The solution...I hope? (August: chapter 3)

So, I have tried really hard to do everything "by the book" and I still do most of the time... but at some stage you really just have to give in on some rules! eg. I know that a person's "supposed to" let the dog sit (or something sort-like), give their food and then take the bowl away after 15 to 20 minutes... especially when the dog's not eating their food, but this routine is just not working for me. I've tried to follow this rule now for 8 months, but Jenni isn't persuaded.

So now I decided to give up and I leave the food there until she has eaten it or until the next meal when I clean out the bowl. Jenn is already a very slim breed of dog and she's getting a little on the thin side, therefore I'm just breaking this rule from now on - so sue me ;) Some rules are just made to be broken!

I also decided to break another rule (not hitting a dog) and have made us a "Charlie" - in fact I made 3 of them and they will have to go along to the shows from now on and I will resort to threatening her :P A "Charlie" is basically a rolled-up newspaper, stuck together with tape on the one end and cut into noisy strips on the other end - so if you ever give the dog a hiding with it - it only spooks them because of the noise, but doesn't actually hurt. Our pup is actually a very submissive little soul in normal day life so I wouldn't actually have to touch her with it - and it would only be reserved for the very irritating play-growling, because frankly I can think of no other way to control it that will work for me. The Charlie is my last resort and I really hope it will work!

Another rule I'm bending is the amount of time I spend with the horse: I just can't do it perfectly so I will do my 2nd best! It will have to do. I feel really very bad about not going over to exercise and clean her feet out tonight, but I can't cope with all the responsibilities in one day! It will just take a lot longer for us to achieve "our" goals - tough.

I wish that I could move her to a better yard or that I could do all the things I'd like to more thoroughly, but I just realise that I can't and have to improvise untill I have other means.

I think I know why I feel so frustrated about so many of these things: because I am a novice in basically all of them. I have read a lot of books and advice and opinions, but it's all still just theory and the practical experience is proving the job otherwise... just to make sure life isn't all boring I guess.

Being a "by-the-book" kind of person I find it a little hard to cope with this element of reality. But that is the Suchness of life! Life is entirely unpredictable, changing and fascinatingly senseless... :) it's the way nature was made - to adapt to changes and to change adaptations. Life is a dynamic process and there is no predicting what effect one small change will have on the rest of the system!

That is the magic of life and the challenge of survival.

I actually just realised why so many things irritate and bother me and why life throws all these little issues at me = because I want something to moan about! Therefore I guess I am one of those people who like to complain and go off on a tangent about how unfair/irritating/"wrong" the world is to me... hmmmm.... O.o

The world has always been an uncertain and crazy place... and it will always be. Some times are just a little more crazy than others.

One positive thing that I can say is that it seems the weather always plays along with me ;) almost every time that I plant new plants it rains afterwards :) saving me some time watering it again the next day ;) Now I have a little more time for putting pretty little brass "cuffs" (halo's) around the new seedlings so the snails don't munch them all in one night.