Friday, July 17 through Sunday, July 19, 2009

Friday, July 17 - therapeutic riding, cleaning saddle, square dancing, water

I went to therapeutic riding today, and afterwards, instead of cleaning corrals today, I cleaned a saddle! It was a "tooled" saddle, with fancy engravings on it, and the saddle soap kept getting stuck inside the engravings. Later, I saw Ron, and he suggested using a brush to get it out. It was hard work, and by the time I got to square dancing, I was pretty tired again.

I came home after square dancing, and had no water. Bummer.

Saturday - Still no water today. I talked to Nanc, the woman in the back house, and she didn't have water, either. I called the landlord. He said to try to find the meter to see if the water was running, and if it was, to call the town to have them shut it off. In the meantime, Tig, the guy in the back house said he would dig in the spot he thought it was leaking, and see what he could see. He said once we get it shut off . . . it's like shut off! Because although I say we had no water, we did have a trickle . . . and I could wash my hands and get water to drink.

Later, Tig said that he found no leaks, and he thought it was the town's problem, not ours. He said he'd call, and that I should call, too. I was too tired tonight to call.

Sunday - I called the sheriff today to report the water. That's how you do it here in the country! Shortly after I called, a man shows up at my door telling me that the town had turned off the water Friday because of a leak. He's sorry they didn't tell us. That's nice! He also said they didn't plan to do anything about it until tomorrow, Monday. BUMMER!

Friday, July 10, through Thursday, July 16, 2009

Friday - Moki and I had a big day today. We left the house early to do a new therapeutic riding session. The boy on the horse that I led was eight years old, and he has loved horses since he was two! This was his first time on a horse! He rode Magic, who is one of my favorites. He's a beautiful, black horse with a star on his forehead.

While I waited for the volunteers and clients to leave, I took Moki on a long walk along the back part of the corral. One of the horses, Stevie, kept coming around. I picked Moki up and held him up to Stevie. Mokie licked Stevie! When I put Moki down, Stevie put his head down and tried to poke his nose through the fence. He liked Moki, too! It was cool!

After the clients and the volunteers left, I helped Ron's grandson, Brandon, clean the mares and foals area. Brandon, who is somewhere between sixteen and twenty-five, (???!!!) was so cute. In between shovelfuls, he was texting someone on his cell phone.

After that, the three of us went out to one of the pastures and fixed a fence where the wire was broken in a couple places. I mostly watched!

Then, Moki and I went into the house with Ron and Brandon, and I ate the lunch I had brought. Moki kept busy with Ron's dogs, Chief and Miles, and Brandon's dog, Shelby.

Then, I went back out and cleaned most of one of the large corrals. Every half hour I'd stop to take a rest, and give Moki a drink and a walk. It was pretty hot out. I stayed and did as much as I could until about 3:30. Moki and I went to a park in Durango. We stayed there for awhile, while Moki played and chewed things and I rested.

Next, square dancing! I changed clothes, and we started with round dance lessons. I had a ball, but I did too much corral cleaning and my feet hurt and I didn't have much energy left for dancing!

Saturday - On our last time outside tonight at dusk, about 8:45, we walked around the car toward the street. We heard all the neighborhood dogs barking, and some yelling, which I presumed was someone yelling at the dogs. Then, I heard something coming through the tall weeds. There, only fifty or sixty feet in front of me, the BEAR comes out through the weeds and into the street! I said, "Oh frig, the bear," and we headed closer to the house. The bear glanced at us and ran across the street and disappeared into the field. I'm sure that Moki scared him away . . . yeah, right . . . Moki would be just one bite for that bear! He was beautiful! He had a brown and blonde coat . . . looked like he had been to a beauty parlor and gotten streaked! I've never seen a bear that color. It was so awesome . . . a true gift from the universe!

Thursday - Moki and I went back to therapeutic riding today. Moki kissed Stevie the horse again, and after the clients left, I rode Dolly bareback. It's been awhile since I've been on a horse . . . since the ranch in Largo, and I didn't sit the trot too well. I just need more practice.

This evening, I went to open mic night at the bakery in town. It was interesting . . . I thought it would be all poetry, but most people read passages from their books. If I can find a good passage between now and the next one in a month . . . I just might read! I was thinking about a chapter about Uncle Addul . . . but if anyone has any other ideas of what might be interesting to read, let me know!

Friday, July 3 through Thursday, July 9, 2009

Friday - I had what I thought was a black widow. She and her vertical web were in an odd place, and I didn't think I could catch or kill her. (I try not to kill spiders . . . even black widows.) I went to Walmart to buy a non-toxic bug killer, but they didn't have any. I ended up buying 409 cleaner, because I had read somewhere that it was good at killing bugs.

I brought it home and waited until "she" was in a good spot in her web. Then I sprayed unmercifully. Then, I let Moki out of his den, and fed him. We went outside for a quick walk. Back inside, I forgot about "her" until I saw Moki over there licking the 409! OMG! I think it must have been mostly dry after fifteen or twenty minutes, but I immediately scooped him up and rinsed his mouth with water. Then, I called the vet. I spoke to one of the assistants, and she told me that with his body weight, it shouldn't affect him. But, if he starts vomiting or getting diarrhea, to come in immediately.

I had read somewhere that if a dog is poisoned you should give them sauerkraut. I was planning to have fake hot dogs for lunch, and just happened to have a can of sauerkraut. I opened it up and put some in Moki's dish . . . not knowing whether he would eat it or not. He just kept eating! He got about three or four ounces of sauerkraut.

Then, I wanted to check my sources for sauerkraut to see if there was anything else I needed to know. I couldn't find any corroborative sources! I kept looking and found a couple mentions of sauerkraut to make a dog vomit! Bummer.

Moki ended up being fine all day long, and eliminated the sauerkraut at the end of the day! Which was great, because if I remember what I did read, the sauerkraut would have absorbed the poison so Moki did get rid of it.

For dinner, I also added a little bit of milk thistle to protect his liver. I'll continue doing that for a few days. All's well that ends well. I never keep anything toxic in the house, and this is a good reason why!

Saturday - Moki is fine. Update on the black widow . . . I now have a very clean black widow spider! She spun a new web! So much for 409! Today, I tried rubbing alcohol. I sprayed her good. I'll let you know tomorrow if she comes bouncing back again!

When Moki and I take our walks, to the right is the park . . . we don't go in, just walk on the outskirts. If we walk to the left, there is a big meadow where we saw the deer a few days ago. Today, we saw a big garter snake! It was about as thick as my thumb . . . fattest garter snake I've ever seen . . . and about twelve to eighteen inches long. It was peering out into the road like it wanted to cross. It was probably going after the chicken . . . Moki stepped over it without noticing, and when I bent down to take a closer look, it turned around and took off back into the meadow!

This evening, the fireworks were in the park next door. I could see about half of them perfectly from my window! The other half . . . I could see the left side of the display! But, in the comfort of my own home . . . can't beat that! Happy 4th!

Tuesday - Moki and I went to therapeutic riding again today. Before it started, Moki got to play with Ron's black lab, Chief. At first, Moki was afraid. But, Chief is a sweetheart, and after awhile, Moki was right into it. I led horses and helped with the exercises today. I'm giving the riders exercises from my seated yoga book. It's working great!

Thursday - A couple days ago I started doing a "really" long walk with Moki . . . one square block. I was afraid it was too much for him and I was pushing him too hard . . . until we got to the last quarter of the walk. That is the park where we usually walk around. He recognized it, and started running home! So much for it being too much for him! I'm thinking of doing another square block in the evening now. But, it's 5:30 now, and the weather channel says it's 89 degrees outside. It doesn't feel like that to me, though! So, we might give it a go.

Yesterday morning when I took Moki out for the first time, I saw that the trash can was knocked over. It is a big, heavy trash can. Someone has asked me several times if I've seen bears here . . . so, I thought maybe a bear had done it. This morning at 3:30 in the morning, I was awakened from a sound sleep by a big bang. I thought it was the trash can going over again . . . and I wanted to confirm my suspicions. Suspicions confirmed! A big ole bear was rooting around in the trash. How cool is that? Well, kind of cool and not cool. It's not good for bears to do that, because eventually they'll hurt someone and then they'll have to be shot or something. So, we're going to move our trash can back toward the houses, and hope he avoids it from now on. But, it was cool seeing him.

Moki has been doing this cute thing lately that I have inadvertently taught him. The book said when you're training the dog to come to you, start out when you feed them. Usually, though, Moki is right there wanting his food. So, what I used to do is go across the room, entice him over to me, and then hurry back to his dish and call him. But, he got wise. As soon as I set the bowl on top of the kitchen table and look at him, he voluntarily walks away. If he doesn't go far enough, I tell him to go farther, and he does! Then I call him to his food, and he comes a runnin'! It is so cute!

Later: We went on the second walk, and after we got home, Moki still ran around like crazy! I guess it wasn't too much for him!

I talked to Nanc, the lady who lives in the back house, about the bear. She doesn't like him. And she told me about a raccoon . . . she doesn't like him, either. Nanc is a city girl, and really doesn't like all these critters. Not me. I LOVE these critters!

Monday, June 29 through Thursday, July 2, 2009

Monday - Moki's first shot (with me). I tried to get a different kind of vaccine . . . a simpler one . . . but, couldn't find anyone here or Durango who carried the simpler kind. Oh, well. I can only do what I can.

Late this afternoon when Moki and I were walking along, I looked up and saw a deer in the empty field we walked by. It was cool! My first deer in Mancos! Last week, I had seen tracks leading to the river, but this was my first real sighting. Since I am right by the river, I'm seeing all kinds of cool birds and today I saw the biggest butterfly I have ever seen. It just kept hanging around . . . it was so awesome. And when we walk in the early evenings, I can smell that wonderful rich, perfume fragrance.

Thursday - During our first walk this morning, I heard a big cow sound! I hoped it was a cow and not a mother bear! Someone's been telling me about bears and raccoons around here, but I haven't seen either one. This morning's was definitely a cow, cause I saw it a few minutes after the sound.

They have a farmer's market just down the street from me on Thursday which is pretty sweet. I bought some lettuce today.

Moki is doing much better behavior-wise. I read again and found out that I wasn't supposed to use the submission exercise as discipline. That helped, and the shaker can (full of pennies) helped, and more exercise has helped. He is such a sweetheart, following me around all the time. What a perfect puppy!

And speaking of doing unto others as you would want them to do unto you . . . I bought a breadmaker for $5 at a church garage sale. I downloaded the manual, bought the ingredients, and was very excited for making my first loaf today. I followed all the directions, set the correct loaf size, and crust darkness, and all . . . pushed the start button . . . and . . . nothing. Nothing! How can someone donate a bread maker to a church sale KNOWING that it doesn't work! Talk about religious hyposcrisy! OMG! But . . . I shouldn't jump to conclusions. In fact, I should give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they didn't know . . .

Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28, 2009

Saturday - While Moki slept, I went to the annual Mancos Renaissance Fair. It was small, but very Renaissance-y. I took a picture of three, little lambs. If I go back tomorrow, I'll try to get more (not of the lambs!) Oh, yeah . . . as I was walking through the fair, some guy comes up to me and says I need a hug. I'm game. I go to hug him . . . and start to . . . and another guy with him says, I wouldn't do that. I look up, and the guy is COVERED in mud! I didn't notice! So much for being aware!

Back at home, I'm still having issues with Moki biting. The book says to grab them by the scuff of the neck and give a gentle shake while saying, "Errrr." This is to simulate his mother grabbing him by the scruff when he did something wrong as a tiny puppy. But, when I do and let go, Moki grabs the hand that just had him by the scruff. The piece I was missing was that when they stop, you're supposed to say, "Good boy!" I wasn't doing that. After I started, he was better, but still mouthy.

Today, I had a breakthrough. It just so happened that when he bit me, my head just happened to be close to his scruff. So, the hell with simulation! I bit him in the scruff, growling all the way. He immediately stopped what he was doing, turned around, and looked at me, like . . . oh! I get it now!

From that time on, he was better, although I had to do it a few more times. But, why argue with success? Sometimes, I could just put my face down by his scruff and growl, and that would work, too. Finally! My perfect puppy has returned!

Sunday - Yesterday at the Renaissance Fair, I stopped at a crystal booth and bought some sage for doing a "clearing" on my new home. The woman was a Reiki person and offered to give me a smudging blessing. I said yes. I really needed it, too . . . ironically. I honestly felt significantly better afterward.

Today, I went back there to pick up one of her cards. She has a Reiki share group, similar to the one I was involved in in Maine. I'll be happy to be doing that again.

At the Renaissance Fair, they had a play centered around a mud pit, men battling in armor, a Punch and Judy show, a singer, and food booths.

Tuesday, June 23 through Thursday, June 25, 2009

Tuesday, June 23 - They came today to bury the cable for my telephone. They worked fast and got it done quickly. After they finished, the ground looked pretty much like it did before they arrived. Good job!

Wednesday, late - As I sit in front of my open window as the sky darkens, the wind blows sweet, fragrant perfume into my home . . . luckily it is the nature kind of perfume, so I can enjoy it to the fullest! Wow. Life is good.

Thursday - Moki and I went to therapeutic riding today, and Ron gave me a terrific idea! More on that later.