Virtual Brush Box

Explanation. We have a horse on stall rest following colic surgery. This has taken over the blog. Mostly. [Begin, Phase IV]

Fourth month post surgery
Week 4 of four weeks pasture rest

The house is exhausted.

We had a small, overnight storm during the weekend. In the morning, the horses were as tired as if they had endured a full night of high-volume Sturm und Drang.

I’ve notice the same with me. I feel fine. Well-rested. Well-fed. Perfectly normal. Then I am subject to the slightest mental or physical effort. Suddenly I’m on mile 21 of the Boston Marathon, I’ve climbed Heartbreak Hill, and I am staggering toward the finish.

No one has any reserves.

This is not surprising.

Being worn out is reasonable response to the global stress of the last few years and the personal stress of the last few months. [How Wednesday Became Thursday, see three nopes.]

I have to keep remembering to grant myself grace.

“Chronic exposure to fear and anxiety (which are forms of pain), have a real, measurable traumatic effect on the brain, dealing neurological damage which is worse because it repeats every day.” Ex Urbe: Self-Care & Healthy Work Habits for the Pandemic

Onwards!
Katherine

Explanation. We have a horse on stall rest following colic surgery. This has taken over the blog. Mostly. [Begin, Phase IV]

Fourth month post surgery
Two weeks at clinic DONE
Four weeks of at-home stall rest DONE
Four weeks of paddock rest DONE
Starting week 4 of four weeks pasture rest

Still not a lot to say about horses eating grass, which is still excellent. [Stall Rest Chronicles 21 March, The New Is No News]

Onwards!
Katherine

Let’s take stroll down memory lane, courtesy of The Backyard Horse Blog: Let’s Play Horse Bingo. I reiterate their request. If this is yours, please claim for credit. Internet search not helpful. Too many versions of Horse Bingo out there.

The results please …..

… drum roll ….

… two bingos. Close to a clean sweep, if I include maybes.

Yes = Been there. Done that. Probably have the blog post to prove it.

Embarrassing apparel? Check

[C is for Cookie, C is for Costume Class, Halloween 2022]

No stirrups? Check. [Lessons from No Stirrup November], mainly for the links to other stories, such as the time I lost my stirrup at Nationals. [When the Stirrup Swings] (pause to shudder)

Selfie? Check.

[On the 11th Day of Christmas: Eleven Years a-Passin’]

And now, the rest of the squares.

? = maybe, some more probable than others.

Some I assume yes but can’t remember a specific incident, such as Choked on fly spray or Got horse droppings on boots.

Some are more debatable.

Fights with my horse? Yes. Hangs head. Do the incidents qualify as arguments? Not sure. Either the horse was yelling or I was. Not a lot of back & forth verbal sparring.

Travel across the across country with your horse? No. How about down & over? NC to AL was a long overnight drive. Worth at least half a box. And then there was psychically following Milton down from Canada and physically following him from Kentucky.

Secrets? I have no confidence in my ability not to get excited and blurt out my thoughts. So I try not to get involved in giving or receiving secrets. OTOH, I’m sure I have said things to my horse(s) that I have not said to anyone else.

Cancel plans? Never make the plans in the first place. As in, I can’t do that, I have a horse show/am going to the barn.

Moonlight? This is the weakest maybe. As a kid, I went to summer camp in Wyoming one year. I swear we went on a moonlit ride, but I could be conflating any of the various long daytime rides with a nighttime hike. My memory apparently likes to romanticize my adventures. [Pondering The Past, Wondering If It Ever Even Happened]

The only definite no is Ridden on the beach.

What is your Bingo?

Onwards!
Katherine

A weak entry. I plan to do better next year.

Hersheyland: Twizzlers

Links

Click over for a book made from phyllo dough. TYWKIWDBI: “Booklava”, citing Edible Geography: Publishing Food #3.

“The Sheridan Libraries Edible Book Festival began in 2014 and is now a highly-anticipated Johns Hopkins tradition. It is one of many such festivals that take place around the world on or around April 1 to celebrate books, art, food, and culture.” John Hopkins: Edible Book Festival

Also Illinois Library, Shore Lake Arts, Salt Lake Community College, Loganberry Books, and that’s just the first few hits.

Wiki: Edible Book Festival

Atlas Obscura: Edible Book Festivals Are for Pun and Food Lovers, Ewbank 2019

Book Riot: 20 Fantastic Edible Books From The World’s Biggest Edible Book Festival, Smalter 2017

Three Thoughts

How did I not know about this?

Finally, a decent use for April 1. [A Fool But Not an April Fool] “Do I dislike the day because I am a credulous sap who is easily gulled? Absolutely. That does not mean I am wrong.” [Silence], “I will spend today hoping I don’t make too much of an idiot of myself.” [River]

Props to B for starting me down edible book rabbit hole.

Coda – Just because it’s edible doesn’t mean you want to

Did I eat the artwork? No, I did not. I intended to. I planned to put the edible in book. However, I have recently discovered a disinclination to consume additives in the current bread-making processes. (Remember when bread used to mold? How long has it been since you’ve seen a commercial loaf go green? But I digress.) While I was arranging the letters, I ate the trimmings. Turns out Twizzlers has enriched wheat flour as the second ingredient. Who knew? It was sufficient to disagree with me. Fairly quickly. I didn’t eat that many trimmings.

I have heard that edible sculptures for contests, commercials, etc. have to be technically edible. They don’t necessarily have to be tasty.

Onwards!
Katherine

Explanation. We have a horse on stall rest following colic surgery. This has taken over the blog. Mostly. [Begin, Phase IV]

Third month post surgery
Week 3 of four weeks pasture rest

Milton’s incision is still not closed completely. 😦

He’s fine. Bright-eyed & bushy tailed.

Incision is mostly healed over. Belly has a sliiiight bit of swelling that has not changed in weeks. No egregious swelling. No heat. No signs of infection. He tolerates the daily cleaning as well as he ever tolerates his belly being touched.

However, in a three places there are small, gnarly, pink, fleshy – in contrast to scabby – outgrowths with leaky bits of this and that. On-site medical staff says it’s fine, possibly a reaction to the internal sutures. Skin staples were taken out weeks ago back at the clinic. Vet continues to say photos look fine.

On site med staff/Milton’s head minion says the wound is closed and the skin is 90% closed. “There is a complete layer of tissue between his innards and the outside world. All the muscle and fascia are closed (fascia is a fancy word for connective tissue).”

No one is worried. I think we’d all like to see the grot go away. For the most recent belly shot, [click here]

Side note. Thank you for your responses to my questions about the weekly medical photos. The pile has gotten away from me. At some point, I will process and post them, probably behind a jump, as this week. [Stall Rest Chronicles 15 Feb, with Photo Poll]

Onwards!
Katherine

Thinking about what comes next.

One side of a Venn diagram: What you want to do.
Other side of a Venn diagram: What is available.

If they overlap, awesome. Rock on.
If they don’t, time to get creative.

Let’s say you want to learn combat flower arranging.

A practitioner at the Iron Blossom level has a dojo in your town. Off you go.

Or.

Flower what? So you arrange with an noted Iron Blossom who gives virtual lessons, you look into starting a start a club in your town, you go to workshops at the national convention, and so on. Meanwhile, you sign up with a local karate dojo. At least you will be out there moving around, working on your muscular control, developing your proprioception. Okay, maybe you will pick up some conflicting movement patterns, but better than couch surfing.

I’m sure you see where this is going.

I have yet to find a jumping barn that likes the color of my money. My Venn diagram does not overlap.

One half of my plan would be to capitalize on what is available.

Take lessons at the barn that has welcomed me. Absorb all I can about saddle seat. Ride a variety of horses. Practice with a double bridle. Maybe, finally, for the love of all things equitation, learn to sit up when I ride.

This plan would make sense.

This plan is also in direct opposition to my stated preference for a soft, simple, comfort ride on the easiest horse in the barn.

I’m working on that.

Onwards!
Katherine

Explanation. We have a horse on stall rest following colic surgery. This has taken over the blog. Mostly. [Begin, Phase IV]

Third month post surgery
Week 3 of four weeks pasture rest

As we creep closer to our normal routine, what will be different?

The joy of 💩. Horse poops in an inconvenient place, such a clean stall when he could have pooped 30 seconds earlier in the field. Brief annoyance immediately gives way to one of the humans saying, “Poop is good.” Or, “We approve of poop.” For those who don’t follow equine gastrointestinal tracts quite as closely, lack of manure is a bad sign. A pile of manure is a sign that the gut is behaving itself. [When The Poop Emoji Is Your Favorite]

Water, water everywhere. We have always soaked their feed when they are on pellets. Now, we soak, let sit, add more water, maybe soak more, maybe more water. Milton is currently getting soup. Possibly we will unclench out keisters enough to drop him back to stew. Some days he gets consomme.

Further hydrodynamics. In the past, we have served warm – not hot! – water during really cold weather. Now, out of an abundance of caution, we have kept up the habit even in mildly cold weather. We have discover that Milton quite enjoys his long drink of warm water of an evening. As Spring rolls in, we – the barn we – are still carrying a bucket from the house. There is some thought that when truly hot weather gets here, we can stop with all the water-toting. I dunno. I drink cold soda in the middle of winter. I don’t see Milton giving up his tea.

Onwards!
Katherine