3 May

Nutrition: Dinner, My Veggie Casserole

by Jon Katz
My Veggie Casserole
My Veggie Casserole

I am always learning about good nutrition for me and for Maria, our food choices and habits are always changing. We are eating very lightly at night, sometimes just cottage cheese and fruit. We feel better, sleep better.

I have lost about 10 pounds, always a good thing for heart patients, have given up bread and turned even more to vegetables and fruit, and lean meats – turkey, chicken, and also fish.

I think we will end up eating two meals a day with some light food in the early evening. Lots of protein, few carbs. It feels good and my blood tests results were stellar, my blood numbers are fine, my cholesterol is low. Tonight, I prepared one of my new staples, a veggie casserole.

I layer it. Sliced sweet potatoes on the bottom, firm Tofu, then a layer of beets, squash, sliced red pepper and kale, sliced pears, topped with cranberry goat cheese and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Cooked at 425 degrees for an hour. We will have some of it tonight, some of it for lunch tomorrow.

Eating well is not simple, fast, or cheap. I have to really think about what I buy at the market (I do the shopping and cooking in our house, Maria is a committed chopper, as all obsessives are). I have to plan early, prepare early and get it in the oven early.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are not available everywhere, especially in the country.

Fresh food is more expensive. Sometimes I buy organic food, but not always. I think it has been somewhat overblown and used too often as another marketing tool to jack up prices. I love shopping for food, it feeds the nurturing part of me, and I love cooking for Maria, she is hopeless about food. If I didn’t shop and cook, she would eat corn chips and salsa for dinner every night. When she is working on her art, the real world recedes.

I have come to love this veggie casserole, I love the taste and the lightness of it.  For the past seven years, ever since I was finally diagnosed with diabetes (my grandfather was a diabetic), I  have been learning about nutrition. It has not been easy, it is very rewarding.

3 May

Progress: Painting The Farmhouse

by Jon Katz
Taking Shape
Taking Shape

Ed Watkins and his hardy crew returned to the farmhouse today to paint the backside of the house and start work on the front. We’ve decided to remove all of the green shutters and just keep the farmhouse plain and simple and white, as they were when built. The green shutters were probably added in Victorian times, when they became fashionable, they were used to let in light and block the sun.

They aren’t used anymore, and we like the simple look of the plain farmhouse, so they’ll be going. The farmhouse was dry and a bit neglected, it is getting some love. If the weather is good, I imagine it will be done by the end of the week. Happy to have it done before the Open House in June.

3 May

Daily Video: Can Fate Slow Down?

by Jon Katz

Can Fate slow down?

When the main working dog on a farm with sheep is out of commission for 10 days or more, it’s a big deal. We will certainly manage, sheep can be moved with grain and they usually follow the donkeys around, but we have to plan things differently. Fate seemed very excited today, almost as if she sensed she was in charge for now.

She was a bit manic and I worked to slow her down a bit, to get her to stand and face the sheep more squarely. I could do this with a leash, but that could also upset and arouse her, confining her like that.

I’m going to work with her a bit to get her to slow down and see what happens. I’m not going to push it too far, but I think it would be good for her, and I also sense an opportunity. Fate is a good time joy dog, she isn’t that interested in pushing the sheep around. She is also very intelligent and intuitive, and I’m sure she senses the moment.

You can see in the video how wired she was out there today, she could barely sit still.

So I don’t think I will change her style or personality, but still, let’s see what comes of it. As always, we will have fun. She ran around the sheep for a bit, her tongue was hanging out. I did slow her down, the sheep were not impressed. Red got to hang back and watch, I can’t imagine what he makes of it.

It’s okay to bring him out to the pasture, just no running.

3 May

Red On The Bench: No Work For Now. Think We Found The Cause.

by Jon Katz
Red Sidelined For Now
Red Sidelined For Now: Dr. Fariello and her X-rays

Red is off-duty for now, at least for 10 days, perhaps beyond. This morning, his right rear leg was dangling as he ran out to get the sheep. It was startling, and I took him to the Cambridge Valley Vet, they took him in, sedated him and did a series of X-rays on his hips, legs and elbows.

Dr. Suzanne Fariello said she saw signs of arthritis in his hips and legs, but nothing out of the ordinary for a nine-year-old border collie who has worked all of his life.

She found signs of a serious injury at the base of his spine, two segments of the tail bone almost crushed together. Once I saw the X-rays, it hit me right away. A week or so ago, Red had an incident with Chloe, Maria’s pony. Red was in his fixed crouch, staring at the sheep, Chloe, excited about hay coming out, stepped backwards and onto Red, pinning him.

Red, the calmest of dogs, reacted, he couldn’t get out from the weight and nipped Chloe on her rear leg. She turned and stomped him with her right hoof, he moved away and went on to move towards the sheep. Maria and I saw it, but Red seemed fine and we cleaned off the dirt from the hoof.
Chloe had her ears back and moved towards Red after that, but then seemed to forget it. It was precisely where the  X-ray showed the injury, I had completely forgotten about it.

This makes sense, we finally figured it out. Dr. Fariello, Maria and I all agree this is by far the most likely explanation for his limping.

Side note: I could see Maria was anxious about the incident, she was concerned that I would be furious with Chloe and want to send her away. This, I told her, was an old fear, not a current one. When you live on a farm with sheep, horses, donkeys, things will happen. These are animals, not domestic pets.

No working border collie has a safe or protected life, things can and will and do happen. My border collies have run into barbed wire, been butted  by rams and ewes, run over by donkeys and kicked by them, torn their paws on rocks. It wasn’t Chloe’s fault, it wasn’t Red’s fault. We will just have to be vigilant.

So no working for Red for awhile, we  hope rest will do the trick. Red is back on anti-inflammatory medicine, and next week, he’s going back to the vet for a massage, Cassandra has been certified to do that work. Dr. Fariello wants to resume the laser treatment for a few weeks. Red is home now, and sedated.

It’s a serious injury, real and in a bad place, but there is no reason it won’t heal. I’m just sorry I didn’t connect all of this sooner, Dr. Fariello has been great, she has smart and focused plan for healing Red.

The affected area has major nerves running through it, it doesn’t hurt much when Red is standing still, but it does when he runs.

He can come out to the pasture, but not run, and no walks in the woods for now. We’ll see if Fate gets more interested in serious herding work, I won’t push it too hard, but I’ll give her the chance. Life happens, and it is happening to Red.

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