September 21, 2018:  Happy birthday to Ava’s one week old puppies.  I had to quickly get the camera to take the first shot with the little wheaten male with his arm across his brother.  I added Velcro collars.  The little girl is in the orange collar.  All others are males.  We are getting close to Gracie’s whelping.  I am still making sure she gets her chicken and rice.  She also has the opportunity to eat her dry food.  I always add a treat to the Scotties’ meals in the evenings.  Gracie will definitely eat the treat, and sometimes eat some of the dry puppy food too.

Sept. 20, 2018:  After a week, I finally got power.  The line was bad near my breaker and a whole new set of wires had to be installed.  Below, you will find pictures of my heroes from Moore County.  They started work today at 9:30 a.m., and my power came on at 6 p.m.  Cutting through a big root took a majority of the time.  You can see it in the picture of the lineman on the right.

Puppy news:  I was able to get the puppies’ dew claws removed on Tuesday.  They are very healthy.  I am going to put collars on them tomorrow and post their one week old birthday pictures then.  Gracie continues to be picky with her food, but she will definitely eat chicken and rice.  Tonight, she ate the canned puppy food and a little bit of the dry puppy food.  Heather Claire is happy with the increase of food.  She continues to get bigger.

Pictures of the utility work crew:

Sept. 17, 2018:  Wow, I don’t know where to begin this evening.  I give the glory and honor to my Savior who kept the Scotties and me safe. I thank all those who sent up prayers for me. There were no trees down.  I have been without power since Thursday.  It just came back on.  I would thank the crews from Ohio and Michigan who came and restored my power.  Yesterday, they spent three hours on the power lines on my property during a downpour of rain.  It took several hours today to get it back on.  I pray for all those who were devastatingly affected by Florence.  I am just now seeing the news.  There is a storm coming up here at 6:45 – lots of thunder.

Ava had her three wheatens, two males and a female, and two black males.  I am in the process of calling and emailing people now.  These puppies were delivered Sept. 14th by flashlight.  They are doing well.  If Raeford Animal Clinic does not open tomorrow, I will not be able to get their dew claws removed.  They were closed today.

Here they are:

Ok, this is strange.  Two bedrooms, including mine, and a bathroom have lost power.  Included is the air conditioning.  I tried flipping the breaker box inside and outside, and nothing happened.  I will worry with this tomorrow.

Happy Birthday to Heather Claire who turns six.  Her puppies are due end of September/beginning of October.

Here is a picture of Ava’s enormous body:

Sept. 12, 2018:  I can tell the barometric pressure is changing as I have had a migraine all day.  I took my 94 year-old mother to the doctor to have routine bloodwork done.  I went to the grocery store for her while she was at the doctor’s office.  She has always eaten bananas, and previous bloodwork showed low potassium levels.  Of course, there were no bananas at the grocery store.  It looks like Florence is going to affect the Sandhills around 8 pm tomorrow.  I pray for all who will be impacted by this hurricane in the Carolinas.

Ava looks like she is going to pop.  Gracie is eating well, including the dry food. Heather Claire is doing well also.  I have filled two trashcans and five normal buckets and one large bucket of water for the horses.  I have well water, so when the electricity goes, there goes the water.  I will fill the tub for toilet water.  I have been anxious about this hurricane since Saturday unlike any previous ones.  I don’t know if it is because of the news or my sixth sense.  That is why I get comfort from the Biblical story of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abendigo with Christ amongst them.