MRIs and Mooving Days

From left: Rosie Cotton, Dahlia, Joan, and Nicolas

This week has been so full! Full of generosity, challenges, joy, learning, healing, and exciting transitions.

The cows moved on Saturday to Ballydidean Farm, where they'll have beautiful accommodations and be tended by a wonderful family. They're just five minutes from my home, which will come in handy when I can drive and walk again (still crutching, and still staying in a straight leg brace at least until my January 22 surgical consultation).

My friend Marta at work started a fundraiser to help me with my medical costs, which is a tremendous relief. I am in communication with a banker about cashing out some home equity if needed but that sort of thing moves slowly, and the bills are arriving now. I'm so grateful to those who've chipped in so that I don't have to choose between groceries and surgery!

Getting a more substantial brace on Friday made a huge difference in my comfort. It immobilizes my knee completely and limits me to a really tiny range of motion, which makes me substantially more comfortable at all times whether I'm sitting, walking with crutches, or testing out a little weight-bearing in hopes of working up to walking with just a cane. Surgery is still in my future to remove a bone fragment from beneath my patella and mend a couple of ruptured ligaments, and my swelling has finally decreased to the point where my doctors can make a more accurate assessment of the joint.

Getting an MRI was weirdly anti-climactic. I wanted to feel magnetized, like a super-hero or sci-fi adventurer. Instead, I felt normal—mildly tense—slightly bored. My injured knee did start to experience a weird nerve twitch during the 30 minute procedure, which they later told me was a common side effect. It didn't mess up the results, so I didn't mind.

Finally, I also got to spend four days last week in a Language of Spaces Certification course. It was the beginning of a 9-month learning journey with an inspiring cohort from around the world including Australia, Japan, Holland, and Croatia. I feel as though we'll emerge lifelong friends, and I think the program will be equally supportive of my professional and personal growth.

I've set it before, but I just can't help myself—I'm so, so lucky.

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Here are the Cloud Dog's X-Rays

Here, for your edification, are the X-rays of dear Paisley's leg. There is, apparently, no new break (since his Monday siezure) but there is, of course, a great deal of abnormality caused by years of living with a shortened ulna. His pronounced lameness, the vet says, may temporarily improve. Unlike me, Fenway Bartholomule, poor cloud dog can't expect much in the way of a full recovery. Not having the $$$$ for surgery to fuse the joint, we are working on making some sort of rigid splint to support the limb and prevent further degeneration. That is, the humans (with their space-age material inventions and their opposable thumbs) are working on making a splint; I am working on giving cloud dog brayful looks of support and encouragement every time he totters into the yard to relieve himself. As always, he fears me (me?!) and keeps his distance. Ears to you, Fenway

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Vegan Spring Rolls

I, Fenway Bartholomule, am a vegan: of course I only eat plants, not people! My human is too, so I'm sharing my blog with her today so that she can participate in the 2014 Virtual Vegan Potluck ! When you're done perusing the recipe for these delicious spring rolls, click "back" or "forward" for the entire potluck experience! Virtual Vegan Potluck: Spring Roll Appetizers Beautiful? Check. Healthy? Check. Delicious? Check. Easy? Check. Fancy? Check. Quick to clean up after? Check. Vegan? OF COURSE! If you're looking for something portable, colorful, and crowd-pleasing for your next potluck, look no further than these simple vegan spring rolls! The best part? You can substitute ANYTHING. I never make these the same way twice, so play around with cilantro, kale, cabbage, scallions, or whatever you think sounds good! Ingredients Veggie mix: 2 carrots (grated) 4 oz mung bean sprouts 1/3 cup chopped peanuts (raw, or roasted and salted) or ...

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The Scoop on Bird

Human here, to give you the scoop on Songbird. He is shiny, sweet, and wonderful . . . and a little bit broken hearted. (Fenway was once, too.) As I've gotten to know him more over the last month, I've come to understand that he associates humans with unpleasantness, at least, and suffering, at worst. He has some gnarly scars. He flinches away from touch, though he warms up quickly when treats are involved. He's quite a foodie. He's easily startled. He's alert, and vigilant. He doesn't always feel safe. He also really likes it at my mom's house, which has a slower pace than the wonderful boarding and lesson barn where he lived in June. He appreciates the predictable routine, the long quiet afternoons, and the retired horses who give him company. He has flattened the grass under the big cedar out back and created nests to rest in. The soft footing at my mom's is better for his newly bare feet. He is starting to believe he'll be ok. I have ridden him...

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One person I miss

I have the best of friends around me here at this new home! I have my human Granny and Gruncle (is he a grandpa? Is he an uncle? I'm not sure), I have a horse companion beside me and two other horse companions a little further down the row, and I have a wonderful assortment of ponies, miniature horses, and miniature mules darting about and making adorable little sounds with their adorable little faces at all hours of the day and night. It's really quite lovely. I have chickens and rabbits and cats to befriend, and I have visits from the Woman and her blue dog. My friend Scotty, who lives on my right, is a wise old chestnut with a soothing presence. My friend Cadbury, who lives on my left, is a fiery miniature stallion (a rescue, for whom gelding was medically contraindicated) who ensures our life is never boring. I miss one person from the boarding barn—a sweet little girl who was the very first person I came to trust in that new place. She was kind to me from the outset, an...

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BRAYS OF OUR LIVES

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