lemons and lemonade and all that

Sometimes things just come in bunches, threes, my grandma and mom have always said, and we may be on our second set of three about now.

Dickens is still not home, though a neighbor called to tell me that she was at church on Sunday and after the sermon the minister held up one of our flyers and asked everyone to keep an eye out for Dickens and pray for his safe return. Even as someone who doesn't participate in organized religion I found that heartwarming and very sweet. It's been 10 days now and I find myself hoping but preparing. 

Saturday Cody started exhibiting the telltale signs of a hoof abscess and that's always worrisome until it starts to erupt. 

Yesterday I was in the garden planting more fall vegetables when I came upon a fire ant mound in one of my beds. I decided to use the boiling water approach since it was so close to the back door and the kettle on the stove. Husband boiled the water for me and set it down inside our little Corgi-proof garden fence. I carefully lifted it and then for some unknown reason lost my sense of caution as I marched forward, hot kettle in hand.

A big slosh of boiling water went into my left muck boot and I immediately put the kettle down, removed as quickly as I could the boot and sock, and grabbed the already-on hose to let the cool water wash over the burned area. It was painful and after 5 minutes of hosing I came inside and started researching. Honey seems to be the state of the art treatment now, and we had good local honey on hand. I let the burn dry on its own and then layered on the honey. The intense needly stinging stopped completely in about 20 minutes. The burn is slightly less than the size of my hand, and there is one small blistered area. Husband made a run to the store for non-stick dressing, and raided the horse supplies for some soft gauze wrap. Near bedtime I layered on more honey, wrapped it carefully, and this morning it looks better. Still a burn, and after letting it air I'll re-dress it for the day. 

After the burn and first aiding yesterday husband went out to put a new head on a muck rake. The old bolt and screw was not coming out of the old rake and somehow he cut his finger pretty badly. There was enough bleeding that we had to wash the deck! That pretty much put the end to Labor Day and chores!

But as the sun set I noticed Cody was out grazing, which means the abscess is progressing, and we watched a few episodes of X-Files and had a nice dinner. 

Today I've removed the dressing, aired the burn for a few hours, and I'm getting ready to wrap it up with more honey and go get a load of hay. Horses got to eat! 

And I got to heal - it looks like our highs at week's end are 80 for days in a row, which says Time To Ride to me!

Dickens update: a scare

Last night my husband got an email from someone who saw a flyer and who lives in a nearby neighborhood. He found a dead cat in his yard on Tuesday and moved it to the woods nearby on Wed. He said he couldn't say if it were Dickens or not but would be happy to show my husband where he had located the remains.

This morning my husband met the man but the cat's remains were no longer where he'd put them. He said there was definitely no collar on the cat he moved (a good sign since Dickens was wearing one) and that there has been a black and white cat hanging around his neighborhood for awhile and he thought maybe this was that cat - he said the one hanging around his neighborhood was definitely not Dickens.

My husband brought the only thing left from this mystery cat's remains - a few tufts of fur. It isn't the same kind of fur that Dickens has. So we feel fairly certain the deceased cat was NOT Dickens. 

But this evening marks a week since we have seen him. I am envisioning him holed up somewhere sleeping and safe and happy on his grand cat adventure. And hoping he'll head home soon. Last Friday night we had a very cool night and I can imagine him setting off to enjoy it. It got warm again since then but we have more cool weather rolling in late today so maybe that will send him home. 

I so appreciate the good thoughts everyone has sent to him and to us. Thank you!!!

Dickens Come Home!

Dickens, our oldest resident feline on November Hill, didn't show up for breakfast on Saturday. A neighbor says she saw him that morning but he hasn't been spotted since.

It's Wednesday now. We've checked the local animal shelter and all neighbors have been notified. Dickens is very savvy and has gone AWOL a few times during his 10 years of life with us, so we are still hopeful but of course very worried.

Send some good thoughts his way if you will. I got home today from my writing residency and am hoping maybe I'll be a homing signal of sorts to lure him back.

The photo is Dickens taking a ride with me from the barn to the house last winter. He's a farm cat through and through. 

Dickens Edward Wickens - come home!!! 

wild muscadines, mini retreat, luminous Pixie

This is a bit of a patchwork post.

Today in the middle of barn chores I took a walk along the perimeter of the barnyard and back field to do some wild muscadine tasting. I can reach quite a few of them from the ground but will need Keil Bay to help me reach the higher-up ones! They taste really good this year.

Keil has been out of work since June and has a chiro appointment on Monday. I'll be back from a mini writing retreat on Wednesday. If the weather cooperates I'm aiming for next Thursday to take a ride. 

I'm excited about getting back in the saddle with the Big Bay and I'm also excited about this:

And here's a photo of the luminous Pixie Pie. She is such a sweetheart.

goldfinch = joy

Today I was scrubbing and refilling the big water troughs in the paddocks and field. I was intent on scrubbing for awhile and then completely attuned to rinsing the tub in the dirt paddock when I felt something looking at me.

It was a goldfinch, sitting on the fence post about five feet away. He looked at me and waited, then hopped down to a lower piece of the fence, still waiting, obviously trying to tell me something. I was charmed. (it's easy to see why a group of goldfinches is called a charm of goldfinches!)

He went to the top of the H dressage marker and suddenly I realized what he wanted. A pool! 

I found a spot where the ground dipped and made him a nice puddle and he flew to it immediately and began dipping his beak in and out. 

I love goldfinches and haven't seen many this summer, so today's visit and conversation was pure joy.