new stuff

I have really been trying to work on stuff, but it's hard. EVERYTHING is important! Whiskers has been sick. We thing it is a hair blockage.

I have been dying sweatshirts and have finished two more pads. The purple one with the snail is called Creeping Violet. I don't know what to call the other one. Any suggestions? It was inspired by carousel horses.

Both of the pads are dressage oversize, hand dyed batik cotton denim, with cotton ticking on the back for durability, and cotton batting inside for absorption.

A 456 Word Essay That is Probably a C+

My friend Diana wrote that her rabbits may have Stockholm Syndrome. This was yesterday, the day I clipped Silver’s toenail a little to short and made it bleed. When I clipped, Silver gave a start and cuddled into my elbow pit. She stayed formed into my body for a while and I didnt notice the blood right away. He reaction to toenail clipping is extreme anyway, typical of her species.

Of course, I felt terrible, but also touched that she could want to hide in my body even after I caused her stress. Did she know it was me who did it? Did she know I clipped her toenail on purpose, if not with malicious intent? I have put a lot of effort into making a bond with Silver. When she wanted down, she did not go into her bunker. Within minutes she had pooped in an inappropriate place. I attributed this to stress rather than retribution.

I admit, I had not heard of Stockholm Syndrome. I had to look it up. It is an odd behavior where human hostages develop affection for their captors. This seems freaky, at first. Then I got to thinking about childhood attachment and A Child’s Journey Through Placement by Vera Fahlberg.

Normally, the child forms an attachment to the parent when the parent successfully meets her needs. The parent forms a bond to the child by providing her with care and seeing that her needs are met. The optimum age for attachment to form is before three years old. The quality of the child’s attachment to the parent determines her later emotional bonds to others and her academic achievement. After three years, the ability to attach securely to a caregiver decreases.

Diana, when she shops for fresh greens at the farmers market and fills the treat balls with pellets or ignores the territorial doots because they are normal, is bonding to her rabbits the same way that a parent bonds with her child. Rabbits, being very social animals, may be forming a normal attaching to Diana, not Stockholm Syndrome.

Attachment can be disrupted when the parent cares for another family member who is chronically ill, when the parent has a chronic illness and cannot care for the child, or when the child is ill and in the care of others.

Children who come from abusive homes and those who are poorly attached become distressed when they are removed form their parents. Do they have Stockholm Syndrome?

When hostages develop affection to their captors, does it indicate that the captors have been meeting at least some of their needs? Have they been forming a bond with their hostages?

I think too much. I am full of “it.” Diana was just joking.

Silver and Mary Shelley

This is Silver, who reminds me that The Way Of The Bun has nothing to do with EST.

This is Mary Shelley who was born on the wrong side of the door and the write side of the book.

More pictures of Lookout Tower 13

Dave takes a lot of pictures.

Summer is zipping past at 100 miles an hour.

They say that the days are longer in summer. I think that's false. You just get tired earlier.

Monday Bunday

"Waiter, what's this hare doing in my salad?"
"I believe he's eating your lettuce."

Q: Why is a rabbit like a plum
A: They are both purple, except for the rabbit.

Did you hear about the guy raising rabbits in his hotel room? They were inn grown hares.

Why did the bald guy keep rabbits on his head? From a distance, they looked like hares.

Q: What do you call a guy with a rabbits in his pockets?
A: Warren

Two rabbits are running away from a pack of terriers. They hide in a haystack. One rabbit says to the other:
"We can run for it, or we can stay here and outnumber them." The other rabbit replies:
"Were going to run for it, you idiot, I'm your brother!"

Promotion

Here are some pictures from the Promotion to High School. It was a fantastic day, about 68 degrees with a nice breeze. Everything went smoothly.

I have ground driven Janow since our breakthrough where I found whip does not equal leg, whip equals seat bone. He was very happy to get his bit and eager to get going. I am happy with that.

Whiskers the cat has been ill. She has been to the vet three times and received several different meds. She seems to be much improved. Yesterday's afternoon trip was for sub Q fluids. We are hoping it holds.

Here is the fence at Possum Lodge during the caterpiller plague. They were everywhere. There was a gentle sound, almost like rain, of caterpiller poop falling from trees. The week after that, the whole place was transformed into cocoonville.

A Bigger Nut and a Better Septic

It's been a busy week, I don't think it will fit in the nutshell. I need a pretty big nut.

Joseph was promoted from Middle School to High School. He is on a career path. I'm impressed. Dave took pictures. They are still in the camera. I am still overcoming technical difficulties.

More leach field testing at the Possum Lodge. We need a better septic. Who doesn't?

Whiskers the cat has been to the vet with irregularity. They are testing her poop. I hope it turns out fine.

Janow is recovering from his spider bites. There have been no new bites since the premise spray. His neigh-bor off and on for ten years, Cherokee, crossed The Bridge. Janow stood with him while he was dying. Now I'm going to cry again.


Physical therapy is helping, but my new therapist is not trying very hard to contact the old one who was familiar with my history and knows what to do. Anthem Blue Cross PPO does not pay enough for the old therapist, nor enough for the new one to take any extra time.

I have been able to start ground driving Janow again. Things have not gone smoothly but we have been able to work through them well. That is good. That is when you learn the most. Janow thinks it is fun, if slow. I figured out with Janow that I use the whip in place of the seat bone. They all say, in driving, that the whip takes the place of your leg if you were riding. Janow likes to be ridden with less leg and hand, more seat. When I tried the whip as if it were my butt, the response was good. He seems relieved that I am finally making sense.


We had an incident when a TB mare in a round pen spooked at the harness. Janow just stopped. Immediately. Me, following behind, plowed right in to his hairy self. It could have been bad, but Janow has always looked out for me when things get truly scary.

Invented scary is another story.


More pics from the tower project.

Monday Bunday

More Pictures

Here are more pictures of Lookout Tower 13. If you've ever seen The Red Green Show, you may remember that Red's friend Ranger Gordon mans Lookout Tower 13. If you haven't seen it, it's in re-runs a lot on dish and cable. We get fewer stations since we have an antenna on the roof. Who'd have thought they'd figure a way to get TV right out of the air?

I survived the birthday gathering at Golfland. He wanted a more grown up kind of party, just a get together with friends. That's what he got. He was hoping some girls came. Not this year, I'm afraid. Four boys came. They blew through $73 of tokens and pizza in two hours. Everybody got enough to eat and they pooled all the tickets they won and everybody got a Nerf football except for the skinny kid who got candy instead.

Today is the 8th grade trip to Great America. We expect our own personal 8th grader to be home about 4:30-5:00. We expect him to be pooped. Hungery too. Don't forget hungry.

Jane wrote about her wack being out. I can understand the feeling. Here is an example of having my wack out:

I had an analog watch, which I don't like but it was the only kind they had at Target when I got it. I got it because the battery in my old one died and I couldn't find the right kind.

Then the battery in the analog watch died. I couldn't find a battery for that one so I bought another one! The watch and watch band were one piece. I snapped it off after about 3 weeks.

Time again to buy a new watch. No analog watch. No watch and watch band in one piece. All they had in the store that matched those criteria had fabric bands. Perfect at the barn to grow smelly bacteria in. So I thought I'd just buy an extra band for when that one got smelly. They didn't have any watch bands.

I bought a pack of gum and a Diet Pepsi.

Smiling On and On

I like the smiling animals, so you guys have to live with the ads a little longer.

The tack swap, looking for items to sell in the tack swap, has lead to more trailer and tack room cleaning that I really wanted. Stuff is going through the washer and there is a lot of white winter hair in the laundry. Not THIS years hair, but hair of years ago.

Janow is even more spider bites. I think it is one of those funnel spiders that live in holes in the ground and he sleeps on the hole. I am waiting on the premise spray to arrive.


Work on Tower 13 continues. I think I can upload some pictures from this computer. This one that is not mine.


My computer is supposed to be running, and it is. The mouse was broken. I have two ports for it and it didn't work in either port. I thought. Then the camera wouldn't work to upload. It uses the same ports. It wouldn't work in either port. I think my mouse is fine. It is in my computer. I think it is a software problem. Dave doesn't.


I am not pushing the software theory. The harder I push it, the more convinced Dave will be that I have to be wrong because he knows more about computers than I do. The more he thinks it can't be what I think it is, the longer he will take to fix it.

Why are women manipulative and cunning to get what they want? Such a question! If men would just do what what they are told..........

Physical Therapy is poopy. I have had 4 visits and the real problem has yet to be tackled. They are working on the secondary problems-- like the ones from limping and the asymmetrical tension from the pain. If you just bail water without fixing the hole in the boat, eventually you will sink. I have mentioned my concerns. One more visit to see if they are being addressed in the treatment plan. If not, I bail and find a new place.