The Latest News

Hi everyone!  Once again I've been away for a bit.  Oh, I haven't actually been anywhere -- I've mostly been right here, but I realized I needed a little break from social media.  It gets to be a downer after awhile; I'm sure you understand what I mean.  But I've missed you all, because reading my favorite blogs is almost always a cheering prospect.     

         Hal and I went to Laurel Gray Vineyards again for Lobster Rolls on July 31st; boy those things sure are addictive.  😄  I finally remembered to take a picture this time, even though I had already taken one bite when I thought to take the picture.  These were from a food truck, Cousins Maine Lobster, and they were mighty good folks.  Also, they have their own brand of Whoopie Pies, and YUM, those are a real treat, too.     

These first two pictures were the only pictures I took on that visit, but Hal made some with his vintage film camera.  We just got them back from being developed, and they turned out well.    

A picture of the food truck.   

On this visit, the lilies were blooming at the vineyard, and they were spectacular.   

I have some big news at the moment -- actually two things to share.  First, Duncan is actually getting better.  We, and our regular vet, think the specialist made a misdiagnosis back in April.  She didn't do bloodwork; she made her diagnosis solely from looking at the MRI.  We had our veterinarian call the specialist back with some of our questions at that time, and she said she would be glad to do a blood test to check for cancer, but she felt very sure based on the image she saw.  We didn't insist on the blood work because we assumed she had seen this kind of thing enough to know.       It has been three months, going on four, and based on the prognosis she gave us, Duncan should be dead by now, or at least going downhill fast.  Instead, he has gotten so much better while on the steroids; he has his range of motion back, he's able to jump again and use both legs normally.  It seems that the biggest indicator is that we can tell he doesn't feel bad at all.  We've had two dogs die from cancer, and we've seen how it normally goes.  Our regular veterinarian said she thinks it must have been inflammation of the nerve all along.  At first, we were afraid to believe it, and we might still be proven wrong, but our vet has us reducing his steroid dose now, and he's still doing well.  What if we had gotten his leg amputated, which was one of the options the specialist gave us?  That would have been a big mistake.        

Duncan in 2018     The other big news is that Hal is retiring at the end of September -- I'm so excited!!  We're planning a family get-together for the middle of next month to celebrate mine and my sister's birthday and Hal's retirement.  When he retires, he will have been with this company for 30 years, which I think is a long time in this day and age.  Hal enjoyed working for this company over the years, but the company was bought out about four years ago, then a year later that company was bought out, and another year later, the new company merged with yet another company.  Two buy-outs and a merger in the space of three years time.  Most of Hal's familiar co-workers, whom he had worked with for many years, took the retirement package last year in 2020.  After much deliberation and some meetings with his financial adviser, he decided it was time for him to retire, as well.  Since he graduated college, he will have been in the workforce for 36 years.  I think he's excited about this, too; he has a lot of hobbies and interests, and we're planning to stay busy.  We are blessed to be able to start this next chapter of life, and we know and appreciate that.    So as you can see, a lot has been happening here.  I'll be going out of town with my mom for two days next week, and when I return, I plan to get back into my normal blogging schedule and to visit all of you and leave some comments on your posts.  I hope you are all doing well.  These are crazy times we live in, and they don't seem to have gotten a lot better in 2021, but we are keeping the faith.     I hope you've all had a good summer and stayed healthy.  I'm definitely looking forward to fall now, how about you?  Thanks so much for your visit today; I'm so grateful for your interest in this blog.     Cheers,