Hello Everyone!
Pushing back the timeframe, Doing dull chores, Ye ole back ache, More leaf collecting & Another cold snap!
Alright, I moved my start time for the writing routine back by a half hour today... and in doing so being 'on time' became much easier. I probably could have pushed it back even further by another fifteen minutes or so... but decided that keeping it simple was a better approach.
By this time next month, that timeframe will have to get revamped anyways... due to the dumb time change known as 'daylight savings' that still makes no sense to me. I doubt that I will ever hear a convincing argument for disrupting everyone's timing... but that is a different topic all together.
Anyways, I was up kind of late last night but not super late... and when I finally fell asleep I got some rather sound rest... so that was nice. I also got up not that long after dawn this morning... and failed to squeeze in a nap today... which of course has me feeling slightly fatigued at this point in the day.
After doing my usual Hive engagement routine (which mainly consisted of reading stuff) I zoned out for a while until things warmed up outdoors some. Considering how cold that it was last night I was surprised that it warmed up so quickly today... but that probably had a lot to do with how sunny that it was... as well as the wind finally dying down all the way.
Once again though, I fizzled out on doing much early in the day besides cleaning up the dog waste from the dog yard... along with a few other minor mundane chores. My back was feeling mildly tweaked after doing the chores (again) so I did the same thing that I did yesterday... and took it easy instead of making it worse. I did however go on another afternoon hike 'just for the exercise' so at least I did something to get some exercise!
Later in the day I got outdoors yet again... and got the remainder of the leaves raked up from around the deck... and hauled them all (one bucket full at a time) to that same compost mound that I have been adding them to lately. About halfway through doing that, it finally dawned on me what has been keeping my back from healing up like it usually does... and I have no idea how I neglected to notice it before.
As some of you know, my eldest dog has been having a lot of problems with walking... and when that happens I either have to carry her in and out of the cabin to use the bathroom... or walk bent over holding her hindquarters up while she walks. Since she really does not like being picked up... I generally tend to help her walk instead... which of course is really hard on my back.
The crazy thing is that it is such a minor ache compared to some of the back pain/injuries that I have had in the past... and I have been racking my brain lately trying to figure out why it has not been healing... all to no avail until today. There is not really a good solution because it is not like I can stop helping her walk in and out of the cabin... but I really need to give my back a break so that it can actually heal up.
I have definitely been considering that it might be time for her to make a 'one way trip' to the veterinarian... but honestly it would be really heartbreaking for me to have her euthanized. It is a dilemma that I am sure many dog owners have had to face... and although I would rather that she pass away in her own bed (from natural causes) I do not know if watching her continually decline is either best for her... or even best for me for that matter.
On a different note. Not all that long before sunset I hiked around and got the water system fully drained... before the temperature drops below freezing tonight. I have no idea just how many cold snaps that we have gotten this year... but whoa it seems like there have been way more of them than during my previous winters here.
As I have stated before it will all hopefully mean that there will be way less ticks this year... because it would be nice to get off the 'beaten path' more when I go hiking during the warmer months. It would also mean that I could maybe let the dogs run more often outside the dog yard where the chickens completely devastate the ticks... so we will see how all that works out.
Well, I think that is all the words that I have in me for this entry. I hope that everyone is doing well and remembers... that while it is always advisable to take the proverbial bull by the horns... it is less advisable to take any kind of bullshit along the way! Ta ta for now.
