Virtual Brush Box

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

Small blood smear on Milton’s right side.

First thought, his belly! The fact that it couldn’t logistical have dripped from his underpinnings up his side is irrelevant.

Little amount, spread thinly. Bug bite?

No obvious bites, marks, or cuts on the skin.

Well, he scratches that area with his teeth. Maybe the problem is on the other end of the equation.

Check mouth and gums. Nothing.

Wait, now I have blood on my hands!?! What was I touching?

Aha! Got it. Nosebleed. Left nostril.

How did blood get from left nostril to right flank? That’s some serious neck contorting.

He’s had nosebleeds in the Spring. Probably from snorting. Milton’s Head Minion remembers talking with the vet about them in a past Spring.

Wipe a few times. Trickle stops. We find spots in the stall where he rubbed his nose.

A brief sprinkle compared to the thunderstorm back when Rodney had a nose bleed. He painted the walls with his blood. Seriously. I compared it to a horror movie. [Conference Report. Not. Long Version., The Nose]

Rodney was fine then. Milton is fine now.

Onwards!
Katherine

Post #4000

Design from screenshots of previous milestone posts.
Post #1 [We Begin Again] December 22, 2011
Post #1000 [I Made It!] October 14, 2014
Post #2000 [Letter Art: MM] July 9, 2017
Post #3000 [3000 Dots] June 10, 2020

Four thousand posts took 4,094 days, or 11.2 years, from 22 December 2011. [Begin]

I stepped away from the blog four times, for good and for ill: one vacation (2012), two snits (2013 & 2018), one break to get Milton (2014). [A Sea of Statistics]

Continuously to date for 1747 days, from 26 May 2018 [Bright-Eyed, Bushy-Tailed, & Back to Blogging]

I thought about going to weekdays only, but didn’t. Among other reasons, “The idea of breaking my streak bothered me even more than I thought it would.” [State of the Blog, Weekends NOT off]

I feel that I ought to have Deep Thoughts about this. All I got is ‘Wow, that’s a lot of posts.’ & ’11 years? Really?’

Where we all be in 4,000 more?

Onwards!
Katherine

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

Tenth week post surgery
Two weeks at clinic DONE
Four weeks of at-home stall rest DONE
Two weeks of paddock rest DONE
Starting week 4 of four weeks of paddock rest
Still to go, four weeks pasture rest

Milton got away during a graze.

Galloped around a bit.

It was both gorgeous and horrifying.

Gorgeous because he is a pretty horse.

Horrifying because the vet said he is not supposed to trot.

Technically, there was not trotting involved.

Fortunately, right now he has the endurance of a paper doily. After perhaps two big circles, he stopped, hoping someone would catch him and give him cookies.

Zipper still zipped. Checked in with vet by phone. As long as incision okay, Milton should be good.

Onwards!
Katherine

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

Finishing week 9 post surgery
Finishing week 3 of paddock rest

Morning

Rodney! Is! Out!

I! Want! To! Be! Out!

Rage!

We finally gave up.

Rodney, come in.

Nah. I’m good. Nice grass out here.

We know it’s not fair, but you need to come back. I promise alfalfa.

Okay.

Zooooommmmm.

Incominggggg!

Um, dude, you know it’s muddy, right?

Skid. Skreech.

Here I am!

Great. Thank you. Here are cookies. Here is alfalfa. You go in the stall while Milton gets taken for out for grazing.

Per Dr. Cooper, “Sometimes the baby wins.”

Afternoon

Rodney! Is! Out!

I! Want! To! Be! Out!

Rage!

Milton, you were out. It’s Rodney’s turn. Scream all you want. Sometimes the baby doesn’t win.

Later. Rodney, time’s up.

Comingggggg!

Sound of thundering hooves.

Evening

Did you know horses can canter in place? When it was his turn, Rodney went dashing out of the barn. Milton hopped around in sympathy.

Onwards!
Katherine

TL,DR: Graphic Art. Will use as new wording for Sunday titles.

I continue my efforts to come up with informative titles when I stray off the main topic. “Got rid of post subtitles. Will convey relevant info with longer post titles.” [State of the Subtitles]

I’ve got most of the categories covered: dogs, photography, fiction, non-fiction and so on. I need one for Sundays.

Sunday – Images, graphic design, mostly lettering, with one non-lettering post each month. [About]

I know at least one regular reader who is not interested in Sunday posts as currently constituted. (Waves hi!) I want to come up with a way to say, This is one of those posts, you might want to come back tomorrow.

For example, the images in this post are from me sorting out how to do Celtic knotwork for a future lettering post. I am fascinated by it. I don’t expect everyone else to be equally riveted. Hence the labeling effort.

Options.

Visual – I think of these images as visual and text as something else. News flash. Written text is visual. Everything on this blog is visual. Next.

Graphic Design – Sounds more professional than what I am aiming for.

Graphic – Sounds like an explicit content warning.

Graphics – Accurate, but too easily conflated with above.

Lettering – True 90% of the time, but want more of an umbrella term.

Graphic Art – Meets all the criteria. Am uncomfortable labeling my efforts as “art”. You’ve heard the term, soul of an artist? Whatever is diametrically opposed, that would be me. While I hit satisfactory numbers on other attributes, I rolled for art with a three-sided die.

However.

Calling it art doesn’t say that it is good art, or bad art, just art. Much as I label my story sketches as fiction. I’m not saying it’s good fiction, or bad fiction, just fiction.

“Graphic art, traditional category of fine arts, including any form of visual artistic expression (e.g., painting, drawing, photography, printmaking), usually produced on flat surfaces.” Encyclopedia Britannica: graphic art.

Exactly.

Archive [State of the Blog]

Onwards!
Katherine

This weekend, hunter/jumpers are in Georgia, Alabama Hunter Jumper Association, 2023 Kick Off Show. Saddlebreds are Louisiana, Louisiana Carnival Horse Show. I’m stuck at home minding two pasture ornaments and walking around in circles. Just in case you thought the acute crisis had dulled the chronic whining.

State of the Fitness

No missed days in February. Did some level of activity every day, mostly quiet walking.

Missed few in January due to weather, footing, and at least one day when I couldn’t even.

Daily Mile

New places.

George W. Roy Park

J. W. Donahoo Park

Akridge Arborteum Park

The rest were pasture …

… & local park, where Spring is springing.

Monthly 5K

From Challenge in Motion.

Couldn’t identify a thematically appropriate location. Weather & footing both iffy on Fat Tuesday. So, I went to the nearest civic walking track and walked until Strava told me to stop.

Mostly done with virtual medals. This bling caught me in a rare shopasaurus moment. “Virtual medals have been a hoot. I have enough. Ordered one more that I will use in 2023.” [Picture This, Walk Photos, State of the Fitness]

Proof Of Concept

Rode a bike. Renewed gym membership. Went and said hello to weight machines.

Outro

The difference between a park with paths and a park with a walking path. On one hand, scenic, but with much turning. On the other hand, easy to get in the zone but the same plastic playground & picnic shelter landscape that is everywhere. Details vagued on Strava map, so as not to call out either park.

Last Month [Stall Rest Chronicles 3 Feb, plus Fitness Photos]

Onwards!
Katherine

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

Zeno’s belly zipper continues to get better without closing completely.

Ankle still slightly stocked. No heat. Puts weight on it. No idea of soundness, under veterinary injunction of No Trotting. Consistent with a minor swelling and then not being able to walk it off. [Minor Mishap]

Milton has his moments, and he will undoubtedly be feral when he goes back to work, but – so far – he’s been great about this.

A week & a half until vet permission to have the run of the pasture. Hang in there, Milton.

Onwards!
Katherine