Life on the High Plains

Will he think this is fun when he's 15?

At 4:14 a.m. Saturday morning our phone rang.  It's never good when the phone rings at that time of day, you expect to hear bad news.  It was MP and she was frantic because our granddog, Bella, had just had two grand mal seizures.  Irv and I jumped in the car so we could get Bella to the emergency room.  Irv stayed with Mr. Beans while MP and I drove to the animal emergency hospital--but it had moved since we had last been there.  Where did the hospital go?  A quick call to Irv and a look through the phone book pointed us to its new location. As it turned out, Bella probably has epilepsy.  It's very common in puppy mill puppies and shows up between ages 2-5.  Bella just turned 2.  It can be controlled through lifelong medication, but Bella won't get any meds unless she experiences three seizures in a year. Bella had to spend the day at the hospital being monitored.  She got to come home about 9:00 that night.  MP said ...

Twenty-three years ago on a Sunday afternoon on a very hot day at Ft. Rucker, Alabama you came into our lives.  It has been a joy watching you grow into a beautiful young woman. Have a great day!  We love you.

Earlier this week my sweet black lab, Keira, killled a baby bunny right in front of my eyes when we went out to feed the horses at 6 a.m.  She must have punctured the bunny's heart because it died quickly, but of course it ruined my day.  Keira got a spanking and had to spend time in time out, but I'm sure she thought it was worth it. "The scientific name for an animal that doesn't either run from or fight its enemies is lunch." - Michael Friedman   Between Irv and the dogs, the bunnies have a very low chance of survival at our place.  A couple weeks ago Mr. Beans found a baby bunny in one of Irv's traps.  Irv traps them and then transplants them a couple miles away.  Anyway, Irv told Mr. Beans that the only way the bunny could stay was if he could figure out how to open the trap.  It took him quite a while to get it open, but he did it!  The bunny got to stay.  (Unfortunately, I think that may have been the bunny that Keira killed.)...

I came across a show on Animal Planet that I had not seen before--Confessions:  Animal Hoarding.  It boggles my mind how people can become so overwhelmed by animals that they allow their homes to be taken over by the animals.  It must be a sickness.  I really don't understand how these people think they are taking care of their animals.  It's sad. I know Irv thinks I could easily be an animal hoarder, but the difference is that my animals are clean and well taken care of and my house is too.  Also, I only have two of each species--2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 geese, and 2 horses.  Maybe I need to build an ark. If you check out this program I suggest you have a strong stomach.  http://animal.discovery.com/tv/confessions-animal-hoarding/

I turned 50 this year and when I went for my annual physical my doctor ordered all kinds of tests.  I was sure she thought I was dying of something. I had the last test today--an echo plus cardio stress test.  I had my first consultation with a cardiologist about two months ago.  There's a long wait to get into see the cardiologist I chose, but I was told that the wait would be worth it.  At that appointment I had an EKG and the doctor told me that it indicated I had had at least one previous heart attack.  I was a little taken back because I have never had symptoms of a heart attack (symptoms for women can be different than those that men experience).  She wanted me to come back for the echo plus stress test so I waited another two months until an appointment was available. So today a sonographer studied my heart for about an hour.  When that was done I got on the treadmill and got my heart rate up to about 160 bpm then I jumped on the t...

Last week it was time to go and get a fresh load of hay for the horses.  I have a customer who bales the grass in one of his meadows for us, but we have to pick it up out of the field.  We tried to get DP to come along and drive the truck since she was here for a visit, but she made some excuse about having to take an important business phone call.   So, I drove the truck while Irv picked up the bales and stacked them in the trailer. Every once and a while I felt sorry for him and got out of the truck to load a couple bales.  I try my best, but I'm really not much of a hay thrower. Irv moved a couple tons of hay almost completely by himself that day.  Once again, Irv is my hero.  Thanks darlin for taking such good care of my ponies!