Leave Well Enough Alone?

...back next week.

Ack! :oP

A Post in 3D: with Dirt, Dirt and Dirt

N e v a h !

I'm a detail person, and most of the time that's a good thing. Sometimes, however, I get too caught up in the little stuff which interferes with me getting to the big stuff. Or, my brain is so wrapped up in piddly details there is no room left for coherent thought. Does that ever happen to you? I missed another post (apologies all around), and did not even have the chance to respond to comments (more apologies all around), which is something I really like to do. The photo, in case you're wondering, is a cute little watering can I found at Ace. Although you can't really see the design, it has leaves in a raised pattern on the sides (this is to be my "case in point" - which I will come back to momentarily).

Both of my parents have celebrated birthdays since my last post. Mom's was first at the end of June, which made her two whole years older than Dad for 5 gleeful days (he really lords it over on her :o) I made her a maple walnut cake - simple AND yummy - and wasted considerable time, and walnuts, trying to scatter them evenly around the top. Aside: Aren't scatter and evenly antonyms of a sort? Why do I do these things? No idea; move over Monk. *rolls eyes and hangs head* Well maybe I'm not quite that bad; he would have been placing them strategically (and individually) with tweezers. Ha. Anyhoo, my parents are pretty hard to buy presents for, as they don't really need anything and can usually afford to get what they want better than I can. I had no clue what to get my Mom until she said she wanted a runner for her dining room table. Of course that was the night before her birthday. Better late than never, eh? I found a pattern on Ravelry and I'm almost finished, so I'll post a picture for you next time. Actually, I'll post several as I have been "documenting" it. It's kind of interesting to watch it progress (makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere ;o)
Speaking of progress, our favorite volunteer (Mr. Ron) was finally able to squeeze a day out of his busy schedule to come back and help us work on the visitor area. He (L) and DH (R) make an excellent team:

They built a door for the "outhouse" (which required considerable thought):

and put a pretty good dent in the feed room too (hooray!):

Did not have enough time to mess with the photos from my visit to Sandy's house, so I'll have to save those for next time. Shall I offer yet another (other) apology? Yeesh :oP  Got tied up *cough* working *cough*cough* on various and sundry important projects like this one:

Looks better though, doesn't it? (Oh, my ;o) Have a blessed week everyone!

Fostering Fun with Friends

Have you ever noticed how many strange meanings are attached to words in English? I do, but that's probably because I spend so much time explaining such things to deaf children (including DD). We'll start with the "dirt" on Sarabear (a.k.a. the latest, the skinny, yadda yadda). I think half the time (maybe more) I totally forget to report back on some of the stuff I talk about here.
Gee, I was going to add to that, but I forgot what I was going to say... Do y'all have that problem? (I think it's called AAADD or Age-Activated ADD). Ha. I am deliriously happy to report that SmartPak's SmartBreathe Pellets worked. Sarabear ate them easily (which was a big worry) and even better? Her cough has disappeared completely - hooray! I tried to take a picture that was close enough you could see what the pellets looked like; I'm not a big fan of powder, as it tends to slip through the feed no matter where you put it. SmartPak is apparently trying to convert a number of their supplements to pellet form, which is awesome (click here to visit their site). For those of you who are dog owners, they also offer a great selection of supplements for canines (click here). No cats though (my apologies to Banjo and Sparkle, et.al.).

Took a trip to visit my bestest galpal, Sandy, which is part of the reason this post was seriously tardy. Can't tell you ahead of time, as it's not the brightest idea to post to the world you won't be home for a day or two. Is this not the cutest little bunny? I think Sandy said she found him when he was itty bitty, and hand fed him (and do I remember? Nope. *bangs head on desk*) So anyway, I had an absolute blast at her house (and don't I always?) I'll have some photos for you next time - although my camera battery died, so I didn't take as many as I wanted to. Forgot the charger at home. *snarl* Can you believe it? Of course you can; hardly a shocker. *sigh*
Speaking of such mental moments, I don't normally post videos from YouTube but I just couldn't resist this one in case I'm not the only who missed it (click here to watch it if you are an email friend):

It's like looking in a mirror, I'm telling ya.... Yeesh.

I've been spending my evenings hooking, and oh my doesn't that sound dirty. (Aha! There's another meaning). I joined Ravelry to confirm the fact that I am indeed a Duly Dedicated Dodobrain (another 3D reference for you ;o) After all, do I need anything else to do? Probably not. And do I need to expose myself (Ha. Another "dirty" sounding statement) to a site that contains thousands of free crochet patterns? Noooo, I most certainly do not, which made it absolutely irresistible. I'm under "EpicFarms" of course, and have no friends as yet (how sad). So if you're into crocheting or knitting, leave a comment here or look me up on Ravelry. I could use a friend or two.

The third and final meaning of the word dirt I'm going to talk about today is the one in the literal sense. We finally got some dirt for the pasture. Hooray!! Apparently, my concerns about The Girls' reaction to a monster dump truck invading their territory were groundless (hee). I was mostly sure that as long as I was out there with them, they wouldn't be too terrified (those things make an awful racket) but you never know; it only takes one horse to create a panic. I'm sayin' we all stayed pretty calm. You think?:

The Girls looked at me several times for confirmation that all was well, but other than that we just stood around, spectated, and snuffled at bits of dropped dirt (well, I didn't but they did ;o) Isn't that photo funny?

Bella was a bit mifffed by the humongous pile of dirt blocking her path to the hay pile. She actually turned around and looked at me, expecting me to move it out of her way. My "go around it, silly" response was distinctly unappreciated (but she did).

Lady had the same thought when she arrived at the pile we put by the hill leading down to the stalls and water trough:

Horses are what I would call OCD/COH (obsessively compulsive definitive creatures of habit) which was a contributing factor to all that erosion we had. Walking the same exact path every day created distinct trails, which were slightly lower than the rest of the ground. Since the pasture is on an incline, that's where the rainwater always went washing down (taking more and more dirt with it each time). The repeated combination of extreme droughts and "gully washers" over time made a heck of a mess with ruts everywhere. On top of that, we had a uber evil mole that tunneled all over the place and after a certain amount of topsoil was gone, they collapsed making an even bigger mess. We have a couple more loads coming this week (because the 3 loads we got didn't go as far as we'd hoped), and then we'll have to wait awhile for the rest. Stupid as it sounds, dirt is expensive :oP 

Sarabear did offer to help us spread it out though; wasn't that nice?

That's enough for now, I suppose. I've got to go work on the patio/visitor area - we're finally making some progress there too (and hot diggity dog! :-D Have a big horsey hug and a marvelous week everyone! (what's left of it anyway - Oy).

Independence Day: It ain't in July

As I mentioned to Dreaming in a comment last week, I am getting quite a lot done since school let out. Unfortunately, none of my recent productivity has been at my own house (and isn't that always the way?) Several months ago my friend Lori and I promised another friend, Caroline, (the teacher I talked about in this post) that when she was ready we'd help her fix up a spare bedroom for a foster child. Someone had given her some bedding and a few pieces of furniture, so it seemed the only thing left to do was pop over to her house and paint the walls. Er, not quite. Caroline admitted to being completely out of her element with this kind of thing, and said she definitely needed some serious help. Because I didn't realize a major overhaul was going to be in order, I didn't bring my camera for a before photo. Caroline sent me this lone photo she took with her camera phone before Lori and I got hold of the room (and her *grin*). Here 'tis:

Blah, right? And lest you think I am being obnoxious to Caroline here, she knows (I asked her up front exactly how honest she wanted me to be about it; I really didn't want to hurt her feelings *laugh*). Lori loved the little white hand-painted wardrobe in the corner - not pictured, sorry - to the degree I razzed her about coveting (and it was quite pretty, but I didn't care for it in there at all). She was also rather violently opposed to that dark chest of drawers, and wanted it relegated to the [spacious] closet instead. Right with ya on that one, sistafriend. I really wasn't too keen on the heavy floral patterned curtains, floral bedspread, living room like table with skirt, chest of drawers....well, you get the idea. One of those, "Oh wow, ummm...Hmmm." kind of things. So instead of a couple hours of painting, it turned into a two day budget special makeover. Lori had some beautiful sage green paint left over from rehabbing one of her rooms, and Lori and I [being the peas-in-a-pod that we are] both said, "Accent wall". So we had a mini-painting party (which was kind of fun - fellowshipping comes in many forms, right? ;o) but Lori had to leave us right after we finished painting. 

Since Caroline told me I could do "whatever I wanted" in there (which she probably regretted later, as I may have scared her), it was ON. I'm posting some photos of the [mostly] finished room. Lori will likely appreciate them as she wasn't there for Jen in 2D (demented decorator) mode. We pilfered a desk and bookcase (among other things) from other rooms, and picked up a few fairly inexpensive items: the bean bag, the over-sized dog, blinds, a topper, picture and poster frames, and - most importantly - some matching green spray paint (boo-yeah). Spray paint is my all-time favorite thing when decorating on a microscopic budget; it's awesome (more on that in a minute ;o) This is Heidi, by the way. Isn't she cute? Anyhoo, here we go:

Better, yes? She had those two beautiful watercolor prints already, but they were unframed. A couple of cheap-o poster frames and some paint and voila! Not to bad, eh? I liked 'em ;o) The bookcase we swiped from another room went where the chest of drawers was (that fit ever so nicely in the closet - go Lori!):

Since she already had the adorable stuffed mom and baby rhinos, and we were on a no-budget budget, I offered to kick in some of my art prints if she'd take care of the frames. Eat Your Veggies was a given (because hey, rhino) and she liked Sara N. Getti for the opposite wall. I wanted to add some color and help create a little reading/relaxing place tucked in the corner by the bookcase. I matted him in blue and Sara in a deeper shade of green. Have to say, I really liked the way the corner turned out (which may or may not be tacky, since the art part is mine). Caroline found the dog on sale. Initially she was waffling, thinking he was superfluous but I said oh we just gotta have him; he's perfect! What do you think?

A rockin' (ha, ha) pencil caddy, clock (complete with silly stuffed cat), a pretty lamb, and an empty coordinated frame went on top of the desk. Pilfered that from another room too;  kiddo has to have somewhere to do homework, right? She is going to call me as soon as she gets the word and then Caroline and her new charge will come for a farm visit right away; which should make for a fun outing to bond over. That's what the empty frame is for (because her friend Jen is a picture happy lunatic *laugh*). Plus it will help make the room feel more like their very own for as long as they are there.

One of the reasons I adore spray paint when fixing up a room is because it allows you to tailor make your own accents. Both of the poster frames in the first photo were black; I painted one with ivory textured paint and the other with the green. The .95c picture frame on the desk next to the lamb was also black; but "Rusty" and I took care of that in short order too. Caroline got into the spirit of things on Friday and voluntarily yanked the icky fru-fru skirt off the vanity table; brought a proud tear to my eye ;o) She had the cutest pair of lambs she found on sale, and I made and framed the little sage crocheted cross to put on it somewhere between 4 and 5 a.m. Friday morning (and yes, I'm aware that's insane).

The dog is sporting the cheesiest grin you ever saw, so of course he had to go over the mirror (he also covered up the hanger and nail quite nicely - love that multitasking-type stuff *grin*). You can see it a little better below, the top is scratched and worn and the front definitely needs some new paint, but that will have to be for another day:

Last and maybe least [dunno] is the door which absolutely, positively cannot be left blank (how else will they know it's their space?) When she calls me with the particulars, I'll make up a fun little sign with their name. In the meantime, I found a cute little DIY cork board frame in the clearance aisle at Wallyworld:

Of course you know I couldn't leave it like that...Some more spray paint (am I an official tagger yet?), a crochet flower, another (other) drawing, and TaDaaa! we're done :o)

My that was long; are you tired? I am. I'm so glad you stayed to the bitter end, 'cause it sure was a long way down here, wasn't it? Oh my. Have a blessed week everyone, and I'll have a Sarabear update for you next time. Hugs!

 

From Rough and Tough to...

I know, I know. Most of you probably celebrate it then, but for the folks in my county school system Independence Day is actually June 5th. You see that's the last teacher work day for the year - and BOO-Yeah to that. Let freedom ring! (see teachers sing. Ha. ;o) I would like, however, for everyone to stand briefly and give a big round of applause to those stalwart [semi-sane] unsung heroes who bravely face untold chaos and bedlam twice daily for a [gotta be] paltry paycheck. Who are these amazing folks you might ask? None other than your friendly (okay, sometimes grouchy but can you blame them?) neighborhood bus driver. Here on the Redneck Riviera, this particular vehicle is often referred to as the...

Although I often question my sanity when it comes to my own job, there is no question whatsoever when it comes to theirs:  There isn't enough money on this planet to entice me to drive a bus. Never. Ever. Period.

DD is starting her last semester of college (can you believe it?) She made the President's List this time, and rolled her eyes at my silly happy dance before tossing me the letter and asking me what that one meant. I can't remember if I told you, but we had a similar conversation the semester before last when she received a "You made the Dean's List" letter. This is where all that peripheral information comes in handy (and for deaf kids if it doesn't come up directly, it's just not there). I was going to post the letter for my photo, but I put it somewhere safe so it wouldn't get lost, which I'm sure most of you know means I have absolutely no clue where I stashed it. *sigh*
Although this next photo is about a topic I wouldn't normally broach, it was just way too entertaining to keep to myself. All I can say is, for that price it better be some doggone serious AHHHH:

*Note: if you look carefully, you'll see that it's actually for nine of them which works out to around $20 each (sure looked funny on the shelf though ;o)

Have you ever heard of a Spider Wasp? I hadn't until I shot the following video clip and did a little research. I walked out on the patio to feed the horses the other day, and spotted a large (wolf?) spider. After I got all of the eeew out of my system, I grabbed a feed bag thinking to just flip him into the grass. Before I could, however, a red bug with bright blue wings whizzed by my ear and dive bombed the spider. Whoa, really?!? I stood there, stupified (all agog, mouth hanging open, looking pretty much like a serious idiot) as the wasp and spider started fighting. (Photo Credit to Wikipedia).
The brain kicked in a few seconds later and said, "CAMERA, DOPEY!!" I sprinted into the house, grabbed it and dashed back outside hoping I could capture some of the battle. Probably not my best video, but between the size of my subjects and the movement it was pretty tough to follow. And hey, let's not forget the USI factor (unidentified stinging insect). If you're an email friend, click here to go to our Vimeo page. For the rest of you, here it is:

Spider vs. Wasp from Jen on Vimeo.
Ready for what I learned? Head's up; it's pretty gross :oP The female spider wasp will attack and subsequently paralyze a spider using her venom. She does not kill it, but uses it as a sort of living incubator. She will lay an egg inside the spider, and when the larvae emerges, it will pretty much eat the spider from the inside out. The wasp larvae will continue to feed on the spider (who is completely aware, but immobile - and ick) as it develops, instinctively preserving the internal organs for last, thereby keeping the spider alive until it is ready to fly. Now that is one stone cold bug. Guess school wasn't quite finished after all, eh? *laugh*
Have a marvelously blessed week everyone, and thanks so much for reading this far!

Toeing (tripping over) the Line

Have Ya Had Enough?

Yep. I think so. It's been many a misadventure since my last post, and it's only been what? A week and a half? Yeesh. I'll skip straight to the sad; Sarabear has been diagnosed with full-blown heaves (otherwise known as COPD and/or RAO). My best guess is it must have been dust-induced; even with recent rains we're still in a musty dusty drought. The initial signs were either not there or - more likely - mild enough they just snuck right by us. Sarabear is not ridden or worked at all, which I'm sure made it harder to spot. She also tends to stay in the background of her little herd, so that probably didn't help matters. I'm sure that there were some additional - and bigger - signs more recently, which I probably missed completely being so focused on my parents big move, the end of school, and getting sick twice (got some serious guilt going here, though). She seemed to go from a mild occasional cough to wheezing and all but gasping for air virtually overnight.

When Sara came in 2009, we noticed she had a very slight periodic cough; she was a 14 year old broodmare that we accepted as an equine donation from one of our long time regular donors. We took her largely because I am a softhearted sap we were under the impression that she was coming with her own built-in financial support (and ha, ha that joke was all on me). I'm still struggling to get past resenting the fact that the donations stopped shortly after Sara's arrival, as she is a wonderful addition to the farm. Click here to visit her lens and read all about her high schoolesque arrival. Since the rest of us were sneezing and coughing from allergies at the time she came, I wasn't overly concerned as her mild cough disappeared about the same time our sniffling and sneezing did. 

I did, however, look up coughs in horses the following spring when she started coughing; again here and there (just in case). Although I came across heaves as a potential cause for cough, she did not have any breathing troubles or mucous and the coughs seemed to be pretty mild as well as few and far between. Added to that, my "go to" books and online haunts all pointed to stabling and dusty hay as the cause of heaves and advised keeping the horse on turnout and grass. Since Sara isn't stabled at all (although she has shelter) and pretty much never eats from the hay pile, I mentally crossed it off. Over the past week or two, I've found several online articles about heaves in the South in turned out horses. Hello? Where the heck was all this important stuff when I looked the first time? Well foo on you Mr. Highnmighty Net; NOW you tell me. *scowl*

Sara was given a shot of a corticosteroid that I don't remember the name of, but it's supposed to last for 30 days. I am trying to find some kind of long term treatment we can use that will help in addition to watering down the dusty areas as far as we can reach with the hose. The dust has been awful the past couple of years, as the rainfall has been far below average. If any of my horsey friends know of anything that works well for heaves, please let me know. She still has that slight cough, but won't take anything we've tried thus far. Air Power and Cough Free have been tried, but both have a very strong smell so she won't touch them; nor will she touch her feed if it's in there. Of course the other girls were more than happy to eat it; and isn't that just special? *bangs head on desk* I know they make a prescription cough medicine for horses; but that stuff is hideously expensive and definitely beyond our budget (plus I don't know how I'd even get a dose in her).

If it were ANY of the other horses, I could just grab the dosing syringe and we'd be done already. For those of you unfamiliar, Sara was heavily abused early in life and although she will let me touch her head while grooming, it's a monumental struggle for her to allow that much. She can't handle anything beyond it. I can't get anywhere near her ears, nose or mouth while holding her halter; she'll rear (which is just a bit too much fun for me - ha, ha). This lesson was learned none other than the hard way the first time I cluelessly attempted to deworm; straight up in the air, and wasn't that a lovely surprise? Not really. Whoever her show trainer was - she was a halter gal - sure did a number on her head (in more ways than one). Since then, we've hidden her dewormer in a handful of pellets and never had a problem getting her to take it. 

There are several sites offering herbal remedies that appeal, but of course I have no idea who is trustworthy and legit and who is not; caveat emptor, don'tcha know. I went to SmartPak (who I know is legit) and have narrowed it down to two supplements. One is MSM Pellets (click here for info) and the other is SmartBreathe (click here). I'm leaning heavily toward the SmartBreathe, (naturally it had to be the more expensive of the two) and am hoping that one of you guys has had some experience with this; 'cause I sure could use some help here. Ack! I'll give it a couple of days after I post before I place my order, but then I'll have to just take another chance as I don't want to (and really can't afford to) have to call the vet again if I can help it. So those of you in the know, please share what you've already learned with us via comment. I read through the reviews, and they looked quite promising. My biggest concerns are obviously that it won't help or, more likely, that she won't eat it. I wish we could afford to supplement everyone with SmartPaks but when you multiply by nine, well...I think not. One day, maybe. *sigh* I did send them an email to see if they offered any kind of discount to non-profits (so y'all keep your hooves crossed! ;o)

In other news, I finished this hat for the grandmother of one of the kids at school; her cancer returned and he asked if I would make her one (please pray for her). For those of you who are hooked on crochet (ha) I used a pattern called Bella from Knots of Love, and how funny is that? They offer a myriad of free patterns for cancer patients in PDF format - knitted ones too - in case you'd like to make one yourself. I used a cotton yarn, as summer is almost upon us and it is much cooler than acrylic yarn. The flower wasn't in the pattern, I added that myself, but made it removable in case she didn't like it. She sent me a lovely thank you note, and said she loved it flower and all - I will probably see her wearing it at sixth grade graduation - hope so :o)
Finally! You have reached the happy ending to this post. DH and our favorite construction volunteer, Mr. Ron, have actually managed to have the same day off. *WOOT!* This has been forever in the making, and I know it's only framing but it is something in the way of progress, and I AM SO GLAD! (sorry for shouting - I'm terribly excited ;o) Look, it's an almost feed/tack room:

Have a very blessed week everyone. Happy thoughts and horsey hugs - it's almost summer - Hooray!

For those of you who might be thinking Jen made a typo in the title, I'll tell you now it's [yet] another one of my terrible puns - can't help it...I love 'em ;o) So sorry I missed last week's post; and the one before that. Sheesh. You see I put a toe - more than one, actually - over "The Line". You know the one I mean? That line that defines your limits; the one that generally results in some sort of negative reinforcement should you be foolish enough to actually step over it. I usually refer to such things as "self-inflicted stupidity", however, sometimes events just kind of spiral out of control. Does that happen to you too? *sigh*

My mom was knocked so far off kilter by the move and subsequent upheaval, talking to her was like conversing with a late stage Alzheimer's patient (it was really scaring me). She was so completely overwhelmed, she'd start walking in little circles and saying things like, "I don't know what to do, I just don't know what to do." over and over again like a broken record. The only thing I could think of was to get her unpacked and situated as quickly as possible. The past month has been a complete and utter blur, but we got it [mostly] done. The two car garage, which had been completely filled with boxes has been unpacked to the point that both cars now fit easily inside. There are a few "later" boxes left, and those are stacked neatly against one wall. Thankfully, Mom seems to be herself again. Whew!

Of course working full time in a germ infested environment in conjunction with autoimmune issues means that such frenzied activity and late nights on my part are not sustainable for long. Inevitably there comes some sort of major crash. I got sick not once, but twice which slowed me down to a crawl (although I did manage to keep going; well...mostly ;oP Somehow or another, I managed to wind up with six big shelves to paint for Mom's little alcove off the bedroom (and do not ask me how, as the details are rather hazy) and that will be - I hope - the end of the major stuff for awhile. It took me two weeks to finish priming and painting those stupid things, but I delivered them Monday after work. I do not wish to discuss the state of my own house (which was duly sacrificed) and have taken to gazing intensely at the floor while navigating the living and dining areas where I have chunked and piled all the stuff I inherited through the downsizing. Somewhere in there, DD (who never gets sick) got sick, and I have taken today off to carry Sarabear - who is also sick - to the vet. More on that next time.
As promised, however, here are a few more photos from my parent's old house. The family room had fabulous vaulted ceilings and a super cool "balcony" that was one of DD's favorite spots in the house when she was little (and when she was not so little ;o)

The people they bought the house from made stained glass; hence the gorgeous glass accents. Is this kitchen cabinet not fabulous?

My favorite piece, however, is in the master bath. It was difficult to get a good photo, as the lighting was not the best. The glass is backlit, as you can see:

Isn't that simply stunning? I love stained glass, do you? Well, that's all for now and I really am sorry for being absent so long (have a hug? ;o)