We haven't been doing near as much riding this winter as in previous ones, primarily because of the problems Brenda has been having with her knee. She has been traveling back and forth to Dogpound North this winter on an almost monthly basis and her doctors and her have finally decided on a course of action. It is out with the old and in with the new and that is going to happen on March 18 so we will be packing our outfit and heading for the northern ranges a little earlier than usual. It is sad to say goodbye to the great folks and great weather that this winter has brought here in Arizona but the call of the north is irresistible, as is the promise of a new knee and the free healthcare that Canada provides.
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| Floating mountains and green fields near Dogpound South |
After packing everything away for the summer and getting the horses paperwork all completed we got everything loaded and headed for Sky Harbor. Brenda is going to fly home as that is a whole lot easier on the old knee than a 3 day drive up the interstate to Canada. After dropping her there the horses, dogs, and I headed for the snow topped mountains of Utah for our first nights stop. We made it to Fillmore the first night and Great Falls, Montana the second. From there is is a short 7 hour trip into Dogpound North. The roads were great the entire trip and we never saw a flake of snow, except up there on the mountain tops where it belongs. That was not true once we got to Dogpound North. There is more snow here than we have ever seen in the 37 years we have been on the place and before we could even get the rig unhooked we needed to do a little snow removal. We barely got a spot big enough for the LQ when the tractor had a problem. They just don't make things like they used to, those tires are not a day over 53 years old and you'd think they could last a little longer but alas they pushed their last snow bank.
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| Just flat on one side though. |
Well even with the flat tire we got everyone unloaded and put the LQ to sleep right where it sits, at least till some of the snow melts, and got the horses settled in. Once stroke of luck, it is chinooking up here and that means above freezing temps for the first week or so we were home. A little nice welcome home for the horses and it will give them time to acclimate.
The day after I got home was Brenda's birthday so we hustled off to the city to meet Becky, Ved, Kashton, Cheryl and Haley for a little celebratory dinner.
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| Stolen from Brenda Brown |
The next weekend we managed to run up to Rocky Mountain House to spend a couple of hours with Miss Ella and her sister Alle, oh yah, and Lacey and Clayton.
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| Getting ready to get some tats |
Tuesday morning, March 18th, we headed off bright and early, and I mean bright and early, we had to be at the hospital for a 6AM check-in as Brenda was number 1 on the list that morning. Her knee surgery went fine, and was videoed and broadcast in the hospital for some staff and streamed to the Science Centre here in Calgary for a class of high school kids that they were trying to recruit into the medical profession, so keep an eye on Youtube, these things tend to show up all over. It took most of the day for the freezing to wear off but from all reports once that happened this was not a pleasant experience. There is a lot of pain involved in this surgery and that is only the beginning, the physio afterwards seems to be very painful also. Brenda is gritting her teeth and getting 'er done, as she wants to be back riding before to late in the summer, but unless the memories fade, I think it will take a bigger fellow to drag her back to get the other one done, should it need it.
So other than physio and watching the snow come down, along with my daily 4000 meters in the pool that is all that is happening here at Dogpound North.
Wouldn't be our blog anymore without a horse picture though.
And for my bird watching friends
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| This little fellow was sitting out in our tree the other day, either commenting on the weather or Daylight Savings Time. |
