Tommy Tomato gets a new home overlooking downtown LA.

Annie's Garden - Update #1

It's been one week, and nothing has died yet. That means our garden is off to a great start!

A few months ago, I had some extra green onions. I thought it would be neat to plant them to see what would happen. They're doing great, and they're even about to flower.

Back in December we planted a rosemary plant. We figured it would thrive because there is a rosemary plant down by the street that is huge! I like to think Charlie's daily watering helps it flourish. The plant on our patio doesn't receive any sustenance from Charlie, but it's doing pretty well.
The topsy turvy is hanging in there (ha! pun intended!). The tomato plant is strong, but some of the leaves look a bit wilted. My first thought was the dreaded white fly, but there's no evidence of a white fly infestation. After further consultation with Ma Humphreys, horticulturist extraordinaire, we determined that I might be giving the plant too much water.

It's tough to see, but here are some pictures of the questionable leaves.

I received a free tomato seedling from the LA farmers market about a month ago. We planted it in a small pot and hoped for the best. It's grown a little, and I'm hoping it will outgrow it's current home and need to be replanted into a larger pot.

The seeds Chris planted last week haven't sprouted yet. But we do see some clovers, which means there's still hope!

Annie's Garden

Annie thought we should do a garden.

So we bought some seeds and a Topsy Turvy.

Chris started planting the seeds.

But Annie thought he needed help.

The Topsy Turvy is in place.

Poor Poochie

Pre-script: Chris, Charlie and I are happily watching TV on the couch as I write this. Annie is snoring away in the next room. Everyone's fine.

This was a really tough week for the Humphreys family. Chris left for NYC on Sunday morning, so I was a single mom for the whole week. We've been through this before and survived, so I was confident.

Monday started almost like any other day. Charlie woke up with a bit of a cough, but it quickly subsided and he was his normal Poochie self in no time.

Tuesday was pretty much the same. Charlie had a cough again, but he shook it off like a champ.

Wednesday was not the same. Charlie woke up at 4am with a terrible cough that he couldn't shake. His breathing was "crackly", and I started to worry. We were about to go the ER, but when we got in the car, he was fine. I left a message for our vet, and hoped we could be seen as soon as they opened at 8am.

The vet was also concerned about his cough, especially considering he has a grade 3 heart murmur. The vet took a chest x-ray, and they were sent off to a specialist. The specialist thought his lungs looked ok, and he was sent home.

After dinner, Charlie had another coughing attack. This one was much, much worse. I took him straight to the ER where he was put in an oxygen chamber. The ER doctor took more chest x-rays, and it turns out he had fluid in his lungs. They kept him overnight and gave him a strong diuretic. The next morning he was much better, and we had an appointment with a cardiologist.

The ER doctor stressed that dogs with heart conditions should see a cardiologist on a regular basis regardless of symptoms. I wish I had known this before. The last time Charlie saw a cardiologist was 3 years ago.

The cardiologist was great. The bad news is that Charlie's heart condition has progressed. The good news is that he has a great appetite, is still quite spunky, and has oxygenated blood flowing to all of this extremities. The fluid in his lungs can be managed with a daily dose of a diuretic. Charlie is now drinking lots of water and peeing lots of pee. He doesn't seem to mind.

It was a very scary couple of days. Charlie and I are both still recovering from the stress and lack of sleep. Chris arrived home on Friday night after a 3 hour delay in NY. We've settled back into our normal routine.

See this food on my nose? I'm saving it for later!

Kelly and Michelle tear it up at Costco.

Thanks Tiana for the t-shirt!

Celebrating 2 years at Phillipe in West Hollywood.

First Fridays at the Natural History Museum. Nothing like natural history, live music, and a bar.

Topsy Turvy has been purchased. All we need is a seedling and some potting soil.