Watty's Awakening

Suffolk_lass

LadyWithAPlan said:

How wonderfully lucky your animals are being looked after by you ! 

Spring is coming so that should help with the SAD I think we all can suffer from 

La Plans Friday advice is dance in your kitchen to tunes you love once a day - without or without the cat or another human - dogs seem to just bark when I dance so .. 

Loving this advice LaPlan. Lifted my mood by making me laugh out loud and I now have a big uplifting smile on my face!

Did anybody see the article in The Times (probably copied from elsewhere) about dancing?

"A team from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research and Aix-Marseille University has discovered that if humans hit the dance floor at the sound of Stayin’ Alive, it is because of the effect of syncopation on their left sensorimotor cortex.

The researchers say this part of the brain links auditory and motor systems and thus gets feet tapping to the beat."

I read this as "it stimulates the part of your brain that gives you better coordination (and hopefully, balance) as we get older"

Watty1

Will try to teach WattyDog to tango - or at least a dance step .   His learning of things is random, sit stay totally eludes him (actually even sit has always been a bit dubious, gravity taking over the squat he offers)  but he has learnt how to open the locking food recycling bin so he can raid it.  I have taught him spin in the past and to pray.  I felt the praying might be helpful given his inability to master the sit/stay or down/stay or even door manners.  (He rests his front paws on a chair or low table and lowers his head between his front legs to pray).

So dance it is.

Have rung the vets.   Charming Cob clearly has, I think, mites in his feathers (the hairy part at the bottom of his legs), the young Fell Pony needs the second part of his injection and Most Handsome needs a review.  Appointment next Tuesday afternoon.     At this rate all I earn will be going on their healthcare!

On the positive, the sun is out and the rain has stopped. I have meditated and will pop to a Farmers Market in a nearby village for a takeaway and reheat curry from the Indian food stall.  Cheaper and nicer than a take-away and me and the VNM can enjoy an evening in with that over the weekend.

I've started a herbal anti-depressant and warming the bed has helped with sleep.  Keeping up with my gratitude list and list of small achievements at work too.   Just tiny things but all seem to be helping.

Watty1

WattyDog really enjoyed the market (it is tiny with just 4 or 5 stalls) but everyone so friendly.  He got dog treats and lots of fuss and I drank a lovely mug of tea with two samosas from the Indian stall.  Came home with dahl, cauliflower  curry and a lamb rogan josh.  The VNM came in and we reheated the dishes and cooked rice. Delicious and a lovely evening chatting.

This morning the sun is shining and for the first time in ages I found myself looking forward to the day. I do have a lot of work to do, but I have ridden and eaten my overnight oats (ricotta cheese and yoghurt and milk added and delicious).  Torn between working or just sitting outside.

Need to tidy a bit inside first though as have a builder coming around.  When i realised how low my mood had sunk I sat and made a list of everything that contributed and felt hopeless and one of the things that appeared many times on my list was this house.  I know the ex will not be back intellectually but emotionally the house still feels like "ours" and "his" and I have been wondering if this is contributing to my anxiety.  So I am getting quotes for some of the work that needs doing.    I know I can't afford it all just yet but I think knowing costs will be helpful.  The last few work people have been but not quoted but I have a good feeling about this one.  

Watty1

Most Handsome must be feeling a lot better.  Yesterday afternoon I gave him the yard and a turnout pen so he could enjoy a potter and the sun.  At some point in the afternoon he clearly jumped out.  When I went to check on him he was doing zoomies in the field with the other two.  

If he feels well enough to jump out he might as well go out with the others.  So much for me thinking he was still a bit unsteady on his feet    Painkillers reduced further this morning.

badmemory

Not knowing anything about horses, but I do about my increasingly aging bones, maybe he was just getting stiff in his joints from not moving & having more room to move freed up those joints & muscles.

KajiKita

Great news about Most Handsome - crossing my fingers that it is sustained 🤞😊

KK

Watty1

It could have been his joints @badmemory He does have arthritis.  Anyway a good gallop around the field, jumping way higher than I ever would with him seems to have freed everything up and he is just fine in the field with the others.  Huge relief.

Watty1

Not heard from the builder yet with prices but am hoping I will from this one.

Next door asked me go chip in with pest control for moles as her garden is a mess and I felt backed into a corner so I agreed.   WattyDog makes such a mess of the garden I do not really care about the moles but it is really important to her next door and so I agreed.    The chap turned up today and we had a chat about the rabbit warrens in the field and I think he is going to clear those too so being backed into a corner turned out to be a good thing as my current pest control chap is a friend of the ex.  He has tried to be friends with us both but increasingly I have felt a little uncomfortable and last time I called he did not turn up (seems to be a theme around here).

Anyway mole traps down and I just need to get permission from the fields next door to net his fields and the ferrets will visit apparently. The cost is comparable to the last person so overall I am happy with this.

Watty1

The builders prices came in. Cheaper than I had budgeted for but he has been creative with some ideas, cut costs and has not quoted for the stair case renovation project which I am mulling over.. Now as you all know, I am trying to rebuild savings, but I also am rebuilding mental health and the state of the house and the fact that everything in it was something the ex and I had built together is a reminder of the way things turned out means I have decided just to go with as much as I can afford.  I think part of the "selling up and running away" idea was related to just leaving this house behind.

Initially I was going to do a little bit at a time but after thinking about it I have decided to have the man and his colleagues do the shower room completely and redecorate throughout with a "fixing" list of things that need to be done as they go (some major, some minor).  He also had a good look at my front door which I was going to replace and thinks he can renovate it so it no longer sticks, and using a router and draft excluder strips thinks he can cut the howling gale that blew through the gaps until I fitted the plastic strips.  It is a very large door, not a usual size and the quote for fixing it was £345 plus VAT.    Now that has to be worth a try because the new door would be a lot more than that (add a 0 to the renovation quote for the cheapest I have found so far).

I'm going to borrow the money from my company to fund this (thanks LWAP for sparking the idea that was a possibility).   Borrowing the money means that over the next few months the house will become mine as we will re-do each room.    He is busy working on a renovation for a council block at the moment but says he is happy to work at the weekends until that job ends and so he starts on Saturday ripping out the bathroom and I will use the other bathroom for the next few weeks until this one is done.   The other bathroom is just going to be repainted.   

I might not really have the money but this was a creative way to make a start and I just sat and cried because emotionally it felt like the house was mine and I was making decisions without the ex.

Debsnewbudget

I spent time on my holiday reading through your old and new diaries. TBH it got me out of the sun so I was very grateful ! 

I want to say how much I admire your strength. Now is the time to heal and then move on.
you are doing so well, keep it up and be kind to yourself.