The Next Door by Gayle Sliva

The Next Door by Gayle Sliva

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I downloaded this very affordable and entertaining eBook from http://www.smashwords.com/ and read it on my Nook Color. I enjoy a good mystery/thriller and this one was extra fun to read as it is bespeckled with anecdotes of horse care and rural living. The ending had me guessing with its unexpected twists and turns. I couldn't put it down at the end until I found out Whodunnit!

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Misty's Monday Muse - Troublesome Tooth

Looks like my tooth woes are not over yet, but we have a plan.

I went back to the vet today and the Doc pulled the stash of putrid hay out of my cheek and found some new inflammation.  Something didn't smell right and it wasn't just my stinky rotten hay breath.

The Doc took some pictures of my troublesome tooth and said the root does not look healthy.   I was sneaky because I hadn't shown any signs of infection or abscess all along.

Bad Tooth - 2nd from the right.

At least now the decision is easier to make.  I will go back this week to have the remainder of my naughty tooth pulled.

Everyone is sad that my young tooth could not be saved.  But it is best to be rid of it.

 I should have flossed more often,

Waiting for the Tooth Fairy

I took Misty back to the vet  last Friday for our 7th appointment due to her fractured tooth.  The deep pocket in her gum had to be cleaned and repacked many times because food kept getting packed into the root pocket and slowed the healing process. 

Finally, Misty's gum is healed.  That is good!  But now we have a new problem.

The slab removed was on the outside of tooth 207 (upper left).  Now there is a cup-like gap where the slab used to be.  The location of the fracture - left side and on the outside of her tooth - combined with the mechanics of how Misty chews with a motion from left to right, is causing hay to become wedged into the gap.  She has a huge, uncomfortable lump protruding from her cheek.   And since the gap is on the outside of the tooth, Misty's tongue does not come into contact with the wad of hay and she cannot dislodge it naturally.  The hay is accumulating and putrefying inside her cheek.  The only way to remove the hay is to have the vet sedate her and dig it out.  That certainly is not a good long term solution.

Our first thought is to go ahead and remove the rest of the tooth.  But the remainder of the tooth is large, healthy and solid. Misty is a Percheron; she's got big teeth and she is only 8 years old.  This would not be a simple extraction and might require a costly trip to an equine hospital.  My vet is consulting with some equine dentists to see what our options are and I'm anxiously awaiting a call back. 

I think I'll give them a call now and see if they've come up with a plan.  I'm tired of waiting.

Happy Peepster

I'm very  burnt out with my day job and have been dreaming of a career change.  Let me tell you, a career in cake baking is not in my future.

I first saw the Taste of Home Sunflower Peep cake at First Draught Farm's Peep Show.  I thought, "That's adorable and looks so easy!"  I'm not sure what I did wrong, but both layers of the cake stuck in the pans and cracked & crumbled when I removed them.  Perhaps they were in the pans too long.  They were to cool for 10 minutes before removal, but I fell asleep while watching a re-run of the show Bones. Bones is not a boring show; it is one of my favorites.  But I tend to fall asleep when watching TV.  Ask my husband.  There are many shows and movies to which I don't know the ending.

So here's my Peep cake:



It is gingerly held together by gobs and gobs of chocolate frosting, like glue.

If you are like me, and prefer just a little bit of cake with your frosting then it will still be delicious.  I'm just not sure what's going to happen when we make that first cut.

 

Nobody in our family will suffer from a lack of sugar today; or from a lack of Peeps.

It is a rather dreary, foggy Easter morning here.



This is a difficult time of year for me in Colorado.  After a long, cold winter I'm longing for Springtime warmth and sunshine.   But at this altitude, warmth and sunshine are not ready to make a consistent appearance.  They just briefly tease us between cold snaps.



Misty still has that big bump on the side of her face.  Her recovery from the slab fracture has been slow and frustrating.  The hole in her gum was very deep and narrow and, while it is healing, it keeps getting packed with food which seems to slow the process.  The vet has cleaned it out and repacked it with dental wax several times. We return to the vet tomorrow to see what is going on in there.  We expected her to be completely healed by now and I'm eager for her to be well enough to return to training.

Have a Happy Easter.

A Job Well Done

Misty and SaraJane take their job, holding up the barn, very seriously.

Misty on the Mend

Misty's bump was diagnosed on Monday.  She had a slab fracture of tooth #207 on her upper left jaw. Fortunately there was no abscess. The bump was inflammation caused by a HUGE ulcer where the broken slab of tooth was digging into the side of her mouth.  Poor girl must have been in a lot of discomfort, but she never showed how much.

Misty had two vets working on her and it took them about one and a half hours to remove the slab. They took turns wiggling the slab loose until they could fit their big tooth-puller around it. Then it was quick business to pull it out.  She has about two thirds of the tooth left. Misty was a good patient, albeit stoned out of her mind.  They had to give her a couple extra shots of sedative to get that big mouth of hers to be still.  Even with her head drooping almost to the floor and her legs splayed to keep her balance, her mouth remained very busy. She managed to wriggle out of the speculum twice while they were examining her.  Good thing vets can pull their hands out of a horse's mouth with lightening speed.  But the third shot was a charm and her busy lips finally succumbed to the sedative.

Wow, it was a stinky job with a very strong odor of putrid hay and dental decay.

Misty is home while she heals and receives antibiotics.  The inflammation is going down slowly.  Hopefully she'll be ready to resume her training sometime next week when the swelling is completely gone.

Uh Oh. A Bump!

It's day four of Misty's training.  She's been ridden the last three days and the reports have been positive. But we're on hold now, due to a mysterious bump that popped up overnight on her left jaw.

The folks at the stable looked at the bump.  They peeked inside Misty's mouth and saw some hay stuck inside near the bump. The trainer called me and recommended my vet take a look-see.  Misty is eating well, but does appear to be dropping a little bit of hay from the left side of her mouth as she chews.

The bump is very hard and about the size of a large egg.  Misty is uncomfortable when it is touched.

Of course, this bump-thing chose to make its debut on a Friday and I can't get Misty into the vet until Monday. I sure hope it is not an abscessed tooth.

We will find out on Monday. 

Bump - front view.

Bump - back view.

Not the face of a happy girl.

Hoof Shoes: On Your Mark. Get Set. GO!

Ok Ladies (and men?),

Let's race out and be the first on our blocks to sport this new fashion in footwear.

Or not.

Read more about it:
Horse foot shoes on sale at Cheltenham Festival

I dare you:  Do a Google search on "hoof shoe" images for even more bizarre possibilities.