Arthur is MUCH better now - thank goodness!

But although Arthur seems fine, Mark and I aren't doing all THAT well -- changing out all the things on his foot took us a while and we both ended up soaking wet . . . me because it was hot, hot, HOT out there, and Mark because he had to sit down on Arthur's water bucket and unfortunately it was entirely full of water.  Uh oh!  

But we did finally figure out exactly how to more easily deal with Arthur and he actually doesn't seem to mind at all wearing that boot filled with all those things he needs to have on his foot to get it past his abscess.

For a few days Arthur -- well, all three of them, actually -- had been kept
inside the paddock where there was next to no mud so it couldn't get into his boot.

But over the last two days they've all been allowed out into the FRONT yard where there's plenty of grass and absolutely NO mud.  And now Arthur doesn't limp and he never bothers to  hold his foot up anymore.  He walks on it perfectly normally now.  

So there's Arthur's boot on that left front abscessed foot -- that boot is keeping
anything from going inside that little hole on the bottom front of his foot.

Since it was super hot yesterday, the three of them all stood close together
in the little bitty shade under one of the Magnolia trees for quite a while.
There are lots of bigger trees over on the other side of that yard,
but for some reason they all prefer to be under a Magnolia.
Well, everyone who drove by then could certainly check them out
while they were all standing out there close to the road.

Well, I guess I now need to find out from the vet just how long it might take for that hole in Arthur's foot to close up.  I guess we're going to have to keep changing out all that stuff for as long as that takes, so I hope it won't take a really really LONG time! 

Well, I sure am glad we've been having really good weather over the last few days so Arthur hasn't had to be locked inside his stall.  There's already a hurricane just west of us over in Texas (Hurricane Bill), but it's been warm and sunny here all the time -- great for Arthur.  But then that storm is going to go all the way up north and go across Ohio. Uh oh!  I sure hope it doesn't make too much of a mess up there by Wendy and Gerard! 

Update --

Well, I ended up NOT taking Arthur to the Cory Bourque Clinic last weekend and instead spent both days taking videos and pictures there instead.  Probably a mistake. Taking Arthur would have given me a definitive answer to the question of whether I can ever manage to deal with him.  But I'll tell you what, even if I could handle him -- and at this point, I don't think I'll ever trust him completely -- but even if I could, he's only 6 years old.  I didn't consider that when I bought him, but mules live a good 30 years, and often 40.  So when I go, someone else would have to take him, and by that time he would be older and even harder to deal with because I'm going to reach a point where I can't ride at all anymore before that many more years.  So . . .

I'm thinking I need to find an older horse NOW who is completely, totally, absolutely easy to deal with.  And small.  Like that "Fugly Horse of the Day" horse that Jan posted about on FaceBook today.  She would be PERFECT for me.

Or even a much older mule - but that doesn't seem likely.  There just aren't that many of them out there, and the ones who are old enough have probably belonged to whoever has them for decades and they probably don't want to lose them.  Of course I guess it's possible that THEY might check out and their aging mule might need a new home.  I guess that could happen.

Well, I'm keeping an eye on the possibilities.  But the problem is, if I find an appropriate steed while I still have Arthur, it would be difficult to manage since our barn has only three stalls.  (Sure is a nice barn, though!)

And speaking of the barn -- it's been painted inside now, and David is going to be putting up the stall liners this week!   I think.  He was going to get started on that today, but he didn't come by after all.  So I'm not sure just what's going to happen when. 

But right now, Mark and Bryan are running the electrical wiring and conduit.  Darned good thing Mark is an electrician or we'd probably be out some serious cash.  There are 4 light switches just inside the barn side door, 2 more switches inside the front barn door, still MORE switches just inside the door to the center stall hallway.  Then there are going to be electrical outlets all over the interior of the barn and in the hallway.  There's going to be a water heater and a refrigerator, to plug in.  Oh - and seriously bright lighting on the ceilings in each stall, in the center hall, in the tack room and the feed room.  AND -- ta da! . . . a heater/air-conditioner/dehumidifier!  Can't WAIT!  Since we've had David and Bryan both working regularly for us, there's been more progress around both the house and the barn over just the last couple months than over the last few YEARS! 

I try not to think too much (hey - not at ALL if I can help it!!) about the fact that I'll be pushing 80 in as many more years as we've been here at this place - which doesn't seem like long at all to me!  But once all this is done, we should be able to stay where we are for the rest of our lives WITHOUT having to do much additional maintenance anyway.

I hope.

Got an e-mail from Dale and Shirley today with their new address and phone numbers.  They have FINALLY gotten moved into the house they bought last year this time! I know it was a horrendous task, moving, after all those years in a single home, but that new house is SO wonderful.  I'll bet they're really happy there at last.  And that house next to theirs is still for sale.  I keep silently hoping that Wendy will break down and buy it, but (sigh) she probably won't.

Oh - as soon as I get enough time, I plan to post a bunch of the videos of that horse clinic last weekend on YouTube, but the videos are so large that it takes forever to upload them and I haven't had time yet.  Well - maybe I'll get to it by this weekend.  The clinic really was great.  I'm going to try using on both Arthur AND on Duke some of the ground work he insisted everyone at the clinic do with their horses.  It did seem to work wonders on a number of the horses who were there. 

This is Mike's horse, Dixie, thinking about going through what Cory calls the "car wash."

But in just a few minutes both Dixie and Digger were riding right through it - no problem.

And here they are riding through those things that scrape down the sides of the horses.

Here Jan's horse, Digger, is pushing around that giant ball.

Most of the videos I took have Jan and/or Mike in there with their horses, Digger and Dixie, who did wonderfully!  Cory kept saying how gaited horses are nervous and sensitive compared to "regular" horses, but I have to say that was NOT how those two seemed to behave.  They did really really well.  Torri's horse might have been a BIT better, but then she's been to several of his clinics before! No fair!

By the way, that covered arena and barn in the pictures above are at a place only about a mile and a half from us -- one of several big stables nearby.  I love that!

Well, tomorrow is Bosses' Day and I need to drop by the bakery on my way to work and pick up a bunch of doughnuts for our bosses' day breakfast (I do NOT cook), so I better get to bed so I can head out to work an hour early.

Homesick ??

I hadn't really thought about it much lately, but when I saw a huge canvas photo on Groupon (more than 4 feet wide!) of Cincinnati from the Kentucky side of the river where I lived for several years, I HAD to have it.  Surprise!  Not sure exactly where I'm going to put it, but I still can't wait to get it!

Although it looks like it was taken from Covington, while in fact I lived in Bellevue, it still looks "familiar" and I like it anyway. 

The picture above actually WAS taken from Bellevue.  I lived just a few houses away from that tall church with the green spire there in the center.  And I worked for a big patent firm in Carew Tower, one of the tallest buildings in downtown Cincinnati, right on Fountain Square.  We were on opposite sides of the River, but I could see it from my house (if I went outside anyway).



Carew Tower is the building on the top right here



Again - Carew Tower on the right.



"Taste of Cincinnati" in the Square





A live music event of some sort in the Square  . . .




A view of the Square from out a window in Carew Tower

Okay - enough.  It's just that seeing that big photograph had an effect on me for some reason.  Of course, when I remind myself that there was no way I could have afforded to have a property large enough for horses and mules up there it DOES make a difference.  I guess I want to  stay down here in Louisiana after all.

Sigh.