Sunday I awoke with milder stomach issues, and settled in to watch my Sunday morning with Charles Osgood. I had not had breakfast yet, so when Judy called and said that she and Denise were going into Tallahassee for breakfast and then to Sears for lawn tractor supplies. I said I would love to go. I had just seen that Sunday was the last day of the Florida Landscapes Exhibition, and knew that the ladies would enjoy it, so I suggested that we go for a few minutes. Just 15 minutes to walk through the paintings and photos.
We met at Cabo's for breakfast, I had heard good things about it, and it was good, but nothing really outrageous. I had Huevoes Racheros. Judy at the Costa Rico version that for whatever reason came with Mexican rice instead of tortillas. I found that funny that the Mexican version did not have the Mexican rice, but the Costa Rico version did. Anyway. We had a nice time. I really haven't gotten to spend much time with these two dear friends. We did the play together, but we are each so busy with our roles and parts that we don't get to spend much time together.
After breakfast we headed over to the Museum of Natural History for the Florida landscape Exhibit, but we also saw the mastedon skeleton that they found in Wakulla Springs. We did not spend 15 minutes there, more like 2 hours. And we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. You can't help but gasp when you walk into the space where they have the mastadon skeleton. After the museum we headed to Sears to get our lawn tractor supplies and then we headed to our individual homes. I stopped on the way home and bought animal food.
What a lovely day, breakfast out, a museum, dear beloved friends. A wonderful day.
Back at home were the four dogs. This new creature that has come into my life, is sweet, but she does not fit into our family. It is hard to say what is different about her, but she adds an energy to the house that is too much. She is so needy, and I am trying to work with her, but I have a lot of children and they have to share attention.
Monday I got up and called Ms Moon. I have been struggling with more moodiness then I am used to. She suggested that this is simply a side affect of retiring and finally being slow enough for it to hit me. I think she is completely correct. I am not sure how to fix that, but having an idea of what is part of the problem. Then I called the Humane Society. They told me to call the animal control officer, they had no room. Slightly defeated I thought I would deal with this after I got a few things taken care of first. I did some laundry, I cleaned the kitchen and went out to feed the chickens their watermelon and bread. As I went to open the door with my hands full, this found dog helps to push open the door, runs in and starts trying to grab and kill my chickens. I dropped everything and started grabbing at the dog and dragging her out of the coop. She is slippery and strong and manages to grab Dani O'Quail and runs to the back of the property with her. I am running full out and not catching her. Then I hit the hole and twisted my right knee, thigh and hip. I pulled myself up and kept running. The pain was only a throbbing pain, so it didn't slow me down much. The dog dropped the chicken and turned to look at me. I looked at this dog and so many questions I had were being answered. The pieces of a puzzle that began when I was gone with my Dad all started flooding into me. I grabbed up Dani, she was barely alive. I limped back to the coop and checked on the rest of the chickens. They were upset, but fine. I went and sat in a chair in my barn holding my dear Dani. She died and I sat there holding her, this sweet precious hen. The best egg layer of her generation. The one who had survived the attack of the giant opposum. The one that was always a follower, never the leader. A good chicken. When I came out of the barn, there sat the dog. I called it and it followed me. I opened the gate, pushed it out and walked away. I knew this was not solving the solution, but between the emotional pain in my heart and the physical pain to my leg, I could not deal with this at the moment.
When I went with Dad to Europe the first day I was gone my air conditioning broke so I asked the ladies to just leave the back door open to my little trailer.house. The gates were all closed up tight and the dogs were there to keep people out of the yard. But it would allow the dogs and cats the ability to go in the house at night after it had cooled down. Four chickens disappeared during that time. Now, this dog knew my house. It knew my bathroom. It knew my couch and bed. It knew the chicken coop. I think this dog may have been living in my house while I was gone. There was all the luxuries of the house, bowls of dog food, a chicken coop with young tender chickens. It has been spotted in the neighborhood for a while, so it is possible. It answers a lot of questions.
Judy called me this morning and asked if I wanted her to come over to help me with the oil change of my lawn tractor. That was when I discovered that the pre-filter did not make it home from Sears. So I will have to go and buy a new one, or make one. I called Judy and told her to forget the maintenance work today. After talking we decided that she would come over and watch What The Bleep Do We Know. Judy and I had fun watching the movie. We only watched about half of it, but enjoyed the afternoon just sitting back and watching a movie that makes us think. We kept putting the movie on pause and discussing what we had just seen.
I sat with my leg up and the throbbing turned to biting pain. After talking to Vicki I realized that I needed to take some pain meds. It is not like I don't have plenty. I choose the Naproxin for the pain and any swelling. I rested the knee for most of the day, and then went to bed hoping that by the morning it would be better, not worse. And it was better. Not fixed, but better then when I went to bed.
It was a horrible experience with the dog and I realized that if I was right about this dog, then I was the one that had brought the "fox" into the hen house. There was no reason to be upset with the dog. But I will have to find a solution to this dog being at my house. I am afraid I will have to call the animal control officer. This is what I have tried to avoid. There may be no choice. I will deal with it tomorrow. My leg is better, but that could be just the drugs.
I have not done so much today. The dog has appeared and disappeared throughout the day. She has not bothered the chickens, but this will have to be dealt with before the end of the week. I talked to my Dad today. I usually speak to him every couple of days, more often if either one of us needs it. I have to get myself together, back to my normal positive Pollyanna self. This confused, moody, depressed person is not comfortable in my skin, not comfortable in with this person.
Some of the things I want to accomplish this week is to start a to do list of things I have wanted to get done, but have put off for years. I need to get into a routine. I don't have a problem with getting up. Unless you consider getting up too early a problem, which I have been feeling lately. The dogs want me up by 7. I have been having trouble falling to sleep, so I would love to get to sleep a little bit. Say go to bed at 10 and sleep until 8. That sounds good. I know that is 10 hours, but that is one thing that I can do to help stay healthy, not wear myself out. I can eat better, which I am constantly trying to do. And I can start my new exercise program on Friday to help build strength, flexibility and stamina.
Ednarose is growing like a weed. She has doubled in weight in the three plus weeks I have had her. Every other day her feet seem to double in size, but the next day she has grown into them. She is even more adorable, my little chunky black bear cub monkey pig. My little lab:
Yesterday was emotionally a hard day, but by the end of the day I realized my part in the problems and I had had enough of the moodiness and had a few positive talks with myself. Came up with some ideas on how to be happier. And it has worked some, because even today I feel a little more like me. I am being careful with my knee and using it as an excuse to take it easy today. The weekend started out so odd with me heading to the Opera House a day early, then the whole dog thing, a great day with friends in town on Sunday and then the whole dog/chicken thing yesterday. But that is life, a journey filled with moments of joy, happiness, frustration, pain, loss, gifts, sharing and when you put it all together it fills the days the moments, a life.
We met at Cabo's for breakfast, I had heard good things about it, and it was good, but nothing really outrageous. I had Huevoes Racheros. Judy at the Costa Rico version that for whatever reason came with Mexican rice instead of tortillas. I found that funny that the Mexican version did not have the Mexican rice, but the Costa Rico version did. Anyway. We had a nice time. I really haven't gotten to spend much time with these two dear friends. We did the play together, but we are each so busy with our roles and parts that we don't get to spend much time together.
After breakfast we headed over to the Museum of Natural History for the Florida landscape Exhibit, but we also saw the mastedon skeleton that they found in Wakulla Springs. We did not spend 15 minutes there, more like 2 hours. And we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. You can't help but gasp when you walk into the space where they have the mastadon skeleton. After the museum we headed to Sears to get our lawn tractor supplies and then we headed to our individual homes. I stopped on the way home and bought animal food.
What a lovely day, breakfast out, a museum, dear beloved friends. A wonderful day.
Back at home were the four dogs. This new creature that has come into my life, is sweet, but she does not fit into our family. It is hard to say what is different about her, but she adds an energy to the house that is too much. She is so needy, and I am trying to work with her, but I have a lot of children and they have to share attention.
Monday I got up and called Ms Moon. I have been struggling with more moodiness then I am used to. She suggested that this is simply a side affect of retiring and finally being slow enough for it to hit me. I think she is completely correct. I am not sure how to fix that, but having an idea of what is part of the problem. Then I called the Humane Society. They told me to call the animal control officer, they had no room. Slightly defeated I thought I would deal with this after I got a few things taken care of first. I did some laundry, I cleaned the kitchen and went out to feed the chickens their watermelon and bread. As I went to open the door with my hands full, this found dog helps to push open the door, runs in and starts trying to grab and kill my chickens. I dropped everything and started grabbing at the dog and dragging her out of the coop. She is slippery and strong and manages to grab Dani O'Quail and runs to the back of the property with her. I am running full out and not catching her. Then I hit the hole and twisted my right knee, thigh and hip. I pulled myself up and kept running. The pain was only a throbbing pain, so it didn't slow me down much. The dog dropped the chicken and turned to look at me. I looked at this dog and so many questions I had were being answered. The pieces of a puzzle that began when I was gone with my Dad all started flooding into me. I grabbed up Dani, she was barely alive. I limped back to the coop and checked on the rest of the chickens. They were upset, but fine. I went and sat in a chair in my barn holding my dear Dani. She died and I sat there holding her, this sweet precious hen. The best egg layer of her generation. The one who had survived the attack of the giant opposum. The one that was always a follower, never the leader. A good chicken. When I came out of the barn, there sat the dog. I called it and it followed me. I opened the gate, pushed it out and walked away. I knew this was not solving the solution, but between the emotional pain in my heart and the physical pain to my leg, I could not deal with this at the moment.
When I went with Dad to Europe the first day I was gone my air conditioning broke so I asked the ladies to just leave the back door open to my little trailer.house. The gates were all closed up tight and the dogs were there to keep people out of the yard. But it would allow the dogs and cats the ability to go in the house at night after it had cooled down. Four chickens disappeared during that time. Now, this dog knew my house. It knew my bathroom. It knew my couch and bed. It knew the chicken coop. I think this dog may have been living in my house while I was gone. There was all the luxuries of the house, bowls of dog food, a chicken coop with young tender chickens. It has been spotted in the neighborhood for a while, so it is possible. It answers a lot of questions.
Judy called me this morning and asked if I wanted her to come over to help me with the oil change of my lawn tractor. That was when I discovered that the pre-filter did not make it home from Sears. So I will have to go and buy a new one, or make one. I called Judy and told her to forget the maintenance work today. After talking we decided that she would come over and watch What The Bleep Do We Know. Judy and I had fun watching the movie. We only watched about half of it, but enjoyed the afternoon just sitting back and watching a movie that makes us think. We kept putting the movie on pause and discussing what we had just seen.
I sat with my leg up and the throbbing turned to biting pain. After talking to Vicki I realized that I needed to take some pain meds. It is not like I don't have plenty. I choose the Naproxin for the pain and any swelling. I rested the knee for most of the day, and then went to bed hoping that by the morning it would be better, not worse. And it was better. Not fixed, but better then when I went to bed.
It was a horrible experience with the dog and I realized that if I was right about this dog, then I was the one that had brought the "fox" into the hen house. There was no reason to be upset with the dog. But I will have to find a solution to this dog being at my house. I am afraid I will have to call the animal control officer. This is what I have tried to avoid. There may be no choice. I will deal with it tomorrow. My leg is better, but that could be just the drugs.
I have not done so much today. The dog has appeared and disappeared throughout the day. She has not bothered the chickens, but this will have to be dealt with before the end of the week. I talked to my Dad today. I usually speak to him every couple of days, more often if either one of us needs it. I have to get myself together, back to my normal positive Pollyanna self. This confused, moody, depressed person is not comfortable in my skin, not comfortable in with this person.
Some of the things I want to accomplish this week is to start a to do list of things I have wanted to get done, but have put off for years. I need to get into a routine. I don't have a problem with getting up. Unless you consider getting up too early a problem, which I have been feeling lately. The dogs want me up by 7. I have been having trouble falling to sleep, so I would love to get to sleep a little bit. Say go to bed at 10 and sleep until 8. That sounds good. I know that is 10 hours, but that is one thing that I can do to help stay healthy, not wear myself out. I can eat better, which I am constantly trying to do. And I can start my new exercise program on Friday to help build strength, flexibility and stamina.
Ednarose is growing like a weed. She has doubled in weight in the three plus weeks I have had her. Every other day her feet seem to double in size, but the next day she has grown into them. She is even more adorable, my little chunky black bear cub monkey pig. My little lab:
Edna and Bob
 |
| Ednarose with her first full size bandana on. That lasted for about 5 minutes |
Ednarose and her "Big" brother Harry
 |
| My chickens |
Yesterday was emotionally a hard day, but by the end of the day I realized my part in the problems and I had had enough of the moodiness and had a few positive talks with myself. Came up with some ideas on how to be happier. And it has worked some, because even today I feel a little more like me. I am being careful with my knee and using it as an excuse to take it easy today. The weekend started out so odd with me heading to the Opera House a day early, then the whole dog thing, a great day with friends in town on Sunday and then the whole dog/chicken thing yesterday. But that is life, a journey filled with moments of joy, happiness, frustration, pain, loss, gifts, sharing and when you put it all together it fills the days the moments, a life.
I am sorry about your hen. Perhaps there is a no kill shelter somewhere nearby. That would be a good solution since the dog might be adoptable. I hope that you leg is better soon.
ReplyDeleteOh Kathleen, I'm so sorry about your sweet Dani. How disappointing about the dog you tried so hard to help. I remember your descriptions of how familiar she seemed with your house. Ugh, that's creepy she may have scoped things out and taken advantage of you, such a beautiful person.
ReplyDeleteI hope for a happy, or at least, okay ending to this story.
Ednarose is the cutest thing ever!!!