Dog Brings Possom Into The House

My dog, Carmella is the ultimate exterminator. She catches squirrels, bugs, birds, and tonight when I let her outside in the backyard and left the door open for a few minutes I heard her come in and go back out again. I decided to go back and close the door because it was getting cold in the house. The light in that room was off but I saw something on the floor that looked at first like a towel. Thinking that Carmella had taken something out of the laundry hamper I turned on the light and walked over to pick it up when I saw that it was not a towel at all but instead it had a snout, eyes, ears, and a tail! Upon close inspection I saw that it was a Possom. Its tail had a bit of blood on it and so I looked carefully to see if it was dead or just pretending to be.

It was breathing, so I knew it must be playing dead, and as I stood there a little while its eyes began to follow me and it moved its ears slightly. This is the second one Carmella has caught and tried to bring me. There was another about one year ago that she'd dropped on the back porch.

Tomorrow I finally have someone coming to address the squirrels in my sophets that have been chewing ravenously at the wood interior, so I guess this is the best time to have found this Possom. Maybe he can take it to a rehabber on his way out tomorrow and it can be re-located somewhere way out in the country.

I scooped it into Carmella's old carrier that she's grown out of, keeping my hands far away from its mouth and closed the latch on the gate as quickly as possible. It looked at me warily, opening its mouth slightly. It has a set of needle-sharp teeth, so I didn't want to leave it outside where Carmella or another dog or person could potentially get bitten, or for it to make its nest and start breeding in my attic.

It will be interesting to see what shows up over the next few days when the Atlanta Squirrel Removal company starts their trapping. I wonder whether I got the only one tonight or whether there are more Possoms in or around the house in hiding.

Carmella Comes Home!

 Carmella is home and feeling much better. Her leg is purple but the swelling is not near as bad as before. It looks as though the snake venom went all the way up her thigh to her stomach.

 She still has loose stools but is eating again and drinking plenty of water, and she has much more energy although actually seems calmer than she usually is, content to lounge around on my bed.  She has jumped up to listen to something outside the window once or twice but doesn't seem on pins and needles at every sound as she usually is.

 She spent some time in the kitchen earlier this evening chewing on a bone and I can tell that she knows the worst is over. The purple bandage on her right front leg is where they had the IV. That bandage can come off tomorrow.

I don't know how long it will take for all thr bruising to go away, but the vet wants to check her again in a week.

I noticed that a vein or artery is showing very dark through her skin on her inner thigh. It's visible in the picture above.

The company that was supposed to come out yesterday to look for the snakes is coming on Monday instead because the man who was assigned got tied up removing bats from a elderly woman's house on Thursday. I had hoped he could have the nesting areas identified before Carmella came home. So far I have not seen any when I've looked around myelf but they could be somewhere I can't see like the big burrow underneath the width of the back porch that some other animal made. Just in case, I am keeping a close eye on her and taking her out on the leash until the guy comes to inspect.

 Carmella will be on 4 medications every 12 hours for awhile;
* Prednisone (20mgs)

* Ciprofloxacin (250 mgs.; 1/2 tablet (125mg. every 12 hours)

* Cephalexin (500 mgs.; 2 Tablets every 12 hours)

*  Metronidazole (500 mgs. every 12 hours)

Eek! After the emergency visit Monday night and treatment overnight for 3 days at her regular vet's, the bill is somewhere around $1,500 already. I was just beginning to make a dent in her previous medical bills when this emergency happened.

If you would like to help her there are several ways to do that;

* Purchase one of the ad spots through Scratchback on my blog in the sidebar

* Use the Donate To Carmella button at the top; donate via Paypal

* Purchase Jewelry from Giftbearer

* Purchase jewelry supplies/craft supplies from  GiftbearerSupply

The holidays are coming up and I have lots of variety in both Etsy online shops to choose from be it a piece of finished jewelry or something to help you create finished jewelry or other crafts. I make a point of offering alot of one of a kind and limited stock items.

I found this video on YouTube that might be helpful to those of you who have animals. It is the season for these venomous snakes to be restless and with the weather changing these seem to be more on edge and more likely to bite.

The dog in the first video was bitten by a rattlesnake, not a copperhead, but the clip is interesting also because apparently someone has developed a vaccine to help protect dogs from these bites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs79gprUiao

The dogs n these videos below were bitten by a copperheads;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XxKQpiY8VQ

http://www.youtube.com/user/AnimalMedicalHosp?blend=14&ob=5#p/u/0/oHw2FtVxGYg

There is a product I found out about that is supposed to repel snakes from your yard called Snake Away;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1kV6RY5HSw&feature=related

Here's another;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CDGhgkGSU4&feature=related

I don't know whether these work or not but they might.

Some people claim that moth balls repel snakes but I can't stand the smell of moth balls!

I found this video on snake repellents which says the strong smell in some of these confuses the snakes;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O9AU_fjpsg&feature=related

http://www.foxlabs.com/ makes one that is supposed to be eco-friendly and safe for humans and pets.


Carmella has been sleeping soundly tonight while I've been on the computer and researching on Youtube.

I'll continue to keep you posted on her recovery.

Carmella's Snake Bite Update

One of the vet techs at Dr. Norwood's office called me back to let me know that Carmella is doing better today. She said she was glad to see her alive when she came into work today and that it was a good thing that the bites were as far as possible from her heart. She has much more energy today and was able to get up to go to the bathroom outside.

Her inner thigh is all black because of bruising but so far no flesh has fallen off.  The swelling has gone down almost to normal after the Prednisone they gave her.

She is not eating though and has diarrhea so they are going to try to feed her by hand with some special high nutrient food. They think maybe the poison from the snakes could be affecting her digestive tract.

This dog truly has nine lives!

Tomorrow a company called Rid-a-Critter  which offers a free assessment is sending out somebody to look at the yard and see if they can find any snakes or identify what holes they might be using. The woman on the phone told me that this time of year they may not even stay in dens if they do have them and they are on the move so there's no guarantee they'll still be here when they look and they might have just been passing through. I hope there is something they can do which will prevent them from coming into the yard so Carmella will be safe and it won't happen again. Maybe they can also address my squirrel problem. They have been gnawing the wood near the roof of my house at odd hours of the morning and night.

I need to make alot more sales this month because although the pet insurance should cover a good bit of the recent vet bills it could take awhile to be reimbursed and it doesn't cover it all.

Currently I'm working on a new Budding Vine bracelet and a few other pieces but with all the stuff related to this emergency that needs doing I literally haven't had time to work on much.

I miss Carmella and look forward to when she comes home; if all goes well, before the weekend.

Carmella is Bitten by Nest of Copperheads

Monday night I let Carmella out in the back yard as I usually do before turning in for the night so that she could go to the bathroom. She was out there for about 15 minutes and had not come back to the door yet, so I called her to see if she was finished. She came to the back door a little more slowly than usual. Anybody who knows Carmella knows she never does anything slowly, and usually runs back inside at top speed.

As she entered the livingroom I noticed she was limping and upon closer inspection I saw that her back leg was very swollen, so much that the dewclaw on that leg stuck out. Her leg looked blown up like a balloon animal. At first I thought she had broken it, but then I saw two little puncture marks starting to bleed a few inches above the paw on the side of her leg and that's when I realized it must have been a snake bite.

Within about 10 minutes her paw was also bleeding. It was about 11:00 PM and Carmella's regular vet's office was closed. The only option was to take her to the one emergency vet in Dekalb County, and since I don't have a car and couldn't think of anybody to call at that late hour, I called the emergency clinic to confirm that I should bring her in, then called a taxi. I never know how long it will take to get a taxi late at night but  think the fact that it was a week day worked to my advantage. Had it been on the weekend it might have taken alot longer for one to arrive.

Even so, it probably took about a half-hour  and by that time Carmella was bleeding all over the kitchen floor and was starting to pant and whimper. What was coming out was more plasma than blood and it was fairly sticky. I was worried that she might collapse before a cab showed up so I called the emergency clinic back to see if they knew of any vet that made house-calls just in case things got critical and we didn't have time to get there.

The woman on the phone did locate the name of one vet but she wasn't sure if she worked late at night or not. I was hoping I wouldn't need to use that option and that we'd get to the clinic in time.

Carmella's leg was so painful I couldn't even wrap it in a T-shirt to keep dirt out of the wound.

We arrived at the emergency clinic and it seemed surprisingly quiet. There was just one dog in there other than Carmella, but it was a pretty lengthy process and after I'd filled out the paperwork Carmella and I waited for some time in a room before we finally saw the vet. Carmella was still in alot of pain and I finally had to go find someone to ask that they give her something for that. All I could think of was how the venom was still surging through her body out of control.

I think it took about 2 hours before she got any treatment after they'd prepared 3 different written quotes. Then they took her in the back area to clean the wounds, check to see how quickly her blood was clotting, give her pain medication, and some fluids under her skin.

She started whimpering when they shaved that hair on the leg where she had been bitten. The vet explained that it looked as though she had multiple bites between her toes as well as on her leg; some on both sides of the leg, and that most likely she had stepped in a nest of baby Copperheads because this is the time of year for them, and the babies tend to release all their venom unlike adults that only release a controlled amount. She said for that reason being bitten by baby snakes was worse.

Apparently there had been quite a few cases coming into the emergency clinic recently. Carmella fared better than smaller dogs because of the ratio of body weight to venom even though she probably had alot of venom in her. Even so, that was not a huge consolation because the full extent of the venom's effects would not be known until after a few days had passed. Among the risks are possible necrosis (tissue death), clotting problems, need for plasma transfusions, loss of function in the area bitten, and a whole host of other effects.

Neither human nor animal emergency departments use anti-venom for Copperheads much anymore because the side effects are almost worse than the venom. Pretty much all they can do is supportive care and hope for the best. There is no real way to prevent the effects of the venom and each dog reacts differently. Some recover completely without any necrosis, whereas others have some scarring, and still others may be severely impacted with big chunks of flesh falling off and need skin grafts to repair the damage.

The emergency clinic closes at 8:00 AM and since I knew we would need to go to Carmella's regular vet in the morning I figured it wasn't worth taking a cab back home and coming back at 8:00 to pivk her up and home again in another cab, as the faire was about $22.00 each way! I had this vet at the emergency clinic do what she could to get Carmella through the night safely and then planned to get a few hours of sleep before heading off to Dr. Norwood's office in the morning. Carmella was still in pain after she'd been given some medication and we got back home around 4 AM. She didn't want to lie down and was whimpering for the rest of the night, but finally I think we both got about 2 hours of sleep before Dr. Norwood's office opened.

When I woke up and it was quiet I tiptoed to the kitchen to check on her and make sure she was still breathing. She was but she seemed to be breathing more shallowly than usual. Knowing that somehow I was going to have to get her back into a taxi to go the the vet I slowly woke her although I hated to do that since while asleep was the only time she was not in pain. I got her to reluctantly drink a little yogurt juice (one of her favorite treats), and got the leash to try to give her time to go to the bathroom. Luckily she did get up and hobbled on three legs outside with me, peed, and came back inside. I took her out the front because I was pretty sure there wouldn't be any snakes out there near the driveway.

When I put her back inside I called the taxi and since it would be 15 minutes or so before we would be picked up I took a stick and went out the back way by myself to see if I could find where the snakes were living or whether I could find any dead snakes. I looked at nearly every corner of the yard except a pile of sticks and the outer edge near the fence on the opposite side, but saw no trace of them. Knowing Carmella I wouldn't be surprised if she ate them after they bit her. She has a strong predatory instinct and I have seen her kill small animals in about two bites and then quickly wolf them down before anyone could get them away from her; even squirrels, birds, and possoms.

I may need to find an expert to locate the den and remove them if she did not kill/eat them because I'm concerned it might happen again. It's worrisome that they may not be gone. There are a few holes in the yard; one big one under the house, and smaller ones in a few other areas of the yard where they could be hiding.

When we arrived at Dr. Norwood's office I couldn't get her to get out of the car, so the male vet tech who works there had to come out and carry her into the office. We went into a room right away and it wasn't long before several staff were in there and then Dr. Norwood came in to take a look at her.

He was very concerned; more so even than the emergency vet, and he said he thought it would be a good idea to hospitalize her and treat her aggressively with intrvenous fluids, antibotics, and prednisone. I'm not a big fan of prednisone but probably short-term it won't do Carmella any harm and it might get the swelling down more quickly. The swelling in her leg really looks extreme. If it got any worse I'd worry it would burst, and that wouldn't be good at all.

Dr. Norwood reiterated what the other vet had said about what could happen over the next few days and said that if she ends up needing a plasma transfusion they will have to take her to the emergency clinic at night to have that done because his clinic doesn't generally keep plasma on hand. It's a small office and doesn't have as many medical supplies as the larger vet's offices in town. I also recommended calling Dr. Muller at Briarcliff Animal Clinic if that ended up being necessary. That way maybe they could give or sell Dr. Norwood  the plasma to take back to his office and Carmella wouldn't have to get in and out of a car again.

I'm hoping that there won't be any complications or permanent tissue damage and that she will start healing now that she is under 24 hour care.

If everything goes well she should be ready to come home on Friday, and they'll send her home with some oral medications to continue here.

The house feels empty without Carmella, my little buddy. I'm not getting much sleep tonight. Hopefully I'll have some news tomorrow about how she's doing. To keep myself occupied I created a treasury list on snakes. Craftcult doesn't seem to be working to post it here directly, so here's a link; http://www.etsy.com/treasury/Mzg1NXw3MTYyNTM2MzY/if-it-was-a-snake-it-would-have-bit-you

Carmella Gets Neurological Referral

Today the phone rang. It was Jocelyn from Dr. Norwood's office calling to let me know the paperwork had been completed for Carmella's referral to Ga. Veterinary Specialists. It had been a long time coming and I was relieved that finally we would get to the bottom of the myelin damage causing her constant jerking and atrophy of the leg.

As it turned out transportation was really the biggest barrier because I had only two people I could ask and finances and health problems were preventing one of them from driving more than two trips, and the other one's job prevents her from going until later in the day, and even then only on Thursday and Fridays because she takes work home with her three of 5 days every week.

The policies dictating when GVS does certain things narrowed it down even further, but finally after several hours of vascillation and negotiation we came up with a workable plan and set the date for March 18th at 11:45 AM. Carmella will see  veterinary neurologist that day for an exam and most likely will have to come back another day for the MRI and any other tests.

I spoke on the phone with a very nice woman who told me that although they usually don't do this it's possible that something can be arranged the same day once I get her in there and talk to the vet if the radiology people can fit her in that day. This has taken so long to arrange that it would be nice to get it all out of the way in the same day, especially since I won't be picked up for several more hours after her exam.

Apparently they will put her under general anesthesia during the MRI so that she won't move, and it takes 2-3 hours because the MRIs they use for dogs are less powerful than the ones used for humans so it takes longer to get all the pictures. The neurologist might order other tests and will give me a price quote ahead of time once it's established all the tests she's going to need.

Since the time I called over a year ago when Carmella needed the CSF procedure they have added a new neurologist that used to be an intern and decided to specialize. I was thrilled to hear this, as the other one wasn't very interested in helping Carmella before. I hear this one is very open-minded, so that is who I made the appointment with.

I took some really cute pictures of Carmella tonight. As she often is she was chewing on something in many of them.

For some reason she seemed to be particularly hyper tonight and wanting to chew on my arms. I threw a rubberized dumbell for her to fetch that she'd stripped of the outer surface long ago, and I played tug of war with her for awhile until we both were worn out.

Hopefully she'll sleep well tonight after all that exercise and won't jump off the bed at the crack of dawn as she sometimes does when I'm not awake enough to get up.

This morning was one of those rare days that she stayed curled up beside me until around 12:00 noon. I needed the rest anyway after the long hours I'd worked the day before getting a wedding order completed.

This morning I wasn't feeling so well and needed to stay in bed until the pain in my back, stomach, and legs subsided.

I had also stayed up around the clock one night getting a bunch of my jewelry ready to go to a store. I am going to prepare another batch this month also in hopes that I can make a decent amount of money this month. There will be alot of money to raise given the upcoming medical expenses for Carmella.

I see it is 3:30 in the morning already so I'll get this posted and then get some sleep and promote this entry later on today. If any of you find it in the meantime please feel free to post your comments! If you aren't yet following and you would like to keep up with Carmella's progress please do so. Things should be getting very interesting in the coming weeks and months!

Distemper Season Is Upon Us

Yes, the wolf is at the door, and our work is cut out for us with all the cases coming in from California and Texas especially. As the heat rises so do the number of distemper cases around the world.

Despite the frustration of young puppies from whom we cannot obtain serum and those folks who follow a feedback loop of denial and procrastination, there have been some successes recently.

A tiny black and white Chihuahua named Inky recently received NDV in both body and CNS, traveling from Texas to Atlanta. Here he is before treatment; very undersized and underweight, almost looking like a newborn

and here he is 2-3 weeks after treatment!

He has doubled in size and in weight, and looking much more mature. The change is really amazing!

In the course of the past few weeks another vet has emerged (possibly 2 from the same practice
who are willing to treat dogs with Dr. Sears' protocol in both body and CNS) out of California. This will potentially help many dogs this summer and beyond.

A donor dog is badly needed in New York right now, so if you would, please ask around and give anyone you know there who has a vet and a dog the link to the Facebook group. Vets still seem to be very hesitant to try making the serum, but we need for somebody to start stepping up to the plate because puppies 12 weeks and under are unlikely to respond to NDV and their only hope in most cases is serum made from another dog.

It is tragic to see puppies out of luck because nobody will follow this simple process (which is outlined on my blog in a former post, on Facebook, and on Ed Bond's regular website). This really is not that much more risky than donating blood. The only difference is that the donor dog is under anesthesia because the amount of blood taken is larger than what would be taken from a leg vein. As long as the vet uses proper precautions there should be no complications and the donor dog will wake up and resume its normal activities shortly thereafter.

If you live in New York and have a large mixed-breed dog this is a wonderful way to help other dogs whose lives depend on your generosity. You and your vet will be providing a great service to puppies in need. You will truly be giving the gift of life.

To those of you who think or know your dog has distemper please don't delay in getting your dog tested and treated. Contact me on Facebook or leave a message on this blog. If you are having trouble financially paying your dog's veterinary expenses there are options available. Don't assume it is out of your reach. A thread on Save Dogs from Canine Distemper Facebook cause has a list of financial resources. Although it may be somewhat of an inconvenience to incur some debt or to contact a bunch on non-profit agencies, your dog deserves the help he/she needs just as you or your child does when you have a medical problem.

Distemper is a serious illness and so now is not the time to skimp on the necessary tests and treatment. If your vet's fees are astronomical and you cannot find any way to afford them even after exhausting all of the options on the list (including Care Credit) you might seriously consider looking for another vet whose fees are more reasonable and who takes more forms of payment. Don't just call 2 or 3. Finding a vet who will work with you financially and offer your dog the care it needs may require running through several lists of vets. The ones who cannot help you may have other vets they know which they can recommend. Take notes and don't be afraid to ask everyone you know for referrals. If you go to pet stores to buy food and other pet products that is another good place to talk to people who might have possible leads. Ask your co-workers, your friends, shelters, even at your kids' sports games. The key is to network wherever you can. Lots of people own dogs and cats, so the answer could be just under your nose.

Today the sun was shining again so I took lots of cute pictures of Carmella in the back yard. The Ivermectin has really gotten rid of the last of her mange and the dark pigmentation on her flanks is even beginning to fade now! I was beginning to worry that she would have permanently visible black blotches showing through her fur, but that too is healing.

She has a new stamina and vigor she never had before. It has not even been a full year since her treatment in the Central Nervous System and I can really tell that her immune system is finally returning to normal!

Now she seems to be doing wonderfully on just fish oil. I did not know whether or not the opportunistic bacterial infections would return after I stopped the Pet Tabs but they have as of yet stayed away.

Today Carmella was able to be outside for several hours chasing sticks and lying in the sun.

Her coat is gorgeous right now.

I think she's probably ready now to have photos submitted for dog food endorsements.

It seems that I can see a different breed in her from just about every perspective!
Above, her profile looks like an American Foxhound.

But in this picture she looks very much like a German Shepherd. Some of the other photos look alot more Dingo-like, Basenji-like, Husky or Malamute-like. She has come a long way from the day I brought her home; a small, frail puppy who wasn't expected to live through the weekend.

Buy Your Mother A Gift She Will Cherish Forever!

Promises and Keepsakes- These are some of the best pearls I have ever had in my posession. The creamy yellow Jade pendant and sterling filligree heart create an ambiance of elegance and finery. Your mother is sure to feel special while wearing this classic piece!


Update on Carmella

Carmella goes back to the vet on Saturday.

Her paws are much better

although not completely healed.

As the areas that were affected heal they seem to turn kind of purpleish.

I took the cone off for awhile after giving her a bath today with the special antibacterial shampoo. I do this once a week.

She still sneaks a lick at her paws every once in awhile.
Now patches are developing again on her fur.

I hope her Mange isn't coming back.

As you can see it looks as though her hair is getting choppy again in certain places. Tomorrow is the day I put more Pro-Meris on her. She is on a double-dose of this for what she would normally get if she was having it applied just for flea-killing. I am beginning to wonder if this stuff is wearing off after only about a week and a half instead of lasting for two weeks even at this higher dose. She gets the amount a very large dog would have. Apparently research has shown that this is effective in controlling Mange on a maintenence basis, but I'm not sure what we do next if this is not controlling it. Maybe, we should try Ivermectin.

I did try the boric acid and peroxide way back after we discontinued the dips and I think that actually just inflamed it more. Lemon helped a little, but still didn't fully get rid of it.

I could try pure Tea Tree oil, but from what I read it stains everything. Since she sleeps on my bed and I am always hugging her throughout the day I don't know how feasible that would be. It would get all over my clothes, the carpet each time I let her out of the kitchen to go outside, possibly all over the walls if she leaned against them, and also I don't know if I'd ever get it out of her fur.

I woke her up from a nap tonight to give her her pills and she was kind of groggy at first, but then got really rambunctious and started to get in one of her chewing moods. She grabbed onto my sleeve and tried chewing my arm too!

Then she jumped on her stuffed aquirrel as if it were a real one that she was trying to kill.

The Carmella-cam is down again and I had to write the hosting service to see what could be done to get it working again. Since I have the free account they might take 4-5 days to respond. I hope it will be up and running again soon.

The little duckling died over the weekend. I was really bummed because he was starting to get quite tame. He had begun to stick his head out of the bars of the cage to greet me every time I came into the computer room, and was able to stay on my open hand that last day without trying to run. One morning I woke up and went in to check on him and found him lying completely still in his cage. I picked him up and saw he was not breathing and that he was cold.

He had eaten heartily the night before and was very active. There was no clue that he was going to die anytime soon. I am beginning to think maybe his mother abandoned him because he had something wrong that I couldn't see by looking at him. It may have been a genetic defect of some internal organ.

The last day of his life I took some more pictures of him luckily.

I had really hoped he would make it and I would be able to raise him.

Rest in peace, little guy. :(

Back to some happy news; I finally sold something after a slow period. Promoting for the previous weeks had been like breaking rocks with little result. Oddly, it was when I'd almost turned my attention away that it came in, but it seemed to happen while I was renewing things that had expired. I checked my Etsy store after walking away from the computer to do somethng else and then coming back, and found that my number of sold items said 82! When I checked to see which piece sold I found that it was a pair of my Haiku Earrings. The pair I sold had Variscite rondels, but my last pair has frosted Amethyst. At only $8.50 just about anybody can afford them.

This line is just perfect for Earth Day, with natural wood and genuine gemstone!

It is simple yet still retains the elegance I strive for in all my pieces. If you have not bought from me before and would like to make use of my 20% off Repeat Customer Appreciation Sale, you could buy these at full price and then use your discount on something more substantial! Just imagine what you could save on one of my Budding Vine bracelets for instance!

I also finished a necklace recently using a Blackberry leaf and set a Citrine cab in it.

Here is it in it's entirety, with a hand-made patterned bail, and lovely flat link chain with a Bali sterling hook.

Buy your mother a gift she will cherish forever!

http://Giftbearer.etsy.com

Groping Around in the dark

It has been several months now since any of my jewelry has sold on Etsy and I'm not sure what gives. I feel as though I'm groping around in the dark trying to find a foothold. Tonight I watched American Idol and noticed that a number of the singers were having the same problem. What they thought would appeal to people seemed to miss the mark with the judges in some vital way in many cases. Only one or two seemed to hit the nail on the head in enough areas to get that unhesitating "Yes!" response that all artists strive for, the kind of response in which the beholder doesn't have to think consciously about what worked, but knew unequivically that it did. Even after polishing their act taking into account all the feedback they'd been given, still several of them were told that they veered left when they should have veered right, or that they'd gone too far in one direction that they'd been told to go in the previous week and over-corrected.

I thought about how visual art is similar. It's like that game "pin the tail on the donkey where you're blindfolded and have to rely on often ambiguous cues and instructions as to when you're getting "hot" and when you're getting "cold".

As artists it seems that often we come kind of close (and someone may like something we've made enough to compliment but maybe not heart it), or at times very close (and then somebody will heart it but not buy it), then on those lucky occasions when all the conditions are right... bingo! (Somebody buys).

Those moments to an artist are like a juicy steak set down in front of you at the end of a long day, but what are they made of? Better yet; we all wonder how we can repeat them, yet the formula seems to elude us and remains a moving target.
Sometimes it seems as though an art-based business is more like trying to win the lottery than other jobs in which you can be sure your pay is going to continue week after week. Althought ironically with all the recent lay-offs the two might be more on a par with each other now more than ever.

It is alot like going fishing. You choose where you think is a good fishing spot, attach the worm (choose types and decide on your methods of promotion), then drop your line in the water and see if there are any fish around to see it, and whether they are interested (is your demographic where you're advertising and do they want what you have to offer on this day?)

Sometimes they see it but stay where they are, not making a move forward. Other times one comes close and even takes a little nibble.

I remember when I was a kid out on the pier many summers waiting patiently to catch "the big one" and it did come around. It's presence massive, an impressive creature, fins glistening like polished silver, sunlight glancing off it as its muscular body maneuvered effortlessly through the water below. My heart seemed to stop for a moment in anticipation. I was afraid to breath for fear I might scare it away.

It was these fish that were hardest to catch, as they all seemeds to have grown to this size by narrowly escaping capture any number of times. Some even had remnants of hooks in their mouths which had partially healed over. These big granddaddy fish would glide up to my hook and appear to sniff around at the juicy morsel attached, assessing whether or not to go in and chomp down. More often than not they'd nibble around the edges, avoiding the hook inside as if they knew that there was a price to be paid for not controlling their hunger. Then they'd dart off if there were any sudden moves, or seem to get distracted while staring at it and lose interest, sailing up to, then beyond my offering, eyes focused forward.

I never could figure out what the determining factor was to their deciding to bite down solidly versus the other two responses. To this day it remains a mystery.

In my jewelry design process I have alot of versatility and often challenge myself to look at trends and then create my own twist on elements that seem to appeal to a number of people. I don't want my work to look like everybody else's but at the same time I often wonder if there is such a thing is going too far off the beaten path.

I have read that certain shapes such as circles appeal to most people and afford them a kind of security. Maybe there's something to be said for predictability in an increasingly unpredictable world. Sometimes I will look at work that does not seem very unique and see that nevertheless it is selling pretty regularly.

Two questions keeps raising their heads; "How plain should I go before the work becomes boring? How complex or unusual should I go before the work is too far afield for viewers to relate to it?

It is easy to go too far in either direction, but where that line in the sand exists is not well understood.

Tomorrow between 1 and 3 pm someone is coming to look at my poor kitchen floor that the other repairman tore while moving the refrigerator and Carmella continued to peel back.

I will be relieved to have that work done so that I can mop it without worrying that it will warp. I want to wash the floor with bleach as soon as I can in case Carmella's foot microbes re-deposit onto her while she's walking in there.

You can see when you look close-up that these torn areas trap hair, and stains, and all kinds of unwanted stuff. Yuck!

Carmella's second day wearing the cone has been touch and go. She has found ways to get around the thing now and then and either stick a back foot inside the cone or slide the cone down her neck toward her shoulders and then reach her front feet. I have to keep pushing it forward. I hope this infection gets better soon because I can't watch her every second of the day and keep re-adjusting that thing or I'll go nuts! Luckily she has fallen asleep on the chair in here in the computer room. I almost hate to wake her up to bring her into my room and put her onto the bed, but I can't leave her by herself to wander around the house unsupervised. There's no telling what sort of mischief she'd get into and how much it would cost me to replace whatever in here she might destroy with that deadly micro-snout of hers.

Goodnight to you all! Keep reading and commenting, and if you see any big fish be sure to send them my way! Minnows will work if you have enough of them but it's nice to have a big meaty Salmon at least once in awhile.
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