Access Denied, Dude

I don't know about you, but I have a tempestuous (such a cool word ;o) love/hate relationship with the internet and all things technological. As the parent of a deaf child, I TOTALLY appreciate  the marvelous blessing that texting has been. I do not miss the days of running halfway across the pasture to catch DD for one thing or another (can't just bellow at a deaf kid, don'tcha know), but as a regular form of communication I find it seriously annoying. Just call me for crying out loud. I can't wait until iPhones are more affordable (Facetalk means signing not texting - Woo!) Facebook is okay I guess, fun sometimes for sharing photos or catching/keeping up with old friends and family but definitely prone to TMI Overload (too much information).
Sometimes I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW - in explicit detail - "What's on your mind" (because ick). I'm not sure I like all the ease of access stuff either; especially when I can't really tell where my personal information is going. Leeeetle too scary for me - sorry. And don't get me started on Google's new [over the top] tracking stalking strategy. *shudders* The photo, in case you are wondering, is one of the cabinet doors in the workroom at school (I was making copies and pondering this week's post). It's kind of funny to me that with all this amazing technology around, the bulletin board decorations haven't really changed all that much since I was in school. We are NOT talking about how long ago that was though. Getting back to my original thought here...

Twitter I use for promotional purposes and periodic one-liners just to break up the monotony. Example: What do you get when you toss a grenade into a kitchen in France? Linoleum Blownapart. *snort* But honestly? I just don't get the twits, er, twitterers sometimes. Do I care that you just finished flossing your teeth? Um, no (although I'm sure your dentist must be very proud). How about it? Are you addicted to any of the social media sites? You can tell me (I promise not to tweet it ;o) This photo is Bella performing one of her spectacular yawns. *laugh* I was kind of proud this one was actually in focus (she didn't do the head flip/hair tossing thing with it - she really gets into her yawns).

This has been a bit of a painful week. At the beginning of it, Taya came hobbling down the hill with a stick protruding from her front foot right above her hoof. At first I thought it was just caught in the hair, but I couldn't get it out - it was through the skin and stuck fast. Ugh, a puncture (eew). It obviously pained her, as she snatched her foot away every time she thought I might touch it again. Poor girl. Got a gel ice pack and laid carefully over the area hoping to numb it a little. She stood still on her own for me (the girls are SO good about this :o) as we waited for a few minutes. Said a prayer, put some pressure on the ice pack and slid the offending splinter out. Whew! A squirt of peroxide to be safe, and she happily trotted off munching her good patient treat. Some kind of sticker bush I guess, but just look at this evil thing - Yeow! It was stuck in there all the way to that second knot. She must have lay down to roll and knelt on it or something. Geez.

Before I forget, I have to give a warm fuzzy (furry?) Thank You Thank you Thank you! to Beth over at Seriously Horsing Around. She finds some great horsey stuff any and everywhere, and actually managed to find a way to get a free one year subscription to Horse Illustrated (post is here). The magazine was one of the first things to get whacked a few years ago at the beginning of my [personal] budget cutting craze. I've missed it, but now in 6 to 24 weeks I'll be perusing its pages once more. And for free too: Yay!

We ended the week with a Mad Max mental moment (and why are you not surprised, right? *sigh*) I had a couple of pretty good shots of him aggravating Cinnamon, but cannot seem to find them anywhere (don'tcha just hate that?). The two of them are fine until mealtime, then it's Nyah-Nyah games. We'll make due with this picture of our resident problem child taken near the end of last fall. I used the poster setting on the camera, which gave it an unusual look. I kind of like it though, and although I wish his ears were up, I have to admit it's much more Maximus the way they are :o)

One of the things on my ToDo list is to build Mr. Miscreant up there a climbing wall. He seems to have a genetic predisposition for it, and has discovered that the round pen panels make a pretty decent ladder. Grrr. I have the plans (and a pretty good idea of who I can coerce to handle the carpentry part) but I was hoping to put it off until we finished the patio/visitor area and started working on the boy's new stalls. I am now rethinking that strategy.
Below is a photo of what was - in its former life - a round pen panel. More specifically, the panel between Max and Cinnamon's stall. It has - as evidenced by its current state - been pretty well annihilated. Must you add Max the mountain climber to your personal cast of characters? Really man? How about we add Joe Destruco instead? *sigh*

Guess that's enough for now; I'd better get busy around here (so much to do and so little time ;o) Gotta go work on our taxes (talk about painful - Blech). Thanks for reading this far, and have a blessed week everyone! Oh, and don't forget to look for Epic Farms on Goodsearch please; we'll take all the help we can get. And Clancy, I hope you're okay down there girl (prayed for you when I saw all that water on the news). Okay, now I'm really done. Hugs,