Thursday Throwbacks and Such

New white fence, relatively new faces and a much smaller quince bush.  That was the scene ten years ago this month when Lefty moved to the Lovestead and a much younger Kiwi had herself a new job. 

We had built the fence in the midst of our first winter here after we thought one of our horses had escaped the low, flimsy electric wire fence around the barnyard.

It was amazing that our three horses stayed inside the flimsy fence because the wire was maybe 3.5 feet above the ground and not hooked to a fence charger at the time.  

We saw horse tracks in the snow all around the barnyard after coming home from a Sunday drive.  We also saw human tracks.  

So, we assumed that one of ours had gotten out and that some nice neighbor had come along and put the horse back in the barnyard.

At the time, we had Lily, Rambo and Casey.  Lily was a youngster, so we just assumed the small hoof tracks in the snow outside the enclosure must have been hers.

Bill and I wasted no time purchasing boards and nailing them to the electric fence wooden posts.  With a somewhat open winter, our job was not too difficult, except for maybe when the horses thought they needed to help.  

We finished the project in nearly record time and knew we could sleep better and night and not worry so much if we took off for other Sunday drives. 

That spring I painted the fence AND that spring, while celebrating Bill's birthday, we learned from a neighbor who was dining at Trinity that our horses had never escaped the barnyard.  

Instead, it was the neighbor's pony which had left the tracks in the snow, and it was that neighbor who had left the human tracks while rounding up the pony.

I never complained, though, because that assumption turned out to be pretty darned effective at getting a job done in a hurry.  Otherwise, it may have been months or years before we had a real fence around our barnyard.

That spring and early summer, I also lost two of my three horses; hence, Lefty was added to the herd.  The herd of one Appaloosa filly named Lily was pretty lonely for several months, but when September came, she has someone to boss around and Kiwi had an extra someone to keep in line whenever they came too close to the fence. 

Ironically, I'm painting that fence and all the additional boards we've added around the place in the past ten years. 

I worked on another section yesterday after bringing Festus, the cat (3 years old in the photo) home from the vets with wonderful reports.

Festus's glucose count is the lowest it's been since he was diagnosed with diabetes, and he has maintained his weight and his diet.  

Let me tell you about the issue involved with feeding a diabetic cat.  He has to have a certain type of catfood, and that's pretty limited to Purina Beyond.  The vets advised that I feed him canned food, which I have faithfully. 

Yesterday, however, I told the tech that Festus is getting canned Purina Beyond just once a day and the dry stuff for his second meal. 

For some reason, within a short time of my putting the empty can in a small garbage sack, hundreds of white maggots will form and the combination stinks to high Heavens.  

It's downright putrid and extremely hard on the nose.  So, I usually end up putting the garbage bag inside another bag and place it in the pickup box for Bill to haul off to the dump.  

That routine started after the first time I put the bag in our garbage bin and the asphyxiation and maggot multiplying process intensified inside the enclosure.  Bill hauled the garbage bin and all its contents to the dump and then used chlorox to clean out the bin.

That said, I can report that feeding the dry food cuts down on maggot farming somewhat, and through it all,  Festus is doing quite well on his new diet and with his twice-daily shots which involve a minimal amount of insulin.  

Except for the rosebud photo at the bottom, the other images were captured yesterday with the usual deer crossing the front yard shot.  I also enjoyed a nice stroll through the woods and am lovin' those early fall blooms and hoping they flowers will keep producing for the next few weeks. 

This morning, as we enjoy the beauty and serenity around our home,  my heart goes out to all those affected by the senseless shootings at Freeman High School yesterday.  So sad.  So sickening.  

And, then also reading this morning about the two yahoots who shot across the river at the teens who were on a fishing outing at Priest River, one begins to wonder what is happening to sanity in general.  

Such scenes are becoming much too common in what appears to be turning into a whacked out world. 

We can and must do better as a society!

Happy Thursday. 

Lily at 2.

Kiwi at 2.