New Normal

This term first appeared during the 2008 financial crisis but resurfaced during the Covid-19 pandemic.  But now, over three years later, we are slowly, in some areas of our lives, moving back to the good old ways.  Social distancing and working entirely from home has not been good for the majority of individuals, it is too isolating, and the loneliness and stress is affecting most people in a negative way.  Courtney reports like going back in to work and Jean is steering away from remote work as well.  Daniel is still searching for the right job. 

We have been adjusting to a new normal out at the ranch.  Having Jean gone has been a big change.  We are now settling into a new routine with the four horses (Cowboy added in with our three).  Co-oping with Susan and Bonnie has helped us but made for a new feeding routine.  And this week, Wanda is adjusting to life with a new, short stub tail.

Saturday 3/4 - I was up at 1am, after five hours of sleep.  I did also get an hour nap before sunrise.  I need to break this cycle, I don't want it to become the new norm. 

The day was passed by blogging, working the horse puzzle, two hours at the gym, and a trip to the ranch to do chores.  This is Cowboy (who is part draft horse) eating his dinner.  I 'hit the wall' about 4:30 and really struggled to stay awake past 8pm.

Sunday 3/5 - I was up way too early again, but after my first cup of tea, went back to 'bed' on the couch and slept almost two more hours.  Part of the 'problem' is having Tango sleep in our bedroom, because when he gets restless, I worry about him needing to go out to relieve himself. 

This was my Mom's little bird feeder she had on her patio, that I inherited once Jean moved out from the ranch.  I put it here in this spot by the front door. 

The birds will probably feel safer at this new feeder because it is not on the porch, right outside the window.  And the cats can still see them just fine, while they bird watch. 

Maggie sometimes steals Tango's bed and he will take her smaller bed, but this time he chose the floor.  Both dogs have been getting along well, but a second dog will never be a new norm.  It is just too much more extra work than we care for on a regular basis.  But, Tango can come visit, and stay with 'Grandma' anytime needed. 



Zorro photo bombing when I was taking a photo of Cowboy to send Susan and Bonnie.

Once finished with afternoon chores and feeding, Patty arrive to help me catch Wanda.  It went much easier and smoother than I expected, feeding her in the tack room and closing the door to then catch her.  But, I am sure she will not want to come back in there or trust us again for quite awhile.

Monday 3/6 - I had Wanda to the vet by 7:50 and went straight to the gym.  It was very crowded, typical of Mondays; and the mornings are busier there than my normal time over the lunch hour.

This is a photo, taken midday, of three of the four cats.  Stevie is missing from it. 

I had showered at the gym so decided not to do yard work and get all sweaty before my mammogram.  Instead, I worked on the horse jigsaw puzzle. 










Babe looking for action (as usual) when I was taking the first photo.
 

The vet called to say Wanda's surgery had gone well.  And when it was time to get her (3:45) I did.  She was not at all happy about being crated all night before surgery, and riding in the car.  (This photo of her in the crate in the car when we arrived back at the ranch.)  Her 3 to 4" stub is completely shaved and wrapped in tan vet wrap.  She is now a 'Manx' cat.  'New normal' is a term that indicates a life event that is out of the ordinary and has a permanent impact on the individual.  Well this is definitely going to be a new normal for Wanda.





I got Wanda set up in the hay loft, in the double long dog crates.  Almost as soon as I released her in there, she went to the food container and started eating (seen in this photo).  I reached my hand in and pet her and scratched her on the head and she was purring.  She was very glad to be home.

After horse chores, I went back down to the barn to give Wanda some canned food, and then went home.  Joe was gone, taking Tango to met Dan in Cookeville. 

Tuesday 3/7 - I was at the ranch by 6:15, to let the horses out early, in preparation for the vet, who was coming at 9am.  The chickens were happy to also be let out early.  I went down to the barn to checked on and fed Wanda, who appeared to be getting along fine, except she seemed lonely.  Just after mucking the horses paddock, I got word from the vet that he had a cow emergency and would be late.  So I went into the ranch house and fixed some eggs for a third breakfast.

This second photo was taken a few minutes after the first one.  The horses had hardly moved.  When they hit the good green grass in the front pasture, they went straight to eating it.
 
Dr. Perry arrived before 11:00.  Cowboy, Robbie, and Zorro all got spring shots and then before starting on Amiga, a big gust of wind blew a panel loose on the donkey shed again.  It really spooked Cowboy who was in the round pen at the time.  Joe, who was working in the shop, came right down and I helped him add more cinder blocks onto the sheets of metal.  Finally, it was Amiga's turn.  She was getting dental work, so was going to take longer.  All went well, except the usual amount of sedative was too much, so Amiga was really groggy. 
 

Once the vet was finished, I had to walk Amiga for almost an hour before the sedative wore off enough for it to be safe to let her eat and return to the herd.

I got home from the ranch seven hours after getting there, and was pooped.  Rather than take time to make a salad for a very late lunch, I grabbed a nut mix and joined Joe out on the deck to lay in the sun.  I read, and napped on the lounge chair.  Once back inside, I continued being a bum and worked on the horse jigsaw puzzle.  I was nearly done with it , but stopped to fix dinner for Joe and I.

Wednesday 3/8 - I found myself with time to kill while waiting for my third 'breakfast' (ham, cheese, and eggs) to digest before going to the gym.  So I finished the horse puzzle.  It had been difficult, but ended up being fun to do.  I ended up having a good workout even though I had to drag myself to the gym, while contemplating skipping it altogether. 

I made it to the ranch a little after 2pm and first took care of Wanda, to give her canned food and make sure she had kibble and water.  She was wanting to be pet and loved on, which is so unlike her. 

Several people have been asking how Wanda is doing, so I took this (video) and posted it on Facebook.  Mostly she seems in need of company and affection. 






Next I went to check on and care for Amiga.  As I was walking through the back paddock, I noticed this flock of vultures hanging out there.  They flew off as I approached them. 

Amiga came right up to me and I walked her back through the paddock to the barn.  The vultures were up in the trees and flew off, spooking Amiga a bit. 

I brushed a lot of dirt and hair off Amiga and then did hoof care.  Because she had been walking so well, I decided to hop on bareback and see how she felt.  We only did about ten minutes of work (walk, stop, go, back, and turns) in the round pen and she did not seem to favor her leg hardly at all. 

I decided to go ahead and give Amiga another Previcox, just to stay on top of any pain or swelling from the vet work or lameness issues.  Then I rode her bareback (with just the halter and lead rope) back up to her paddock.  At this point I noticed Rio had had a fly-mask malfunction.  He was actually sometimes kind of stepping on it as he walked along grazing.
So once I turned Amiga out with her clan, I went and rescued Rio from the 'fix' he was in.  

 

Bonnie and Susan were arriving to feed just as I was pulling out.  Once I was home, showered, and had fed my fur babies, I got a call from Susan.  She and Bonnie had found a dead chicken with it's head missing and its chest ripped open.  She was killed sometime during the day, out in the fenced chicken yard.  Google suggested raccoon, owl, or fox.  "If you find a chicken without a head in the middle of the yard or run, the most likely culprit is a large owl such as a Great Horned Owl. You’ll notice a lack of scattered feathers and lack of footprints around the body (which is what Susan had reported).  The reason that owls target a chicken’s head is that the brain is an owl’s favorite meal. Brains are high in protein and relatively easy to eat."  Darn it!  This made me sad.  

Thursday 3/9 - My main accomplishment (task) of the morning was to go cell phone shopping with Joe.  Folks have been bugging me to get a new phone, and come to find out, my I-Phone SE will only be supported another six months and then it will no longer work.  So, I guess it was time.  The salesman said my new SE12 (which Joe ended up ordering from home because the store was out of them) would hold a charge much longer than the old one, so I was happy about that.  Once we got home, I unloaded Walmart supplies, had an early lunch, and took a nap.

My afternoon task was to go to the ranch to do chores and remove the bandage from Wanda's tail.  It was supposed to 'fall off' in 24 to 48 hours.  The day before I had pulled on it, but it was not budging.  I spoke with the vet this morning and was advised to pulled the bandage off.  They didn't want it on more than two days.  However it did not come off near as easily as they said it would.  I ended up in the dog crate, kind of squatting on Wanda with her between my knees to hold her still.  By the time I got the bandage off, the tip of her tail (where you see the stitches) was seeping a little bit of blood.  Possibly the bandage had been stuck to the wound?  I put some medicine all around her tail, which is why it looks glossy.  There is no bone in the very end of her tail, it's just soft tissue so the tip of her tail won't be a hard stub I guess.  Now she needs to grow her hair back.  Anyway I decided to keep her up in the loft a couple of more days to give the end of her tail time to heal up some more, so she doesn't get it dirty.  And now Wanda is mad at me.

This is the horses after dinner time.  Amiga and Zorro were sharing hay and Robbie was behind me eating from another pile, while Cowboy was chilaxing in the shed isle way.  It had started to drizzle a few minutes earlier. 

I was glad to see we still had six chickens, but wasn't sure which light tan one had been killed.  I had fed the girls before the horses and then once ready to head home, tried to lure them into the chicken coop.  They were not cooperating. 


So to give the chickens more time, I went back to check on the horses (taking these two photos).  It was drizzling a little harder and I was ready to go home, so I tried again to get the chickens in the coop early.  It was not easy, but I got them all in.

Joe and I watched episode #2 of Survivor and I had the lights out at 8:30. 

Friday 3/10 - The only photo I took today was this one of Monita, getting in the way of my typing this blog.  I was up before 3am again, so kind of drug all day because I never took a nap.

It was a gym day, but I definitely drug myself there and throughout my whole workout.  But I got it done. 





I stopped at Food City on the way home and bought a bunch of groceries for the weekend guests we were having.  I was feeling unusually tired but tried to get some things done around the house before heading out to the ranch. 

I checked on Wanda and gave her food and clean water.  She was very distrusting of me and would not come out of her bed box up in the back of the crate, so I didn't get a look at her tail stub. 

Patty had chores and took this photo of Gloria, which confirmed that her look-a-like, Buck-beak was the one that was killed.  RIP Buck-beak.