3. NEEDLES, The Easiest of the Three

POSTED BY HERZIG

Finding 'things' belonging to my HC can be a daunting challenge. She's not a hoarder and she has worked very hard to conquer her 'pack rat' habits. But she is and will never be cured of her ADHD. The flock has learned to live with a HC with Severe Combined ADHD, which can alternate between frustrating and funny. Well, that would be 'funny' and 'frustrating' for us and 'Uber Frustrating' for her. What we truly find outrageously funny is when we hear other HCs speak about how focused and insightful she is about something. And she is, externally. Internally she is a huge whirlwind, Or as she describes it.....inside her brain is a big room which contains thousands of ping pong balls and filled with static electricity causing the balls to fly around non-stop day and night. So while she is amazingly creative and obsessively engaged in organizing items and schedules, sheoften gets sidelined before completing a task. When she is knee deep in a task any distraction can overwhelm her causing great stress. And should her 'flow be broken' it will cause complete failure UNLESS. 

UNLESS, we have come to learn, means 'time'. Our HC requires 'processing' time. For example, our HC loves nothing more than sitting and frolicking with the flock and can spend hours with us, which we love. But if we plan to sit and frolic at 1500 on Tuesday and on Monday Ellis says to her, "Hey lets just all frolic right now." She falls off the pasture fence. Ellis has learned and is very adept at saying instead....."HC? I know we planned on sitting and frolicking Tuesday at 1500 but perhaps and only if you want, we could say~~frolic in about an hour? If you decide it is OK just let us know." As Esme is very astute also and takes great care to teach us all, we generally have gotten much better at 'processing' time also. So ADHD is a system about which we are very knowledgeable.

Oh yea, finding things belonging to our HC. One of the little quirks of ADHD can be clutter. Add to the our HC also suffers from OCD-Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Which means even with clutter she is always working at organizing the clutter just so. This is great if the organization has reached a good place but not so much if she hasn't 'gotten back to that' due to her high distractability issues. Clear as a fence post, right?

How does this relate to the 3rd and final item I must find. Fortunately the needles she uses for knitting are generally collected and organized in one spot, if a needle isn't engaged in a project. Ah, maybe I'd best correct the collected and organized statement. The needles are 'collected' although not precisely 'organized'. But the system works for our HC.

We know just where to find the place the needles are stored, in a rolling cart in the second drawer. And as we all go to school, I am a dap hoof at numbers. The pattern said SIZE 3 DP NEEDLES. Although still baffled by the meaning of DP the '3' should help me find what I needed.

Then when I was looking through the drawer I noticed although all the needles had pointed ends to move fiber around, some were pointed on both ends. While others were pointed at one end with a sort of lid on the other. AND some had points at both ends but flexible ropes in between 2 pieces with pointed ends. Pointed? The 'P' might mean pointed. AH HA, another flash of insight. Maybe the needles with 'points' at each end.....meaning 2 ends.....and if 1 point meant SINGLE perhaps the 'D' might stand for DOUBLE. 1=SINGLE AND 2=DOUBLE. Well, might as well give it a try. So I selected different sorts of needles in cases with the number '3'.

I selected one with a flexible rope between the pointed pieces as that seems to be the sort of needle our HC usually knits with and a packet full of needles which had a 3 on it. The rope needles were in a packet so I knew they also were 3's but decided it might be easier to transport all to the pasture to join the fiber, if I removed the rope needles from the packet.  Now I would need to  developed my approach with my HC.

Part 1 of the Plan was completed. 1. YARN 2. PATTERN 3. NEEDLES

Next, getting our HC to cooperate,

HERZIG

NEXT-HOW TO KNIT THE EGGPLANT

POSTED BY HERZIG

I could have spent days, weeks, months FOREVER looking through all the books and papers belonging to my HC but who knows if she still had the pattern anymore. I had no idea when the knitted Eggplant was completed. Best to try and find it on the Internet. If it wasn't there my mission was sure to fail. But luck was on my side and with Himhe's assistance, as I'm not all that computer literate, SUCCESS!

Typing in 'Eggplant Pattern Knitting' there it was.

So I found what looked like the logical site to have the pattern for the knitted Eggplant. Again my luck held as I selected the one at the top of the list of suggested matches. As I crossed all 4 of my hooves, which made it a bit tricky to click the cursor I can tell you!!!! I managed to click. I closed my eyes and counted to 10. And when I opened my eyes............

There was the very thing I'd been looking for....at the back of the bowl on the picture in front of me on the computer~~~A KNITTED EGGPLANT! So it was a matter of scrolling down until I found what I wanted~~~~

A KNITTED EGGPLANT PATTERN.

Himhe showed me how to save the pattern into a file in Documents. And amazingly we found a file called 'patterns' in that library. Opening it up we saw several files all clearly marked, but nothing saying 'eggplant' or 'vegetables'. But there was a file called 'odds and ends' and that is where I saved the knitted Eggplant pattern. So when I tackle our HC to make a new knitted Eggplant for my best-est friend Piper, I would tell my HC just where to find part 2 of my hunt. 1. Yarn 2. Pattern, all that is left for this part of my hunt was what needles my HC would need to knit with. But what needle. And then just before I finished with the computer search I caught sight of just what I needed........

NUMBER 3 NEEDLES

 'DP'? I'd figure that out when I found out where all the needles were stored.

The Hunt Continues,

Herzig

Technical Problems Creating Campaign Material !

posted from ECCH Staff

The ECCH crew has been working 'ears to tail' creating banners, signs and working on the party Platform. The Platform draft we are very pleased with, and will post about it and put it on our Campaign 2012 page~very soon.

The other tasks were going well but we were suddenly being plagued with technical issues due to our Campaign Materials Software. Callopie, our Office Manager, had done research and found a company offering a great deal. So we ordered it and got to work. All went off without a hitch, we thought. But when we later opened them up to finalize and print-things weren't as we had 'saved' them. We investigated the entire ECCH staff but no one had been on the computer so no ovine action seemed to be responsible for the problems. The first problem we noticed was a line which appeared on a sign we were planning. The two small photos here show what we saw when we opened the saved file.

BEFORE

AFTER
Also, don't misunderstand, we like purple very much. Purple is one of our favorite colors. But we didn't put the little purple line there! Plus the color purple from the 'before' was different from the color purple in the 'after'. Noah, The Grey One, is normally our 'figure it out via research' ovine. But he was in the Dennison Pasture with his Campaign Manager Mr Sparkles working on campaign strategies. Himhe and Ovi spent a few days at the computer trying everything they could to find the answers but finally had to admit, they had no answers.

So we asked our Callopie for the information on the software and where she had procured the product. After a bit of time on the computer she had all the information we needed. The software we purchased came from Campaign Design Software Co. owned by UBuyWeNoSupport Inc. They had a live chat line we could go to, which we had no doubt would explain and give solutions for our problems. At least that is what we hoped. Before we started our live chat and knowing our HC has often used such resources for many items she has purchased, it was decided we get some pointers on the best approach with this method.

That is when we first heard the word~~~the name~~~MUQBAR. Based on our HC's reaction...the flock realized.....we might be in big trouble.

Sullivan and staff at ECCH

First, Find Everything!

posted by Herzig

 My clue was our HC, as one who knits, probably had made the knitted Eggplant. Now our HC is always working at something and always has many needles on which grow things made from fiber. And I didn't want to answer any questions from her about what I was looking for, so I would need to be weary as I searched. Plus based on the few facts I'd gathered I was taking a big chance I would find what I was seeking. I would need to search for 2separate things fiber and sticks, but the most important would be the fiber.  

 

Certainly as items of fiber come in things called skeins and the knitted Eggplant wasn't all that big and IF the only thing our HC made with the 2 colors of fiber was the knitted Eggplant~CERTAINLY THERE SHOULD BE PLENTY OF THE SAME COLORED FIBER LEFTOVER. So I began to poke about all the places our HC keeps her fiber. So one by one I checked the piles of fiber and to my great delight, SUCCESS! 

The first place I looked was the Green fiber. The green was used to make the leaves on top of the knitted Eggplant. I didn't know if I should be thrilled at how quickly I located the green fiber or maybe it was more likely to be worried that all else would be difficult to locate. I chose to be thrilled and collected the green fiber and put it in my secret place in the pasture. Now, I had to find the purple fiber.

This find had me HLBing but I refrained from bleating out about my good fortune, no point in alerting anyone after all! And it was EXACTLY the yarn the knitted Eggplant was made of, at Ieast I just knew it had to be.

 I took the purple and put it with the green. Search 1 completed-I found the fiber. The next search would be a bit different from the search for the fiber. Fiber was easily seen all about where our HC lives. But what about the sticks that the fiber is attached too to do knitting. How would I know if a special stick in a specific size was required? Ah, now that I thought about it, it seems our HC always has a paper or a book of some sort as she is knitting...........as much as I wanted to keep my plan secret I was going to need to speak to someone who might know about the knitting things.....HIMHE!!! Himhe had something made by our HC which was knitted. His special cap, the one that is always on his head because he is of the Jewish faith. Himhe would be my next step then. And Himhe is very trustworthy and kind and knowledgeable.

In the morning perhaps. It had gotten dark and I was extremely weary. Finding the fiber and sneaking it away to the secret place in the pasture was a lot of work.

Time for sleep,

Herzig

A NEW PLAN!

And the colors which will be perfect are Purple and Green. I came home from my search up at the pasture of my HC's parents, in the country. I had looked everywhere I could think of, no knitted Eggplant. That night before we fell asleep I told Piper of all the places I had looked and to keep the faith as I would find the knitted Eggplant. Piper sighed but what he said gave me encouragement. He told me that he wanted to thank me for taking all the time and facing all the danger of looking in holes, under places and even climbing up into a bird bath and a tree. Thanks was all I needed to not give up. And he was talking more and more, and not in Eggplant. Each day more and more of my best-est friend Piper was coming back.

After a night's rest, as we were all breakfasting on MLGV, my mind was thinking away. I knew I was missing something, but what? Start back at the beginning! Our HC reads to us each night from mystery stories, our favorites are written by our GFBFHD and CBFED, I have learned that our hero's~~~VICKY HILL AND PENNY BRANNIGAN often tell themselves~~~Start back at the beginning and think of everything. Think carefully to see if there is anything you missed. Or something you had seen or known but hadn't thought about. Or think about what you do know but from a different perspective {I got that word from Noah long ago}. 

So while we all were munching away I did just that, I thought about the knitted Eggplant which could be viewed as the start of the story. I STOPPED MUNCHING AND REALIZED, a knitted Eggplant. Quickly I bounced over to Piper and asked him where he got his knitted Eggplant and he told me he found it. Where did you find it was my next question. Piper explained that one day when he had no one to play with he had been looking about in our HC's room. And he had found the knitted Eggplant sitting in a basket full of yarn and knitting needles. It looked lonely and as he was lonely he carried it out of the basket and went to find our HC.

I asked Piper what he went to ask the HC. "If I could play with the Eggplant and keep it with me in the pasture" he said. "Why ask our HC?" I said. And there it was, the answer to the puzzle.

No, the answer wasn't finding the lost knitted Eggplant. But there was an even better answer!!!! Because Piper answered my why question by saying "Well since the knitted Eggplant was in a basket in her room and because as anyone in the flock knows~~~our HC knits. The only reason why the knitted Eggplant was in the basket in her room was she must have KNITTED THE EGGPLANT!"

At that point I started HLBing all around the pasture bleating "THAT'S IT THAT'S IT".  "What's it?" said all the ovines around us. I loudly bleated, "THE ANSWER!!!!"

I was Vicky Hill and Penny Brannigan all rolled into one, except of course that I am a boy and they are girls. NOW, I knew what had to be done so I began my quest.

HERZIG 

SHE JUST APPEARED!

posted by Esme the Ewe

There we were, bedtime and all was settling down in the pasture, when our HC came and told us we needed to come upstairs. Upstairs to her pasture. Telling the flock to go to sleep and leaving Willie in charge, as the oldest Ovine, we followed her up the stairs. Ellis asked what she wanted us to go to her pasture for at this time of night, "You'll See" was the only answer she gave. Once in her pasture she point to the other side of her sleeping place so I followed Ellis as we moved about the foot of her bed to the other side. Again Ellis ask what was there to see. "Up and Over on the blue dresser on top of the Indian Blanket" she said pointing toward it.

Finally without us asking she reached down and us lifted up onto her bed. We both walked toward the dresser.......and then we saw. The fleece balls and the collecting area for future fleece balls.

I said "you mean the glass under the pile of fleece waiting to be wound?" No came the answer. "You and Ellis are looking at the wrong end of the pile, the other end." Both Ellis and I looked very carefully and at just as he started to say "All I see is more"~~~it moved??? Every so slightly but both Ellis and I stood quite still and watched it and yes, there it was again. It seemed to be gently swaying from side to side.

At that point Ellis said "OK, lets go see what is behind the fleece pile." Our HC said "no just wait a moment, we don't want to scare it away". Then a sound, a tiny little bleat! The sort of sound young lambs make when standing beside their mothers when they are a bit timid. And again the bleat. At that point, a little head popped up and looked out over the fleece pile!!!

Ellis and I just stood quietly for a moment, then I said to the little lamb "Welcome home little one, you will be safe now". With a bit of bleating the little lamb came around the fleece pile and stood. Ellis said to me, "she is still scared of us I think. I'll go down and find a place for her tonight in the pasture. Perhaps Callopie and Sullivan would be the best to care for her tonight."

Ellis left the bed and went downstairs and the little lamb with the littlest of steps began to come to me. "Hello you pretty little lamb. I'm Esme the Ewe and you will be safe here. By what name shall we call you?"

And she bleated very softly........Grace.

Always with open pasture gates,

Esme the Ewe

My Buddy, Piper
posted by Herzig

Piper aka Eggplant is once again getting better. He doesn't speak to me in Eggplant any more...but he really doesn't talk much at all. I mean he never was a chatterbox but now he speaks even less. He is my best-est friend and will always be we were adopted together from Patternworks in New Hampshire. But he still seems very sad.

I know if I had just been a better friend and not been so busy and I hadn't stopped treating Piper as a friend should, than maybe this would have never happened. Maybe if I'd been a better friend he would never have found the knitted Eggplant. If I hadn't been so busy maybe he wouldn't have begun to think he would be happier being an Eggplant. If he hadn't lost his Eggplant or if I had been a better friend when he did lose his Eggplant, maybe he wouldn't have suffered from VDD. He certainly would miss his knitted Eggplant if it were lost, but with a friend to feel sad along with him, the VDD might never have appeared.

I wasn't there when he needed me and so I've decided to go and look for his Eggplant. Piper tells me the last thing he remembers is going on an Adventure and when he came back he couldn't find Eggplant. But he doesn't remember exactly where they went on the Adventure. Ellis the Ram and Esme the Ewe have been so busy with a new Ovine that wandered in and with the rest of the flock all working on the Easter Creature 2012 Campaign, I have no one to ask just where the Adventure happened. So last week I went with my HC, up to the house she worries so about and works so hard on, and hunted all around for the knitted Eggplant.

AND I LOOKED EVERYWHERE!!!

While my HC got things ready to mow the lawn I decided to start at the far right corner of the yard. There was a beautiful tree with fragrant Lilacs. Now what better place for an Eggplant to hide than among lilac colored flowers. So up I climbed into the tree and hunted on each branch and each crook where branches separated. But no knitted Eggplant.

Then, over in the opposite end of the yard I noticed some tiny red colors peeking out all around this tree. So over I went and up I climbed. But quickly I realized that this tree had very large thorns on all its branches. And they were quite painful when they poked through my fleece to my body. But once I was up in this tree I decided I might as well look thoroughly, to avoid having to check this tree again. I found out later this is a Quince bush. Quinces are some sort of fruit and I hope they taste good as it would appear its very risky to get the Quinces out of their place of growth, Again, No knitted Eggplant.

Between this thorny bush and the porch with screens, making it lovely to sit and watch birds, I noticed a bird bath. Fortunately it had no water nor bird 'deposits' in it although for my friend Piper such things wouldn't stop me from looking. So up I climbed to the bowl on top of the pedestal upon which it rested and looked. No knitted Eggplant.

With all that climbing I needed a bit of a rest so I walked along the lawn by the porch and around the corner to a beautiful herb bed but saw nothing purple at all. When I got past the herb bed I came to the back of the house where a wooden porch had been built. Under it was a deep cave. So I edged my way under the trough holding Portulaca and once under could see light at the other side. Thank goodness the light allowed me to look all around under the wooden porch without having to crawl into the darkness. Just to make sure nothing was hiding I did call out, just in case. No knitted Eggplant.

 It occurred to me that on the other side of the bird bath had been a tree which seemed to be about to bloom. And a hint of purple could be seen poking about on the buds. So I walked back along the porch and looked up. Indeed it seemed purple colors might be about to appear. Later my HC explained it was called a Butterfly Bush and would soon have purple flowers all over it. It is called a Butterfly Bush because the flowers call out to Butterflies and when the time was right it was possible to sit and enjoy Butterflies and Blooms. The leaves didn't hide anything so after I looked over the bush I decided to check under the bush. No knitted Eggplant.

Next I remembered there had been 2 places back on the side of the yard where the Lilacs were, so over I went. There it was a huge dense patch of green leaves growing skyward. I recognized it from a picture. It was the leaves of a root which was called Horseradish. A favorite of the PPU of our HC, from who she learned the joys of the root. It was daunting but in I went. I explored under all the Horseradish plant leaves and it took quite a while. No knitted Eggplant.

 I heard my HC call out at that time that it would soon be time to put away all the lawn care items and begin to prepare to return home. She told me to look in the last few spots while she took care of the equipment. Fortunately a place I still wanted to look was right next to the Horseradish patch so over I went. I looked up into the Sage plant and easily could see there was no place to hide. But the bottom of the plant was covered in grass and weeds so I gave a quick look there. No knitted Eggplant.

I had searched very hard and it was very hot but until my HC called that we were leaving there still were spots to check. I walked back toward the Quince Bush looking in the pine hedges and searching in the lawn. It was then I discovered a hole. Covered with lawn growing over it. It was a bit scary but maybe, just maybe....I put my head down and burrowed through the grass. Luckily it wasn't an animal hole but rather was a drain of some sort in cement in the shape of the bottom half of a circle and where the cement went under the ground I could see a white tube. This must be where water from the pool and washing machine would empty. So I knew even if something had rolled into it it would have been floated out when the HC was washing clothing or cleaned the pool with the filter. No knitted Eggplant.

I felt very badly that I would soon be returning to the pasture with no good news to report to my friend Piper. Maybe this wasn't where the Adventure happened. I would ask Ellis and Esme when they had time. The only thing I knew is nothing was lost in the pasture.

On the way home I began to wonder if there might be another way to find a knitted Eggplant?

I won't give up,

Herzig

HOT HOT HOT

posted by Ovi

Have to say, IT'S HOT. I'm wondering if Daniel had the right idea of working on the West Coast for a while. Of course haven't checked the weather past Joplin Missouri.

I woke up last night from a nightmare. Well, at first I thought it was a nice dream. There we were. The Flock. All of us together in a fresh spring pasture. Clumps of MLGV EVERYWHERE. And plenty for all of us. When my dream started we all were gathered in the center of the pasture, happily baa'ing together between chomping on wonderful soft tasty MLGV. And we didn't have to munch it down to the dirt, there was so much. So we would take the bestest tastiest part off the tops of clumps where we stood. Then like by magic we would find ourselves in a fresh spot of the pasture and enjoying the bestest tastiest part off the tops of clumps. When I would look back at where we had been chomping, I COULDN'T FIND WHERE IT WAS. Because after we left and were in another spot, the MLGV would quickly grow back.

 HEAVEN. PASTURE HEAVEN.

But then the sound came...First a breeze began but it rapidly became a wind that rapidly became big gusts with trees surrounding the pasture bending over in pain. We all stopped chomping and the entire flock began to bleat with worry. Then all of a sudden it got very chilly and a big noise appeared. I looked over past the poor trees and it was no longer a sunny lovely day. The sky was grey. And not the beautiful grey of Noah. But an angry angry grey and then big flashes of light. THUNDER!!!! And that sound? What was that sound?

It was then that Sullivan said he had heard that sound. Long ago when young he had been pushed into a crate with his sister. The crate was put on a big cement shelf next to long long out of sight row of 2 metal things. And between the metal things which went out of sight over the horizon, were wood things which fit between the metal things. And while Sullivan was frightened in this crate on this cement he had heard the same sound.

We asked "WHAT WAS THE SOUND?" Sullivan said it was a long long group of boxes that came over the horizon and was heading right for his crate. And the closer the boxes came to them the louder the noise became. Until the boxes were almost right next to the cement when it began to slow down til it stopped right in front of his crate. It was OK though Sullivan said because then a man put his crate into one of the boxes and made sure it was secure, closed the doors of the box and from inside he began to heard the noise return but hearing from the inside so not nearly as frightening.

It was at that point we all heard Esme yell, FLOCK....HURRY.......COME WITH US......THERE IS A TORNADO COMING AND WE KNOW THE SOUND IT MAKES, LIKE THAT OF A TRAIN.....HURRY HURRY HURRY.

Then the wind became like nothing I've ever seen and it began to pick me up....at that point though, WHEW WHEW WHEW I woke up. Only a nightmare. Then I remembered watching the weather with my HC. Now all of it made sense what they talked about in this Joplin Missouri.

I wonder if it was hot where Daniel was? Wonder if it is hot where Eleanor is? And we all wonder how all the ovines in Joplin Missouri are? And where a flock is there are always human creatures who need looking after. They think they look after us Ovines but in reality it is we, the Ovines, who watch over the Humans. We hope they are alright!

Ovi

DANIEL SENDS WORD via HANNAH

posted by Bobble H. Ovine

FINALLY! Word from our GFBFHD, advising the flock that our Daniel is safe in the Dennison Pasture. I have been very worried about my best friend. Oh, me? I'm Bobble H. Ovine, but Daniel calls me Bobble, which is fine by me. Guess now that Esme assigned me to post the news I will soon be tasked to post about myself on MEET THE OVINES. But in the meantime there is the really IMPORTANT NEWS. Daniel and his bed~bowl arrived safely in California. Our Hannah had been doing 'author' stuff in North Carolina but arriving home quickly informed us of Daniel. {Hope Hannah didn't return with some of that southern accent. I can't imagine what an British way of speaking accent wise combined with a southern drawl may sound like?}

We received 2 photos from Hannah to verify her news so we share one with all of you. Daniel, of course, is safe in his bed~bowl beside which the other 2 Mache Triplets stand. I couldn't tell which was Duncan and which was Dennison.

I had met the Mache Triplets when they first arrived but once I observed the way they treated Daniel I just kept my distance. And for that I am so VERY sorry. I haven't really told Daniel how horrible I feel that I didn't do the RIGHT thing. By that I mean, I didn't help Daniel. I didn't speak up when his brothers bullied him. I mean, I have never bullied ANYONE. But over the last 2 years, while Duncan and Dennison have been learning about how their behavior hurts others and worked to change their ways, I have also been learning that it is just as bad to stand by and watch as someone is bullied. When Daniel comes home I will apologize and because I have learned how wrong it was to not try to stop the bullying.......I will never stand by silent again.

Opps, think I was just suppose to announce that Daniel has arrived safely. And he has.

For my bestest friend in the world~Daniel,

 BOBBLE H. OVINE

Ellis the Ram takes Piper aka Eggplant to Ellis the Original

posted upon return by Ellis the Ram

As Esme had requested I immediately went in search of our HC who regularly saw our MTF, Ellis the therapist. {For which we are eternally grateful!!!} When I told her of Piper's disappearance~into an Eggplant, she seemed puzzled. "Eggplant? Are you sure he isn't teasing you? He had asked me to help him make an Eggplant costume for last nights Trick or Treat, that's all. Its just a costume." Again I explained to her that since Piper had lost the Eggplant, the one she had made long ago, he had become increasingly withdrawn. As she still stood there looking puzzled I must admit I began to get annoyed. Finally, and it just came out I swear it did, I fussed in a raised voice at her saying, "If you hadn't made and then allowed Piper to find that silly knitted Eggplant to begin with, then let him carry it around, Then take it with him that day when he lost it, THEN helped him secretly make that costume~~~~Maybe I wouldn't be here having to convince you our Piper is in need of Ellis the Original HELP!" She just stood there with that typical 'Who ME?' look on her face......but finally shrugged and said "OK, I'll call Ellis and see when he can see Piper or Eggplant....What am I supposed to call him now anyway?" {I turned and went back to the pasture to wait for her to call, muttering inappropriate Baa'^%$s and Bleat*&(^s the entire way}.

But a short while later my HC came to the pasture and said that MTF Ellis had free time the next morning, actually right before her appointment. I immediately told her we would be waiting at the gate at the designated departure time. And Piper aka Eggplant and I soon arrived at the office of our MTF Ellis the Original. Piper aka Eggplant climbed into a seat across the room from where HC and I were seated. And we waited to be called.

And we waited....... And we waited.......until finally MTF's door opened and he called out "Ellis the Ram?" I hopped off the chair and bounced over to him where we had a whispered conversation and I detailed the situation with Piper or Eggplant. Fortunately unlike our HC, no puzzled look and no further questions.......Ellis winked at me and stood up calling out "EGGPLANT? Please come on into my office." Piper aka Eggplant hopped of his chair and followed our MTF into the office and the door shut behind them. {I had asked our MTF that although he couldn't reveal the actual conversation without permission perhaps photos would ease the minds back at the flock}. I did see Piper aka Eggplant hop onto a couch, where I have sat myself a few times in support of my HC. With a deep sigh I returned to my seat next to my HC and we waited. About an hour later the door opened and MTF and 'whoever' exited the office. MTF walked over to my HC and I, he smiled and nodded at us and handed us an envelope. Saying his 'client' had given permission for us to know all about the visit and the results. And if we had any further questions he was always happy to see us or speak to us on a phone. Ellis the Original then asked after Esme and everyone in the flock. Then he and my HC went into the office and closed the door for their appointment. Piper aka Eggplant hopped up into a seat, this time next to me and actually spoke to me. "Good Morning Ellis and I'm sorry I worried everyone. I didn't realize how badly the loss of my friend, my Eggplant, effected me." I asked him if he felt better and he said, a little better. "Are you going to take your costume off? And is it alright if we still call you Piper?" Quiet for a moment he said "Yes of course my name is Piper, I understand that. And.....I will take my costume off.....soon.....or a bit later. Ellis said I could wear it a bit longer if I wished, maybe tonight take the top off my head, then maybe down to my middle........I will take it all the way off........soon." "Sounds good to me Piper" I said. "Whenever you want to do those things is fine. And you know we all love you." Finally, the first smile from our Piper......in a long time began to peek through. I opened the envelope and inside were 2 photos of Piper's time in the office with Ellis and a folded piece of paper. I would save the paper for later when back in the pasture with Esme. But the photos made me feel good. On the back of each MTF had written words. They were: I listened very quietly and carefully while the young Ovine told me of his sorrow over the loss of his friend. After that I asked many questions which he answered honestly. My diagnosis and treatment plan is contained in my letter. When our HC emerged and we all said our goodbyes to our MTF we went home. Ellis the Ram