State of the Subtitles, State of the Blog

Words from the outside world. Free fiction. UFO: Stories Archive. Unidentified Funny Objects series.

~~~

Short Version

Got rid of post subtitles. Will convey relevant info with longer post titles. Changed blog subtitle.

Long version – Posts

Post subtitles provide a sense of organization. I like organization. On the non-horse days, I want to warn folks who might not be interested in my latest graphic design attempts.

Had various post subtitles over the years, depending on subject.

Had settled on a set that worked. Horsekeeping & Riding for the horse posts. Photos, Words, & Images for the hon-horse days. Plus a few extra, e.g. Fit to Ride for Friday fitness posts.

Then Milton started driving. (Yay!)

That’s easy. Subtitle – Driving.

Okay, then what is long-lining? Not Riding. Not Driving. New category? Ground Work?

Thought about “Horse Training” as an umbrella category. Seemed pompous. I’ve used it before, but it felt wrong this time around. … uh … What about reducing the whole mess to Horse/Non-Horse?

Okay then. Photo post of Spotted on the Beach. Technically Spotted counts as Horse but the post was at heart a Non-Horse photography/travel post. [Spotted at Lake Ontario, Photos]

As for the Friday to Sunday off-topic/non-horse posts, do subtitles really help? Is a subtitle too late? By the time the reader gets to the subtitle, they may have taken the time to call up a post only to find they don’t want it.

Was it necessary? Used a new “Critter” subtitle for the first Jasmine & Rose post, but then had “Dog” in the title. Often do that for weekend posts, particularly fiction. Redundant. [Jasmine and Rose, Meet The New Dogs]

Pfffft. Ditched the whole thing. [Lake Ontario]

In sum. Removed post subtitles. Have titles do the heavy lifting,

Long Version – Blog

While I am dropping the post subtitles, I am keeping the blog subject schedule.

Monday to Thursday – Horses. First Thursday, State of the Now post.
Monday – Horsekeeping, because I do Monday posts the week before & these tend to be less time sensitive.
Tues & Wednesday – Rodney & Milton
Thursday – Other horses, lessons, dogs, horse hunt

Friday – Photography. First Friday, State of the Fitness post
Saturday – Words, alternating fiction & nonfiction. First Saturday, State of the Blog post. Fifth Saturday, F/NF crossover
Sunday – Images, graphic design, mostly lettering, with one non-lettering post each month.

[About]

I still felt the need to say something about that fact that non-horse posts occur three days out of seven. I don’t mind if horse bloggers include other parts of their lives. Other people might not feel the same way. Truth in Advertising.

What to use?

Old blog subtitle. Horses, Life, A Touch of Geek. Had since 2016. [Subtitle History]

Haven’t geeked out in a while. Not in a post, anyway.

Change to …

Horses Monday To Thursday, Other Stuff The Rest Of The Week

True. Other Stuff covers the geek thing.

Too long.

Horses Monday To Thursday, Other Stuff on Other Days

Still too long. Too much visual clutter.

Key concepts here are Horses & Other Stuff

Half Horses, Half Other Stuff

My grandmother thought “stuff” was a rude word. Not sure why. Maybe she knew the word I was bowlderizing in her presence.

Reduce down to the main points …

Horses and Other Interests. New blog subtitle as of 19 Dec.

Doesn’t sing. Does inform.

And that is how the subtitle sausage is made.

Archive [State of the Blog]

Onwards!
Katherine

Picture This, Walk Photos, State of the Fitness

Awareness of the outside world. National Association of State Park Directors: First Day Hikes. Putting on calendar for next year.

~~~

Daily Mile Walks

Pasture

Local park. Muddy month, knees requested a paved path. Took Rose for one lap if minder along to watch her while I finished.

During a trip out of town, a suburb with actual sidewalks!

Westover Park. 28o during polar vortex. Go me. Did local park at 22o the day before.

Monthly 5K

Red Mountain Park. New place. No media. How can I not have been to this entire section of town?! No medal. Virtual medals have been a hoot. I have enough. Ordered one more that I will use in 2023. Then, monthly 5K mileage to Mississippi River, as this month. Unless I change my mind. [Biking and Walking Virtually, Mississippi River]

Onwards!
Katherine

Milton & Me, Both Stalled, State of the Now

Awareness of the outside world. The physiology. The Philadelphia Inquirer: What to know about ‘commotio cordis,’ a possible cause of Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest, Gutman, Jan 3, 2023. The effect on witnesses, the “forgotten patient.” AHA: NFL player’s cardiac arrest was a triggering, traumatic event for many, Merschel, January 4, 2023.

~~~

Updated Now page.

+++

State of the Now, 3 January 2023

Milton in recovery & rehab. [When Weekends Go Wrong]

Rodney turns 24 years old this year.

Dunno where anyone is going.

This is not me being bleak. I just really don’t know where anyone is going right now.

+++

Last month [Status Quo Equine]

Onwards!
Katherine

Jasmine and Rose, One Month Of The New Dogs

Awareness of the outside world. BBC: Dogs look like their owners – it’s a scientific fact, Robson, 2015. PDF of study available online.

~~~

Jasmine & Rose arrived home with us on Thursday, 1 December 2022. Notes from their first month.

Day 0

Dogs attend graveside service. Behave impeccably. [Jasmine and Rose, Meet The New Dogs]

Ditto, road trip home. [Jasmine and Rose Have A Big Basset Adventure]

Due to these events, especially the first, they have permanent gold starts on their records, regardless of whatever comes next.

Week One

The smells! So! Many! New! Smells!

Sniffing. Done Sniffing.

Portrait of a Snoot (gotta give equal time)

My superpower is finding nap spots.

The reign of the nap queen continues.

First Walk. Rose came along for a lap of the pasture. She trotted along at people-walking speed for the entire lap, except for going up the hill. Understandable. She only stopped once to sniff, at the water trough. Also understandable. Better than some horses I could mention.

Things take a long time to get used to. ‘Oh, a nice photo of the dogs. I need to remember to send that to Greg’s mother. Pause. No, that’s why we have the dogs.’

Week Two

Shopping for a dog pen to air on sunny days. We’ve decided our dog area is too hardcore for the ladies. Also had their first(?) burger and fries on this outing. Rose didn’t know what to do with a french fry until Jas showed her.

Added ramp over front stairs for short-legged, senior dogs with iffy backs.

Cats feel we did not file correct forms to increase the house allocation.

Week Three

Waiting.

Cat sleeping on dog bed.

Dog zoomies in pasture.

Week Four

More waiting.

MSM for Jasmine. Moving better.

Both have gained weight. Jas looking good. Rose is a bit more of a sausage than she needs to be.

Onwards!
Katherine

When Weekends Go Wrong

Awareness of the outside world. As before, I may leave the outside world to its own devices, depending on my energy level on any given day. [Farm vs Outdoor]

~~~

Dude! No! Not good life choices!

Colic surgery last Saturday.

Two weeks at clinic.

One month complete stall rest.

Then, stall rest with hand walks.

Oy.

Also 🤞 (crosses fingers).

Update. Patient report page listed in banner/Menu, or link in footer. Page & footer have been discontinued. Medical status posted as part of regular blog content. [Begin]

Onwards!
Katherine

When Zoomies Go Wrong

Awareness of the outside world. What science says about the “fresh start effect.” In search of an attainable New Year’s resolution. Volpe, Dec 11, 2022. Time to crack open that brand new calendar. I hope 2023 is blessed for all of us.

~~~

Milton’s shoulder. Notice the distinctly hoof-shaped nature of the injury? Worry not, the discoloration is dirt, not bodily fluids. The abrasion itself had already started to heal over.

No lameness. Minor swelling. A day off from work and a light handwalk to get everything moving.

Their games are more about feinting than connecting. We figure someone was in the wrong place or the other one miscalculated their reach.

We know it was zoomies rather than a fight. Due to …

  1. Activity in the cow field next door. This always sets them off.
  2. Catching part of the show while shoveling poop.
  3. Massive quantity of skid marks in the field.

It was a very Rodney-esque injury. Dramatic. Enough to get time off and sympathy. Not enough to be actually harmful or to cramp one’s style.

Aftermath. Milton continued to be fine, but the material from the swelling had to go somewhere. We got to watch the swelling progress down his leg. The migrating wodge was stone cold and unilateral. Still, even when your horse is perfectly sound, it is never fun to see a swollen leg, knee, ankle.

Thanks guys! Let’s not do this again.

Onwards!
Katherine