Update on KC

Every single day KC made tiny improvements. He went from being close to a vegetable, to me having to tickle his back end to remind him that he could walk, to jogging across the lawn. It has only been 1 week and although he is not completely back to normal, he is back. A few strange things though... Last night my husband and I were watching a movie. He got up to go to the bathroom. He walked down the hall and turned on the light to find this..I heard Don say, "Dog, your sh** is still not right!" ..KC has not figured out how to back up yet. He walked himself into the small space between the toilet and the bath tub and just stood there for who knows how long!

This Made Me Cry..but it was a good cry.

"Julie, I hope you had a wonderful holiday given all of the difficult things you have had to deal with recently including the loss of Blondie. My heart ached for you and your loss of Blondie. While I do not know you at all, I know the feeling of losing a horse that you love and your blogs have been such a gift to me. So, I decided to make a donation to the Rutgers University Equine Science Center in Blondie's name. If you look at the attached link: http://www.esc.rutgers.edu/giving_honor_roll.htm, you will see her name under Mike's Choice. It is a small way of saying that this donation will go toward improving the health care of horses. If you contact the center and ask for Anastasia or email them, they will send you a letter. Take care. Sandy D."

I don't know who you are Sandy, but your generous and thoughtful gift really touched my heart. Thank you.

Thanksgiving Day

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at the farm. This is the table..

..each ribbon leads to picture from years past..and in most cases, many many years past!





Here is my Father, preforming "surgery" on the turkey.When my Father said the blessing, he first gave thanks to Tom the Turkey "who offered the supreme sacrifice!" Everyone could not help but to laugh.. It was a good day.

Saying Good-bye is so Painful...

This is Blondie - registered name Mike's Choice. She was my first show horse and was a mare who really taught me how to ride. I said 'was' because today she had to be put down. She suffered a terrible case of colic with a twisted small intestine.......Blondie was 21 years old - almost 22. The picture above is us winning the Fast Racking class at a TASHA show. She was 20 in that photo. My heart is so sore right now. Please excuse me if I do not blog for a while....

Update on KC

Yeah! Still no seizures!!!

Yesterday afternoon, I had my second appointment with the vet. KC had to get another shot of (??) to keep his brain from swelling and have a series of x-rays done. NO FRACTURES!!! Thank you God!! He does however have a severe concussion and a LOT of side effects. He cannot walk straight - always turning at a left arc - showing the right side of the brain is bruised. He still does not respond to his name and has not wagged his tail :0( He is still on heavy pain meds and antibiotics (both injections)

The good news is everyday he gets a tiny bit better. Last night, instead of giving him plain water with a turkey baster (he still will not drink from a bowl), I boiled some chicken and fed him some of the broth. He acted like he enjoyed that more. He also swallowed some very small pieces of the chicken that were so tender - all he had to do was swallow them. He gets exhausted easily, but walks a bit further every day before giving up. I do still have to "remind" him that he can walk by picking him up onto his legs and scratching his butt to get him to move forward. Last night he even turned his ears towards me when I was behind him and talking to him. He also turned and looked at me when I gave him his shot last night. That was a first.

What I want to see.. the tail wag! More eye contact when I speak to him. Him to recognize his name. The doctor to tell me he is A-OK!

We have another check up appointment next week and the following week he may need to have a broken tooth extracted.

Thank you for all of your kind comments.

Please pray that my dog gets well.

One of my dogs was hit by a car last night. He survived - but may have some neurological problems. He was not run over - but hit.

I don't get home until it is pitch black outside ...so when I let the inside dogs out to go to the bathroom...once they get 5 feet away from me - I cannot see them. Well, this one dog - if he is left alone for long enough, will make his way out to the road. He must have seen something and maybe he chased something out to the road - because he had not been out for more than a few minutes. I did not hear anything. I just knew that when I brought out the female dog and he did not come to greet her - something was very wrong.

I found him laying in the middle of the road - completely unconscious. I picked him up and he seemed stiff ...and it was way too soon for rigermortis to have set in. I carried him over to the drive and he whimpered a bit. He is so heavy, I was unable to carry him all the way up to the barn. I tried to flag someone down to help - or to use their cell phone ..but no one would stop. I was forced to leave him there while I ran back to the barn, put Chrissy up and got the truck.

By the time I got back to KC, he was still lying on the ground - but had managed to turn himself in the other direction. He was barking, howling and I could hear a gurgling sound coming from his mouth. It was so dark, I could not really assess the damage.

I got out of the truck, and took a blanket to wrap him up in, but when I approached him, he jumped up and ran off. I had to chase him down the road! I was so frightened that he was going to run out in front of another car again. I almost had to lunge my body on top of him to catch him, but I did.

I drove to the closest vet - which was still over 20 minutes away. KC howled the entire way there...and I do not mean a cry howl, but more like a coyote howl. I actually beat the vet to the office and the cleaning crew was nice enough to let me in. Once I got KC on the table, I was finally able to get a good look at him. He had blood coming from his nose. His tongue and gums were a good color though. He was panting very hard and continued to bark and howl.

The vet arrived and checked him out after listening to the story. He said that he thought KC probably had some damage to his jaw, but did not seem to have a skull fracture. No retinal bleeding could be seen, but he could have had a concussion. He gave him pain medication and another drug to stop any brain swelling. He sent me home with injections to give KC every 4-6 hours and told me to keep him very confined. I was also to watch him for seizures.

I felt better after the appointment - but something was not 'right' about KC. He seems to not be there mentally.. He made it through the night. He panted all night - and heavily until 3am. Obviously - either he has a fracture or swelling that is obstructing the airway in his nose. He would not drink from his bowl. I had to use an asepto syringe (a turkey baster), hold his head up and put water in the side of his mouth until he would swallow. I am sorry now I did not insist that the vet put an IV in him.

I took him outside this morning and laid him in the grass. I almost had to remind him that he could walk...but when he did, he walked like a drunk and then fell down. He would not go to the bathroom. I took him back upstairs. A girlfriend came over at 5:30am so I could show her how to give him his shot. She is coming back at 11am to give him one today. I am on early shift and will get off at 2pm so I can go home and take him back to the vet for another (anti brain swelling) shot and x-rays. I pray that time will heal him and bring him back to who he was...the happy little Corgi I have owned for 10 years.

Opps!

I have been so busy getting ready for winter (outside) and Thanksgiving (inside) that I still have not taken any pictures of my treasures from the Nutcracker Market. I did want to stop though and write a small bit about the show.

My friend Vicki and I went on a Thursday for the first time, instead of waiting until the weekend. We were glad that we did because the crowds were not as big. I am hoping that that was a result of it being Thursday and not because of the economy. We did notice though that there were not as many vendors there - although it was still a huge show, and that some of the vendors that were there had smaller booths than they had in previous years.

One of my very favorite things about this show is the huge variety. I have always found many unique things that I have never seen before and always always always left wishing I could have bought way more than I did! This year - that was not really so. I did find a few nice unique things ...like the wreath with the reindeer woven right into the wreath itself!...but I was not overwhelmed as I have been in the past. I am thrilled with what I purchased and I was excited to see one of my favorite bloggers there running her very busy booth - Laurie Ann.

We're Going Shoppin'!

One of my best friends and I are leaving work early today so we can go.....to the Nutcracker Market in Houston! I love going here every year. It is a huge indoor holiday market benefiting the Houston Ballet. Tomorrow I will show you what treasures I found!

Still Dreaming After All These Years!

I have been riding for a very long time...but there is something that I have yet to tackle and I still dream of doing....riding Side Saddle! The sheer elegance of riding aside along with all of the Victorian garb just looks like so much fun. I know - I know ..I am 46 years old and I just recovered from a nasty fall off of one of my horses.....but I still have this dream!

...okay - so I am not talking about doing this!...but WOW...can this girl ride or what???..soooo What is your dream?

Baby Trestin is 2 Months Old!

I can't wait to see him at Christmas!

Buttons...

...to make Napkin Rings or Package Decor..

..Jewelry..

..or Coasters. You can even use them to decorate a plain Photo album..

or to Create Unique Frames!

I Did.....

...Did You?

Madison & Trestin Trick or Treating

Madison was a Lady Bug this year!>

Trestin was a Baby Pumpkin!!