On the heels of losing Marco Polo, I discovered a small wound and lump on the face of one of his sisters, Mins, over the weekend. I rushed her to the vet yesterday, expecting the worst. But Dr. Mike said that although there could be a tumor also, it looks like just an abscessed upper tooth. He kept her overnight and is planning to do the surgery today. That's great because I am not up for any more bad news.
Jim, I don't think I've eaten blue gills since I was a kid. My dad would take the family fishing in our row small boat. I don't know that he cared about catching fish, I think he just wanted to get away from work (his business was right next to our house) and most people. Since neither Mom nor my sister would learn, he taught me how to bait hooks with nightcrawlers. Lucky me! When any of us landed fish, it was usually blue gills, crappies and bullheads.
The recent warm weather is enticing my perennials to grow, including one of my favorite earlier bloomers, Siberian Squill. Although it's not native to the Midwest, Minnesota Wildflowers describes it as, "very hardy and cold tolerant, and is left untouched by critters from voles to deer." So far, chickens, ducks and geese are also leaving the tiny blue flowers alone!