Shorty Update

Shorty is still trying to get his new sisters to play.  Julienne still doesn't want to give him the time of day but Missy will sometimes  play with him.  (Missy always did think of herself as more of a dog than a cat.)  They don't cuddle - he likes to bark at her too much for that - but she will get into slapping matches with him.  Since she doesn't have claws, it's all in fun.  And occasionally they get distracted by something and forget to act like they don't like each other.

But his very best buddy is Randy.  If Randy sits down, before he gets all the way in the chair, Shorty is on his lap.  And Shorty wants to go everywhere with him.  That doesn't mean Shorty is good on walks - he still likes to make the decisions too much - but he is learning.

One Year Ago: The Wizard of Oz - California style!

Two Years Ago: Volcanos and Petroglyphs of Albuquerque

Three Years Ago: San Diego Wild Animal Park

Is it possible to overdose on oysters?

Captain Woody's restaurant is just down the road from our RV park, and tonight they celebrated the start of tourist season with a big ol' Oyster Roast.  (They don't really roast the oysters, they steam them, but "Oyster Steam" doesn't sounds as good.)  I learned that steaming is a quick way to kill the oysters, making it easier to open the shell while leaving the oyster meat raw.  That bit about being "easier to open" is important, because after you hand over $10, they give you a bucket full of oysters, all of which are still snug in their shells.  Well, we've had a little experience at shucking oysters.  The first time was in 2010 in Tillamook, but just a few days ago we bought some fresh oysters in Bluffton, so we were in good practice. But oysters don't like to be opened and they make it as difficult as possible.  And even after they are steamed, they don't just pop open.  You still need an oyster knife, some strong wrist muscles and a little patience to get the job done.  But oh, when the shell gives a little and you know that oyster is just about yours, what a wonderful feeling!

Randy's Birthday or "How to spend a day enjoying local food"

Today was Randy’s birthday and I asked him how he wanted to spend it.  His culinary instincts came to the fore, so today was all about food!

For breakfast I cooked bacon, eggs and toast, and although I don’t usually cook, it turned out OK.  Then we went to Le Cookery to see if they have anything we need.  Randy is always looking for useful kitchen utensils that will fit into the RV.  Today we didn’t find anything for the kitchen, but I may have found a new tea.  

For lunch we went back to the Bluffton Oyster Restaurant for more raw oysters; May River oysters are the best!  At Scott’s Meat Market we bought some really fresh beef and seafood. 

Back at the RV park we got a few things done, and eventually it was time for dinner.  We went to the Roastfish and Cornbread restaurant, which is pretty well-known on the Island.  Seafood is their claim to fame so we ordered an appetizer of popcorn shrimp and the Port Royal Platter.  The Platter comes with Tilapia, oysters, shrimp, scallops and crab cakes, with a side of greens.  All the seafood was lightly breaded and fried, but the breading was well done and did not overpower the seafood.  It was all good, the crab cakes were great, and the fried oysters tasted almost like morel mushrooms!  They are also famous for their sweet potato cornbread; it did have good flavor, but it was a bit too dry.  Also, for $21.95 we thought perhaps the dinner should be served on more dishes and less paper cups.  

But all in all it was enjoyable, and we will probably go back and try some of their roasted dishes.  

Every birthday needs cake, so on the way home we stopped at The Fresh Market, a really nice specialty store.  There we got some great cake - not better than Randy could bake, but certainly better than I could.  Chocolate is a great way to end a birthday . . . or any day! 

RVing in Hilton Head Island

We haven't visited much of South Carolina yet but here on Hilton Head Island, the land retains much of its natural beauty.  The culture here is very 'green', and you won't see any billboards or flashy signs.  This picture could be a street anywhere on the island, although it's someplace very specific:

Another view gives a better hint of where it is:

That's right - this is the RV park where we are staying. We have been in some other beautiful RV parks but this one stands out as the greenest.  The laws here protect trees to the extent that now it's almost impossible to cut any down.  That probably drives the business owners crazy, but it does preserve the outdoors for everyone else.  There is another RV parked next to us but the trees and foliage create a natural screen.  It is practically like camping in the woods. . .

but just around the corner are full amenities:  paved bike paths, a big clubhouse, a hot tub and a gorgeous pool, which will open as soon a it warms up a bit.

There is so much to be explored in the area, just as soon as it warms up a bit.  There is a theme there - it needs to WARM UP.  I am very grateful to be out of the snow and sleet of the Midwest, but I am now an official "Snow Bird" because I think temperatures in the 40's are practically uncivilized, even if the sun is shining.  Today I was wearing the jacket I bought for Alaska, plus my headscarf and gloves.  They tell me that soon I will be wishing for the cool weather to return and I believe them, but it doesn't keep me warm now.  Oh, well, there are some sweet compensations, like going to Gillan's Fresh Seafood and Oyster Bar for a dozen oysters.  I can't believe how much I used to hate oysters and how much I love them now.  They are still the ugliest food I've ever seen, but that's just too bad - pass me the horseradish and cocktail sauce!  

Poor me, with just leftovers for dinner

We had leftovers for dinner tonight.  Of course, in Randy's house that means prime rib, garden green beans and mashed sweet potatoes.  What a life!

A very long, bad night that ended OK

Monday evening started normal.  We put the dogs into their sleeping kennels around 9pm because that is as late as Julienne is willing to wait for her evening treat, then watched TV.  Around 11:30 Randy went into the bedroom to unmake the bed, and suddenly called out to me.  He had Julienne's kennel on the bed and was trying to get her out of it because she was having a very bad seizure.  Her little body was so stiff that he quickly realized he needed to take the top off the kennel to get to her.  She had vomited all over and was in a full-body seizure, with her back fully arched, her legs out stiff and scrambling, and her head pulled back as far as it would go.

Julienne started having seizures in Alaska, shortly after snacking out of the litter box.  On that night she had seizures for about 30 minutes.  Since then she has occasionally started to have a seizure, but we have always been able to get to her just as it starts.  We found that if we turn off all the lights and TV and Randy holds her quietly in the dark, it doesn't get out of hand.

But this one got out of hand before we knew about it.  We tried the usual techniques but although the seizure stopped, about 1 minute later she went right into another one, and it just kept happening.  Randy held her while I looked up treatments on the internet.  I learned these are called "cluster" seizures and I only found 2 ideas for treatment - cool washcloths to reduce the dangerous increase in body heat, and Valium suppositories to stop the muscle spasms.  Since we don't have Valium, I started putting wet washcloths on her back and on her little head.  We kept thinking the worst was over, and then it would start again.  She was never panicky or angry - she was just waiting for it to stop.  We don't know any vets here and did not know where to take her after midnight.  Randy kept her from hurting herself during the seizure, and sweet-talking and cuddling her afterwards.  When she seized, her back legs would scramble wildly and she would have scratched herself badly if it wasn't for Randy.  He got scratched a good bit, but she didn't.  I decided to give her some Rescue Remedy that I got from Heather in Arizona.  It's not specifically for seizures, it's just supposed to calm down a pet, but I was out of ideas.  I'm not sure if the seizures were ready to stop or if that helped, but about 20 minutes later the seizures slowed down to about every 5 minutes.  By then she was trying to sleep between the seizures.  So we took her to bed with us, and she settled down immediately and went to sleep.  The poor little girl was so tired and no wonder - we realized this had been going on for 3 hours!  We didn't get much sleep because, although she was snuggled in next to us and we would have woken up instantly if she had jerked even a little, we kept checking her all night.

The next morning Julienne was relaxed, happy and ready to go!  I cannot say the same for us - we were so tired.  I took her to the vet to get a complete checkup.  She got a clean bill of health and the vet agrees that she probably has epilepsy.  The problem with Valium in any form is that it doesn't keep well, and since Julienne has had 2 bad seizures in 3 years, it probably is not the answer.  There are anti-seizure medicines but they all have side-effects, especially to the liver.  The vet gave me literature on the medications so we can decide what we want to do, and an emergency number to call if we get another night like that.  May we NEVER have another night like that!

But for now, all is well, thank God!

Really Good Eating on Hilton Head Island

Oh, dear...we have been at Hilton Head Island for over a week and I haven’t written anything.  The problem is that I’ve been cleaning, goofing off, organizing, eating, working and goofing off some more (when in doubt, tell the truth).  I have to start before I get too far behind and forget everything, so I’m going to break the events down into sections.  The first section will be - - - FOOD!   Since I can suddenly really taste food, I'm having a pretty good time.  

When you get to Hilton Head Island, find the Sea Shack for lunch or dinner.  Finding the place is the hard part - our GPS took us to the wrong location, and when we asked directions, they also sent us to the wrong place.  But eventually Randy found it.  We ordered the fried calamari appetizer and blackened Mahi Mahi.  That calamari was excellent.  This was the only time I’ve had calamari that rivals the calamari at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville.  I had given up on finding anything that good, but here it was!  For dinner we shared the Mahi Mahi with slaw, fries and hush puppies.  I had also given up on finding good hush puppies, but here they were!  It was worth the trouble it took to find this place and I marked it on our GPS because we will definitely be back.  My thanks go out to the guest in the office who suggested this one, because we probably would not have found it on our own.

One Hot Mama - there was a big line when we went there but we decided to wait it out.  We met Neal and his buddy in line.  Neal had a coupon book for some of the local restaurants and since he was scheduled to leave the island soon, he let us use it to get a break on our meal, then gave it to us.  They’ve been at this restaurant before and said it would be worth the wait.  And it was!  The pulled pork was luscious, and when you add the cheese grits, custom-made omelets, biscuits and gravy, sausage links, scrambled eggs, bacon, beans and mini cinnamon rolls - well, we certainly got our fill.  And even better, we enjoyed every bit of it.  The complementary mimosa just topped it off! 

The Black Marlin - excellent!  I ordered the crab cake sandwich and Randy ordered the shrimp burger, both with sweet potato fries, and we shared.  I ate some of the crab cake sandwich first and decided it had to be the best, even before I tasted the other one.  And then I tasted the shrimp burger and had to change my decision - I had no idea that shrimp burgers could be that good!  

At Frankie Bones I ordered Fettucini Alfredo with blackened salmon and Randy got the roast french dip with skinny fries.  It was so good.  Everything.  My meal was excellent and his was even better.  To top it off we ordered the carrot cake, but unfortunately that was not on the same level.  I would go back for the meal, but not the dessert.  That’s OK, I don’t need dessert anyway!