From sweetness and light to heavier subjects

lilac bud!

Daylight Savings Time is affecting us all more than I initially thought. Even Poppy is slower to get going in the morning; yesterday she spent a lot of time "sunbathing."

At the school meeting Monday evening, the Costa Rica trip organizer made it clear that if it is legal to travel, he's going, as he has materials and supplies to deliver. (He also grew up as a missionary kid in Africa, and feels he's lived through far more dangerous circumstances.) So far, all the seniors but one are still planning to go, and I hope they do. The burden of shearing (and trimming the feet of) 11 woolly Shetlands is starting to weigh heavily on me, and Brian being gone for two weeks would clear my slate a little. If I stay on task (and torture my puppy with extra crate time), I should be able to get them all done in that time . . . if my back holds out. My lower back has been extremely cranky for unknown reasons since yesterday, and NSAIDs aren't helping much. Getting a start on hoof trimming was on my list today, but so far I've been hesitant to try it.

Yesterday afternoon, the "neighbor boy" (the neighbors' dog) came over to play with Poppy. Toby is a bit bigger and older than Poppy, and they played hard. Before long, the neighbor commented that Poppy's limp seemed worse. I wasn't too worried about my 'tough terrier,' but later in the house I noticed that the splinted leg didn't look as straight as it had been. I picked Poppy up and investigated further; there seemed to be some definite 'play' in the formerly-rigid splint. Wondering if it might have broken, I taped a tongue depressor to it to help stabilize it until Rick got home. Sure enough:

Apparently the splint isn't 'terrier tough"! That spot on the foam side is from a pressure sore. 😔 So Rick disinfected it and we wrapped the leg back up with a new splint Rick fashioned from a PVC pipe and an insole from one of Brian's old running shoes. Hopefully this will hold her until her appointment with the small animal vet a week from today. I wish it could be sooner, but the vet is out of town until then; I'm going to do my best to curtail Poppy's activity while we wait. I wonder if any of her other patients have broken a splint? 🧐

Today, after Toby discovered –3X! – that he could get to our place all by himself

###############################

We are a divided household. My husband and I don't see eye to eye on everything, but we agree on a lot of things. Our son seems bent on disagreeing with us on most things. Politically, he is an outspoken Trump supporter – and a Democratic basher. When he brought home a free Trump t-shirt from the State Fair last summer, it 'disappeared.' When he bought himself a "Trump 2020" hat (not one of those red things, but still), I had to control the urge to make that disappear, too. I also have to bite my tongue a lot....

Last Sabbath Brian had that hat tucked in his belt (he was decked out in full "redneck" attire) as we were leaving for church. I told him to leave it at home; church is not the place for campaigning. He said he wasn't going to wear it at church; he was taking it for the memorial service we went to later that afternoon. I asked him to put it in the trunk because I would be transporting an elderly Dutch couple (ages 90 and 95) to and from church, and they would not want to see it. He asked why, and I reminded him that they lived through WWII. They witnessed the rise of fascism, the results of racism and state-sponsored discrimination, dictators drunk on dreams of world domination – and they recognize all those things in our current administration. His reply? "If they want to be Left-Wing Liberals, that's their problem." 😳😱😖 I love my son, but sometimes it's awfully hard to like him....

John Pavlovitz' Instagram post this morning said it well. (I don't see eye to eye with Pastor John on everything, either, but enthusiastically cheer him on as the rare evangelical Christian leader who follows God, not a demagogue.) You can double-click on it to biggify.

That's it from the mostly 'Humane Middle' at . . .

Election day

It dawned beautifully.

After working at home most of the morning, I headed into town with my to-do list. First and most important was to drop my ballot in the official dropbox:

Then I walked next door to deliver our property tax payment, taking a moment to appreciate this beautiful tree against the courthouse and blue sky:

At home this wee Japanese maple seems to have taken its inspiration from both the mums and the geraniums:

I'm still following the photo prompts for Wovember but haven't branched out beyond my flock and my current spinning project (now being plyed):

Pushing for pets

Mobbed!

I was gone much of the weekend, and I think I was missed. When I got home Sunday evening, Jackson claimed my lap and Chuckie was waiting when I went out to do chores:

Chuckie is a high-octane combination of playful, passionate, and predatory. Sometimes his intensity is a bit intimidating!

My folks arrive tomorrow morning for a visit, so posting may fall by the wayside for awhile. I'll catch up with you all later!

That's it for now from . . .

An unwanted 'break'

My typically Teflon-coated immune system slipped up this week, big time. I came down with a bad cold, source unknown (unusual in itself; I'm usually "last man standing" among the germy), that got progressively worse through yesterday. I spent more time in bed Wednesday and Thursday than any able-bodied person should, but this morning I woke up feeling mostly normal, so I guess I'll live. (I think Jackson was worried!)

If you follow me on Instagram (button at right) you probably thought everything was normal from the photos I posted. It doesn't take much strength to push buttons on my iPhone and I mostly tried to keep up with my usual activities (until I couldn't), so I have lots of photos to share. I even started pecking away at fall sheep maintenance, but will do a separate post for that.

It's been unusually dry for October, so I've still been watering the garden. Checked for harvestable things the other day and ended up wishing I'd taken a bigger bowl! (Hmm; maybe I'll make a frittata for tonight's supper....) As I was closing the garden gate, I looked right to see the light shining through a curtain of fall maple leaves:

Feathers are flying and egg production is dropping; the soft gray feathers from molting blue Wyandottes are everywhere.

There was a "Showdown at the OK Corral" episode on the Chuckie Channel the other day. A fat gray tabby I didn't recognize was stalking our boy in the pasture. When he noticed me watching and taking pictures, he slunk off, but returned shortly for a closer confrontation. That time I chased the intruder away, not wanting Chuckie injured in a cat fight. Fortunately, I haven't seen the aggressive gray again, and Chuckie continues his charming ways.

Still wallowing in the wonderful light and fall colors.

That's our house, taken during an evening ride on the hill

Here's a cute photo (hummingbird tongue!) to caution you that I'm ending this post with a short rant (because, like I said, I do keep up with the news):

While most of the world reels from the horrific details recorded of a journalist's torture and assassination, Trump says he will wait to pass judgement until the assassins are done investigating themselves. (Why is no one reminding our citizens that 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudis?!?) Then on Thursday at a rally in Montana, he praised the congressman who attacked a journalist last year, saying "Never wrestle him. Never. Any guy that can do a body slam, he’s my kind of, he’s my guy. We endorsed Greg really early, but I heard that he had body slammed a reporter. And he was way up, and I said, ‘Oh, this is terrible, he’s going to lose the election.’ But then I said, ‘Well wait a minute, I know Montana pretty well, I think it might help him,’ and it did … He’s a great guy and a tough cookie.” Trump has been hard at work throughout his campaign and presidency to TEAR DOWN our first amendment (among a great many other things), over and over and over again. As Dan Rather posted on FB this morning: "Pres. Trump's celebration of a congressman who assaulted a journalist is disgusting. The rapturous cheers from the crowd are deeply disturbing. The silence from GOP officials is the sound of cowardice. This has not, must not, will not be my America.

A free and independent press must be part of #WhatUnitesUs"

That's it for today from . . .