no dead babies...yet..

so last 2 days have been very eventful. I've decided that i've earned the right to consume an ENTIRE cake to myself (thats right i've been driven to cake, and i HATE cake), however, I do not have any cake. nor am i anywhere in the vicinity of a place that SELLS cake, thus...no cake :(

So yesterday was probably the craziest day yet. Arrive in the morning to treat my sickies and one baby, Priolane wasn't totally 100% (he's always slept alot though...so it was hard to tell) but he hadn't drunk from his mom overnight (he was "off suck") which i could tell because she had dried milk on her legs because he bag got so full it started to drip on its own. Anyways so me and Catherine were taking its temp and I was holding its head going this is weird but his nose and ears seem cold....(just thinking it) and then Catherine pulled out the thermometre and it was below normal. So we grabbed another thermomater and same thing (so at least I wasn't crazy). So we put it down on the list to see the vet that day (it was already in for bad blood work and on meds). It was a Thursday which is farrier day, and normally the vet is on Mon, Wed and Fri so that we don't have overlap, but since the # of mares is decreasing almost daily now, Simon cut the number of vet visits to just Monday and Thursday. As usual everything has to happen at once. We also can't tell the farriers that the babies are sick or they will tell other people that the farm has sickies...and thats bad publicity. Thus, we were trying to coordinate everything so that they did the feet on the one sick foal (who actually was totally better, but his blood was taking some time going back..and that was Hunka Monka foal, my favourite but is a TOTAL idiot). So anyways, we sent them off to Cuckoo Pen to get all the mares done there while the vet showed up and we started looking at Priolane and she's like, ok cold means dying. She took the temp again and it was still low. So we had to start on IV fluids right away. At this point the baby wasn't even fighting while we started jabbing it...bad sign. So we are sitting there running fluids and giving meds then the farrier shows up so we got the vet to sedate Hunka Monka because there is no way he would have let the farrier near otherwise. It was histerical because I had to hold him to get his sedative and everyone was watching while I tried to restrain him...basically I had a hold of an ear and his upper lip/nose and then catherine had a tail and THEN the vet could inject him. Everyone looked at me and were like "and you do this every DAY" how do you not DIE!! I said, not sure yet...9 lives???

Anyways, his feet got done uneventfully, and by this point it was half way through lunch and I hadn't gotten ANYTHING started for the afternoon yet (like mucking out stalls) which with 5 horses in takes at LEAST 2.5 hours. and lunch is 1-2. and we are done at 4.
So i took a 10 minute lunch and got started mucking, i left the stalls mucked out and didn't bother putting in more straw and left that for today. THEN we got the exciting news that Hunka Munka's blood came back ok so he could go outside!!! So i got to lead my little monster (and that he was) out to a little paddock. even WITH some left over sedative he was a nutbar. We walked sideways and in circles on our back legs the entire way to the paddock. I wish someone had videotaped it :p He was SOOOOOOOOO happy to be outside! And so was, I. It was bittersweet because i LOVED him...but I also was sick of risking my life and limbs trying to inject him everyday....

So then me and Catherine ran more fluids into Priolane...it's crazy because I'm so used to fluids from workingi at Oakpark...but Catherine had never run them before, so for once i was totally in my element!! I got to teach her about how they work...not that i've run them on horses..but same concept :p It was nice to feel confident about something!!!

Anyways, then she had to go get her hair done for her brother's wedding this weekend...and I went home and crashed on the couch for an hour before me and Tom had to go back and run more fluids...then home, shower and out to the pub!! (they don't say bar). Got some dinner...mmm steak and mushrooms and veggies and new potatos. FANTASTIC :D Cider beer (basically Strongbow, but locally made...LOVE IT...and ON TAP too!) Got a group shot because this is the last time we are all together before I go!!! Tom and Catherine have her brother's wedding this weekend and then they leave on holiday to Greece for 2 weeks!!


Sidenote: A HUGE MASSIVE FRIGGEN SPIDER JUST RAN INTO MY ROOM AND TRIED TO CRAWL ONTO MY MATTRESS UNTIL I DROPPED MY WATER BOTTLE ON IT. no joke it was 2 inches in diameter. I think i just puked in my mouth a little. i don't do spiders. I definately almost cried. I killed it. and SQUASHED it to make sure it was dead. and then vacuumed it up. Because I hear that spiders can crawl back up vacuums. I took a picture. I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight...*shudder* and *vomit* That is one thing i won't miss about England...ALL THE SPIDERS

So anyways, on to today....today was the single most relaxing day in the history of...well a long time?

Basically because yesterday was so hectic and since Tom and Catherine are disappearing I will be in charge of the "sick ward" until I go home...and they won't be here...so it's all on me. So i spent the entire day doing what i love to do best...GETTING ORGANIZED!!!

it was fantastic let me tell you.. Basically I fed and watered all the horses, gave morning meds, checking and breathed a sigh of relief that my baby was still alive this morning and removed it's cathater from it's neck. Then I finished mucking out and bedding down all the stalls that I didn't have time for last night....the straw is all yellow and fluffy and you just want to curl up in it! Barrett: arm band for ipod is the greatest invention ever. I have no radio and I am the only one allowed in the barn now to work on the sickies. Thus, I am alone to talk to myself/the ponies. SO today I brought my ipod and shoved the wire up my shirt so that I wouldn't get it caught in the pitchfork or something, and i was totally able to do EVERYTHING today and listen to music at the same time!! It was fab!!!! Anyways, after mucking and bedding down I just started to clean up and get things all ready for over the weekend so I can be done on time and not hold anyone up...then it was close to lunch time and so I wanted to get a head start on things for this evening but I still had time...so I decided that the mares had been inside for so long that their coats were looking scummy and needed some TLC. So i groomed all the mares. It was so amazing. You could totally just see them all stretch there heads down and RELAXXXXXXXX..They loved it and so did I! I forgot how much I missed that part of playing with horses all day... Rest of the day was uneventful, evening meds...then my boss Simon came over to talk to me and Catherine about her going away and the sickies. I KNOW that I know the meds and the babies and what to do and everything, but I was still nervous going over it infront of Simon. I told Catherine that in the caddy on the way back to Cuckoo Pen and she said "Don't worry, if I told him that I trust you, he will to". I was like WHOAAAAAAAAAAAA GREATEST COMPLETEMENT EVERRRRRRRRRR. So i was happy. tired. but so happy.

p.s. Catherine got offered the position as HEAD STUD GROOM (aka the "manager" of the ENTIRE stud!!! since Nigel got "let go" - man who's house I stole...) and she decided to take it and i was there as she went...YES :D Congrats, and she will do fabulous.

Ok...but i'm tired. and I just read over 300 questionable content comics all afternoon since getting home from work (yes Barrett, I got so addicted and involved that I even postponed showering for a couple hours...i'm on 601.

But I should go to bed since i work all this weekend.

NIGHT :D and cross your fingers everything survives through the weekend

p.p.s. this post took me 3 hours to write because I kept getting distracted and reading QC instead.