'Black Friday' effects linger

That's what I've begun to call last Friday. Bud's accident was the crowning crisis but a couple other things happened that night, all of which may have been avoided if we hadn't been trying to do the right thing by a church member about whom a mutual friend was concerned. To consider the friend's concerns we attended supper at the church member's home, where Rick lost his emergency pager and I bit down on something hard, causing immediate piercing pain in a tooth. Rick has not been able to find his pager, my offended tooth is increasingly sensitive to cold and heat and its side of the jaw is aching, and of course the jury is still out on Bud, who I discovered much later than I usually would have because of the dinner. At least Bud has made a bit of improvement; he's now eating, drinking, and looking brighter, even trying to get away from his nightly shots. And even though the whole limb still droops uselessly from Bud's withers, yesterday morning I thought I saw a bit of forward movement in his right knee as he hobbled around.

Speaking of knees, my left knee is much improved after it betrayed me two weeks ago. I was able to go to agility class last Wednesday, although I wasn't speedy and used my knee brace for added support; I expect to be pretty much back to 'normal' tonight. My right knee has been crankier for the compensating it's had to do, but the sports physician and exercise therapist are addressing its problems as well. If I continue with the exercises on my own, I will hopefully avoid another painful episode that interferes with my activities.

Speaking of activities, I got the photos of Poppy taken at our last agility trial. I shared some of these on Instagram/Facebook already, but a few more are included below. I just love seeing her like this!

With the occasional showers we've gotten, the grass is greening up and I've stopped serving the ewes and lambs hay in the pasture. This, they feel, is a grave disservice, so they holler at me whenever I'm outside. The three ewe lambs slip under the fence (see photos below) and go off to find better pickings; if I don't shut the barn door, they go in and help themselves, making a mess of any open bales. Bridget still hollers at me for putting her in with Bijou, and Blaise and Bitsy complain about being in the barn. The only quiet sheep on the place are the rams; go figure. In our house, the males are the more talkative. 😉

The guys worked hard on the shop last Sunday to get it ready for trusses, to be delivered Friday. The truss company's boom truck doesn't have enough room to lift them, so Rick is renting equipment for that next Tuesday. We've been discussing siding and roofing colors; I think dark green siding would help it blend in instead of looming large, and Rick wants a white or beige roof (which won't be visible from the house) to reduce solar gain in the summer.

Next up: Fall eye candy! Until then, that's it for now from . . .

Breaking news

If you follow me on Instagram and/or Facebook, you know that my title is all too accurate. Sometime on Friday Bud got his right front leg caught in his hay feeder, and by the time I found him Friday night he was exhausted from struggling and very, very broken  –  as in a broken humerus, nerve damage, and probably extensive soft tissue damage. At this point he doesn't/can't use his right shoulder and leg at all, and the prognosis is guarded whether he gets surgery or simple conservative management, so we are opting for the second. That means giving him time, managing the pain and swelling, and keeping his rumen going by getting him to eat . . . something, anything. He has hay and I've offered him maple leaves, Purina Lamb & Ewe pellets (plain and dressed with Nutri-Drench), dandelion leaves, and beet greens; the only thing he does more than taste are the dandelion leaves which are hard to find right now, just emerging as they are with the recent rain and cooler weather. You can be sure I'm scouring the property for them. 

And yes, earlier that same day I posted to Instagram/FB about spending quality time with Bud while cleaning up his fleece and getting a coat on him.

I do have a post I started early last week with more ordinary updates that I will finish, and lots of photos of fall beauty that deserve a post of their own, so there may be a relative 'posting frenzy' coming up. Hopefully I'll hear from you in the comments!

That's it for now from a somber . . .

Ups and downs

I was going to try and post one last time in September, but "the best laid plans" and all that. This week has been a rollercoaster ride that has challenged me to just hang on. So what has been going on around here?

The week started off early Sunday with another agility trial. Poppy and I "blew the Q" in our first class, but qualified and won each of our next three. It helped that Poppy got to play with her friend Lily (a Golden Retriever we've met at previous trials) before classes started, but Poppy is also settling down and listening better. It was a looong day, so I took photos while waiting for the results of our last class (which was also the last class of the day 😵). We had what I thought was a major fault and didn't know if we qualified or not, so I took photos with and without a third qualifying ribbon. Never anticipated that we could win that class, so our photos are missing a blue; I'm so proud of my girl!

There was a professional photographer on site, too, and she got some good action shots. I am getting several, and will show those off when I get them.

On Monday I was contacted by someone looking for a small Shetland ram to use on her Shetland/Ouessant ewes. I thought Bench might fit her wishes and so did she; a flurry of communications with photos followed and Rick even drew blood for the tests she required. But in the end Bench proved (with Rick's more accurate estimate) to be bigger than was suitable, so that fell through. I was bummed, because as I've said, I have too many sheep.

Even though my knees held up for the trial (with a preemptive dose of Aleve beforehand), I decided to seek help before the left one got any worse. On Tuesday I went to the Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician that has helped me before, and he thought my left knee problem was either sciatic or referred pain from my hip, worked on it accordingly, and gave me exercises to do. There wasn't another convenient appointment for later this week, but I scheduled two/week for the next two weeks. It felt okay on Wednesday, and that night I went to agility class. In the middle of running a course, with no provocation or warning, my left knee spasmed with white-hot pain and I went down. I managed to finish the class by standing in one place or hobbling around just a little (good practice, since Poppy needs more distance work) and barely managed to make it home since using the clutch hurt. I called and left a message at the clinic and they got me in on Thursday. Now the diagnosis includes a spasming muscle on the back of my knee, which may still be precipitated by sciatica and/or seized hip muscles. It is getting better with ice and Aleve, but I walk like Frankenstein's monster and still worry about making a wrong move and going down again.

after this morning's activities; see below

Bridget is NOT impressed with the new arrangement!

So of course I decide on a whim to do a major sheep shuffle this morning. 🙄 Earlier this week I got one side of the Ram-ada Inn securable, so I put Bud in there away from the ladies, and Bijou and Bridget got the small Ram-ada lot with access to the other side. That took some doing because the other two rams wanted in on whatever Bijou was getting, and Bud and Bridget weren't thrilled about leaving the other ewes and lambs.  Time will tell if I got Bud away from the ladies in time; if Bridget settles (she is the only one intentionally getting bred this year), I hope her lambing date makes it clear that Bijou is the sire. I'm going to talk to Rick about getting Bud "tutored" (Gary Larson fans will get it 😉); he'll make a better fiber pet than flock sire.

In spite of the 0.6 inches of rain we got on the day I last posted, Rick and Brian have made more progress on the shop:

It doesn't take much rain at this time of year to make the grass start growing again; we got another good shower this morning. Now that the sun is out again, I'm going to ride Stella (one activity – so far – that doesn't hurt), clean house, check the garden, and make food for potluck tomorrow. When it's time to ice the knee and hip again, there's spinning and knitting to keep my hands busy.

That's what has been going on around . . .

Taking advantage of this dry September

Brown pastures and constant watering aside, our extended dry season has been a blessing. If it holds (notwithstanding the occasional day of showers, like today), we just might get the shop dried in and firewood stored before the rainy season sets in. Last Sunday we got the retaining wall backfilled and the remaining dirt spread out; hopefully that will keep if from turning our driveway to a mud slide. I slipped off to OFFF for the afternoon while Rick continued working on it; when I got back we set the three support posts for the east side. This is going to be a more imposing structure than I might have wished for across the driveway from the front of our house, but a barn quilt in the peak of the gable end might add visual interest. Maybe if I paint one, Rick will mount it. Maybe.

At OFFF I had an extensive list of spindles to buy for others (as usual) and managed to pick up some beauties for myself (also usual), as well as a few needed items. My new needle protectors will save me grief while knitting Ariya; I didn't have any that would stay on the 3mm needles I'm using.

I can get kind of obsessed about "one more row" on Ariya, but must tear myself away to take care of other pressing needs. On top of the lovely tomatoes our own garden is producing, one of our neighbors has given us more so I've had enough to preserve. I've canned 21 quarts and 13 pints (one broke), and am making a batch of condensed tomato soup (so much better than Campbell's) today. I was also given a bunch of bell peppers, so I'm going to try this. 'Tis the season to try new recipes to use all the fresh produce!

'Tis also the season for Shetland hormones to start circulating. The other morning this greeted me in the ram lot:

No one is hurt, just lots of pushing and butting. They will stay frustrated; with my overabundance of sheep and underabundance of hay, there will be no breeding this year. I wanted to put Bridget with Bijou before he leaves for his new home since she didn't settle last year, but can't figure out where I'd put them.  The lambs need to be weaned and on top of that, Bud needs to be separated from females, but I hesitate to put him with three adult rams in rut. I guess the easiest solution would be to put him with Bridget, but he wouldn't be my first choice as a sire. Sigh; if I could just get one of my guys to fix the gates of the Ram-ada Inn so they can be secured, my current logistical problems would be solved....

Sky shows continue both morning and evening; the days are definitely getting shorter:

sunset from horseback along our lane, with tethered raptor kite over vineyard

same sunset from back at home, looking west

sunrise

sunset, looking north

same sunset, looking west through our obstructed view

this morning's sunrise, before it clouded over and started to rain

That's it for now from . . .