As the November days get shorter, this week has been filled with medical matters and not many adventures to relate.

On Monday, Harry was scheduled for a cardioversion the following day. He has been through a lot since September 15, when his health took a bad turn. The cardioversion was to correct atrial fibrillation that has been going on for some time, so it took longer for Harry to bounce back than he has done in the past. But he is very gradually getting better, and has even managed some work in the studio.

Today, I was honored (and very apprehensive) to actually help in the studio. It fell to me to remove Jackie Joyner Kersee’s head! Harry guided me (and took a couple of pictures), and I am relieved to say I did not ruin the sculpture.

Now, the head will be sculpted on a table and reattached at a future date. It is a great honor to be involved in the project!

We have had some dreary November weather, but also some warm temperatures, and I have managed a little bit of time outside, which is always good for my soul. At long last, there is moisture in the ground, enough to plant some very late Fall bulbs.

Yesterday, I spent the morning getting a haircut and running some errands, which included a stop at The Tack Trunk. Eddy was delighted to join me. He loves visiting The Tack Trunk, as do I.

Weedy, meanwhile, looked after Harry while Eddy and I were gallivanting.

Bart came in from a damp day, ate his dinner, then had a good roll and a laugh.

Marmalade awaits me every afternoon to remind me to open a can of food for the barn cats.

It is time for Project Feederwatch – the counting of birds. It is more difficult than counting foxhounds from horseback.

We are enjoying a quiet weekend, with another medical visit in store next Tuesday. This evening, there was a sliver of moon rising at evening. We are surrounded by beauty here, and grateful for every day.

Be safe, be well, be strong. Be grateful and kind. Slava Ukraini!!! Peace.

Friday was an exhausting day at Pulmonary Rehab, along with frustrating efforts to get accustomed to new equipment. Every day seems to lack enough hours to get everything done, but the weather has been warm and beautiful, windows open at night.

Today we had visits from two nephews! First, nephew Luke stopped on his way back to Kansas City for a visit, with his new dog, Caly. She is a lovely dog, reminiscent of Mona, and Eddy was smitten. They had a blast playing together, while we enjoyed catching up with Luke.

Luke has very long hair!

Shortly after that nephew departed, nephew Scott arrived. He joined us for lunch and we had nice reminiscences about Harry’s mother, Edna. Scott has much family history knowledge, which I find fascinating. Before he left, I enlisted his help to get the mower into the horse trailer, which involves removing partitions, a difficult job for a tired old lady! Scott sent some nice pictures.

I have not had much time for bird photos lately, but here are a couple.

Eddy provides many photo opportunities throughout the day. Yesterday morning started with this…

Harry tried to teach Eddy to use a smartphone.

Eddy loves his chew bone.

Harry loves Weedy… and Roscoe.

Eddy loves everyone!

Be safe, be well, rest and recover. Be grateful and kind. Slava Ukraini! Peace…

A sad anniversary today. Thirty-seven years ago, in 1988, November 13 was a Sunday. Harry and I were driving home from Galena, Illinois, where we had been fox hunting. I was a professional huntsman in those long ago days. Unknown to us, as we were driving south to Missouri, my friend Ann Miller Roth and her husband, Jerry, were killed instantly in Florida that evening in a dreadful automobile accident. I learned of it on Thursday, I think. My life has felt Ann’s absence ever since. Now that I am old, I often muse about Ann and Jack always being young in memories, and departing together, albeit early. And now, on we go… carrying fewer memories than we had hoped for.

Well, from that gloomy reminiscence let’s focus on yesterday, which was a glorious Fall day. My brother, Michael, came for a visit, which gladdened us immensely. We had a nice visit, a meager lunch, and Michael and I took a postprandial walk through the woods, shin deep in dry leaves. It was great fun.

On our walk, I took a picture of the new electric lines that have gone up (and I do mean UP) to our south. A data center is likely coming to our county. More electricity is called for, and a dreaded use of water, apparently, which is worrisome, as we continue with drought conditions here.

Yesterday evening, there was a chance of another view of the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), but we only had a faint glimpse, not the wild red glow from Tuesday.

There is much to celebrate here, of course. The witch hazel is positively luminous this year.

And the animals, wild and tame, are treasures.

Too many pictures tonight, perhaps, with not much news. Better times will come, and this evening provided a beautiful sunset…

Be safe, be well, laugh often. Be grateful and kind. Slava Ukraini! Peace…

Frost came a month later than usual this year, but hard on its heels, we have had a hard freeze, and all the flowers that toughed out the frost are now knocked out until next Spring. Knowing this was coming, I took a few pictures on Saturday morning.

The light is beautiful at this time of year. Saturday was a beautiful day, but I had to get plants situated indoors, knowing the hard freeze was nearly here. As always happens with every project I undertake, mistakes were made…

Artwork was returned to us from the gallery, as they prepare for another upcoming show. Some pieces remain on consignment at McCaughen & Burr, many pieces were sold, but it is nice to have some Weber sculptures back in the house again.

Harry continues to make slow progress. It is hard work, recovering! He remains cheerful and we await some equipment that will make life easier, we hope. For now, we are quite accustomed to the oxygen tether.

Much of today was snarled in phone calls and efforts to arrange medical matters. That effort will continue tomorrow morning, then we go into St. Louis for pulmonary rehab and oxygen. It is very frustrating that the oxygen supplier needs us to be at home for delivery, but cannot tell us when they will be here (and they only com out this far on Tuesdays and Thursdays), so we have to go to them tomorrow to trade in empty canisters.

The dogs make up for all the medical irritations. Weedy is a source of peace, and Eddy a source of hilarity.

We never tire of the sight of horses…

Cats are tucked into the heated tack room. Sixteen year old Skittle shares a bed with Rosie, which warms my heart.

Roscoe shares our bed, where he is well camouflaged.

Tom Morris made the most of Saturday’s warm sunshine on the back porch steps.

This evening, I finished in the barn just in time to catch the last of the red sky at night in the west…

Be safe, be well, get better. Be kind, and grateful. Slava Ukraini! Peace…

Well, it was beautiful, warm weather today, after our first frost yesterday. Every day presents another step toward improvement in Harry’s condition, but it is a very gradual progression, and not much noteworthy day to day. But here are the horses, as the first frost began to lift yesterday…

Anticipating the frost, I took a few pictures of plants that will be going dormant.

The cats are always picture worthy creatures.

Since not much of interest has happened, here is a flashback to October 19, when we attended the unveiling of a new mural in Treloar along the Katy Trail…

Treloar (in the old 19th century Treloar Mercantile Bank building) is the site of the Ted and Pat Jones Welcome Center on the Katy Trail, a Rails to Trails state park that crosses the state of Missouri and attracts bicyclists from all over the world. Dan and Connie Burkhardt are great ambassadors for this truly unique attraction and benefit to Missouri. I have “through biked” the Katy Trail several times, and it has provided some of my favorite memories. Our friend, Sharon, is a Katy Trail expert, and a Fearless Leader and arranger of biking adventures.

Bicyclists from Colorado visited Treloar for a short rest before continuing down the trail on a beautiful day…

Be safe, be well, get better! Have adventures! Be grateful and kind. Slava Ukraini! Peace…

The full Beaver Moon shoe brightly through the eastern woods this evening after a glorious autumn day, squandered by annoying bureaucracy. I literally spent hours on the telephone, much of that time dealing with a robotic AI intermediary, or on hold listening to bad music on repeat.

The horses enjoyed the pleasant day. When I bring them in, I lead Bart to his stall, and Stone and Oisin come in on their own. Stone is very reliable, but Oisin has lately been a bit naughty, wandering around a little for fun. Privileges may be revoked.

For the most part, horses stay with their herd. Rarely does one horse stray far. But there is always an exception to every rule with horses.

I was bringing horses in on a summer morning when horse flies were bad. We had a pony named Brownie and he bolted away from me when bitten by a fly, before I had a halter or a rope on him, but the gate was open. The other horses were already in the barn, so I expected him to join them. No such luck. He trotted south toward the studio, then picked up a canter and disappeared. I followed with a halter and grain, not too worried. But then, I heard hooves on the wooden footbridge over the creek. I ran out to the back field, and there was no sign of Brownie. I returned to the barn, and enlisted Harry to drive around searching, while I saddled a horse and looked through the woods. We called the sheriff and reported Brownie missing. Eventually, Harry found him off a road to the west, happily grazing on a lawn and being adored by a little girl. We reported him found, brought him home, and from then on, we were careful to capture Brownie before letting the gate swing open.

The dogs enjoyed this lovely day, with the back door open to the pen, while Harry and I went to Pulmonary Rehab for the first time. It was very encouraging. I think it will be a little bit like taking riding lessons twice a week, though not quite as much fun.

Most flowers are worn out now, but the lantana continues to brighten my walk to the barn.

Be safe, be well, be grateful and be kind. Slava Ukraini! Peace…

Horses have been my passion since before I can remember, if my mother is to be believed. She related that my first word was “hoss”. Before we moved to this country, when we lived in Kent, our milk was delivered by horse drawn wagon. The horses, Silver and Dolly, lived in a nearby field and I loved to feed a piece of bread to the hard working animals.

Well, now my fondest dreams have been realized, and I have had a life with horses. I am the one doing the hard work. Harry and I often say that if aliens came down from outer space and observed us for a day or two, they would assume we humans were servants of the other creatures – dogs, cats and horses.

They are a great deal of work… but at least they are very expensive, too!

All of the animals bring us immense joy, but horses in particular are magical. They outweigh us by more than ten times. We are as small in relation to our horses as Roscoe, the cat is in relation to us! Yet they allow us to boss them around and ride them, and they entertain us with their antics. We are astonished daily by how lucky we are to live with these creatures.

Harry has two passions, of course – the animals and the artwork. He is able to enjoy the horses from the window, and the dogs and cats are paws on helping him recover. Soon he will be back in the studio, where Jackie Joyner Kersee awaits him…

And that is all from here after another day on the road to recovery…

Be safe, be well, get better! Be grateful for small improvements. They add up. Slava Ukraini! Peace…

Two days yet until the full Beaver Moon, and the moon tonight was so bright it threw shadows as I went to the barn for night check. And, oh, yes, we transitioned to daytime turnout when Harry returned from the hospital. While he was there, the horses stayed out day and night.

Slow progress toward improvement continues, with Weedy and Eddy doing all they can to keep Harry happy.

This has been a particularly difficult Autumn, but for all the beauty of the season, it has for years been shadowed with some sadness. For consolation, I turn to animals and Nature, which we have in abundance.

It has been a strange change of season. The light has altered, as it always does, but we have not had a real frost yet. The first frost date used to fall in the first week of October! Also, the lilac and clematis have rebloomed recently, which is very unusual.

I had my camera handy while up at the mailbox and happened to see Jane’s Sandy enjoying the proverbial greener grass on the other side of the fence…

Back at the house, the dogs and Roscoe provide great comfort and healing to both Harry and me. We are very fortunate!

Be safe, be well, be kind, be grateful. Slava Ukraini! Peace…

Thanks for many good wishes and prayers – no worries about us, we are adapting to a slight change in lifestyle, possibly temporary, and we are not complaining.

Though we are likely to have fewer adventures for a while, we are enjoying unexpected peace and time for recovery. We are fortunate to have constant entertainment from Eddy, when he is in the house, and beauty out of every window. This morning was quite misty, appropriate for November, with the departure from Daylight Saving, and shorter days in store.

Speaking of having more time, at risk of boring readers, I am going to travel back to September, when I had a wonderful day in Fulton, Missouri, visiting William Woods University, where our good friend, Gayle Lampe, was recovering from surgery. Linda McClaren Parkhurst was also there. It was nice to meet the University president and other luminaries, but the most fun was in seeing and feeding Gayle’s ducks.

Gayle was in charge of the equestrian program at William Woods for many years. She rides Saddlebreds, which is now sort of a parallel universe to the riding that I do. Years ago, different disciplines showed at the same horse shows, but like everything in the modern world, specialization has happened. William Woods offers Hunter Jumpers (which is my discipline), Dressage, Western and Saddlebred riding, giving students a well rounded view of the horse world. By no means is that everything we can do with horses, but it’s more than many are exposed to. As it happened, I went to the St. Louis Charity Saddlebred show to spectate. Last year, Gayle was showing, but this year she is sidelined. Here are a few glimpses of American Saddlebreds from September…

And final flashback to September on a visit to Three Creek Farm, where my life’s course was set.

This morning, goldfinches are wearing winter feathers, while Roscoe, Weedy and Eddy enjoyed lounging in bed.

And finally, Harry rests today, working toward a return to the studio and the saddle, thinking of September, before the trouble started…

Be safe, be well, be grateful. Slava Ukraini! Peace…