Voicelessness and Emotional Survival > Voicelessness and Emotional Survival Message Board
'23 - The Adventure Continues ;)
sKePTiKal:
Thanks Hops. We're pretty OK and silly together. Lots of fun!
As for Hol, I don't think knowing what I know would help her. I try to simplify her overthinking sometimes; tell her that I KNOW she and I are wired very differently; but IF it WERE me... this is how I'd deal with it. And if I don't know what I'd do... she hears that too.
Right now, she's at emergency vet with Knuckles. S had all 3 dogs out on a walk. (They have a new puppy; Kiri is 1/2 Irish Setter & papa was Great Pyrenees.) Knucks has over 20 porcupine quills in his nose, face & mouth. The way it probably happened, since Kiri was on training lead, is Kabeeb (the choc lab) scared it up and backed off... and Knucks being mostly pitbull (and clueless about other creatures)... wanted to "play" with his new friend. He is NOT the one around here that kills ground hogs & raccoons; that's Beeb.
Usually the boys go out together, off leash & unsupervised since there is PLENTY of space for them to roam. I have warned her that, for several common sense reasons, that's not a good practice. Like rattlesnakes, bears, etc. that I KNOW are here. I've seen them. Farmers & hunters will shoot a dog that's chasing cows or game. It's just the way it is here. We think it's a dog that's been killing the ducks lately, for instance.
Porcupines are protected species. They're not aggressive, only defensive and are vegetarians. We're obviously going to have a discussion when she returns and Knucks is as comfortable as he's likely to get. Once she stops reacting and gets her emotions back in check -- and the overthinking kicks in. That situation always requires a "debrief". Fortunately, she trusts Buck's knowledge and advice more than mine. He will be able to talk some sense into her. No need to hunt down & eliminate Mr. Porcupine... when he can be live trapped & relocated.
Living out here automatically COMES with certain risks, and S in particular isn't the most observant or respectful of Mother Nature's more dangerous side. SIGH. This place is untouched & uncivilized; just the way I like it. It has it's own rules and one simply can't assume that this is some sanitized, disneyfied, safe "nature" that will protect you if you act certain ways. What if it had been a mama bear with cubs? It's that time o' year and Rick DID kill about a 300 lb bear here, a couple years back. S I G H.
sKePTiKal:
Correction: both boys got zapped and are at vets.
lighter:
How are the dogs doing, Amber?
Are they doing OK?
sKePTiKal:
Sorry, I forgot to update!
Yes, they're both pretty well healed up now. Hol pulled one more quill from Knuckle's muzzle yesterday, that had worked it's way out. You'd think information like the migration south of porcupines would be somewhere in the news. It's useful information that people need to be aware of. Unsuspecting hikers, kids, etc can all be hurt by those barbed quills. Even though the critters are NOT aggressive, most people will try to get a closer look - curiositiy - and that's a threat to the beastie. They also get large, about 30 lbs. That's a lot o' quills!
The vet mentioned that she treated another pair of dogs just a couple weeks ago. City over the mountain. So, be alert when out walking in the woods. And give any porcupine a wide berth.
sKePTiKal:
I may have bit off more than I can plant this spring! My plant order came in a couple days ago. A dozen munstead lavender plugs; same for lamb's ear. 3 ea. comfrey, echinecea, and grosso lavender (which can grow into a 6 ft mound).
I'll seed some more confederate roses (a hardy hibiscus B brought) this weekend - but I'm running out of room under the lights). Many of the herbs I have started can be planted later in the season after they're well established. Some I'm keeping in large pots over the winter to plant NEXT spring. I have a pretty small bay tree that needs a big pot this year. It'll have to come in over winter.
I still need to order shrubs & trees. I'm going to try rosa rugosa again too. I just need help digging the holes.
I'm trying kidney beans in the garden this year. I've not done dried beans before so it's an experiment. The tomato flat is going hog wild and I am gonna try to sweet talk B into turning the garden under before it rains again and he takes off Sunday/Monday. Peppers are coming; but they're slower. Other stuff will get directly seeded. I'm running a small sweet corn/beans/squash experiment this year too. What's been planted - onions, potatos, & brassicas are looking good. We got a LOT of rain, when it cooled off and B has set up sprinklers - one is motion activated to deter creatures investigating my "babies". (Electic fence will be the next step, if I notice any depredation.)
Tomatos might be big enough to go out in the next week or two; I need to harden them off a bit first. Amish paste, super sioux, siberian, and a couple beefsteak types.
I have an equipment shed in the barn, which needs to find a home & get put up. Hol is still trying to get her greenhouse going. Her new puppy - Kiri - is an absolute doll. She's already bigger than Beeb & Knuckles at 6 months. She hasn't filled out yet, but I expect her to top out about 80 lbs. Irish setter & great pyrenees, so she's champagne colored with freckles. But it's keeping Hol extremely busy... so no Michigan trip right now.
B is back to about as fully funtional as any 66 yr old can expect... and even younger guys can't keep up with him. He's working on strength and stamina (encourages me too). He's talking about bringing (at least) 2 more loads up before he's here full time. But the pace is picking up. Partly because getting rentals and the price/availability of gas continues to go up. This time, he'll be back the first week in June for the pump fill. Then he needs to rebuild his trailer and rent something with a hitch to get it back south... and then his big mill comes up.
In between, there is all the usual family drama. His and mine. Hol is making me nutz lately but I think we're currently in an (unspoken) "do our own things" space instead of spending so much time together. When she targets me to vent her projected issues - I just walk away. I really don't need that crap. I've put in my dues working, being mom. i am insisting that I get to do exactly as I please and no more/no less when and with whom I want. Not what she THINKS I should be doing or being. Get off my tits, kid. I still have a fast backhand... and she knows better. I will not be bullied by her weird sense of what's "right"... for me. She doesn't get to choose or judge. Period.
She and S are spending even more time apart* since his employment has changed; he is staying in B'more with an old girlfriend that Hol sometimes stays with. With the writer's strike, she doesn't see any film work coming her way any time soon - and she's pretty sick of that environment too.
*This isn't helping her get projects done. And that's a major frustration. They don't have much garden going either. She leaves plant stuff mostly to him. I'm not entirely sure why; she was never much of a garden helper when she still lived at home, either.
The studio remodel is awaiting contractors. It's been 2 weeks since they said they had to wrap up a few things, then they'd be out for an estimate look-see. I'm going to start looking for other contractors this weekend. We COULD do it ourselves... but it would take all summer and we have other things to do, too.
Chicken & dumplings on the menu today... and then I'm on my own for 3-4 weeks.
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