I needed insulin for Arnie the Diabetic Dachshund the other week, so went to the vet’s.  Every six months or so they try to make Arnie come in for a day of glucose testing, and they try to withhold the insulin until that is done.  I did it once, and saw no benefit whatsoever, so told them I thought it was unnecessary.  Naturally, the vet had a fit, but said I could refuse the test “on my peril.”  Whatever….. in any case, I got the dog’s insulin.

 Then a week ago I noticed Arnie’s bad eye was looking particularly horrible.  I took him into the vet, and it turns out he now has glaucoma.  The vet said this is very painful, and as the eye is blind he suggested removal.  What could I do, but acquiesce, as I don’t want the dog in pain.  $850 later, the dog has no eye.

It never pays to act smug around a veterinarian.  When I talked the vet out of the glucose test, I came home proudly and said to Denis, “I browbeat the vet out of an exam for Arnie.”  I now have a 13-year-old dog that resembles Frankenstein.  There are looped stitches over the eye, which thankfully are to come out in two weeks.

However, the good news is that somehow the concrete foundation got laid on the weekend!  I could hardly believe it last Friday when dump truck after dump truck of soil was dropped in the yard.  On Saturday morning a man came and transported it all to the lower yard and flattened it.  In the afternoon, Denis, Luke and a friend of Luke’s started on the foundation.  By Sunday afternoon it was done.

Next week the greenhouse will arrive and be assembled.  I now have to get going on the raised beds.  As I read article after article about the world wide food shortage, I chuckle at my own brilliance.  A cow, a few chickens, and we’ll be all set.  I wonder how much wheat one needs for a year’s worth of bread.

Next Monday my first-year creative writing course begins at UBC-Okanagan.  I’m pretty excited about it, even though I’ll be the senior citizen of the class.  I imagine myself as the character from Elf, draped over my miniscule desk like a behemoth, while surrounded by tiny little eighteen-year-olds.  Nicky asked if I was going to be a keener in the class, and I said, “Of course!”

Yesterday I made 30 Okanagan Fruit and Rum Bars, and it was a fantastic feeling.  I’m going to take a few around to my stores within the next few days, and hopefully these babies will be selling shortly.  They really do look sweet in their little boxes with the little cut-out window.

Because of the excellent karma produced by actually taking action with the new bars, I came home today to a message  from one of my stores.  The owner was placing an order, so that put me into a good frame of mind to get back to the business at hand, which is baking hundreds more bars.  God knows I need the business with the vet sending me off with these words, “Glaucoma can strike the other eye, too, you know.”