Thanks for all the bday wishes! TR made a great steak dinner with a salad made with fresh greens from the garden and a birthday cake. Plus I got to play with the bees, with is a very addictive hobby, I am finding.
The day after my bday, my sister L treated me to lunch at the Kirtland Tea Room. A very nice place near her home that we had never been to before. We had some wonderful meals! L the chicken pear salad with raspberry hazelnut dressing and me the asparagus quiche and salad with the raspberry hazelnut dressing. We had great fun catching up with each other.
Titan really enjoyed his portion of the steak dinner on my bday and we are happy to see that he is still very interested in food. The other day, TR got a little bit of veg in Titan's bowl, and Titan just stared at TR until the offending bit of veg was removed from the dinner bowl.

Titan used to love to sit outdoors with me and just walk around the farmyard a bit. I am sure he misses having a real job to do - he was excellent at guarding The Ladies, the grands and the farm; and always took his job seriously. Recently, we have taken to sitting outdoors on the back porch for about 5 or 10 minutes. After that, Titan usually stands up and walks to the door to go back inside the house. Saturday morning we sat outdoors in the front yard (me on the front porch steps, Titan in the grass), and were only out for 15 minutes before he wanted to go back inside.
But his only interests now seem to be eating and sleeping. If any of you are familiar with Great Pyrenees, you know they LOVE to bark. We used to say barking was Titan's favorite hobby. Now he rarely barks. Maybe he feels there is nothing worth barking about these days. We are feeling sad.
Recently, TR called all the local vets to see what it would cost for euthanasia, since we seem to be approaching that. Titan's 12th birthday will be August 8th, God willing. I tried to weigh Titan the other day, and am guesstimating that he weighs 110 to 115 pounds. It is hard to tell, because he can no longer stand with me on the scale. It is hard for him to be up on his hind legs and his front legs on my shoulders. Anyway, TR found that Titan's vet is the least expensive - at $175 (does not include burial or cremation). The problem is that neither of us could even get him into the car at all, so I am not sure how we would do this to get him to the vet's, and she is not willing to make a house call. Even though Titan has been one of their regular patients since 2005, they would require a physical exam before injection, which I think is just ridiculous. I understand their thinking, but how many Great Pyrs even reach 12 years of age anyway?! That said, IF we could even get him into the car to take him to another vet, they all want to do a physical exam as well, because he would be a new patient for their clinics. I am praying Titan goes in his sleep..... For my part, I have never had a pet put to sleep - they all died in their own beds, so this is very difficult for me.
We are back to strange weather again; the temps were in the MID 40s the past two nights! The mornings were cold and there was thick fog in the farmyard as well. The daytime highs are only in the mid 70s. It is hard to believe we were near 90 just a week and a half ago.
In my recent post, I mentioned our terrible garden experience this year. I planted some morning glories around the two old fuel tanks in the farmyard, thinking they would take over and cover the ugly things. However, it appears that critters have eaten those plants as well. On the good side, we have had great luck with our Scarlet Runner Beans, and they are doing very well. Yesterday they were taller than the 10 foot high pole we have them planted on. Now they are starting to follow the clothes line to the back porch!.

The amaranth, buckwheat, millet and onions are doing well too. I told TR that perhaps I should just plant SRB this year since they are all that is growing and not being eaten by critters.
For the holiday, we will be going to sister L's house for a cook-out/picnic. TR and I have been painting the trim on their house and L says that she will be having a painting party as well as the family gathering. She is hoping to get it all painted soon. The trim is going from Hunter Green to Cranberry Red. It looks very stunning with her white brick home. L and her dh D have a very large house (I think close to 4k sq ft), and there is a LOT! of wood trim. This is something I never realized until we said we would help her paint, of course!
TR will have to work 1/2 a day on the 4th, but at least will be able to have the afternoon off.