We have a mole…a very determined mole…destroying our yard. I am always amazed when creatures like this think it is a good idea to camp out in our back yard. Seriously…does it consider the pack of dogs who want to kill it when it chooses our yard? The mole is literally making tunnels and hills all over. And the Misfits are determined to get him. Between the mole tunnels and the dogs digging more holes to get him…our entire back yard looks like swiss cheese!
Honestly, Bret and I go back and forth between laughing over the situation…our yard is trashed and looks completely ridiculous…and being frustrated…how are we going to fix this?
Maddie digs holes so deep her head fits entirely down in them. Even sweet Sophia, now weighing in at 4 lbs 15 oz. has joined in on the digging…who knew such a tiny dog could dig so fast!
Buster dug and de-grassed an entire corner in a manner of minutes. This mole is smart and fast though…he always gets away. We are going to have look in to some humane ways to encourage him to move on.
The yard drama aside, Manor life never seems to slow down. There has been a bit of construction/renovation work going on, we have a new Misfit (more on that later) and the needs of the Misfits and my businesses keep me busy around the clock.
Miss Sophia is growing like a weed…though still a tiny little thing. The best news is that her challenges with pooping have all but disappeared…she poops like a rock star now….a great relief because the vet suspected some of her issues were internal nerve/colon issues. Clearly her colon issues have resolved themselves as she has grown. We are also managing to keep her infection free despite having no separation between her anus and her vagina…this is no small feet…the medical management of keeping her infection free requires constant hygiene care. I take her urine in every couple weeks to test for white blood cells to make sure we are staying ahead of any percolating infections. Tomorrow we head to Louisville for another consultation with her surgeon. We are trying to put off surgery as long as we can (hopefully until she is full grown). The surgery will create separation between her vagina and anus. Sophia is such an incredible blessing to our lives. She has become Trudy’s wrestling and snuggling buddy. None of the other Misfits will play with Trudy (Trudy is a little crazy and she freaks the other dogs out). But Sophia loves Trudy’s brand of crazy and its a beautiful thing to see Trudy wrestle and play like a normal dog.
Like everyone else…we are certainly noticing the impact of inflation and product shortages here at the Manor. Items I purchase to run my shop have been out of stock for months…not even available for back order. I have had to be creative and flexible to figure out different ways to do things for now. I also keep really close tabs on our vet bills, pet food costs, meds & supplements, etc. And they are going up fast. We have also started seeing supply issues…particularly for certain kinds of food and piddle pads. We order a lot of our items through Chewy…this month’s piddle pad order was half what we normally get…out of stocks. When you have a bunch of senior dogs…piddle pads are not luxury…they are a necessity. Since Covid lockdowns in 2020 we have stayed stocked up on just about everything we use here so we are very grateful to be ahead of out of stocks for now. I am fortunate that I do very little driving so rising gas prices are not a big hit for us but like everyone else it is unsettling to see prices for food and every day items go up so fast.
Don’t forget about us this holiday season if you are shopping for dog loving friends and family. Our Misfit Manor Shop has ornaments and wall decor that make perfect gifts for dog lovers. You can also support the Misfits with a gift from their Amazon Wish List and their GoFundMe for vet bills.
Signing off on this beautiful fall evening in Kentucky,
Nancy & The Misfits