Road to Recovery

It’s been a rough couple of days. I can think of better ways to spend a weekend, especially one as beautiful as this one was rumored to have been!

Saturday, I had no voice at all, and had the awful cough, raw throat, and the second worse sinus headache I’ve ever had. The first worst was the one I had on Sunday! I slept most of Sunday with a heating pad over my eyes, trying to relieve the pressure. It was really awful.

Steve took excellent care of me, as he always does. And Mom fed us. Steve would go feed Sully and stop by the Cabin to pick up our supper. I haven’t seen anyone but Mom since Friday! I bet Owen’s already 4 inches longer than last time I saw him!

Today I feel better, just a little on the weak side. I’m glad I cancelled today’s work. I don’t think I’d get very far before I’d have to sit down. That doesn’t go over well when folks are paying you $25 an hour! My chest feels looser, and I’ve got the runny, itchy nose and itchy, watery eyes. But my appetite is finally back.

We got the car back Saturday. It had a whole huge list of stuff wrong with it. It’s running like a dream now. The changes were those gradual kind that we just didn’t notice. We haven’t had it in for anything except oil changes and a bad wheel bearing since we bought almost 2 years ago. Time flies.

Ok, I’m tired. I think I’ll go lie down.

Uuuugggghhhhhh

I appear to have come down with that Galloping Crud Steve brought home a few weeks ago. I’m not saying I got it from him, it’s been going around apparently. Anyway, I feel pretty crummy.

The car won’t be ready till tomorrow morning. And Steve went to crank the Ranger this morning and it was deader than dirt. So I ran him down in Mom’s Intrepid. I’ve felt progressively worse throughout the day, so Mom’s gone down to get Steve tonight. She also helped me move my fence controller this afternoon, drove me over to feed Sully tonight, helped me harvest MORE tomatoes, and made me pudding. Someone gets to have dinner cooked for them when I get to feeling better!

Looks like there’s some rain coming in. That would be nice.

No More…

… bees. The Giant Hornets appear to have moved on, thank goodness. We left the porchlight on last night, as a test, and only one showed up to sleep on the porch ceiling. Plus, we didn’t have any come in; it was so warm in here last night, we decided to chance leaving the windows up.

The Saturn is in the shop today. Steve drove Jake’s Ranger to work. He says we’re getting one. I said with what. He said we’re trading in Sully. I said good luck with that.

Speaking of whom, Sully’s foot appears to be healing. He’s been out of his boot for 24 hours, and I’ve painted it with iodine twice. He’s still sore, but only when he steps on something like a rock or stick, and there is no heat or swelling. Everything looks normal.

He almost squashed me like a bug last night. I was putting the iodine on the hoof, and he was in the crossties. Someone was using a backhoe just over the hill and out of sight, and he was a little freaked out by it. He snatched his foot away and jumped, and hit my lower back with something… probably his muzzle. I untied him and drove him backwards about 10 yards. He appeared to calm down, so I put him back in the crossties, and he reared back and broke one of them. Even when he was free, he didn’t leave, just stood there about 12 feet tall. I took him and backed him all the way across the front paddock, longed him a little on a short rope, etc. We spent almost half an hour before I had him where I was satisfied he was respecting me again.

But I went out and worked him this morning, and he was practically asleep on the end of the line. He even let me flick the lash of the whip all over his body. Last night, that would’ve been like tossing a lit stick of dynamite underneath him!

Horses.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a nice long weekend.

On Saturday evening, Steve and I went with Jake, Ashlee, Mom and Owen to a genuine pig-pickin’. It was a lot of fun. It was hosted by a driver that Dad’s known for awhile, so he was pretty much the only person we knew. But there were a few folks there who went out of their way to be friendly and strike up some conversation. The food was excellent, and plentiful. I thought it was funny, someone (never found out who) brought Libby Hill take-out and put it on the table in the Styrofoam cartons. Oh my goodness. I made a pan of Great-Aunt Sue’s Baked Beans, and brought home a spoonful. Mom took a chocolate frosted chocolate poundcake, and Ashlee took a loaf of banana bread.

After it got dark, R and Jake and a couple of the other fellows put on a good fireworks display. I think we didn’t actually end up leaving till around 10pm. Owen was mesmerized by the open flames on the Citronella torches set up around the picnic area. It was so funny to see!

When we went to get back in the car, thank goodness I’d taken one of Jake’s spotlights, because as I rounded the bank of the car, I almost ran into one of those orange and black and white ‘Halloween’ spiders. It had spun its web, probably 2 feet in diameter, between the back door of the car and the bank we were parked next to. He was sitting happily in the center of the web, as if daring me to walk on through. I went around the other way, and squeezed in without disturbing him. Then I rolled up all the windows on that side!

We got home around 11:15pm I think. We’d left the porch light on, of course, and when we got out of the car, we noticed about 20 Giant hornets swarming the light and front door. So we had to stumble around the house in the dark and go in the back. We’ve been fighting them ever since. We’ve killed three in the house, and are having to shut all the windows after dark to keep them out. That makes for rather warm nights, but it’s better than having the comicazies in the house. They seem to be in the pine tree out front during the day, I don’t know if they’re building a nest or what. Not nice, though. However, we thought they were Japanese hornets… though these guys are big and ugly, they’re not as dangerous as their Asian counterparts. Silver linings!

I couldn’t have been more wrong about Sully’s foot. It doesn’t appear to be a strain at all, but that silly abcess. So for three days, I soaked it twice daily, 15 minutes at a time, in warm water and Epsom salts.

That pulled the infection right out and revealed a nickel-sized area of raw flesh.

I put an Easyboot on that hoof and have kept him confined to the dry paddock at night, and to the front paddock during the day so he has grazing. He’s getting fat and lazy! I actually pulled him out and longed him this morning, and he moved out without any visible discomfort. He picked up his correct leads at the lope and bucked and squealed a few times. He’s such a goof off. I’m really hoping this means we’ll be riding again soon. It’s been over a month.

No wonder we’re getting fat!

He’s thriving on the Nutrena EnergX . I give him about 3 pounds a day of that, with 2 ounces of loose salt, plus he gets the occasional treat of corn shucks, carrot, apple or peppermint, when he’s good. I think I’ll have plenty of grass to get me beyond the first frost.
I haven’t gotten a stall built, but am still planning to. I’m actually looking for an old gate that I could use as the front of it. The hardest part is just going to be cleaning the area. There must be 2 dozen old windows stacked at the back, plus a stack of shingles. I’m just going to move everything to the other side of the building. I plan to have it done before the cold hits. I know I’ll feel better having a place a to bed him if we do actually get a winter this year.

I heard again from Jaz’s new owners. Sounds like she’s getting along fine. She’s gotten out on them once, but it sounds like she found a spot where there was no fence at all. Whose fault is that?? Jeepers. Hopefully I’ll be getting some money from them soon. I’d hate to have to go collect.

Well, I’ve got a whole bucket of peaches to peel, pit, slice and freeze. They came from one of our neighbors. Not to mention the rest of the housework that’s screaming my name.