Separation Anxiety

One of the realities of life with large animals is weaning. In the wild, the mothers would wean on their own about 5 months into their pregnancy with their next baby. Since my horses are not with a stallion and will not become pregnant again for awhile, the weaning process will have to be brought about by me. Big, bad me.

Truthfully I should have done this when Vivid was 6 months old (some people do it at 3 months) but I was out of state at that time. She is 8 months now so I expected this to be a painful process for her.

I consulted the almanac to see when it suggested was the best time for weaning in February. The 28th and 29th. No 29 this year so I knew it would have to be the 28th. I hired the neighbor boy to clean out my nursery/hospital stall in preparation for the big day.



Everything was ready. The 28th (today) dawned rainy and cold with a winter weather advisory in the forecast. Lovely. I moved LD into the stall and hoped the baby and her aunt would go to the other barn to get out of the rain.



Vivid was a tad upset at first but seemed to adjust fairly quickly. She was all for hanging out in the dry barn munching on hay but Auntie Daydream was not going to let that happen.



She did not do so well with the separation. She paced to and fro and screamed for her sister. Then she stationed herself directly behind the stall where LD is.

Which is where Daydream and Vivid still are. Standing in the rain watching LD munch hay in her nice dry stall.


Geniuses.

Out to Lunch

Yesterday a friend and I had agreed to get together to go out to lunch. We didn't know where we were going but we did want someplace different. After some discussion, we agreed to head to Columbia.

Once we got to Columbia, there really wasn't anyplace we wanted to eat. We hopped back into the car and headed further west.

Next stop, Glasgow. While there were some restaurants there, they could not compare to (cue heavenly choir) CRACKER BARREL and there was one of those in Cave City.

So 90 miles after leaving the house, we found the restaurant we were looking for. As we were eating, my companion confessed this was her first time in this section of Kentucky and that she had never been to Mammoth Cave before.

That was unacceptable! We had to change that! Especially since the cave was about 5 miles from the restaurant.

By the time we arrived at the Mammoth Cave Visitor Center, there was only one tour left that day (they run about 6-8 different tours on any given day), the Frozen Niagara. That got us both excited; her because she was finally going to get in the cave and me because it was a tour I had never been on. It is the only one that takes you into an area with stalactites and stalagmites (there aren't a lot in the cave due to the capstone that prevents water from dropping onto the limestone).

Frozen Niagara's entrance is not at the Visitor Center. It is a short bus ride away. While we were waiting to get on the bus, who should join us but ABRAHAM LINCOLN! Okay, so maybe he was born in Kentucky, but I didn't think he was still here! Who knew?


Abe seemed as geared about the tour as the rest of us were. It is simply amazing to walk through a door into the side of a hill, follow a path for 20' to 30' and then see this;



the namesake of the tour. Breathtaking.

We were in the cave for only 45 minutes or so (it is never long enough or far enough). On the way out, I had to snap a picture of this;


because it was so absolutely bizarre looking. I think Hollywood could use it as a model for some evil creature from space.

My friend and I got back into the county at around 8 pm last night. I can't wait to see where we end up next time we go out to lunch!

Brr

I am so NOT a fan of cold weather. I swear I am a southerner that was born into a northerner's body.

However, today when I got up it was snowing. Big fat flakes that float slowly to earth where they amass in a gigantic field of glistening wonder (oh man, how evocative is that! Sometimes I can pull a rabbit out of my hat!).


It was a grand day. The sun shining off the snow made the entire house light up inside. So bright! It is days like this that can almost cause me to rethink my view on winter.

Sure. Until I have to go OUTSIDE in the freezing cold to feed the horses (I don't think they really appreciate the sacrifices I make). Then when I come back in, I am ready to start looking for real estate a bit further south. Like Cuba.

Sickly

Yesterday I had a migraine. Shattered vision, pounding head, the pukes. These are also symptoms for carbon monoxide poisoning which meant that, even though I was sicker than a dog, I had to get dressed, go to town, and buy a detector.

I got home, plugged it in, and there was no alarm. So it was a migraine (or else the detector was defective or the battery didn't work or there was just enough fresh air by the detector for it not to sound! Welcome to my anxiety attack.)

Toward evening, when I was feeling a bit better, I called my Dad to check on his sister. I told him about how I had been feeling puny and that I had purchased a detector. He told me he used to have one but it kept going off all the time so he got rid of it!

What?! Isn't that the point of having one? I was getting ready to launch into a panic driven lecture when he told me that he had replaced the boiler since then.

Amazing. It makes me a bit easier to understand, doesn't it?

Trying Something New

On one of my shopping trips while in South Carolina, I purchased this hat. I always like the idea of a hat but when it comes time to put it on and go out in public, I usually chicken out. A chapeau causes people to look at you, or smile at you, or even, occasionally, to laugh at you. And who wants to be laughed at?

I guess the answer is, I do. No, not all the time but seeing someone smiling, even if it is due to my ridiculousness (?) is worth any slight discomfort I may have.

That's part of it. The other part is (confession time) I have a goal. What is that lofty hope that I carry within? To be defined as ECCENTRIC.

How am I doing so far?

Aargh!

Ladybug, ladybug fly away home,
Your house is on fire and your children are gone...


I used to hate that rhyme. I felt so sorry for the poor, cute, harmless little red bug.

The gardening people tell us that ladybugs are wonderful little critters who are extremely beneficial for our gardens. That if we see them in our houses, we should put a stocking over the end of the vacuum and gently scoop them up so we can release them back outside. Unless it is winter and then we should let them reside in our homes until spring.

You know what? Ladybugs lose their charm when you grind their bodies into the floor on your way to the bathroom at 4 am. Or when you go to take a sip of your coffee and discover that it has become a swimming pool for several of them. If you are lucky, you will discover that before you have swallowed them.

They taste awful (trust me). They stink when you suck them up in the vacuum. They wait until you get the bathtub filled and then drop in en masse. When they climb into the light fixtures, they give off a horrible odor as their corpses sizzle under the light bulbs. They leave trails of something (don't let it be what I think it is) all over the ceiling.

So please ladybug, fly away home. But not to MY HOME. Or I may have to take a flamethrower to you and your marvelous children.

Milestone

Truthfully I am not sure I would have noticed that this is my 100th post if Aaroneous had not mentioned his. So, thanks Aaron and TA DA! My 100th! (Side note - this picture make me miss smoking even more!)

Tonight was my first dinner with the girls (I would have beaten anyone who called me that 15 years ago!) since I have been back. I had an absolutely wonderful time. Eating, talking, laughing. Impossible to beat. Especially the laughing part. And what great gossip we caught up on!

(I have my itunes going while I try to write this. Marilyn with This is the New S**t is simply too distracting for me to be able to continue. It probably wouldn't pull me in so much if it weren't for this new speaker system I got for the laptop. Please hold.)

(Three songs later I have to shut the itunes down. It's an evil vortex sucking me down...)

Speaking of music, I purchased my first concert ticket for 2009. Avenged Sevenfold, Buckcherry, and Papa Roach. If any of you are going, I will be the one dressed completely different than everyone else. I always look totally out of place but have a great time.

Which reminds me of when Bassman and I went to the 2007 Vans Warped Tour. We were walking into the Verizon Wireless Center and one of the staff asked us if we were looking for our kids. She was amazed when we told her no, we were just there for the bands. Bassman said it was our official entry into geezerhood.

Which, I guess, is appropriate for 100.

Agitator

I am reading this book this week. It's kind of an All Creatures Great and Small except it is about a doctor (not a vet) and it is set in the 70's and not the era of whenever old All Creatures was. And, of course, it is also in another country. So yeah, almost exactly the same.

I must confess I am only 95 pages into it so there will be no forthcoming reviews in this post. Maybe never even. What I will tell you is that this book has the BEST description of a troublemaker I have ever read.

Have I whetted your appetite? Are you sitting on the edge of your seat just waiting for me to fill you in? All right, I won't make you wait any longer.

"That one would sow dissension in a deserted house."

You're welcome.

Gadgets

It was suggested to me that I should put what I am reading on my blog. I tried using Shelfari but it just wasn't easy enough for me. So I fired up the layout page for blogspot and went looking at their gadgets.

Oh my. It's the equivalent of Christmas in there! A huge number of choices and each one is screaming, 'Pick Me!"

Like Earthquake Watch. Every earthquake on earth that has taken place in the last 24 hours. I guess I kind of figure that if I'm not feeling it then it's not worth worrying about.

Or the Bombay Stock Exchange. Is that even PC? Isn't Bombay now known as Mumbai? Shouldn't their stock exchange have the same name?

Don't forget China TV. It's billed as the best video from China. I don't believe I am ready to get addicted to a television show in a language I have no hope of ever learning.

I still may put the Coin Flipper on my blog. It could help me solve so many problems. Should I do my housework today? Heads for yes, tails mean no.

The final upshot of my search was not adding anything. Matter of fact, I removed a couple of things. However, if anyone out there can tell me where to find a gadget that I can plug in the title of the book I am reading, I would be eternally grateful. Okay, honestly I would probably feel kinda' grateful for a little while. Because I think we all know the gratitude/gadget ratio is fairly low.

Isn't it? Heads for yes, tails for no.

Girly Stuff

It's off to the big city today for the annual ovarian cancer screening. It is free and the results are immediate. What more could you ask for?

A warmer day? Ice cream with sprinkles on top? Bassman home for the weekend? You get the idea.


It could be worse. The center itself is decorated with different quilts hanging on the walls. I think this is to let you know it is a woman only site. No danger here.


Completely safe. Lots of pretty colors and a plaque with someone important on it. Nothing can go wrong when there is a plaque hanging on a wall.


This one is in the room where they do the actual exam. Why is it crooked? What are they trying to say?

Whatever it is, I never did figure it out. I did learn that there isn't any ovarian cancer hiding in me. Now that is a great thing!

Bored

It's cold and snowy and gray. And a little dull. Which means I have to resort to torturing the animals for some entertainment.


I started with my sweet, sweet Ziggy. Nothing a cat likes better than being 'groomed' with a lint brush. It pulls the hair out one at a time.

She must have liked it. She was purring and growling at the same time. She's pretty talented.


Speaking of talented, here is the genius protector dog. Her talent is standing very still after having her t shirt pulled over her head.



So still that she piqued Cupid's interest. Her fascination waned when Cruella simply continued to stand there.

The dog stood there so long even I began to get bored. I either need spring to show up or some new torture tricks for my critters.

Home, To The Upper South

Upper South. That's what 'Southern Living' desiginates this area as. Now it seems to me that 'south' should imply warmth and sunshine. Apparently someone did NOT get the memo.



The horses adjust easily to this. They just get a bit shaggier and beg for more hay. Who am I to refuse them?


Cruella however does not adapt so well. I am pretty sure that what she is trying to convey here is frisbee toy, car, snow, let's go. Much as I would like to indulge her I can't. I just tell her that in a month we will be laughing at all this.

Or something like that.

Super bowl XXXXXXX (I think)

Three guesses as to what this could mean. That's right, Super Bowl Party. I am also serving veggies but I didn't want them to contaminate the photo with all their healthful goodness.

Having lived in Tundra Land for all those years, I should be a Steeler's fan. Hey, I even have my own 'Terrible Towel' (unh huh, unh huh). But there is something to be said for those tough little Cardinals (aren't they just so cute?). I don't think any team could want it more than they do.

Enough football talk. You know we are all just in it for the commercials! If the Diet Pepsi 'I'm Good' ad is any indication it should be a banner year. Now, more than ever, we could use a good chuckle.

(Side note - That 'now, more than ever' phrase makes my head want to explode.)