Goodbye, Skippy

Yesterday my sister had to euthanize Skippy, her Paint gelding. He'd suddenly begun to drop weight and had been diagnosed with cancer a while ago, so it was time.

He was thirty-two and she'd had him for twenty years, so Skippy had had a long, happy life.

Skippy was also blind in both eyes and had been from birth. He always had his head cocked so he could listen well, and as a result, the muscles on one side of his neck became quite large while those on the other side atrophied.

Skippy and Trinity.

Blindness did not hold Skippy back. He was happy and friendly, and as the first picture showed, could even be ridden.

Lisa and Skippy.

Rest in a very well-deserved peace, Skippy You will be terribly missed.

Gentleness

Despite her terror at times, and the fear that can well up in her and make her bolt, Molly has NEVER, EVER growled, snapped, bitten, or acted aggressively toward any of us. Which is why I do not worry when Mila, who is quite enamored of Molly, crawls over and lays down with her on the big pillow.

 Molly is very gentle, and she lays quietly and allows Mila to touch and pat her.

 Mila talks to her (and sometimes brings over the doggy toys)...

...and they get comfortable together. Molly sometimes goes to sleep and never tries to get away from Mila or acts like she wants to be alone.

She has made tremendous progress in the two months we have had her, and still has a long way to go, but I am all the more protective of her because she does not act on those fears and threaten Mila or anyone else.

There is a very sweet personality in this girl, and we are seeing glimmers.

A Snow Day is a Sew Day!

We had a surprise snow day today, although it was really for ice, not snow. No local or regional forecasts predicted the sleet and freezing rain that we received, and so none of the roads had any applications of beet juice, sand, or salt in preparation. The roads quickly became very, very slick, and so almost all area schools canceled classes for the day.

Including mine. And let's be honest - what teacher doesn't love a snow day? An unexpected opportunity to sleep in a bit, read a good book, catch up on a few chores? I'll take it, and today I chose to make my snow day a "sew day."

My horse room also houses my sewing machine and supplies.

I cut and stitch away while sitting in the midst of my collection. It's hard to explain, but I feel very content as I work in my favorite spot in our home. I love looking up from my stitching to see a conga of Lady Phases or Huckleberry Beys, my glass cases with my Hagen Renaker Circus Pony collection, and all the other pieces in my collection. It simply makes me happy.

Today I was sewing Valentine pillowcases for two of my granddaughters, Mila and Kate, both of whom turn two this year and so will be getting their holiday pillowcase sets. The year a grandchild turns two, I make them a set of holiday pillowcases and send one to them in the mail a week or so before each holiday.

I make one for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Memorial Day/4th of July/Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and their birthday for a total of eight per child. (I have never found New Year's fabric that I felt was child-friendly so I skip it.) We have thirteen grandchildren and two more on the way, so needless to say, I have sewn a lot of pillowcases!

We expect more icing tonight, so tomorrow may be another day of no school.

 If so, I'll be back up in my horse room, puttering around and sewing more pillowcases. And feeling very, very content.

A Surprise Gift

Yesterday when Sacrament Meeting concluded, a little girl came running down the aisle toward me with a piece of paper clutched in her hand. "This is for you," she said with a shy smile.

She'd drawn me a picture of a pinto horse in a pasture!

I thanked Rowynn, told her that I loved it and would display it on my fridge, and gave her a hug. She trotted off to Primary with a big smile on her face. I had one, too - I was very touched that a five year old would take time to draw me a picture of my favorite animal.

Why the random horse picture out of the blue? The backstory is that Rowynn's mother, a friend of mine, had dropped by in December to give me something with Rowynn in tow, and while we were visiting, had told me that her daughter was a horse lover like me. So, I'd invited them both upstairs to see my horse room where we'd chatted about horsey things for a bit.

Rowynn had been stunned at seeing my collection - it turned out that she had a model horse or two, but she had never seen so many models in one place before. Apparently she went home and changed her Christmas list, adding more Breyer horses to it.

Santa obliged, and I got a gift from one horse love to another.

A Break in the Weather

Finally! The temperatures have risen above freezing and the snow has been melting the past two days. Yesterday afternoon I figured that the lanes to the old and new barns might be clear enough to attempt a barn visit.

 I was right! The lane to the old barn was clear of its ice and snow. I could see Abby at the west hayrack, munching hay as I parked my car.

She heard the car coming and recognized it. Before I could even start my walk to her hayrack, she was eagerly coming up to the gate, softly nickering to me.

I'd brought some carrots and we had a lovely reunion of carrots, petting, soft breaths, and scritching.

 As I was returning to my car after our visit, I turned back for one last look. To my surprise, she was watching me, too. That put a smile on my face.

That is the longest I have ever gone without being able to get out to see her. Thank goodness for Tim who has four wheel drive and gets to the barn every single day so that I do not have to worry about her during my absence.

But even though I know she is checked daily and gets good care, it is still nice to be able to look her over with my own eyes, slip her some carrots, and hear those lovely low nickers of welcome. There is something about being with my horse that makes me feel all is well.

This is New!

Since when is Tennessee the coldest location of our family members' homes?

Poor Cole and Emily! 

A Lot Happening

There has been a lot happening the past few days.

1) My brother who does not like doctors and refuses to see them has been ill for some time. Wednesday he realized that something was really wrong, so he drove himself to Urgent Care. They sent him to the emergency room where he was admitted to Intensive Care with end stage cirrhosis of the liver. Steve ended up on a ventilator Friday and was heavily sedated for several days. It's been touch and go as he has been in critical condition, but yesterday they took him off the ventilator and sedation. He's still very ill but he is alive.

Me, Steve, Jenny, and Leslie, Christmas 2017.

2) Eric, my nephew and Steve's son, flew home from Croatia to help his parents. This has had repercussions with his visa - he won't be allowed to go back to Croatia to work for a year! Eric is staying with Cindie who has cirrhosis herself and walks with a cane or uses a wheelchair. She needs a lot of support, both physically and emotionally right now, so it is good Eric is with her. (He can do a lot of his work with his laptop, thank goodness.)

3) She never came to see her mom or help her dad when Cindie was hospitalized a year ago (and nearly died) as she is estranged from both her parents (and sometimes from Eric, too) but Holly did drive over from Illinois to see her father. It was a baby step in the right direction, but Holly has returned home and seems to be leaving everything for Eric to shoulder. Sad, sad, sad.

4) We are having quite a winter! Last Friday I kept waking up in the wee hours of the morning and listening to the sleet and freezing rain hit the house. We had ice and then four inches of snow on top of that, so TSC called a snow day.

Then, Monday (yesterday) we had more snow. TSC began with a two hour delay which they changed to a snow day. Wise decision as it continued to snow all day. We got another four inches of snow.

Last night the temperatures plummeted to zero with wind chills at -17 when I got up this morning. Yesterday's snow was light and fluffy, so it is blowing and drifting. In a rare early announcement, TSC sent out an alert in the early evening yesterday that we would be having a two hour delay today. As I type, I am wondering if that might change to another snow day. It will depend upon how the roads are out in the rural areas and what the temperatures are.

5) Molly is making progress as she adjusts to her new home and is relaxing more and more with us. I now get tail wags from her, and she watches Craig and me as we go about our business instead of ducking her head and staying in her corner where she feels most secure.

 Afternoon nap.

 "Please? Can we go on a walk? I know we were out an hour ago, and that it's still dark and snowy, but please?"

 Molly and Millie hear something.

 A belly rub while we watch TV.

 Millie guarding her food bowl while Molly watches from afar and wonders how to get to it.

A neck and ear rub from Craig feels so good!

 And so winter slowly continues on.

I will be so glad when spring returns!

The M&Ms

Millie and Molly (the M&Ms) have heard something.

Perhaps the door of the fridge opening?

Molly & Millie Playing 1/8/2017

These girls are good for each other - Millie helps Molly relax, and Molly got Millie to play!

Mila Turns Two

This sweet girl just had her second birthday!

 We gathered with the Cramers on Saturday evening at Curt and Vanessa's home for a party.

 The decorations were super cute.

And Mila got lots of gifts (this one is from Aunt Sarah and Uncle Todd.)

Happy Birthday, Mila! Many happy more!

Doggy Boots!

The bitter cold here continues. This is this morning's temperature at 8:00 AM.

Poor Molly - when we take her outside, sometimes she begins lifting her paws in reaction to the cold weather!

My friend, Kathy Nimmer, loaned me something I had not heard of - doggy boots!

She explained that every guide dog comes with a set, but that she had gotten Nacho a set that had a fur lining. ("He's not spoiled!" she said sheepishly.)  And since she had a second set, she loaned me Nacho's first set for the winter.

Kathy and Nacho.

"Most dogs go crazy the first time you put them on, and they take some getting used to," she warned. Uh oh. That was not going to work for Molly. She is already skittish, and we are working so hard on helping her see that she now lives in a safe and secure spot where no one will hurt her. I think trying to put boots on her that we already know will upset her is not in her best interest right now.

So, I will hang onto them and see if we get to the point where I feel comfortable introducing them to her. And in the meantime, we are going for shorter times outside and staying out of the deeper snow which seems to activate the paw lifting.

She's come a long way in the month we have had her. It's been a lot of work, but we are making progress. 

My Favorite Christmas Ornament

I packed up all the Christmas things today except for the outdoor ones (it's too cold and snowy to do that right now!)

I smile and get teary every time I see this ornament:

It's my very favorite and hung on my childhood trees. There were two pink, two gold, two silver, and two blue ones. Steve has a blue one but as far as I know, the others have all broken - they are very, very fragile.

Mine is broken, too. It happened this year but I could not bear to throw it out. I will put it out again next year and keep the broken part turned away.

I will also check ebay and see if I can find another like it.

Christmas, 2017

What a Christmas we have had! Sarah, Todd, JC, and Trinity arrived on December 23 and stayed until today, and Lisa was able to be with us every day as well. We packed a lot into the week they were here, despite the harsh weather that hampered travel and being outdoors.

Christmas Eve day it began snowing. We were expecting 2-4 inches and ended up with 6. Todd was a big help in keeping our sidewalks and driveway clear.

Having so many people here was really good for Molly. She got a lot of socialization and began relaxing despite the noise and chaos seven people and Millie created.

 Trinity made sugar cookies for us that we decorated on Christmas Eve.

 They were delicious!

 Stockings on Christmas morning.

 Trinity, JC, Lisa, and Sarah up on the landing before coming downstairs to open gifts.

 Passing out gifts and stockings.

 Let the gift opening begin!

 My special gift to Sarah and Lisa was to have portraits painted of Bailey and Millie. Since Bailey had died only a week or so before Christmas day, it was a very poignant gift for Sarah.

 JC, Sarah, Trinity, and Lisa.

 Molly sat with me while I opened my gifts.

My sisters, Leslie and Jenny, and Rick came for Christmas dinner.

 JC, Aunt Jenny, Trinity, and Lisa.

Steve and Cindie joined us after dinner for Dirty Santa. Sadly, I did not get any pictures!

 Molly continued to relax with family members. Here she is cuddled up to Todd.

The day after Christmas, we went to the temple. Tuesday is our regular night, but our schedules were arranged so that we could be with and assist our family.

Lisa, JC, and Sarah did baptisms. 

The girls stood in as proxies as my mother was sealed to her parents and I was sealed to mine. It was a big deal for me, and the sealer was an old friend from the Champaign Stake, John Bates. I also officiated in Initiatory while they did some family names - what a treat!

Wednesday we went out north of Battleground to see if we could find an Arctic Snowy Owl. A few had been sighted in the area, and Leslie had told me where she had seen one.

And find one we did! Wow!!

Curt and his family came over Wednesday to say hello - it was Vanessa's family's turn to celebrate with them, so we were happy to get to see them.

 We took the opportunity to open gifts together!

 Mila loved her new rocking horse!

 We also had a gingerbread house decorating contest - Lisa's favorite holiday activity. She won the family vote!

Although the one Kyle posted for us to see was pretty cool - the kids made it out of packing boxes left over from their move!

 We played a lot of games together during the week.

 Morning, afternoon, and night!

 My favorites are Wizards, Mexican Train, Skip-Bo, and Sequence.

 Molly and Millie did a lot of sleeping while we played games.

There was a second snow that dumped another 5-6 inches on us, making it so we had about a foot of snow on the ground.

 It was pretty, but it meant several more sessions of shoveling.

And then the bottom dropped out of the temperature - we were under warnings and advisories for extremely cold temperatures and windchills.

 This was the temperature New Year's Day when I woke up!

Just look at that windchill! -30 degrees! Luckily, Molly felt the chill and did her business quickly so we could get back inside.

She also showed some interest in playing - a breakthrough!

 And, when Ian dropped some Legos with a crash, startling her, she ran to Craig and me for safety. Another breakthrough!

Mila ensured that Molly's toys were close by and available.

Ian and Mila watch a movie together while the adults play even more games.

I am sad to see Sarah and her family head home, but I still have the rest of this week off from school, so I will use my time to put Christmas away and clean up from having visitors for over a week.

Happy New Year!