Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in _silverfox's LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
11:02 pm	Gay Rights "Why is that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?" -Ernest Gaines We would like to know who really believes in gay rights on livejournal. There is no bribe of a miracle or anything like that. If you truly believe in gay rights, then repost this and title the post as "Gay Rights." If you don't believe in gay rights, then just ignore this. Thanks. Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 24th, 2008
5:35 pm	School Starting Age - Yes, Seriously ... Just skipp this one folks. First of all, Iremione and Sphinx, your birthday cards have arrived! Thank you so much. That's such an adorable kitten, Sphinx. And Iremione, I loved the musical card. Mum even sang along a bit, but I didn't dare. You know what a terrible singer I am. It's an odd coincidence that both of you are taking exams around this time and to become teachers. Then again I always loved to discuss education with both of you, so I shouldn't be surprised. These days whenever I see another interesting article about education or our school system I always wish I could show it to one of you and discuss it. Sometimes I start translating parts of it in my head. Today I went a little further as this is a topic that's always been dear to my heart. You don't have to read it, but seeing as I've already done it, I might as well post it. ( Read more... ) Current Mood: geeky (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, April 19th, 2008
12:59 pm	Pretty close, actually ... My Personality Neuroticism 81 Extraversion 1 Openness to Experience 64 Agreeableness 21 Conscientiousness 31 You do not experience strong, irresistible cravings and consequently do not find yourself tempted to overindulge, however you experience panic, confusion, and helplessness when under pressure or stress. You tend to feel overwhelmed by, and therefore actively avoid, large crowds. You often need privacy and time for yourself. You prefer familiar routines and for things to stay the same. You can tend to feel uncomfortable with change. You do not like to claim that you are better than other people, and generally shy from talking yourself up, however you do not particularly like helping other people. Requests for help feel like an imposition on your time. You have a strong sense of duty and obligation, and feel a moral obligation to do the right thing. Take a Personality Test now or view the full Personality Report. The best Buying Pet Gifts. Current Mood: calm (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
8:28 pm	Conny and Rhubarb Cake Oh dear, it's been a while since I posted. So here's news: I'm having a mostly wonderful week. The boss' wife had a baby last Wednesday and he hasn't been to the office since, so I've been doing all the work. (Well not the bill paying and bookkeeping. Besides not knowing how I'm not authorised. That's just piled up, so tomorrow the boss will have no choice, but to come in and do it.) One downside of my working hours is that at the time I go home there are fewer buses running from Mödling to my hometown. If I miss the earlier bus from work to Mödling and take the next one, I have a 15 minute wait in Mödling. - Not that bad, eh? Well, it's when I catch the earlier bus that things get interesting, because the next bus home would be the very same one I'd take, if I'd taken the later bus, only the wait is then 40 minutes. Plus ten minutes bus ride makes 50 minutes, plus another 8 or so to walk from the bus stop to my house. I'm a fast walker. In 50 minutes I can make it from Mödling to my front door, though my feet might get tired. Monday was a nice sunny spring day, so I set off from Mödling happily. I'd just entered Wiener Neudorf when a car stopped beside me. Conny! Conny once was my best friend, the first best friend that I think considered me her best friend as well, in fact. Nowadays that role goes to PegaPony, but I don't feel quite as close to her as I once did to Conny. (Not saying I don't love my Pony, mind you!) Anyway, it'd been at least two years since I'd last seen Conny. She's not one to answer e-mail, I'm not one to make phone calls and she and her horses moved out of the stables Gisha lives in about a decade ago. I felt a little unsure of myself to be honest, but decided to be cheeky and asked "Going my way?". Turns out she was headed home to change, but would be driving through my town on the way to her horses afterwards. Well, a little delay wouldn't hurt me. In the end she drove me almost to my front door and we sat there talking for a bit, and I still was home faster than I would have been on foot or bus. :) She said to mail her and we could meet up after work some Monday and I could meet her horses - the ones I knew are dead except for two ponies that probably won't remember me anymore. Tuesday was cold, windy and rainy and remembering the warmth of Monday I didn't take a jacket along. Bad move. Again I caught the earlier bus and what to do now? I don't actually dislike that kind of weather, but I wasn't dressed for it, so it was too cold. Walking = I might get really wet, though at the moment it was just drizzling a little. Staying meant 40 minutes in a glass construction that does not deserve the name shelter as so far I haven't found it to give shelter from wind, snow or rain. (I'm withholding judgment on sun until summer.) At least walking would warm me a little, so I walked even though I didn't feel like it. Then whined to Mum about being tired and having achy feet when I got home. Wednesday I got off the bus, walked ten meters and there came Mum. "Oh my, this is much further from Lidl than I thought! So far!" (Lidl's a supermarket chain. Turned out she'd left her car there.) "That's not far at all," I said. (Actually that's about where the next bus stop on the route home is, the last one in Mödling.) Mum still insists it wasn't my whining on the day before, but her feeling like going for a drive and shopping at Lidl instead of the Billa in our town. So we went into Lidl and there I saw it: Rhubarb! "Mum, do you know how to make rhubarb cake?" I'd only eaten it once when visiting someone, but it had been delicious. "No, I never make rhubarb. You don't like it, remember?" We argued for a moment until we worked out that it was asparagus that I don't like. They're pretty closely associated in Mum's mind. Anyway, Mum didn't know how to make rhubarb cake, not that I was surprised. In the our family's female line my great grandmother was the last one who really knew how to cook and Mum always insists that she can't and won't bake. So much for rhubarb, but I couldn't resist one last puppy eyed "I think it was the same as Grandmother's fruit cake, just with rhubarb." (Grandmother meaning Dad's mum.) Mum did make that one a few times when I was very small and my cousins were visiting, though of course she's long forgotten how ... "Well, as far as I know one usually makes compote from rhubarb. I have a recipe for rhubarb compote." I had rhubarb compote for dessert today and the rhubarb cake Mum 'tried, but it surely won't work out' after dinner was gone in under five minutes between us. Dad never got a piece. (He doesn't like cake anyway.) There's still some compote left for tomorrow, though. Life is good. :) Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 5th, 2008
5:52 pm	Sentence Meme Tell me about a story I haven't written, and I'll give you one sentence from that story. Current Mood: giggly (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, March 9th, 2008
7:22 pm	Sorry Sphinx Having connection problems at the moment. Internet's coming and going, but mostly there, e-mail deserted me two hours ago and it seems AIM's not working so I can't come chat. :( Want to talk here? I can create a friendslock only you and I can see. Or else you could mail me and I'll read it as soon as mail's working again. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, February 29th, 2008
7:50 pm	I Don't Think We Need To Discuss This That's what the boss said just before he left for a meeting. It took me a moment to realise that it was the last day of my one month trial period. "No, we don't," I said. I'd already told him that after my one day test working in January anyway. "Part of me still can't believe I'm actually getting paid for this." "You're a bookseller," he said. I've known that for years, of course, but there's something special about hearing it from a bookseller that grew up in a bookselling family. Current Mood: happy (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 28th, 2008
4:41 pm	Urgh! Sorry if you received an invite to a place called PerfSpot.com from me. I thought the stupid thing was only going to check whether any of you had an account there, but no it automatically invites everybody that doesn't ... which was the entire list. I'm not at all sure I even like the place yet and that hasn't exactly endeared it to me ... *considers deleting account again, but feels guilty for doing so after sending invites* That's what I get for being curios, I guess. :( Current Mood: anxious (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, February 22nd, 2008
5:01 pm	More Horse News So the leg seemed a little better yesterday and again today, but there was too much going on at the stables and Gisha was dancing around instead of just walking when I led her around. This was threatening her leg again so I decided to do some grooming instead. The smith came when we were halfway though. Gisha massaged his back a little while he did her front hooves. Seems she likes him. ;) I talked with one of the other horse owners. Her poor Sindi has a heart defect that's giving her more and more trouble and her back legs are troubling her as well. It's somehow consoling that Gisha isn't the only one with health problems, nor having the worst ones, but then I feel guilty for being consoled by such bad news. Sindi is a cute little Haflinger mare and even though I don't like the breed in general that much, she's a sweetie. ... I doubt they do heart operations on 26 year old horses. :( Called the vet when I got home. He thinks Gisha may have jumped on her leg shortly before I took her out of the box on Wednesday which could explain why it looked so much worse all of a sudden. His decision about the medicine surprised me, though. He said to watch that leg without any or a week see whether it gets better or worse or has more ups and downs. Well, I predict a down for tomorrow as another attempt at walking after the smith turned out no better than the first one. Seems the only quiet time to walk a horse at the moment is 7pm. That's interesting, because it used to be a very busy time only a year ago and I fared better going in the early afternoon whenever I could. Current Mood: thoughtful (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 21st, 2008
6:10 pm	Horse Worries So when the vet gave me the pills he also wrote me a prescription for another box of them for when I run out (The one he gave me wasn't full anymore.). If however I should find that "those damn pills aren't doing anything. It just keeps getting worse.", they're too weak and we should try some more expensive syrup instead - or maybe roentgen the joint and see whether there's a more serious injury than originally thought. He didn't seem entirely sure which path was better himself. He'd also given Gisha a shot, though and said that'd last until Saturday and only to start the pills then. Accordingly Saturday turned out to be the day her leg was best. She was walking almost normally, though I didn't actually make her trot to check. (I'm no vet and as the vet said as well, the tendon will still be hurt even after the course of ills is through. Those things take time. So I knew she was still lame anyway.) Sunday it was clearly a little worse, but then of course the pills aren't as strong as the shot, so that was expected. Monday and Tuesday there was no change, so I decided that yes, the pills are doing something, though not as much as the shot and I'd get that second box when I run out. Then yesterday it was suddenly a lot worse. Still not as bad as before the first shot, but ... So maybe there was still an after-effect from the shot that I mistook for the pills working? It still doesn't seem like they're doing nothing at all, though and Mum pointed out right away that there was a change in the weather which might be to blame for increased pain. I just couldn't make up my mind whether to get the new box, or call the vet for another appointment and different medicine on the strength of one day's development. I need to at least see how Gisha does today. The problem? I have just enough pills left for today, so if I call the vet tomorrow about new medicine/appointment, Gisha will probably have to go without medicine for at least one day. Damn. Don't want to call out of his 'office-hours', if it isn't an emergency, though. Also have smith appointment tomorrow. Most likely Gisha will feel better on neatly trimmed hooves, but will the process be bad for the leg/hurt more? Well, at least it's just trimming and not shoeing, so it won't take all that long. In happier news, I still enjoy my new job a lot. Don't think I've mentioned this here yet but the shop's name is Buchengel - book-angel and the boss has referred to the two of us as book-angels once. I feel a bit like Aziraphale. :) Okay, time to go have a look at that leg. Current Mood: undecided (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
6:53 pm	Shouldn't Have Relied On Amazon I might have mentioned here a while ago that Neil Gaiman put an excerpt from Odd And The Frost Giants on his blog. Well, it's Neil Gaiman and it has Loki in the shape of a fox. Three good reasons to want the book in my mind, though considering it was written especially for World Book Day I originally suspected I wouldn't be able to get it not being a British child. Nevertheless I checked Amazon.de and found that I could pre-order it. So I did. Today I got an e-mail from Amazon telling me the book's no longer available and my order's been canceled. Then it refers me to another listing of the title on its site which is clearly stated to not be available either. :( No explanation, no publication date, no price (and I would have been willing to pay more and wait for a non World Book Day edition). Well, but I do work for a bookshop that takes pride in its success rate at finding books other shops don't want to waste time searching for. Lets see whether I can't supply myself with this book. I'm putting it on our search list tomorrow. :P In other news, we had another vet appointment today and because Gisha didn't like the big horse needle she got a shot with last time (Vet: I really can't use a cat needle for this one.) we decided to try giving her only the other shot (yep, cat needle - My horse insists on being a cat.) and a powder she'll get starting Saturday. If her leg doesn't get worse then, we'll stick with it, if it does get worse, there's a syrup we can try, but it's more expensive. If the syrup doesn't work either, we'll have to check whether there isn't some serious damage to her joint ... or maybe not. She does still have an injured tendon after all which will not be affected by powder or syrup so she does have the right to still limp after those have done their part. - Not quite sure why we're currently not using any medicine on the tendon as well, but hoping the powder will do its trick. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
11:11 pm	And Good Night, Everybody. There you go and I'm off to bed. Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008
6:48 pm	The Mighty Power Of Cats Okay, so I've known for years that there is nothing more relaxing than holding a soft, warm, purring cat in your arm. They can calm you when you're nervous, console you when you're sad, keep you company when you're lonely and somehow miraculously lessen physical pain. (Mum once told me cat fur's used against rheumatism. A live cat is better, trust me.) Today I had to wash the medical paste off Gisha's leg, disinfect the rash* and then reapply the paste for her tendon. Of course Gisha has decided that "Don't look at that, it hurts!" is the best solution so it's a bit of a problematic procedure. Drying the leg with a towel after washing isn't in there so we had to wait for it to dry. And just at that moment Jacky walked up to me cuddling up to my legs. So I decided to pass the time by giving him some love and picked him up. I showed him to Gisha and he actually stretched closer to rub his head against her nostrils. She sniffs, he rubs. Quite surprising how two animals so different seem to recognise each other's greeting gestures ... And then Gisha lowered her head a little so Jacky's on her eye level and he rubbed against her cheek ... and a lower yet into a position I don't usually see her assume. (She doesn't like being touched between the ears, though she will let me, if I insist. Still offering her ears up like that is inviting me to scratch there and she'd never do that.) At first I didn't understand what she was doing. She couldn't possibly want to see him this close to her eye and horses aren't very visually inclined anyway. They're more likely to explore things with their nose, smell and hearing being their finest senses. Then it hit me. She was leaning in to better hear him purr! After that she didn't even dance around much when I applied the paste. The mighty power of cats. It doesn't just work on humans, horses are just as susceptible. * We are mystified as to what caused the rash. The vet originally thought it was from a salve the other vet (the one that never came) prescribed for the tendon, but the other vet only ever prescribed a powder to put into the food. In the end he decided to blame Gisha's thick winter fur. I'm not entirely sure how that could have caused the problem, but it's definitely to blame for us not seeing it until he shaved it off to do an ultrasound on the tendon. Current Mood: good (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, January 25th, 2008
4:50 pm	Spoke Too Soon Gisha and I just spent two hours standing in the cold (Well, actually 10 °C, but after one hour of standing in he wind my fingers started going numb anyway.) waiting for the vet. After that I decided that he wasn't planning to show up. I suppose I should call him, but I'm cold, grumpy, hungry and still phonophobic and just can't deal with that now. Not sure what I'll do yet, but calling another vet on Monday figured prominently among the fantasies I kept myself entertained with during that last half hour of waiting before I gave up. :( Current Mood: disappointed (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 24th, 2008
7:23 pm	Finally I finally got an appointment with the vet for Gisha's vaccination and a look at her leg. That tendon she hurt years ago seems to be acting up again. At least it's always the same leg ... :( Anyway, getting a hold of the vet is always difficult. Usually the first few times you call him he doesn't pick up and when he does he tells you to call again in 20 minutes ... when he doesn't pick up or tells you to call again in 15 minutes ... This time I was lucky, though, as he was on holiday in upper Austria. (Yes, him being in another province is lucky. It means he's got time to answer the phone.) I caught him first try, but he told me to call again today for the exact time as he won't be back until tomorrow. I wish I wouldn't get all nervous and shaky every time I have to make a phone call, but at least this time it required only two calls. Now I just have to remember to detour to the bank on the way to the stables tomorrow. (Vaccine + tendon injury medicine + € 100,00 for just the consultation = more money than I carry around.) Also spent € 350,00 for the bus card (for one year) this month. *wince* It wouldn't look like that much, if I paid monthly, but then it'd be € 360,00, except the price would go up the moment they raise the prices. Paying for a year in advance means I won't be hit by the next one until 2009. (Yes, they tend to be yearly things.) (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
1:07 pm	Softest Hedgehog Ever I just got a Three Holy Kings gift* from Iremione! It's a big stuffed hedgehog. Iremione, if you're reading this: It's true that I already have some other stuffed hedgehogs, but none of them are this soft! Thank you so much! *hugs* Any ideas what to name this one, people? I already have an Igli, Igbi, Snuffle, Siili and Erizo as well as several Greenies. * That's who brings the gifts in Spain. I love how different the Christmas traditions of my friends are. :) (My new discoveries this time around: The Christmas Goat and that St. Nicklaus is the big gift giving celebration in the Netherlands. Oh and Easter Witches, though those don't belong anywhere near Christmas.) Current Mood: happy (4 Comments |Comment on this)
12:31 pm	Because Nobody Guessed Anything Last Time Step 1: Put your MP3 player or whatever on random. Step 2: Post the first line(s)* from the first 30 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song. Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from. Step 4: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly (No lyric hunting! That is cheating!) Okay, I think this'll be mostly first sentences rather than first lines and if the first line includes the title, I'm posting a latter one. Also skipping instrumental pieces. (Hey, what lyrics should I post for those?) 1. Post office clerks put up signs saying position closed 2. Once there was a kid who got into an accident and couldn't come to school 3. His mama named him Tommy, the folks just called him yellow, but something always told me they were reading Tommy wrong. NOT FIRST LINE 4. There's a time for love, and a time for healing. You can't go back and undo what's been done. 5. I was an unmarried girl I'd just turned twenty-seven 6. A mile frae Pentcaitland, on the road to the sea 7. You with the sad eyes don't be discouraged 8. By the storm-torn shoreline a woman is standing. 9. Well I'll be damned here comes your ghost again 10. She danced in the starlight, whispering a haunted tune to the night NOT FIRST LINE 11. Climbing the mountains of power, crossing the deserts of pain. (No guarantees. This one isn't on the internet and I'm not always entirely certain what I hear, but I tried to transcribe it once and this part I'm pretty sure of.) 12. I can see all obstacles in my way Gone are the dark clouds that had me down. NOT FIRST LINE – and I think it's still easy. 13. kinou made nani mo kanjinakatta ano shigusa ga – SORRY!! 14. I heard the sound of voices in the night 15. Have you seen the old man In the closed-down market COVER, so only the title will do. 16. Where has the time gone...it seems to fly so fast One moment you're having fun, the next its come to pass 17. There are shadows in the sky Dancing in the air 18. That'd be Un Gallicien Libre A Paris by Carlos Nunez. The lyrics are probably up on Spanish sites as well, but I know less Spanish than I do French and I couldn't find my way to them on the French sites that came up when I googled. 19. I stood out here once before with my head held in my hands 20. A band of light is stretching across the ocean's rim 21. Merrily we sailed along, though the waves were plenty strong, 22. I was told once, by a friend of mine she had seen an olden sign. 23. Don't shed a tear for me I stand alone 24. Damn the wind, damn the weans, damn the weather as ye harness up old Betsy in the rain. 25. If God had a name what would it be? 26. Hes a rebel and a runner 27. We'll drink together. And when we drink we'll drink together, not alone! 28. We'll laugh and dance and sing, We'll drink all day and Bill will pay NOT FIRST LINE 29. The last that ever she saw him – Really only the first line as the second contains the title. I think it's easy, though. 30. Every generation blames the one before Current Mood: happy (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008
5:10 pm	Ecstatic And Sad I'M HIRED!!!!!! I'll start work at the online bookshop in February! I had a great workday there today, interesting and not stressing at all despite everything being new. From what the boss told me it looks like the money will be enough, too. So yes I am absolutely ecstatic right now. Then I came home to find that we're probably going to declare the RPG dead in a week. I've been wondering whether it was still alive for a while now, but it still makes me sad. Also sad about a sad story Shpinx told me and happy to hear that Yarol's feeling better. So yes, I'm one ecstatic-sad-happy-sad fox right now. I hope you'll forgive me for not selecting a mood for this post. (17 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008
8:45 pm	Meme Bold the ones that apply to you. A high score indicates you're privileged. (Using ! instead, because I don't know how to bold them.) !1. Father went to college (I'm never entirely sure how to translate college into our school system, so I'm putting university.) !2. Father finished college !3. Mother went to college 4. Mother finished college (Probably would have, if the Bachelors had existed back then, but it didn't even exist in this country when I finished school.) 5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor 6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers (Er ... Should I translate high school to Hauptschule or Gymnasium? Are you asking whether I was the same class or my parents were? I wasn't old enough to have reached that educational level yet after all.) !7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home !8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home !9. Were read children's books by a parent (er ... only until I learned to read myself, but isn't that normal parental behaviour?) !10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 (er ... but that's kind of very normal in this country even if I don't count school itself) !11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 (if you count tutoring – which isn't provided by school, but few children manage without it in at least one subject – again pretty normal) 12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively. (No such people in the media.) 13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18 14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs (University is free in this country. My parents did pay for the books and kept me clothed and fed, though.) 15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs (see above) !16. Went to a private high school (Again what do I consider high school? I did attend a private Gymnasium for three years, though, so I'll assume yes.) !17. Went to summer camp (Yes, once. Because my best friend needed the tutoring the camp offered.) !18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18 (Again, there was no tutoring in school and my parents couldn't help me keep up with my over ambitious Latin teacher.) !19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels (The one in Turkey did. None of the others.) 20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 (No, and if it was it was bought too large, so I could grow into it. – Unfortunately my classmates were used to new and fitting clothes.) 21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them (Never occurred to them to buy me a car.) !22. There was original art in your house when you were a child (A portrait of Dad painted by Grandpa and a picture series by Grandma. Both were gifts from the artists.) !23. You and your family lived in a single family house (from age 12) !24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home !25. You had your own room as a child (Because I was an only child, though.) 26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18. (Who has that?!) 27. Participated in an SAT/ACT or other high school exam prep course (Er ... What in the world are those accronyms?) 28. Had your own TV in your room in High School (Was promised on once, though. Parents went back on their promise, because they didn't trust me not to watch while doing school work.) 29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA or ISA/PEP/TESSA or similar in High School or College (Isn't IRA a terrorist organisation? Tessa is a girls' name, I know. ... I'm beginning to think I don't understand English after all.) !30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 (That holiday in Turkey again.) 31. Went on a cruise with your family 32. Went on more than one cruise with your family !33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up. (If you call me dragging them into the Museum of Natural History from time to time after having visited the place on a school excursion.) !34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family (Yep, Dad wouldn't have discussed financial matters with a child.) 19 – Which illiterate country is this list intended for, though? *shakes head at 50 books listing* Current Mood: impatient (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, October 13th, 2007
5:27 pm	Sad Things Things in the stables aren't always happy either. I let Gisha take a roll in the sand before exercising her today and she seems to have hurt her leg getting up. At least I hadn't noticed a limp before then. Was the last leg she hurt the right or the left front one? This time it looks like the right. She doesn't seem to have a swelling, nor was any part of her leg warm, so I'm hoping it'll heal in a day or two. If not this will get expensive as my vet does nothing under 100 Euros. I'd been hoping not to need him until January when Gisha's next vaccination should be. Another thing that will probably be more expensive than expected is Gisha's next hoof trimming as my wonderful (and wonderfully cheap) smith has hurt his shoulder and will be unable to work for at least four weeks. I'd been thinking of calling him about an appointment next week and Mari tells me Luna's next trimming is overdue already. My last smith wasn't that good and Luna gets nervous around him (apparently he yells at her) so we're not eager to call that one. The one before that was good, but refuses to work at the stables after an argument with the leaseholder. Mari says she doesn't know of another good smith 'yet'. ... I suppose I could ask Brigitte for hers, but for now I'm hoping Mari meant that she's got good sources. All that's fixable, though and will probably work out just fine. What's not fixable is the dead mouse I found in one of Gisha's water buckets. Look like the poor little thing fell in and drowned. (The water level was pretty low and those plastic walls must be way too slippery for tiny paws.) RIP little fellow. Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)