I am so sorry for the loss of your kitty, and so sorry about the loss of your other fur friends recently too. I once lost 2 in one week (one to cancer, another to old age related things) and it was very painful to lose two friends in such close succession. I figured they needed to be together... My senior dog just passed in early April, and like Weed said, it is devastating. I feel for you and understand where you are. Many hugs to you. Q

I have never been to this forum before, I usually hang out in the garden areas but I needed to get some relief this morning. This post has helped me just to break down and let all that 'strength' and pain go. I do not wish to take away from the purpose of this thread but I would like to share my story with someone. It has been about a month or a little more since we lost Fred; Fred was a beagle that we adopted from a couple who left him in a crate almost 24/7; he was about 2 years old when he was sent to us.... that was 15 years ago. In that time , I have lost my two shepherd mix girls at 15 and 14 years old.... I have taken in three more pups as they passed my way in need... but Fred was special. Independent, never needing attention and so appreciative when he got it. About 6 months ago , he went blind and my husband thought it was best to help him cross over, I disagreed. I told him that if that were the case, I would know but Fred seemed to be adjusting well and he did...... most times, you could not tell he was blind to watch him. Physically , he was still pretty active, his teeth were getting pretty bad but the vet said none were in need of removal YET.... Long story short, I made the decision that the time had truly come about a month ago because it seemed that everything that moved began to startle him and he seemed to be in constant fear and that was not the purpose of adopting him; it was to give him love, freedom and a carefree life......he had that. That morning, I told him how much I loved him and we spent an hour or more just cuddling...I explained that I was ready to let him go and I knew he was ready ..... I had contacted my vet and we were to be there at 3 pm; at 1 pm, I went to get him and spend just a few more special moments and I found him in his bed; he had taken the journey on his own after receiving my permission to give up..... he now sleeps under a newly planted magnolia (in his honor) with a beautiful marble head stone that has his picture on it....and I spend some very nice quiet times there just as we did together for so many years..... Thank you all for letting me share this here and please know that your thread has helped me get through yet another day without Fred...

Happy Canada Day to you, too. And Happy 4th to all us in the US. Beverly

Kim, 25 years ago, I tested allergic to zucchini. The Dr was surprised because he said it was an uncommon allergy. He asked how I fixed them. I said, rolled in egg and flour and fried or made into zucchini bread--with egg, flour and milk. He had already told me I was allergic to eggs, flour and milk so said my body decided zucchini was quilty by association. It was not the permanent type of allergy. I had to totally eliminate those foods for two years--that was HARD--and then return one at a time. I can now eat them again, but I don't eat any of them every single day like I did for years. The weather forcast showed a probablilty of us getting 2-3 inches last night. I slept late this morning, hearing nothing overnight so I was surprised to see 2.2 inches in the gauge this morning. Yay! I am so glad because while dad was in the hospital over the weekend--48 hours--we stayed with mother because she is disabled and cannot stay alone--our water was running on three 50 ft soaker hoses in the garden. Our water bill is going to be outrageous! So we won't water anything until after the 15th when the meter gets read. There are enough buckets, tubs, and barrels under the eaves of the house and greenhouse to take care of the container plants until then. We have had a very cool summer so far. 97 was the highest temp so far and that was just one day. We have had more nights in the 60s this summer than in the 70s and none in the 80s. We've had good rain too. 6 inches in June, 3 in July and Now 2.5 in August. But all the rain and cool has been hard on my tomatoes. Every plant has a fungus disease. Early Blight I think. 3 have died; all are affected. Leaf footed bugs are also in good supply this year and doing damage, sucking juice out of the tomatoes. But we have had more squash and cucumbers than we can eat. I planted too many and they have just kept producing with no sign of SVB and only a very few squash bugs. I don't know if I will plant a fall garden. Dad has sold his ranch and we are going to be super busy helping him get ready to move. (Anybody know of a good assisted living place in Tulsa?) Besides now that we plant cool weather greens in the greenhouse in October to eat on all winter there isn't as much need to plant them in the garden. Plus, I learned several years ago that since I take thyroid medicine I shouldn't eat turnip and mustard greens every..single...day...for 6 weeks as they suppress thyroid function and make me tired and when the Dr increases the dosage and I quit eating them after a while I get too hyper and she has to decrease the dose again. "Be consistent!" she said. The Kentucky Red cowpeas I got from George several years ago are in full production. The nasty Japanese Beetles don't like them, preferring the Kentucky Wonder pole beans. Next year I will plant more KR and fewer KW. The 8 ft fence we built three years ago is still keeping the deer away from the okra and sweet potatoes and they are doing very well. UNfortunately the squirrels are still working the fruit. They didn't bother the Hosui Asian pears at all. I guess because they are so brown when ripe, they didn't know they were ripe. But they took half of the American pears and probably a third of the Yellow Delicious apples before they got fully ripe. So we picked them early, froze, dried and juiced some and saved a few to eat. And now to bed. Tomorrow we will pick okra and cherry tomatoes to dry and then attack the grass and weeds in the garden with a weedeater.