Getting Ready for Christmas

 Hi Dear Reader,

How are you doing? How has December been treating you?

Here at the Bock household, we have been getting ready for Christmas. Little Bock 1 helped me clean, declutter, and rearrange the house for our Christmas tree. We have a small fake tree that sits on top of one of our end tables. It is handy to have a small tree that is off the floor. This year, she was very excited to put the ornaments on. She hung almost all except the glass balls on the tree. Those she had me do. Then, she grabbed her stool from the kitchen and sat on it to stare at the decorated tree. This year, she just talks about the sparkly ornaments. Last year, most of the ornaments came off the tree and were wandering around the house. Quite a few of the breakable ones didn’t survive. Thankfully, we have had no causalities this year.

We also have a large nativity scene that my grandmother hand painted and gave to us when we were married. It is very pretty. My dad made a barn out of wood from their own barn when they were fixing it up. The girls love playing with animals and the people. We never know where Baby Jesus is going to show up.

Besides getting ready for Christmas, it has been bitter cold here. That makes working outside with the horses not as enjoyable. I am thankful for all my clients with barns and the local coffee shops. A hot cup of coffee does wonders for the frozen fingers and toes. Usually, December slows down with cases: rechecks and sick horses. When the weather gets cold, horses don’t drink as much as they should. I guess I don’t want to drink cold water with ice floating on it either. They can develop impaction colics which is where there isn’t enough moisture in their GI system to keep things moving. They form a hard manure that gets lodged in the large intestine. It is super uncomfortable and can be life threatening. Some of them are fixed with medications and giving warm water through a stomach tube. Other horses have to go to a hospital for IV fluids. The best way to prevent it is to offer warm water and to add salt to their feed so they are thirsty.

On the writing side of things, My First Kisment Christmas is for sale. You can get it wherever you read your books.

Also, if you are a Smashwords fan, my older books are all 50% off during their special sale. Check them out!

 And my books are in a couple of sales promos for the month.

That's it for this week! Hugs,

Allie