all things considered

I have had a rough couple of days.  It is especially painful when things have been sliding along so well, but Monday around 5:30 am I started to swing my legs back onto the bed when my knee seized up and I felt the most excruciating pain.  I put my leg back on the floor, and after I cried for a while, I called C to help me back into bed.  Today my knee still is stabbing me when I make an incautious move.  The therapist came yesterday and said there is nothing wrong with my knee, it was just one of those nerves getting pinched.  I am not trusting my knee now, especially for tricky moves like in and out of the shower.  The pain was an easy 10, then.  I am so sorry I have gotten this replacement done, my knee would have given me another year or more before becoming critical.

This computer, the Mac Air, is getting wonky as I write this, I hope there is nothing really wrong with it, just one of those "nerves"  getting "pinched" there too.  I would hate to have to send this for repair.

We will be getting hay delivered next week, 150 bales.  It seems like a lot of hay for one horse, probably will last until the last of the year.  The farrier comes on Friday to do the trimming of her hooves, and we will be set for another 8 weeks of that.  The vet came while I was in the hospital and trimmed the growth on her right ear, it was a bloody mess, but we are trying to keep it from occluding her ear canal and setting up the condition for an ear infection.   She is not calm enough for routine treatment with an antibacterial dressing.  I hope she doesn't go rapidly with this condition, as it is, the vet fee is $300 for  him to come out and excise it.  And it makes her rub and scratch at it on the posts, opening it up again.  I am starting to think of putting her down.  C has suggested giving her to the

shoer, but I don't  think it is a good idea for her; she has never been  turned out with other horses, she has been stall-kept when necessary (weather), and at 25 is too old to breed, etc., or to change her ways.  I will have to make a decision soon.  I had to put her mother (dam) down several years ago, she had damaged (broken?) her right hind and after weeks of treatment could no longer stand or walk.  I found her brother laying in the field, dead, causes unknown.  So much for drifting into an eternal rest.

The last year and a half have been one loss after another, starting with the death of my husband, and I am afraid it will continue with the death of this last horse, having taken the dogs too.  Several of our cats are aging a lot too.  If I can get a good shot at the damned possum in the garage that will be one loss I won't mourn.  Filthy animals.  Maybe a have-a-heart trap is the answer, bait it with peanut butter so the cats aren't trapped by accident.  Amazon to the rescue.  Update:  The trap did the trick and we released him waaaay out in the woods. Update to update: we caught another possum the following night, and saw a third one that is very large; May have a coon too, since we find cat food in the water bowl, where coons like to "wash" their food.  We are setting the trap every night; there has been rabies found in the area...