Christmas photo day, part one

Even tbough it's not actually December, today was Christmas Photo Day, Part One at the barn. 

Despite frigid temperatures, a group of us gathered on the banks of the retention pond.

We dressed our horses...

whether they liked it or not...

and waited for Santa to arrive.

As soon as he graced us with his presence, it was all pictures, all the time.

In addition to my own pony, Sage...

I also took photos of Santa with Ahji,

Domino,

Guaranteed, 

Halston,

Dango and Gambler,

Malik and Alex,

Atticus and Nala...

and Tulio.

Of course, Santa's horse, HumVee, also made an appearance.

Despite the weather, a good time was had by all.

I'm so glad we did this.

And I'm already looking forward to Christmas Photo Day, Part Two in two weeks time.

C-O-L-I-C

One of the first things I do every day, after saying good morning to Seth and letting the dogs out to pee, is sit down in front of my computer, open up Wordle and type in my start word.

I always use the same start word. 

Every single one of the one thousand three hundred fifty Wordle puzzles I have attempted started with O-L-I-V-E. I am nothing if not consistent.

Yesterday, three letters in my start word - O, L and I - turned yellow. I quickly typed in B-R-O-I-L, then S-O-L-I-D. This gave me three green letters and an overwhelming sense of dread.

Hoping against hope, I typed in F-O-L-I-C.

No dice. The answer was C-O-L-I-C.

I have never been less happy to solve a puzzle.

In fact, I was actually irrationally angry. So much so, I felt compelled to share my feelings on Facebook.

Fortunately, my friends were understanding.

Once I got past the shock of seeing Olive succumb to colic again, I was able to (sort of) see the humor in the situation. Still, thanks but no thanks Wordle editors. That was a bad word choice. 

Colic is a really bad word.

Kaffi update

It's been a week since Kaffi came home from Littleton. He's doing okay.

By that I mean, he's eating, drinking, pooping and mostly taking his medicine. He's being treated for two different kinds of ulcers. They also found some abnormalities with his liver enzymes. He will go back to Littleton for a recheck around the first of the year.

Because he's a little on the chubby side, they definitely recommended getting him back into a regular exercise program.

But not yet. For right now, he's just cleared for hand walking and turnout.

There's been a lot of walking.

Sometimes, Sage and I go, too.

The weather has finally turned cold, which isn't usually a big deal for an Icelandic, but this one's sides are clipped right down to the skin. Karen has bought an impressive new wardrobe to keep him comfortable. This rubber ducky blanket is my favorite.

It's all still very wait and see, but I am thankful that, at least for now, everything seems okay.

Keep up the good healing vibes, Kaffi, and please take your meds!

Thanksgiving postscript

Earlier this month, I got a box from Amazon with two pilgrim dog costumes inside. 

I had not ordered two pilgrim dog costumes.

I held them up for Seth to see and wondered out loud, "Who sent these to me?"

Seth didn't even have to think about it. He said, "Carol."

I realized he was probably right, so I sent her a message. Even though she was in South Africa, she responded immediately.

"No," she said. "Why would you think they came from me?"

"They're not from Carol," I told Seth. "I'm so confused. Who would do this?"

Then my phone pinged again. It was Carol. "Why would you even ask that?" She said. "Of course they're from me."

Okay.

Here are Piper and Tang in the costumes,

Piper and Emma in the costumes...

and Piper...

and Sage in the costumes.

Apparently, there is nothing this horse will not wear on her head.

Thank you, Carol, for the costumes and - I guess - the confusion. Please tell who you think wore it best!

Thanksgiving at the barn

Jason's family, minus Jason, straggled into Denver shortly after midnight Thursday morning. They'd had a long, hard day of driving, but - no rest for the weary! - everyone was up and at 'em when the sun came up again. I don't know what the rest of the group did, but Gray and I went straight to the barn.

At seventeen, Gray is a solid, confident rider. She's the only person, aside from me, to ride Olive down the trail, and now, she's the second person to sit on Sage.

Sage was just as chill this time as she was the first time.

Also, just as reluctant to leave the mounting block.

We had to work hard for this! Good pony.

After her pony ride on Sage, Gray got a real ride on Luna.

They looked so good together! Thank you, Karen, for sharing your sweet girl with us.

It's been ten years since our first horsey Thanksgiving together.

I called that one the Best Thanksgiving Ever.

This was pretty darn good, too.

Here's looking forward to the 2035 picture!

Real quick, real good

The good parts of today were really, really good.

So good.

There was family, food, laughter and yes, pie.

As for the non-good parts... Well, those are problems for later. Tonight, I'm choosing to spend a little more time feeling happy and very, very thankful.