Not too bad, but I was defintely starting to feel it by the time I got off Snip. I'm going to guess that it took between 15-30 minutes to get the bit in his mouth again today. Of course, it didn't help that he really thought he was going to get fed. Daddy had bought two bales of hay and two sacks of feed this morning and Snip was watching me while I unlaoded them. So he was really excited, only to find that his human had other plans in mind--like poking that blasted piece of steel between his teeth again. Poor Snippy. :)

Anyhow, he behaved fairly well most of the time. (I just realized I forgot to take my hat off when I came in...probably because I thought I was going back out.) We did some walking, trotting, loping, and galloping (not too much of that). I think that he might has slid a couple of times--very short slides, but still. (Unfortunately, I can't look at his back feet during this procedure, so I really have no way of knowing. But it kind of felt that way.) 

P.S. You will notice on the side bar a 'banner' that says "Save the Nuba". This is a branch off of the Persecution Project Foundation requesting people to sign a petition headed for Washington for the US to push for a 'No-Fly' zone over Sudan. This would entail that North Sudan could not (legally) fly over South Sudan to bomb them. I signed it...why don't you? Many of the refugees are our brethern!

First, the progress!
    Grandpa actually got out of bed today and sat in a chair! If that's not enough, he also ate two boiled eggs for breakfast...(I have no idea what else he's had today--there have been no phone calls.) Now, we still don't know if the blockage is gone, but I do know that they removed the vacuum tube from his stomach (it went through his nose.) What I also know is that his stomach was soft yesterday as opposed to the more resistant feel that it had on Sunday. Apparently the food did not make him nauseous, which is good :)

The Dilapidation: A True Story written by Nate Rekrap*

It really all started last winter, when Miss R. was given a green horse to train. I found this extremely amusing as the little woman had been on a four-legged animal only enough times to count on her fingers. However, to shorten the lengthy tale, I shall obligingly cut to the chase.

Recently Matt, the wonderful professional horse trainer who has done Miss R. more good than anyone in her journey through horse training, showed our heroine how to get her horse to lower his head. (The reason Master Snip needs to bow his head is simply a matter of getting the bit into his stubborn mouth.)

When she arrived at the place to ride her horse, Miss R. immediately set to work getting the bit into Snip's mouth. (Forgive me, I forgot to mention the friendly bay steed came galloping down to meet her--I believe he thought it was supper-time...)

The technique: "First off, you have to put one hand on top of his head (in this case the left) and then grab ahold of his nose with the other one. With the left hand, put some pressure on his head. Pushing does better for me than digging into him with my nails. Once he gives, relax. Horses learn best through a reward system and releasing pressure is a reward. Next, once you get his head low enough, kinda rub him and then attempt to slide the head-stall up (I carry it on my right arm at all times). This may take a couple of trys. Eventually, I manage to get the head-stall held in my left hand and the bit directly under his mouth. This is the fun part...I give the bridle a tug with the left hand and try to guide the bit into his mouth and hold his head to me all at the same time--he'll throw his head--a bad habit. The bit will get in his mouth after awhile, just keep at it." 

Ah, yes. Anyway, often she ends up walking in circles with him. It can be quite amusing. Please forgive me yet again, dear reader. I still have not gotten to the subject of this little essay--the dilapidation.

Like I was saying, after getting him bridled, Miss R. saddled him up and meanwhile was also running water into the cattle troughs. Then came the moment of mounting. Due to the girls short stature, she often hops on one foot for a minute or two while securing her proper foot (the left) in the stirrup. Well, today, after getting her foot in she started to heave herself up. She paused with a confused look on her face. "That was weird," she remarked, "my pants feel funny." When she looked up again she declared, "Rats! I ripped my favorite pair of riding pants!" And ripped they were indeed...the left leg had ripped right across the back several inches up from the knee. "Too much stress on 'em I guess."

With that, she continued her ascent and had a throughly enjoyable ride--or so I would say from an observers position.  And that, dear friends is a woeful tale of dilapidation. I think that Miss R. took her predicament in stride with humor. That's one thing I have noticed about this particular friend over the years, she can normally find something funny to laugh about.

Alas, for the pants!

                    ~~Nate

*For the uninitated, Nate is a VERY old friend of mine:)
In reality, Nate is actually a creation of my 8 or 9 year old mind...like I said, a very old friend. He's popped up over the last 11 or 12 years in various places, but most recently he has become a journalist. Nate used to ride his trusty four legged steed (a stool!) chasing bad guys who had abducted his beloved sisters, Isabella and Francine (Savannah and Katherine). His weapon was a small rifle (actually a put-put stick Daddy had made me out of cedar). Naturally, he always prevailed over the enemy :) And that is a brief, non-comprehensive history of my 'twin'.

P.S. If you want to know what Nate looks like, he looks just like me only with short crazy hair (afterall, he has as many cowlicks as I do!) Also his jaw is a bit squarer and he's a little bit taller and thinner :)

No, I haven't exactly been AWOL....

I came down with a cold on Wednesday and spent the next four days propped up in bed reading mysteries and writing a story (which isn't finished yet.) I like reading mysteries when I don't feel good. Normally I grab an Agatha Christie off the shelf, but I think I may have read them all already (at least the ones down here). So I read three Dorthy Sayers instead. Lord Peter Whimsy is a interesting character. I like Bunter--his valet--even though he normally doesn't feature very prominately. 

Yesterday we stayed home from church because three of us were sick (Daddy, Momma, and I--Savannah has it this morning.) It was probably the oddest Lord's Day ever. (I've said that before...) Really though, we didn't get around to listening to a sermon until afternoon! I spent a majority of the day writing that little story (I don't know if is falls under the 'short' story category or not really.)

Katherine made a very wise observation yeserday afternoon: "It is providential that you got sick because otherwise we wouldn't have been here yesterday or today." It's true to...Saturday had been planned as a Church cleaning day--it got canceled due to the sickness in this family. Saturday, Grandpa was throwing up and not well. Since we (leave me out--I didn't know what was going on until 1 or so) were home, we (everyone else) was able to take care of him. Daddy was on and off the phone with a nurse all day...the ladies coaxed food and drink into Grandpa...etc. Mama thinks that the Prilosec which he was given for his ulcer (they found that on Tuesday during his upper GI endoscopy) was reacting with his Gleevec (for his cancer). Now he is acting like he's going through withdraw--even though he was only on the drug for three days! (He was taken off the Prilosec, by the way.) I hate drugs...

Daddy and I will go down to where my horse around 11:30 because Matt (the wonderful pro horse trainer who has helped me some--he is a great teacher) is coming out to worm Snip. (Last time he was wormed was the very day I broke my wrist--also Pearl Harbor Day.) Daddy doesn't feel so good today, but he wants to learn how to do it. Snip has gotten somewhat more ornery this winter--he's got to quit it. I plan on talking to Matt about getting the bit into Snip's mouth (how do I retrain him to stop acting an idiot about it!) and the slide stop business. (I'm tired of damaging myself trying to teach him to slide in on his back feet.) Maybe once I'm all over this cold I can ride this week--we'll see :)

P.S. CHECK OUT KATHERINE'S BRAND NEW BLOG!!!

Today is Granddaddy's 81st birthday. (I got that wrong on Monday.) Tonight is a big birthday shindig over at a relative's house. I'm planning on taking my video camera and shooting some video--maybe 'interview' people for stories about Granddaddy. That kind of depends on how comfortable I feel. I like this side of the family but don't know them very well, having met most of them only since we retired. I rather doubt that some would let me interview them anyway; being rather camera shy. Maybe I'll put together a birthday video as practice.

I'm planning on rushing off in about half an hour to go feed Snip. I'm taking a hiatus from riding at present due to a suspected cracked rib. Remember when I fell off last time and hurt my hip? Well, three days after that, as I got out of the car to open the gate I noticed a pain in one of my ribs. I figured it was just a cramp (believe me, sitting in th backseat of a small car with three mostly grown girls can be condusive to getting cramps*grin*) but it never quite went away. Then it got worse. Last Thursday (two weeks to the day of my fall), I slammed hard into the saddle attempting a slide stop (which I'm convinced I've been working on wrong anyway). I felt compression in my spine and the pain wrapped all the way around to that rib. Oh, was that was a severe pain! Once I managed to sit back up in the saddle and stop moaning, I walked Snip for a bit then tried a trot. No way, Jose! I decided such was not what I should do. I rode a few times after that but after two days of me complaining about my rib pain, Mom suggested I not ride for about a week. We figure that I might have cracked it when I fell and made it worse with Snip's pogo stick style stops. (There are some days that I have come extremely close to being bounced completely off.) My time off will also give Snip some time for his teeth to finish coming in. Hopefully once he quits teething he'll stop being such a beasty about the bit! (Horses lose their baby teeth too.)

Would you like to hear yesterday's wild adventure? Good. Anyway, it was 70 minutes of Savannah and I horse-wrastling. You read that right, 70 minutes of trying to get the bit in Snip's mouth. It actually got funny after a while :) Snip wasn't scared, he wasn't excited, he wasn't panicked, he just was not going to take the bit. Bah! Well, if you know anything about training animals, you know that you cannot let them have their own way--it will make things worse in the future. So, we stuck at it. We finally got it in after I crawled up the fence and sat on the corner post (by the way, we had him in the chute in the pens). Savannah held his head up and over the fence and I got jiggy with my fingers in his mouth and finally got the bit shoved in. After all that I only rode for about 40 minutes. At someone's suggestion, I left the bit in over night. I took it out this evening when I got done riding. Believe me, he was happy to get that iron out of his mouth!

Today I got my camera! It's a Panasonic HMC40 that I bought from a young man off CF.org. It is just a tad smaller than I expected, but I am quite pleased with it. I spent a good part of the day reading the book that came with it (I am no where near done with it) and messing with various buttons and settings. Now I have no excuse not to start contacting the people I'd like to interview...

Boy, talk about getting into scrapes! I've done it again...I had another horse related accident!! Snip and I were going at a run when it happened. As I pulled him to the left, out of one of those interesting ditches in the back pasture, the ol' boy stepped in a hole. No biggie...normally. Usually when he steps in an armadillo hole (or whatever) he recovers from his stumble and keeps going. Hump. That didn't work this time. I was a goner before I realized that he wasn't stumbling back onto his feet. Next thing I know, he'd rolled over on top of me (I might have rolled too. I can't be sure. Let's see, I was still facing south--the direction we were headed, and his nose was pointing north...so I have no idea exactly what happened.)

Anyhow, here I am with my head between my poor horse's hind legs. I think I yelled "Ow!" or something like that when my head hit the ground. My beautiful hat got smushed (could have been worse). Anyhow, I was afraid he was going to try rolling and getting onto his feet with my face in a prime place to get kicked. Thankfully, he didn't--the reason for which I found out in a minute. After getting my hat off my head, I managed to get that head from between Snips legs. I sort of sat up (the best you can with a horse partially lying on you) and removed my left boot (I forget why--must have been caught on something). Then I looked over at Snip's head. Poor baby was terrified. He was stuck on the ground and couldn't get up because my right boot (and therefore my foot!) had the left rein wrapped around it quite tightly. It took a minute or two to get my foot worked out of the boot. Once I did, he got up fairly quickly and his eyes went back to normal. (During the time he was down you could see the whites of his eyes.) I can't remember if I got to my feet before or after he did. Anyway, I picked up my hat and straightened it out, recovered my bandana (how on earth did that come off from underneath my hat?), and my dog fennel switch (which by the way, didn't get any more use today). By this point, I had noticed that my left hip and calf were quite sore. But I got back on Snip and headed for the house (I got there faster than if I'd tried walking--I tell you, I'm moving slower than an old man!) That caused a fairly sharp pain in the hip, and I immediately started praying that I hadn't broke my hip.

Once I got to the house, I dismounted (I got off on the wrong side, I figured that it would hurt less) and tied Snip up and limped to the car to retrieve my cell phone and call Mom. As the phone rang I began my trek to the house. Believe it or not, going up the ramp into the house hurt worse than the stairs! Once in the house, I iced the hip. Mama and Daddy came down and after checking on me, Daddy went to put Snip up.

When we first tumbled, I was worried that Snip had hurt himself, but he seemed fine. His walk looked/felt normal, so I won't worry about him. Mama brought me home. We are all figuring that I did nothing but strain things. I mean, I can put my entire weight on that leg (even though it hurts some). I can bend...sitting down doesn't really hurt unless I shift just so-so, and it feels like muscle. (I have had a fairly severe sprained ankle before, so I know what bruised muscle feels like.)

I am going to be purple in the morning...I just know it :) And stiff! Whooy...stiff muscles can be one of the most painful things in the world. And they can linger for DAYS.

With that cheery proposition, I think I'll bid thee all "Good-even' "!  *Cheerful Smile" (But ya know, I actually did it this time--I got back on!)

P.S. I have an interesting grass-rash pattern on my left arm...yes, I was wearing sleeveless again!

That's a lyric out of a Johnny Cash song. I forget which one, but it's one I've heard several times over the last week driving Granddaddy's pick-up from here, there, and yonder.

It's very true. Life goes on. One can't sit and mope and do nothing without driving themselves insane. At least, I couldn't. Not that I'm feeling mopy right now. In fact, I'm actually in a pretty good mood. However, despite that I have this continual knowledge in the back of my mind that the next trip to the doctor may bring bad news for Grandpa...and us. He had a liver biopsy Monday. At this point we don't know the result. Tomorrow he gets a PET scan. (By the by, don't ask me to tell you the difference twixt a CAT scan, a PET scan, and an MRI. I haven't the slightest idea.)

Why is it, I wonder, that I seem to feel more 'domestic' when wearing a skirt? I don't know, but it's true. When I wear a skirt I have a tendency to feel more, well womanly and like doing things like laundry, dishes, cooking, etc. My cooking is woefully neglected. I did make lunch today though. Mustard greens (which tasted like they got over done--oh well, I'll eat 'em and enjoy 'em anyway!), yellow squash, fresh tomatoes, and the left over venision stuff Savannah made a day or two ago.

I also took care of Grandma's laundry, did the dishes, and took Granddaddy lunch. It really doesn't seem like a lot, but I kept busy. (I also read the WORLD magazine that came this morning too...that killed some time.)

I will be ready to head over pretty soon to work Snip. Monday he didn't want to move again. I knew it wasn't his feet because Daddy had trimmed them Saturday and he ran for me that day. I think he was just feeling lazy. I was getting really frustrated. I hopped off and tied his reins to the saddle horn and stomped off the 10 or so feet to the fence row. (He really is a good horse. When I tie his reins to the saddle he stands right where I leave him--most of the time :) ) Once over at the fence I selected a sturdy looking dog fennel stalk and jerked it out of the ground. I removed the remaining feathery folliage and some of the roots. After getting back on Snip, I swatted his rump with that stick and--boom!--did he take off. I smiled evily, "I think I'm going to keep this!" I did and used it yesterday when he started acting lazy. I'm still working on spinning, but I stopped using a suggested method--it messed him up.

I hope to get back into daily blogging...I may or may not so please bear with me :)

...are sometimes extremely sudden, unexpected, and unhappy.

Monday Grandpa went to the doctor. Tuesday morning the telephone rang. Doctor's orders: take him to the ER; his hemoglobin (red-blood cell) levels are way down. [That explains why he'd been dizzy.] So Mama, Daddy, and Grandma took him to the hospital--that was the start of a very unusual week.

Before I chronicle the week, I will tell you what is wrong with Grandpa. He has cancer. In his liver and colon. They were supposed to do a CAT scan on his lungs to make sure he didn't have any cancer there. We haven't heard the result of that yet. Today they are doing a colon biopsy. We still don't know whether he comes home or not...that really hasn't been discussed. Those who have spent the last 3 days at the hospital have had a lot of emotional stress, as have those of us at home, but I imagine that it's worse actually sitting around in the waiting room and ICU than it is at home--where we have been busy with life.

Tuesday, Savannah was sick so I cooked lunch and dinner--nothing exciting about either meal. Ran food over to Granddaddy, took myself to my therapy appointment, and read. I was going to go ride Snip, but I didn't feel like it after getting the news about Grandpa. I was also going to feed Granddaddy's cows...but Daddy had the keys for the pick-up in his pocket so I couldn't. Katherine and I visited with Aunt Laurie and Uncle Dave for a while (they were down here on vacation) and got home in time for me to wash the dishes at lightening speed (heh...I don't think I can actually move that fast). After everyone had bathed we piled ourselves in front of the TV for NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles. The first one was quite interesting and kind of strange. I am rather fond of Gibbs :)

Wedensday: What came first? I think I read some more. (Mom got me a book called Rebel Storehouse about Florida during the War. It is a good book--even though I haven't got to the Cow Cavalry yet.) Savannah made lunch (she was better) and we both took it over to Granddaddy for lunch. After that we came home and we ate lunch and headed off for therapy. On the way home we stopped at the store for a few groceries. I turned around and immediately headed off to ride Snip. He behaved better than had on Monday. [Monday he acted really, really wierd. He was behaving normally until we got to the back pasture. I know it wasn't the cows because they have never bothered him before. He stopped and would not move. I'd kick and kick and kick and more likely than not, he either stepped sideways or half bucked. Once he would finally move, if I kicked him again (to get him out of a walk), he stopped. This went on for quite a while before I decided to take him into a different pasture. This other pasture also borders the same ditch, so if there was something in the ditch that was bothering him, it would explain why he acted the same way in this other pasture. Finally I got him into a lope and took him out of that pasture into the front pasture. Once there he behaved himself fairly well (if you subtract the "Hey, it's quittin' time! I want my food!"). Anyway, it was really weird. He had never behaved like that before.] Anyway, Wedensday he gave me one more serious buck and once I got resettled in my seat I backed him up and backed him up and backed up. He behaved much better after that. (Backing is not his favorite thing in the world.)
From there I went to Granddaddy's and fed the cows (Daddy left me the keys :) ). Savannah brought over his supper and I left after a bit.

Thursday (yesterday) I spent the morning reading. Savannah had gone down to see Grandpa that morning and Grandma had been left at home, still being asleep at 10 'clock. She needed to sleep so Mom decided that they'd come home at lunch time and then take Grandma down after lunch. I wasn't feeling to perky so Katherine made Granddaddy's omelette. Being the only one home with a drivers licence, I took it over and watched him eat and then washed the dishes. He was watching 'Cannon' (a old TV show) and so I did too. Cannon was using a Snubbie ;)
From there I went home, ate lunch and then headed off for my final physical therapy appointment. I had a chuckle at a teenage redneck's expense while there. Maybe the poor fella didn't know I was laughing at his predicament... John (the head therapist) said I looked like Wendy (of the fast food chain) because I had my hair in pigtail braids. I don't even like Wendy's! He's funny though. I wore my spurs in since I was headed for the place I keep my horse afterwards (I did go home first to pick up the truck), and we got to talking about how the left spur slips down if it isn't cinched up almost too tight. (My left foot is just that much smaller.) And he actually got down and messed with them while I was riding the arm bike. I think he's done some riding over the course of his life. He also told me to continue wearing the brace while I ride. I'll take it off eventually...I was hoping that I could quit using it when I rode.

After riding Snip I went to Granddad's. Those goofy cows started running before they even saw the truck. They heard it coming and took off to meet it  up by the barn. Granddaddy was sitting outside waiting on me to show up. As I loaded the feed, he began his slow transit across the yard. I had one black cow that was eating straight out of the bag as I dumped the feed out. I couldn't get rid of her! Anyway, that was kind of funny. Leaving the pasture, 'Bad Child' (so named for her ornery fence breaking last year) came running up behind the truck. I hollered, "Git out of here, Bad Child. I don't have anymore!" She bucked up and went back to the crush. Goofy cow.

I told Granddaddy, "Somebody will be over in a minute with some supper." (I honestly believed this.) I got home and found out everyone thought I was going to feed him! He did have left over omelette, but I figured they fix him something else. So Mom cut up half a tomato and gave me his chocolate stuff (a sneaky means of getting coconut oil into him) and sent me back over. I warmed up his omelette, some rice and chicken that was there and fed him that along with the tomato. He ate everything but the omelette. Then I gave him some chocolate (he loves chocolate) and came home. Whew. Yesterday afternoon certainly was something of a whirlwind. At least for me.

I wanted to go down and see Grandpa this morning, but I also wanted to be home this afternoon (horse and cows), and on top of that I needed to wash my hair. So obviously, I didn't go. Maybe tomorrow...

Hum, where did I leave off? I can't remember. Saturday we kept busy as bees--all of us.
Mama, Daddy, and Savannah shampooed Granddaddy's horrendously filthly carpet. Katherine and I (and Savannah before she left at lunch time) cleaned our house. I did laundry, some of the vaccuming, dishes, and just plain ol' staightening. Katherine dust mopped, finished the vaccuming and ironed a stack of clothes. I ran off at some point to go ride Snip. (I prefer when he doesn't have more than two days off in a row and I didn't ride him Friday.)

When I got there, Snip was running around, tail in the air, and his ears pricked forwards. I said, "Hey boy, are you excited to see me?" Nope, not in the least. The neighbors were riding their ATV's across the pasture and that was what he was all excited about. Once I got in the pens with him, I noticed that something didn't look quite right. When I got a little closer I realized that he'd broke his bossel! (Rope halter) I changed that to his green web halter and then poked the bit in his mouth. (By the way, he isn't fighting near as much as he was on this issue.) Saddle pad and saddle next--yippee! Let's go. He did really well; not perfect, but better :) At one point, I was resting him and I was watching his ears. He has this bad habit of pinning his ears (putting them back) and I had recently read something in a horse magazine someone gave me about that. (Pinning of the ears is a negative thing.) Knowing that bumping my hat startles him, I got to wondering if the scratchy noise that the ribbon makes was the cause of his pinned ears. As soon as I got ahold of them and kept them from rubbing, his ears went back to normal position! I expiremented with this and everytime I lifted the ribbon off the hat brim, his ears would go forward and everytime I let them fall back on to the hat, he'd pin his ears! Oh well. He'll just have to get over it. I am not taking the ribbon out of my hat--it blows off often enough even with the ribbon!

I also gave him a bath...or as close as it gets with nothing but a hose. He doesn't appricate it. The first thing he did once I let him go was lay down and roll in the sand. My nice clean horse turned into a filthy muddy horse in a matter of seconds. Oh well. I suppose I ought not even bother trying to keep him clean. It rained this morning so he got something of a bath :)