pills a day, only one.

So, that's how I'm doing.
Thanks again for your hugs and kind words.





Now, what's for supper?? I'm starving !

Summa' time & the livin' is easy...

This was just a very sunny day spent outside of Yvetot in Normandy. The other people in the photo are old friends who live in Quebec, Canada. But, they are French and emigrated over 40 years ago.
We got to know each other through Genealogy, and Didier & I know well Gilbert's sis & bro-in-law in Paris.


OK; enought blab; Pictures please !!
( Click on the photos for a bigger view)






Out friend's vacation rental. A traditional Normand style home.






Side view of home.



Looking outside from the window. Not a bad view to start the day with...
We will meet the Pony later...

Happy hour with Monique,Didier & Gilbert. Cheers !

Myself during the Happy hour; sun was in my eyes .



Our hostess & host framed in the window.



Silly hour... the guys took out the safety vest from inside our host's rental car. They had me put it on to model it. Since 1 July, all drivers have to have one of these + a triangle ( the triangle is put up several feet before an accident scene to warn others behind).




Apples and more apples... These are sour cider apples .



Come here, "petit poney" ( lil' pony)...



Gilbert giving the pony some bread. The pony has very sweet; we all got to scratch his head. His mane was silky to the touch.



Beautiful lettuce that the owner of the vacation home cultivates. Don't they look yummy ? :)




This is called a "Potimarron"; it is a small variety of pumpkin.



Lovely rows of parsley,leeks,lettuce and some type of cabbage.
André would have been GREEN with jealousy !

I don't have many more photos, as we stayed with our hosts at their rental home the whole afternoon before going back to Paris.

See everyone soon ;)

See y'all soon ;)

I shall be taking a very,very short blog pause to see some old friends who are in vacation in France. We are leaving tomorrow to Normandy to have lunch in the countryside with a couple of friends.

This is just for the day; the place we are going to is about 1hr & a half out of Paris.We come back to Paris at 7 p.m. tomorrow evening.

I hope to have some nice pics to share the day, and show you some countryside.

Stay cool and enjoy your weekend wherever you are.

Bye !

Becoming friends outside of your PC

This is just some lighter material, that will let us take a breather from the world of Veterinary medicine... I will continue to update on Rocky in future posts. He is very comfortable at the moment, and that calms us too.


I was chatting with my new friend Ron on e-mail. Ron lives in Philadelphia, which will be one of our stops on our trip in September. You can find Ron's blog by clicking on his name.

I had been enjoying the humor of his blog, his friendliness and the variety of posts . It sometimes does happen that you "connect" with a particular blog. You say " this makes me laugh !" or " I like that " and you are hooked.
The fact that we will be in the same city as this upbeat blogger was getting my little voice whispering in my brain last week :
" Go ahead; give it a try; suggest a coffee break meeting to get acquiainted ".

(The little voice in English; I do have a one that whispers things in French too.It sounds a bit weird, but those are the joys of the bilingual brain).

What the heck; if he says no, I will have tried anyway.

So, I e-mailed Ron . And he was delighted with the idea.We were actually on the same wavelenght about this; Ron said :


" It's funny....because I was going to say the same thing to you, about how some bloggers don't feel comfortable about meeting in person, but I'm totally ok with that".


I had the feeling that he would like to, but I'm polite and ask first. Ron would love to come to Paris one day. He dreams of going to the Paris Opera house.

I put in this photo of the interior of the Paris Opera house. With the fancy staircase lighted up for you, Ron ! Imagine how special it must feel going up or down these stairs.

All these notions of meeting people and becoming friends is of course quite different in each country. I have gotten used to other ways of doing during my long years of existance here in France. I'm not steriotyping the French, but basing what I say through observation and also my interactions...

People here tend to be slower to get to know, and especially to befriend than in North America. What I have seen is relatively more conservative.People in France often meet others in public places.In my burbs,I always see people chatting on the sidewalk, and I sometimes do the same when I see one of my neighbors.

Inviting neighbors to chat over coffee or for a drinky during happy hour? I have only experienced this with our oldest neighbor friends, who sadly, no longer live here since last year..

Otherwise, there is also the café , where if you go on a daily basis,you can often see the same persons. I pass in front of the tables and chairs, and I sometimes see Mr L. He's a real sweetheart; if you have never read my post on him, click here.

But, I'm rarely invited often into homes here.The times that D & I have gone calling is when we know someone well.I consider it a very good a sign if your French friends invite you over. And darn it; don't try showing up unannounced and with out some type of scheduled time ! Unless this is something that your friends are OK with.

From my personal experience, meeting blogger friends adds a new dimension ; no longer is this person just a mere name. It is something different; you hear their voice and how they talk,look into their eyes and begin to see the "whole" picture.

Minus some initial shyness,and stuttering, I have had only happiness with each meeting.

I have met a few of my friends that blog, and we had a great time. Maylis,Joyce ( astrology) and Joyce ( personal blog)and Abby; they are members of the same family and each of them blogs.Then, there is my felow expat "neighbor",Leesa ( she lives less than a half hour from home).It was Leesa that brought me into her groups and introduced me to several other expats from the Paris area.
Speaking of Paris again, I can't leave out Cath, who is also in the Paris burbs.She is one of our newer friends.I didn't want to forget you ;)

Back in North America,I'm looking forward to meeting other friends. I have a OUI from a member of the same chatroom as Maylis. Isabelle ( non blogger) is in Montreal; a French expat "soon to be" Canadian. Then I have a "MAYBE" from my friend Zhu ( her blog is here ) over in Toronto.Another French expat, and yes a future Canadian citizen.I'll add another "MAYBE" for Deb, my Hawaiian friend who lives in DC, and was thinking about joining us in Philly.

I'll add for my friends that may not be able to make it, that's OK. Life gives us so much to do , and we can't do it all.


If I could give you all a wee bit of advice; if your travels take you to a place where you have some blog friends, be brave and ask them if (s)he would like to meet for a coffee or tea break. You may be in for a very pleasant surprise !

Of course, you might get a No; but, also have half the chance to have a yes... and spend a nice moment with your friend.

Wishing everyone a nice day.

Update Number two

Hello friends,

We brought back our Rocky, after a day at the Vet's office for his x rays and analysis.

Verdict:

We have a dog with a herniated disk. The Vet showed us the complete series taken of his spinal cord & hind legs. The x ray of his spinal cord shows the joints between each disk which are wide, and with a white space. Except for one near the back.

The x-ray of his back legs look fine and actually DON''T show signs of arthritis.Thats' why the Metacam had little effect !

The pinched disk is one of those towards the rear . This pinching is causing pain, and the slipping movement in his back legs. This will eventually paralyze him if let unchecked.

The possibilities :

1) Major surgery which means a huge investment and a considerable amount of suffering for Rocky to recover. Sorry to mention money when a close pet's health is in difficulty. But, I think that we are going to be paying a lot of money.

And, I personally think that my FIL is physically and emotionally unable to care for an animal that can't easily get up, or worse; still be in pain following the operation.

2) Retaking the same pain killer ( the Vet was pleased that the last 5 days were facilitated with the med) plus a second one. We have a schedule for each med for at least the next two months to come.

We have to be especially attentive if Rocky starts to drink large amounts of water. These treatments can be hard on the kidneys.

I was having a hard time concentrating on all the explanations, with an agitated Rocky who was whining and pacing... He was really flipping out,poor guy.

But, we could see that the options are limited. . And the outcome is not guaranteed for an older dog.

These are hard times for our friend.

All we can do is to make him comfortable with the meds ( as long as he supports it ) and make him as happy as we can.

I have to draw up a VERY large print med schedule to use when we will be gone.This will show what Rocky has to take and when he needs it on a day to day basis.

André (FIL) has macular degeneration, so if you don't print things in very large block letters, he needs a lamp,glasses AND various magnifiers just to read.

And, we will start using "tidbits" with the pills inserted(as several of you suggested), and get André involved so he can administer the pills easily.

Thank you to everyone for your kind words,hugs and kindness. You have showered our dog in such love !

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxo to all from Rocky and our family.

Just the latest update on Rocky.

We had a second Veterinarian who examined Rocky in detail.She said that it would be best to do a x-ray( another day) , so we see exactly the problem. Because the Vet said there is always the possibility that the problem is coming from the spinal area or with a herniated disk. I don't have to fill you in ; that is bad.

But, we can't say anything until a x ray is done on the hind legs & spine.

Tuesday morning at 8:30, Didier & I will drop off Rock, & pick him up when D gets home. Didier has been fantastic, playing taxi for our dog each time after a work day + an hour's commute

In the meanwhile, make Rocky more comfortable, a pain killer has been prescribed by the Vet.. I have to give him 1/2 a pill every morning for the next 5 days. That's OK; I've already given medication to our dogs in in Hawaii.It's not too bad.In the meanwhile, we suspend the other medicine.

That's all for tonight; I'm feeling tired . But,I'll be OK.

See you on your blogs soon ;)

Rocky

We are back at square one with Rocky...
Despite the daily doses of his prescribed medication since 6 August,the dog's condition seems to have worsened.See my 5 August post if you are just catching this story.

There are 3 steps leading from the main living room to the hall & kitchen.Rocky sleeps and spends the most time in the living room, but never had problems going up and down the stairs. Since the last 3 days, we have to coax Rocky to go downstairs to eat or relieve himself.

Rocky also slips a bit when he walks. I've also been noticing that he can no longer lift up his hind paw to pee . It is making us all very worried and especially André (FIL), who started to break down when Didier got home yesterday.

So, we managed to wrangle a 6 p.m. appointment time... Friday, we would have had no appointment because it is a holiday in France ( Assumption Day). So, I guess we were lucky.

Now, I just have to try and stay calm . Again,I have been absorbing a lot of tension in the home. It's not good, I know. I'm going out to our neighboring city today. The walk will do me good and there's a nice bookshop over there .

Checking out books always clears my thoughts.

Send us a little of your positive energy; we need it !
Bye for now.