What a weekend

Yuck - can I get a do-over on this past weekend?
Saturday, we took Fionna back to the vet because she still wasn't eating on her own. The vet sent us over to a facility on the east side that does ultrasounds and MRI's for animals. The ultrasound confirmed what J and I pretty much knew (but the vet couldn't figure out) - she swallowed some string, and it was messing with her GI tract. There was no UTI, but definitely inflammation. The string had worn through the lining of her small intestines, but not all the way through to her gut, so they had to remove 1/3 of her intestines because of the damage. As of today, she is resting comfortably, running a tiny fever, and actually EATING, so I get to pick her up tonight. I know she will be very glad to be home. She got codeine AND Valium (lucky girl), so hopefully that mitigates some of the stress that she has been through the past few weeks.
We are irritated with the vet for not sending us for the ultrasound a week ago. We suggested numerous times that it could be she swallowed something, especially since we just got new carpet. I think the fact that she had no abdominal pain threw them off. I'm experiencing a little deja vu on that score - the same thing happened with my gall bladder episode. I had no abdominal pain, but excruciating back pain, and it took an ultrasound for the doctors to figure out what was wrong with me. I was lucky that the ER doctor had a "hunch", but I had also been in pain for about a week and unable to eat before anybody figured it out. My poor baby.
We did manage to get some work done over the weekend. J's parents are visiting this coming weekend, and we didn't get as much done on the guest bed as I would have liked, but it is liveable. They have a bed to sleep in, and an empty closet to hang up their clothes, and a small bookshelf to store personal items. J got the stairs painted - we will check and see if it requires a second coat. Then we'll do some touch-ups with the polyurethane on the treads and be done! While he was working on the stairs, I tackled the weeds in the front garden. Working with this soil is heavenly - no clay or rocks to contend with. The weeds just slipped out of the ground. I also explored the mass of ivy on the pathway and shaved it down to a more manageable level with the weed whacker. I definitely need to remove it and replace it with something less tangled and invasive. But that is a project for another weekend, once I have a plan of action. One of my ideas is to put an herb garden out there, since the front gets full sun.
I also baked some sourdough from the starter I began about a week and a half ago. Unfortunately, I baked it too long, and ended up with some extremely crusty loaves! I also should have put the dough in loaf pans, to give them some structure to rise up instead of out. Lesson learned. It did taste great with the daube provencale I whipped up Saturday night, almost like rye bread.
I need to swing by the visitor's center to snag some brochures for local events and attractions. The O'Donnells will arrive Thursday afternoon, so they need stuff to do on Friday while we are both at work. So far, we have Astoria and maybe a visit to Saturday Market on the docket for this weekend. It will be nice to see them, and I can't wait to show them the house. I just wish the weather was going to be nicer for their visit (although they may want some rain at this point!).

On the knitting front, I finished another pair of socks. I knit the Inside Out pattern, this time for myself, with some Lorna's Laces DK yarn in a yummy wool/silk blend. Mmmm, so soft on my feet. I've also recommitted myself to Mariah. I just finished the first sleeve last night, and have started on the second sleeve. I hope that I can get that sleeve wrapped up in the next week or so and join all the parts together. Luckily it stays fairly cool in this part of the world, so I should be able to get some wear out of my sweater before summer kicks in.

And, I'm not sure if this is a tragedy or a blessing for my wallet, but I just figured out that I am mildly allergic to cashmere. I've set all my sweaters aside, so I don't accidentally put them on one morning and suffer the consequences for the rest of the day. My scalp breaks out in painful bumps and I'm itchy and uncomfortable when I try wearing any cashmere item. But it's so soft! Oh well, I'm sure my bank account thanks me. At least I don't have the same reaction with wool!