Tag Archives: MyShetland

A Different Approach

Today’s regime has been different.

No painkillers today – I don’t think they actually help, just change my focus of attention.  The pain doesn’t go away but I just don’t care because I’m too zonked to notice.  Also they don’t help my innards one bit.  I can see that problem creeping up.

However, my acupressure mat makes a difference. I lie on it making sure to include my sore left side.

Then, after a good hour, I got up (peeled myself off the mat more like) and took the dogs out for a walk along our track and then the road.  I also wore a support back brace, which my jury is still out on.

It was not easy and I had to force myself to walk.  I honestly don’t feel like doing anything but I made myself and we went out and quite far.  Well, further than yesterday.

This time I remembered to put the dogs in their hi-vis jackets and they were very good about traffic too, coming to sit beside me and wait patiently.  I am lucky that with this road, I can see and hear most things before they are upon us.

And I specifically don’t wear my headphones either so there are no surprises.

So, that’s me and my different approach to my pain.  Try and walk it out or acupressure mat it gone.  I feel a bit more like myself without the muddying painkillers, which is good.  Looking back, I have absolutely no idea how I ever managed achieving my usual day.  I consider it a huge effort just making a cup of tea now.

The Face of a Thief

I’m getting slowly worse.  I can barely walk now without a huge amount of pain.  So not great.  The bad weather eased off this afternoon and I managed to get the horses and ponies out into their respective fields.  Waffle was awful and turned around at the last moment to escape.  I tracked him down trying to scoff as much sheep lick as fast as possible, told him what I thought of him and limped him back to rejoin his better behaved friends.

Meanwhile, in the house someone stole and ate half a loaf of homemade bread.  We don’t know who was the perpetrator – it is between Monster and Ted.  Ted has form – at Mum’s he would steal anything he could find and Monster has been known to get on the kitchen table.  Floss reckons they worked as a team.  OH thinks it was Pepper but she has an alibi – she was with me while I was putting out the horses and ponies (I think – but to be perfectly  honest, I really don’t know as my brain is very muddly  at the moment). I am blaming Ted, Floss is blaming the Monster/Ted combo and OH is blaming Pepper!

Now, I ask you, is that the face of a thief?

Lambie’s Not Right

Lambie has been acting strangely over the past few days. How do you tell, I hear you ask.  Well, as his Muzzah, I just know.

I am telling myself it’s the weather, and everyone is cooped up which Lambie particularly hates.  He likes his personal space and avoids hassle.  He not eating his regular food, says he can’t use his private dining-room and just stands there looking even more confused than usual.

So he is now eating a combination of horse beet flakes (dried) and a handful of hen food (whole wheat grains), plus TumerAid and he seems to like that better.  As long as I can keep him eating, I think there is hope.

This afternoon, Floss said Lambie was grinding his teeth when she saw him so tomorrow, when I’ve got him by himself, I will give him some Inflacam – painkiller.  Maybe it is the cold weather affecting his arthritis, which he’s had since he was a very young lad (bone on bone, the vet said after many bouts of Joint Ill).  Maybe Lambie has come out in sympathy for me and this sciatica.  I don’t know so today I let him have a Duvet Day along with ‘Ster for company.  I left them a big bowl of food and the end of the haynets to finish. I think he just stayed indoors, a bit like me then.  I don’t like when Lambie’s not himself.  Hopefully as the weather turns back to normal and so do all the routines, he will feel himself again.

We are one. ❤️    ❤️ (he did manage to choke down an Animal Cracker or ten which I gave to him when no one was looking).

To The Doctor

As OH managed to get up our track and escape to town yesterday, I decided to make an appointment with our GP to talk about my dreadful sciatica.  Things are no better and I am getting very depressed with it.

Of course the Jimny (our 4×4) had a flat battery out of nowhere having gone to town the day before.  IT HAD ONE JOB!  (I could’ve seriously undone the handbrake by a cliff today and watched it roll off).

So OH kindly took his van up to the road (not the best in snow/ice) spending a good 45 minutes digging it out every time it got stuck on our track – now slush and ice.  I walked up and off we went.  The actual road was fine.

The GP was kind.  She could see and understand my predicament and we talked about a plan of action with regard to a regular painkiller regimen rather than me trying to stay off them, which is what everyone always advises.

Home, and I went to bed and slept all afternoon feeling a bit happier that a) it is now thawing, b) I have a painkiller dr-approved plan and c) the grass is beginning to appear and we can hopefully feed everyone less, though they are all hanging around expecting waitress service still.

I haven’t the heart to tell them they broke the waitress!

Not Great

Currently, I equate my life with the game, Snakes and Ladders.

Today I fell down a long snake and am back to square 1 with leg and back pain, etc.  I am very miserable, especially as yesterday it felt like I had turned a corner and things were going to get back to normal.

There is nothing I can do about it. Just keep on resting and doing gentle exercise – only getting up to help do the horses. OH and Floss are being marvellous.  I could not do any of this without them.

Of course, no horse or pony of mine is helpful, though today Kolka managed to swallow her pride or ego and let the little ones share a haynet.

Vitamin was being forced to share her’s (though I don’t know if she can actually eat it, but she was trying) with Gussie, who thinks all this food around is great.

Iacs, at the back, has been standing by himself a lot and that worries me.  He does eat, though.

Floss kindly gave him his own separate haynet which I limped over and specifically showed him, but he ran away saying Haakon had looked at him funny and he would rather starve.

Ditto Fivla but she had just finished a massive bucket of food so she was probably just digesting after eating herself to a standstill.

Newt has a death wish and just goes around secretly sniffing equine ladies’ derrières.  Big mistake.

So that’s me. Not great. The animals are all outside which I tell myself is actually much better for them. They have food, water, shelter and rugs.  Please be outside horses!