Tag: Animals

Training and Raining

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Hello Friends!

Much has happened since we last caught up!

We had the vet out for our yearly checks. Nellie actually did pretty good all things considered. She didn’t let us vaccinate (I did that later) but she also didn’t really kill anyone, so ya know, we count our blessings. The other critters acted like the vet professionals they are and handled it with grace. Ro is on some anti-inflammatories now for some arthritis aches, and so we mitigate any unnecessary damage. Nellie is supposed to be wearing a mask now, as her little pink skin around her eye is just primo skin cancer material and the vet is worried. We are working on it.

Unfortunately, this vet visit caused a bit of a spiral in Nellie’s behavior and I’ve had to employ some tougher love lately. She started getting pretty aggressive about haltering and the barging and kicking officially put us into dangerous territory. So as much as I hate giving the girl any sort of uncomfy consequences, I had to take off the mama hat and put on my trainers cap, remind her and myself that allowing bad behaviors like that is a huge disservice to this horse and her cleverness. I’m happy to report that while it’s still a massive work in progress, she seems to have a lot of pride in the new, tougher consequences style work. Unsurprisingly I don’t have to dole out consequences often when the right answer is easy.

We’ve had some interesting storms rolling through. I’ve been trying to capture what I can, I’m still not great with the GoPro and lately, these storms have come with so much dust I’ve worried about leaving it outside alone anyway. I know they are tough, but I don’t have any sorta tough weather case, just a little tripod and I usually tie it to the porch post.

We’ve had some dry lightning, and lots of rainstorms. Although, we’ve had a lot more drizzly days than usual too, normally it’s a downpour and done, but the gray drizzle has persisted this year. We’ve also had our usual share of windstorms, which always stress me out. At least with the roof replaced I don’t worry so much about another waterfall from my kitchen light. My favorite thing about the storms around here is that often they come in the evenings, after you’ve already put in a good day’s work, almost like a little reward. But they are also usually gone by the time bedtime rolls around, so you aren’t often sitting up late worrying over the weather. 

The rainy day cuddles are adorable

I was out at the ranch the other day when a little cell went through. In theory I was out there to help my aunt with her scanner, it wasn’t scanning again, but it kinda sorted itself out. I’m not exactly sure what changed but it was scanning by the time I left. I’m a little afraid to ask if it’s still scanning to be honest, I don’t think I really want to know the answer. Anyways, while I was there I got to see the latest batch of babies. Love me some little cows. We met Little Boy, Sue, and Esuni. Little Boy got his name exactly how you’d imagine, but Sue and Esuni have cute stories. Sue is named after my great great grandma, because they share a birthday (how my great great grandma would feel about sharing a name and birthday with a cow is a question for another time) and Esuni was supposed to be Sunny, but they realized she was out of Eve’s line, and they try to keep with the same leading letters to make lineage a little easier. Luckily Sue is out of Sissy, who is out of Sadie. Remind me to tell you all about Sadie cow one day. It’s a cute story (have I told it before? Maybe, doesn’t matter, it’s worth a retelling). Little Esuni was born so small, she literally weighed less than one of my grain bags. They were worried about her, but she prevailed. Those little guys can be hardy when they wanna be. I helped my aunt count the herd, and, of course, we did it in a rainstorm, while that random cell went over. Didn’t rain a stitch before or after. But it was fun riding around with my aunt goofing off.

We’ve had lots of fun things happening around here lately. We’ve had a new baby born to the family, my uncle has a new little girl named Sadee (yes, I know, I don’t think anyone else put it together, but Sadie the cow spells hers different, and has since gone on this year after a long and happy life anyway, so I am not saying anything). Another of my cousins is graduating high school this week. We’re prepping for the Fiddle Fest and I’m very excited, because a dear friend of mine is coming down to visit while it’s going on. 

Lots to look forward to, can’t wait to share it all with you soon!

Until we chat again my friends!

Until We Meet Again, My Very Best Boy

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TW: Pet loss, grief, medical descriptions 

I won’t lie to you, I had written a fun little post talking about the animals and their spring fever shenanigans while father winter keeps fighting for all its worth. That post no longer feels appropriate.

Sweet Scooby-Doo has been slowing down for a while. He was a happy boy, liked basking in the sun and wandering in his yard. A couple days ago we noticed that he wasn’t acting himself, then he started having problems keeping to a potty schedule and generally seemed upset. Wednesday morning we took him to the vet thinking he had a stomach bug or maybe some senior potty problems. The vet asked if they could run some tests while I went back to work.

I’ll save you the suspense, and the brief batch of hope we were gifted. The final news wasn’t good. Sweet Scooby had no kidney function left. The vet was just as shocked as I was, he was a happy, busy, loving dog, without the ultrasound we wouldn’t have known. He had been off the last couple days because his kidneys had finally given their last.

Wednesday we had to make the heart wrenching decision to let Scoobs leave peacefully, surrounded by his brothers and family. The vet let us know he wouldn’t ever be pain free or comfortable again, and that we were making the kind choice. 

Not the easy one.

Scooby spent many years with us, almost two decades, and was such a sweetheart of a pupper. Scooby was technically my brother’s dog, a wonderful Christmas present, and a perfect addition to our family. I remember his little red bow and a note that said “This one was too excited to stay in the sleigh”. When my childhood dog was blind and deaf, Scooby valiantly took it on himself to be Winchester’s constant companion. We jokingly called him “the menace” because he was convinced he needed to be involved in everything, often pushing open doors or moving light furniture when it suited. He was my rock when Winchester passed and the constant comic relief, always talking and being ever so dramatic. He loved standing out on the porch when the wind blew but hated thunder, preferring to hide out when “the big dog barked”. He always made sure his brothers were hiding too, he was responsible, you see.

When we decided Scooby needed a companion after Winchester passed, and then accidentally came home with three puppies, Scooby hid under a blanket for a week. He had very little patience for his brothers, unless we weren’t looking. More than once I caught him playing with his brothers in those early days, before deciding it was enough and crawling back under the blanket. Luckily they grew on him, especially little Sherlock. He was a fantastic older brother though, firm, but teaching, and caring. He was a patient jungle gym for the little ones and a pillow for Joe, until Joe got huge, that is.

Losing Winchester and later, Sherlock, took its toll on my sweet Scoobs, he had a very big heart He wore on his sleeve. We noticed him slowing into his elder years after the latter loss, and that he enjoyed slower activities like sunbathing and naps more than zoomies. He was still always up for a good nature walk though, he loved to explore.

Scooby had many nicknames, most commonly Scoobs, Scoobert (occasionally pronounced like Colbert does his name), scoober-doo, the-doo, scoobediah, scooby-dubious, and his favorite, my-handsome-special-beautiful-boy (I told you, a flair for the dramatic).

It doesn’t seem real yet, and I doubt it will for a while. My mornings started with some Scooby snuggles and evenings ended tucking him in, he was always curled up in his little daybed, and I don’t know how many times a day I’d leave my desk to go snuggle him in a blanket. I think I got the idea in my head that he’d always be around to hang out with me, but the cost of love so pure is the loss, we are gifted with so many years, but we cannot have something so amazing forever. 

I will forever love and miss my sweet little bichon. 

I love you forever, Scoobs.

While I Was Gone….

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Hello Friends!

It’s been a minute! Oh goodness, has it been a while, but I am happy to be back.
I’m hoping you guys enjoyed the video…blog….vlog…thing that I posted. It was a lot of fun to make and I am excited to work on more kinds of media like that. I think it will keep the writing from getting stale and give you all a new look at the farm.

So, what did you miss in January? A couple big things, but mostly not much. It’s been a cold, quiet start to the year.

Mom spent the last few days of 2022 in the hospital unfortunately. Her asthma came back with a force and her oxygen levels got way too low for us to handle on our own. So that was a very stressful week, luckily I had taken some time off to recoup from the holidays so I didn’t need to worry too much about work. The nurses and therapists were absolutely amazing, and while some of that hospital stay lived up to the small town politics standard (there are always those who wish to build kingdoms instead of do their job) I will be eternally grateful for those lovely ladies and gentleman who took care of my mom (and dad, who stayed the whole time). We also have a new rescue plan in place now that puts a lot more of the responsibility on us, the caregivers, which makes much more sense post-strokes. Her asthma hadn’t really been a problem in so long, we never thought to take that step, but now we are more set up which is offering a nice peace of mind.

Joe has been the best nurse to Mom, he checks her breathing and won’t let her out of his sight

We’ve had some issues with wildlife knocking down the pasture fences, and Ro is on a mission to get up to the road now. I don’t know what I am going to do with that girl. The fencing has been in dire need of an update for a while but panels are so stinking expensive, I’ve kinda deprioritized it. I don’t think that’s going to be an option much longer. Poor Dad has been out several mornings while I am at work trying to wrangle the fencing back together. He and I are getting into the habit of just walking the fence line fairly often to make sure things aren’t completely broken.

Trying to look innocent while I reset a fence post they knocked down, also, can we talk about the dirt situation for a minute? How do they get that muddy?

Speaking of wildlife, a new creature has entered our section of the valley. There is apparently a moose afoot. For those, like me, who just loudly exclaimed, “a moose?!” Yep. Yep, they come around occasionally. I have not seen one, but I often hear the stories. I am aware of four moose…moosen….meese….since I’ve lived here, including the one wandering around now. Christopher and our neighbor have seen it toddling around. I am not sure what the plan is if that moose decides to take out some of my fencing, I don’t think even the panels would truly do much. If I see it though, you can bet your bottom dollar that I will try to get a picture. 

Our houseguests have found a more permanent place to stay. I am really quite excited for them, I think it makes a lot more sense for their family. The church is helping them out, they are staying in a church owned house, so their landlord is probably pretty reasonable (at least it’s probably pretty easy to get the tenant handbook….okay, well, I thought it was funny). They kiddos have their own rooms, they have a kitchen they can use whenever (they could here too, but it was a little awkward because the layout of our house kinda sets you up to be “on show” when in the kitchen, and I think it made him nervous to cook in front of us), and it’s in town, closer to schools and work. Their car broke down out here a couple times and it’s a lot harder to get a car home or to the shop when you live out in the boonies. I think overall it’s a way better set up for them. Admittedly, it’s brought the chaos and stress level way back down to normal for us too. I forgot how truly quiet and chill our household is normally.

Anyhoo, that’s basically been us. Just chilling out and getting back to normal after a crazy end to 2022. I don’t really make resolutions, but I have a few goals and dreams for 2023, so I am pretty stinking excited for this year.
Until we chat again, my friends!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

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Hello friends!

I am once again calling on your expertise! It’s Christmas time officially and I need some no cost holiday fun ideas for little kids. We’ve been a house of busy working adults for so long that we sorta have our Christmas spirit in batches, and the kids are losing their minds about it.

I also need some very inexpensive but very fun Christmas gifts ideas for these kiddos. Santa is really broke this year because they’ve literally tripled my food and utilities costs and I wasn’t exactly pleased with the budget beforehand. Gotta love when a single tank of gas is your entire commute budget for the month. But I digress. 

The boys have been loving napping under the tree

I plan on making some reindeer snacks for Christmas eve (and the reindeer will enjoy them sometime after the kiddos go to bed). My parents always made it look like the reindeer were super messy eaters, and I think this year that sloppy reindeer might just make a comeback. Carrots and apples for sure, and cookies for Santa.

I was planning on involving them in the cookie making process if they wanted. We always make almond butter cookies instead of sugar cookies, they have a little bit of a deeper flavor and are just a little less sweet. I’ve never heard any complaints so I think the kiddos will like them, and they make up very similarly to a sugar cookie and can be decorated just the same. We usually make a batch of chocolate almond butter cookies too, as well as a couple specialty cookies. Although I learned my lesson a couple years ago with red velvet cookies. It’ll be a while before I try those again. Messy and gross to boot. I think I messed something up, but frankly you have to use so much dye there’s not really a second chance. 

I’ve added a new sweet treat to the mix since I’ve taken over the cookies portion of the holiday. We now also have no baking peanut butter chocolate bars, a recipe given to me by a friend of my grandma’s. They take about ten minutes to make and about an hour to chill (you melt and reset some chocolate) and then you have super cute little snack sized bars to eat. They are super rich but super addictive, so I always have to put them somewhere out of the way to help prevent calamity. I love little treats like that though, because for the most part, I almost always have the ingredients on hand and, other than the small scale crisis caused by attempting to measure peanut butter, they are really easy to make. Same principle as keeping premade cookie dough in the fridge, you literally never know when you might need a sweet treat.

Pretty sure we are going to have something akin to a white Christmas. I don’t know if it’ll snow or have a lot of accumulation specifically over those days but I definitely think that the conditions will be there and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was. Last year it was -2 degrees Christmas morning, we had around a foot of snow, and it started snowing more that afternoon. Made it difficult to feed the animals but it was really quite beautiful. 

It was really funny though too, because, and I think I showed you guys in pictures, the little walkway that I throw food into the barn from was completely covered in snow. There was a large pile from the roof to be climbed every time we wanted to feed in the barn. I definitely fell off that pile several times and the horses definitely laughed at me several times, which…fair.

This year so far the snow has been… mushy? Not structures building snow so it doesn’t build into drifts or create those wind balls. Kinda just gets everything wet and muddy. I think the kiddos would like it a lot better if it was the fun fluffy stuff. 

I’m somewhere in the realm of 80% done with my Christmas shopping. I’m one of those weirdos that starts planning in October and as soon as we get Halloween squared away I start slowly enacting my plans. Doesn’t always work, I definitely still have to do the December 23rd quick trip. But I’m getting more organized each year. I have to, my holiday season is packed, have you seen the size of my family? I have events every weekend of November and December and lots of weekday craziness too! This year there’s a color-coded spreadsheet. You know I’ve hit full first born, obsessive planner mode when I bust out the excel formulas. Putting on our serious Santa hats.

(It’s really quite pleasant to see all those pretty little cells though, you gotta admit).

Until we chat again my friends!

Withdrawals

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Hello friends!

Welp, I’ve had to slowly move our morning rides to the midday. It’s not a bad thing per say, I just absolutely love our morning rides, it’s the most wonderful thing to enjoy your time with your horses as the sun is coming up and all is pink and lovely. It’s a special summertime treat. 

But now we get to have autumnal work. Wind whipping around makes warm horsey hugs more special, we bust out the coolout blankets for after work, and everyone starts wearing an extra layer or two. There’s warm beverages to be had, and slightly later starts on the weekends, all good things. The only rough part is knowing we are on borrowed time and after the first snow It’s really up in the air how long we have to work until we have to call it for a couple months. Unfortunately I just don’t have the infrastructure to keep my girls in activity over the winter, no way to cool them slowly enough to not shock them after work, less than great footing when wet (when things aren’t Just straight under water), and no wind breaks, which around here is a big deal. Winds are quite the thing in our little corner of the valley.

I’m really hoping that the weather is milder this year, last winter everything was very wet and the daytime temperatures were well below freezing for a good portion of the winter. I lost a bunch of the plumbing for the barn and had to literally chip gates open. I really want a milder winter, preferably one where we can keep riding and using the arena space for longer into the season before it starts to turn into a lake.

Mom’s got the house all decorated for fall. She absolutely loves decorating for each season and holiday, although we go a little lighter on the Halloween stuff since that’s not really a holiday we celebrate. We maybe watch Ghost Hunters reruns and I might make a spooky dinner, but nothing major. We keep it low key for Halloween, and we never get trick or treaters (for good reason, please don’t drive your kids out to the country to trick or treat unless you 100% know the farmer and know they have candy. It’s a dangerous game otherwise. I know yall are too smart for that nonsense, but it’s worth saying, it is the internet after all). But we get pretty into the fall themed and harvest fest stuff. I think it helps stem off the inevitable blues that the end of summer bring. Not that the other seasons aren’t great, but it’s hard to start slowing down when you just wanna be outside for forever. So we make sure it’s a warm and cozy time. But not christmassy yet. We don’t do Christmas stuff until after Thanksgiving and we are careful about it until the 13th, because my dad is a December baby. Don’t wanna step on his birthday. I’m lucky, I’m a July girl, so no overshadowing major holidays for me, and I get fireworks. Truly the best. 

Isn’t he the cutest!? I had to show you, also, please ignore the shaky camera, Joe was actively pushing me over

Winter season also brings out the excuses in me. My eyesight isn’t the greatest and there’s no streetlights this far out in the country, so I always try to excuse myself from events where I have to drive after dark. I also staunchly avoid driving on snow and ice if I can, so I spend a good amount of cozy nights curled up with a book and warm drink. Sorry, I can’t make it, I’m too chicken. 

My warm drink game is a little off right now. See, a few months ago my headaches started getting even worse, and I finally had to do something to figure it out. See, I come from a long line of headache sufferers, migraines, tension headaches, weather affect, you name it, and unfortunately I’ve definitely got one sensitive head. Luckily because this has been a forever thing, normally, unless it’s a particularly bad day, I can muddle through with relative success. I just warn people that I’m one bright light or loud noise from getting irrationally angry and I occasionally  treat myself to an early night in. But a few months ago it got a little crazy. We’re talking midday naps everyday because I could not cope. I tend to have some form of headache around 4 out of every 7 days, I’m told that’s pretty typical, so everyday all day was a lot. And pain meds wouldn’t touch it at all. I actually cried about it a couple times, and I don’t generally cry about medical stuff. On a whim I started cutting things out of my diet and, long story slightly shorter, it was coffee. Not caffeine mind you, I can still drink soda, but specifically an intolerance to the bean. Doc says it’s probably because I lived on coffee for so long my system finally just said no. He also thinks that with time, and a lot more moderation, I can probably go back to coffee eventually. But for now it’s a special planned treat. For example, I really wanted to try the mint chocolate coffee at the candy store, so I got it on a day I knew I could go straight to bed if needed. It was absolutely delicious by the way.

Most days I’ve switched out coffee for warm broths. I’m not much of a tea person but I have a couple I like. But broths also can have a nice little nutritional kick so I tend to reach for them. And I don’t reach for them first thing in the morning, I wait until others are up, so I’ve also kicked the morning march to the coffee maker habit. 

It wasn’t such a big deal over the summer, but as we are going into fall and winter, I am missing my coffee a little more now. There’s nothing quite like a warm cup on a frosty morning.

In any case, I think I’ll survive, pretty sure there are worse fates.

Until we chat again my friends. 

It’s a Dog’s Life

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Hello friends!

Well, it’s cold, it’s gray, and it’s been intermittently smoky for weeks. Seems to me it’s definitely fall. Although, I must admit, the Grey thing is not something I am used to here. In Seattle sure, but generally we still see the sun around here. But there’s been lots of overcast days. I wouldn’t mind if they produced rain, which would help with fires and smoke, but these menacing clouds are mostly just for show it seems, or potential disaster. 

We had one angry stretch of dry lightning a week or so ago that nearly burned down the high school, because it burnt the hills up behind it. To my knowledge nobody lost any structures, but I know a few people got close. Chicken Hill burned too, and I guess during the microsburst people thought some of the windows, especially the big ones in businesses, were going to shatter, either from wind or the severe crashing of the thunder. They had to call in the three surrounding jurisdictions to help because there was just so much on fire at once.

We were very lucky to be on the outskirts. We got a side hit of the wind, but nothing was damaged and only one tarp attempted to take leg bail. The thunder crashing upset the doggos, but cuddles and good crates calmed them down. The dog equivalent of hiding under the covers is a properly cozy den space, tailored to the dog, available all the time. Mine are, of course, spoiled rotten but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Joe has a plush mat, open walls, a blanket and a toy, Scooby has a gel cooled, memory foam mat, closed, rounded sides, and a very light blanket, and Watson has a little closed den with enough blankets and bedding that sometimes I truly wonder how he fits in there. All doggos get extra blankets/comforters when it starts getting cool but other than Watts, I generally have hot dogs. Especially Scoobs, sometimes I think he’d be happiest in the arctic. 

It should surprise no one that they also have an involved nighttime routine

Although, that’s not entirely true anymore because I have now seen, since moving here, how much he truly detests snow. Does not like being wet, does not like that it sticks to him, that it’s hard to walk in, and honestly, I can’t blame him all that much.

Scoobs has been learning lots of new things lately. Since he’s lost his sight, he’s learned to navigate the house by feel. Unfortunately he’s also learned to wail at all hours to get attention. The vet says he’s fine, he just has a hard time differentiating between day and night and when he decides it’s morning there is no convincing him otherwise. Even if it’s one a.m. The vet suggested trying to have a really solid bedtime routine and lots of busy work during the day. So he gets lots of wander and explore time outside until the weather turns cold, and I’ve been taking him down on a leash with me to feed in the evenings (don’t worry, there’s always a fence between him and the other critters, I wouldn’t put him in danger even if he could see. I also usually bring a buddy, so he has a dedicated seeing eye person too). He seems to really enjoy it but it’s a lot of walking on little legs so we are worn out by the time we make the porch again. It’s hard work being small.

I think he also likes it because it’s something special that just he gets to do. We haven’t been bringing his brothers down because generally I don’t want the dogs to get used to that area being a space they can go to on their own. They occasionally come down when I am working on a project down there, I bring the doggie play pen down and they hang out, but in general, Scooby has been the only one to get to walk down there every night. It also allows us to go at his pace, and he can stop and explore or take a breather if needed. It’s a pretty thinky experience too because he isn’t used to the gravel down there, or the hay on the ground, or all the new smells. Now that he’s not as reliant on sight, he’s got lots of exploring to do. So it’s good exercise too.

I don’t know how the horses feel about it though, because it definitely slows down the feeding process. Generally, they see me start the evening trek to the barn and they come hauling tail in from the pasture, but now they have to stand patiently waiting at their spots instead of being met with food. I am not as quick to get down there. But they still get snuggles and sweets and goodnight kisses so the result is the same. Scooby chills out by the door so he can take a breather while I move the hay around.

Speaking of hay, it’s time for me to pull down a new bale, and I should probably do that before it starts raining today or all the bales will get wet, so I better sign off for now.

Until we chat again, my friends!