October 2015

Welcome to October! Fall is trying to arrive here, but competing with rain, cold front with more rain, and a possible hit by Hurricane Joaquin bringing even more rain. Today we actually didn't get much rain, but it arrives again tonight. The ground is saturated and if we get any wind, trees are going to fall. Our internet, and wifi, has been sketchy for a week, so if I disappear this weekend, it is the rain blocking our signals from the internet tower.

Doctor visit was a good one for me today, just a yearly check-up. ThunderPuff is doing well, although a bit lighter, after his trip to the vet, and Daisy's vet visit today didn't resolve why she is drooling ikky mucous. She may have an infected salivary gland. She could be a glue factory, her drool is incredibly sticky and not fun to clean up. Leave it to Daisy to find a novel way to get the vet here.

No riding lesson today.

Posted a nice, informative, long post and then poof, I went to preview and our sweet ARK made it October and September locked!  So now it's bedtime, will have to try again tomorrow! Love ya'll

Ark is there red clover in your hay? and check for blister beetles in it. red clover is known for that. I dug into my horse bowl books to try and find clues.

We bought a smaaaal camper today we can tow behind our car....we won't be traveling with horses as we planned, but we will travel.....by golly.

Working on the place....ne'er ending story......

Yeah well, that's what I thought too. The window is a double pane window and a sealed unit so they can't just cut it.

Weather is absolutely gorgeous here. A little chilly, but it is October. I'm hoping to get Sophie out for a nice drive this weekend. She's been doing great. Her steering is getting better, she doesn't wander as much. Still not good at standing patiently, but she wasn't good at that under saddle, why would I expect her to be better in cart? Something we're working on, slowly but surely.

I went to the Financial Professional's Association (FPA) conference in Boston over the weekend and met a lovely lady who writes for News Watch Weekly. She asked me to write five ways that I'm frugal for a column she does called the Frugal Retiree. So I wrote it up and she submitted it to her editor. Supposedly going to be printed in a couple of weeks. Just goes to show you never know what will come of meeting new people. Candace always said I was the most frugal person she knew. LOL.

Congrats, INDYAPP!
Can you post it here when it is published? I could use some frugal tips!

CB
We do have red clover and all the horses have had bouts of that frothy, drippy drool. Daisy is producing lots of that plus sticky, gooey, thick mucous. I have never seen this, and the young vet agreed it was more than clover slobber. Daisy is cheerful, eating in her usual piggy way, is very active, normal temp, and fine except for the gorilla glue coming out of her mouth. Nothing could be seen in her mouth, but the vet recommended waiting another week on an endoscopy exam. I was feeding soaked alfalfa cubes from Idaho, do they have blister beetles there? Besides death, what are the symptoms for that? Six horses in NC recently died from alfalfa hay grown in Kansas with blister beetles in it.

More rain. Big surprise. It has been raining for a week with 3 to 5 inches more predicted this weekend. They are calling schools off a couple of hours early today in preparation of more flooding. All this and the hurricane is now supposed to miss us. Thank goodness. It is going to be windy, 20 to 30 mph, and trees are going to fall because of the saturation in the ground. Stay tuned.....

No idaho doesn't have blister beetles in alfalfa hay, never heard of any and now I'm feeding alfalfa hay from kansas.....watching it closely. when u feed alfalfa cubes is it in a bucket with no holes in the bottom? alfalfa dust can give a horse pneumonia if inhaled in the lungs...we had a horse do that, put her on antibiotics and drilled holes in the feed tub. but she had a BAD case of sticky green snot. sometimes red clover can affect one horse more than others...can u separate her and feed her differently for a week? milkweed, walnut, cherry, red maple, apricots, apples? in her reach.? fire ants?
Rackin my brain....I would post it on face book, maybe some other horse owner has been thru it?

Our lil camper is shaped for best air flow less wind drag. it has a space about 4 feet long by 2 feet deep and 7 feet tall in the front. has a fridge, microwave, tv, portypotty....not great....but the rest of camper is queen sized bed. and light enuf we can pull with car. the seller pulled it with his 3 wheel trike motorcycle. over the bed is lower....but it gives us our bed and its not a popup or tent. campgrounds have bathrooms and showers.

Indy, hope you get the window fixed soon.

Ellen, sorry you had to pull out of the lake so soon, doesn't sound like u got to use it much this year with the weather.

Trudy, we need an update.

GM, how r things going back home now, ill bet u miss the mountains.

Rose, that happens to me too, lose a post.

I think snoop got rick lost....?????

CB
The alfalfa fed was soaked cubes, not dry. At first I thought Daisy had a scratch or abrasion in her throat or mouth, but that would have resolved by now. An obstruction would have slowed down her eating, which hasn't happened. No fireants, apricots, or red maples here, the other things listed are somewhat possible, but the grass is good in the pasture she spends two hours a day in with the other horses, so unlikely. No apple trees near enough for her to reach, either. The vet said to give her Banamine to reduce possible inflammation of the salivary glands. Hopefully that will do it... Daisy is never boring. And usually expensive.... The vet school loves her. Besides helping build their new addition, she is also good for students to practice on. She is usually very cooperative about strangers poking and prodding her.

Ark, I thought maybe she wasn't cleaning the wet cubes up and they were going back to fine pieces/dust as they dried. there is something called black patch that grows on grasses and legumes that causes irritation to tongue gums and drool....called slaframine toxicosis if its the clovers white or red and called phezoctonia leguminicola if its the black patch. vesicular stomatitis, lots of drooling, caused by rasberry plants or buttercups.....this book is really great info. I'm betting on the clovers.

Hoping it will go away with a frost....

I think banamine is good, I wonder if they have an allergy powder to put on grain? I know steroids will sometimes help....don't know if it would be cheaper than banamine tho. good luck.

I finally had to give up and turn on the furnace this morning. It was 45 and windy outside and 63 inside when I got up. The last couple of mornings, I turned on the fireplace for a couple of hours but it takes quite a while for it to warm the place up.
Very little boat activity this last week. Docks and boats are disappearing. By the end of this month, most of them will be out.
We just have to get the docks out and we'll be done. Travis still has the pontoon in the water because they will use it a few more times. Some of the cooler sunny days are great for riding around.
The leaves are just starting to get serious about changing color; only the cottonwoods have shed their leaves, so the leaf work hasn't started yet.

Ark, I hope you can either figure out how to stop the glue works, or maybe find a market for it.

CB, I've seen some of those little tiny campers. They are small, but save the cost of a motel room.
How's your new Appy coming along?

Trudy, how's your grandson?

This was a rough week with Anthony refusing to do anything he was told, refusing the surgery and being a royal pain in the butt. Everyone has become so frustrated with him, he said he was signing himself out of the hospital and refuses to live with any family members, wants to live with a bunch of punk kids. He just doesn't seem to understand that this is not a video game. It's life or death with the trach. The doctor finally told him "if you so much as eat a Tic Tac, you are going to die, you have to remain in a sterile environment, the trach has to be cleaned twice a day by someone who has the training to do it". Didn't stop his bad attitude. His older brother Aaron drove up from Pittsburgh yesterday and went into the hospital and straightened him out. He is having a surgery next week to put the feeding tube in his side instead of his nose and he will be having the throat surgery soon and will be staying in the hospital for around 7 weeks. WHEW Thank you Aaron. Now if things don't change once Aaron goes home tomorrow.

I can't go over to the hospital, my crazy weird teeth stuff is back, I'm sick, probably from all the recent stress issues with Anthony. Not that he would listen to me anyway. Teenagers...GGGRRRRRRRR

It's been raining here for a couple days. Nothing serious just constant. It has to rain this week, it's the Bloomsburg Fair week, that always brings the rain.

Love & prayers...

Sometimes it's really hard for a spoiled boy to understand that he is not in control of everything, including his body, and that some things really are life threatening. I hope his brother was able to get through to him and make him understand.

I drive truck 26 - 2700 miles each week ... just eat / sleep when out ... try to avoid running afoul of the predatory law officers .... and do as LITTLE as possible when home. Only rarely does anything nice / exciting happen.

What DID happen "nice and exciting" was getting opportunity to eat dinner / visit with WVA Witch / ROSE n Florence SC on Thursday night. She's just as sweet as ever and we had a good time catching up on news ... and especially news about her new horse. THANKS for a nice "date night" Miss Rose!!

Rainng here and grass will go at least another week before mowing ... that will be 3 weeks!!

Miranda (for the most part) is comfortable with her feet condition. walks normally sometimes and very tender footed other times. Carol is spoiling her with er nursing care and is doing a good job.

Love to all / stay safe and dry!!

Rick

RICK isn't missing, just super busy, driving nonstop and trying to stay on the good side of all of our finest in road safety? I had a wonderful dinner date with our handsome trucker friend on Thursday evening! I so enjoy our get togethers, catching up on all the latest in our lives. Still will be happy for him when he can retire 100%

Lost another lengthy post, so just going to do many short ones! Robin has completed and tested and is now waiting on her realty license. Noah was voted VP of his class. Desmond (oldest Grandson) is now studying and playing baseball for Eastern Mennonite University. So proud of all 3!

Found a much better place to board Essie, 8 miles away, clean, stall and many great pastures, rolls of Coastal in each pasture, available to horses 24/7. Very nice folks! Essie got her vaccinations and Coggins pulled Wednesday, results next week, then we can schedule her arrival at Foot Loose Farm!

TRUDY, prayers continue for the spoiled teenager and hope brother's advice will be followed, what a foolhardy child. ARK, prayers that Ms. Daisy gets well quickly and completely. ELLEN, what do you think of Tony's retirement announcement? I think that tragic accident really affected him more then we know. RICK, please try to let everyone hear from you more often! CB, what kind of a camper? Send pics to ARK so we can see, please. Sounds like fun.

Rose, I'm glad you found a better place to keep Essie.  It will be so neat that you will have her where you can really enjoy her.
Yes, I think Tony's broken leg, and then the accident at the race in New York took something out of him.  He says he'll still race, but hasn't said where - just not in Sprint car.  The parents of the kid filed a wrongful death lawsuit against him.  Since the kid had significant marijuana in his system, and the prosecutor didn't find any fault, I hope the suit gets thrown out.
I really hope he'll win another race before he retires, just like I hope that Jeff will win one of the last few he has left.

Rick, check in when you can. Glad to hear that you are alright, other than not being able to completely retire yet.

I have a thought about why your long posts may disappear before you get them posted. (Not counting coincidentally posting at the same time I close a monthly thread.)
If you spend too much time writing your post, some computers may 'time out' and disconnect you from the website here. So! Either type faster, or make more than one smaller post, or type your post into an email and copy it and then paste it here.

TRUDY
I hope Anthony figures out he is only hurting himself with his actions.

CB
Thanks for the possible problem ideas about Daisy. She slimed me good this morning, wiping her mouth on my shoulder.....retch, retch ...The lymph glands under her jaw were swelled today.


It is still raining. It is a slow steady rain, a good soaker, but we are already soaked. It has rained for the last nine days, with periods of no rain. I saw the sun for about five minutes a couple of days ago.

We just went to see 'The Martian' at the movie theatre in town. It was really great!

ARK, swollen glands would definitely worry me!  I'm going to just do shorter posts, I think you are right.  ELLEN, I was truly blessed to find this wonderful place for Essie and it's very reasonably priced too!  I also hope Tony and Jeff both win a race or 2 before they retire!  I just re-acknowledged through StateLine Tack, why horses are an expensive hobby, but didn't deter me before and won't now.  LOL

ARK, wonder if Daisy has a splinter of some kind in her mouth, under her tongue and way back? That would certainly cause swollen glands. Just a thought.

Daisy sure knows how to get us scratchin our heads and wrackin our brains. did u know horses can get tonsilitis? how's her teeth, any impacted? wow....I've been looking up things and reading. I think if u could, get her different hay and keep her by herself for a few days...that would be my move on it....but do keep us updated...I'm concerned, and ill bet you are going bonkers too trying to figure it out.

I will take pics of camper as soon as we get it home.

Glad you have a good place for Essie and yep horses do keep ya broke, rose.

Had some neighbors come play with the puppies tonight....they r getting great personalities and have lots of kisses to share.

Went to an auction at the junction....its called junktion auction....some is junk, some good buys, but a nice time out.

Tomorrow back to honey do chore list...

Trudy, hope grandson wises up....kids! Hope he does well and heals quickly.

Rick, glad you r safe, be careful out there with the flooding.

Sweet dreams y'all
Tomorrow its back to honey do list.

Trudy, sure hope

ROSE
I am so happy for you and Essy!! Can't wait to see you and her together!
A splinter, thorn, or stick in the back of Daisy's mouth or throat was my first thought, too. The vet and her two students sedated Daisy and looked for such things, but didn't find anything. Daisy's temp, attitude, and appetite are all normal. Except for the gooey saliva with the consistency of liquid rubber cement coming out of her mouth, she is acting normal.

CB
I do have different hay coming soon, but the hay she is eating comes from our fields that she has eaten from for 11 years. She could be eating something the other horses don't touch, but it seems unlikely. Donnie ran across an internet discussion describing Daisy's symptoms. That owner spent thousands of dollars on tests and such, no cause was ever discovered, and the horse's symptoms eventually just went away. If I turn Virginia Tech vets loose on Daisy, I could end up with a huge bill with equal results. Until she starts showing pain, or other symptoms, I think we are just going to give the Banamine and wait a bit in hopes she just gets over it. I will talk to the vet about the swelling of the lymph glands.

Rose, r u safe with this flooding? let us hear from you, k

CB, as you know, since you used to live this way, the last week of heavy rains and wind have really put SC in harm's way. I do not live too close to a creek (1 mile), but roads in and out of this area are covered with water (creeks and rivers), I-95, I-20, I-26 all have parts that are closed. Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Charleston are all disaster areas. SC is in a state of emergency. I have been concerned about the pasture and barn where Essie is going, but cannot get out there right now, think it's okay, didn't see any creek close to there. Me and the pups are safe and praying this ends by Tuesday.