What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread) Showing 4,851-4,900 of 8,509

[Werner]

Thanks for the tip, Jim! If the latest round of fence work doesn't solve the problem, we might look into that. (The one possible caveat is that Deborah is particular about the aesthetic appearance of the fence, and so might require some convincing on that score.)

[Jim]

It isn't pretty, but better than concertina wire.
;)

[Werner]

True! We'll keep it in mind as Plan B. (Plan C may have to involve a deep, alligator-infested moat....) :-)

[Jim]

I understand the moat idea. A friend at work filled up the back of my car with Japanese iris at work yesterday. I spent the evening planting them along the east fence in the back yard. It's a 4 board fence with wire sandwiched in it, so can't be weedeated easily. I've got the outside planted with some flowers & asparagus. I have wanted to get the inside planted, too. It's a dry area & takes a lot of abuse from the dogs since the wildlife & loose dogs & cats tend to check out that area the most, so our dogs want to dig out to get them. It's sheltered by the horse trailer, my shop & the horse field. The plantings aren't wide, just a foot on either side, enough so I don't have to mow tight to the fence.

Tough work breaking up the mats of their roots. A shovel bounces off them, so I tear some with my hands, cut some with my pruning shears, & cut more with an old knife, but I finally broke most of it up into 6" squares. Then I had to weed, dig them into the compacted ground, & finally go back & water them with a bucket. I'll pull a hose over from my shop after I mow that area today.

I still have 2 bags left to go, though. Last night I worked from 4 to after 7 planting them. Hopefully I've only got another hour or so this morning. Once they're established, they do keep all the grass & weeds away. They'll even slow the dogs down from digging out. I have several plantings from some she gave me 4 years ago & they're great. They don't spread fast, but very thickly.

Marg is taking Indy eventing today. It will be a small course, but she's nervous. Her dressage round is at 12:44 & stadium at 2:21. Not sure when or if she's doing the outside course. She's nervous. Her friend Monica, the gal we went on the trail ride with a couple of weeks ago, will be there, but her riding instructor bailed at the last minute. She's going to her cousin's wedding instead.

I guess I'll spend most of the day mowing, although I'll have to take the dogs out for a ride once or twice. Otherwise they'll just sit around the house & store up energy. Lily is lame this morning. I think Pip is chewing on her leg again. I don't understand why she allows that.

[Nina]

Werner and Jim/busy work but enjoy while the weather allows.

[Nina]

Jim, I read with interest your review of the Oregon Trail book. I might have to get it at the library. My third great uncle and aunt went on the Trail with their children from Platte County MO to settle in CA, eventually and two of their children died en route.

[Jim]

What Oregon trail book, Nina? Don't recall one.

Marg won her division today. She & Indy did really well.

[Nina]

Congratulations to Marge. ibet it was a different Jim. Sorry.

[Jim]

I'm almost finished with Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail by Theodore Roosevelt. Could you be thinking of that? In it, he's describing his ranch in North Dakota in the 1880's.

[Werner]

Because of Bluefield College's fall break (which starts tomorrow), I'm on day shift today and tomorrow; but then I have a three-day weekend. (Yay!)

[Jim]

Enjoy, Werner! Marg is on fall break next week. I keep meaning to see about taking a couple of days off with her, but have been so busy that I haven't gotten around to it. I need to figure out how much more time I'm going to need to take off this year, too. You'd think that 4 weeks of vacation time would be plenty, but we get very few holidays (none between New Year's & Memorial Day) so I wind up taking a day or two fairly often in the spring just to keep up with the farm. This year I've taken 2 week long breaks - one for going up to MD to see the grandmonster & another for Erin's wedding.

[Werner]

I hope you two can get to take a couple of days off together, Jim!

[Jim]

Erin came up last night & is leaving this morning with Topaz. She's been depressed lately & much of that is equinus apsentia (lack of horse) like her mother & grandmother before her. I hope this works out. Financially, it's a huge step for the kids. I don't think they realize just how big - sort of like moving into a new house, estimates are always low.

That will leave us with 3 equines; Indy (5), Chip(7), & Speedy (30+). And we bought hay planning on Topaz! He's a Thoroughbred, so needs a lot more & better hay than any of the others. This is so great on so many levels.

Hopefully Speedy will be able to stay out of his paddock this winter since we won't have to keep hay out for Topaz, an amount that was too much for the old piglet. That gets us out of a fair amount of work. No more dealing with his water twice a day in the cold, his gate in the freezing rain, or several hundred yards of extra walking over to his paddock & shed.

I'm not sure how much longer Speedy will be with us, though. He's getting pretty old & creaky. Marg still rides him around at a walk, but doesn't take him on any steep hills. I can't remember the last time he tried to dump her, either. With Topaz gone, he should be able to stand in the run-in section of the barn, especially since Chip likes him. Speedy has been accompanying Indy on the trailer, so he likes him more, too. With the old curmudgeon gone, life should get better for him.

[Nina]

Life changes even for horses. Hope all are happy with the difference in lives, yours, Jim, Marge, Topaz and Erin's.

[Jim]

Erin & Josh got Topaz down to the new place & the truck back without a hitch. All are happy, except I didn't get a ride in. I got busy, so Marg finished up & hosed off Indy. Chip came over & demanded she wash him too, so he was wet when I did get free. Weird pony.

[Nina]

Reading an excellent book in case any of you are Civil War buffs; "Enemy Women," by Paulette Jiles/mostly concerns the battles in MO/ARK/Al and that area of the south. Do any of you realize a huge battle was fought in what is now Kanss City, MO? Before reading this I didn't realize the Union took women prisoners.

[Jim]

I didn't know that either, Nina. Interesting.

[Werner]

Yesterday afternoon, Barb and I took the grandkids to a petting zoo that one of the local car dealerships sponsors very year. They had a dromedary camel, a donkey, a miniature zebu, a porcupine (we didn't pet him!) a llama, different variety of goats and sheep, a bunny, a hedgehog, and (I believe) a coney. (As well as a tarantula, whom we didn't touch either.) The kids and I got to pet and hand-feed various animals, so it was a pretty cool experience.

[Jim]

Sounds like fun. What's a Zebu? What's the difference between a coney & a bunny? I thought they were the same.

[Jim]

We went riding tonight & there were well over a dozen vultures hanging out on the south property line. Seems the dogs finally got the fox that's been terrorizing us. (It pooped in the goats' food dish once.) The ponies didn't want to have anything to do with the vultures so I had to walk down & toss the fox outside the fence line in a clear spot. Hopefully they'll get him cleaned up in short order.

[Werner]

Jim, zebus are members of the ox family, mostly native to India (but found elsewhere in Asia and in some parts of Africa, too) where they've been domesticated for thousands of years. They're black furred, and have a hump over the shoulders, smaller than a camel's (and not used for storing water) but still large. Most of them are about the size of a bison, but the miniature breed is much smaller, about the size of a donkey.

Yes, coneys are a type of rabbit, though the term isn't used much anymore. But I misidentified the animal at the petting zoo in my post above, and stand corrected; it was a cavy, from South America, not a coney. Cavies are short-tailed rodents, members of the guinea pig family; this one looked something like a very tiny kangaroo, but with larger ears.

[Jim]

Thanks. I was thinking a zebu might be some sort of zebra cross. They've become more popular. I have heard of cavies. Marg loves all things guinea pig, but likes her Jack Russells better & they REALLY like anything rodent-like, but as a snack, so it doesn't work out well to have both. The kids have tried, but it's never ended well.

My aunt used to have a petting zoo. She made most of her money with the animals doing commercials, though. It's a lot of fun seeing the kids at one. Their sense of wonder is great. Our kids rarely had that since we pretty much had a couple of everything at some point during their lives. They took animals for granted, not like the ones my aunt would see. They often didn't even have a dog or cat.

[Werner]

We had a guinea pig a couple of times (they're a short-lived species, so we had more than one, at different times) when our girls were growing up, along with our dog Lady, the one we had before Princess; but Lady never tried to eat them. She did try once to sniff the second guinea pig, Patches, just out of curiosity, when the latter was out of the cage exercising. Patches promptly bit her on the nose, and after that she kept her distance. :-)

[Jim]

Marg had guinea pigs as a kid with dogs & cats, too. Some breeds work out. Jacks are just bred to kill rodents. James thought he had Scrat trained to get along with his mouse, but it rolled its ball into her one day & she had a meltdown. Luckily, the ball didn't break completely, but it was a close call.

[Jim]

I posted a picture of Mom out riding on Monday. Looking good for a great grandma.
https://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/...

[Werner]

She's a beautiful lady (for her age), Jim!

[Jim]

Thanks, Werner.

[Jim]

Update on Indy: He's off stall rest, his leg isn't great, & he's a worse patient than I am.

Vets & doctors always tell us to keep our animals & kids in & quiet after an injury. We always ask for sedatives. They always refuse & say that long term sedation is bad. Walk them more. Right... We were trying to walk Indy twice a day, but even with some Ace to knock the top off his adrenaline rush, he was getting wilder. Some days we didn't walk him so much as fly him like a kite.

Marg finally decided the tipping point had come, so she prepared to let him off stall rest. It takes 30 - 45 minutes for Ace to kick in when given orally, so she gave it to him, put his boots on, & took the dogs for a walk in the woods. These are $90 Professional Choice boots - very high quality with really good velcro that fades into itself so well we have trouble peeling it off. He had the boots off before she got back 20 minutes later.

She put the boots back on & duct taped them. Then went into the house to the bathroom & came out to find he'd torn the top of one boot off. OK, big sigh, deal with it. She taped the top of the boot. Then she put Chip in the paddock, & locked the dogs in the back yard so no one would play with Indy. Speedy stood in the barn. He never plays with Indy nor does he run much any more for any reason.

All was ready, she led him out & when he seemed settled, she let Indy go. He & Speedy proceeded to act like a couple of 2 year olds. They raced back & forth from one field to another. As they flew by Chip for the second or third time, he decided to jump out of the paddock & join them. (Who knew the Fat Man could jump that high?!!!) Then they all raced around for another 15 minutes.

The upshot is that Indy is still lame & Speedy was so sore yesterday that he could barely move. We planned, the gods laughed.
:(

[Jim]

Newscasts gone awry thanks to horses.
http://www.horsenation.com/2014/11/13...

[Werner]

Thanks for sharing these, Jim, those are cute. (Though I can't help but feel sorry for several of the unfortunate reporters/cameramen!)

From the caption, I'm guessing that the sixth clip was accidentally confused with the seventh one? (It doesn't have anything to do with horses.)

[Jim]

Indy was a handful today. Marg can't ride him yet, but it's brisk out, so he's feeling full of energy. He's chasing my goats around. They hide in the woods or near Chip. Indy will chase Speedy a little ways, far enough to get to the goats, so he's not a safe haven. Indy won't mess with Chip, although he did get The Fat Man running & playing at one point.

We had to de-worm them tonight. Chip was a bit of a pain, but I did it myself & Marg gave Speedy his, but it took both of us, a chain shank, & a twitch to give Indy his medicine. One the twitch was on, he settled right down & let me squirt it into his mouth. (It's a few tablespoons of paste.) Then he made faces like he wanted to retch. Horses don't (can't?) burp or retch, but he was giving it a good try!
;)

[Jim]

I'm glad I got the hay moved & several other outdoor chores done this morning. It's pouring out. It's still above 50, but the temp is supposed to plummet. The new dog door is performing well, although the wind is from the wrong direction to really test it.

Lily just came in & informed me she was wet by jumping over my lap & running into the bathroom to her towel. (Yes, she has her own towel on her towel rack & knows it. No, she is NOT spoiled.) She then ran back to me & back to the towel 3 times before I could get out of the chair. Pip was in the way one of those times & tumbled off to the side like ball. He stayed out of the way until I had properly dried her off.

Apparently I didn't do enough with her today even though we were out in the fields doing chores for a few hours & then went for a ride. She was peeved when I went out front to work on the road banks & front gardens because I left her behind.

Poor Speedy is getting pretty creaky. We stuck to the flat today & he still stumbled a few times. He has diarrhea almost constantly now. He doesn't seem to be in any pain & seems bright enough, but I think the end is drawing near. He's 32 or so, pretty old for a pony. All his teeth are still in wear, though. He has Cushing's, kind of like type 2 diabetes, as I understand it. Not much to do about it except regulate his diet some.

[Nina]

Jim, as a speed reader I sometimes get the meaning wrong which I did when I read your line about the new dog door. All of a sudden I thought, "new dog," and I couldn't remember you mentioning a new dog..I re-read it and discovered it was really a new dog door. And I was so excited to think you had a new dog and it was going to adapt to all the rain.

[Jim]

Hah! We can't afford another dog. Not enough space or money. I had to yell at them last night so I could get enough space to get into my double bed. Pip was content to sleep at the bottom of the bed, but Lily & Amber both think they need to cuddle with my shoulder. We wound up compromising with Lily in Amber's normal spot on top of the covers with Amber under the covers half under both of us. They didn't want to cuddle until I yelled, then decided it was best to quit grumbling, so they went to sleep & let me do the same.

Well, the door got a test today. We had winds over 55mph, not directly from the west, though. It did pretty well unless Amber (the smallest) slipped in slowly. Then the flaps don't get enough back-swing to stick. Still, it's doing far better than the old one.

[Nina]

Jim, Do you have a king size bed to accomodate all the extra guests? When my daughter was young I'd find her sleeping on the floor while the Irish setter and the cat occupied her bed

[Jim]

No, just a double. If I can't fit, they need to move.

[Nina]

Hope all my Goodread friends have a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving.

[Werner]

Same to you, Nina!

[Jim]

Happy Thanksgiving eve to all of you. I'm hoping for an easy day today. I think a lot of people are off.

I am inordinately pleased with myself. I was out riding last night when Indy decided to goose Chip & race him up the hill from the pond. Chip took off & gave a couple of big bucks. It was a lot of fun, but my hat came off. After we got to the top of the hill, I turned Chip around & managed to snag my hat off the ground without dismounting. I know they do that sort of thing in the movies all the time & it looks easy, but it isn't especially for fat old men riding bareback. Between the hill & Chip standing very still, I got it, though!
:)

Heritage of Cyador was delivered on Sunday to my mailbox. It was pre-ordered months ago & I hadn't realized that it would show up. How cool is that? Way out in my neck of the woods, too.

[Werner]

Congratulations on your hat trick and new book, Jim!

Yesterday was my last day of work until Monday. I'm very pleased to have a five-day weekend!

[Jim]

Marg is off today, too. I'm working, but I decided to change around my office some & do some much needed cleaning, so it's an easy, non-thinking day. I put a second monitor on my desk for my main PC & left the other 3 on the original monitor & keyboard. I really like the change. Makes it a lot easier to do updates.

[Nina]

My daughter who just had shoulder surgery/second daughter to have this surgery in the last two months/is wondering how she is going to ride her horse with her right arm in a sling. But she is still on the ice machine on Thanksgiving and is thankful for it. Her sister gave it to her and that saved her three hundred dollars.

[Werner]

We hope your daughter makes a speedy recovery, Nina!

During Dec. 1-3, I may be offline more than usual. Barb and I are expecting a visit from our youngest daughter Rachel (in her window of opportunity before she starts a new job with the North Carolina Dept. of Revenue).

[Lisa]

Good hope all goes well be bless enjoy ur stay

[Jim]

Good luck to your daughter, Nina.

Have fun, Werner.

Here are the toys I made for Colin, the grandmonster.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...

[Jim]

I had to get Pixie put down this morning. She was just 6 years old, but the injuries from Indy running over her just kept multiplying. Her remaining eye went blind & was giving her a lot of pain. She kept running full speed into stuff, too.

On the brighter side, I saw a recipe the other day for what is basically an omelette made in a cupcake pan. It came out well. I greased the pan with bacon grease, put in a bit of onion, tomato, pot roast, & 1/4 slice of cheese, then poured the cups about 2/3 full of scrambled egg mixture - 3 eggs beaten with some milk. In a preheated 375 degree oven, I baked it for 20 minutes. The tops got a nice brown.

I cut around the edges with a butter knife, then lifted them out with a large spoon & they stayed together well. Tasted good. I had 4, Marg had 2 with no onion. The ingredients mixed in well even though they were just sitting at the bottom when I started.

[Werner]

Jim, sorry to hear about Pixie! My condolences to you and Marg (we've been through the same kind of thing ourselves). :-(

[Jim]

Thanks, Werner.

I didn't get a lot done today, but did fiddle with & turned out a nice candlestick that's offset. Kind weird, but cool. Lots of possibilities there. This was the fourth & best attempt, so far.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...

[Nina]

Jim wrote: "I had to get Pixie put down this morning. She was just 6 years old, but the injuries from Indy running over her just kept multiplying. Her remaining eye went blind & was giving her a lot of pain...."Jim, not a pleasant task to say the least. You have my sympathy.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

What am I doing today?

I'm trying to catch up with the posts I missed here.
Meanwhile, I'm getting our Xmas cards ready to send.
Am also doing all the Xmas things and getting the house ready for our family to stay overnight here for Christmas.

Am also trying to find some of my former smaller-size clothes to wear. I lost almost 40 pounds while I was sick. My pants keep falling down if I don't put a pin in them. LOL I keep pulling them up! LOL