It’s almost overwhelming, with so much happening as Spring wakes up. Harry is stronger day by day now, while time seems to accelerate. I cannot keep up, but I remain grateful for being surrounded by beauty and fascinating life forms (Harry included in that category).

We have many coyotes around this year, and their nighttime serenades can be rather unsettling. We do worry about the cats, but so far, no problems.

We traveled into St. Louis for Harry’s annual checkup this morning. He received a good report, despite all that has happened in the past six months. The weather was rainy and cool, so the dogs were delighted that they could come along. Alas, today was the last day for Harlan to empty the dumpster, but we left before he arrived. We are changing disposal companies this week.

Many Spring flowers were ruined by the very cold snap in March. Almost no dogwood blooms, which was a disappointment. But on Conway Road, Peter sent a picture of our mother’s azalea, which had a banner year.

Friends and birds abound.

As April draws to a close, we are counting many blessings…

My brother, Jamie, died five years ago. On April 1st, an auspicious day for a joker like Jamie, his first grandchildren were born to Jamie’s daughter, Maddi. They are the first twins in at least three generations – Wyatt and Ruth. Our niece, Rachael, their aunt, sent this picture.

Spring is full of possibility… and lots of work.

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

A rainy day has allowed me some time at my computer. Alas, the rainy day has turned to severe storms. So far, all is well here. The horses will stay in the barn until the bad weather passes through, and then they can slop around tonight. At this time of year, they are out at night and in during the day because the flies bother them much more than cold weather.

Stone does nap, but I have missed the picture of him doing so. Rarely do all three sleep at the same time.

It has been a busy two weeks since I last posted, so this may be a marathon, though nothing of much interest has happened.

Harry has had a few glitches in his health since I last reported. He tore an adhesion in his left leg (the repaired leg), his heart fell back out of rhythm, requiring a visit to the electrophysiologist, only to discover, to our relief, that it had converted to normal sinus rhythm on our way there! Then, he was bitten by a tick last week, and his hand swelled alarmingly, so he needed doxycycline urgently, which was an effective remedy. The swelling was gone within three days. Never a dull moment when it comes to health here! I never thought I would be glad of my time at The Bristol Royal Infirmary, but my brief term as Nurse Barry is serving me well now.

The plants and trees are bursting with vigor, grass is growing, and mowing is a regular chore now, until the inevitable drought. Nathaniel is a big help with mowing – and with felling trees before they fall over the road.

The stream, which was restarted after the cold winter, failed to run. After much consternation, it is finally fixed, and is a joy, especially for Eddy. He was so sad when the stream stopped working, I had to provide him a tank for cooling off. He made good use of the tub until the stream was back in action last week.

Last week was peak migration for birds, and we are always excited at the return of migratory friends. I have not managed a picture of the hummingbird, but he is here, enjoying the scarlet honeysuckle. A few bird pictures…

I also treasure amphibians (sign of a healthy ecosystem). We had a rain, which filled the tub at the top of the stream about halfway. This was while the stream was not working. I began to fill the tub all the way up, and noticed a couple of frogs. I took a picture while the tub was filling, and when I looked at the picture, realized the were toads, not frogs! I immediately pulled them out. There were three, and they were exhausted from swimming for hours. Luckily, they recovered. I should have left a branch in the tub, for escape, but it had been dry for days.

Well, I could go on, but I will spare you, and aim to return tomorrow with more.

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

As we have hit a rough patch in the uneven journey to recovery, I am going to share some horse pictures (and a couple of birds) from earlier this month. We had some rain (and already need more). Fred came to put front shoes on the horses, after a winter roughed off and barefoot.

The north pasture was so wet, the horses were like Camargue horses in a marsh… The joys of Spring inspired a romp.

There was a race up the hill. Seeing horses spontaneously race each other proves that they are not forced to race. Unfortunately, there are sometimes catastrophic accidents, and there are some despicable people attracted to racing, so horse racing is facing some challenges as a sport. But here, in that wet pasture, there was only fun.

Once they reached the paddocks, there was some dramatic play fighting.

Afterwards, Bart had a nice long drink, and looked askance at the camera. Peace returned to the happy herd.

The first word I said was “hoss”, according to my mother. I have always loved horses, and have been incredibly lucky to spend my life around these magical creatures. And I met and married Harry, thanks to horses. We have had many pass through our lives, and this small herd will be the last in the procession. What a thrill and a privilege this ride has been! There have been many heartbreaks, too, of course, but the joy balances the tears.

Fred’s return was fun, as always. The horses are much more comfortable with front shoes, as fly season and stomping approaches. Harry came out to the barn to visit with Fred, who is always full of fun, alongside his skillful work.

And here are a few birds, of course.

And another beautiful sunset…

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

It’s been a whirlwind in our life around here. Like a diary of days, I will give a sort of linear report on the past week.

Easter was quiet, with electricity restored, but a continuing slow smoldering of the downed tree caused some concern. Our friend, Tina, who works for the Electric company, read the previous blog and texted me to see if it was the very tree that I had reported last year. It was, indeed, and Tina was out here Monday morning to investigate. The company outsources tree removals, and the company had charged Cuivre River Electric for the removal of that tree, so they assumed it was done!

Causing Tina to come out was truly a silver lining to the Easter weekend electrical outage. She has been a part of our life since before we were married. Hard to believe she is now a grandmother!

Unfortunately, Harry had been in atrial fibrillation since last week. Increased medication and tweaking of the pacemaker failed to convert him, so an electrocardioversion was scheduled for Thursday afternoon. That made for a stressful week, especially when the electrophysiologist’s office called to say that they were overbooked and planned to reschedule for a later date. I had a minor meltdown about that, and they kindly kept him on the schedule.

On Wednesday, we had a recheck with Dr. McLaughlin, the surgeon, who was astonished at Harry’s recovery. The x rays showed plenty of bone growth now holding the hip around the pins. They also x rayed Harry’s left shoulder, which was described as having “end stage arthritis” – bone on bone. Because of the pending cardioversion, we are scheduled to go back next Wednesday to address the shoulder with a joint injection.

Thursday and Friday were a bit rough. It took two shocks to restore sinus rhythm, and basically two days to recover. We will send a transmission tomorrow, and hope that normal sinus rhythm will maintain.

Vlad came and picked up a maquette for enlargement on Friday, but I forgot to take pictures. Harry was back at work in the studio, despite his arrhythmic heart. It is always fun to see Vlad, and he arrived with delicious treats from our favorite French bakery. Health food!

In other news around here, Weedy decided to revert to an old naughty habit of dumpster diving! That bad boy got stuck in the dumpster, and I had to climb in to lift him out.

Harlan came on Tuesday, as always, to empty the dumpster (Weedy was in the house). Eddy loves Harlan, who takes a short break, and we chat, when there is time.

Animals and Nature are a consolation for news of the world, and any troubles we encounter. There is much to be grateful for around here, though I haven’t had a lot of time for pictures.

Yesterday, I went over to Happenstance Horse Show briefly to watch Susan’s young mare, Vera. It was even more fun to see Susan and Justine than it was to see the horse show!

Afterwards, I helped Jane put up some fence boards. She has done an astonishing amount of fencing this Spring, including having a new fenced area for the dogs, inspired by Polly’s scary disappearance. Sadly, of course, Polly did not live to see the new pen, but Hazel is benefitting from it, and it is really nice.

And in spite of all, I did get back in the saddle this week – I rode Bart – his first ride at age 20 – and he felt great. Jane was too busy with fencing to join us. I’m hoping there will be more regular riding soon…

While I was untacking, there was a tufted titmouse that got stuck in the barn. I had hoped to have Nathan open the bale doors, since I am afraid of heights. We put bale doors in, not for hay bales, but for bird escape, since they don’t like to fly down to go out the door.

Well, I steeled myself and did the job. I’m very proud that I can still manage this dreaded task as an old lady.

That’s enough for now. We have had some beautiful skies, so I will close with this one…

Stay safe, stay strong, stay grateful, and be kind. Slava Ukraini! Peace…

Somehow, March got away from me, and here we are in the “cruelest month”. It’s actually quite pleasant, though mudlicious, so far. At last, the weather has me at my desk with a little bit of time to start catching up. My life has been one step forward, two steps back, lately. But Harry’s trajectory toward recovery has smoothed out and he continues to excel, which is all I really care about.

This Spring has been a difficult one for Jane. Her beloved cat, Bobby, who was diabetic, but managing well on two insulin injections daily for several years, passed away suddenly. He was not a big cat, but he had a very big and delightful personality, and is missed.

Then, as troubles do come in clusters, little Polly, who had dementia and was deaf and blind, also died, aged 16. Jane got Polly from Fred, the horseshoer, who rescued her 15 years ago from an abusive group of Amish children. She had a long and happy life with Jane.

No matter how many animals have passed through our lives, we never get tough enough. Our hearts break again and again.

Jane received some comfort from Eddy, who always chooses joy over sadness.

Even as I was typing, new trouble today! A tree fell on the electric line. Jane called to let me know, and much time was wasted looking at the fallen, smoking tree (which was supposed to have been taken down many months ago), watching flames develop, talking to the repairmen, and taking some pictures. Now we are without electricity, and waiting for it to return.

Well, that was the latest excitement, but all is well. The horses are enjoying Spring grass, the cats are relishing Spring sunshine, and the dogs are doing their myriad jobs.

Fence repair is in my future. Jane and Nathan have already done a lot of that at Jane’s house.

And that is all for now. Another day of blogging interrupted, but I will post this and try to pick up the threads tomorrow…

Be safe, be well, stay strong. Slava Ukraini! Peace…

I am hopeless at time management, allocating my time improperly and unrealistically. Hence, the blog has fallen off a bit. Speaking of time, this post will be a longish one…

Harry has recovered rapidly over the past couple of weeks, and has been discharged from Physical Therapy. No more visits from Devan, who pushed Harry to independence remarkably quickly.

I have found some time for bird pictures, of course…

The cats are all well, despite a bitter cold spell that we have just endured. The temperature on Sunday dropped almost 50 degrees, with howling winds and threats of tornadoes. Cats stayed in the warm tack room during two bitter nights. Spring weather returns today.

On Sunday, I had to relent and bring the horses into the barn. It was uncommonly awful weather, and the boys were very grateful. The winds were so wild that the shed didn’t provide much shelter from the rain. Bart and Oisin rolled to dry off immediately, Stone was only interested in munching hay.

Back outside in the morning, Stone was still interested in hay, even as he secured the award for filthiest horse in Missouri.

There hasn’t been much excitement in the past two weeks, with the exception of a frightening episode when Jane’s Polly wandered off. Polly is deaf and mostly blind, and quite confused. Luckily, as I searched westward, Jane went east and found her. The demented senior had made her way to the gravel road, and some kind neighbors recognized her and helped Jane corral her to bring her home. Now, Polly is on a leash when outside until a pen project is completed (by early April, they say).

Meanwhile, our dogs are OK… Eddy is quite obsessed by coyotes. There are many around, as we can hear them at night singing in the woods. Eddy loves it when they come into the pastures.

Spring flowers have arrived, but the cold snap has done some damage, I fear. Looked like Jane’s magnolia had started to bloom and was badly frozen. Here, the daffodils took quite a hit. It will be interesting to see if they rebound. The forsythia blooms at the edge of the woods seem to have survived.

Marilyn rode through on Trigger, with Roy, before the weather turned bitter. I had a camera handy.

I have not ridden since the troubles started on September 15 – six months now – perhaps my longest hiatus in 60 years. I did climb on Oisin in December, just to feel a horse under me. The possibility of riding again is beginning to kindle a spark within…

We had an unexpected Saint Patrick’s Day visit from Joe, laden, as always with goodies. Harry and I had forgotten to wear green, but Joe made up for us!

We have had some beautiful skies during my two weeks absence from blogging…

Be safe, be well, be resolute, and kind. Find solace in this spectacular world, and be grateful. Hope for a miracle, hope for peace. Slava Ukraini! Peace, please, everywhere. Stay strong…

2026 has been an awful year already, but on we go, into March, after two days of bidding farewell to Don Walsh last week, to cap off February. On Friday, a visitation, and on a beautiful Saturday, a funeral. Many tears were shed. Don (Dr. Walsh) had a profound impact on countless people, and improved the lives of animals, particularly laminitic horses, all over the world. We were lucky to have known him, and will miss him.

Harry has made remarkable progress, and is no longer using a walker, or an oxygen concentrator. We are grateful for excellent medical care on many fronts, giving us more good days than we expected, when Harry hit the floor on January 3. Onward to Spring, arriving this month.

Devan (PT) and Patrick (OT), from BJC Healthcare, have been coming to the house since January, and we will miss them, as their mission here is nearly finished.

Meanwhile, I am relieving Jane of horsecare duty as much as possible. There will still be plenty of need to impose on her, but I am enjoying being outdoors every day, as Harry becomes independent again.

The birds are a constant joy around here.

The cats are happy that Spring is on the way.

Every Tuesday, Harlan empties the dumpster and brings tales from the outside world.

The dogs are a big part of Harry’s recovery team…

Eddy brings joy wherever he goes, but his favorite person is Jane! The feeling is mutual…

We have had some lovely evening skies. Now comes rain, as Spring gets closer and days get longer, and the larger world begins to unravel. We are counting our blessings and hoping for peace…

Be safe, be well, be kind. These are frightening times, but Nature carries on. Be grateful… Slava Ukraini! Peace seems a lost cause now, but never lose hope…

We have had a quiet time and much improvement over the past three days. I chose to sleep, rather than blog, because as the adrenaline has subsided, exhaustion set in. I am greatly refreshed now, though the weather is cold and windy as winter gasps.

Harry was introduced to walking with a cane instead of a walker, but Devan advised he wait a while before doing too much. We had an appointment for haircuts with our friend, Shawn, on Friday, though, so caution was thrown to the wind. Harry insisted on using a cane, and since he is “on room air” now, not needing supplemental oxygen, it was like old times! Though I will admit to rather of lot of worry on my part, at breaking the PT rules…

Not only did we get haircuts, we had blueberry pancakes to celebrate, which indicates that Harry’s appetite is improving.

Devan paid a PT visit Friday afternoon, and far from being unhappy with Harry for breaking the rules, he was delighted! He worked Harry on the step off the porch, but I failed to take pictures. I am beginning to try to help with some of the horse duties, to spare Jane a little bit. Slowly, life is returning to normal…

The birds have been hungry as cold returned. And, sadly, the stream developed a problem just before the cold front came in, and we now await expert help. My efforts, with Jane, were unsuccessful, and wasted several hours.

We had a few minutes of snow yesterday morning, falling onto our only car. On Monday, I picked up the white car that had been under repair since December 10, when I wrecked it, and sold it back to the dealer from whence it had come. We only had it for 5 months, and we really only need one car. The white car was almost too nice for our lifestyle, anyway. The dogs agree!

Eddy alerted me very early in the morning to a visitor in the south pasture. I wouldn’t let Eddy out to consort with coyotes, because we had to leave. Once Eddy finds a compelling scent, he will not be lifted! To get back at me later, he stole my napkin off my lap. Naughty, adorable, Eddy!

A beautiful evening sky at the end of a pleasant day, as Harry proceeds toward recovery…

Wishing for more pleasant days than difficult ones… Be safe, be well, be grateful and be kind. Slava Ukraini! Peace…

A red letter day is a significant day. The term has its origin in the religious printing of saints’ days or religious holidays in red on calendars. Well, today is Ash Wednesday, and the first day of Ramadan and the beginning of the Chinese New Year – year of the Fire Horse, so plenty of reasons for a red letter day!

But here at Bronze Fox Farm, we have had a red letter day in the more secular sense of the word. First, an early visitor to the back porch was a red winged blackbird, a harbinger of Spring.

Then, Eddy and I took a letter to the mailbox, and had a walk in the woods, which are off limit to him when wearing his Freedom Collar, so it was very much a red letter day for him.

Next, the really significant event – Devan came for PT, and Harry walked with a cane, instead of the walker! This was real cause for celebration.

It was a very warm day. There is cold in the near future, but every nice day is a treat in February. Harry spent some time in the sun with his dogs, while I went to the barn.

The horses were shocked to be brought into the barn for the first time since Harry’s fall on January 3. Matt Hallahan, a young horseshoer, came to trim their feet late in the afternoon. He was very nice, and the horses look quite happy with their pedicures. Fred has gone to Arizona to escape winter, but he will probably return for their next shoeing appointment. It was a relief to find someone to tend to them. I forgot to take pictures while he was here – too busy talking, as always!

Marmalade came down the ladder to see the horses back in the barn…

Tom Morris was seen on a hay bale yawning…

Wishing everyone good red letter days.

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

I know it’s not a unique way to look at life, but I always think it’s like rafting a river. The past two days have been some rough water – not rapids, just a little chaotic, and I am very tired.

That said, the weather has been delightful, and Harry has been able to get outside into the sunshine.

Harry has had trouble sleeping until recently, but we are hoping that hurdle has been cleared (to mix a metaphor).

Speaking of sleeping, the Ginger Boys got two good portraits yesterday and today…

Here are some bird pictures…

Yesterday, we restarted the stream. The sound of the running water is a delight. The birds are happy, and Eddy is very pleased, too!

Big excitement at the end of this very busy day – Jane’s pony, Calvin, and Sandy, the donkey, escaped and rampaged through the area. It was quite a lot of excitement, and in the end, our relatively new neighbor, Matt, appeared with an apple and saved the day! Calvin was maniacal, which caused the three horses here to be very excited and almost impossible to sort into a different paddock. Jane caught Sandy, and we all had to watch Calvin gallop and gambol like a lunatic, until he saw Matt offer an apple (nicely sliced, too!).

Jane continues to do most of the work here. I hope that someday we will be riding together again.

Finally, a beautiful sunset…

Be safe, be well, smooth sailing! Slava Ukraini! Peace…