Momma

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Exechorseluver

Momma, today.

I met with the administration of the nursing home this week. My mother suffered a fracture high in her femur or in pelvis. It is close to impossible to move her without exacting extreme pain from her. I broke my pelvis. Worst pain ever.

The ladies gently suggested moving my mother to hospice care. I am from the oncology world and usually this means a patient with less than six months to live. I understand the definition is a little broader in the nursing home world. She may live awhile. Still not long enough.

What we do know is that her bones are so fragile that they breaking in the hands of her caregivers. She is eating less and less. She is now equipped with a hospital bed which makes moving her when we have to, easier.

The hospice coordinator talked with me Thursday. Amongst the questions she asked was if I had funeral arrangements made. Well, no I don’t. I mean, I know she will be buried in Denver but how that will occur, I don’t know.

I am pretty raw right now. I feel my momma has them fooled. She isn’t dying. But perhaps that is my own denial.

Please keep us in your prayers.

What story can I tell you tonight?

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Exechorseluver

An extended view across the farm.

I know I gave a few teasers about the weekend. Things are never dull. First, my mother has broken her femur. They are not saying hip, but it is high up in the leg and I feel like it is the hip, or at least the head of the femur. She needs more x-rays, but it is impossible now to take her anywhere with her high pain level and limited mobility.

She was brighter today, thank God! Because Saturday she just laid in her bed. Wincing occasionally in pain but not eating or recognizing me. Things are deteriorating health wise for her. The osteoporosis has made her very fragile. It is increasingly difficult to move her, dress her or get her to eat. I just pray for her not to have to experience the pain any more.

Lauren is still gone on her trip to Florida. Boy, is she in for some surprises. Ally and Luke have been wonderful, caring or me, helping with the chores, facing down Bruno when I am too tired for one more step. I am so grateful. I saw the orthopedic surgeon for my hip as well. I was born with hip dysplasia. My left hip has been replaced and now it is time for the right. I am trying to hold on for later in the year, but the pain is more intolerable every day.

Riding buddy Renee cam over Saturday. Enjoyed the ride but really appreciated all her help.

Riding buddy Renee came over Saturday. Enjoyed the ride but really appreciated all her help.

Saturday a friend from Whipple Tree days, Renee, contacted me about coming over to ride. So, we rode Mickey and Snow, changing horses half way through and it was nice to have company. Renee just jumped in and helped with the stalls, chores, moving horses and filling troughs. Now that is the kind of visitor to have. Dr. Criner came over to play with the new mare (the mare may not have thought it to be a fun game since she got shots and had a sonagram to check her breeding parts) but TeeDee was so well-behaved. Then farrier, Sean came to remove the special racing plate shoes that horses wear on the track. They are light weight and have ridges for extra grip on the track. Sean also re-did Bruno’s bad feet. We are having problems keeping shoes on him. He is pulling them off every few days. Dr, Criner said even with all Bruno has been through she has never seen him so lame. Not good! I will have to post a picture-but between the vet and farrier they came up with an innovative approach of shoeing him that is working so far.

As Renee and I were riding, we spotted a tiny deer over by the wooded portion of the fence. I thought it had just wandered into the clearing and surely mom was close by. Later in the day after I got back from my mom’s, the barn was busy again with Snow’s rider, Mia and Ally and Kendyll. The baby was still by the fence. Investigation showed us that the tiny thing was torn up and bleeding from running hard into the fence without a way out.

We tried to call the game warden and the sheriff but no one picked up the phone on Saturday afternoon. As Ally said, thank goodness it was not a giant alligator we were needing help with. In the end, I couldn’t stand it anymore and we decided to try to corner the baby and carry her to where she could get back under the fence to her momma.

Stuck in our pasture between fences made to ensure nothing gets in or out. Well, it worked-sort of.

Note its face and leg-

I was letting him go, but unclear if he was headed for certain death.

It was a difficult and emotional deal for me. I am not agile but I am determined. The front leg was bad. I know several of you would have gotten a dog crate and nursed the deer back to health but I could not. I let him go under the fence. The next day Ally saw him with another baby and their momma near the corner of the property so I hope he does okay. Thanks to Wendy and Mia who helped in the great ‘save the deer’ campaign and also fed the horses and closed up the barn so I could go in for some much-needed rest.

There were so many ridicules points of the weekend it is hard to pin point one, but I would have to say, it had to be when I went to help a friend who had run out of gas. I had the truck with Lula and Kona riding shot-gun. We were in a what can best be termed a sketchy part of town. I got out of the truck to help with the gas and left the dogs inside with the air conditioning running.

We got her truck running and I went back to mine to find I was locked out. I did not have an extra set of keys. Lauren keeps them conveniently placed in the truck in the console. My phone, purse and two sets of keys were in the truck. I called multiple lock smiths, but if I could not give them a credit card, they were not coming. That was convenient as well. A woman without teeth came by and asked for 89 cents. I guess I would have given it to her but my purse was in the truck. I was ready to break out the rear window, in fact, had already started beating on it, when the dachshund Lula unlocked the truck!

How great! Too bad, I am pretty sure she is the one that locked it in the first place.

Thanks for riding along. Please keep my momma in your prayers.

Surprises!

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Exechorseluver

Kendyll following in her daddy’s foot steps as he taps down the dirt on the new water lines.

Yesterday morning I went off to work. I feel like I miss a lot each day I am away from the farm. Even on a quiet day, horses get ridden, dogs have adventures, the grass grows taller and new things get completed. Lauren is doing a great job as barn manager. She has a new bank account where board money goes and new excel tracking sheets to watch her expenses. Certain days are allocated for the perpetual cycle of pasture mowing, most to riding, others to feed and hay pick up. Lauren takes Sunday off when she is not showing. Who would have guessed it would have gotten so complicated?

Nary a day goes by without guests. It is a different life for her. One filled with commitments and time schedules but one also filled with friends to ride with, new jump courses to design and things like pasture rotation to consider.

Mondays Ally comes to mow the “people/dog” part of the farm. Frequently, her husband Luke comes along and helps with dragging the arena, mowing pastures or whatever else Lauren has going on. Yesterday with baby Kendyll standing close by, and Lauren and Ally observing, Luke got down on the ground to attach the mower to the tractor. Then he moved it forward about a half of a foot to prepare to mow. Directly under the mower was a four-foot (maybe five-foot) water moccasin.

A shovel to the head ended this snake’s life.

I am not going to go into a lot of “what ifs” because I have already totally freaked myself out by Googling water moccasins and seeing the horrific damage they do to people and animals. I am grateful no one was hurt.

I hope to not see anymore snakes. I hope no one nor any of the animals gets hurt in the future. I do think it interesting that almost two-year old Kendyll’s longest sentence to date occurred when talking to her grandpa on the phone. “Poppa, daddy killed the snake!”. At least she used the unfortunate event as a learning occasion.

Oh, surprises!

I got a surprise text as I got up on Monday that my cousin Deb and her grandson, Christian were in town. I had known they were coming but not exactly when. Debbie, with her master’s degree in nursing, has spent numerous years over seas, based out of Dubai. Recently she retired to Sri Lanka. A little off the grid for me, but she is enjoying it. Although my sister and I spent a lot of time growing up with Deb and her brother, Jimmy, I had not seen her for 14 years.

We planned to get together after I got off work to catch up before they jetted back to Sri Lanka today. Wow. Anyway, yesterday morning she and 16-year-old Christian headed down to Wharton to visit my mom. I appreciated with all the miles that she had traveled that she made time to visit my mom. I also appreciated her honest evaluation of the nursing home and her care.

Deb has never been one to mince words, has been in the medical field 40 years and seen a lot of nursing facilities. I have gotten a lot of advice about moving my mom to another facility after her serious falls. Deb found Elmcroft to be the “nicest, cleanest and best smelling” facility she had been to, ever. That means a lot coming from her. She spent a couple of hours there and observed the other residents as well as my mom. She found them to be well cared for and in good physical condition (for being in a nursing home). This is just one nurse’s opinion, but it is an important one to me. Falls can happen anywhere but good care is harder to find.

My mom might have recognized her or not, but loved the attention and the chocolate shake from Sonic. Deb and Christian got to the farm just as I arrived from work.

During the day, the construction crew had ripped the roof off to build on the stall for new Betty Sue. I know I should have planned better but did not expect to pick up two boarders and a new filly. I am glad there is space still available in the barn-just a roof that is too low to house the big horses we have.

Making the add-on stalls tall enough for the big girl my little girl will become (did you follow that?).

Making the add-on stall tall enough for the big girl my little girl will become (did you follow that?).

I loved visiting with Deb and could not believe what an intelligent, thoughtful and insightful young man Christian had grown up to be. With the exception of arguing with his grandmother over his saggy shorts, he seemed like an adult not a teen at all.

Deb has followed my blog from day one. She rode horses and my uncle had racing quarter horses for years. Some of my fondest memories were of horse drill team in Shawnee, Oklahoma under the lights in the summer evenings. She couldn’t wait to met my Bruno. He was a little dirty from the surprise afternoon shower but it didn’t stop him from posing with my cousins.

Christian wasn’t so sure about the big horse but Deb was totally hands-on.

I know my life would be richer if I had more family closer (Sri Lanka is a little far). Debbie is wise, funny and knows my history. It would be great to have her nearby to share the burdens of my mom. But,.. technology is wonderful and we will stay in touch. I suspect they are both reading this blog as they wait in Dubai for their next flight. I am happy for surprises like favorite relatives and new stalls. The snake surprise…well, enough said.

Momma’s 90th!

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Exechorseluver

Clockwise from momma, Jordyn, Lauren, Janet (caretaker), me, Ally and Kendyll

There are days when I show up at my mom’s and she is engaged, happy and semi-lucid. They have not happened frequently in the recent past, but yesterday was one of those days. I had a training class until late on the fourth so we had to move her birthday celebration to the fifth.

Interestingly enough we had always celebrated two birthdays in June, as my sister Betty had her birthday the day after my mom. From early days the two of them were linked and close as they could be. I was always more my father’s daughter. Betty has been gone 30 some years now. My mom doesn’t remember she had a daughter, Betty anymore. I don’t know if that is good or bad.

Our plan for yesterday was pretty simple. Ally and her kids joined Lauren and I in bringing pink balloons, cake and KFC. Janet, her caretaker, was there to celebrate with us. For the first time since her broken arm, mom had her own clothes back on. She had been getting by with my shirts (most not in her favorite pink color from which we had cut off the sleeves). She looked beautiful in pink and seemed way more comfortable with her new “Robo Cop” splint.

New brace, and back to her old clothes, what a great birthday.

Jordyn brought along her pink guitar and led us through a couple of rounds of “Happy Birthday”. Jordyn can’t really play the guitar but it did not seem to matter. Momma loved the KFC-saying it was the best thing ever at least until she got to the chocolate birthday cake.

Getting a look at the cake.

Mom ate, sang, danced a little in her chair and just seemed so happy. At the end Ally wanted to put the great grandkids up in her chair for a picture. I was seeing Kendyll throwing herself across mom’s broken arm, but again it all went.

Kendyll getting a kiss from her granny-nanny with Jordyn behind.

Kendyll got down off the granny-nanny’s lap and promptly demanded of Ally- “CHEESE!!”. Ally didn’t think we had any cheese. Then she realized that Kendyll wanted to go back and sit on her GN’s lap and say “cheese” again. How cute!

Jordyn giving a big hug.

All too soon it was time to clean up our giant mess and head home. I think momma had a great 90th birthday.

Thank you for riding along with us and thank you for all the prayers.

Momma goes to the doc

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Exechorseluver

Momma looking so much brighter today.

We were planning to celebrate my mom’s 90th birthday today. It wasn’t going to be a big deal as she would be confused and frankly she just hasn’t been doing all that well. She has not been eating a lot, but has been more deeply confused. She has not known me nor anyone else.

After her fall Friday night, we had been waiting to get her in with her orthopedic doctor. The office called Tuesday afternoon with a spot for her. The birthday plans were scrapped. We knew by the time we got back from the doctor she would be too tired for parties, even her own.

Lauren drove to get her and they met me at the office. Lauren had some riders coming to the house so I took over. Immediately, I could tell momma was much brighter and sharper. She looked beautiful in my pink shirt with arm cut off! She was sent first to the cast room where I explained about her lack of cast and her recent fall. Her hand and fingers were still bruised and swollen so they were x-rayed along with her elbow.

Her normally tiny fingers, black and blue.

Thankfully, there were no new fractures. The doctor said the elbow was healing. He made the decision to put her in a complicated arm brace but it will be easier on her than the cast.

On the drive back to Wharton, she attempted to get herself oriented. She asked about Jim, which she has not done in a long time. She asked where she was- Texas, I told her, but where is this, she asked pointing to the corn fields and green pastures. This is Wharton, momma, a little town we live in.

Tomorrow we will celebrate 90 years of a life well lived and time well spent in His service. Ninety years! Isn’t that something. I was so glad to have my momma back if only for the day .

Thank you for riding along! Thanks to all of you who sent momma birthday cards. They are decorating her room!

Momma goes down again

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Exechorseluver

Waiting to be seen.

I got a call from the nursing home that my momma had fallen again on Friday. They told me she was found on the floor but was fine. That’s what they told me the last time, then hours later she was at the ER with a horribly broken arm. I did not think it would go any better this time.

Later, Janet, the sitter, called to tell me my mom’s fingers were swollen and turning black. I knew what this meant. She had fallen on the bad arm, it was swelling inside the cast with no where for that swelling to go. I called her orthopedic doctor and was told to go to the ER, have them remove the cast, x-ray it, then put a splint on it. We were out to dinner, but hurried home. Ally arranged for her in-laws to come pick up her kids, so she could go with me. Lauren stayed to do all the horse chores.

Thank God Ally went with me! From weeks in the wheelchair, mom was weak, feeble and not to mean, it was a little like trying to load a dolphin into a sub-compact car. A dolphin with a severely broken fin. It took two of us to lift, maneuver and slide her into the car. I could not have done it myself.

Once we got to the hospital, everything took a long time. One year ago almost to the day, Ally and I had been in precisely the same hospital room as she waited to be treated for her broken elbow, gained when she fell from my hay trailer. The memories were not good. By the time the doc came in, my mother’s flesh was ballooning out of the cast and her fingers were turning black. He told us if we had not brought her tonight, she could have lost her fingers as the swelling cut off the circulation to hand.

Since it was Ally and I with my mom at the ER, absurd things happened. First, two hours into our visit, the doctor came in to tell us they did not have a cast cutter. Really? I had visions of having to drive mom all the way back to Houston and start the whole ER wait over. A while later, the doctor came back with a model of a cast cutter I believe I last saw in use in 1975.

Attempting to cut the cast off. Enlarge this picture and look at her fingers! The nursing home told me she was fine, her hand was not hurt, she could wiggle her fingers. They had no idea what was happening with the horrendous swelling.

Mom was in x-ray forever. It was late now, both Ally and I were tired. We got a little nutty. Once mom came back from radiology, she fell into a deep sleep. Ally and I meant no disrespect, we love momma dearly, but in the late hours we took a selfie with momma as she slept on obliviously.

What can I say? It was late.

There were not any new fractures which was good. Now, it was time to put on a new, looser splint until we could go back to the orthopedic doc and get a new cast. We waited and waited some more. The nurse came in to tell us they did not have enough gauze so someone was running to Wal-mart to get some. When we told this to Luke, Ally’s husband he was stunned. What if they had a gun shot wound or something? Well, I guess the store is open and close by so it would be okay.

Multiple times I offered to get her old cast out of the trash and just duct tape it back on. It would have been fine, plenty of support and we could tape it loosely so the swelling want an issue. They laughed at me but I was totally serious.

The nurse brought two other nurses in to watch him put the splint on. I sure would not have. After years of working with orthopedic surgeons I would say it was the worst wrap job I had seen. The first layer of gauze looked like toilet paper wrapped around branch from a drunken night of TPing the neighbor’s house. I hoped it would be okay until we got to the doctor this week.

We got her back to the nursing home after midnight. One of her favorite sitters was there to be sure she stayed safe all night. Problem is, I don’t know what to do now. Clearly, this place is not keeping her safe and we cannot afford round the clock sitters on top of her other fees. A nursing home is twice the cost of an assisted living place.

My mom will be 90 on Wednesday. It will pass in fear, pain and bewilderment. What a horrible ending for such a vibrant, God loving woman. My soul is sad!

Hearts, Pink and Back in the Saddle

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Exechorseluver

The ortho tech asked asked my daughters, how many granddaughters in total did Nanny have, when the replied three, he made three hearts one for Amber, Ally and Lauren!

The ortho tech asked my daughters, how many granddaughters in total did Nanny have, when they replied three, he made three hearts one for Amber, Ally and Lauren!

The elbow is still horribly swollen, but improving.

I was tied up at work when momma’s next appointment rolled around. My daughters are uncomfortable taking their Nanny places, especially now with bones already broken, but they teamed up to help me out.

Nanny was pretty sleepy, her pain pills fast at work for what we figured would be a painful experience. But momma brightened up immediately when the nice, good-looking Dr. Rivers stepped into the room. She got a big smile on her face. First thing to do was to get the old splint off and see how her swelling was.

Then the tech got busy shaping the new cast. Momma was stoic and brave through it all. Can you imagine a displaced, ground up elbow being moved around at all? I would be nuts.

QOw!

What a trooper! She has loved the many cards she has received. Thank you all for being so kind! It is like a big pink wall of cheer in her room. By Thursday she was getting used to the cast and getting a little happy buzz from the codeine. She walked with her sitter all around the building enjoying some fine Houston weather. When I walked in, she recognized me immediately. ” hi, hon,” she said to me, “you look nice. Did you wear that to work today? “. Maybe someone should study narcotics and dementia because that is the sharpest she has been five years. It was nice to have her back if only for a few minutes.

Back to showing tomorrow!

Lauren and Feather have been out of the show ring for over ninety days, combatting her injuries and giving them time to heal. It will be jumping right into the fire with shows this week and next. Neither is as solid as they should be but we won’t push, won’t do too many rounds and hope to put our winning streak back together.

As I lay on my bed, I hear Mickey, Snow and Bruno fruitlessly calling for Feather to come home. Lauren and I are going to look at some mares in the morning. Maybe Feather will not be the only girl in town much longer.

Thanks for riding along!

Hallelujah

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Exechorseluver

Life is an interesting thing. I wrote the post about my mother’s bad news and so many of you, some dear friends, some blog friends I have never met or even know your real names and even some dear old friends that time and circumstance had taken from my life, rallied in positive thoughts, prayers and well wishes for my dear mother. I had contacted Elsie from Christ Church in Denver, my mother’s church home for so many years, and they got the prayer chain going for my mom as well.

I was still devastated by the thought of surgery. I spent some time researching what a total elbow replacement would mean (days in the hospital and months of rehab) and as I drove the many miles from Houston to Wharton to pick up my mom and back again to the elbow specialist, I tried to brace myself for the news. I knew I could not keep making the trips up and down the highway ( another 200 miles today) and stay in good graces at work. I decided Ally, Lauren and I would just have to trade-off.

All the way to the doctor as my old car bounced along the highway and my mother grimaced in pain, I repeated my apologies to her. When the young, nice looking doctor with a gold cross around his neck entered the exam room, his smile made my mom smile in return.

He laid out all the surgical options. Essentially, if you bend your arm and feel that little point of your elbow, well, that is what she crushed. Because of where she broke the bone off, the is very little bone to attach a replacement or pins to, and her bone quality is so poor it is unlikely it would ever heal right even if casted for months.

His next alternative had me saying Thank you, God, before he was done. His recommendation was to cast her arm and just let it heal. No, the dislocated bone would not be corrected. And the pieces of bone would stay in her arm. But she is right-handed, she is not doing any real strenuous activities and it would keep her out of the operating room. At almost 90 years of age it was the best we could hope for! When they unwrapped her splint, I learned a bit about courage and bravery from my petite momma. She held my hand, gritted her teeth and stayed still as they rewrapped her arm. Her elbow was the size of a baseball. In a week, we will return. Hopefully, the swelling will be down and momma will get a pink cast!

I am so grateful to all of you that thought of her and helped her along. Prayers were definitely answered. I cannot express what it means to me to not have her facing surgery. Thank you. Thank God!

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Barn cat JP getting to know the new farm.

Bad News

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Exechorseluver

I had scheduled an appointment, to follow-up with the orthopedic surgeon, for my mother’s broken arm. The clinic and doctor where we have all been seen so many times, including my mother, called late Thursday to tell us they would not see my mom and to go elsewhere. I was pretty furious. She is an existing patient of this doctor, as are Lauren, Ally and myself. Really? Really bad marks for you STMC! You should take care of your patients when they need you.

I was then forced to wait until Good Friday morning to try to call a brand new orthopedic clinic and make an appointment. The Lord works in mysterious ways! They immediately had an appointment that morning with one of their sports medicine doctors. I felt my almost 90 year-old mother was a long way from team sports, but at least the doc could decide to cast or not cast, and would understand a simple broken arm. Boy was I about to be so wrong.

I had a new sitter, Mary, staying with mom as she was in too much pain and was too confused to be left alone. Mary came along with me as we made the long drive back towards Houston and the new doctor. Thankfully, she did as I could not leave mom alone a second. She would complain the splint on her arm was too heavy and pick it up and move it around. I would cringe at the pain she must have had.

The doctor came in quickly after reviewing her films. He asked me if I seen the x- rays. I said no but understood her arm was broken right above the elbow. He said no that was not the case. Then he told me, “except when he was working on middle Eastern war casualties and in gangland tortures in New York where he trained had he ever seen an elbow shattered as badly as this one. Additionally, she had a displaced fracture (dislocated) of the humerus bone.”

I wanted to cry and I have many times since. The doc went on to tell me they had an elbow specialist but this was so bad they may need the trauma specialist in Houston’s top trauma hospital to repair it. I asked with her age what was the best we could do. He thought it would take a total elbow replacement as there were so many fragments broken off. I asked what if we didn’t do that. He said minimally the dislocation had to be fixed and the bones pieces removed due to a high chance of infection.

Okay, then I was sick again. My poor tiny momma enduring surgery, inpatient stays, risks from surgery and anesthetic all because she was left alone in her room and not put to bed. Apparently, she was left in an armless chair and fell asleep as it was past her usual bedtime. She was found on the floor. She must have toppled over and landed with her full weight on her little left elbow.

I WANT TO SCREAM!!

For now, I have sitters with her about 12 hours a day. We are keeping her pretty sedated which helps with her pain, but increases the risk that she may fall again. Tomorrow Lauren and I will take her to the hospital for a series of CT-Scans. We see the elbow specialist Tuesday.

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My horse and dogs are all safely moved to the new place. On this joyful Easter there is no joy in my heart just pain and guilt about my mother and that I should have been there or at least had her in a safe place where she would not ~~have~~ had such a horrible accident.

Please keep my mother, Midge, in your prayers. If you want to send her a pretty pink card, I can send you the address. Pray her pain is relieved and she lives through this brutal time.

Bruno, Snow and Kona making their way to the pasture for the first time.

Pretty Feather

Bruno getting the lay of the new land.

Marching On

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Exechorseluver

Guess what this is?

It has been awhile since I wrote about all the goings on at the farm and in the family. We have had a frantic month of selling our farm while dealing with the sellers of our new place that have been less than benevolent in working with us. From oil and gas leases from the past to multiple surveys to adequately depict the property, we have been flying around. This has all been coupled with trying to pack everything we own, a busy work schedule, and problems with the animals.

At this point, today, we are scheduled to close on Six Meadow Farm tomorrow and our new place on Friday. Then a new set of fun begins when we start the construction of the barn and fences. Lauren has wished for her father numerous times, as she says, “he would make sure this place looked great”. He was/is a great craftsman and she is right our barn would look infinitely better if he were the contractor. But, alas, I don’t see him coming to town to take over the job.

The sand and gravel being set down for our new driveway.

It has been a rough and tumble month for the horses, dogs and cats. Roland was here six weeks ago. Bruno tore the shoe from his bad foot five weeks and six days ago. He has gone all this time with no shoe on the foot that must be shod at all times. The rain and wet conditions have made it difficult to get anyone out to help us. Snowboy, in a classic Snowboy move, decided to load himself up the couple of steps to the tack room where the feed had been set out for all the horse’s dinner. He ate at least 18 pounds of feed; high carb, high sugar feed. Dr. Criner was appalled. Is he alive?, she asked. He should have colicked and died. I don’t believe he even got a belly ache. He was angrily asking where his dinner was when we did not feed him that night. Now, his feet are looking horrible and I am hoping it is due to the horrible wet weather and not a result of his binge eating.

Speaking of dying, my brand new cat, the Burmese, that I had waited to get for so long, was attacked and killed by BrownDog. Lauren ran out the front door to catch Muffy who had escaped the fence and BrownDog took that opportunity to storm the cat room and kill Hula. I buried him in the back pasture and silently asked for forgiveness from his breeder that I did not protect him better.

If you go to the first, early blogs, you will see my description of BrownDog and that I trusted her the least of all the dogs. She has become increasing aggressive. She has attacked both the Corgi and Muffy, injuring them badly. She has also snapped at my grandchildren. I thought about and tried out different alternatives but in the end, I stood with my beautiful BrownDog at the vet as I had her put to sleep. I could not live with myself if she hurt a child. She was the sweetest dog ever to Lauren and I. It was a difficult decision. But I am happy for my remaining dog family that they are not constantly scared.

So, a difficult time emotionally for us. Lauren still has not been back in the saddle to jump, but physical therapy is going well and we hope to get her back to work this week. The pain has diminished a lot for which I am grateful.

Jordyn was out this weekend. She walked Snow around on his sore feet and then had a great time taking wildflowers to Bruno so he could eat them. Bruno is so gentle and sweet to her.

Jordyn feeding Bruno wild flowers.

My mom has had some health issues. She is better now although her knees are bothering her again. It might be time for Dr. Chau to inject them again. It was like a miracle last time. She has been happy and bright. I think her memories diminish a little more each day. I am grateful to the staff and especially her sitter, Janet, who give her so much love. She is safe and loved. Not a bad place to be.

Thanks for riding along with all our adventures. Hopefully, I will turning the lock on my home shortly.

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Top picture is my water trough which sits under the dusk to dawn light attracting a hoard of June bugs. We moved the trough. Yuck!

Top picture and this one are my water trough which sits under the dusk to dawn light attracting a hoard of June bugs. We moved the trough. Yuck!

Exechorseluver

The life and times of modern day horse woman

Category Archives: Losing my mother-the advancement of Alzheimers