Wednesday, October 05, 2005, 18:42
Wrong Again!
The weather forecast was wrong. Instead of a steady, cold rain and 40 degrees, it is cloudy, close to 80 degrees, with occasional showers. It is supposed to be in the 40s tomorrow, although the forecast now says that is not going to rain on Thursday.
This is by way of saying that I do not have to turn Isabelle in with Kajun today so she can have access to the barn. If it's cold and dry tomorrow, it won't be a problem, either, for her to stay in her pasture. I turned Isabelle in with Kajun for 3 hours yesterday afternoon, and they didn't get along nearly as well as they did the night before. I don't know if they were trying to establish who is the dominant horse or if the bad weather, with thunderstorms, rain and wind made them a little snappy with each other.
At any rate, since it's supposed to turn cold, I picked more ripe Romas this morning so I can make more spaghetti sauce. I also looked through my cookbooks and found a recipe for green tomato mincemeat, as well as a recipe for mince pie made with cream cheese. I'm thinking I ought to pick some of the green tomatoes and try to use them in green tomato mincemeat. It is October, after all, and the time is growing short when the tomatoes will be able to finish getting ripe outside, and I don't have room enough inside to lay out all the green tomatoes so they can get ripe.
I have never made mincemeat before, and I have certainly never made green tomato mincemeat, so it will be worth the experiment to see how it turns out.
The other thing I would like to do today is to bring in my potted plants, including the little apple trees. I am going to have to set them by the floor drain in the garage so the water can drain out of the pots, seeing as we've gotten about an inch and a half of rain in the last 24 hours.
Now, if only I can stay awake long enough to get some of my projects done. I discovered this morning that I am breaking out in hives all over. I don't know why. I have only broken out in hives twice before in my life, but those two times it was because of an antibiotic. I'm not taking any antibiotics. I started taking diphenhydramine (Benadryl) this morning to see if will help for the hives. And it's almost time to take another dose. I imagine I will fall asleep in my chair in not too terribly long.
Ho-hum.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Tuesday, October 04, 2005, 17:27
Pleasantly Surprised
Last night, Randy and I turned Isabelle in with Kajun. The weather is supposed to be cold and rainy on Wednesday with a high in the 40s, and I wanted to see how the two horses would get along because I want Isabelle to have the opportunity to stand in the barn if she would like to.
We were expecting squealing, biting, kicking and chasing around. That's often what happens when two horses are turned in together for the first time or if one horse is turned into an established herd.
What actually happened is that Isabelle and Kajun sniffed noses, then they went to separate hay piles and took mouthfuls of hay. In between taking bites of hay, Isabelle wandered around Kajun's pasture, into the barn, down to the end of the pasture, back to the barn, over by the gate. Kajun, in between taking bites of hay, would either just watch her or would follow her around.
And that was it.
They were together for 45 minutes, and it all went extremely well. Which is wonderful. It was so hot and humid last night, with a dewpoint in the 70s and the temperature around 80 degrees, that I really didn't feel like chasing horses around to break up a fight.
Today it is raining off and on, with thundershowers off and on. If it is not storming too much this afternoon, I will go out and put Isabelle in with Kajun again -- and will keep my fingers crossed that they continue to get along well.
If Kajun and Isabelle cannot share the barn together, then in the next few weeks, we're going to have to build a three-sided shelter for Isabelle in her pasture so she can have something to shelter her from winter winds and snowstorms. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, but you never know.
Juliette: Poor little Juliette still is not eating yet, but she continues to improve very, very slowly. This morning she screamed and yelled and hollered and fought so much that I gave up trying to inject subcutaneous fluid. I only managed to get about 15 cc into her with the big syringe. We switched from injectable Amoxicillan to oral Amoxicillan on Monday, so at least she doesn't have to get shots of antibiotic twice a day, too. I also managed to get some Nutracal into her this morning.
By the time this is all over, Juliette is not going to like me very much. She is already giving me a slit-eyed look when I approach her because she's expecting to get stuck with a needle or to have something shoved down her throat (medicine, a little water, Nutracal, or probiotic liquid). I'm hoping that when it comes to the point where I don't have to medicate her anymore, she will revert to her cheerful, loving self. That will be awhile, though. The prescription for Amoxicillan is for 15 days. [sigh]
LeAnn R. Ralph