Intentions – January 25

I am a living illustration of the road to Hell paved with good intentions. I had intended to blog Sunday evening, but postponed until Monday. Then, my intention to blog last night was thwarted by a slow internet, so I resolved to blog first thing this morning. Ha! The day just got in my way.

My intention to ride when weather permitted has not been realized because the weather is not complying. The snow has failed to completely melt away, so far, and I am getting a bit antsy, but am trying to remain patient. The horses don’t care, and are enjoying the quiet life, which is fairly typical of January.

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Well, this post promises to be a bit disjointed, but here is the news on Cedar. It’s a mystery. We took her yesterday to the Ellisville Veterinary Hospital, where I worked for ten years, off and on, a very, very long time ago (in its previous, less fancy, location). They did an ultrasound on her abdomen, and she had an enlarged adrenal gland, but a follow up blood test shows that she does NOT have Cushing’s. And so, diagnostics continue, and next Monday Cedar will go to a specialist. I am not complaining, but Cedar is becoming by far our most valuable dog ever. We are so fortunate to be able to pursue this mystery.

Cedar has come a long way from the loading dock on which she was found eleven years ago, with 7 puppies less than 24 hours old. Stray Rescue St. Louis took her in, she raised her puppies and they were all adopted, and then our friend, Christine, fostered her. She introduced us at a horse show, pups recently weaned, and Cedar recovering from her spay. We fell in love with her, and she moved to the country, here, where she has been a very good dog. There is no higher praise, as Harry often mentions.

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While we are on the subject of good dogs… while Cedar was away all day yesterday (and Harry, too), I went for a walk with the other dogs. Poor little Mistletoe’s walking days are over, but she comes outside with us, and then waits on the porch.

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Now for some more medical news – Rebecca stopped by with eggs yesterday. Her sister, Victoria was with her… because Rebecca broke BOTH of her wrists on Christmas Eve in a freak accident. Rosie was very interested, while we visited in the tack room.

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Today, I did see Harlan. He was hard at work in the bitter cold, but, as always, had time to do a great job and entertain me with a smile. Harry points out that Harlan is someone for whom we should all be saying “thank you for your service”. He is very important to our little operation here.

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The cats are coping with January, as cats do. Marmalade and Licorice subscribe to the “don’t fence me in” doctrine. They should live in Montana with Nancy, except the trip would destroy them. They are quite content under the house and in the shed, respectively. Tom Morris likes to eat in the shed with them, but he enjoys the warmth of the tack room, too.

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This evening, the cold is settling hard. The horses were anxious to come in.

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Harry, meanwhile, is always busy with art of some sort. Taking a break from sculpting, he sketches, inspired by the fragrance of paperwhites behind him.

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A moment on the couch… Weedy and Roscoe…

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And, finally, some birds… and an intention to get more pictures tomorrow.

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Be safe, be well. Peace.