Visitors, downed fences, next big expense, and my Spirit Horse.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

That was the first time Ice was hooked up to lactated ringers, more than three years ago. Hard to tell from the photo, but he had his muzzle against my hand, which was unheard-of for him back then.

By one measure, he reached his destination about 10:30 this morning. By another way of calculating it, he should reach it about that time tomorrow. He's already proven to me that he can travel freely back and forth, so I don't think it much matters; I think it transcends our understanding of time and space anyway.

I miss him terribly.

But it has been a day. Visitors this morning for a couple of hours. Then two horses from a few parcels east got out and showed up next door just on the east side of our fence — right where the cattle knocked it down earlier in the year (and the elk herd finished it off). And so Wings and I took various tools and headed out in the hottest part of the day to set several new fence posts (done the old way, with the cast-iron tube that is placed over the post and raised and hammered down by hand until the post hits the proper depth. we restrung the barbed wire temporarily; he and River will restretch it probably next week. And also next week, Miskwaki gets his blood drawn. Just to be sure.

I am, however, way behind on everything, and the last week is starting to catch up to me in a big way. Pain levels elevated, fatigue overwhelming. My heart still hurts, although it and my mind are more at peace over the whole thing than I ever could have anticipated, and Im thankful for that. Probably because we now have a better idea of what was awaiting our big tough guy all this time, and it doesn't matter how stoic he was; he couldn't have beaten it all, and it would have caused him such pain. We had to drive the ATV past his resting place several times today in the process of fixing the fence, and all I felt from it, besides my own personal sadness, was a sense of peace and freedom.
Nothing new to report on the house, because events of the day overtook everything else. I'm hoping for flooring on both levels to commence next week. If it dries out enough, maybe we'll get work on both septic and color coat the week after. Or not, if the monsoon season hangs around. But we had our first winter bird here this morning, on August tenth, so the rains may be ready to move on sooner than we thought.

For now, I need to gear up for the next big expense, which is the kitchen cabinetry. It needs to be put in, because, aside from the really obvious fact that we need storage space and cooking surfaces, we can't do things like put in the sink without the lower cabinets anyway. We need to built straight through in the proper order, which will save us time, hassle, and a LOT of money in the long run, so cabinetry it is. And I'm told to expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 grand before we're done. This is where Home Depot or Lowe's cards become crucial, and very, VERY useful. So here are all the links:

• Wings's site, for sales;
• Lowe's cards (the physical version) via our Amazon wishlist;
• Lowe's e-cards (delivered via e-mail) here; and
• Home Depot cards via the company site. The e-version using my e-mail address is great; I take the tablet to the store with me, and they scan it off the screen.

Thanks again, to everyone. For now, I am absolutely beat, struggling with legs and ankles and feet, and missing my Spirit Horse, and I'm going to wrap it up for the evening.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.