Today was an interesting day.
As I sit back, writing to you, I am pondering it all, nodding and smiling.
Sometimes it is best to just ‘go with it’ and be grateful…
HERE IS HOW IT STARTED…
I drove back to Grass Valley yesterday, only to find Floppy Kitty with a closed eye. Probably another foxtail.
– This is amazing to me. I’ve lived here 13 years and never a foxtail. This year, two in one week. The reason why, I’m sure, is because our weed whacker guy retired and I couldn’t get on the books for a new guy until too late in the season. All the foxtails had gone to seed so the daggerpods are everywhere. Sigh.
Anyway, I knew I had to get Floppy to the vet asap, before too much damage was done to her eye.

This is Floppy at the vet after he had administered the numbing agent to her right eye. Yet again another foxtail. None for 13 years and now Two in one week!
THE FIRST PROBLEM
I needed to shower to be presentable for the vet visit.
That was when I realized the first problem.
Hubby and his friends had hefted and loaded all of the furniture and boxes last weekend (while I was in Paso watching the fencing…). I tried to think ahead while packing for this move, knowing I’d still be in Grass Valley with the horses for a while, so I labeled what was to stay. Everything else was moved.
This morning I came to realize that all of the bath supplies I had marked (not very well, obviously) to ‘leave in GV’, had gone.
So, I had no soap or shampoo or lotions.
I looked at my shower and wondered what I was going to do… I mean, I could just splash water on myself and go… but… eck… and then I remembered…
ANGEL #1 – Sherie from EquiSpa.
A few weeks ago, EQUISPA had sent a lovely care package of herbal equine products to my horses (Fairy Tails Spray, Fairy Tails Gloss, The Balm and Peppermint Summer Protection Spray). My horses and I love EquiSpa products and I use them while grooming religiously, but I hadn’t had the time to partake in the new products in the box because I had been too busy with the move.
But, the box was still in the barn! I had horse hair products and lotion!! I ran down to the barn and brought back the box full of fresh, unmessed, not yet goobered, spa products!
I USED… the Fairy Tales Spray as a conditioner, the Fairy Tales Gloss as a Detangler and The Balm as my dry skin lotion!! Oh My Gosh I smelled divine!! And, my hair actually looked way better than when I use regular products. Hmmmm. I think I will keep it in the shower…
I already knew I loved the Balm, so that was a no brainer.
(EquiSpa, thank you. You totally saved me! And I will use the products on my horses soon.)
Here is what Sherie has said about the Fairy Tales Spray and Gloss: “The larger bottle is Fairy Tails spray. It helps repair and strengthen manes and tails with amino acids and vitamins also encourage growth…has some detangling properties. Has argon and coconut oil.
The Gloss helps detangle and smooth tails and or manes. It has coconut oil and orchid oil along with humectants to help moisturize and add shine. The fragrance of both products comes from natural orchid oil extract.”
Yum-mee! I felt really clean and tingly all morning!
PS: The Peppermint Summer Spray is a staple around here. It is totally natural, the horses love it and the flies are GONE.

The movers (Hubby and friends) had taken all of my soaps, lotions and shampoos! Oh No! But I remembered my box of new EquiSpa products and used them all! Here they are on my bathroom counter just before I opened them all!
NOW FOR THE 2ND ANGEL OF THE DAY…
OK, so I took Floppy to the vet after my lovely shower with the spa products!
Poor Floppy had a ginormous foxtail in her eye. I almost lost it when Dr. Mario pulled the tree trunk sized spike out of her eye (gag). Poor girl. Ugh. Anyway, the same drill as for Scouty. Ointment 3x a day and all will be fine.
So, we left…
And, as I was driving down a windy road to my house, the car light came on, CHECK GAUGES.
Wha?
I looked a the Temp Gauge and it was all the way over to “H” !!!!
OMG!! My car was overheating!!
I pulled over into someone’s driveway and stopped. Crap. Crapcrapcrap.
It was 98 degrees and Floppy and I were directly in the sun on a blind curve.
As I got out, I saw that my car was starting to steam over. This has never happened to me before so I was a bit alarmed. I called Hubby.
Hubby reassured me that the car wouldn’t catch fire or explode (my worries) so I called a tow truck and brought Floppy to a shady spot on the narrow curve.

Here is my car, overheating in someone’s driveway. It was almost 100 degrees and I had Floppy in a carrier in the shade.
STAY CALM, COOL AND COLLECTED
I knew I had to stay calm, cool and collected.
You see, drivers who are driving while you are standing in the road – tend to look at the stalled car and drive too far into the curve – right where I was standing. It was actually very unnerving.
I couldn’t move Floppy because that was the only shade. So, for an hour, I danced in and out of the shade, as people drove far too close to me for my comfort… I kept reminding myself how lucky I was that this happened here and not on I-5 while driving home with Scouty in the desert with big rigs flying past at 90MPH… Being stalled on my country road was such a blessing. I even had a friend pass by, do a Uey and come ask if I was OK… Love that about small towns.
Anyway, eventually – it felt like forever, but it wasn’t – the Tow Truck arrived.
ANGEL #2 – THE TOW TRUCK GUY
This Towing company was listed as ‘family owned’ and it seemed like a good idea to use them instead of a bigger company, so I did.
When the driver arrived he was very kind, comforting and cheery, I told him that I chose their ad on Google because it said “family owned”. He smiled. He said that I had spoken to his wife, and he and his 2 sons drive. Nice.
On the way home, Floppy was in the driver seat of the Jeep (if she could only see out it would have been so fun for her…), the Tow Truck Guy (named ‘Foxx’) chatted with me about kids and life.
I told him about the foxtails and two trips to the vet this week and that I couldn’t get my new weed whacker put together correctly and the move and the fence and my stepdaughter…
And do you know what this man did?… After we made it home and he dropped my Jeep, he came over to me on the porch and asked to see my weed whacker. I brought it out. And while he was assembling it, he spoke about fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, parenting and divorce and guilt and child rearing and fear and 16 year olds and life and … his words were channeled, I’m sure, and measured exactly for me.
Unbelievable.
One little human, sitting, in need of so much – and another soft, kind human sitting and giving so much.
Lemonade out of lemons. Angels dropped down just for us.
Sherie so generously sent the hair care products just when I needed them – personally… and Foxx, the Tow Truck wizard, gave me his time and wisdom.
Today was a very good day!

Foxx, the tow truck wizard, assembling my weed whacker and dispensing the wisdom of the ages to his weary and needy audience.

Thank you – this means a lot…
Dawn, you are an amazing writer and person which I’m sure most of us have realized over the years of horsey stuff.
You draw us in so gracefully to form a wonderful family of animals and the people who love them.
From your precious Mama Tess to all the rescues you have helped,giving so much of your heart.
My prayers and I know so many others remain with you and your human and animal family.
God Bless you all,
Robin Miles aka RobinJude
siggyb@aol.com
Dawn…..wow your plate is full.
Yes, you sure had angels helping you.
But…. these fox tails ?
I’ve never seen this before!!!
What is the purpose of these plants?
Seems like the animals are attracted to them.
Laurie