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March 30 Holly's Secret11 years ago today, a grumpy mare called Holly was taken out of her stable and her white coat groomed until it was, well, nearly white.
She was tacked up and led into the schooling area of the stableyard where she took her rider on a jumping lesson.
But Holly had a secret that she was hiding, and it wasn't yet time to tell anyone.
To be continued...
March 28 I'm Back!Well, here I am. It's been a long time but I am finally back online (after much swearing at the set-up CD that didn't work properly).
To all of you that think I have deserted you, I haven't, and I have an awful lot of catching up to do. Bear with me!
Life has been hectic over the last week or so, with the arrival and departure of a ferret (missing 3 weeks and returned to owner) and the subsequent arrival of a new horse (very long story!).
So apologies to all, I will get round to you eventually!
March 16 Thornberry GroomingAs you may know, I have been working at a dog groomer's on a Friday, trying to learn how to groom. I think it's going well, but the owner of the shop does not want to let me loose with clippers on her paying customers.
So I asked the Kennel Manager at Thornberry Animal Sanctuary whether she had any dogs that needed grooming so I could get some practise in. She told me there was a long haired collie, Harry, that needed some serious tidying up but no-one could quite do it properly with the equipment they had.
I spoke nicely to Becky, the owner of the groomer's, and she lent me the dog blaster (industrial hair dryer!) for the weekend. I turned up at Thornberry this morning with a bag of brushes and the blaster, all prepared to do battle with the Harry. He was beautiful, but rather dirty from his morning walk. He has been in the kennels for some time, and no-one had wanted to take him on yet. Due to low water pressure in the 'doggy bath' it took absolutely ages just to get the water through his coat but he was very patient and let me get on with it. Then I had to blast the water off him, in the process blowing black hairs all over the room and making quite a mess.
Harry had got his knickers in a bit of a knot, and was very dirty back there, mainly because he hadn't been brushed properly for so long. I clipped out the dirty matted bits and tidied him up, using clippers, scissors and thinning shears. I was very proud of what I achieved with him, and before long a family was showing an interest in him. They brought their dog to meet him, and are now planning on bringing the rest of the family to meet him too.
Julie, the kennel manager was obviously pleased with how Harry looked because she found me an old terrier to bath next. Poor Joey should have been mainly white, but was stained a horrible yellow colour, possibly due to living with a smoker. He needed two shampooings and even after that he wasn't quite white but looked much better. I forgot to take photos of this old man, but will put the rest in an album for you to see.
Next was Lucy, a cross Yorkie who looked like a hyena. She had had a flea allergy and her back end had been shaved while the front was left longer. My job was to even her up a bit and make her look more like a dog. She was a typical little dog, and was the only one that really needed a muzzle.
Last to go was Jake, a possible cross fox terrier with wild wiry hair. As Julie put it, he looked a bit like an explosion. He was so scared he broke the grooming table leaping around and I had to fetch someone to help me hold him. When he was finished he still looked like an explosion, but a much cleaner one!
I enjoyed grooming the dogs, and seeing the reactions of people who were looking for potential new pets, and I will be returning next week.
All these dogs and many more are looking for loving forever homes.
March 14 Tests, drugs and aching back!Just about to get dinner sorted for the kids, it's an early one today because they are off to Nannan's while I got to work.
I feel like I have done nothing but run around this week. There was the hospital visit, and this week I have also had a back massage, leaving me in agony! Muscles definately feel looser though...
I now have a huge bruise on my inner arm where I had blood tests taken on Monday, and I thought she (the midwife) had done really well.
Apart from me being black and blue, Holly is now on more medication; the tablets in the morning still and now Metacam in her tea. This is to help with her arthritis, but the vet says she has no joints left in her back legs and the only thing to do with her is to give pain relief.
It isn't very good news, but now at least I know where I am with her. With the Cushing's disease I had no idea what stage she was at or how long she might live, but I am familiar with the Metacam and how long she might last on it before needing stronger pain relief. Once the Metacam no longer works there is really no point trying to ease her pain, it just wouldn't be fair to give more and more drugs. But for now she obviously feels better and that is all we ask for.
Right, I'm off to go and groom some dogs, and get backache again.
March 11 Baby
For those of you that think it is just a blob, a few clues... The head is on the left hand side. The little circle floating in the middle is a hand (there is and arm too, it just isn't showing!) The squiggly white things on the right hand side are feet. And the brighter white line towards the bottom-right-ish of the baby is the spine. Before I went to the hospital , I decided to read my angel cards. The message was a positive one, but what struck me was the fact that as I went to put the pack away, 2 cards dropped out. They were Diniel, who offered good luck and protection, and Sofiel, whose advice was to seek health and wholeness. March 10 Today's NewsWell, there it is then. Talk Talk decided today was the day they cut off my broadband, so I am on a borrowed computer having promised you lot some news. I was just going to post the picture, and let it spea for itself, but as I cannot use my computer it also means that anything I have scanned in cannot be accessed from an outside computer. Anyway, I digress.
I visited the hospital this afternoon in an agony of nerves, and had the dating scan for my pregnancy. Having had a delayed miscarriage before I had not wanted to post this news until I was sure everything was doing what it should be doing, which it is.
The appointments were running ahead of schedule, which meant that I didn't have to sit around for ages worrying. The scan was done immediately and I was shown a tiny alien thing with a digital heart beating away.
At my doctors appointment when I discovered I was pregnant I was told my due date was around the 22nd September, but the date I had was the 16th September. The scan has now confirmed that I will be due around the 15th; just shows what doctors kow!
Not too much paperwork to do now, as I have refused all further tests and scans, why go looking for problems? And for all of you that think, "but don't you want to know the sex?" NO! I do not want to find out the sex of my baby, and the 20 week scan is not designed for that purpose anyway. I want to find out what it is when it is placed wriggling and squalling into my arms.
Anyway, when I am back online (soon, hopefully) I will post the picture and you can all croon over it.
Night all ! XX
March 09 Enough!Enough is enough. I can't take anymore spam and utter rubbish from Facebook, so I have closed my account. I am really looking forward to a much smaller email list waiting for me in the mornings!
The children are poorly with coughs and colds, but apparently well enough to play on the trampoline, run around causing havoc and visit Momma. I have now come down with this cold too, and it's horrible. I hate sneezing all the time and having to carry tissues everywhere. Oh well, it probably won't last too long. Think I'll have an early night tonight, maybe a hot bath first and see if I can get rid of some of the symptoms.
I might have some news for you tommorrow, you'll have to wait and see.
Night all!
March 04 Not Quite So Stressed...Things today started out a little better; yesterday I managed to get BT to switch me back to them for free, but that means I will lose my broadband for a while. But that was a weight off my mind.
I forgot the ponies' feeds this morning, but gave them more hay so they forgave me. Winston's rug (an old one, salvaged), was wonky because half the straps are missing from it, so I really needed to go and find him a new one. On Sunday I had tried to get him one the same as Apollo's but they had sold out. I may have mentioned that the manager was trying to find me one, but I couldn't wait. On a low budget I was having to think outside the box a little...
Tack shops that I have used before are very expensive; up until recently they have held the monopoly on specialised horse equipment. But now more and more shops are branching out into horse-ware, so my first stop was Argos.
The catalogue promised a light turnout rug for £30; bargain! Unfortunately, whoever wrote the description obviously never had anything to do with horses. What appeared at the collection point was actually a light summer rain sheet. For those of you that have no idea what I'm talking about, it was just a water proof covering for a horse, rather than a lined and padded rug to keep him warm. So I immediately turned around and asked for a refund.
Next stop, No Frills DIY. Don't ask me why they would, but I had been told they were selling horse rugs. However, they are closing down, and there were none to be seen. Last chance, Decathlon. I knew for a fact that there wouldn't be any in the right size, as they are currently selling off the winter stock to fill up with summer items. I wondered how the manager had gone on finding me one in the right size, but she was off today, and the assistant I spoke to seemed fairly clueless. Finally, I opted for a slightly smaller rug, and was told that if it was wrong I would be able to bring it back for a refund. It was £50 but I knew it was the type of rug I needed as it was the same make as Apollo's.
Once back at the field I noticed one very crucial difference with this rug; it has a neck cover. I really hadn't wanted one with a neck cover, but decided since I had had so much trouble just getting a rug, it wasn't worth worrying about. Fortunately, the rug does fit, but Winston has a very thick stallion neck, so once again he drew the short straw and go the cast-off from Apollo, while Apollo got the new one.
Anyway, that is the ponies and the phone line sorted out, all I have to do now is tell the Hubs that the dishwasher is broken (beyond repair) and has melted the lid of the food blender...
Wish me luck!
March 03 Sressed OutI am so annoyed!
I decided I had finally had enough of Talk Talk and looked for a new internet provider. I spent yesterday evening on the internet trying to find the best deal, only to be told over and over that we did not have a BT line. Which we do, I can see the wire coming off the big pole outside and into my house...
So this morning was spent on the phone, constantly on hold or waiting in a queue, having to listen to dreadful music and occasionally key in certain numbers, just so that someone in India or Ireland can tell me to hang up and redial 0800 ... ...
Eventually, what I managed to ascertain was that Talk Talk hijack your BT line, and if I wanted to change directly to the Post Office (which I do) it would first cost me £110 to get a new line put in. However, I am now waiting on BT themselves to call me back because they think they might be able to change me back to them for free.
The only problem, of course, is that BT is expensive, and I really didn't want to go with them. It seems it can't be helped.
So if any of you out there are planning on going with Talk Talk, my only advice would be DON'T!
Oh, and apart from that, Winston ripped his rug yesterday and now needs a new one, but the shop have sold out. The manager of the horse section said she would get me one by hook or by crook, but I may have to wait about a week. And now it's snowing. Great.
March 02 Happy Mother's DayI want to wish a Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful Mum.
Thank you for being there and for all your support and love.
Hope you have a great day, all my love
Ruth xxx
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