Week 9: Wednesday What's It? - EHV-1

This week my What's It? doesn't give you a chance to guess at the purpose of something. With the recent outbreak of EHV-1 and EHM I decided this might be an opportunity to inform. 

What's It?

This is bad news. This is Equine Herpesvirus - 1, or EHV-1. Most horses have probably been exposed to EHV-1, however, according to one source, when horses are under stress the virus can reactivate and can cause EHM, or Equine Herpesvirus Myeloencephalopathy, a neurological form of the disease. This is the disease that was contracted by two Colorado horses at a National Cutting Horse event in Ogden, UT over Mother's Day weekend. One of those horses has been euthanized. Now the disease has been confirmed in 10 horses in California and 1 horse in Washington. Credible (but not official) reports indicate cases of EHV-1 in Utah,  Idaho, Arizona and Western Canada. Considering that 54 horses attended the initial event, the number who have been identified with the disease speaks to the ease of spreading this virus. Currently this appears to be a problem in the western states and Canada, but with the ease of interstate transport the virus could easily and unknowingly be carried to other states and even to other countries.

There is no cure for EHM. Symptoms of EHV-1 can be treated, but once the horse demonstrates neurological complications the only option is euthanasia. 

The incubation period for EHV-1 is 2-14 days. The virus is spread in horses from nose-to-nose contact and through water droplets in the air. It can also be carried on grooming and feed equipment and on caretaker's clothing. Humans can not contract the disease.  Many equestrian events have been canceled for this weekend and the Colorado State University Vet Hospital has closed its doors to horses coming in or going out. Horses being transported into the state of Colorado need to have a permit number on their health certificates, which is obtained from their veterinarian, who must call the Dept. of Ag in Colorado.

Horses that have had possible contact with the virus should be isolated and precautions taken to avoid spreading the disease to others. There are many excellent resources available on the Internet. One publication is put out by the USDA. It describes EHM  and talks about avoiding exposure and monitoring your horse if you think he may have been exposed. It is entitled, "Equine Herpesvirus Myeloencephalopathy, A Guide to Understanding the Neurological Form of EHV Infection"

EHV-1 gives a new meaning to 'Going Viral'. Take care of your horses! Keep on top of the news to keep your guys/gals safe.

Hippotherapy

On Mondays I volunteer at a therapeutic riding center. But, yesterday was my day for hippotherapy! I ran into a friend on my way home from the center, who just happens to live near me, who just happens to have an indoor arena, who just happens to be the most generous, kind person in the world. She is very open to having friends use her arena and she reminded me of that fact yesterday. When I got home I looked at the daunting task of catching, cleaning and tacking two lazy ponies and decided, "Yeah, I'm up for that!" The wind was blowing at about 25 mph. Grooming was great when you were on the windward side, but on the leeward side I kept getting a face full of fluff. I am making progress though, Doc has about a 6 inch square spot on his shoulder where he has completely shed out! Only 5282 more square inches to go! I rode Doc and ponied Pippin over to friend's arena. The trip over went well, despite the wind and despite the fact that it has been a week since I've ridden and months since I've really made the boys work. 
The ride was just what I needed. We worked on foundation maneuvers and driving into the bit. Pippin carries his head too high. Doc pulls his head down too low as an evasive tactic. I've been working with my instructor to push both guys into the bit, asking them to give at the poll a bit, and then releasing. Pippin gets it! Doc.... not so much! Regardless, it was great to get out and play with the ponies and visit with my friend. I hope the ponies found it as therapeutic as I did!

Because I like blog posts with pictures, and because I didn't take my camera with me yesterday, here is a picture of Pippin from last fall....before we started lessons. It would be interesting to get another picture. What I'd like to see would be me sitting with my shoulders a little bit further back and Pippin's head down and nose tucked in a bit, but still going on a loose rein.

Thank you, wonderful friend, for the gentle prod that allowed me to enjoy a great hippotheraphy session. 

Happy Tuesday to all y'all!

(That's the plural of y'all - in case you haven't been brought up Southern!)

The Project: Week 17: Done!

Nope... not really. We're not finished either. Done is for potatoes! I worked with a fabulous English teacher when I taught Middle School... and she was a stickler for proper usage. So, even if the kids didn't learn something, I did! We're not finished, but we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

This week we:

• finished the shower and the bath front - with the exception of 4 small pieces that will go in after the floor is completed. It's all grouted but the grout has to cure another day before I can seal it.
• texturized the walls in the bath room where my cleaning up after tiling took off the old/new texture.
• began installing what seems like miles of base board.
• touched up the paint in the bathroom - not a fun thing to do, since I had to balance on an upside-down bucket on the edge of the tub to reach the corners in that end of the room.
• began putting down cement backer board for the bathroom floor tile. 
• put a second coat of paint on the master bedroom
• received our in-floor bathroom heating. Hubby has looked at the installation video - I need to do the same (or maybe just plead ignorance and let him do all of the work!!)
• put up some storage shelves in the basement. Now we can begin bringing up some boxes, then dismantle the storage shelves where we currently live, and bring those along to store more. How do we collect so much stuff?!!
• packed and unpacked about 8 boxes of kitchen stuff. Since the kitchen is finished I've been taking up two boxes of dishes, glasses, small appliances, etc just about every day. My sweet hubby has been immensely helpful in washing some of the grimy stuff before we put it away in its new home.
• enjoyed lunch at my favorite Italian bakery with one of my former coworkers from SC. She now lives near us but we don't seem to get together enough!
• ordered pulls for the kitchen cabinets. 

We have a large storage area in the basement. 

At some point in the future we may finish this room

and turn it into our 'theater' room!

Here's our newly painted bedroom. Oh, and

we now have doors!

The shower seemed to take forever! It looks nice,

but we don't like the dark cave feeling at the end by the seat.

We're thinking of getting a sola-tube to bring

more light into the shower.

Sunday Stills: Looking High, Looking Low

This week's challenge was to get low and shoot up at an object or get directly over the object and shoot down. Here is a trip to the barn from another perspective:

Our small Austrian Pine... decked with snow on May 15!

What you can't see is mama Robin looking down at me from her 

nest at the peak of the barn.

Doc

Pippin

For more views from above or below visit Sunday Stills

Which One?

I had a long post written on the subject of why I haven't written anything in a few days. I decided no one wants to read that drivel. You, lucky reader, have been spared!

So... here's a 'not-so-long' post about the thrilling subject of cabinet knobs! Aren't you glad that you stopped by my blog?!

We have been looking for just the right knob or pull for our kitchen cabinets. We like that little square detail on the cabinet corners, and would like to echo that in our knob selection.

 We have visited a number of kitchen and hardware shops. Yesterday we went by one that must have had thousands of options! The prices on these things are outrageous. Some are over $20....each. Multiply that by 35... ouch!

I think we have narrowed the choice to two:

The first has a dark pewter finish. It also has a square knob with the same detail. We could put the pull on the drawers and the knob on the cabinets... or just use the pull.

 

 The second design comes only as a pull. It has a dark bronze finish.

Your thoughts?

Still Crazy....

I am not whining.... I will not whine, I will not whine... I promise...

We really need the precipitation....

We're in the blue blob on the map. Yeah, blue means snow. We currently have more than 4" of:

• "Chunks of Rain" if you are talking to Feral at  "Go West" Feral Woman
• "White Death" according to Jeni at Supersize My Cob
• "White Rain" if you are talking to Lisa at Laughing Orca Ranch
• and if you are talking to Susan, at Drafty Hafy Gurl, what we are experiencing is just called "Depressing"

Yesterday our drive back from the Parker house was the worst we have experienced - but then again, I did take the snow tires off the car about 3 weeks ago - my fault! Maybe we should keep the snow tires on year-round! Hubby was driving and the conditions brought this song to mind:

Week 8: Wednesday What's It

What's It?

Good morning! It is May 11 here on the high prairie in Colorado. This is what we awoke to. Surely it is not snow...in May. So, What's It? There must be some other word to describe this. Maybe one of those Word Verification terms from yesterday!

So, what would you call it?

Darn.... knew we shouldn't have taken down the 

snow fence this weekend!