While Tuesday warmed up nicely, it wasn’t enough to melt all the snow, and definitely not enough to ride. Worse, it was a brief warming spell and we are now plunged back into the deep freeze. Though it is much worse elsewhere, I cannot avoid complaining about winter.
That said, the Full Cold Moon on the wane is still spectacular at night.
The Full Moon setting early morning 
Icicles on the barn at night 
Night check well lit
Harlan came early for the dumpster, and I missed him again, for the second time in three weeks! There was still quite a bit of snow, and he elected not to try to drive into Jane’s, so her dumpster didn’t get emptied. Last year, he almost got stuck at Jane’s house, so he is a bit leery of her slight hill by the barn. Now, poor Jane has to trundle her wheelbarrows down into the woods, since we fill the dumpsters every week. This is one of the less glamorous aspects of having horses.
Tom Morris and Marmalade and Cedar always make morning trips to the barn most convivial, even without Harlan.
Marmalade 
Tom Morris 
Cedar
While I was doing barn work, Vlad arrived, and I didn’t hear him drive in, either. But I looked over to the studio and saw the loading nearly finished. So, the baseball boys left yesterday and went to St. Louis for the next step in their journeys.
Vlad and his assistant, Justin, lift the sculpture with ease 
Loading 
The boys in the truck 
One arm travels separately 
Vlad and Harry
In the sunny afternoon, there were some sleeping dogs lying about the place.
Nettie 
Mistletoe 
Weedy 
Cedar
This morning, Mistletoe went for a pedicure, and we finally got word on Cedar’s tests. Sad to report, she has Cushing’s disease, which is a bit complicated. Cedar is very anxious about being lifted and she has always hated getting into a car. Too bad we can’t explain any of this to her. Meanwhile, we are exhausted with not sleeping through the night. It’s a bit like having a baby (I guess) except we are not young anymore. There’s a reason people have babies when they are young and vigorous!
Tonight we are trying a new protocol. Harry found pee pads for large dogs at Petsmart, and we put them down in the studio. They have a pheromone or something that encourages the dog to use them (I guess our carpets have that pheromone, too, alas). We left Cedar in the studio with her bed while we took Mistletoe to her nail trim, and she used the pee pads perfectly! No wet touched the floor at all, which wouldn’t matter anyway, since it’s concrete. The studio is warm, and fairly empty at present, so we may have an answer to our prayers. We might get to sleep through the night tonight, with Cedar out in the studio!
Afternoon rest time 
Cedar can still sleep on the bed during the day
Roscoe is very happy as the only housecat. He enjoys the scent of the paperwhites by the window. Much better than dog pee pheromones!
The birds are eating twice as much with the return of the cold. I didn’t take many pictures, though.
Red bellied woodpecker 
Tufted titmouse at the water bowl 
Titmouse in flight
The horses get bored and start messing around. It is always a bit worrisome, but they do get exercise. Luckily, they are fairly sensible when the ground is really slick or rough. They stand still and play instead of romping. Of course, they are all teenagers, so one would expect they are somewhat less exuberant.
I went out to bring the horses in and the cold had arrived on a north wind. Time to plug the water trough heater back in!
Be safe, be well, stay warm! Peace.
So sorry to hear about the Cushing’s diagnosis- I’ve googled that a few times for my babies and it does seem complicated. (A tip about what we call the ‘pee pads’ is that Walgreens also has some good ones often on sort of sale.) I’m surprised you don’t tell Cedar a good story about the nice doctor- don’t they like to be told too? I love how close Tom Morris and Marmalade are in looks. The cold doesn’t look easy there but yo-yo temps are part of our world here at times.
Among the joys of reading your blog is that it expands my vocabulary!
You’re right that Cushing’s Disease is complicated. The pituitary gland, a tiny gland found at the base of the brain, releases adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), which in turn tells the adrenal glands to release cortisol, also called glucocorticoids. In a pet with CD, a tumor in the pituitary gland or, less commonly, in one of the adrenal glands, causes the cortex to release an excess amount of cortisol. See how informed copy & paste makes one appear in the metaverse!
And, I’m looking for an occasion to use trundle as a verb.
Haha! Thanks, Mark.