Malfunction Junction: Such Dysfunction!

I am a planner. I like schedules, order, and routine. Boring? Yep probably so, but I yam what I yam - and wasn't it Popeye who said that? Oookay, that's kinda weird - even for me. Must be all that spinach in my morning smoothies. *laugh* I am, most definitely, a creature of habit (one reason horses and I get along like a house on fire ;o) I try so hard to make allowances for glitches, hiccups and/or any of the various and sundry things that can cause a project (please excuse me for swearing) to fall behind. You know what I just can't figure out though? If I have something that should take two days, so I allow four, why then does it perpetually seem to drag out to six? What in the world am I supposed to do with that much time per "ToDo" in a summer that is flying by at warped (ha) speed? I've been in "pure panic mode" for a couple of weeks now. Does this happen to you? As of this paragraph, I have less than two weeks before I am due to return to reality. I have not ridden at all. Not one time. That may, possibly, maybe, perhaps, have been uttered with a teensy-weensy bit of a whine there. Apologies. The almost patio is STILL not finished - though it's getting closer - and DH is going on vacation (so he can drive me bonkers full time, instead of part time *rolls eyes*). Sometimes I think I spend all my time in a constant state of frustration; do you struggle with that? On the upside [photo inset] just look at the awesome fabric I found for the "patio classroom" table our visitors will be using. I love it! I even found some heavy duty clear vinyl to put over top to keep it nice (I hope ;o) I found it at the Carolina Cotton Company on Etsy (click here to visit the shop). Now all I need is to find someone that knows how to sew, since the edges are unfinished (oops ;o)

True to form, DH is indeed driving me bonkers full time (and didn't I say that very thing a paragraph ago? *laugh*). DH's nephew has come for a visit; we haven't seen him for years and years, and we have been thoroughly enjoying ourselves catching up. DD and her canine entourage came as well, so she could see her cousin, and we are fairly bursting (barking?) at the seams around here. At this point I have been knocked so far off my normal schedule/routine I'm not even sure which way is up (mostly because my eyeballs are completely crossed :oP I am hopelessly behind in my blog reading, among a bazillion other things, *grumble, grumble*, but I hope to be back on track soon! Happily, I did [finally!] get to sneak in a ride which went a long way toward helping me unwind a bit after a stressful couple of weeks. Unhappily, Faith [photo right] had six very bad seizures in a row the week before last. Frantic, DD rushed her to the vet where she was diagnosed with "Cluster Seizures" in addition to her Epilepsy (click here for more information on seizures in dogs). Faith could barely walk for the first couple of days following the seizures. Her mental state had regressed alarmingly (e.g. she did not know her name, forgot her potty training, and did not even recognize DD initially), though she is now, thankfully, improving, she still has a long way to go. Strange as it may sound, Diamond's reaction was a shocking aggression toward Faith (who is her daughter); even going so far as to attack her physically, prompting DD to quickly separate the two. Thankfully, after a few days the aggression disappeared as swiftly as it had come. Diamond is reteaching Faith how to play, and hopefully her new medication will prevent such a frightening thing from happening again. [Photo inset: Faith with her, "Can we come inside now?" face - taken this morning.]

DH's nephew came with his own little (and I do mean little) canine entourage. The most adorable and funniest looking little dog I think I've ever seen. "Buddy" is an English Jack Russell Terrier, which is something I've never heard of (the Jack Russell part, yes, but not the "English" version). Click here to read about the distinctions between the Jack Russell breeds. Faith, whose dad is a Jack Russell, towers over him. Even Diamond (who is mostly Chihuahua with a little Russell of her own tossed in) is taller than he is. Of course he's still a puppy; and a pudgy little one at that. Is he not just the funniest little thing? His personality is just as happy as can be. I think Diamond has a crush on him, though Faith seems to think he has cooties. He is just so doggone cute!  I couldn't resist taking a few more pictures of him for you. The one shot I wanted that I couldn't get, was a full-body photo of him sprawled out on the floor gnawing away on one of his natural chews (a beef trachea). He was literally laid out; stubby little back toes stretched straight out behind him. So funny. He had us all in stitches watching him run and play with  the girls (Faith and Diamond), those itty bitty legs going like gangbusters as he gamboled about with surprising speed and agility. I'll say one thing for him; for all his chunky-monkey appearance, that little guy can GO. Gravy, I'm starting to feel more like a DogBlog here, than a horse one. *sigh* Well. Here are a couple more for you...

He has the cutest little face:

He seemed a little tuckered after coming in from playing with the girls outside:

Guess they really wore him out, eh? (sorry for the blur). Poor little man. *laugh*

Next time I hope to have a small slide show with a handful of butterfly photos; I couldn't quite pull it off in time for this post. Though they weren't as good as I'd hoped for clarity-wise, I think they will be worth sharing. Have a blessed week everyone!

You know, I make jokes all the time about being chief operating officer of the duct tape and band-aid brigade, but honestly? It's not really all that far from the truth. Sometimes I think nothing around here works when I/we need it. Do you ever have that problem? We seem to be having non-technical difficulties inside and out this week. Why is it (as long as I'm on a min-rant here *laugh*) that I struggled to get my computer and phone to sync, which was supposed to be easy-peasy but developed digital hiccups, yet our refrigerator and oven are deteriorating in perfect synchronicity? The oven has either a malfunctioning keypad or "box". Naturally, both items are heinously expensive to replace, and (of course) there's no way to know for sure which one needs to be replaced (replacing both would be more than half the cost of a new oven). As a result, we're learning to do the "new math". Baking at 400 is done at 399 (the zero doesn't work) and setting the timer for 40 minutes equates 39:59 (because the 1, 4, and 7 don't work either). Pretty annoying, but until I win the lottery (and HaHaHa) I can afford to be annoyed more than I can afford a new oven. The refrigerator has decided it would rather be a freezer, and for some reason it has started freezing anything we put on the bottom shelf. [Photo inset: my duct tape stash - DH calls it 100mph tape}

Surprisingly, DH, his work schedule and the weather all cooperated (a rare happenstance, that ;o) and I was SO thankful considering the twelve foot weeds in the pasture. Too bad the sprayer had a flat tire; one which had no desire to air back up. The tire was unwilling to be removed, a small war ensued, and many bad words were snarled. (Jen bailed in the heat of the battle ;o) Didn't I say I was waiting for the other shoe to drop? Kerplunk. Of course by the time the tire was repaired it was too doggone dark out to spray. Why was I even surprised? The chainsaw has also crumped, which makes perfect sense since DH and I found another tree down in the far back corner of the pasture. It is on the fence (where else?) and though it didn't break - whew! - it did compress it, so we need to get it off before you-know-who finds it and decides to see if Mr. T. still has a vegetable patch in his yard (I am, of course, referring to Mad Max, who else?) While we do have a second fence beyond that one, you can't be too careful when dealing with a hoovenile delinquent, and I'd rather be sane than sorry (and no, that wasn't a typo *grin*) [Photo inset: messy, but you can see how the fence is compressed and just see the trunk in the top left corner of the photo]

One of the things that did go well this week was I got to shoot a bird (bwahahaha ;o) No, no, no, not that kind silly! Anni, if you're 'listening' - I got him I got him I got him! The Cardinal. The one I've been stalking for months. I swear, any time I stepped outside, sans camera, he was right there. If I had the camera with me, he was gone in a flash (HA that was a good one ;o) He'd stop just out of sight and start singing. Mocking me. I know that's exactly what he was doing; the little cretin. I'm pretty sure I've taken about a hundred lousy photos of him, although I think I did get one other shot that wasn't too awful awhile back. Actually, I suppose we had considerably more than just one thing. This is as far as I got with my post this week. Why? Because DD and her entourage have been here for most of it, and she's been helping me with the patio project (excuse me for swearing).
Between DD, Kimby and our pint-sized volunteers (this post), we've gotten quite a bit accomplished in the past two weeks *WOOT* Here is a photo update of our progress (along with a couple of other random and irrelevant shots because, well.... because ;o)

Random like this tiny Carolina Wren who finally paused long enough for me to grab a hasty shot with the camera. They're almost never still, but they are SO cute!

Okay, okay, back on task here. DD helped me lug the half barrel planter around to the patio and I planted some Zinnias in it. Maybe next year I can put a knockout rose in there (that's what I wanted to start with, but the checkbook said NO *laugh*). Have to say I do love the mixed colors and blooms though. Aren't they pretty?

I finally hung the welcome sign my Mom bought me forever and a day ago next to a hanging basket with some Summer Purslane. I'll take an updated photo once it grows a bit more - it's very pretty too. Should I add that people will be coming from the other direction, so that's why it's backwards?

The entourage supervised from their favorite place on the planet: the big drum. I think they like feeling "tall". Faith seems to be saying, "What? We're sunning." (the lawn mower has also been acting up; can you tell? The dogs almost completely disappear in the grass - we can only see their tails ;o)

We got the outhouse sign hung (remember my Picture Happy Potty Post? Click here if you missed it) and the hose minder up. Now I just have to finish painting the sink so DH can hook it up and we can have water! *WOOT* Not the best shot, but you get the idea...

I tried to capture a bird perched high up in the tree top, but he took off. I still got him, but it's definitely not the crisp, clear shot I was looking for (guess I'll take it, though ;o)

The best thing? I finally finished painting the horse DD cut out for me a REALLY long time ago and we hung it up by the sink. I've got another neat welcome sign made out of horseshoes that I think I'll put up there (we want our visitors to feel really, really welcome *laugh*). We also moved one of Bella's pedestals over by the sink so little kids could borrow it to wash their hands after visiting the horses. I think she did an awesome job. What do you think?

I have to say, we were all pretty doggone (hee) worn out by the end of each day. We got quite a bit done; though there's lots left to do. I really hope there aren't any horrible errors and/or typos in this post, as I have not been very diligent in my proofreading this week (I'm pretty doggone tired myself). If I've made any, please accept my profound apologies. As for now, it's time to get back to work. *groan*

Have a blessed week everyone!