Diapers on your feet?

Have you ever wore diapers on your feet? No? Well neither have I, at least not that I know of but Julie has, it's been awhile since she's had too (the last time was when it was wet, wet, wet out and she got an abscess from standing in water night and day, of course it was a different place and a different pasture at the time. We are high and dry here even when it rains).

Not sure what is going on but she's been limping and very tender footed the past few days. I was hoping it would get better but it hasn't, it hasn't gotten worse either. This dry weather isn't helping, making her hooves really hard and they don't give on the hard compact earth either. I talked to our farrier today and he suggested the diaper method with Epsom salt and iodine, letting her sore feet soak in them. I didn't have Epsom salts but I did have potatoes, so tonight I used potatoes to draw out the poison. Did you know potatoes will draw out poison?

We are both thinking she may have abscesses in them? But then we aren't sure. There is no heat in her hoof or leg, I don't think she's foundered (meaning eating too much of a good thing which leads to soreness in the hoof)...I'm hoping the diapers, Epsom salts and iodine work. I've also been soaking her feet in cold water. Do you know how hard it is to get a horse to pick up their feet and put them in a tub? Really hard but lately all I've had to do is lead Julie up to the tub and she steps in it on her own, she's that sore and that cool water feels so good! If your horse doesn't have decent hooves you won't have a horse, they really need them ;o)

The farrier is coming out Monday to have a look see. I'm hoping maybe he'll find out what the problem is...

Diana is 51!

Fred's sister Diana celebrated her 51st Birthday today. Her husband Larry had a surprise party for her tonight at a local Restaurant. We were a wee bit late, missed the surprise part but we made it!

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Michael picked this gift out...it was gag gifts only!
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It was an old lady cane and she loved it! A rear-view mirror that said "you are gorgeous", A spray to keep dirty old men away, a spare knee high panty hose, a horn to let people know to get out of the way your coming through and a squeaker on the bottom so every time you move people know where you are...Michael did a great job on choosing the perfect gift!
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Her laugh is infectious and I love it!
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PARTY!!!

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On another note Michael is better. After sleeping 8 hours he awoke at 2am, drank a bunch of water, and was then wide awake! Then he thought everyone else should be awake too, sigh! It's been a very looong day but I'm glad he's feeling better and so glad we were able to go to Diana's Birthday Party!

Stuck at the house...

Michael has a stomach virus and he's one sick puppy so I've been stuck at the house. I didn't even get to go swimming today :o( He's been sleeping since 6pm and I'm hoping by tomorrow morning he'll be much better. But I was bored and got the camera out. I had planned on taking photos of Molly but she ran for her crate, lol...Guess she's like Scarlett and playing camera shy. Instead I went outside to see what I could find out in the yard and pasture...

Bouganvilla

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Locust shell...
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Dry grass and there is a lot of it out there, sigh! A lot of dirt too!
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Harvester ants, I could watch them all day.
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I spotted this sap on a silver leaf sunflower plant that was dying. I wonder if it's due to the heat, I've never seen sap coming out of the stem before. I was actually looking for bugs since I had the Macro lens but I had company...
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KitCat was following me...and being a pest! He really misses not coming in the house. The cats have been staying outside since Molly came, she really, really likes the cats. Lydia did come in the other night, but after Molly went in her crate for the night, and Lydia stayed in the bedroom.
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The young (teenage) hens were following me...There was a crowd right behind me, lol.
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Wait! Wait for me....
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Got bugs? We are looking for bugs...sigh! I wasn't having any luck finding any bugs either!
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I did find a Huge Fungi and thought it was strange...don't they need rain? It had been growing for a while as it had grass shooting up through it. Why is there grass growing there, I'm not sure...there is no water within a 100 yards or more?
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Lots of Mesquite beans on the ground. I'm glad Julie doesn't eat them. I've been told some horses will and it will make them really sick. I know the cows eat them, not sure why they haven't found these, there were a lot of them on the ground!
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And of course lets not forget sweet Lydia, she always follows me!
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Down at the creek....

We had a tree fall across the trail to the creek and I planned on going down there to cut it up...but my chainsaw wouldn't start and I finally gave up, it was just too hot! So I grabbed the camera walked around the tree and went to the creek...it's been awhile since I've walked down there...the creek is flowing but barely.

This is looking East and down-stream. Lots of algae and barely flowing but the fish were there...

About a 14 inch bass...
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The kids pool...we call it that because it's about thigh deep in the deepest part and mainly ankle deep throughout with lots of bluegill and a few small bass. The creek flows into it and then out and normally Michael always catches fish when he fishes here.

This is at the other side away from the kids pool and on the West side of our property. It's normally about 3 to 4 ft deep. When the water levels get low, like they are now, you can walk across it at the one end as the creek is barely flowing over a gravel bed...Lots of fish in this part and the above photo is one of the spotted gar. This one was about 2 to 2.5 ft long, they're huge but I've never been able to catch one. Good sized bass and Rio Grand perch too.

I found this wildflower blooming down by the creek. It might be a bluebell, but not sure.
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Then back at the house...

Julie in the shade, it's HOT!

What actually happened is I was outside for a few minutes and turned the sprinkler on...I was shocked to see Julie come walking up, she hates the tractor and hates the sprinkler, but she didn't care, I guess the cool water was worth it. And then the chickens who also hate the sprinkler came running up and started strutting around under the sprinkler...I knew it was hot when the animals didn't mind the sprinkler one bit!
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Here's the younger hens enjoying the sprinkler...Wish I could leave it on for them all day but I can't, I really feel for the animals outside.
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She's made herself right at home...

Ms. Molly has made herself right at home. Tonight she jumped in bed with Michael and stretched out, it was too funny. She's a Jack Russel and getting photos of her has been difficult but I keep trying...As to the cats we are still working on that, she knows they're outside and wants out most of the time. I feel for the cats as it's pretty darn hot out but they're surviving. On another note, Molly loves to play ball, she's always dropping a tennis ball at my feet and then bounces up and down on her front feet waiting for me to throw it. We have one problem though, Jake loves to play ball too and he's bigger. I'll throw it, they both go after it but Jake always wins!! Poor Molly. She's growled and grumbled a few times at Jake but Jake is clueless he's just happy to bring me the ball. Tonight Jake was laying down so I threw the tennis ball for Molly. She jumped up and stared at Jake like, why aren't you getting the ball?...LOL...and no she didn't go get it but just continued to stare at Jake...

Jake he's happy, very happy! He loves having Molly here! When we go on our morning or evening walks Jake just wiggles with excitement! He's brought Molly tug toys but she won't play tug with him :o( She'll play tug with me but if Jake butts in and grabs my end she growls and Jake backs down...Jake is 4 and still a pup and Molly being 8 is the elder and even though Jake is bigger he gives in to her...I'm really glad they're getting along! I tried to get a photo of them together this evening but it didn't happen, sigh!

Hmmmm...do they have a catagory for Mini-eggs

Our chickens have been having a rough summer. Between molting and the extreme temps I was getting one egg a day. They've finally finished molting and I've been turning the sprinkler on for a few minutes here and there throughout the day and I've been getting 5 eggs a day...Yesterday I found this little miniature egg, hmm....I know they have X-Large Eggs, Large eggs, Medium eggs but is there such a category as a mini-egg? I guess I should give the hen credit, at least she tried, lol...I just hope this doesn't become a habit with her!

Oh how I love...

August in South Texas...it's just lovely (and I'm being sarcastic :o) cause it started a lot earlier than August...We started getting 90 degree weather in April and it's steadily gotten worse. I was shocked when driving to and from Dallas, near Waco and Cameron Texas the trees were actually dying. I know it's bad here but the trees aren't dying so it could be a lot worse. A friend in El Dorado said they hadn't had any measurable amount of rain for over a year and she said the mesquite and cacti were dying there, ugh! We did have over 2 inches of rain over a month ago and I'm thankful for that. The grass is just starting to get brown and crispy again, what grass there is, most of it is weeds. I've noticed the deer have been browsing on the mesquite leaves, hopefully we'll get a good rain soon.