It’s been a busy week here. It began with us finally getting to a little work on the cottage in town. After the laundry room and kitchen tile was installed we hit a very busy spell and finishing things up got on the back burner. Tuesday we painted the laundry room a lovely coral color (official paint name was peach preserves!) and had headboard paneling installed on the lower three feet or so of the wall. That is being painted white and then the plain board trim will be installed at the top and bottom of the paneling for a nice cottage effect - but mainly because it will be easy to keep clean without all the bevels in more modern trimwork. I think it’s going to look very nice. Door jambs are also being put in, and next will be some curtains and a stacked washer/dryer. This will also serve as the entrance and waiting area for my office, so I’ll be putting in a chair and table with lamp and some wall decor too. The cottage was power-washed and it was good to see it so clean. Of course my mind was racing forward with the next project - new shutters.
Keil Bay had his senior check-up this week. I had been a little stressed by the vet’s note that during exam when he had the choke episode she detected a mild heart murmur. He’s 29, so that’s not unusual, but of course I worried. During his exam this week the heart murmur was not detected at all, so she said it was probably just something to do with the choke and his heart has great rhythm and all is well. His body condition is perfect, his eyes are almost totally clear of any age-related changes. One small area in his left eye has the very beginnings of change, but she says that is totally normal and she doesn’t think it’s affecting his vision at all. She updated his rabies and Coggins and pulled blood to do a basic check on levels and also for Cushings and insulin resistance, mostly as a precaution. She says he is great and I should go ahead and start riding him again as the weather cools - and if he has any issues with light work we can discuss adding something to help with stiffness, etc. if that presents itself. I’m so happy he’s doing so well.
Good genes, good nutrition, barefoot hoof care, thoughtful riding, and the ability to move 24/7 are the secret to his senior health, I think. He’s been on human grade, therapeutic levels of evidence-based joint supplements since he was 15 years old, gets most of his calories from forage, and has been ridden with care, meaning long, slow warm-ups and attention to his cues under saddle. At 29 he’s sound at the walk/trot/canter but I’m extremely attentive to how he feels.
The day before Hurricane Michael roared into Florida and then up through North Carolina, I took a drive out to Mellow Marsh Farm, a local, native plant nursery, and picked up two redbuds, a persimmon, three inkberry hollies, a small flat of big bluestem, and two Virginia Sweetspires. All these will go in Poplar Folly. The redbuds and persimmon will replace the huge tulip poplars that were taken down. They’re much smaller trees and should never present any issue to power lines. The inkberries will fill in a gap on the outside of my very back fencing. The Virginia Sweetspires are lovely pollinator-friendly shrubs which will create some texture back there and feed the bees. The big bluestem is a thick, tall native grass that I’m putting in an area outside our fencing that feels very bare after they removed the huge red oak outside our back gate. Hopefully it will thrive and get big - it turns a lovely red in the fall and winter so will be a nice splash of color back there. All of these plantings are pollinator friendly - my bee hives are going back there now that the huge trees are gone and there’s a sunny corner that will have the hill behind it as a windbreak and good drainage. I’ll put a small fence to enclose that corner to keep the dogs away from the hives, and I’ll be setting the hives up soon to overwinter and get ready for the bees in the spring.
Yesterday the hurricane moved through. We had three inches of rain, winds gusting at 50 mph, and lost power for 12 hours, but no trees came down, our fences are intact, and we are all safe and sound this morning. The sun came up over Crow Forest (which was clearcut five years ago but is now grown back enough I can call it a forest again, albeit a young one!), I made coffee with good beans and oat milk, and it’s good to see the sunshine painting the trees out my windows.
Sending warm thoughts to all displaced by this monster hurricane. I truly hope we’re done for this season.
