Is this week done yet?

Photo copyright Aji, 2016; all rights reserved.

Welp, it all just keeps going.

Last week, it was the frozen pipes and the washer out of commission for over a week. One messy job and most of a day later, and we got the septic line clear of ice. It took eight days, a new drain pump, and ~$300 to get the washer operable again.

And then there was Cree.

She's been doing remarkably well, especially given that a week ago we had a low of minus-thirty-four, with a sixty-degree temperature swing in less than twelve hours. This week? Damn near sixty above, and the land is three inches of mud. Do you know how hard it is to walk in three inches of mud? It's much more laborious than three feet of snow.

Of course, after I checked on her late yesterday afternoon, and the clog was secure, she managed sometime just before nightfall to get it off. So guess what the first order of business was this morning?

We've gotten pretty good at it, as a team. And it is a team effort; you need two people, no question. But even with practice, it's still a long-ass job. Hard on the back and knees and hands, too.

That's her hoof - the one with the coffin bone very nearly through the sole. It's still slightly soft — but given the degree of damage, and the fact that she was clogless all night in this mess (stall is mostly dry, but still), that image up there is encouraging. The amount of it that has hardened gives me hope. So does the fact that she was comfortable enough putting weight on it to permit Wings to trim her back hooves, at long last; she had snowshoes back there. We're waiting for the ground to dry so we can have the vet get more X-rays.

But I have not been able to get out of here for a single errand all week. Wings has, but that's because he's had no choice (doctor's appointment; med screw-ups; dead phone and subsequent problems thanks to the provider's network being down). Oh, and the hack attempts, etc. We're both beat, and no end in sight.

And I dunno why I care whether the week is done or not; after all, for us the weekends are just more work days.

I need a vacation (yeah, that's never gonna happen). Failing that, I need a drink. I think there's a half-open bottle of red around here somewhere . . . . 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2016; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.