In which now Fiddle more closely resembles a famous movie star

Her new nickname is "Toofless."

The roots of her front (incisor) teeth were weak and rotten, so this week 
the vet pulled them all!  The molars are in good shape, so they get to stay.

I intended to share a photo of the teeth--they're all saved in a jar--because they are kinda cool.  However, photos of pulled horse teeth are yukky.  Maybe some Pinterest Queen could make something cool with them, but I'm inclined to just bury them under a tree and hope the Toof Fairy brings me something to offset the co$t of equine dental surgery.

Home from the vet clinic, she immediately started grazing on the lawn.

I know a lot of people wonder how she can eat with no front teeth.  I want to reassure y'all:  she's fine.  She still eats grass and hay with great enthusiasm--not from the Portagrazer at the moment, because her gums are still sore, but we'll go back to that in a week or two. 

She gets bute (pain med) for a few days, and antibiotics for a week.  I peeked at her gums this morning--they look better, but it's the stage where all the dead cells are emerging from the sockets and smells so bad.  The vet warned me about this, fortunately!

Things at work are unsettled right now (understatement) because our levy lid lift failed spectacularly, which means cuts--the library will reduce hours and staff in 2025. We don't know what the staff reductions will be yet (HR is grinding data still), and we are all anxious.  

Riding isn't a cure for that kind of anxiety, but NOT riding makes things worse, so out we went!

Not a strenuous ride, just a bimble around to stretch our legs--and hunt for mushrooms!

It's not very cold yet, but it's definitely not summer anymore

Mushroom-hunting horse stands "tied" to a fern while I hunt for mushrooms

Success!

Back in the parking lot, Kitty had "tagged" my rig with this little dragonfly-on-a-stick.   Kitty and I tag each other with magnets, stickers, and doo-dads just to say hello.

In theory, this bobbler will scare away deerflies.  I'll let you know if it works. 

Back on the farm, the garden isn't nearly done doing yet.

It looks overgrown and weedy because it is--but this garden is still producing masses of
tomatoes and even a few squash!

Jim recognizes that I am not able to make time to can tomatoes right now, so he's
worked it into his own schedule.

What I mean when I say "tomato."

Monica's garden is almost done for the year.  There are still a few bean poles standing with beans that we will dry for soup, and I discovered some volunteer chard when I pulled out all the bush bean plants (and the weeds) so I left those in place.

This garden was so overgrown and weedy that I burnt huge portions of it so
it will be plant-able next year.

I planted a lot more edible flowers in the vegetable gardens this year, mostly to please the bees.  It worked.

Nasturtiums over-growing the old chickenhouse

Marigolds planted near carrots and tomatoes to attract bees and repel pests

The apple trees look laden, but there is no fruit on the east sides of the trees.  Too shady!

We don't have an enormous apple crop this year, but I picked a bucket today and
made a batch of delicious applesauce

Pink sky at night--and it's not from wildfire smoke!  I'm delighted.