Do you ever have days when it seems like nothing at ALL makes any sense? I'm so confused right now, I don't even know where to begin. My mind is reeling with questions.
Am I a bad friend?
Do I not know how to read anybody?
How well can you really know another person?
Can you trust anyone to be totally honest with you?
Do you just keep to yourself and not get close to anyone?
Are you supposed to feel that you have to be on your guard with everyone?
Should a person just flit thru life having fun with people and keep the serious crap locked away?
Is it supposed to be okay to have people come and go so easily in and out of your life?
Should a person just pull back into their safe little shell, stay away from their computer so as not to be so damn confused by the conflicts?
Two very special people in my 3D world are constantly telling me that I over think things and take too much, too seriously. I think it's time I listened. I need to lighten up-blow stuff off-step away from the drama and above all else, refrain from getting involved in any way, shape or manner.
I know this doesn't make any sense, but I guess it's not supposed to.....on account of I'm so confused! I think I'll go talk to my horses. They'll help me noodle this out!
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Yankee Chick~ Tales of a Yankee Lost in the Ozarks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
The Rose Garden and A Happy Horse
Well, the rose garden is officially finished and hopefully they will actually live and grow up to be somebody!
Chuck worked SO hard on such a hot day to lay this out and get the stone set just right! I love stone, always wanted a stone wall and he has given me the next best thing. He bought a huge truckload of these great stones back when we first bought the house and has made me several flower beds from them. These pictures aren't the best, but you get the general idea. Hopefully when the roses take off again and are bursting with green leaves and blossoms, I will get some better pictures to show off. You can sure see how dry and 'crunchy' our lawn is from the lack of rain! We've even got a couple of tress that are dying... :(
I sound pretty optimistic for someone with 2 brown thumbs, don't I?? But I insist that I should be able to grow roses since it seems that everyone and their brother has roses growing in their yard. The garden is in direct line of my view to the horse pasture from the window by my computer. It will sure be pretty WHEN it takes off and they grow nice and pretty. The lady we bought them from pruned them a LOT....almost like they need to be pruned back about in February, at least in this part of the country. Ah, well. Time will tell. We got 9 bushes for $60, which is a great deal and not so expensive that we would be out a whole lot if they don't make it.
For my Dixie update, I am SO happy to report that she is doing quite a bit better already! She seems to be losing some weight on her "crash diet", which helps and she is also getting back to being her frisky self, so we know she is feeling better! Yesterday, we let her out into the pasture with Susie and they ran and played and Dixie even kicked up her heels a bit! I was elated!! The farrier will be here again Wednesday to trim her hooves again, which is great cuz they are sure growing fast with no shoes on, as well as her limited exercise. But she's up to getting a bit more of that, now, from the looks of it and that will aid in the weight loss tremendously!
Chuck worked SO hard on such a hot day to lay this out and get the stone set just right! I love stone, always wanted a stone wall and he has given me the next best thing. He bought a huge truckload of these great stones back when we first bought the house and has made me several flower beds from them. These pictures aren't the best, but you get the general idea. Hopefully when the roses take off again and are bursting with green leaves and blossoms, I will get some better pictures to show off. You can sure see how dry and 'crunchy' our lawn is from the lack of rain! We've even got a couple of tress that are dying... :(
I sound pretty optimistic for someone with 2 brown thumbs, don't I?? But I insist that I should be able to grow roses since it seems that everyone and their brother has roses growing in their yard. The garden is in direct line of my view to the horse pasture from the window by my computer. It will sure be pretty WHEN it takes off and they grow nice and pretty. The lady we bought them from pruned them a LOT....almost like they need to be pruned back about in February, at least in this part of the country. Ah, well. Time will tell. We got 9 bushes for $60, which is a great deal and not so expensive that we would be out a whole lot if they don't make it.
For my Dixie update, I am SO happy to report that she is doing quite a bit better already! She seems to be losing some weight on her "crash diet", which helps and she is also getting back to being her frisky self, so we know she is feeling better! Yesterday, we let her out into the pasture with Susie and they ran and played and Dixie even kicked up her heels a bit! I was elated!! The farrier will be here again Wednesday to trim her hooves again, which is great cuz they are sure growing fast with no shoes on, as well as her limited exercise. But she's up to getting a bit more of that, now, from the looks of it and that will aid in the weight loss tremendously!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Southern Fried Yankee
The heat wave and dry spell continue, here in Arkansas. All sorts of records are being broken as temps stay above 100 with heat index up to 115 most days. In fact the days have turned to weeks and we have had no rain. Everything is dry and crunchy...especially our lawn. I have thrown away 1/2 of my plants because even after being watered twice daily, they are still dying. It's really sad. And everyday I light a candle and send up a prayer of thanks to the person that invented A/C! LOL
Yesterday was a very fun day, in spite of the heat. My dear friend, Victoria and I went to a nearby town to check out what was reputed to be an awesome quilt and yarn shop. We left there, not only empty handed but very disappointed, as well. It is unheard of for me to go to a fabric store and leave empty handed, but nothing inspired me. I was mostly focused on checking out their yarn because nice yarn shops are far and few between in these parts, but I have more yarn just in my sewing room than they had in their entire shop!
The town we went to, Siloam Springs, is right on the Oklahoma border and about a 38 mile drive from Rogers. It has some great older homes and fun little shops, so we did drive around and check them out. Sure wish I had taken one of my cameras, but with yarn on the brain, I wasn't thinking about taking pictures. It was very interesting to both of us {having both been raised hard core Catholics} to see that a couple of churches were being turned into homes! We weren't even 'allowed' to enter a non-Catholic church, so the idea of living in a church, at first, made us both gasp! But then, of course, we laughed at our silliness. Times have sure changed!
All of our traipsing around the various Antique shops and such, did us both in, though. V had knee surgery a few months before I had my back surgery and it bothers her to over-do it, as well. I fared better with my shopping trips with Riley than I did yesterday, for some reason. It was great fun, but we were wiped out and actually cut the day a bit shorter than originally planned. The heat didn't help any!
As for my progress, my physical therapy ended about 3 weeks ago, and I must admit that I have not been doing my exercises as diligently as I should be and I need to work on that. It's been almost 5 months and I'm pretty discouraged about the potential 'quality of life' that I will be left with. BUT, he said that it would take a year, so I try to be patient. I finally have my 6 month check up scheduled, for Sept 29th and I am SO anxious to go and see if I am healing properly and how things look on the inside, as well as to get the surgeons input on my progress. Most days I try to make myself do more than I really feel up to doing, just because I feel that I NEED to. Sometimes it works out okay and other times I am sorry. I'm beginning to feel that that will always be the way it is. I sure hope not, but I really don't know. I can safely say that I am glad I had the surgery. In spite of the ordeal, I am much better off the way I am now, as opposed to pre-surgery. There is no question about that! I do know that alot of what I am experiencing now, is due to nerve damage that took place during the surgery. Not necessarily "damage", but simply the moving and repositioning of the nerves to accommodate the changes that took place in there. That still affects my legs a great deal. Bah. Enough of that.
Chuck is outside building my rose garden bed. Time to go supervise the planting :). Pictures tomorrow and a Dixie update. Stay tuned!!
Yesterday was a very fun day, in spite of the heat. My dear friend, Victoria and I went to a nearby town to check out what was reputed to be an awesome quilt and yarn shop. We left there, not only empty handed but very disappointed, as well. It is unheard of for me to go to a fabric store and leave empty handed, but nothing inspired me. I was mostly focused on checking out their yarn because nice yarn shops are far and few between in these parts, but I have more yarn just in my sewing room than they had in their entire shop!
The town we went to, Siloam Springs, is right on the Oklahoma border and about a 38 mile drive from Rogers. It has some great older homes and fun little shops, so we did drive around and check them out. Sure wish I had taken one of my cameras, but with yarn on the brain, I wasn't thinking about taking pictures. It was very interesting to both of us {having both been raised hard core Catholics} to see that a couple of churches were being turned into homes! We weren't even 'allowed' to enter a non-Catholic church, so the idea of living in a church, at first, made us both gasp! But then, of course, we laughed at our silliness. Times have sure changed!
All of our traipsing around the various Antique shops and such, did us both in, though. V had knee surgery a few months before I had my back surgery and it bothers her to over-do it, as well. I fared better with my shopping trips with Riley than I did yesterday, for some reason. It was great fun, but we were wiped out and actually cut the day a bit shorter than originally planned. The heat didn't help any!
As for my progress, my physical therapy ended about 3 weeks ago, and I must admit that I have not been doing my exercises as diligently as I should be and I need to work on that. It's been almost 5 months and I'm pretty discouraged about the potential 'quality of life' that I will be left with. BUT, he said that it would take a year, so I try to be patient. I finally have my 6 month check up scheduled, for Sept 29th and I am SO anxious to go and see if I am healing properly and how things look on the inside, as well as to get the surgeons input on my progress. Most days I try to make myself do more than I really feel up to doing, just because I feel that I NEED to. Sometimes it works out okay and other times I am sorry. I'm beginning to feel that that will always be the way it is. I sure hope not, but I really don't know. I can safely say that I am glad I had the surgery. In spite of the ordeal, I am much better off the way I am now, as opposed to pre-surgery. There is no question about that! I do know that alot of what I am experiencing now, is due to nerve damage that took place during the surgery. Not necessarily "damage", but simply the moving and repositioning of the nerves to accommodate the changes that took place in there. That still affects my legs a great deal. Bah. Enough of that.
Chuck is outside building my rose garden bed. Time to go supervise the planting :). Pictures tomorrow and a Dixie update. Stay tuned!!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Roses and Horses and Finches....Oh My!
My lovely daughter, Terri, has a faboo friend that is quite the gardener. She has gotten Terri into it big time. So much so that M constructed Terri a greenhouse and built wonderful garden beds for her! Anyway, Shany {Terri's friend} created a rose garden as a memorial to her mother. Shany lost her mother to cancer a few short years ago and seeing as how her mother loved roses she planted a lovely plot and even had a nice sign made. That got me thinking. My Mom loved roses.....yellow roses. AND....roses seem to grow really well here in BF Arkansas. Everyone seems to have thriving rose bushes, except me of course, because I always thought they would be terribly complicated and I would kill them for sure! Anyway, after seeing Shany's rose garden, I decided to give it a go. I also had some influence from our dear Poolie, as she has some incredible roses under her care!
My plan was to have my Timmy help me build a rose garden while he and Riley were visiting. He has really gotten into helping Terri and Shany with their gardens and we had a plan!! Alas, time ran short and Chuck didn't have time to do HIS part in all of this, so Tim and I didn't get to build my rose garden together :(. HOWEVER! As luck would have it, the lady at the end of our road {who used to work for a nursery~and who's house was surrounded by gorgeous plants and flowers, including many roses} is moving! Last night on his way home, Chuck stopped to see her and came home with 9 rose bushes and 2 HUGE SunPatiens plants (a form if Impatiens only HUGE)! What a surprise!!
The plan is to build a big bed out of some rock we have that he made me a couple other flower beds out of. And since the bed he made me for my Hydrangeas has taken off and done so well.....and since roses allegedly like the same conditions as Hydrangeas, he will make the bed for me in the same area of the yard. Which, BTW, just happens to be near the pasture fence and in direct line of my view to said pasture, from my computer and sewing machine! If they live, it will be prefect!! She seriously pruned them, as you can see, but I suspect she knew what she was doing. Her only advice was to water in the morning and again in the early afternoon and give them rose food once a week. She said they don't like to "go to bed wet". LOL So....I think I can handle that. I think I can, I think I can.......Of course I will be researching online and will greatly appreciate any and all input from any of you that are successful rose growers!!
And, in other news.......I was quite envious of Poolie's daily gathering of finches at her feeders! I often see finches out on the fence and flitting by the window, but only after her influence did I finally decide to acquire some finch feeders. Well, they went undetected for so long....5 or 6 days.....I was about to move them one morning, when lo and behold, I had a visitor! That was about 2 weeks ago....and all this time I only ever saw just the one. But 2 days ago, there were 3! And this AM there were 5! I am thrilled. I love having birds around, just outside my windows and although I do miss my favorites in Alaska, there are so many down here that don't live up there! The gold finches (only visit Alaska briefly), Cardinals, Indigo Buntings, Blue birds, House Finches, and I musn't forget the Hummingbirds!! I'm still working on pictures. For some reason, they seem to take flight when I quietly open the door, with camera in hand and a rambunctious Cocker Spaniel comes out of no where and goes bursting thru the door! I just need to remember to camp out on the back deck, while Gus is at work with Chuck, and quietly wait for them!
And Dixie is doing a little better everyday. Although I wish we had a horse size scale so we could weigh her and see if her "water and hay" diet is helping yet. Can't see any difference yet, but with horses it does show fairly quickly. She had to come over and investigate while I was watering the roses this AM.
Actually, her appetite hasn't been that great and she hasn't even finished all of her hay until yesterday. Apparently it is improving, as she appears to be liking the taste of the fence......better keep an eye on her that she doesn't start eating it LOL And I just noticed the ripples in the water trough! Susie was taking a drink, just out of sight of the camera/phone. :)
My plan was to have my Timmy help me build a rose garden while he and Riley were visiting. He has really gotten into helping Terri and Shany with their gardens and we had a plan!! Alas, time ran short and Chuck didn't have time to do HIS part in all of this, so Tim and I didn't get to build my rose garden together :(. HOWEVER! As luck would have it, the lady at the end of our road {who used to work for a nursery~and who's house was surrounded by gorgeous plants and flowers, including many roses} is moving! Last night on his way home, Chuck stopped to see her and came home with 9 rose bushes and 2 HUGE SunPatiens plants (a form if Impatiens only HUGE)! What a surprise!!
And, in other news.......I was quite envious of Poolie's daily gathering of finches at her feeders! I often see finches out on the fence and flitting by the window, but only after her influence did I finally decide to acquire some finch feeders. Well, they went undetected for so long....5 or 6 days.....I was about to move them one morning, when lo and behold, I had a visitor! That was about 2 weeks ago....and all this time I only ever saw just the one. But 2 days ago, there were 3! And this AM there were 5! I am thrilled. I love having birds around, just outside my windows and although I do miss my favorites in Alaska, there are so many down here that don't live up there! The gold finches (only visit Alaska briefly), Cardinals, Indigo Buntings, Blue birds, House Finches, and I musn't forget the Hummingbirds!! I'm still working on pictures. For some reason, they seem to take flight when I quietly open the door, with camera in hand and a rambunctious Cocker Spaniel comes out of no where and goes bursting thru the door! I just need to remember to camp out on the back deck, while Gus is at work with Chuck, and quietly wait for them!
And Dixie is doing a little better everyday. Although I wish we had a horse size scale so we could weigh her and see if her "water and hay" diet is helping yet. Can't see any difference yet, but with horses it does show fairly quickly. She had to come over and investigate while I was watering the roses this AM.
Actually, her appetite hasn't been that great and she hasn't even finished all of her hay until yesterday. Apparently it is improving, as she appears to be liking the taste of the fence......better keep an eye on her that she doesn't start eating it LOL And I just noticed the ripples in the water trough! Susie was taking a drink, just out of sight of the camera/phone. :)
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Dixie's Sad Story
Some of you already know about my poor sick horse, Dixie, as you have read about it on FaceBook, but my poor darling is still suffering and it it so heart wrenching to watch and be able to do so little!
She is 'Foundering", or in more current medical jargon, she has Laminitis. The bones above her front hooves have shifted position and it causes the bone to press down on the 'inside' of the hoof. This results in inflammation and much pain. Apparently she has had the condition for quite sometime, as it doesn't just happen overnight. However, we saw the 1st signs of a real problem last Sunday night and by Tuesday afternoon, it was apparent that she had a serious problem! Wed AM we were off to the vet with her and after much examination and some X-Rays, we got the bad news. This is not an fast or easy fix, but it can become manageable.
While researching her symptoms, I was afraid that she had West Nile Virus. They were about a month over due for their shots, because of Chuck's mother passing away and his trip to New York and then to Florida to deal with all of that.
As for her symptoms....she was walking very gingerly and it was apparent that something was hurting her, but we couldn't figure out what. We both checked her legs and hooves thoroughly and couldn't find anything. As the days progressed, it was becoming more and more difficult for her to walk, she wasn't eating and she would just stand in a corner hanging her head, or she would lie down on her side, panting heavily. On Tuesday afternoon, no amount of coaxing would get her to get up. I was in a panic! Called Chuck, he came right home and by that time she had managed to get up, but we had to help her to the barn. It was pretty scary. And Susie knew something was wrong with her youngin', cuz she would stand over her or right beside her, nickering the whole time.
Thankfully she trailered up okay, so that the vet didn't have to come to the house. When it was becoming clear to him what her problem was, he even showed us the area right above her front hooves was actually pulsating from the inflammation! I was in tears...and so wishing that she didn't weigh quite so much, so that I could take her in my lap and comfort her!
Pretty much all we could do for her was to get the farrier here and get her shoes off and get her hooves trimmed down as short as possible to give her some relief that way. We were starting out with a new farrier, so we were a bit concerned but this guy has done it for years and it's all he does. He was very familiar with the situation and was even more informative than the vet! Where the vet wasn't concerned about her weight so much, Rusty (new farrier) was. As I had pointed out a post or 2 ago, she is a bit plump and although not considered obese by horse standards, Rusty said that losing weight will be a big factor for her. So.....she is on a crash diet! No grain, no grass. She is gated up in the barnyard and on hay and water only. So far she doesn't mind. And although she is moving around a little better, she still is a far cry from 'being herself'.
Our other farrier always complained about her feet being so small that it was difficult to shoe her. Well, apparently 'bad shoeing' is a majorly contributing factor in her condition. Not a good thing for as much as she is ridden and the trail ride must have been very difficult for her! But, bless her heart, she is a 'pleaser' and will do anything for us and that includes keeping on going even when the going gets tough...with no complaints. The vet said she is one tough little girl! Anyway....the poor shoeing caused her to walk on her tip toes, so to speak, and after a time, caused the shifting of the bone. I can relate to that. It's like my back problems and pain for a couple years, made me walk to try to compensate, and gave me bad hip problems. As with me, 4 months post-surgery and I am still dealing with much hip pain, Dixie will take many months to heal as well. And the vet can't give her anything for the pain. He said that if he took the pain away, it would allow her to overdo it and she wouldn't heal. Makes sense, but breaks my heart!
And now, for more info than you probably ever wanted, here is the X-Ray of one of Dixie's hooves {on the top, of course} and on the bottom is a picture of what it should look like, as well as one that shows how much worse hers could be!
And so, we hope for quick weight loss and we keep her hooves trimmed about every 2 weeks to keep the pressure off the front and we do what we can to make her comfortable. I was quite concerned about her lethargy, but as the vet pointed out....between the high temps we've been having and the pain she is in, it's no wonder. It's been over 100 for a couple weeks with the heat index up to 115 most days. Since she loves to be hosed down, I have been going out and walking her over to the hose and trying to cool her down a couple times a day. I sure hope it comforts her. There's not much else we can do, except that she is loving all the petting and hugging and kisses. She's such a baby girl!
And Susie has been amazing! Talk about a good mother....she has stayed right by Dixie's side and when ever Dixie starts walking somewhere, Susie gets up behind her and sort of nudges her along. Encouraging her and helping her. Can you stand it??? I learn something new and amazing about these horses everyday. For everything I hate about having to live in Arkansas, the blessing of having these horses in my life is something that I am grateful for.
She is 'Foundering", or in more current medical jargon, she has Laminitis. The bones above her front hooves have shifted position and it causes the bone to press down on the 'inside' of the hoof. This results in inflammation and much pain. Apparently she has had the condition for quite sometime, as it doesn't just happen overnight. However, we saw the 1st signs of a real problem last Sunday night and by Tuesday afternoon, it was apparent that she had a serious problem! Wed AM we were off to the vet with her and after much examination and some X-Rays, we got the bad news. This is not an fast or easy fix, but it can become manageable.
While researching her symptoms, I was afraid that she had West Nile Virus. They were about a month over due for their shots, because of Chuck's mother passing away and his trip to New York and then to Florida to deal with all of that.
As for her symptoms....she was walking very gingerly and it was apparent that something was hurting her, but we couldn't figure out what. We both checked her legs and hooves thoroughly and couldn't find anything. As the days progressed, it was becoming more and more difficult for her to walk, she wasn't eating and she would just stand in a corner hanging her head, or she would lie down on her side, panting heavily. On Tuesday afternoon, no amount of coaxing would get her to get up. I was in a panic! Called Chuck, he came right home and by that time she had managed to get up, but we had to help her to the barn. It was pretty scary. And Susie knew something was wrong with her youngin', cuz she would stand over her or right beside her, nickering the whole time.
Thankfully she trailered up okay, so that the vet didn't have to come to the house. When it was becoming clear to him what her problem was, he even showed us the area right above her front hooves was actually pulsating from the inflammation! I was in tears...and so wishing that she didn't weigh quite so much, so that I could take her in my lap and comfort her!
Pretty much all we could do for her was to get the farrier here and get her shoes off and get her hooves trimmed down as short as possible to give her some relief that way. We were starting out with a new farrier, so we were a bit concerned but this guy has done it for years and it's all he does. He was very familiar with the situation and was even more informative than the vet! Where the vet wasn't concerned about her weight so much, Rusty (new farrier) was. As I had pointed out a post or 2 ago, she is a bit plump and although not considered obese by horse standards, Rusty said that losing weight will be a big factor for her. So.....she is on a crash diet! No grain, no grass. She is gated up in the barnyard and on hay and water only. So far she doesn't mind. And although she is moving around a little better, she still is a far cry from 'being herself'.
Our other farrier always complained about her feet being so small that it was difficult to shoe her. Well, apparently 'bad shoeing' is a majorly contributing factor in her condition. Not a good thing for as much as she is ridden and the trail ride must have been very difficult for her! But, bless her heart, she is a 'pleaser' and will do anything for us and that includes keeping on going even when the going gets tough...with no complaints. The vet said she is one tough little girl! Anyway....the poor shoeing caused her to walk on her tip toes, so to speak, and after a time, caused the shifting of the bone. I can relate to that. It's like my back problems and pain for a couple years, made me walk to try to compensate, and gave me bad hip problems. As with me, 4 months post-surgery and I am still dealing with much hip pain, Dixie will take many months to heal as well. And the vet can't give her anything for the pain. He said that if he took the pain away, it would allow her to overdo it and she wouldn't heal. Makes sense, but breaks my heart!
And so, we hope for quick weight loss and we keep her hooves trimmed about every 2 weeks to keep the pressure off the front and we do what we can to make her comfortable. I was quite concerned about her lethargy, but as the vet pointed out....between the high temps we've been having and the pain she is in, it's no wonder. It's been over 100 for a couple weeks with the heat index up to 115 most days. Since she loves to be hosed down, I have been going out and walking her over to the hose and trying to cool her down a couple times a day. I sure hope it comforts her. There's not much else we can do, except that she is loving all the petting and hugging and kisses. She's such a baby girl!
And Susie has been amazing! Talk about a good mother....she has stayed right by Dixie's side and when ever Dixie starts walking somewhere, Susie gets up behind her and sort of nudges her along. Encouraging her and helping her. Can you stand it??? I learn something new and amazing about these horses everyday. For everything I hate about having to live in Arkansas, the blessing of having these horses in my life is something that I am grateful for.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Birthday's!!
First, allow me to wish my dear Timothy a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! He is 10 today and ever so confident that as of today, he will {automatically :)} be more grown up and not so spazzy. He is so funny! He really is quite the comedian, not falling far from his father's "tree", so to speak. LOL
AND.....the day after tomorrow, on the 5th it will be XANDER'S birthday!! And he will be 5! Big day for this handsome man as well!
There are cupcakes for breakfast to be had, picnics and much swimming at the lake and special birthday cakes with a few gifts tossed in on the horizon! I suppose they will have fun even if I can't be there, sniff sniff...
There are cupcakes for breakfast to be had, picnics and much swimming at the lake and special birthday cakes with a few gifts tossed in on the horizon! I suppose they will have fun even if I can't be there, sniff sniff...
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