Yeast

Yeast is a four letter word in our house. Yes, I’m aware there are technically five letters in the word too.

Our dog, Lucy, has chronic yeast infections all over her body due to environmental allergies which, on top of that, has also developed an allergy to yeast itself. This current episode is horrific, though not nearly as bad as the one she had a year ago. It’s not like the condition ever goes away, but a few times a year it seems worse than others. With an über dose of Ketoconazole (800 MG daily) and a Ketoconazole topical cream added to the mix this time, I’m hoping to get it under control fast.

My pizza crust recipe also calls for yeast. Yeast I keep in the refrigerator. For baking. Yesterday I decided to make my Shrimp Pesto Pizza crust entirely from whole wheat flour. While it doesn’t have the same chewiness as using equal parts whole wheat and white, it has the perfect flavor to complement the pesto, spinach, garlic, olives, Tillamook Pepper Jack Cheese, parmesan and shrimp. This is where yeast is not such a bad thing as it takes a few ingredients and turns them into something amazing. Okay, so I  make it amazing.

So I guess the moral of the story is what makes one dog miserable is a vital part of what makes the world a better place for all because there is pizza in it. Though they are different yeasts. That would be gross if they were one in the same. Although, the possibilities of being able to harness the power of the yeast directly from my dog to make pizza crust is intriguing. Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit for even thinking such a thing.

Adventures in Yeastland

Just when we thought it might be safe to remove the cone of shame from our dog, it apparently wasn’t. Fortunately she only caused herself minimal damage before we placed it back on.

Last night Lucy was looking really good. Her ears were looking better than they had in years thanks to a regimen of hydrogen peroxide cleaning, Otomax, along with the Keto and Cipro pills to fight back the yeast. And so we figured it might be safe to remove the cone. This morning, however, we saw she had rubbed a small patch above one of her eyes and licked her stomach nearly raw again. Alas, the cone had to be put back on. Oh well, we tried.

I suppose that another bath is in order, too. If for no other reason, she should have a bath to remove all of the dead scabs and flaking skin particles, which, thank God, there is hardly anything left. She still has a small scab on her right ear from Friday’s Flappy Fest after her bath triggering a steady and healthy dose of blood to splatter in every which direction. I cleaned up most of it, though part of me wishes I left it there for the bank to decipher after they take back the house.

Must Quilt

I’ve been itching to start work on my brother’s baby blanket for a while now. Perhaps this week will be as good a time as any… even if it will also be filled with packing.

Every time I get the urge to quilt, something happens. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes ugly as in the Case of the Oozing Ears our dog suddenly got on Saturday as she is fighting off another rather nasty yeast infection due to her chronic allergies. Yuck. Another trip to vet, swab, microscope, another prescription to add onto what she started a little over a week ago and hopefully we can get that part under control too. I love working at a vet clinic!

Anyway, quilting. I’ve got the fabric. I even ransacked a small portion of my scraps from past projects and stash unintentional stash building efforts for a background fabric to place the center appliqué on and shoved it into the bag of other stuff. Now, here’s the thing. I could’ve cut everything down to size, but I haven’t yet. I even made the templates for the center appliqué pieces, but still, no cutting. What the hell? Surely I’ve had time to cut fabric, if not sew it together? Alas, I have nobody to blame but myself.

So this afternoon on my lunch break I’m coming home and cutting out my pieces. Sure, I could do the dishes which have been piling up and multiplying like rabbits, but why bother when there is fabric begging to be turned into a beautiful baby blanket?