Nine lives and a pint of scare

I think I shaved about a week off my life yesterday afternoon with the massive influx of adrenalin, high blood pressure and stress. All is fine now but those few hours were among the longest evar.

It all started with the urge to catch this year's super-early autumn foliage on camera because it only takes one wet windy storm to strip the leaves off the trees and there you go, you missed it. I thought to take the doggies along for the ride and then walk them around the woods a bit for a treat, they go crazy happy along the trails and it makes me smile.

The skies were ominous but holding dry,
rains were only predicted for today:

Almost there, winding along up the mountain

(it's a good 20-25 minute drive):

Made it to the trails, here's where we park the car!

We had been here with Vegas twice before so it wasn't too new, nor old:

How can you say no to such a face?

They love to gorge on crystal-clear fresh water, splish splash!

The rushing creek was very loud from all the rains though..

And then...

We got back to the car and I let the doggies wander a bit for one last pee.

I called them over after I snapped this pic, they were on their way back.

I turned around for one minute

while I loaded up the car and prepared stuff for the ride home.

Then nothing.

They were GONE, vanished.

They've never once done that after a nice long trail walk - ever.

I waited two minutes, thinking they would come back as they always do.

Nothing.

I started to frantically call them, running and walking down the road.

Nothing.

I drove with the windows down, calling and calling every 10 to 15 seconds.

I got out and walked for an hour on every available path,

I tried to track their prints in the muddy road.

Nothing.

Just the trees, the wind, the loud creek and heavy skies.

I got Vegas on the phone, I didn't know what to do.

Adrenaline had me shaking and I was in the middle of a massive hypoglycemic attack.

My throat was raw from calling out to them,

I couldn't walk anymore as I was not equipped for hiking -

This was supposed to be a short drive to take photos!

He said to drive home and he'd come back to look for them.

My hero.

I somehow made the drive home, half-blind with tears

and gulping in breaths to not faint.

I was leaving my babies behind, I'd never done that in my life.

I'd failed them.

Vegas was waiting for me on the doorstep

all packed up and ready to go.

Equipped and determined.

"Don't worry hunny, I'm bringing them home".

I found out later that these pretty mountains

Harbour many dark corners

Filled with aggressive and dangerous wildlife

and even more dangerous redneck hunters.

If I had known that then

I would have had serious problems with high blood pressure.

Vegas kept quiet about that part until he got home.

Did I mention he was my hero?

He first found Maika, our girl,

wet, limping and so exhausted she barely made it to the car.

The dogs got seperated somehow,

which is frightening.

A while later he found Dakotah, our boy

in the same condition, lost and confused.

Very sore paws and very, very tired.

He figured they had gone much farther than where I had searched,

and since the creek was so loud he instead

whistled and jangled his car keys, sounds they both know well.

It worked.

They heard him.

Here they are, safe and home at last.

What an ordeal... The doggies are so stiff they have trouble walking and are taking baby steps ow ow ow - they've been sleeping since they came home! They're finally dry today but will be taking it easy for the next few days. I got them a special treat for dinner tonight (yes for Vegas too, LOL!).

I don't know what prompted them to wander off like that. Just when you think you know your pets after having them for so many years, they go and do something unexpected. I let my guard down for a moment and bam!

Well, never again.

Trust = lost, gone with the wind, vamoosed.

I keep thinking of them lost up there in the wilderness, cold and wet and hungry, in the dark - they had their tags on but humans are few and far between up there this time of year.

*shudder*

May this be a warning to all you dog owners... it can happen to you, too.

Hug your babies well tonight.

/end of What A Close Call post/

It was a dark and rainy night...

...but who cares when you're cozy warm inside :-D

How do you spend most of your evening time, that special aaaaaaaaaaah moment that belongs to you after a long day's work devoted to everyone else?

My guilty pleasure: Spider Solitaire on my laptop and cruising the internet... blogging... playing around with photos... you know, the usual. And that's OK because Vegas is busy shooting people and blowing up things, bad-boy style.

Not for reals, of course!

Oh man. I really have to get those dang crown moldings up... and put stuff on the walls... curtains on the bare windows...

Someday.

Sometimes we'll watch a movie together, more often than not Vegas will watch one while I'm online paying half-attention next to him on the couch - what can I say, I'm super fussy with movies and most of them just bore me to death.

But! This one! LOVED IT!

If you like fun action movies with a good plot you will love this flick! It was totally engaging, funny with enough special fx and great stunts to keep things hopping at a good pace - I didn't expect to like it and wow, I will definitely watch it again :-)

Someday.

/end of Ya Got A Good Thing Goin' On, Babe post/

What's up, sugarcup?

Oh not much, just the usual I suppose...

Just breathing in endless dramatic skies and ducking from the nonstop rain (this September = wettest I can remember in a long time!), trying to get enough energy to propel myself off the couch and get on with house chores and barn renovations.

Maybe I need another coffee??

Or six.

I really, really have to get out to the nearby mountains to snap the blooming leaves before the next windstorm strips the trees bare, mental note: this week, sans faute. Pinkie promise to self, weather be damned.

The butterfly winked to seal the deal:

This is our house, sandwiched between September skies

and the horse buffet:

Big Daddy enjoys chilling out in his bunker,

all sleepy and whatnot:

Ever so curious: Mom? Whatchoo doing?

Can I eat it?

Bah, back to the nap since there are no treats today...

*sulk*

Big doofus! LOL!

Thursday is my annual GP visit and I've got a list for her... Must talk about/evaluate my high blood pressure, get a reference to see an allergy specialist, renew some prescriptions and maybe get some blood tests done, although I got a full panel last year and she never called me back about it, which means everything was in the norms. Huh.

Aging sucks body-wise, but spirit-wise we're doing A-OK ;-)

Wow, the rains have stopped - yippee!

*launches self outside to do farm stuff*

/end of What Day Are We? post/

Books:

Medicine for the soul. 

~Inscription over the door of the Library at Thebes

Giddy!

Autumn has entrenched itself sooner than expected this year...

The nearby mountains are a'bloom with dazzling reds, ochres, yellows - nary a green leaf in sight, it's breathtaking and also way early in the year for this display... I wish I had brought my camera with me this morning when I went to fetch my new hens (long story, please see my chicken diaries for the info).

I'll try to go back tomorrow because if I miss this I'll regret it until next autumn.

A few weeks ago I spotted this clan of wild turkeys up the street,

I had to stop the car to snap a photo:

(pic clicks bigger for details that blogger snipped off)

How cool is that? :-)

There were a good 30 birds of all sizes and ages in that flock - I hope they've not been hunted, there are a lot of blood-hungry guys roaming the woods this time of year. Boo.

I'm off to work in the barn, winter is fast approaching and I need to get a move-on with the renos.

Hope your weekend is being sweet to you, my peeps!

/end of Crisp post/

Last night's movie

I don't remember laughing this hard

since "The Hangover":

Two thumbs way up!

Quick quick!

Goodness, look at the time!

Vegas and guest are home in an hour and I've got to finish up dinner...

Let's see, the bread is baking, the pork roast and chicken breasts are in the slow cooker, carrots are peeled, julienned and ready to steam, the potatoes are ready to boil to later be mashed and the butternut squash is baked and ready to puree with butter and honey. Oh and the chocolate cake with 'nilla frosting and sprinkles is on the counter, ready to serve.

The house has been vacuumed and dusted from top to bottom, the guest room is ready with fresh linens on the bed, the laundry's done, trash is out, dishwasher empty, dogs exercised and fed...

And! I'm dressed up, hair is curled and nails shiny - somedays farm life is pretty fun! :-D

We got a lovely chinook today, a most unexpected and welcomed gift from crazy mom nature and wow, really trippy - the critters are all basking in happiness and me, well, I did take 20 minutes to read my book on the deck in a t-shirt... in the shade...

Life, she's beautiful eh?

Happy weekend, peeps!

/end of Tomorrow = Apple Picking Day! post/

Woo!

[N]o party is any fun unless seasoned with folly. 

~Desiderius Erasmus

A project, in photos

Life at the farm is busy these days as winter is just around the corner - must hurry to get the old barn ready to house both birds and horses, aiiiiiiieeeeee!

That's what happens when you inherit decrepit old crap on your property... the renos take up all your time, suck your meager savings into a black hole and pepper your hair with sawdust, cobwebs and regrets.

Regrets that I didn't wear a face mask for the first two hours of demo today...

Thank goodness for ventolin inhaler pumps!

I snapped a few pics along the way with our old point-and-shoot so excuse photo quality, but I wasn't going to bring my new camera into a dust-choked hazardous demo area. Shaking hands and poor light also add to the mix but hey, it was what it was.

Quick recap of the project:

I bought some new (ok old, very old antique but they're new to us!) windows for the barn as what's there now, on four sides, is falling apart: old, cracked single panes on the outside, plastic on the inside, a graveyard of flies and other various bodies in the middle. In some places sheets of plywood cover holes where windows used to be.

Our neighbor is doing the job in a couple of weeks but I wanted to prep the areas as much as possible since I can do some of the work myself to save paid hours.

I actually like carpentry work - HGTV is real life, you know :-D

While toiling away I decided to see what was behind some rotting wall particle boards as we need to insulate as much as possible and fill in foundation/siding cracks - not that any of that will keep rodents away but it gets drafty in there, specially at floor level where the chickens will be, so that has to be sealed.

The walls on three sides of the barn look like this -
see the rotten, chewed, wet bottom bits
from a decade of horse pee and poop?

This is what you get when you pull it off the wall...
Yeah, not much for insulation eh?

That's like 30years' worth of vermin bedding and poop right there,
you bet your arse it's disgusting!

Now the area is ready for new pink insulation,
a new vapor barrier and new fitted plywood on top,
all cracks sealed:

It just kept going and going,
like some crazy Pandora's box:

The glass panes have, for the most part,
missing quarter-inch round and caulking -
I don't know why they haven't shattered yet!

Some bits made me gag, like this section here...
there was more rodent shit than insulation-

I managed to prep about half the work space today,
it took about 4 hours in all:

This one was the very worst of all,
I had no mask at this point and inhaled too much dust -
well not dust, more like disintegrated insulation
and mountains of moldy rat poo:

Here I am, exhausted and red eyes and all -
Notice the full wheelbarrows in the back
as I ran out of big trash bags...
I still have to empty all of that and haul it to the dump!

And that's how I spend my days, folks...

It sure beats being stuck in an office eight hours a day, plugging away at a soul-sucking job. The way I figure it, we either have to pay someone to do the renos and to get that money I have to get a job I hate, or I do it myself and we manage with what we have.

I've been selling a bunch of stuff around the house that we don't need or want anymore (yey for online classifieds!) so it helps offset the cost of building supplies and material.

I'm all about recycling :-)

And to think... I used to spend my days coordinating sales teams, planning events, building sales projection charts and entering business expenses, dealing with irate customers and designing marketing plans, not to mention the travel to trade shows, heels, painted nails and all that things that used to define my life.

*sits in awe*

/end of Time For A Hot Bubble Bath post/

what is it about a full moon?

They say legends are based on truth, so maybe this thing about full moons and werewolves started when people were sick and tired of being kept awake all night by the monthly lunar cycle so they started screaming and howling out of frustation, some of them running in the fields to try and tire themselves out, scaring deer and other beasties in the way...

Well that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

Bleddy insomnia and stiff throbbing necks.

*munches on more ibuprofen*

'Tis a glorious autumn day (yes! it's officially autumn now!), sunny and mild and breezy - hope it stays that way as I have a few outside projects slated for today.

If only I could peel myself off the couch.

I still haven't bought the crown molding for the living/dining room I painted last month. We still haven't shopped for a new couch, carpet, drapes, nothing. The walls are still bare.

I wish I cared, you know?

Maybe that'll come later, with the first snows...

I used to LOVE decorating so much and took great pride in creating a warm, beautiful, cozy home environment - what happened? I mean I keep this place clean and the bones of the house make up for the lack of decoration and style - but still. It's like my focus has been drawn to outside life now, critter care and all that.

Never been happier :-)

Have your lives changed as you've grown older?

/end of Totally Random And Then Some post/

And this is how it goes

For my non-Facebook friends, in case you were dying for a Big Daddy update here you go... we all know a photo is worth a thousand words :-)

(pic clicks bigger):

Pretty amazing what two months of pastured grazing can do, eh?

Of course to that you add lots of love, cuddles, coat brushings and a few carrots and apples ;-) Big Daddy isn't getting any grain yet, that'll come later this winter once the greens are buried under snow. I'll post more updates along the journey as he still has about 500 lbs to gain.

Speaking of winter, we've had frost on the ground the past two nights.

Welcome autumn! :-D

Time for apple picking, pie baking and drinking through the stash of tea - suits me fine.

Random convo:

I again had that weird dream last night where I'm in a public building (I think it was a university or a big school) and I have to pee, when I finally find the restroom I keep opening the stalls to find one filthy toilet after another, completely disgusting, only these ones were waist-high so there was no way to squat, you had to get up on them via tippy-toe - ugghh! Of course I didn't use any of them and my last thought before waking up was "how the hell do short people use these things?" -

I told you it was random!

/end of Rainy Day post/

Home

The light is what guides you home,
the warmth is what keeps you there.
~Ellie Rodriguez

Polls, frozen fingers and cheap carrots

There you go, my whole blog post in one title:

-there's a new poll up, please go cast your votes if not already done 'cuz I love seeing where my readers stand on certain issues (that, and I'm nosey) :-D

-there is a frost warning in effect for tonight, as if that was big news... it froze last night too, as evidenced by my icy extremities despite two layers of socks and stuff. I refuse to heat the house just yet, the coldest it has gone down to is 17C and most of the time it's 20C so really, it's psychosomatic. I sleep naked and kick off the covers in the middle of the night cuz I'm too warm.

-at least the days are sunny and warm... for a few more bits.

-carrots are at an all-time cheap these days, woo! I love our local produce store... This week 2lb bags of big fresh carrots are $0.50 and older ones (for the horse) are $0.35 so guess what we're all eating for the next few weeks, LOL!

I have more to blog about but it didn't fit in my post title so it'll be for another time.

Devious, innit?

Anybody scoring some great sales on local end-of-season produce? How do you keep warm with the dropping temps, not you Busy Bee - we know you're still boiling in Florida, LOL!

/end of Happy Monday, Peeps! post/

Come walk with us!

The beanies love it when they get to walk around the neighborhood (as opposed to roaming the fields and woods), something about an abundance of brightly-painted pee posts and new stomping grounds?

Not impressed, mom -
This is old news!

OooOOo that one, we want that one
in the middle of nowhere!

Gratuitous bum shot :-D

News outpost for long dogs only -
so they had to improvise...

Youths up to no good in one of the local parks-
trading drugs and you think we don't know?
*rolls eyes*

Moving along, things to see
and stuff to pee on...

This is the street that borders our property,
the houses on the right side
back out to our fields.
Sweet deal for them: they see horses,
we see their houses' arses.

Now tree art in the world can
camouflage fugly sparkly pink bricks!

View of our stables from said street,
our house is behind there somewhere...

Most days our neighborhood is awesome and we're lucky not to be out in the boonies surrounded by pig farms. However yesterday one of the jerks across the street decided to burn a mountain of trash/scrap wood in his back yard (which is not permitted, btw) and smoked everybody up to hacking coughs, gasps and burning eyes... all. effing. afternoon. long. On a warm sunny Saturday! Asshole! Thick acrid smoke that danced in the wind and invaded every corner of our property and even our house, we couldn't breathe - oh man, if he starts another fire today I'm calling the cops on him, the inconsiderate jackass!

*end rant*

Wishing you all a great rest of weekend - anyone else having a good time? :-)

/end of Mister Rogers post/

On BFFs

A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they're not so good,
and sympathizes with your problems when they're not so bad.
~Arnold H. Glasgow

...and the man comes home

Vegas is home soon and I have to get this place cleaned up - the dogs shed soooo much after their baths you can hardly see the floors, lol!

*swish swish swish*

Things a girl (maybe me, maybe not me) does when her man's away:

• wear no bra nor makeup
• snack all day (no fixed meals)
• pee with the bathroom door open
• sport bits of chicken bedding in her hair
• have the TV channel set on HGTV from morning 'til night

Now, it may seem like all fun and games but really, does a person want to live like that all her life? The not having a car during this time is a bummer but on the other hand there is no money being spent by shopping so the deep debt ditch is stable... Um. Wait. Online bill payments. Sumbitch!

*pause to hoover the house and stuff*

I need a haircut, I look like a frazzled witch
even after attempting some sort of taming with the curling iron:

You can't win all the battles, I suppose.

OK, time to go bake a batch of blueberry muffins (doo dah, doo dah) and tidy up the house since I have an hour or so left before Vegas arrives, all tired and man-hungry.

Sigh. All I want to do is go cuddle my horse and pet the chickens.

I must have a sickness?!

/end of Tumbleweed post/

The sleep demons

When you have insomnia,
you're never really asleep,
and you're never really awake.
~Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk

Autumn light

Mother Nature has been mighty capricious the past week, if you don't like what she's offering at the moment just wait ten minutes because it's going to change!

Snapped from our back deck after dinner last night -
Big Daddy snacking in the background:

This is straight from camera, no photo alterations -
it was just beautiful after a dark cold day!

In a few weeks those trees will be dressed in carnival colors so stick around for more evidence of the fast approaching winter!

Speaking of cold, we're soon getting near-freezing temps at night so one of my projects today includes winterizing the small coop where our banties sleep -

Remember the re-purposed ice fishing shack?

The windows have gaps all around them so they need sheeting with plastic to cut the drafts - I also need to clean up all the cobwebs near the tin roof and try to plug the gaps there with pink insulation fiber. That will allow me to use the 175W heating lamp during the night so the wee ones don't freeze when the temps dip below zero.

By end of October the flocks' new winter quarters should be all ready (I'm fixing up part of the stables for them), it will be sad to not see them free-range outside during the day but what can you do - it's gonna be cold, dark and full of snow until next spring so we have to adapt.

Farm life - gotta love it!

Maybe I should have put this post on the Chicken Diaries... OoooOooops. Ah well, it will be a double post. Deal with it :-D

In other news... My youngest brother and his girlfriend finally found their dream house, we're going to be neighbors! OK not really but it's only a 20 minute drive, how cool is that?

Gotta run, I've got a million things to do today - cheerios!

/end of I Miss My Husband post/

Marge

That awful high-pitched buzzing sound.

She swatted at the mosquito hovering near her ear as she wiped the sweat pearling on her brow - it was a humdinger of a muggy day, overcast sky and all. She had to finish the job before the rains moved in, nobody liked mucking about on a day like this.

Snippets of the previous evening's banter flitted about in her subconscious as she slammed the heavy shovel into the soft earth over and over again, focused on her mission:

"You fucking idiot - can't you do anything right? Three times I've asked you today and you still forgot! What's wrong with you?!"

There's nothing wrong with me, she thought, whistling tunelessly as she swatted more bugs from her face. I'll show you wrong. I'll show you all.

Fat droplets of rain splattered on her dirty t-shirt, dampening the fabric until it clung to her pendulous breasts. She worked on, muttering and shoveling, never noticing how dark it had gotten until she climbed out of the deep muddy hole to catch her breath.

Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday! Amen! she chuckled to herself, quintessential portrait of a mad woman.

Was is wrong to murder your asshole of an ingrate ex-boyfriend who refused to move out of your house, who stalked and threatened you and made your life a living hell, who forced you to clean his shitty underwear and endure his endless belching and farting while he stole your welfare checks and screwed your sister behind your back?

Probably.

But who was going to find out?

A booming voice snapped her out of her reverie - "Marge! Where the fuck are you? Get your goddamn ass in the house, there's nothing to eat! I'm starving here!"

She eyed her handiwork, smiled and leaned the shovel against the back porch. She would be back in a few hours, oh yes she would.

After dinner.

On being

If only we'd stop trying to be happy
we could have a pretty good time.
~Edith Wharton

Floating teeth

No, there are no dentures wafting around in the sky - lol!

Floating a horse's teeth simply means filing them down. Since equine teeth continue to grow throughout their lifetime it's important to make sure they all wear down evenly to allow proper chewing, otherwise some sides and ridges will grow uneven and sharp, cause pain and gulping of food since the grinding surface isn't functional anymore.

And boy, did Big Daddy ever need his teeth floated :-o

Poor baby... We think this may have been the cause of his recent colics - we'll see if things improve now.

Here is what the vet's device looks like
(this is a google'd photo, it is not Big Daddy):

Looks proper medieval, eh?

Basically the hinged metal apparatus cranks the horse's mouth open and holds it in position to allow access to the back teeth. There is a light in the front metal plates that shines into the mouth and it's still difficult to see way back there with a big tongue in the way (the vet pulls it out of the mouth and twists it up on the side to allow for tools, it's not a pretty sight).

Differently textured long metal files are used on most of the teeth and a motorized grinding tool completes the work on longer points.

It took the vet and her team over an hour to file down his teeth and even then they could only get 75% of the job done, they had to stop as it's not a comfortable situation for the horse.

Big Daddy needed three doses of sedation during the procedure, he's just that big..!

He passed his physical with flying colors though, so that's good.

What a morning!

He's such an awesome boy though, everyone was impressed with how docile, gentle and trusting he is - he better be, at that size! I cannot imagine controlling a bucking aggro horse in such a situation, holy cow.

I had him measured: 17.2hh (hands high) :-o

They guessimated his weight to be around 1,300 lbs right now (they do this with different measurements) so once he's all filled out and has gained his muscle back he should weigh around 1,800 lbs. Yep, he has at least 500 lbs to gain... and this is after eating and gaining weight the past 4.5 months.

Can you imagine what he must have looked like when the SPCA seized him last spring??

A little flashback...
remember what he looked like
the day we brought him home two months ago?

(that's not me in the photo
but it shows how thin he was)

Here he is today,
slowly getting there!

It looks like he's pooping a horse here - he he!

He wouldn't stand still for pics,
always curious to smell my camera
aka "hi mom!"

It's funny how a couple of hours after the procedure
he was super cuddly and affectionate, much more than usual -
it's like he knows we are caring for him
and he appreciates it:

Gratuitous bum shot :-D

I can only imagine how amazing he will look
with 500 lbs more muscle on him!

I'm so pooped. The weekend was très busy/stressful and you read all about yesterday... and this morning was no better. Just glad it's all over now. Vegas left for a business trip a couple of hours ago so I'm on my own (with no car) until Friday night - that will either force me to relax a bit or all the farm-and-animal work will drive me to the ground, LOL.

Stick around to find out :-D

/end of I Love My Horse post/