DECEMBER BITS AND PIECES AND A CATCH UP

Things are getting back to normal for which I'm extremely grateful. However, the lights above, which were impossible to photograph without a rare view of the author, were an impulse buy from Lidl back in November and were so successful, I've decided to make them a permanent feature. I love the shadows they throw and they light up a rather dark area of the room. 

Right, some catching up to do as I just haven't had the time to tell you what's been going on a) with Trigger and b) with Insulin pumps. 

You may recall that some people were coming to see Trigger a couple of weeks before Christmas, to see if he might be a suitable companion for their horse. They came, they liked him and we agreed he would go on a month's trial from the following Sunday....just before Christmas. I was a bit shocked and cried a lot all week. By Friday he had paid what was potentially his last visit to the Dartmoor Madams and, as I was leading him home, I got a text from both Anna (who had suggested Trigger to them), and the people who were meant to be coming to pick him up in two days. Their horse had pinworms and I needed to decide whether I still wanted him to go there. I had never heard of them. What could be the problem with a few worms? Just a simple wormer surely? I Googled them when I got home. Not good news. They are notoriously difficult to get rid of and the expense and work involved is huge. You have to wash down anywhere they might have rubbed their sore and incessantly itchy arses plus the itchy arses themselves every day and re-infestation is seemingly endless from the forums I've been on. So, he didn't go. However, once they have eradicated them, he will go but it can take months. I just can't risk him going, getting them and then it not working out and him coming back and having to be isolated from the Madams. They need to get a couple of sheep to eat up those worm eggs, kill them off (the eggs) and stop the cycle. Most of my farming friends who have horses don't bother to worm at all because their stock graze on the same land.

The Insulin pump is not looking good either. I went to my appointment in Exeter before Christmas and spent a while with the specialist who clearly wasn't listening to anything I was saying and told me I couldn't get a pump for six months and then only if I fitted the required criteria. I asked if I could wear a continuous glucose monitoring sensor for a few days to try and show them (for the third time) that I have what he said doesn't exist, which is night time dips in blood sugar followed by a very steep rise, resulting in very high readings when I get up which CANNOT be explained by its being high all night or I would be up for a wee several times. I never get up for a wee. He then showed me a system on his computer screen that you can purchase yourself but which isn't available on the NHS. It costs £57.95 ($87.64) every two weeks to run which I cannot afford. I walked out of the appointment depressed. I've been having this problem at night for 15 years and no one has ever been able to sort it out. I got a letter a few days ago saying that apparently there are no such continuous monitoring things available any more at the hospital. They were donated in the past but there are now none. Even more depressed. I looked at the thing he'd said cost the money. It's a revelation and I had to do what I'd been trying to avoid. Ask my mum for help. She was delighted to do so but I still feel bad about it. The ironic thing about this brilliant system is that it doesn't cost significantly more than the endless finger pricking test strips I use at least six times a day. Anyway, I went online to try and order one, only to find that the demand has been so huge that their factory can't cope and I can't have one until they catch up. It could be months. Damn. 

I'll keep you posted on both situations but for now, here are some images from the last month, starting with these fabulous Red Deer I spotted early one morning, on their way between two areas of forest. I was beside myself.

Stonechats are still around............or not:

A sorry looking Fieldfare:

Ying and Yang grooming:

Early morning shenanigans:

Long view over towards Hound Tor and Haytor:

Shadow of Kestor in the frosty dawn sun:

Dawn over Thornworthy Tor:

I came across this beautiful filly yesterday. She came over and nuzzled my hand and I was in love:

I took my neighbours' dogs out for walks when they were away. Their Jack Russel is very funny:

Lady Jane will miss Trigger if he goes:

Snippet in a hail storm. We hid behind this wall in the worst of it:

Evening sun:

King Snippet:

River dogs:

Winter sun:

I thought this lichen looked like a Japanese stylised tree:

So I'll leave you now having grumped about NHS funding and Pinworm infestations. Welcome to two new followers, Janine and someone I can't find. The number has gone up by two but I can't see the second one. Hello whoever you are. So, until next time, here are those boys, one more focused than the other.