Such a beautiful sunny day yesterday! Today? Rain. Tomorrow? Rain. But I don’t mind. We need rain in order for the grass to get green, for plants to grow, for trees to bud. I’m just happy to see all of the snow gone!
I spent a few hours working on the dollhouse yesterday, doing the tedious work of getting rid of all the excess glue. Applying heat – in my case, with a hairdryer – softens the glue. But getting it out of there involves scraping or using your fingernails, which is what I did. My sore fingers this morning indicate that I did a lot of that. But huzzah! I’m done!
There’s still some excess glue around the windows, but that will be fairly easy to deal with. Next up: my plan for the exterior. And that, if I do it right, is going to take a long time.
I want to share two things with you today.
Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while remember the story of Ashley and Pliers, the two horses that we fed every day on our trail walk. Ashley was the mother and Pliers the son. They were devoted to each other, but they lived in a muddy field and their owner was no longer capable of caring for them. They were in their thirties and Ashley was blind. Sometime she would fall and Pliers would stand guard over her. And Pliers wouldn’t let anyone get near her. He never left her side.
Some good neighbors intervened and temporarily housed them until the wonderful Catskill Animal Sanctuary took them in. That was 29 months ago. If they hadn’t taken them in, both horses would have died.
Today, on Instagram, there was a post from Catskill Animal Sanctuary:
“When 35-year-old blind Ashley, terrified of humans, and her 33-year-old son arrived here in October of 2016, we thought they had just weeks to live; they were dangerously attached to each other and had myriad health problems. In fact, Ashley’s back end gave out when she walked. But expert and exhaustive care (even helping them up when they couldn’t stand), exercise, and an abundance of love, likely gave them the best 29 months of their long lives. With their health rapidly declining and falls more frequent, it was time for our final act of love. Goodbye, teachers. Goodbye, old friends. Goodbye, Ashley and Pliers. You are forever in our hearts.”
My heart is breaking.
But without the Sanctuary, they would have been gone much sooner. Everyone at the Sanctuary lavished their time and care on them. Pliers began to feel less need to protect Ashley. He felt comfortable leaving her to come to the fence or for training. Ashley was tended by volunteers who were experienced in working with blind horses. The quality of life for both of them improved greatly.
I’m very sad. It’s hard to grasp that they are gone. But they went together and I know that it would have been impossible for either of them to continue without the other.
Farewell, Ashley and Pliers. You were loved by many.
You know what? That’s enough for today. I’ll save the other ‘share’ for tomorrow.
Let’s leave this post with a photo of these two beautiful souls.
Ashley.
Pliers.
Rest in Peace, my friends.
Happy Thursday.
