Hormonal Hannah is loving Lockdown-Baggy

As Creative Clara begins to write this blog, the clock reads 10.30am. Last week, as Hormonal Hannah attempted to get used to not seeing number one furry all week, this was around about the time that Baggy would persuade her to get out of bed and face the day. Not so any more!

For the last week Grotty Groom has been getting Baggy up at 6.00am, in order to get to the yard by 7.00. This was Calum's plan last weekend. Everyone at the yard has a time slot, in order to make maintaining social distancing easier. Grotty's time slot was at 4.30pm. The problem with that being that, at 4.00ish, when Baggy needed to think about setting off, all Hormonal Hannah wanted to do was to flop about on the sofa, and if Calum had a stupid-o-clock start on Monday morning, it wasn't ideal to be getting home from the yard at 6.30 on a Sunday. So our lovely yard manager Pauline, suggested coming early instead. Hannah's first reaction was, "no chance", but Calum got her up at 6.00 on Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning. Then because he was home on Monday evening; at 5.45 on Tuesday morning! 

This week, as the temperature has risen and risen, although Baggy can barely open her eyes at 6.00, she has carried on getting up for Grotty.

Grotty rode Wesley on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Then on Tuesday she rode Joey.

Joey is always a poppet to ride - hence Creative Clara merrily taking photos of him and Grotty, in the schooling-mirrors. The more observant Baggees amongst you will have noticed the absence of schooling-mirror photos of Grotty on Wesley! There is a reason for this - Baggy does not have a death wish. Because Joey might be a consistent poppet, but Wesley, well, not so much! 

Wesley can also be a poppet! Indeed, he frequently is one. However, he likes his safety-blanket, Joey! And Grotty likes her safety-blanket, Calum! As a result, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, when they had Calum and Joey in the school with them, Wesley was a poppet. Then came Monday, when Joey was out in the paddock, and Calum was at work, so Grotty and Wesley were on their own. Grotty made herself get on the whinnying, flighty numpty, and spent twenty minutes wondering whether she was going to be galloping around the school at any moment. Freda Fretter had Baggy's heart racing, and by the end of it Baggy was shaking like a leaf! When Grotty explained this numptiness to Pauline, she very kindly offered to give Grotty a hand today. 

Due to the extreme heat however, everyone wanted to ride early today, so Pauline asked Grotty to come even earlier: 6.30am! Grotty had Wessles tacked up and ready, and was in the school by 7.00. She spent an extremely happy half-an-hour riding a total-poppet-Wesley, with Pauline giving her guidance. And with that guidance, Grotty really did "ride" him, rather than letting him flobble around the school, and as a result, used muscles that Baggy had forgotten she possessed. 

By 8.15, Furry Mama and Pepper Pooch were on the beach, for a charge around and a swim.

Baggy grabbed a well-deserved decaf latte, and walked the Pooch, with his cool-coat on, back to Billy Bob Jalopy campervan.

 They were home, and The Domestic Goddess was rustling Baggy up some blueberry oat pancakes, before Hannah would normally even be out of bed!

Hannah loves this new enthusiastic, early-rising Baggy. And she has the rest of the day to let other gang members do things - it's all positive!

Gloria Gardener is watering, and weeding and loving her mad garden.

And Hannah is a much calmer, happier person for her number one furry...

Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!

Putting the world to rights - part 2.

Clever Bird had such high hopes that this blooming awful pandemic that is affecting the whole world would make humans open their eyes, and just be better humans. Well that was a stupid hope wasn't it Baggees? Freda Fretter is seriously struggling with what's going on in the USA and the UK. All of the weeks of lockdown seem to have meant nothing to many people. Sadly Covid-19 is still going nowhere, so even though England is attempting to come out of lockdown, strict social distancing measures remain in force. Not that anyone would think that, while watching news coverage of the protests, and riots, and beach parties and travel on public transport. But it's the total lack of care and respect for the planet that has Clever Bird stumped!

All the positive videos of animals enjoying cities, and baby turtles charging across the beach to clear seawater, seem to have been forgotten already. As Furry Mama walks along the beach once again, it's not just the plastic that's been washed up onto the beach that needs picking up, it's the abandoned food containers, the broken and dumped sun umbrellas, the used BBQ trays, the broken plastic buckets and spades, the full plastic carrier bags of rubbish that someone couldn't be bothered carrying home, the takeaway coffee containers, the ice lolly sticks, even used nappies! Why? 

Elsewhere there's the deliberately started heath and forest fires, and the standing stones that have been in situ for millennia that have been moved to make a BBQ hearth, people stealing dogs and horses, swans being kicked and shot, police horses having flares aimed at them or being punched in the nose, police dogs being strangled, and so much more. Clever Bird despairs of it all, and wonders what is needed to make some people realise that humans have no more right to live on this earth than any other creature does, be they a furry critter, or another human...

Baggy's current state!

Depression (Black = really bad/Grey = not great/Blue = okay/Yellow = sunny day): Blue.

Anxiety (From 1 = barely any to 10 = gibbering wreck standard): 3.
Tears: None.
Overall days: Bewildering.

Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!

Living the dream.

The weird, but welcome effect that the threat of death caused by Covid-19 has had on Baggy, continues apace! Clever Bird is keeping her eye on the statistics so that she can keep the gang and number one furry as safe as possible, and the current figures are that in the coastal area of Suffolk where she lives, it's believed by the experts, that 2 in 1,000 people are currently infected. Hopefully, those "two" poor souls, are tucked up safely in their homes, recovering quickly. So, Clever Bird feels that it's pretty safe for her to be out-and-about with the gang. 

Creative Clara had to go into town today to post off an order from her little Etsy shop, Realuv. Clever Bird made her dress appropriately, although only around 1 in 20 people seemed to have done likewise!

Hormonal Hannah was really happy that some of the little shops in town are once again open for business. She popped into a couple for essentials, like brown parcel paper, as Realuv seems to be really busy at present. Grotty Groom also needed treats for her Boys. But possibly more importantly, Furry Mama needs to build Pepper Pooch's confidence back up, as two months of not being in town, seems to have caused him to totally lose his nerve there once more. And as stress can cause his, as yet unnamed, autoimmune disorder to flare up, he needs to regain his confidence in this weird new reality, of long queues of people waiting to go inside shops. 

The truth is that both Pepper and Hormonal Hannah have been struggling a bit, since number one furry has been back at work, so Furry Mama takes them to the beach. The weather this week has returned to being hot and summery, but the difference that the ten miles to the coast makes, is fascinating! This week's theme at Southwold has been sea frets! The one on Sunday was burned off by the sun by the time that Baggy, Pepper and Calum had walked down the beach, but today's went nowhere!

There were actually quite a lot of people on the beach, but they were hidden in the mist!

Creative Clara couldn't stop herself from wondering whether Furry Mama should worry about sea monsters appearing from the mists and devouring them! If it was a film, she'd be screaming at the woman and the dog to get away from the sea!

But an hour later, once Grotty arrived at the yard, it was once again clear blue sky and 24 deg. C.

Grotty was determined to ride Wesley. At least she was until he behaved like a total numpty when she took him into the school! Grotty decided that she had better lead him around in-hand for a while, to see whether he would calm down. He was so wound up, that when he spotted himself in the massive schooling-mirror, he reared up, literally standing on his back legs! Baggy didn't even attempt to hang onto the reins, and stepped out of his way, which was just as well, as he followed the rear up with a huge buck, followed by a fly-buck (kicking his back legs out sideways), then landed squarely on all four feet and froze, as if he'd embarrassed himself.

"Seriously, you over-sized numpty! What was that all about?" asked Grotty, as she tied his reins together so that they were safely tucked in his bridle. "If you don't want me to ride you, that's one way of achieving it." 

Baggy was a little shaken by these antics, and Freda Fretter decided that Grotty should not get on such a wired horse. But Grotty was still determined to ride, even though she hadn't put on her air jacket.

"Come on then numpty horse, and stop calling to Joey, he's in his paddock where we left him. He's not calling you is he? 

Baggy led the way, without touching Wesley's reins, she walked off. Grotty half expected Wesley to take off around the school, but he wandered along next to Baggy. When she stopped walking, so did he.

"So, are you going to let me get on you?" A head butt on Baggy's back, suggested that the answer to that question was "yes". Clever Bird decided not to phone Calum, to let him know that she was getting on the Boy, because she didn't want him worrying. Clever Bird couldn't quite believe how brave Grotty was being. But the reason is, that Grotty does totally trust her horse, only it's been so long since they rode together that she needs to let him know that! If he doesn't feel that Grotty trusts him, then why should he trust her?

Fifteen minutes later, Baggy was the one grinning like a numpty! Yes, Wesley called his brother a few times; yes, he did a little spook; yes, he lost concentration a little, but he was an angel once again!

He even decided that he fancied staying in the school, once Grotty had finished with his exercise.

As Grotty got Creative Clara to take some photos for her blog, Baggy realised that she was living the dream that she'd had as a little lonely girl, who just wanted to have her own pony. 

Baggy may not have achieved that childhood dream until she got Wesley when she was 45, but fifteen years later, she knows that she is one lucky woman! Having given the Boy a warm shower, and stuck some more suncream on his nose, she took him back out to his paddock, chatting to him as they walked, as she had always chatted to her imaginary ponies when she was a child. 

Two hours with her horse, then home to a lovely healthy meal created by The Domestic Goddess,

and a blog written, while the Pooch does his thing on the sofa.

Clever Bird continues to thank the lockdown (and her online healthy-living app), for adjusting Baggy's mindset, and allowing her to live her dream - one that she's rarely lived in the fifteen years of owning her horse, as she's always been a little too afraid to ride him without someone else there. Now all that has changed...

Baggy's current state!

Depression (Black = really bad/Grey = not great/Blue = okay/Yellow = sunny day): Blue.

Anxiety (From 1 = barely any to 10 = gibbering wreck standard): 6.
Tears: Why even ask?.
Overall days: Pretty good all things considered.

Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!

If only animals could let you know how they feel.

Grotty Groom has always said that she doesn't like riding Joey; not because he's unpleasant to ride - quite the opposite in fact. Indeed, he's so safe and comfortable to ride, that whenever Grotty rides him and then gets back onto her own Boy, she wonders why on earth she rides Wesley! But having ridden an almost hoof-perfect Wesley on Monday, she got a shock when she rode Joey yesterday. Now let's just backtrack a little here - Wesley was an angel on Monday, but still there was that constant element of wondering if he was about to take off! Even when he's relaxed, his body is alert and ready for flight, which is why Clever Bird has every safety device known to horsey-person-kind attached to his saddle, and on Monday at various points during the ten-minute ride, Baggy had firm hold of the sissy strap attached to the front of it! Even when Grotty walks Wesley down to the indoor school, Baggy is virtually jogging to keep up with him. 

On Tuesday, Baggy was virtually dragging Joey down to the school, he was walking so slowly. He stood and waited while Grotty positioned the mounting block next to him, so that Baggy's arthritic knee had a chance of letting her get on him. As Baggy pushed up in the stirrup, she had so little strength in her leg that she ended up lying over Joey's saddle on her stomach - stuck! She gave it another go, and popped her hip out attempting to sling her leg over the high back of Joey's saddle, then slumped quite heavily onto Joey's back. Bless the boy, he didn't move an inch.

As they set off around the school, Grotty began to seriously appreciate Wesley! Joey is hard work! Bless him, Clever Bird knows that he's tired as the boys are living out 24/7, but he really didn't want to walk around the school; he'd much rather have had a snooze. Baggy's legs were positively pinging after twenty minutes of encouraging the big boy to walk and trot, and Grotty decided to hold that thought when she next rides the Boy Wessles.

Clever Bird decided that that wouldn't be today, as Baggy's body needs a rest, and the weather was miserable. So miserable, that when Furry Mama was on the beach this morning, it felt more like autumn than summer. But the Pooch didn't seem to care.

Baggy was rather cold by the time she got back to Billy Bob Jalopy campervan, and decided to have a little sit in him, before she headed home.

But Freda Fretter is still worried about Pepper, as the truth is he doesn't seem to be quite himself. When they got home, Furry Mama decided to phone the vet to see whether there was any news on Pepper's biopsy results. She finally got a call back from the extremely busy consultant, at 8.15pm. Now unfortunately Hormonal Hannah tends to get involved when there are difficult conversations to be had, and her anxiety makes her stop Baggy from taking everything in! However, she thinks the jist of it was that Pepper has an autoimmune disease of some sort, which is probably caused by environmental, as well as food allergies. Stage one is that in order to get on top of the serious swelling in his stomach in particular, he has to be on a low dose of steroids for at least the next two months, which Furry Mama needs to source tomorrow from her local vet. Furry Mama is to phone the consultant back in two weeks time, for a further review - maybe in that chat, she will remember to ask what the biopsy, and other results actually showed...

Baggy's current state!

Depression (Black = really bad/Grey = not great/Blue = okay/Yellow = sunny day): Blue.

Anxiety (From 1 = barely any to 10 = gibbering wreck standard): 4.
Tears: Urmm.
Overall days: Good.

Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!

What are the best antidepressants?

It didn't need Psychic Ploppo's abilities to predict that as soon as number one furry went back to work, Hormonal Hannah would slip into a decline! However, what she hadn't realised was that it would happen before he even went back. Having found out on Friday night, that he was needed back at work today, Calum's sunny humour of the last couple of months departed, as he began to stress about going back to driving, and living in a lorry all week. Consequently, Hannah's anxiety rose exponentially, and the atmosphere in the Baggy household was a little tense at the weekend. But Calum and Grotty Groom were determined to carry on riding the Boys, and Grotty was even more determined to progress with Wesley. 

On Saturday, she persuaded Calum to wait to ride Joey, so  that she could see how Wesley behaved without his safety-blanket in the school with him. To Grotty's relief, the answer was "perfectly". On Sunday, Calum and Grotty rode the Boys together again, and Grotty extended Wesley's work to fifteen minutes.

Today was crunch time. Calum had to be up at six to head to work, so last night he had an early night. Hannah was wound up, so decided to keep Baggy up until midnight, but in spite of that she could not get to sleep, as Hannah's mind whirred. She must have dozed off at around 2.00am, only for Furry Mama to be woken by barking. She dragged Baggy downstairs, to find Pepper standing at the door wanting to go out - it was 3.00am. The black Pooch, vanished into the black garden, and Furry Mama could not see him, but Baggy didn't want to head into the darkness in her dressing gown, so waited on the sofa, and waited, and waited...

Pepper finally came back in at 3.30am, and decided to eat his supper. Baggy went back to bed, and listened to Hormonal Hannah's constant ramblings, as she tried desperately to get back to sleep. She dozed off, but woke up with a really painful ankle, and decided to walk about on it for a bit - it was 4.30am. Baggy went back to bed again, rubbing her ankle, and trying not to get annoyed at the extremely loud dawn chorus, only to hear Calum getting up. Assuming that it was 6.00am, and knowing she couldn't sleep, she decided to get up too. It was 5.00am! Sigh. But at least it meant that Baggy could have a cup of tea with her husband and chat for an hour, before he left for work at 6.15.

As Calum headed off for the week, Hannah felt lost, and decided that sleep was needed, to cut off her thoughts, so Baggy went back to bed once again. Pepper Pooch and Bracket kat, both decided to join her, but even though Baggy's ankle was still hurting, and she couldn't get comfortable because of the furries who were literally laying on her, she fell asleep, and finally woke at noon! Hannah wasn't in a good place at all, and by 2.30pm Baggy still wasn't showered or dressed - she decided to call Calum.

To Hannah's relief, Calum sounded quite chirpy, and was already back into the swing of his work.

"How are you now? How's your ankle?"

"The ankle's okay thanks. Me - not so much!" said Hannah and promptly started to cry. "I'm sorry, I knew this would happen. I don't feel like doing anything."

"Well, that's okay, you don't need to do anything until you go to see the horses."

"Actually, I wasn't going to go."

"You should! You'll feel better."

"Maybe you're right."

Clever Bird was furious with Hannah; Cal has gone back to work to pay the bills, and she's sitting about moping and stressing.

"You are right! Sorry. I'll take the Pooch to the beach, then I can go straight to the yard." And that's what she did. 

Hannah began to relax as soon as she was at the beach, and by the time she got Grotty to the yard, she was determined to work Wesley.

Freda Fretter was relieved when he came in from his paddock like a lamb, and decided to let Grotty tack him up, so that she could ride him if he was calm enough. As they walked down to the indoor school, Wesley whinnied like a numpty, calling to Joey who was still in his paddock. Joey didn't help, by calling back, but a determined Grotty led Wesley around the arena to see whether he was likely to be spooky. After five minutes of this, Clever Bird decided that it was time to phone Calum.

"Cal, I'm getting on my Boy! If you haven't heard from me in twenty minutes, which is 5.30, please call me back. If I don't answer, start to panic! And call Pauline. I don't think she's on the yard, but she'll know what to do."

Well, that was Clever Bird's theory anyway, because with her new "life is too short" attitude, Grotty was not going to be put off! Twenty minutes later, a very happy Baggy phoned Calum.

"We're alive!"

"You had two more minutes, and I was going to call."

"Yes, I just realised that the school clock is five minutes slow - I should have checked! But, apart from calling to Joey, and a couple of his other mates, and nearly vibrating me out of the saddle in the process, he was an absolute angel."

"Well done. I'm proud of you."

And frankly, Baggy was proud of Grotty, and Wesley as well! They might only have done a few circles and serpentines around the school in walk for ten minutes, but as far as Clever Bird was concerned, that was a small miracle, and the first step towards getting Grotty's confidence back! 

Better yet, even Hannah felt great! The black cloud that had been looming had receded and her anxiety was back to a manageable level. The fact is, that for Hannah, horses are a seriously good anti-depressant from just being with them; chuck into the mix, riding a horse as sharp and unpredictable as Wesley can sometimes be, and the total concentration that is required to stay safe, even when he is not putting a hoof wrong, and all worries are gone. As Hannah can no longer take actual antidepressants, as they eat away Baggy's stomach lining, taking a daily dose of half-a-tonne of horse is the best alterantive!

Now, as long as there is no bad news over Pepper Pooch's biopsy results, maybe Grotty can keep Hormonal Hannah on track, now that Calum is once again away all week. Tomorrow will be Joey's turn...

Baggy's current state!

Depression (Black = really bad/Grey = not great/Blue = okay/Yellow = sunny day): Grey.

Anxiety (From 1 = barely any to 10 = gibbering wreck standard): 6.
Tears: Yep.
Overall days: Stressful.

Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!