Dotty had surgery yesterday, to remove a mammary tumor. She wasn’t recovering as well as they wanted so they suggested she spend the night there. I picked her up this morning, but when I saw all of the open blossoms on the birdhouse gourd plants I had to take a pic. This is more blossoms than I’ve seen before on it. We had rain last night so maybe that’s why? These are vigorous vines that have maximized the trellises and twine to pull themselves up.
Here is a close-up of one of the blossoms:
This is the biggest baby so far. It’s growing quite rapidly.
Tao Talk 
Your text reflects the love and sensitivity for animals, for the garden and for the small everyday miracles. It reminds us that even in difficult times, nature can offer us beauty and silent companionship.
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Lincol, thanks much for your insightful comment.
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I sure hope Dotty feels better soon. <3
Those birdhouse gourds are wonderful. Maybe you will get a bunch of them. I’ve grown them a couple of times and they always did well. :)
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Barbara, thank you for your well-wishing for Dotty <3 She's not liking the cone of shame but so far it is still on her.
Did you paint your birdhouse gourds?
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aww Boo for the cone of shame, necessary but not fun. I think I did paint a few of them. It is a long process though. Takes a long time for them to dry out so you can cut them open. :)
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There are a lot of videos on how to dry and make the gourds into birdhouses. usually it will take several months to a year to get them dried out.
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Good to know it will be a long process. An exercise in learning patience :)
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yes, it is. I just checked on my gourd Squidmo that I got last october. It’s been on my kitchen window all this time and it just now is all dried out. It’s very light and the shell is hard now. so 10 months since we got it. They will go through an ugly moldy looking stage, but that’s okay. :)
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All helpful info, Barbara. Is Squidmo named after Quasimodo?
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haha I don’t know. That’s the name of it on the label it came with. I looked it up and it is a new gourd variety grown at this farm I think in California. :)
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Aha! There are so many little gourds on this I have to wonder where I will store them as they dry out. Maybe hang them on the rafters in the garage…
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That sounds like a good place. :)
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Hope Dotty is feeling better soon!
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Dana, the vets called her frankenkitty and that is an accurate description. Poor little cat! Thanks for the well wishes for Dotty <3
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Aww! One of our Bostons had a tumor removed from the back of his hind leg and we called him Frankenbutt!
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LOL on Frankenbutt!
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😆
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Can you dry them out and make ‘shakers’ out of this kind? I love gourds, just as ornaments.
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V, I don’t know yet. Hoping there are enough to experiment with.
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Beautiful pics, Lisa, and hope Dotty is feeling better soon and will make a full recovery!
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Thank you, Christian. She seems to be handling her frankenbelly well. She’s not liking the cone of shame. She is refusing the medications. Wishing my younger son was here. He’s a pro at giving cats pills. I think he has a “shooter” he uses for his cats.
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Keeping fingers crossed!
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Wonderful Lisa, Looks like you will get some gords to make your bird houses!
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Yes it does, Dwight. I’m very geeked about it also. I want to paint them.
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You could hang a six or eight on a tall pole!
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Very cool, Lisa! I hope Dotty is better tonight.
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The first thing she did when she got home was take a walk on her cat wheel. She’s been cooped up in her carrier for 2 days at the vet. She won’t take her pain meds though and that worries me.
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If it’s a pill that can be crushed or a capsule emptied into her food, you can try that. Of mix it with a little sweet treat. Couldn’t hurt. Good luck!
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Thanks for the tips, Nancy. 2 small pills and one syringe (that they guaranteed would be no trouble to squirt into her mouth!) I pulled her food up about an hour ago. Will put all 3 in a tasty bit of food that hopefully she will guzzle in the morning :)
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You’re welcome, Lisa. Good luck; hope it works.
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This morning I mashed the pills as well as I could and mixed them with the syringe liquid, a few drops of fish oil and a few drops of fish sauce and added a spoon of her pate. She ate at least half of it. I call that victory. THANK YOU for the suggestion, Nancy.
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Yay! So glad it worked, Lisa. You’re most welcome!
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❤️
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Sending lots of love to sweet Dotty, Li! Beautiful flower!🌸
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Cindy, thank you very much. The good wishes will help her heal. Yes the blossoms are beautiful and so fragile. Not meant to last more than a day.
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Awww you’re welcome! Sweet thing and they are reminders of exactly that … to appreciate the moments! 🩷🩷🩷
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Hoping Dotty is feeling better now.🐈⬛
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Chris, now that I tricked her into taking at least some of her meds she is able to sleep a little. Poor baby girl :(
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Beautiful… I never did get my gourd seeds in. I may have to send you some stamps… enough to cover postage to send me one… it shouldn’t be too heavy? Maybe one would fit in one of the standard mailing boxes… or I could wait until next year.
(I hope Dotty’s recovery goes well…)
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Jules, I will be happy to send you one. No worries on the stamps. It might be awhile, from what Barbara said about letting them dry out.
Dotty is doing well. MUCH better than when I brought her home on Tuesday. With tips from Nancy and the vet, I’m finally able to get her to take all of her meds. That said, there are things on the horizon for her that I don’t want to go into right now.
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I think the gourd I have now – after I got it I overwintered it on the porch before I even attempted to empty the seeds. So no worries there. It will be a pleasant surprise – thank you.
I did get your PC – Thanks.
I must have missed some posts… Dotty is a four footed family member?
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YW on the PC. Yes, she is one of my 2 4 footed family members, both rescues from the no-kill shelter I used to volunteer at.
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:)
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