Weekly Update: Back to work and just starting to write

 

Hi Dear Reader,

Welcome back to the blog. 

Life Update/Vet story:

This past week has been busy at the Bock household. My maternity leave ended and I started back to work. It was a little sad as it seemed like the 6 weeks went by so fast and part of me wasn’t quite to go back to work. The other part of me was excited to get back to my clients and their horses. Maternity leave felt a little like a self-imposed isolation and I am looking forward to talking about horses again.

So Hubby and I packed up the two kiddos and took them with us this week. One of our first appointments was to geld a colt. It was a bittersweet appointment as this was the last colt that my client had bred as they are getting out of the horse breeding visit. Thankfully, the appointment went well. The colt behaved and the surgery went smoothly. Baby Bock came along and spent the hour in the arms of my client’s wife while Big sister sat next to me and watched the whole surgery. She is not squeamish with blood. :)

A few years ago, I had to geld a colt for them. He was huge, wild, and a little mean. They tried to handle and halter break him before hand but he was pushing 16 hands (a hand is 4 inches) and knew that he was bigger than the humans handling him.

I went to sedate this horse for the surgery and he towered over me, looking down his long nose, like “come on, Doc, give it your best”. As I slid the needle with the sedative into his vein, he reared up, striking out with his front feet. Dodging the flailing hooves, I was able to give him the medicine. But it wasn’t enough to calm him down. After another dose, he was sedated enough to be brought out to the grassy area. We always geld the colts laying down in a flat area covered in thick grass. Most of the time, it is in people’s front yards. I gave him another injection which puts him under anesthesia and Hubby helps the horse to lay down on the grass.

Hubby’s job is to monitor the horse, give more drugs if needed, and to help the horse lay down and stand up. He was monitoring this horse and said, “You better make this quick.” He placed a blindfold over the eyes to help the horse relax.

The surgery went well. As I was finishing up, Hubby called out, “you done?”

“Yep.” I dropped my surgical instruments into a bucket.

“Then, you better get back. He’s going up.”

I pulled off my gloves and stepped back.

The colt jumped up like he had been taking a nap, tossed his head, and sent the blindfold flying. Then, he took off.

Hubby held onto the lead rope trying to wrangle this young horse into the barn. Did I mention this was a future racehorse? They went around in circles in the yard, tearing it up, until the owner was able to make a runway into the barn. We herded the colt into his stall and slammed the door.

That was an experience. That horse is currently being trained as a racehorse and they said that he is fast.

Thankfully, this year’s colt was a perfect gentleman.

Writing Update:

I am just getting back into the swing of things. I was listening to a podcast. Unfortunately, I can’t remember which one. The podcast was about making time to achieve your goals. The guest made a comment that to do a little bit every day, even if it isn’t close to how much you want to achieve. I thought about that and he was right. My ultimate daily goal is to write about a 1,000 words per day. Before Baby Bock #2, I was able to do that. But with the new baby, I find that I am tired and don’t have an hour to get those words down. Plus, my creative juices are lacking. So, I set up my writing station on my desk. Whenever I have a few minutes, I sit down and stare at the page. The first few days I wasn’t able to get much written. Then, I was able to write a sentence or two. After about a week, I finally am able to get a few paragraphs done every night. It isn’t close to the 1,000 word goal, but it is better than a blank page. I had hoped to be done with this story soon but I am only about 25% done. That’s ok. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

On the newsletter, we are reading the 10^th chapter of Second Chance with My Bull Rider. If you are interested in reading it with us, check it out at alliebock.substack.com.

Here’s a cute picture of my horse, Amber. We are getting ready to go for a ride, but we had to brush off the winter hair and mud first.

 

That’s all for now.

Hugs,

Allie

Back in the Saddle

Hi Dear Reader,

It has been several months since my last post. I decided to try some new things in between them and now. Some of them worked and others not so much. So I am back here to share my writing updates, thoughts, and the excitement in my life. 

So what's new?

I moved Substack for my newsletter and community. I send out weekly blasts with new reads, interesting life updates, and more. It is similar to the content here but is different. Right now, we are working our way through Delilah and Kade's story. A chapter gets sent out every week. If you want to read more and be a part of our discussion you can join in at: alliebock.substack.com. 

It is free to join and you won't miss anything. 

If you love my writing, you can join at the subscriber level for $5.00 a month to just support me. You get all of my stories and early access to my stories before they are published. It's super exciting.

I also set up an online store where you can buy my ebooks directly from me. Why would you do that? It helps to support me directly. It is still needs some polish but it is there at the top of the page.

I have stepped back from social media. If you want to be kept up to date I recommend bookmarking this website or joining the community at alliebock.substack.com. I can tell more about that in a future post.

I am looking forward to writing on this website again and I'd love to hear from you!

Hugs,

Allie

 Hi dear Reader,

I hope this finds you well! It has been an absolutely gorgeous week here in Minnesota. I’m writing to you from my backyard. It’s sunny with a slight breeze. The insects are chirping and Tank, my Longhair Dachshund, is rolling in the grass. Yes, he was my inspiration for Clifford. It is only fitting as he sits under my writing desk or next to me on the couch while I am working on a story.

Thank you to everyone who has read my story, commented, or sent me emails. I am so grateful that you took time out of your day to read my words. The story is finished and will remain up for another couple weeks. It will go behind a paywall on Oct 5^th as that is when My Cowboy of Convenience will go up for preorder on the retailers. So now is the time to read it for free! Here’s the chapter index if you want to start at the beginning or missed some chapters!

 My Cowboy of Convenience Index

On October 5^th, I’ll share the preorder link for anyone who is interested. It is going through final edits and formatting. So exciting!

I have a short story to share with you. A couple of years ago, I was buying my mom a bottle of wine at the Piggly Wiggly in my hometown when I came across a little booklet at the checkout. It was 5-minute Romance Summer Love published by Woman’s World. It contained 40 romance stories that were about 2 pages long. It was a fun read for those short time spans where I didn’t want to get dragged into a novel. So I thought that I would give it a try. Here is the first one.

Lost Love at the Rodeo

Emily grabbed the doctor’s bag off the truck seat next to her before sliding to the ground. She slammed the door to her veterinary truck closed and took a big breath. This was the third after-hours emergency this evening. Her stomach growled, empty from the smoothie she had for breakfast this morning. She realized at that moment she forgot to eat lunch. She gripped the doctor’s bag in one hand and held her cell phone in the other as she got her bearings of the rodeo grounds.

A stream of people tricked down from the parking lot to the rodeo arena. The announcer’s booth crackled to life with someone tapping on the microphone and saying, “testing, one, two, three.” A line of people stood in front of the concession stand where the aromas of kettle corn and hotdogs teased Emily’s empty stomach. She gritted her teeth as she strode by wishing she had time for dinner.

The message came from the answering service that someone had a lame horse and could not wait until business hours to be seen. Emily rolled her eyes at the message: Need a horse vet STAT. Need to rodeo.

“If they would only take care of their horses and not treat them like vehicles,” she grumbled to herself. “Then, things like this wouldn’t happen.” She signed. It was all part of the jog. It pained her that not everyone felt about their horses like she did.

She wove through the contestant parking lot. Horse trailers and campers wedged together like cows in a trailer. Most of the horses were saddled and waiting for their turn in the warm-up arena. The message said that it was the trailer at the end of the lot with Montana plates. Why was a Montana cowboy rodeoing in Texas for the summer rodeo circuit. Surely, they have rodeos up there.

She rounded the line of trailers to the last one at the end. A shiny brand-new horse trailer with living quarters and truck stood out from the average Texas rig. Most of the contestants were local working cowboys. A beautiful sorrel horse stood tied to the side. A full hay net and water bucket hung within his reach. He rested one front foot out in front, barely putting any weight on it. Yep, this was definitely the lame horse.

Emily walked around the horse to the living quarters door. She raised her fist to knock when the door swung open. A tall cowboy filled the doorway. A Stetson hat pulled low on his forehead, shielding his eyes. Emily craned her neck to meet his gaze. His eyes roamed from the top of head to her battered cowboy boots. The tips of her ears reddened and her cheeks flushed under his perusal.

“I’m here to check out your lame horse.” She nodded to the sorrel, dozing a few feet away.

A slow smile spread over his face, causing a warmth to spread throughout her. “I’m glad you could fit us in, Doc Emily.” He advanced out of the trailer and approached the horse. “King, here, stepped off the trailer lame.” He untied the horse and rubbed King’s forehead. King nickered softly and nudged the cowboy in the chest with his nose. The cowboy chuckled, giving King a sugar cube from his pocket.

Something about the way he rubbed the horse’s head and his laugh sparked something in Emily’s memory. It was gone before she could catch it, though.

“Well, let me take a look at him.” Emily set her doctor’s bag down and started her exam.

The whole time the cowboy rubbed King’s head and crooned to him. Emily had sworn off cowboys a decade ago, but this one was melting her heart. Plus, he was handsome, and his horse loved him.

Emily pulled out the hoof testers and placed it on King’s hoof. He jumped and snorted when she got to the sore spot. She examined the hoof closer.

“Ah ha, I’ve found it.” She bent over the hoof and used her hoof knife to dig out an abscess. Within a few minutes, pus shot from the small hole she created in the sole of King’s hoof.

King sighed and placed the foot squarely on the ground. Emily straightened, rubbing her lower back.

“I’ll treat it and wrap it for you. He won’t be able to compete this weekend, though. I can write you a release to get your money back.” She extracted bandage materials from her bag. She medicated the abscess and wrapped the hoof in a colorful green bandage.

“I’m not worried about the entry fees.” The cowboy rubbed King’s forehead. “I just want him to feel better.”

“Give him a few days. Soak the foot in warm water and Epsom salts and keep it wrapped. He’ll be right as rain. Do you have any pain meds for him?” Emily packed everything back into her bag and turned to the cowboy.

“I have some bute. Never leave home without it.” He smiled at her.

Something about his smiled tugged at the corner of her mind. It made her feel giddy like a schoolgirl as a blush colored her cheeks. “Good. He can get a dose or two.” She pulled out her receipt book and wrote down the charges to avoid his gaze. She hoped he didn’t notice her blush. “We take cash, checks, or credit cards.” She paused her pen over the page. “What was your name?”

“Roy McLaughin,” he said softly.

Emily’s pen hit the ground as her whole body froze at his words. Her heart skipped a beat before plunging forward at a gallop. She swallowed, bringing her gaze to meet his.

His smile spread wide. His eyes danced in merriment. He crossed his arms over his chest, his muscles bulging as she took him in.

“Hi, Emily.” He took a step toward her, lowering his voice. “Didn’t recognize me?

Emily shook her head, still in shock. The familiar feeling took hold and brought back all the memories. “Roy, I can’t believe it…it has been so long.”

He grasped her hands with his, engulfing them. They were roughened by years of hard work and tanned from the sun. “I didn’t think that I’d ever come back. But I am.”

Her heart leaped at his touch. It had been years since Roy said good-bye to chase his dreams of becoming a rodeo star. She was left with a broken heart and a full ride scholarship to Texas A&M. He tugged her gently, closing the gap between them. Their breath mingled and their hearts called to one another.

“Are you home for good?” Her voice shook with emotion as she held his gaze.

His hand drifted up her arm over her shoulder to cup her chin. He held it there as his eyes searched hers. Emotions swirled in them. “Yes, I’m home to stay. Grandpa is retiring and wants me to run the ranch.” He bent close to her. “What do you say about seeing me again?”

Emily’s chest grew tight and the words squeaked out of her. “That sounds wonderful.” His touch sent shivers through her, making it hard to speak. Her cowboy was home again and still wanted her.

He closed the gap. His lips hovered above hers, unsure but hopeful. Emily stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. The kiss lingered as it brought back all the memories of their time together. It held promise of everything yet to come. Emily melted against his strong chest as his arms wrapped around her, holding her like he would never let go. He rested his chin on top of her head.

“Leaving you was my greatest regret,” he said. He pressed his lips against her temple. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I missed you, too.” Emily leaned back in his arms. Their gazes met and held, speaking unspoken words. Her stomach rumbled with the forgotten hunger pains. They laughed.

“Why don’t I buy you some supper and we can catch up?” He threaded his fingers in between hers.

“That sounds wonderful,” she grinned. Her busy day ending on a high note.

Hugs,

Allie