Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Keepin' on, keepin' on


We have been wet here.  We've been making up for our dry spring and summer in spades.  We have mud upon mud upon mud.  The pasture has that familiar river running through it - you know, the one that ends at the water trough?  Oh, and the other river that runs alongside our driveway as it makes its' way to the ditch.  They're all full, and showing no signs of slowing.  Right now, we're getting a break.  The sun is peaking through wispy clouds and it gives me hope.  Couldn't find my sunglasses on the drive to work this morning, and I felt like a mole.  Haven't seen that bright orb in the sky for a while...but we'll take the break and be thankful.

Ladde is ever so slowly making progress.  It's a painfully slow recovery, but I'll take it.  He had a bit of a backslide after his recent trim.  Troy trimmed his heels more than normal and I think he's feeling the pull of those tendons in the back.  You see, foundered horses grow more heel than toe and it can take a full year or more to become "normal" again.  His abscesses are pretty much finished draining now, so we aren't soaking and poulticing now.  He's been completely barefooted the last few days trying to dry out and harden up those hooves again.  And today, MH turned Ladde out in the big pasture with everybody else.  He's wearing his boots while out, but we'll pull them this evening when he's stalled overnight.  He's on 2 mg Prescend daily, and down to a 500 lb. dose of banamine twice daily.  Sure hoping we can get him off the pain meds entirely really soon.  *fingers crossed*  Last Saturday marked the 2 month mark since the onset of his laminitis.  Wow, it's taken a toll!  But we will keep on doing what we need to do to (hopefully) ensure no more episodes for the poor guy.  And the biggest blessing in all this is, (to our knowledge) no more seizures!  We are so thankful for that!  We don't know why they occurred, but as long as they stay gone, we're happy.

All the other horses seem to be doing well.  Harley has a serious case of bad breath, so I'm thinking he may have a bad tooth, or is packing feed somewhere.  We'll likely have to have dentals on everybody really soon.  For some reason, it feels like our list of "need to do's" just keeps going on and on.  Maybe once we accomplish this latest thing, it might be smooth sailing for a while.

My in-house project of re-organizing and cleaning out and hauling off, continues.  With the time change, and darkness settling in before I leave the clinic, I'm finding it more difficult to get anything accomplished in the evenings.  So that leaves the weekends to try and squeeze my projects in, and try to keep up with the daily stuff.  Slowly, but surely it's happening though.  Patience has never been a virtue I was blessed with.  Nope!  I like to get things done and move on.  MH cleaned out our camper and got it winterized last Sunday.  He also re-built the big gate that Missy broke while scratching her butt a while back.  Next on his list is re-organizing our wood shed and cleaning out our stove pipe.  We haven't had any fires in the wood stove yet this season, but the temperatures continue to drop and we'll be wanting a cozy fire before long.  Our little pellet stove in the LR helps a lot, but when it gets really cold, we need the addition of the wood stove to keep comfortable.

I got my curtains ordered for our bedroom, and a new down comforter for our bed.  I'll be looking for a tiny end table and a lamp before long, and that's it.  The bedroom will be finished!  It's really nice sleeping in our bedroom again, and freeing up all that space in the LR.  Last Sunday I spent the majority of my day in the upstairs bedroom - not the guest room - but the one we use as a closet and dressing room.  I deep cleaned everything and moved some furniture to make the room more user-friendly.  I even organized all the dresser drawers and closets.  Next up is the guest room.  I've already  removed the bedding and laundered everything, so making up the bed and vacuuming and dusting after the summer of leaving windows open 24/7 is all that's left to the upstairs.  One of these days we'll re-paint and replace the carpeting...but I'm not even going there for now.

I've still got several loads of stuff that's destined for Goodwill, but it's been so rainy lately that I've put that little chore on the back burner.  The weather forecast for the weekend looks promising, so with any luck, I can do it then.  It feels so very good to be cleaning out so much stuff that we don't need!  I'm loving it, and definitely on a roll!!  Next up...that piano.  I don't play it anymore and would like to see someone who will put it to good use, have it.

Charlotte turned 5 months old yesterday.  She's almost as tall as Ruby is already, and is turning into a lovely young lady.  :)  She's a fun pup and I'm happy we have her.  Most of the time anyways...

We've still not finalized our plans for Thanksgiving.  We'd thought to go to the church potluck, but my sis called and invited us to the family get-together, and now I'm torn.  I don't see my family very often, and usually find myself feeling upset when I do hear about everything that's been going on with them, when I do.  But none of us are getting any younger.  My sister is in her early 70's and has some occasional health issues.  *crap*  What to do?

Anyway, that's an update of what's been going on with us lately.  Hope you all enjoy the upcoming holiday and make the most of the long weekend.


9 comments:

Grey Horse Matters said...

Glad to hear Ladde is doing better. I know how hard it is to deal with laminitis/founder because Dusty had two bouts of it over the years. Good to hear he's had no more seizures too. Sounds like he'll be okay.

It's good to clean out everything once in a while. I've got to start that one of these days too. The basement is the first thing to tackle. My son still has his drum sets down there and clothes he'll never wear etc. My one daughter has a bunch of Bryer horses from childhood packed away. Must be a hundred of them down there and an old computer from high school. You can't believe the stuff they saved. And they have their own houses now so they're getting it all back as soon as I can get myself in gear and get it to them!

Sherry Sikstrom said...

Busy days! I am glad Ladde is on the mend! Have a nice thanksgiving whatever you decide to do

Anonymous said...

Glad Ladde is slowly improving, and no more seizures is a very good sign too. Laminitis takes a long time to heal, but it sounds like he's on the track back to good health.

I need to do some cleaning/organizing too . . .

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

Awesome that your horse is doing better, and... go to family. In the end you will be glad that you did.

I've been cleaning and organizing too.. that was my blog post this morning! LOL.. it does the soul good.



Gail said...

I made the table from a piece of old tongue and grove black walnut I found in the barn...the legs are cedar. It comes in handy.

Have a great day.

aurora said...

Glad to hear Laddie is on the mend. You are such a good mom. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

T.L. Merrybard said...

Where to go is a tricky one. I was recently taught to try imaginging how you would feel if you went to one and not the other, and then imagine the reverse, then decide based on what feelings come up. Not on guilt, on good feelings!

C-ingspots said...

Thanks Tina, that's what I did (sort of). I'm making up my mind to enjoy who they are, instead of who I wished they'd be. LOL - bet they feel the same way about me!! :)

Thanks everyone for your good wishes and kindness.

Linda said...

Ladde is lucky to have you taking care of him. It sounds like he's on the road to better health.

We're having a small Thanksgiving this year with our kids. We usually host the extended family, which is about 25-30 people, but this year they're meeting at my sister's house, and I just wanted something small and quiet. Whatever you choose, I hope it's special.

Did the big storm affect you? We had 71 mph winds last Tuesday that blew our barn bay door off. It was awful. Our office just had power restored yesterday.