listing

The trouble I find with not writing a blog post until something is "over," is that sometimes things go on and on. Meanwhile, other things are happening. Soon I have a choice: either write a novelette-length post or wipe my brain-slate clean and post a photograph with no words at all. Helloooo, Wordless Wednesdays!

I'm going to try a middle-ground approach today: a sort of illustrated bullet list of things not mentioned in recent weeks. Let's see how it goes, shall we?

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Goats: two worrying health issues. Tansy, recurring and baffling lameness with no other symptoms. Campion, shockingly off feed for a full day due to apparent mouth pain, now - I hope - resolved.

Little Tansy, Having A Think

Campion (My Champion)

Nothing wrong with Vinca.
Except an inability to believe a pocket can be EMPTY.

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Piper: recovery from dental surgery going beautifully when suddenly a mysterious cyst appeared on near foreleg. My vet aspirated; after two extremely long days, lab reported no evidence of cancer cells. Whew.

Piper at the pond today

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Me: saw doc mid-July for joint pain review. Two hours of standing/sitting at her office generated severe upper back pain, leading to a headache which lasted 8 days before I broke down and saw chiropractor. Note to self: next time don't wait 8 days, you eejit. Also: whew.

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Gardens: the incredible lack of rain all season has been a challenge for plants. Currently harvesting cucumbers; watching squash and pumpkins. Yesterday something caused the entire center of my popcorn patch to fall over. It is hard to see plants on the brink of pollination...downed.

suyo long cucumbers

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Tech updates: liking the free version of Zoner Photo Studio! Also, new laptop now communicating with both goatcams! Tiny laptop sent for repair, came back yesterday with totally new problems! Back it goes.

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Me again: a person who cares about me and did not mean to be hurtful said, "If you didn't have those animals you'd be living in a chair by now." You know, I often say the animals are the reason I must get up and out and get things done, every single day, no matter what. It's a fact. It's my life. I am grateful. So what that person said was just another way of framing the same thing, I guess. But I spent the next few days trying very hard not to feel upset about those words.

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DrawingAugust2016: been making an effort to play at drawing every day, for a little while, either working outdoors or from a photograph. It's a bit magical to do a simple pen sketch:

then add watercolor pencil:

then a wet brush:

As "magic" goes, this is inexpensive, portable, and fun.

I highly recommend it.

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Well, that's it for the Illustrated Bullet List.
What say you...better than a novelette?

I hope your week is going well :)

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