JANUARY 2023

January 2023



Happy New Year !

ELLEN - Hooray for the ablation success! And thank you for explaining it, because, while I've known several friends who've had it done, I couldn't remember exactly what it was. And I admire you for treating it here so quietly and modestly. My own challenges pale in comparison.
 
ARK Wonderful picture, wonderful accomplishment!  I remember, and I'm sure you do, what Ivan was like when you first got him.  What a long way home you have brought him, and how proud you should be! And I think, from the look in his now-soft eyes, that he's thinking, "Thank you, Mom. I've loved all this kind attention..."
 
I wish I had some quick cures for Donnie. My own remains that swelling-reducing Ibuprofen.
Hugs to him. Keep us posted.
 
And thanks, still and always, for keeping us together!
 
Temps here, astonishingly, up in the 40s and 50s. We had an eight-inch-or-so blanket of snow the week before Christmas, but those rains on Christmas Day did away with it, and these high temps and a little more rain last night finished the job. Bare ground everywhere. The lake I pass on my trips for groceries had ice on it at one point, and I saw some fishing shacks beginning to line up on shore, but all must be open water now.
 
Hooray for thawed pipes!

Ark, as Beech said, thank you for keeping us together.  
The header picture is gorgeous.

Beech, I'm certainly no hero.  in the last 4 years my body has decided to get old.  But I do feel very fortunate that everything so far can be fixed.  Not just treated.  Fixed.
It's truly amazing the things they can do as outpatient procedures.  There was no real discomfort through the whole thing.  
I noticed yesterday that I had more energy to get up and go than I've had for a long time.  The new "drummer" seems to be much better at keeping time.  This one doesn't need my old piano teacher wearing out pencils beating them on the piano to keep the students on tempo.  

I'm here too. I wished you all HAPPY NEW YEAR before we had the January page. Just wanted you
all to see it.

I love our board. Thank you ARK. I'm guessing your new computer is working out fine.

Good to see you all! Let's hope this year is easier on us all than the last few years have been. A nice calm year would be very pleasant!

BEECH:
Thanks! Yes, I remember Ivan in his wild and crazy years . Looking back, I am amazed I survived some of the things we went through. I know I have hit the ground over a dozen times coming off of him, but to give him some credit, he wasn't trying specifically to dump me. It took me years to learn how to deal with those spook and spins without flying off. When he arrived here, he wouldn't let you touch his nose, much less the rest of him. Thankfully, and a million treats later, he lets me touch him anywhere. The big breakthrough was him letting others touch him, too. I used to have to take his temperature for the vets during check-ups, but those days are over now. His reputation among vets wasn't too good. Luckily, Ivan doesn't have a mean bone in his body. His very fast reactions to things he is afraid of are what caused me a lot of problems. Velcro took months for him to get over the noise it made. (Do you know how many horse related things have velcro? ) Walking through water puddles, crossing streams, seeing me wearing a different hat (for goodness sake!) all caused him near heart attacks. We did lots of obstacle course stuff and that really helped him a lot. And I ripped velcro in his face a gazillion times.... Ivan's training problems are all on me, he is the horse I have spent the most time on trying to train him to be a solid citizen. Arkady and Kazi had some issues, but were so much more laid back than Ivan, they weren't nearly so difficult to train. Areion got turned over to a real trainer and that was good, but now I have to go back and work with her to learn her cues and spookables and for her to learn mine. I don't have the energy I used to have, so it is nice that Ivan has settled into a calmer horse for me. He can still get upset, but I see the signals coming from him and can sometimes change his mind about it. So far bonfires and blimps are high on his spookable list.
My goal this year is to get over my fear of Areion's height. While I have been dumped a lot on Ivan, I never broke anything. (He did step on my toe and break one once.) I have come off of Areion three times so far. One I cracked a rib, the second time I actually landed on my feet (!), and the third time I dismounted from her wrong and broke my leg. That six inches of extra height Areion has me a bit freaked out.
So, yes! I am happy with how Ivan has come along in the last few years! Now I need to get Areion (and me) to that point!

GRAYMARE:
Thanks, but it really isn't hard to keep this board going. You are welcome, I like our group, too!
Unfortunately, the new computer they sent from Amazon was the wrong one....sigh....And of course, it was not as good as the one Donnie ordered. So it is going back and they have to send the correct one. Oh, well. My little laptop will have to limp along for awhile longer.

ELLEN:
I thought that was a pretty piece of artwork, too! Glad you like it!
How are you feeling after your procedure? Any issues? Not having to take bloodthinners will be great.


It's 63 degrees outside. The barn is clean, my gray horses are not. Now if someone would just come vacuum my house!

Ark, the procedure itself is not much of a problem at all. On one side of my groin there is a little hole still there where they go into the femoral vein. Thankfully, Neighbor/Nurse Karen has been able to rebandage it to prevent infection and it is healing nicely. They only put one stitch in those and that one comes out after 4 hours. She is the girls' grandmother. Who knew that babysitting would give me a private nurse when I need her.
My heart rate is in a good range and nice and steady. No more blood thinners other than an aspirin. I don't know if that will change with follow-up appointments or not. There is one that I would like to get rid of since it tends to cause weight gain, and I definitely don't need that.
My energy level is definitely better.
I truly am grateful that medical science has come so far they can fix things that couldn't be done in previous years.

Happy New Year...Praying 2023 is a better year for everyone.

Just to end our year with a bang, our 5 year old great granddaughter Cameron was bitten in the face by their dog Beau. On New Years Eve. What a nightmare. Phone call from grandson Aaron saying "Grandma, I'm on my way to the hospital, Cameron was just bitten in the face by Beau." What a phone call...to end the year with. She is doing OK 7 stitches in her upper lip. She is eating and drinking again and will have the stitches removed in another week.

That's our 3 things..first the water, then the roof leaking and then just to top it off the dog bite. I should be good for awhile now...praying....at least they all happened within a 2 week time span. LOL

Off to the dentist (my favorite place) today to get my tooth refilled and a crown. More fun times...

MANYGATES so sorry to hear that your great granddaughter was bit. Glad to hear she is recovering and stitches will be out soon.

2023 has come in quietly so far in many ways. We missed out on the blizzard that was forecast. It has warmed up so what snow we did have has melted. It has rained and everything is soggy, but not flooded. There haven't been any emergency calls to family members and work has been pretty quiet so I'd say 2023 is off to a good start.

I did get a strange text message asking if I "was planning to come to my scheduled appointment at 6:00 on 1.10.23" with my primary care physician. Trouble was I did not remember having an appointment and I was pretty sure if I did have one it wouldn't be at 6:00, either a.m. or p.m. So I called my Dr office to check and they confirmed I do have an appointment at 8:00 a.m. for my second shingles shot that I had forgot about. The person I spoke with said they were trying a new format for the texts to be a little less formal and for some reason all of the texts say 6:00 and they haven't been able to get it changed. The text has generated a lot of phone calls.

It's gonna be a long dreary winter. More snow flurries. More gloom. More cold.
I hope the rest of you are having better weather.

I have the same weather ELLEN, although yesterday the sun did try to peak out.

I broke down and took Blue (my 1996 truck) into the mechanic yesterday. She's been leaking a little oil and I have no idea where the engine coolant has been going so I decided I needed to get that taken care of before it became fatal at the worst possible moment. Turns out she has some pretty serious issues that need to be taken care of. The primary problem I wasn't even aware I had a problem with. Mechanic told me, and then showed me, a problem with the parts holding my front wheels on are nearly nonexistent. He was surprised the wheels literally hadn't come off. And even I could see the problem. Not to mention the radiator and oil pan problems I new something was up with. Needless to say Blue is down for the count for a while to get fixed. Still cheaper to fix her than to replace her. Ah the joys of car ownership.

TRUDY:
I am so sorry about your great granddaughter being bit. I hope they can fix her up painlessly. What happened with the dog? Sorry about your latest dental problem. I had fillings replaced in adjoining teeth a couple of months ago and can barely eat anything on that side now.....sigh....It's always something with teeth.


INDYAPP:
We have a 2003 GMC truck named BART (Big Ass Red Truck) that we hope to keep going forever. It's now our farm work truck, we use it for the dirty work. We've had two people ask if they can buy it from us, even though it needs a new paint job and a few things done to it. Nope. It is cheaper to fix it than replace it.

ELLEN:
We've had a few nice days, but that's coming to an end this weekend. Your weather must be seeping south.

GRAYMARE:
My sister (and our husbands) have changed our vacation plans for this coming August. We were going to go on a cruise to Alaska. Vicki decided she didn't want to be near cold weather even in August. So now we are taking a train trip from Cincinnati to Chicago to Grand Canyon. She's been wanting to go there for years. We saw it as kids, but not since. Should be a fun trip.


Dorian GrayCat is getting his teeth worked on today. It costs more than mine. He has several broken or damaged teeth. We'll be listening to him yell all night for a few days until we are sure he is healing okay. Dorian is an outdoor cat who doesn't appreciate being locked in a puppy cage. We may not be sleeping for the next week.

Ark, when you go to the Grand Canyon get up early one day and watch the sunrise as it comes up over the rim. It's worth the effort.

ELLEN:
I will try to do that! I will be surrounded by morning people, so it will probably happen. I am not a morning person, but can be motivated.


Dorian GrayCat is doing okay. I wasn't kidding about his teeth repairs costing more than mine. Ouch. Dorian seems to be recovering better than Kumquat did last year. He is already eating soft things. Donnie has been mollycoddling him all day. Dorian is his cat.

I talked with my Grandson Aaron yesterday. Cameron is doing OK, She had her stitches out on Friday, no infection and the healing process is looking good. Praise God. They still have the dog but keeping a close eye on him & Cameron. They have to watch the dog for 10 days for signs of rabies...then who knows. Dog laws are not what they used to be. Just like the rest of the laws lately. Us older people expect laws to be followed. Crazy world we live in.

I went to visit my friend Ashley yesterday, haven't seen her since before Christmas. Not much has changed. We did walk down to the mailbox, it's too cold for her to be outside for very long, but the walk was exciting for her.

Have a blessed Sunday everyone.

It's good to hear that Cameron is recovering. Is the dog typically aggressive? I don't know why anyone keeps a dog like that when there are kids. I friend had that situation and I never understood why she kept that dog. MOST of the time, the dog was docile but she was a pit bull and was unpredictable. Time has passed and the dog died of old age. Fortunately, the kids weren't hurt by the dog.

Ark, is Dorian GrayCat keeping you awake at night?

We actually had sunshine today. It's been such a rarity that it's worth noting.

TRUDY:
I am glad to hear the little girl is recovering. I would be afraid to keep the dog, but I am sure they are coming up with solutions. Good to hear that Ashley is doing well!


ELLEN:
As I type this at 11:30pm, Dorian GrayCat is singing the song of his people in his puppy cage. He hadn't been too noisy, but is feeling better now. We are supposed to keep him in for a week....we shall see. He hasn't kept me awake, my hearing is so bad I sleep right through whatever he does. One small advantage to deafness. He has kept Donnie awake. Donnie put on a white noise device last night and slept a bit better. Dorian hasn't had nearly the problems that poor Kumquat did. I had to feed her babyfood off my finger for a couple of weeks, she would have easily died if I hadn't pushed food down her throat. Dorian is already eating soft food. The good news is, after recovery, Kumquat acts half her age. For a 15 year old cat, she is quite spry. While we are in the house, we have been letting Dorian loose inside, but we have to watch him. He does like sitting on laps.


I haven't gotten any rides in this week. Hopefully I will get back to it tomorrow. Ivan keeps asking me why we aren't working (which is his way of asking where the treats are...) Donnie's knee has been killing him, so I have been doing most of the barn work and then am too tired to think about riding. He is feeling a bit better today.

Wow, poor California is sure getting hit hard. Droughts to floods. I hope it at least fills up their water supplies.

Well, pffft!  The note I wrote yesterday for posting today is gone.
 
Actually, I must have written it two days ago, because yesterday I  was off skylarking with a friend. She had to return a heart monitor to the hospital, and I tagged along for the ride -- a treat for me. We ended up taking time to view the ocean,  rolling the windows down to get a sniff of the air on a spectacularly brightly clear day when the tide was high. My old stomping grounds, chockablock full of memories.
 
One of them included the time when a full-time local fisherman, the boyfriend of a friend, told her that he'd seen "some old woman" (me) down on the docks. That was when I was fully active and working as a reporter and didn't think of myself as old at all. I was shocked . Ha! My friend took some of the sting out by saying, "He's got some nerve, him with his  own gray hair..." And guess what that fellow's name was? Kevin McCarthy. Yes, really!  But no, not the one in today's news.
 
Anybody have any experience with the new, small and very portable,  oxygen concentrators? Now really certifiably old, I've had to acknowledge that I can't walk any distance without oxygen, and what I've been issued is the smallest canister (not a concentrator) that is nevertheless  very heavy and awkward. I'm will do some research and would welcome any info.
.
Clear days here still, with temps above freezing in the daytime, and not very far below at night -- out of whack for Maine in January. Some crusty snow now left from the soggy stuff we got a few days ago but nowhere near enough for snowmobiling, and no safe ice on the lakes hereabouts.   

Ark, do you have hearing aids? If not, I'd strongly suggest you look into it. My dad's hearing was so bad it was impossible to have any kind of conversation with him. He finally got them, and that helped considerably.
It isn't just for the person who is hearing impaired, but for the people around them. Those people want to talk with the person but get worn out with having to repeat things and talk louder and louder, so they eventually stop trying.

Beech, I'm glad you got to visit the places you liked so much.
If you remember Carol, she had a small O2 bottle that she tied onto her saddle horn so she could keep riding. That seemed to work pretty well.

Our lake is still frozen over, but it isn't thick yet. Right now, we have some mild weather happening, but I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop with the next round of cold.

BEECH:
I hope you find the best solution for the oxigen tank. One of Donnie's aunts used to wheel around a big bottle of oxigen (and continued to smoke constantly). That wasn't very convenient for her, she was tethered by a long tube to it.
I could get into a trip to the ocean. Glad you had fun!

ELLEN:
I don't have hearing aids, but am easing into that direction. My hearing has gotten worse in the last couple of years. I recently had Donnie turn on the closed captioning on the TV, it helps with that. Now that there are hearing aids available over the counter and at a much reduced cost, I will be trying them out. My hearing loss isn't over all, it is in certain ranges of frequencies. For instance, I can't hear peeper frogs in the spring anymore. That's sad. Hearing conversations in a noisy environment is my worst thing. But we are working on it.... There are options I feel better about now.


It is very muddy here. We managed to get a load of sawdust bedding into the barn, but left the truck parked in the field near it until the ground freezes a bit. That should be Saturday. We could get the truck out, but it would tear up the ground. We can wait for the ground to freeze.

I have been enjoying the extra few minutes of sunlight in the afternoons lately. Yesterday, in anticipation of spring, I ordered a fig tree! We've never had a fig tree and this one will produce within 2 or 3 years. Now to figure out where to put it.

Sorry BEECH, I have no suggestions on the oxygen. My only experience w/oxygen was when my dad was on it and that was 20+ years ago. I know they have made tremendous improvements since then.

I've seriously considered looking into the over the counter hearing aides. Like you ARK I have a hard time with certain ranges and frequencies. And like you conversations in crowded environments is where I have the most trouble. My fear is that it will amplify the background noise and I still won't be able to hear what I need to. Let us know how it works out for you if you go that route.

I got Blue back from the mechanic yesterday. She still has some fixes that they recommend be done, but that can wait. She won't over heat from the leaking radiator, her engine won't seize up from oil pan leak, nor will her wheels fall off. So we're good to go as long as we stay local.

Ark, how are your chickens doing?  I'll bet you are glad you don't have to buy eggs. Around here the price has more than doubled in the last couple of weeks.

ELLEN:
Believe it or not, we bought a dozen eggs a couple of weeks ago. I am down to 3 hens and they weren't laying duing that extra cold weather. After having a gazillion eggs, my chickens are now laying one or two eggs a day, some days none. We need to find a happy medium.... These hens and their sisters were so prolific, but not anymore.


We got a lot of rain yesterday, but no high winds or damage. It's a bit muddy, but we can live with that.

Dorian GrayCat is eating like crazy. Apparently his lack of teeth isn't slowing him down now. I suspect his hunting abilities will be curtailed. He is a great mouser/ratter, which I appreciated. He is getting better about being indoors at night. We've been letting him out during the day the past couple of days, but putting him in his puppy cage at night. He is quieter now.

Dorian GrayCat might learn there is value in being inside a nice warm house at night.

It seems like you just got those chicks. Do they not live very long? Are you going to get more?

ELLEN:
I think the hens are going on 3 years old. I started out with 8, three got killed by (probably) foxes in broad daylight, and two died of some kind of wasting away illness about a month apart. The hens were so prolific with their eggs, I sort of think they laid themselves into an early death. Up until this last fall, they laid every day, all year long. I got them from Tractor Supply, a red sex-linked breed. I wonder if they have been bred to lay more than is healthy for them. The remaining three stopped laying this fall while molting, which is good for them. They have restarted laying, but not every day. I think that when they go to chicken heaven, we may take a break in raising chickens. We've had chickens and peacocks for over 35 years. With the peacocks gone, the urge to have chickens isn't as great.


I am using my new laptop! Wow, it is so nice. It has a touch screen that will take some getting used to for me. The screen is so clear and detailed compared to my limping laptop. Nice!