Liam has a half birthday

 

Liam has had them for 11 years...birthdays...

they have been announced, documented, celebrated

his birth date is August 1, 2007

and

when I attended school those with summer birthdays observed what were called "half birthdays"...those who had birthdays during the school year were feted with cakes, singing, corsages from classmates... those with summer birthdays were left out...an event device was introduced to fix that...

The half birthday-

mine is February 9th

Liam heard about mine and asked we add his half birthday to our calendar. He argued that he has to pack in more fun in his later years as there is no guarantee of longevity and age has its added health issues

He pointed to his growing number of lumps (lipomas) and the cancer scare we endured in November 2018

If you had not heard
here is the link

if you had

here is a refresher

http://liamlicks.blogspot.com/2018_12_02_archive.html

we will not wait a year to say happy birthday

we agree
Happy Half Birthday Liam

Liam at home photos follow

LIAM WITH DADDY PAUL

GOING TO SLEEP 

YOU GOING OUT?

THE "PET ME" POSE

FEED ME

WATCHING THE WORLD GO BY

 Woof, woof

Barb's gifts

We have had the pothos plants for 2 years and Barb is gone a year. In late 2016, Barb gifted me with a variety of plants to cheer me up in recovery from surgery and the pothos plants took over in every good way,

Time to share her spirit

if you don't know of Barb here is the blog story about her.

if you do, here is refresher.

https://liamlicks.blogspot.com/search/label/Barb

LIAM WITH HIS AUNT BARB BABY

the pothos had grown long and leggy

in fact each pothos had vines about ten feet long...one had ascended up the stairway railing and the other curled around the AC wire and its vines along the floor had rooted and crawled in back of the couch.

what are they?

here is a wiki description

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epipremnum_aureum

We were happily in a botanical garden of pothos

until I decided we had to have Stanley Steemer to clean the couches and rugs. The two pothos plants had to be removed for the cleaning. We moved each pothos to the back room and laid them on the table

TWO POTHOS WITH THEIR LENGTHY VINES

It took a while to get them up and out to the back room.

I had never done cuttings. I sought advice online 

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/pothos/pothos-plant-care.htm

from Pinterest

https://pin.it/si5vtnkus6uje4

and from my two plant whisperer friends

they had successfully propagated cuttings and were incredibly helpful and generous with their time.

As Stanley Steeemer steamed and cleaned, I cut. The Steemer assistant joined me and advised. He told me he has grown many plants from cuttings and he loves to do it.

He took home a bag of extensions for his help on the plants and a monetary tip for his rug/couch efforts

STANLEY STEEMER POTHOS

and the propagation begins

first in water on right

when roots show, in about a month

I put them in soil

and then they were gifted out with the notes
below

the Barb baby pothos gifts distributed over the holidays

 

and part two

and Liam watches over those at home from his window perch and snuggles with his Barb plant

and yes I know they are not dog friendly 

Liam knows too

no licking

 a few have been distributed this week

see below left

 our Barb spirit delivery goes on 

and some of those residing in their new homes are on the right below

Woof, Woof

Tree Treasures Redux

we have a collaboration

she brings
I receive
the tree gains


see Pinterest preface
and original blog story link
below

A friend, Renée Lewin, brings an ornament for my Christmas tree each year. Most of these pieces are not created for tree decorating. They include key chains, ribbons, jewelry, a piece of a chandelier, fridge magnets, craft items. These tree treasures are from antique shops, artists and specialty stores. They are her souvenirs from all over the world. Renée spends all year searching. Happy to share my growing collection.

https://liamlicks.blogspot.com/search/label/Chanukah%20and%20Christmas%20meet

LIAM AND HIS TREASURES

and the full collection on Pinterest

https://www.pinterest.com/cbiz50/tree-treasures/


2018 's is a starfish
made by an artist Liza
peaceramics.com

 

THIS YEAR'S GET TOGETHER

AND THAT'S A WRAP

Woof, Woof

Lumps On Liam

 

a cropped cone...I cut off four inches

Liam had surgery
for a hard lump on his shoulder.
He has many soft fatty lumps. I know because I examine and feel his little body and notice any changes immediately,

Liam has more lumps than I do.
Lipomas are fatty deposits.
And they can be large and are moveable


This new one was different.
small and immobile


see blog story about the past large lumps

https://liamlicks.blogspot.com/search/label/Lumpy%20Liam

we biopsied and the results were inconclusive.
surgery was the next option
done
and the cone was installed for protection.  Much too big. I cut it down and he wore it for two days.. slamming into walls, getting stuck in the doorways, unable to negotiate the stairs, getting snagged on each carpeted step.

WEARING THE CONE

and then I realized

there is no way he could reach his shoulder

unless he was channeling Linda Blair's head turning performance in the Exorcist

see how his head turns

no where near the shoulder

I took off the cone 

But

I had already ordered a soft more mobile holiday themed cone from Amazon

and when it showed up, I put it on for a photo op

 and we had a pose

the vet called with happy news

no cancer

a Fibroma

and here is what they are 

I had one years ago

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/dog-owners/skin-disorders-of-dogs/tumors-of-the-skin-in-dogs


 Fibromas resemble collagenous nevi or skin tags. Fibromas occur in all breeds but are primarily a tumor of aged dogs. Doberman Pinschers, Boxers, and Golden Retrievers are most at risk. The head and legs are the most likely sites. Fibromas appear as isolated, generally raised, often hairless lumps originating under the skin surface. They feel firm and rubbery (fibroma durum) or soft and mushy (fibroma molle) These tumors are benign and treatment is optional. However, complete surgical removal is recommended if they change appearance or grow large.

stitches came out this week


the wound cratered open
the edges were not kneaded together


we debated about returning to the Vet

I took out my surgical supplies from my post operative wounds
and committed myself to the job of healing

I was an able assistant in my own home care

I was eager to take on the job

I immediately violated a recovery rule by allowing Liam to take me on a long walk... the Parts Unknown places he visited were swampy. messy, wet and had other dogs...all a danger to a dog with an open wound

I did not read up before I ventured out

https://www.cuteness.com/article/clean-care-dogs-incision

Now I did and am on board

HELP, MOM THINKS SHE IS A VET

wound is healing and the walks will begin next week.

We all want it

I am losing 5000 plus Fitbit steps without my Liam walk

Woof, Woof

Liam /Parts Unknown

PARTS UNKNOWN

I have let Liam lead. And he does

I am traveling to parts unknown. 
I have driven down these streets
but I am seeing them at slower pace and at a lower level

This started with the information in an article posted on Facebook which I consumed with relish.
and I wrote a blog story about it

http://liamlicks.blogspot.com/search/label/sniffing

since incorporation of free walking into our outings our lives have expanded
each walk is a new adventure

and a friend remembered this observation

 https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0697686/quote
 Jerry Seinfeld: On my block, a lot of people walk their dogs, and I always see them walking along with their little poop bags, which to me is just the lowest function of human life. If aliens are watching this through telescopes, they're gonna think the dogs are the leaders. If you see two life forms, one of them's making a poop, the other one's carrying it for him, who would you assume was in charge?

I am one of those folks. More now than ever.


I began to let Liam sniff and lead me a few weeks after Tony Bourdain committed suicide. I imagined I was making a canine episode of Parts Unknown...his CNN show

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Bourdain

SMELLS

TRUFFLES FOR TONY?

one of my faves is the Hanoi visit

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/bourdain-parts-unknown-obama-hanoi/index.html

Tony Bourdain left a legacy of involvement in many fields

PARTS UNKNOWN EPISODES

LIAM GETS HUNGRY

Did allowing Liam to walk me arise from Tony's passing
Am I conflating the two?
Maybe
but that's okay
we had original episodes through mid November
some cobbled together and all without Tony's iconic intro
they were new though
last one was 11/10

  

and now we are on our own

in Parts Unknown

LIAM LEADING ME TO PARTS UNKNOWN

woof, woof

Starbucks Holiday Cups

LIAM LICKING A STARBUCKS HOLIDAY CUP

What?

 A day later than usual!  I have photos of them  from every year and it is always Nov 1 but this year it is Nov 2 and
this year 4 styles.
Liam likes the four designs... as he is four designs as well. As we say all the time #fourdogsinone
beagle, dachshund, dalmatian and Irish setter.
A designer mutt.
We have four holiday drinks to go with the 4 designs of the cups. See following photo

and story in the link following

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/01/business/starbucks-holiday-cups/index.html

Securing all four was a challenge as we do the mobile app and I was not sure how the cups were rotated. Since we go every day I suspected we had a shot at the full set fairly quickly (we also have Paul's coffee) and it happened in 3 days. See the following link... this is my drink...a chestnut praline latte
https://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/espresso/chestnut-praline-latte#size=11033006&milk=63&whip=125
I lopped off some calories by deleting the whip cream and one pump of syrup. From 4 to 3... also I drink half...
I got it down to the low 200's.
add more Fitbit steps and I am good to go.
see photo

MY ADAPTATION

LIAM WITH THE MOBILE APP LABEL

 
Liam illustrates


he is licking, not drinking the latte

don't report me to the ASPCA

I swabbed the inside with peanut butter to ensure his blockhead remained inside for an appropriate amount of time for the photo-shoot

actually it was way too long and one cup ended up eviscerated 

MORE, MOM?

woof, woof