343 - Unfinished (Compost)

This is my compost tumbler. Kitchen scraps, grass clippings (and yes, the backyard needs mowing!), some horse/donkey manure, leaves and garden waste all go into the tumbler. A few turns everyday (well, every two or three days, to be honest), and in a few weeks, we have lovely fresh compost for the garden!

There are two compartments: one for filling, one for "cooking" compost. At this time, both sides are unfinished. The "cooking" side needs a couple or three more weeks, and the filling side isn't full yet. (As soon as the cooking is done, I'll empty that side. Then it will become the filling side, and the other side will begin its "cooking" process. I've no doubt it will be full enough by then!)

114 - Fruits of the Season

Two little Roma tomatoes developing on my lonely little Roma tomato plant. (I have 3 other tomato plants, but none are Italian. Language barrier, you think?)

Lost one of the tomatoes in a nasty storm Wednesday night (along with a bunch of roof shingles), so now there's just one. Gonna be a very SMALL amount of spaghetti sauce made from that!

19 - Backlighting

Almost sundown. This is Crimson Spirit, my 32" gelding. He is sun-sensitive (very rare in a healthy horse), so when I clip his winter coat off as the weather gets hot, I leave it over his back and hips, to help protect his skin. By the time it sheds out naturally, he'll be having to wear a fly-sheet (which he hates), or staying in the barn during the day (which he hates much worse). Every morning he gets his flysheet put on, and does a short little rodeo routine--just enough to make me happy he's not big enough to try to ride!

I love the way the late evening sun highlighted the hair in his bright red tail, turning it a luminescent gold. Makes him even more handsome than he already is! (No bias, here!)

116 - Futuristic

Hard to believe that this is a 40-year-old water tower in the formerly very small town of Fairview. The shape is so unusual, it looks like it just landed. There's a lot of construction going on all around it. They've put a cyclone fence up around it, which gives me hope that it will be spared destruction in the encroaching "progress". I've always thought it was kinda cool.

24 - Bent

Self explanatory!

Free Theme: Ladyhawk

Ladyhawk is mama to my baby Symphony. She's a great mom and a lovely mini Appy mare. She's also one tough cookie, and she's had a really tough week.

Wednesday a week ago, Ladyhawk apparently was attempting to scratch an itchy eye on her hay rack (which is made of rebar). In the process, she caught and tore her eyelid, and scratched her eyeball. The injury required a trip to the vet ($234.00 vet bill!), and was the first outing for Symphony, who acted like a little pro in the halter!

Then this past Wednesday evening, Ladyhawk showed signs of colic. I was gone running errands, and when I came home, she was in obvious pain, rolling on the ground, kicking and biting at her belly, standing with her head almost on the ground. So, another trip to the vet ($250), and an all night vigil for me. Everything looked just fine until 4:00 am, then the symptoms returned. At 4:15, we were on our way back to the vet, where she & baby spent the day, undergoing treatment and observation. By 4:00 pm, I had picked her back up and headed home. A second all nighter yielded more promising results, and she is finally doing better, although she's tired and gaunted from her ordeal.

For those of you not familiar with horses & colic, it's common and often deadly. About 60% requires intervention, and 10% requires surgery (over half of those needing surgery are poor candidates for it by the time it's necessity is determined). Of that 10%, 60% don't survive. Colic is the biggest cause of equine euthanasia (in part due to the expense--$5,000 to $8,000 is not uncommon, with complications of course, raising the cost significantly), with laminitis (what ailed Barbaro, during and after his recovery of severe fractures during the 2006 Preakness Stakes) close behind. Seeing the symptoms of a colic attack strikes terror in the heart of every horse owner. So far, I've been lucky. Ladyhawk's was the most severe I've had, and the first one I haven't managed to catch early. In most cases, the earlier the better, as far as the final outcome. For the horse's comfort, regardless of the outcome, earlier is definitely better!

So, I decided to dedicate this posting to my lovely Ladyhawk, to honor her for all she has endured in her short 9 years of life. Quite a lady, she is!

364 - Works of Art

This may be a bit of a stretch (which I reserve the privilege to do!), but this photo relates to Works of Art on several levels.

First: The horse is a gorgeous Appaloosa miniature.

Second: The driver's attire is artfully assembled and color coordinated (even with the horse).

Third: My piece de resistance -- the horse's name is Thousand Oaks Yashica's Monet (Barn name is Monet). A pretty good artist, wasn't he? Monet?

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!