Weekend Reflections

Even though there were no destination nursery trips or mouth watering restaurant stops on the agenda this weekend, the good times continued to roll.

It was a weekend for birthdays.

Saturday gifted us with some much needed rain.

Fortunately the skies cleared in time for a celebration.

Prime rib was grilled to perfection by a grill master.

Congratulations to two fine young Providence College graduates!  Trust me, the best is yet to come. 

Today it was back to the garden.  Most of my containers are now planted-a huge accomplishment for me this early in the season.  I had hoped to get back to the mulch pile because if it's not mulched, it's not finished but that didn't happen.  So I guess I'm not finished.  But I'm never finished.

The patio is starting to get cleaned up and come together.  I'll still continue to plant shop-an ongoing activity for me-annuals to tuck into the borders and hopefully a few small shrubs and perennials with good foliage interest if I can find them.

Tonight it's time to kick back, reflect on and toast another fabulous weekend!

Four Legged Wellness

Last week Nick visited his holistic vet for a semi monthly acupuncture and chiropractic treatment.  As a younger dog, Nick was exuberantly athletic.  Stairs were meant to be taken at full tilt, the last two or three meant to be skipped.  As a puppy he would ignore the three steps to the yard altogether and just sail off the screen porch onto the grass.  No bed was too high.  No walk was too long.  One time I even caught him walking around on the kitchen counter.  And like so many athletes before him, every so often he would injure his back (I know his pain).  Usually after a day or two of limited activity and some baby aspirin he would be back to his usual tricks.  A few times he required a trip to the vet and prescription medication.

A little over a year ago I noticed Nick seemed to be losing strength in his hind end.  He was reluctant to go up or down the stairs and sometimes had to be carried.  He stopped jumping on the bed.  At a few months shy of eleven, he certainly wasn't a spring chicken but otherwise he was in fantastic shape and still enjoyed patrolling his yard and taking long walks.  I hated to think he might become disabled or prematurely limited in any way.

I had heard about veterinary chiropractic and decided to do some research.  My search led me to Dr. Amy Matthews at Frontier Medicine, a holistic veterinary practice located in East Granby, CT.  Dr. Amy and her staff are calm, caring and knowledgeable.  Even I relax in that office.  Since Nick has begun receiving regular treatments of accupuncture and chiropractic he seems to have regained some strength in his back legs.  Occasionally I even find him asleep in my bed on the second floor after leaving him on the first floor-not at all unusual when he was younger but almost unheard of now.  Nick and I highly recommend Dr. Amy to anyone looking for a non traditional solution to treat a chronic or elusive veterinary problem.