I've been struggling to write something lately... we've had more hard life lessons than we'd care to have around here lately and while I try to remember that this reminds us to cherish each day, it still simply sucks... I really don't like that word, but it fits...
I spent the week before Thanksgiving with a challenge that I had meant to post and blog about, but time just got away. My challenge - at a minimum of 4 times each day, write down one thing to be thankful for. And I did it! I highly recommend doing this as a reminder of what we all have and sometimes take for granted, or life is just too busy to take the time to notice. I keep doing this on a daily basis, I just don't write it down now.
Our Thanksgiving celebration spanned a number of days this year, which seemed very fitting when I look back. Thanksgiving day we loaded up some food, ourselves and the dogs in the van and headed north to Clarissa! We spent the afternoon celebrating with Great-Grandma at the Clarissa Care Center and enjoyed a couple of walks outside. It was a fun afternoon with my family, my aunt Sue and uncle Brian and my aunt Alice. Joelle thought the aviary was intriguing and then Aunt Sue found the TV and DVD player, so JoJo and Grandpa enjoyed a Strawberry Shortcake movie in lieu of football.... definitely a first!
Friday was Thanksgiving #2 at my Mom and Dad's with our favorite smoked turkey, mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole. And of course beer bread and some orange jello for Katy (a must have for her). It was another nice dinner and evening with family.
Saturday was Thanksgiving #3 with the Carters (minus Bob who had to work all weekend). A fun afternoon with some Carter kids, Ted & Kimber and Dawn & Steve and Great-Grandma Carter. Joelle wasn't very cooperative by night's end, I think she had enough, so Mom was exhausted...
Sunday was a busy day of decorating for Christmas and then a dinner with just the 4 of us to end the Thanksgiving weekend.
Things were going so well, and then came Wednesday, November 30th... I received the phone call... the sobbing in the phone, phone call... trying to comprehend what Emma was telling me and it just wasn't making sense... Where the heck was Bob and why wasn't he home yet... Emma's day started fine with all of the rabbits eatting and drinking for morning chores before school. After school she heads down there again to check everyone over. Bob and I had done our "health check" the night before, something we usually do monthly... Emma had recently cleaned out all of the pans and just opened a new bag of pine shavings and filled their drop pans with shavings on Tuesday. On Wednesday, when she walked in the barn she found all but 2 of her rabbits dead. It was a horrifying image... and the detective work to determine the cause started. Bob and I were confused as well. What went wrong, what hadn't we done... many phone calls and messages to our rabbit friends and vet later led us to only one conclusion. It had to be a freak combination of things that created a toxic environment: stronger than normal gases from the pine shavings, a warm bunny barn now a little tighter with a brand new door. It's all our vet can come up with as well.
Now the admission, I originally stated we lost 8 out of our 10 rabbits. This was trauma math at work... we actually lost 7 rabbits, but at the time all I could go with was that we have 10 rabbits, this is a true count. There were only 2 alive in the barn, this would lead you to say yes, 8 must have died. But I forgot one thing, rabbit #10 is McNabb, who is still at her "foster moms"! So there were only 9 actually in the barn, making the loss total at 7. Still traumatic and still horrifying... We have since cleaned out cages and are trying to think about having different rabbits in those cages. The 2 survivors are doing well. Q never showed signs of illness, but moved in to the house for a couple of days. Hans had the wet nose and breathing difficulties. He moved to an outside cage and thanks to our vet that night a shot to help with the extra fluid in his lungs. He is on the mend and doing well now.
This weekend we will bring home McNabb, the only carrier of the lines we had. And I think Emma is now ready to look at rabbits again and find the right ones for her. Hopefully we'll have happy news to report on the rabbitry again soon.
Tonight was our strike 2... phone call from Bob's dad needing the vet's home phone number. Something has happened to Lady and it's not good. We get him lined up and I send Bob out to help. The news isn't good... Lady, Ken's fox trotter (horse), has somehow fallen on a rocky cliff in the pasture. A hill the herd has most likely gone up and down hundreds of times. In her fall she cut open her shoulder and inside her back hindquarters, in both cuts severing a main artery. They also then realize she has broken her front leg. With the amount of blood loss, they aren't sure how she was still alive. After a call to the vet it is determined the most humane thing is to put her down. This isn't a good start to the month of December...
So after all of this, if you're still reading, take the time to recognize your blessings daily. Make sure those you love and care for know this regularly and don't take them for granted. Whether who you love walks on 2 legs or is furry and walks on 4, each day is a blessing. Cherish each moment... And cherish each memory... take care of those you love.
Good night... and God bless...
I spent the week before Thanksgiving with a challenge that I had meant to post and blog about, but time just got away. My challenge - at a minimum of 4 times each day, write down one thing to be thankful for. And I did it! I highly recommend doing this as a reminder of what we all have and sometimes take for granted, or life is just too busy to take the time to notice. I keep doing this on a daily basis, I just don't write it down now.
Our Thanksgiving celebration spanned a number of days this year, which seemed very fitting when I look back. Thanksgiving day we loaded up some food, ourselves and the dogs in the van and headed north to Clarissa! We spent the afternoon celebrating with Great-Grandma at the Clarissa Care Center and enjoyed a couple of walks outside. It was a fun afternoon with my family, my aunt Sue and uncle Brian and my aunt Alice. Joelle thought the aviary was intriguing and then Aunt Sue found the TV and DVD player, so JoJo and Grandpa enjoyed a Strawberry Shortcake movie in lieu of football.... definitely a first!
Friday was Thanksgiving #2 at my Mom and Dad's with our favorite smoked turkey, mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole. And of course beer bread and some orange jello for Katy (a must have for her). It was another nice dinner and evening with family.
Saturday was Thanksgiving #3 with the Carters (minus Bob who had to work all weekend). A fun afternoon with some Carter kids, Ted & Kimber and Dawn & Steve and Great-Grandma Carter. Joelle wasn't very cooperative by night's end, I think she had enough, so Mom was exhausted...
Sunday was a busy day of decorating for Christmas and then a dinner with just the 4 of us to end the Thanksgiving weekend.
Things were going so well, and then came Wednesday, November 30th... I received the phone call... the sobbing in the phone, phone call... trying to comprehend what Emma was telling me and it just wasn't making sense... Where the heck was Bob and why wasn't he home yet... Emma's day started fine with all of the rabbits eatting and drinking for morning chores before school. After school she heads down there again to check everyone over. Bob and I had done our "health check" the night before, something we usually do monthly... Emma had recently cleaned out all of the pans and just opened a new bag of pine shavings and filled their drop pans with shavings on Tuesday. On Wednesday, when she walked in the barn she found all but 2 of her rabbits dead. It was a horrifying image... and the detective work to determine the cause started. Bob and I were confused as well. What went wrong, what hadn't we done... many phone calls and messages to our rabbit friends and vet later led us to only one conclusion. It had to be a freak combination of things that created a toxic environment: stronger than normal gases from the pine shavings, a warm bunny barn now a little tighter with a brand new door. It's all our vet can come up with as well.
Now the admission, I originally stated we lost 8 out of our 10 rabbits. This was trauma math at work... we actually lost 7 rabbits, but at the time all I could go with was that we have 10 rabbits, this is a true count. There were only 2 alive in the barn, this would lead you to say yes, 8 must have died. But I forgot one thing, rabbit #10 is McNabb, who is still at her "foster moms"! So there were only 9 actually in the barn, making the loss total at 7. Still traumatic and still horrifying... We have since cleaned out cages and are trying to think about having different rabbits in those cages. The 2 survivors are doing well. Q never showed signs of illness, but moved in to the house for a couple of days. Hans had the wet nose and breathing difficulties. He moved to an outside cage and thanks to our vet that night a shot to help with the extra fluid in his lungs. He is on the mend and doing well now.
This weekend we will bring home McNabb, the only carrier of the lines we had. And I think Emma is now ready to look at rabbits again and find the right ones for her. Hopefully we'll have happy news to report on the rabbitry again soon.
Tonight was our strike 2... phone call from Bob's dad needing the vet's home phone number. Something has happened to Lady and it's not good. We get him lined up and I send Bob out to help. The news isn't good... Lady, Ken's fox trotter (horse), has somehow fallen on a rocky cliff in the pasture. A hill the herd has most likely gone up and down hundreds of times. In her fall she cut open her shoulder and inside her back hindquarters, in both cuts severing a main artery. They also then realize she has broken her front leg. With the amount of blood loss, they aren't sure how she was still alive. After a call to the vet it is determined the most humane thing is to put her down. This isn't a good start to the month of December...
So after all of this, if you're still reading, take the time to recognize your blessings daily. Make sure those you love and care for know this regularly and don't take them for granted. Whether who you love walks on 2 legs or is furry and walks on 4, each day is a blessing. Cherish each moment... And cherish each memory... take care of those you love.
Good night... and God bless...
We are thinking of you lots! It is so true that we really must cherish all and enjoy each moment. Let's hope that your family can catch a break the rest of the month so you can just enjoy life!
ReplyDeleteLove you lots- your friend Laura