But as I mentioned before, the drought has brought us, well, our horses, a disease called pigeon fever or dryground distemper. It is actually a bacteria (not a virus) that lives in the soil and during very dry conditions infects horses and cattle and causes them to have abscesses on their body. The abscesses drain and hopefully the horse gets over it. Unfortunately it is also contagious and some horses internalize the abscesses, which is what can make it fatal.
We have lost two boarders so far and I anticipate a couple more (who will wait, however, to leave until the season is over). And, though I get calls, I am not bringing any new horses onto the land until we are done with this. One of the hard parts for us is that our original case is a very bad case and she is still fighting it off. But, the worst part is that the season for pigeon fever runs all the way through November, or until we get significant amounts of consistent rain.
This means that I am on high alert for the next three months. I am already the only one who enters the sick pen and we act a lot like a hospital room - I change my shoes, clean the place, bleach everything, walk out and bleach my shoes...you get it. I am spending hours a day bleaching, cleaning and spraying fly spray while I look over animals. Plus, I am still dealing with the waves of panic that overtake our boarders when some new information is found on the internet or from a friend or even a vet. I need great fortitude to continue this path and all prayers are welcome.
Still, in the midst of the fear and chaos, there are hours here and there of normalcy and I try to take these in. K loves to watch the owners work with their horses.
And often they offer rides.
Over the last days of summer, the girls continued to build and create, getting more elaborate each time. This fort has a passcode to get in.
And a TV to watch...
They make wings so they can be dragons...and even a castle to hide in.
We finally moved my parents in!! It has been a TON of work. They moved from 2000 square feet to 900. Our garage and entire area around it have been taken over as box after box is sorted, placed, junked or put in the garage sale piles. We are two weeks out and it is looking better but there is still a lot to get done.
My uncle and aunt celebrated their 40th anniversary and my cousins surprised them with a party at our place. It was cute, they REALLY got them! These are second cousins.
Those are her brothers...she may or may not have been an "oops".
CONGRATS!!
My crazy girl!
Yep, in the midst of this, K started traditional school (you know, on a campus). She had a very rough start and we had many tears and much asking to go back to her old school and her old teacher. But so far we are sticking it out. She joined cross country and that has seemed to help, but any and all prayers that she will learn to love being there are welcome.
Well, seeing as it is fall, everything else has started up as well and life is kind of crazy and very scheduled out. We don't have a lot of space in our schedule anymore but we are trusting God that in this season of life, that's just all right - for now. All we do is keep walking forward, follow God and trust Him that the results will not only be good but exactly what we would have loved but never even knew we wanted. I have been taking the youth sunday school through the life of Joseph and it is so apt for me right now. Even in the moments when we are a slave or imprisoned or falsely accused, we must take an attitude of pressing forward and believing that God is using all of this to create something amazing. God is with us in the chaos and He uses the chaos to make beauty. I can't wait to see the beauty! God give us strength in the chaos and faith to trust in You all the way through it! God Bless!!
