Boy, it's been a week! Thought I'd do a couple blogs, so none of them were too long. This is the animal blog. Next comes the school blog, and then the week's event: Bald Eagle Day! Hope you enjoy.
First off, it has continued to be cold. One night, it actually got down to 10 degees. Horses have been wondering what's up. They go into their barn, get a drink of water, and instantly have a beard of icicles. The nice part is they actually have water to drink, instead of a frozen cube to lick. The ground is so hard, it is like cement, but instead of being flat, it's got all the bumps from when it was soft and squishy. Quite rough ground. Atleast the last few days it has been warm enough (above 30 degrees) for them to take off their winter blankets and enjoy the light on their bodies. Giovanna has a propensity for finding the muckiest, wettest spot in the pasture, and rolling until she has mud in all the right places. I've taken to bringing a curry comb with me when I go out to feed in the evening, so I can clean her up a bit before putting her blanket on. Was looking at pictures of her back in McKinleyville, and marveled at how clean and pretty she was. lol We just won't tell anyone around here who her mom and dad are. Wouldn't want to embarass them.
Berhwood is having trouble with his legs/joints/feet. Going to have vet out next week for routine shots and dental exams, and will have him look at Ber's soundness. I believe it is the very, very hard ground, but I want to be sure. When he was in at Redwood Acres last winter, he had the same problem, and he was on rock hard ground, 24-7. As it thaws a bit, and the ground gets a bit softer, I see him moving with less tentativeness. Giovanna is descented from tough Arabians running over the hot deserts--she doesn't care what the footing is, apparently. Which is good.
The girls are getting used to the cold. They actually go out and hang out in their yard a bit, sniffing and checking things out. We go for walks in the field across from the house because it is quiet and there's lots of interesting things for them to notice. I keep hoping to get a photo of the pair of ring-neck-pheasants that live in the field next to the house. Whenever I see them in flight, or running across the ground, I'm nowhere near my camera. When they run, they remind me of roadrunners. Are they related?
One big adventure this week was waking up to no heat. The furnace had issues. We fired up the pellet stove to keep warm, while we waited for "Mike" the furnace guy to come out. He was able to fix it, and it actually seems to be working better. Another adventure was Arcy going back into the vet's because her anxiety and stress levels were climbing. She was worrying about things, jumpy, scratching at nothing, licking at nothing, sneezing, etc. So she is on some antihistamine, to curtail any alergies she might have, and on an anti-anxiety medication. So far, so good. Unfortunately, she picked up fleas at the vets, so have had to treat for that, too. Poor girls! Arcy still trembles a lot, but no one is sure why. I'm also trying to find an alternative to Hill's Science Prescription diet for heart issues. The girls have been eating it, and it comes out to $6 a day. A Day!! That's more than it costs to feed me! Took me all week to track down a local supplier of Pedigree Plus Healthy Heart, but finally did today. It has better ingredients than the Hill's (no ground corn!) and it will end up being half the cost. We'll see how they like it. For anyone out there thinking of getting a dog, remember: the senior years are the most expensive and most labor intensive. No, really, the puppy years have got nothing on the senior years.
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