u/GrayMareCabal — reddlx

Recommended auto mechanics (crofton area preferred)

Literally just moved to Crofton last week. Have been ignoring my car telling me that it's past time for an oil change. Have also been ignoring my car being creaky, I think mostly due to shocks and struts needing to be replaced. Also, a tire screaming low pressure (I can take care of that, could theoretically take care of the oil change too - I've done it before, but not my favorite thing to do).

Things have quieted down enough for me now that it is time to take care of my car, but new place! I need a new mechanic! Recommendations please!

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u/GrayMareCabal — 5 days ago

▲ 5 r/fashionhistory

Not sure if this is truly fashion history, but it is definitely history. And it is the history of some elements of what some people wore to ride horses in early years, potentially as long ago as the 1850s in Maryland

I say 1850s with certainty because that's when my ancestors bought the house I am currently living in in Maryland. Although it has been sold and I am moving out soon (don't judge me but I'm looking forward to central a/c).

My family is working hard at cleaning out the property, but also every so often, we stumble across things like this.

I am a horse girl and I have several pairs of modern half chaps that fit me. My ancestor's half chaps definitely do not fit me (strong thick calves here that I am proud of).

But also whether or not you all know what half chaps are, I thought you might appreciate seeing this pics of half chaps over decades.

Half chaps, for the record, are materials worn on just the calf of a leg when riding a horse because sometimes the horse or the saddle will cause chaffing and blisters on your calf. Half chaps prevent that by covering your lower leg in protective material to protect chafing.

And in the four sets of historical half chaps I have, we've got two with thick leather straps around and being fixed with a buckle on the outside. One that is leather with snaps! But also a very thick and rigid metal busk on the outside, but with a loop that goes under the sole of the boots to keep the half chap from riding up.

Lastly, we have a pair of canvas half chaps. They've got snaps and and an adjustable under shoe strap.

(also roweled spurs with tooled leather straps (again, my family had been living in Maryland since long before the Civil War so no matter how western coded those spurs are, it's still Maryland)

Finally a set of 8" or so long wrist gauntlets. Personally, I would never have assumed they were related to riding, except they were in the same box as the tooled leather spurs. I would have assumed something like archery, except even with archery, you don't need to protect both wrists. And then my uncle comes along and says, "oh, yeah, grandpa wore those all the time when riding out to protect his wrists." So...

ETA: Link to photos of all the old school horsey things I posted in r/equestrian and wanted to share here, but apparently I don't know how to share! I do know who to link, at least?

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u/GrayMareCabal — 1 month ago

▲ 137 r/Equestrian

Anyone want to see pics of some old timey riding gear I found in the attic of my house (six generations of my family have lived here)?

I'm just going to assume you do! And considering I have a photo or two of my great-great-grandfather with some of his prized horses on the property I currently live on* (and he lived until the 1930s, so I assume the oldest ones belonged to him), I thought you all would enjoy seeing some horsey history

*My sibling and I sold the property (neither of us could afford it, but we did do our best to keep it farmland) so we're working hard on cleaning out 6 generations of crap and every so often, one of us has to stop and say, "OMG, that's so cool!"

As I did with all of this horsey gear.

u/GrayMareCabal — 1 month ago

▲ 589 r/cats

George wants to thank Americans for celebrating his independence from the tyranny of the emergency vet

He thinks it only fitting that a celebrating him getting to go home from the hospital after two days. He wouldn't hate it if other countries wanted to celebrate too, but would prefer fewer fireworks.

For more serious and specific details (spoilered not because there's anything particularly scary or gross about what happened, but more because it doesn't fit the silly vibe of the post):

>!Staring on the 26th, he started losing his appetite. He was still eating, just less. It got better a bit over the weekend, then I noticed some diarrhea, and then he threw up a couple times that night. He's done this before, so not an automatic vet visit for me, but more of a "wait and see". The next day I noticed that there was no new poo in his preferred litterbox (I have two cats, sometimes it's hard to know who is doing what, also two automatic feeders, so sometimes hard to know ), so I decided to confine him to the bathroom. And the next day, there was pee, but not poo. and he was barely eating. I tried some different foods, and he was willing to eat a few bites of just about anything as long as I put a churru or similar on top. But after two nights with no poo and minimal eating and drinking, off to the emergency vet we went. !<

>!He got an ultrasound, an x-ray and bloodwork done - no obvious smoking guns (though he does have a heart murmur). Vet was admittedly on the fence about whether he should be admitted or go home for outpatient care. We ultimately decided on outpatient care, so with anti-nausea meds and appetite stimulants and probiotics, George and I went home. !<

>!Where he proceeded to basically only eat from my hand. And then got to the "I will sniff and lick the chicken in your hand and turn my head away" So back to the emergency vet we went. !<

>!This time he got admitted because he'd failed outpatient care, also he presented with a fever (we're currently experiencing horribly hot weather and my house does not have central air. His temp went back to normal after an hour in the ac of the vet hospital). He did well overnight, with fluids and a few other types of supportive care they could give him at the hospital, around 5am, he started eating! Yay! Ate even more at 11am! And then again at the next feeding!!<

>!And then around 5pm, I got the afternoon update and he wasn't eating as well and had started running a mild temperature. Both the doc and I were both hoping to release him, but I asked "Is there any chance we can do another temp check before I come to get him? If it's normal, he comes home. If it's still high, or higher? He stays another night"!<

>!Yeah, his temperature went up. Anitbiotics were started. This morning, still running a temperature so now thinking it's a viral infection, so they started him on an anti-inflammatory which often helps with viral infections. He got back to eating normally, his temperature came down, and now he's home with me. !<

And he was his perfectly annoyed vocal self the entire way home. He's been eating a ton since we got home and snuggling with me and being normal. I am also going to schedule some specialist appointments for him because something is not quite right (regular vet has said "his bloodwork is good, but there a couple of blood cell counts that are high for him." Vet hospital said same and both have said, "this could be indicative of some kind of infection or inflammation. Or it could just be stress". But since it's pretty consistent and he has been atypically .sick this year... making an appointment for a specialist.

u/GrayMareCabal — 2 months ago

▲ 8 r/AnneArundelCounty

Vet and vet hospital recommendations near Crofton

I'm moving to Crofton in about a month, I've got two cats - an adorable 10-month-old bobtail kitten and an adorable, lovable, irascible jerk of a grumpy 15-year-old floof monster.

Said floof monster got to spend today at an emergency vet with a diagnosis of gastroenteritis. First time for him at the e-vet, not his first time with gastro or similar, but by far his worst bout. I suspect that he's probably going to need a specialist (likely internal medicine) in the future. And just in case he decides to be dramatic the day after we move, I want to have figured out where I would like to take him without having to resort to a panicked "vets near me" search.

I have a friend who likes Family Veterinary Clinic. I like the idea of Veterinary Housecall Service specifically because my grumpy boy HATES going to the vet (he gets gabapentin before scheduled visits and still screams and tries to bite the vet and pees on techs, so having a vet come to us? If that makes the appointment easier for him? I'm for it).

And during shutdown times, I had an emergency with a previous pet that resulted in me going to Cats and Dogs Emergency in Bowie and it was a generally positive experience with them considering the circumstances. But also sometimes you get lucky and have a good experience at an otherwise terrible location. Are they a decent vet hospital with good specialists? Or are there others that you would recommend?

So please, what vets and vet hospitals around Crofton do you like?

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u/GrayMareCabal — 2 months ago