Barn Work

Jeff says we run a Bed and Breakfast for Horses

Skipper's eye is doing better but still needs to get meds for at least another 10 days. Last week-end Jeff decided if we were going to be putting in eye ointments much longer we needed more lights in the barn. Peanut always has to be in the middle of what's going on and give his opinion about everything. Skipper supervised all the work from his stall.

With all the snow and rain last week we had a sloppy mess as you go into the run in shed. We were at Lowe's at 7am on Saturday buying guttering and had it all put up by 1pm. Since it was cloudy Skipper got to be outside all day (still dilating his eye with Atropine). We shut the gates and locked them out of the lot so we could put the guttering up. They bucked and reared and ran around the fence showing their indignation about the whole thing.

We are one big happy family! Everybody likes to be where everybody else is. I swear Peanut would like it if he could just come in the house with us. Finally we opened up the front pasture and they took off running up the hill.

Snow in South Carolina!

We haven't had snow in several years. I was excited about going to bed last night to see what it would look like this morning. It had just barely started snowing when we turned off the lights last night. Sadie had fun playing in it, but was shortly ready to go back in the house and have her face dried off!

Memphis Baby Shower!

As soon as I made my flight arrangements to go back to Missouri, Ginny and I started working on a family baby shower for Memphis. We had a great time planning it and lots of laughs trying to figure everything out when we are separated by over 1000 miles and the parents were holed up in Seattle.

Ginny hand made as many invitations as she could given the short time frame. They are darling! We switched our plan for the food at the shower several times (the guest list kept getting longer, decided to include both sides of the family, decided to invite husbands, invited some of my friends who have known Carla for years and also decided to include the girls and guys from Collision Repair). So what was going to be a small family get together at Carla and Frank's house ended up being moved to the church social room at Huffman Memorial.

Ginny and I scraped the idea of making the food. There was no way we could make enough appetizers for that many people given I wasn't flying into MO until Friday. So we opted for cake, punch and fruit trays. After a zillion phone calls and e-mails we had it all figured out.

Then I had to cancel my trip!!! Skipper apologizes profusely but there's no way I could go home right now. Everyone is suppossed to take lots of pictures for me. Sure going to miss seeing Ginny and laughing over all the funny things that happened while we tried to plan a baby shower that turned into the size of a wedding reception!

Skipper Update

Last week-end Skipper's eye started weeping and it seemed to be bothering him more. Called the vet on Sunday and he came out first thing Monday morning. He did an eye culture and debrided his cornea. We put him back on the Banamine for pain and added atropine ointment every two days to dilate his eye and reduce spasms. The eye cultures came back later in the week and the vet was back on Thursday to re-check. So now he's getting Banamine every day, atropine every 2-3 days, miconazole cream twice a day, triple antibiotic ointment four times a day and we've added tobramycin four times a day (to cover some bug that grew in the cultures that was resistant to the neomycin in the triple antibiotic). The tobra is the injectable form that gets reconstituted then I draw it up in a syringe and squirt it in his eye (needle removed). My kitchen counter looks like a med station and I told Jeff it feels like I'm working in ICU again.

The vet said I should have saved that acorn shell for posterity. We are all getting into the routine now, Jeff comes home from work at lunch everyday to help, though I've been trying to convince him that I could do the noon time meds by myself. Skipper is very calm about the whole thing now, maybe it's because he knows if he holds still he gets a carrot after every treatment.

He has to be up in the stall during the daylight (dilating his eye), but gets turned out as soon as the sun goes down till morning. Horses do get into a routine though and he and Peanut are waiting in the barn for us to get out there every night for the last treatment before bedtime.

The other funny thing is I leave Peanut's stall door open during the day so he can come and go as he pleases. He wanders out for awhile, but comes back and stands in his stall for most of the day keeping Skipper company. He is enjoying all this attention also. He doesn't get poked on every six hours, but he always gets a carrot too!

Thursday the vet said 1-2 more weeks of meds probably.

Cowpens Battlefield

Today we took Chase and Sadie to Cowpens Battlefield in Cowpens SC. It's about 30 minutes from our house. I know that's a weird name for a town. I thought it was odd the first time I heard it and you can imagine what went through my mind when I envisioned a town named Cowpens. Now, whenever I mention it to other people they almost always say, "Cowpens? Why'd they name a town that?" So here is the rest of the story:

If you didn't know, South Carolina had more Revolutionary War battles than any of the other states. Several of them were significant turning points in the war, including the battle at Cowpens led by General Daniel Morgan. The term cowpens referred to a local grazing area for free-range cattle at the time. Before the days of the Internet, the General Morgan's message swept across the Carolina countryside, "Meet us at cowpens!"

Through an ingenious plan Morgan composed the front line with the local patriot militia. The British under Colonel Tarleton sensing an easy victory advanced on the line. Morgan ordered the front to fall back and then on the next hill the British found themselves facing the Continental Army in full force. The Revolutionaries lost 72 men at Cowpens on Jan. 17, 1781 to the 600 losses in the British Army. Colonel Tarleton was sent fleeing into the hills. The overwhelming victory at Cowpens gave hope to the Patriots and changed the course of the Revolutionary War!

Bamboo Forest at Cowpens

Cowpens Battle Reenactment Jan. 15, 2005

The Moses Basket

Carla keeps referring to Memphis being in the Moses Basket, so I asked for pics. He is the most beautiful thing in the world!

What a Way to Start the Year

This has been one horrific day. The vet got here at 10:30 and Skipper had a piece of an acorn shell stuck in his eye, it was almost 1/2 inch imbedded way down underneath his bottom lid and he has a corneal abrasion. He has to have antibiotic cream in his eye every 6 hours, fungal cream every 12 hours and Banamine for pain every 12 hours. Confined to the stall for 24 hours and in the dry lot till Friday when the vet comes back. I've been to Landrum, SC to get horse supplies (bedding and miconazole cream). I don't keep lots of shavings on hand because rarely keep the horses up in stalls, so didn't have enough to get through till Friday.

When Jeff got home we could not get the antibiotic cream in Skipper's eye. He is so tall and got his head so far up in the air it was impossible. Talked to the vet again and he told me to come get some ACE (sedative) at the office. So Sadie and I got in the Subaru and headed for Columbus, NC to pick it up. When I got home we decided to try one more time without meds to do the "ointment thing" and we figured out if I stood on a bale of hay I was able to do it. So Skipper is tucked in his stall, slurping up his slurry (his normal pellets soaked in lots of warm water) and seems in a better mood that earlier today. Now we're watching TV and waiting until we need to go out and do it all again around 10 tonight!

Happy New Year!!

Frank, Carla and Memphis

We had a nice day and took The Sadie Lady on a walk at Cowpens Battlefield. She loves it there. Sarah is coming up for the week-end with Chase and so we'll go back again on Saturday. I've got a sick horse, Skipper did something to his eye. It is swollen shut and tearing, so he is in a stall with Peanut in the stall beside him. Been out holding a warm compress to it, don't know what he did, but he is really unhappy about it. I don't know where this day went, but it went to fast. Ginny and I are trying to organize a family shower for Carla when I go home on the 11th. Finally after a zillion phone calls and changes of plans it is coming together.

I got a cute e-mail from Carla, the excerpt is below. Happy New Year to everyone!

"We're going to go down to the lobby later when Memphis wakes up and see if someone from the hotel will take a picture of the three of us together. I've got him dressed in a little outfit with stars all over it for his "New Year" picture. That was another ordeal, getting that thing on. I put on the pants, which wasn't so bad, then Frank said "what are we supposed to do with this". Well, it was the top part, but I thought it was just a t-shirt, but it was actually one piece and the pants were supposed to go on top. I said "for now it will be ok". There was no way I was attempting an undress and do over. Changing clothes is not easy. But now he's had a new diaper change and I've put him back together properly. He's sound asleep in the Moses basket, arms stretched out above his head. Talk to you later. Love Carla"