Little Dogs on the Prairie; June 8, 2021

We're in the midst of both a heat wave and drought here in Iowa. The daytime temperatures have been consistently over 90 degrees for over a week, with humidity near that level. Outside time with the dogs is limited to prevent heat exhaustion. I have not done much gardening or weeding to preserve my own health as well. Today I was able to play in the dog yard for a little while to toss the ball for Dove. After a half dozen retrieves, I took Dove and Prins for a brief excursion to the prairie to see what's growing.

The asparagus planted in early 2020 is doing well. I found only one 'Chester' blackberry plant in the berry patch, but the grasses are nearly chest high in that area and I'm sure there are many more blackberry and raspberry plants growing there that I can't easily see.

All of the elderberry bushes that Andy planted last month are growing well. A few of the white pines look crispy and might die, but that's to be expected. The lilacs all appear to be doing well.

Prins made a detour heading back to the house to visit the pond for quick drink and survey. The water is still safe to drink but will likely start to have an algae bloom in the next few weeks. At that point the dogs won't be allowed to drink from the pond, or go near it at all. In a short while I will head outside to turn a sprinkler on for a few hours to cool the geese off. The water in the pond is near air temperature so doesn't offer them much relief from the heat.

Steve the cat is doing well. He is the long haired orange kitty that was dumped on our farm road in spring 2020. It has been a month since I took him to the vet to get vaccinated, neutered, and shaved. His long hair was so matted that it had pulled from his body in many areas, undoubtedly causing much pain in the process. Steve is still battling tapeworrms. Yesterday I went to the vet to get a third tapeworm pill to administer to Steve. Poor guy has diarrhea again today. Thankfully he has excellent litter box habits and has not had an accident outside the litter box. Steve is the nicest cat I have ever met and it's such a mystery that someone dumped him. The only thing I can think of is that Steve's owner died and the family didn't want to be bothered with finding a new home for the cat. Steve is very grateful, a trait I rarely see in kitties! He wants to come into the house and sleep on the bed with us and the Vallhunds. Until the tapeworms are completely gone, I can't allow that. If we don't see any new worm segments in the next month, I will take a new fecal sample to be tested by our vet.