Thursday~weather and such

School is over for this week and until July 11th. Okay now this is good news right? At first I was relieved and now I am bored! Strange not to have deadlines and pressure...strange not to be able to have quality debates on discussion boards.

I like school, I really do. Now I'm sitting around trying to figure out what to do with my extra time.

We were supposed to go and ride WildCat Mountain State Park
but it looks like Mother Nature is going to interfere again? Well I am watching the radar and it looks like the rain should move south and stay there. Of course it does not bode well with the rumbling that is occurring right now.

I really really really needed to get out and ride all day. I wanted this so bad! We were going to go on Sunday, but opted out...of course the day turned out so nicely ...sigh.
We'll see what the weather brings. I want a job where I can be wrong 50% of the time and not get in trouble for it!

Math, fractals, farm, a little ...

Well a little of everything. I found fractals pretty interesting, not very useful, but fun to play with. I feel like a kid with a very big coloring book. It is sort of like playing with a spirograph. It works on mathmatics, thank goodness computerized math or I might be lost!

We spent a good part of yesterday the 19th, fixing barbed wire fencing. Actually working together in the woods was nice. It wasn't too hot and there was a breeze which kept the bugs away. Added to that, there was a patch of wild strawberries to add to the fun. I picked a handful and what an incredible snack.

Later on, I took Morris and my camera out for a walk/hike. We had a great time, I found so many things to stop and look at, the light was playing on the creek bottom, the orioles were singing above along with a wren to scold me properly. To top off the evening, I had my dear hubby toss me onto my big mule, Badger so I could ride bareback ... I rode to the ridge and watched the sunset.

That just about makes for a perfect day, don't you think?

Curtains can be dangerous too...

Our supervisor
Originally uploaded by Xena~

I don't know why I've been so amused by Morris's antics lately. They've sort of taken over my blog haven't they? Well he is a character and a constant source of entertainment. Hey, we don't have TV, so we have Morris.

Morris the brave JRT lay on the end of the bed sleeping on this hot summer night. He lay so the oscillating fan would cool him. People beds were so much nicer than his crate. He loved his people bed more than the couch. From this perch he could look out the window when he needed to and be close to his person.
He stretched and yawned, slowly waking up. His person was still reading, didn't she know enough to put that book down and get some rest? He didn't know how people did it! Hardly ever taking dog naps. Dog naps were critical to a dog, almost as important as rolling in nasty smelling stuff, or stealing a mule 'apple' much to the disdain of his humans.
Something wiggled the curtain. Oh no, not another monster!
He growled and stood at the end of the bed, ready to face the curtain off if it tried moving again.

It wiggled...he stiffened and growled. Oh this guarding thing was so difficult, one never knew where the next danger would come from. His person put her book down and watched him. Whew, at least she could be aware of the danger too now.
It wiggled...again. He growled louder now encouraged that he had 'her' for back up. Suddenly 'she' reached over and grabbed the curtain and gave it a mighty shake. Morris reacted quickly backing up with all of his short hair standing straight up.
He fell backwards off the bed.
His person laughed, then gently picked him up and showed him the curtain was no longer a danger. It was just wiggling from the fan.
Well embarrassment didn't keep him awake long or particularly bother him.
All was safe and all was well, he kept his spot on the people bed and once again made 'his' person laugh.

Being a JRT is a tough lot in life. But someone's got to do it.

The night of the fireflies...

moon
Originally uploaded by Xena~

I know they are harmless, really they are. They just twinkle in the summer night and are fun to catch ... fun to watch. But NOT at midnight.

I awoke to Morris's deep throaty growl. Can a dog do a whisper growl? I think they can. A soft growl like that means...I don't want anyone to really know I'm growling...

After sushing him a few times, I finally got up and went to the end of the bed to peer out the window. The night sky was foggy, so there really wasn't much to see.
Morris insisted on it... his little body shook.

Oh okay, my bleary eyes peered out again. Then I saw them, the little dancing lights of the fireflies.
Try explaining to a JRT that it is just bugs? Not aliens, not the monster turkey...not anything at all.

Yep he was convinced that they surely must have been alien creatures flicking about just outside my bedroom window.

I can sleep safely now, knowing my dog will keep me safe from the evil fireflies.
Sigh.

Last thought for the day...

Back woods
Originally uploaded by Xena~

I just aced my final in Medical Office and missed one point on my chapter test for this week in the Coding class.
I feel confident enough tomorrow to take on the Coding Final.

After all it is supposed to be hot and muggy and ... yucky.

Then it looks like I have a summer break!

Wee hawww!

The MRI came back with no damage to the disc bulge in my neck and it did show some damage in the shoulder -- but not a rotator cuff tear which would be awful.
So now the doctors are scratching their heads trying to figure out what in the world makes my hands hurt so bad and my wrists? They thought they had it pegged as carpal tunnel...then they thought
Ah hah! It must be damage to the bulged cervical disc.
Nope.

I told them all along, shouldn't *we* be looking for something in my system that is causing this reoccuring inflammation? I mean only 2% of the female population get frozen shoulder in one side...less than 1% of those ever have another occurance! This means to me that something is going on somewhere in my body that needs to be addressed.
Words being tossed around now are ... some sort of rheumatoid inflammation, systemic problems...fibromyalgia...blood test...
I've only asked about these things for the past two years.
Well the saga goes on. BUT the good news is I don't have nerve root damage!!!
Whew.

Read about it HERE. I know, but someone might want to.

Working in the woods...

Even with the extreme heat, one of the favorite things I like to do is spend time with Mr. Farmer in the woods. We had more fencing to replace yesterday and worked hard at it. We replaced old electric wire with new and made a gate so the older gelding mules can go down into the area by the creek and graze in the *little* meadow.
Morris, the Ruthless, decided it was safer to supervise as much as possible from the safety of the pickup truck.
Mr. Farmer, got supervision by the gelding mules as he fixed a perimeter fence.
The heat was rather intense in the sun, but bearable back in the deeper woods.
Morris did accompany us back into the woods, but he seemed rather cautious and did not stray far from me. I'm sure he was keeping an eye out for that monster turkey.
He is such the protector.
Oh yeah.
We did get the fence finished! The geldings are happily clearing the woods as I sit here and type.

Pterodactyl Turkey

Mr. Farmer and Morris the Ruthless JRT were walking the pasture through the long grass when Morris came upon a setting wild turkey hen. The hen let out a huge squawk and burst out of the grass flapping her huge wings.
Morris the Ruthless knew that this was no ordinary turkey, no...he knew that it was a distant cousin to the Pterodactyl family and would come back and rip apart him and Mr. Farmer. With three barks and a series of schreeching yips, he ran as fast as his little JRT legs would carry him back to the house. He knew that Mr. Farmer would come looking for him to bawl him out...this was a good plot you see, because Mr. Farmer had NO idea that the Pterodactyl Turkey would rip asunder poor Mr. Farmer.
His ploy worked as Mr. Farmer came back to the house and chewed Morris the Ruthless out for running from a simple turkey.
Morris was able to sleep soundly that night knowing that while Mr. Farmer thought he was a Chicken, that his actions had saved poor Mr. Farmer's life.