A Snowed-in Sunday

My trip and meeting went quite well. No stress, thanks to Lexapro. It's good to medicate your type A. : ) Or at least your inner Martha. Seriously, I was much better at being on the ball, without losing sleep over it. A very, VERY good combination for me.

We got word that there was a serious storm forecast for our area (not where the meeting was, but where my home is), so we kept a close eye on it, and decided to bail out a few hours early. Not good for staff to do, but there were no members around either, they all went home too. We beat the ice storm home-- the trees were icing up just as we pulled onto our road. We couldn't have timed it more perfectly.

I couldn't have left that hotel room quick enough. It was HORRIBLE! I think I have only stayed in a hotel that bad one time in my life, and I knew I was staying in a hole that previous time. It was sort of a "nostalgic" trip to my hometown, and I knew the property had gone downhill. It was also cheap, though the meeting hotel this week was not cheap, relatively speaking.

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that my job requires some travel, but I had traveled internationally with one of my accounts prior to 2006. At the end of 2005 I requested to be taken off that account and put onto some local accounts. I only travel within the state (or just outside of it) since that time. The client who just had the meeting is lead by a staff member that I also used to work with on that international account. He and I have traveled all over the world together, literally. Off the top of my head, we've been to Bermuda, Miami, New York, and London. There were a few others, but they escape me now. Anyway, we were discussing that we both had suites on the 19th floor of the Trump Sonesta Hotel right on Miami Beach a few years ago. I am not kidding when I say that had the suites had 4 bedrooms, they would have dwarfed my house. I had a huge living room, a full-size kitchen with a garbage disposal, stainless appliances, granite countertops-- the works. My bathroom was palacial, complete with a bidet (a luxury that I absolutely adore, not to provide TMI). We joked that it was quite a contrast to the dump we stayed in this week-- he said his room had a big chunk out of the wall, mine had a lampshade that was all melted and cracked. There was no closet, just a cheap (probably screw-together-Sauder furniture) wardrobe in the corner. It was barely big enough for my suitcase to sit in the bottom of it. My boss is tall, and he had to duck through the really low hallways. There were circular lamps down the halls between each of the rooms, but at some point they decided to cut the amount of lamps in half, so they removed every other one. In place of each lamp there was a flat outlet cover, but you could still see the holes behind the cover where the lamps were supposed to go, and a nasty brown ring on the wallpaper. My room had a view of the parking lot. The heating and cooling didn't work in my room, so I just left it off the entire time and slept in sweatpants and a sweatshirt.


View from the Trump Hotel Room



Bathroom in the Trump Hotel


The Exact Suite I Had


The same Austin Powers decor, but a million times cleaner than in real life. (and the lampshades look new)

Last night we had about 8 inches of snow, on top of 1/4" of ice. Power lines were down, telephones were out, etc. It is a nasty mess all over our state. We had some tree limbs and branches down, but we did not have any power outages. Only the internet was down for a few hours. Can't really complain about that.

We are alive, well, warm, full, and together. What more could we ask for? Oh, and as a bonus, I just had an email that school is delayed by 2 hours. I love snow days! :)

Homesick

I'm away from home for work again, back very late on Saturday. I came home today at noon, before leaving, and I soaked up all of the quietness at home. It was really a great way to regroup before this crazy time.

B is taking care of business at home, and he is being run ragged, between something every evening, the farm chores, and feeding the baby goats in addition to cooking and cleaning and getting everyone ready for school and out the door, etc. He has been a trooper, and I just appreciate all of his help.

I sure miss my home, and I definitely miss B and the kids. I'm exhausted, however, so I am off to bed.

Counting down the days til I get to go back home.

A Little Peace

Thank you for the nice emails and comments that you left after my post on Thursday.

I am feeling better, for several reasons. Time does have a way of unclouding the confusion that emotion brings on.

Of course, I have also been reading everything I can find on this, and after reading and re-examining the babies, it is pretty clear that they were premature. Their teeth had not yet erupted, and they are quite small. They may have been viable upon their birth, but B pointed out that even if we could take "heroic" measures and keep them alive, what is the cost, and what are the long-term effects? Will they always be sickly? Will the medicine/treatments cost more than the goats would ever be worth?

I don't want to sound callous-- these issues are very difficult for me personally, and that is part of coming to terms with the way farming is done. While you have to love your animals and love what you do, and love ON your animals if you want them to produce (and also love them and get to know them so you can tell when they are "not themselves" and sick), but you have to be callous enough to pay attention to the bottom line. There is no sense in having an animal that will not produce for you, if it is costing you. That is bad business and will put you OUT of business. So I continue to struggle with that.

But I feel a little better about the babies.

I now struggle with an other doe that is sick (not pregnant, though), and I am treating her. I also worry about the third doe yet to kid, and if there is some sort of infection going around in the barn. It is warming up-- which I had begged for-- but now with the warmer temperatures, the viruses/bacteria are back.

I am also getting ready to go out of town for a meeting. I leave Wed and come back Saturday night late. Cross your fingers for my wonderful husband. He is a brave man. : ) (then again, you knew that already-- he's been married to me for a few years!)

Devastation

Last night I bought feed, and I spent some extra time in the barn with the animals, as I cleaned up and mixed the feed ration. I took stock of Tango, as we don't know her kidding due date. I noticed that she had not made much of an udder, did not have a discharge, etc. I commented that perhaps she would kid after Cindi, who is due March 4. Initially, we thought she might kid a couple of weeks after Precious.

We were right the first time. I came out this morning to two beautiful doelings, dead. I don't know if they were stillborn or if they died from exposure. They were not frozen, though they were cold. They had not moved from where they were born, and one had not been cleaned off. Neither had nursed. I milked only about a cup of colostrum out of Tango.

I am so, so, so sad. I just feel sick.

: (

Tango is doing okay, physically. She is crying for her babies. Then again, so am I.

I hate Valentine’s Day. (Warning: gushy and mushy)

I need to qualify that—I’m all about the romance, and of course we always try to do something special for each other on Feb 14, but therein lies the problem. We always do special things for each other. We often text message each other, we tell each other we love each other several times a day, we call just to say hi, we hold hands, etc.

We have bought each other cards and special gifts “just because.” I know he is a major chocoholic, so I will bring him brownies from work whenever we have lunch catered in, etc. He knows I love orange juice, so he keeps it made in the fridge for whenever I get thirsty for some. He does the dishes every morning, and I thank him. I do the laundry, and he thanks me. We never lose appreciation for each other, or what we do for each other. We are the best of friends, and thankful for that relationship. We know that we could never be with anyone else—our idiosyncrasies have become so, well, uniquely idiosyncratic, that the puzzle pieces that we are could never fit exactly with any other, after all of these years. We are just ourselves with each other, and melted together so perfectly, very much at ease. And we KNOW that, and we APPRECIATE that, and we EXPRESS that appreciation every single day.

So then Valentine’s Day comes along. Most people (or so my therapist tells me) don’t do these things regularly. So they take a day once a year to gush about their love for their mate. They buy a $4.00 card that says all the things that their mouths don’t say, so their love can save that card and remember that one special February 14th when it was so romantic and special, and their mate told them everything they wanted and needed to hear. They go out to dinner, get dressed up, take time away from the daily grind and earmark some special time with no kids, no cell phones, etc. In Honor of Valentine's Day.

But see, we do that every day. Our kids go to bed early, and we have a Netflix subscription (that is well-used). We watch movies or even past seasons from shows we love on DVD nearly every night. Even a night spent working in the barn is usually good fun, with lots of conversation, silliness and definitely togetherness. We don’t need to celebrate our togetherness on one special day. We are always aware of our bond, and we nurture it every day because we like to, In Honor of Us.

But what would happen if I didn’t get him a card today? They are all so lame, they just say what I always say—that I am thankful every day for him in my life, that I love him so much, and I can’t imagine life without him, I thank him for our beautiful children and the life we have together. But what would one think if a wife did not get her husband a card or present on this Sacred Day? What would one think if a husband did not buy his wife flowers on this Sacred Day? What would they think at my work, if everyone else got flowers and I did not? Trouble in Paradise? Did he forget? Oh, now he'll "owe" her a double-sized bouquet! He's sleeping on the couch for sure! Not that we have to do it for others, but it does get to be a little about keeping up with the Jones'.

It’s a strange situation, I know. So here’s to an anticlimactic Valentine’s Day. I hope yours is as good as mine, which will be fabulous-- as good as yesterday.

P.S. Updated at 11:40 am: I just got a beautiful bouquet of a dozen red roses. So now I feel like a dork. But I still don't know what I should get him!

Snow Day!

Today is a snow day, and rightly so. It's miserable out there! Windy, snowy, and cold. I can easily work from home, so I get the honor of staying home with the kids. I like snow days, as I can toss in a load of laundry, or get a few things done in between projects.

This morning when B and I were doing morning chores (bless his heart, he has started helping me since it has been so bitterly cold), the conversation went something like this:

B: It's so cold out here!! I can't imagine anything colder than standing out here filling buckets, other than ICE FISHING! Those people have to be NUTS to sit out there for hours! It's cold enough when you're doing something, but when you're just sitting there in the cold, it has to be downright frigid!

Me: You know, that's a good idea. When I was waiting for Precious to kid, I was so cold just because I was just sitting there. When I am working, I am not that cold, but just sitting there it was really bad. Maybe we should look for some ice fishing gear!? Do you suppose they make gear specific to ice fishing?

B: It's called beer. The miracle drug. It makes ugly people look sexy and cold people feel warm.

The Mother and Child Reunion

Did not go well.

Well, it did not go poorly, either, but it was not as touching as we had hoped.

We bundled the kids up yesterday in new sheepskin lined fleece coats, and took them out to the barn to see momma. It was 37, and plenty warm for them to be outside. B had to stop up all of the holes that the cats had dug in their efforts to forge a path to China (or outside of the barn). So it was late yesterday when we finally finished. We had hoped that the newly reunited family could spend a cozy evening together. We warmed up the kid house, bought them new coats to go visiting, and were ready for the magic to happen.

When we brought them out, they were very uninterested in their momma. She was interested in them, in a curious sort of way. She seemed curious about their smell and that they were so small. It was not a recognition interest in the least.

I tucked them on their knees under her belly and encouraged them to nurse, which they did. She stood still as long as she was eating, but after that had little patience in letting them nurse. When they lost the teat out of their mouths, they had no idea where to look to find it again. We left them out for sometime, and it did not help. She did eventually do a little head butting of them as they made a little ruckus. I don’t think she was threatened or angry with them, just mildly annoyed.

So, for the warm time being, we will bring them out with us in the afternoons and mornings to get a little drink from momma. We will not continue to milk her, as there seems to be no point in trying to continue feeding them her milk if they are nursing from her most times a day. It is a lot of work, and the milk dries up much faster than if the babies are nursing.

I would not say we have given up, but we have given up on it going smoothly and being instinctive to them. We’ll continue to encourage them, but not make plans that they will definitely get back together as a family anytime soon.

And so it goes.

Goat Milking 101

You wouldn’t think it would be that hard, and it’s not. It’s just like everything else: anyone can pretty much do it, but once you get it down to a science, you realize there is somewhat of an art to it. I have yet to find that art.

First, it’s colder than you can believe. One must have warm hands to milk effectively. However, after working at it for a while, your hands do warm up.

Second, one cannot milk a moving target. It’s necessary to have enough food for the animal to last as long as you need to milk her out. Some people put their goats on a milking stand, and we only have a fitting stand (holds the head so they can’t eat—milking stands allow the animal to eat). We are considering buying an additional piece to allow us to use our stand for both. So we milk in the stall, and hope I’m done before she is.

Third, you need a good milking stool, which I don’t have. I am using a low bucket of goat minerals. It hurts my knees and back to crouch over.

Fourth, you need a good collection vessel. We don’t have the requisite stainless steel milk bucket, but I am eyeing them on eBay. I am currently using my Pampered Chef Batter Bowl, which is big and heavy and glass, and also has a cover. Keeping the cats out is very difficult, let me tell you, so the lid comes in handy.

And the hardest part is actually milking her. A Boer goat’s teat is very tiny compared to a cow’s—maybe even smaller than my pinky finger. One’s hand does not grasp around the teat easily to squeeze it when it’s that small. So I struggle with the motion of milking her. I am getting better, and now can do both sides at once, but I still feel like I must be hurting her.

Typically she gives about a quart of milk at a time, twice a day. So she is doing well. Her babies drink more than that, but it’s all we can expect from her when her babies are not nursing directly. We supplement with milk replacer.

Hopefully we can get them back out to momma soon. If it would only warm up…

Wallace and Wen-doe-lene

Here is a video of them scampering around in our mudroom. Yes, don't you love that tile?



More still photos:

Current Conditions - Saturday, 8:00 am

Yeah, I'm just getting ready to go outside to do chores. I'm late, cuz I slept in, and cuz I knew the weather news was grim. Makes me want to just run right out there. Actually, that's exactly what I *WOULD* do (run), if there wasn't ice everywhere and I didn't risk breaking my neck. So it will be 45 minutes of cautious busy-ness...



Wish me luck.

Oh, I am editing this to add that I am blogging from my bed. The bed is nice and warm, as I have said before. I need to add, however, that we do not have heat in this old farmhouse bedroom. There are 4 bedrooms upstairs, and the two kids' rooms are the only ones with heat ducts. So the temperature in my room is a toasty 48 degrees. Now I know why folks used to wear caps to bed at night. I DON'T WANT TO GET UP!!!

The Blessed Event

Yes, it finally happened. It was one of those days, let me tell you…

Monday was Precious’ due date, but we were wishing the babies would have arrived on the weekend. We both had events that we couldn’t miss, and we were still having trouble accessing the cam away from home. It worked perfectly while we were at home. Go figure.

I rushed home after work, and saw that her udder was quite large, but thankfully, no babies yet. I milked a bit out of her, which also is a sign that babies are imminent. I knew from personal experience, though, that these things often take time. So I expected a middle-of-the-night delivery. I went inside and took it easy and dozed after supper. Of course, we had her on the cam loud and clear.

B woke me up about 12:30 to go to bed, and I couldn’t get to sleep, as she was bleating quite loudly with every labor pain. She was still in early labor, though. I finally decided I would do more good outside with her than inside in bed not sleeping, so I went out.

It was BITTERLY cold. I put on three pairs of pants, three shirts, two pair of socks (one wool), two coats, a scarf, hat, and my new thinsulate mittens. Then I found an old white comforter that could be bleached when done, and I took it out and wrapped myself in it. I was absolutely chilled to the bone. My feet were in intense pain from being so cold. But I remembered the pain of labor, and realized that Precious probably hurt more than I did. I finally brought my car to the barn so I could go out periodically and warm up. I must have fallen asleep about 5-5:30 am in the car, as when I woke up and went back into the barn, her water had broken. I expected to see pushing soon.

I did my chores, and came into the house to make sure that everyone was up and getting ready for school. They had no idea I had been up all night. In fact, B told me he had a dream that I told him she was kidding and I was going out to the barn. I told him it was no dream!!

I finally called my friend S and asked her when I could expect pushing. She said that the babies were likely not into the birth canal and were malpresented. I needed to go in with a glove, adjust the way they were presenting, and help her get them out.

WHAT?!! I had not signed up for this!! I know that complications happen, but the first time?! Why me?? She said that I should try it first and then call the vet if there were problems.

Time was of the essence, of course. However, not only did we need to get these kids born, but B and I both had to go to work. I had a conference call that I needed to be on, and an appointment to discuss some items with another colleague just before that. I needed to leave by 10:30 am.

So I took my OB glove and went in. I found the babies, and repositioned them, and she pushed them out. I was truly convinced that I had not acted fast enough and that they would be dead. To my tearful jubilation, they were both born healthy and very much alive! We dried them off and momma loved on them, but we ultimately had to take them into the house, as it was so incredibly cold. She missed them, but is doing fine, and happy to be free of that excess weight!

We have had to milk her and then bottle feed the babies, which is a lot of work (and very cold for us). But it is worth it. The babies are inside, in the mud room, in a dog kennel. We let them out when we feed them, and they are fun to play with and be around. They are absolutely adorable—hard to believe that they grow into such large livestock!

Pictures are below. And oh—no names yet!

BarnCam

Well... no babies yet.

And, given that life goes on (read: I have to work despite having babies due), we have set up a barncam. I mentioned it before, but I can't even tell you how consuming it has been. Firewalls, port forwarding, the direcway system, remote desktops, USB cams vs. IP cams, hard wired vs. wireless, antenna boosters, wireless repeaters-- all of this crap has consumed us for the past 2 weeks. All to make sure we don't miss the blessed event.

And, as is often the case with technology, when it works, it's awesome. When it fails, it's miserable. Unfortunately, it has failed more than it has succeeded. We strive for audio and video, since it's important to hear her as well as see her (especially if she moves off-cam). But if you have audio, your video can be unreliable, and vice-versa. When we are home, we can get it to work very well. At work-- where we need the most reliability-- it works not-so-well.

So, while we are at work, our solution is a streaming web cam, with no audio. At least we can see something.

Here is the link:

Our cam is "BarnCam"-- be sure to select the Friends and Family section, and then the Barn Cam from the dropdown link.

Sorry for the commercial nature of the feed-- it was all I could find. If you have a better solution, I will jump at it!!

Happy Monday. I have meetings all day today, so send Precious some good thoughts about holding onto those babies until at least late this afternoon.

Updated: Ugh, I see it's down now. See what I mean? And we're not there to reboot or anything...

I Kid, I Kid!

Actually, I am not kidding. But we do have a goat that is about to kid any day! I did not mention that we have two new girls, Precious and Tango. We now have three that are going to kid this spring, as Cindi is bred as well. Precious' due date is Saturday, and Cindi's is March 4. Tango has been ultrasounded, and is pregnant with twins, but nobody saw her being bred, so her due date is unknown. By looking at all of the goats, I would say that the date is somewhere between the two, maybe mid-February.

So, given the concern for being with the girls while they kid, we have been focusing the efforts during our scarce free time into crafting a barn cam. It would be very helpful for me to be able to view the cam while at work, so that I can keep tabs on them and come home if needed. It's also a long way to the barn when it's 10:30, freezing cold outside, and you're in your pajamas. Or 1:30 am and you wake up in a cold sweat just KNOWING she needs you out there, but you really don't want to leave the comfort of your bed.

Our barn cam is experiencing HUGE issues, however. First there is the issue of the metal barn. Then there was the connectivity between the barn and the wireless router in the house. Now we are having problems with me being able to view streaming video while at work. It's one thing after another. However last night we were able to keep a stable video connection between the barn and the house all night. We all slept like babies, Precious and Tango in plain view (and plain voice!) on my nightstand.

Again, I am concerned becuase I am at work today, unable to view them. But if we can just make it a few more hours, then we have the whole weekend... Keep your fingers crossed for me!

My Teeny College Made the News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070125/ap_en_tv/people_colbert

People can be so petty. But it was cool to open Yahoo news and see my alma mater.

Saturday Morning

I haven't taken photos in forever. Friday night and into Saturday morning, the area was blanketed in a heavy fog. When the sun came up yesterday, we were treated to a beautiful sight! I couldn't resist even the nasty cold-- I dusted off my camera and headed out. Hope you enjoy.

The Transformation

This is the living room of our house, taken from the dining room. This picture was taken before we bought it. We had a vision, which was clearly different than the shag carpeting, light-blocking curtains and dark walls.






In the second photo, we have stripped the paneling off of the walls, removed most of the wallpaper underneath, and took up the carpeting. Even though it's not finished in this picture, you can see the transformation in the room just from lightening up the environment. Also, in the first picture, the "archway" was all framed in-- a surprise to us when we removed the paneling.



We stripped the walls, patched and painted them. We're now ready for trim and ceiling tiles. They had put foam 1 x 1' square sound-absorbing tiles up, and we are going to replace them with a tin pattern ceiling. Someday. When we get more time...


Same room, different angle. Isn't it so much better?

My parents should have named me Frank.

Because I am. It’s just the way I am.

So, I will be frank with you. (Spoken like I have never been frank before in my blog.)

I have not blogged about anything recently, as I have been intentionally avoiding the “elephant in the corner” as we affectionately refer to the term at work. It’s that thing that that is looming there, that everyone wants to know about but nobody wants to ask about. This elephant, in this food lady’s life, is her fragile mental health. How is my mental health these days? Am I hanging out in the rubber room? Curled up in the fetal position on my living room floor?

Well, my motto has always been “Better Living Through Chemistry” and this situation is no exception. Lexapro is my miracle drug of choice, and with the exception of a few speed bumps along the way, it has been a miracle.

I have a friend at work who battles his own demons, and he has said to me, “You need a heaping spoonful of ‘I don’t give a shit.’” And he’s right. However, I seem to have a cup full at the moment. Remember my posts about feeling guilt for not doing laundry? Or dishes? Well, there is guilt no more! But now I struggle with the need for some sort of motivation. I struggle with it at home and at work. I am very motivated with the animals, however. I am happy that I continue to honor my commitment to them as an “animal husband.” But the laundry? It’s not done.

B says that’s fine. He likes it much better this way. Let me tell you a funny story:

I had Christmas Day dinner planned out. My inner Martha Stewart was somewhat shut down by the drugs, and I had decided that I’d do a spiral glazed ham in the crock pot, put some veggies and potatoes in the oven, and then we’d just eat off of that all day. It would be a NICE dinner, but not a formal dinner. And there would be minimal work for me.

But the trouble started on Christmas Eve, when my Lexapro self decided that I couldn’t be bothered with the prep work. The inner Martha could not win that battle. I went to bed without the pumpkin pie or pineapple upside down cake being made. Martha was placated by Lex’s assurance that I would get up early and get it all done before 9 am. I mean, the kids will not let us sleep very late on CHRISTMAS, right?? Wrong.

Martha, Lex, B, the kids and I all woke up at 9 am. I am surprised that Martha slept that late. She is usually up at 5:30, banging around in the kitchen, trying to guilt everyone else into getting up and helping. But Lex drugged her into sleep. And we all slept well! We opened our prezzies, and I went to the barn, and it was all good. I came back, and snuggled under the quilt on the couch, and the sun was streaming in, and the cats surrounded me and…

I WOKE UP AT 2:30!!! And nobody had made anything; there was nothing in the house to eat (except the uncooked Christmas dinner and a few leftovers that were not enough to feed a ravenous household!). B suggested the grocery store, but Martha reminded him in her infinite wisdom that the grocery store was closed on Christmas day. Lex told him to go to the gas station and see what he could rustle up.

AND MARTHA WAS QUIET!!! She was drugged in to submission, and Lex seemed pleased that her family was so well fed WITH SLIDERS ON CHRISTMAS DAY !! What did BABY JESUS think when he looked down and realized that LEX LOVED HIM SO MUCH SHE CELEBRATED HIS BIRTH BY SERVING HER FAMILY WHITE CASTLE SLIDERS???!!! FROZEN ONES THAT WERE REHEATED IN THE MICROWAVE!!

Martha was secretly pleased when the kids remarked, “Mom, these are the nastiest burgers I have ever tasted! Can I please have that extra sub sandwich that dad got?”

Strengthened by this, Martha rallied the troops and enlisted help from everyone, to whip up the meal that had been planned! The boy made the pumpkin pie while Martha made the crust and barked orders at the crew. Thankfully Lex tempered the Martha dictator, and the atmosphere was one of camaraderie. Baby Jesus would be proud of THIS. We had the meal done by 7:30 pm, and ate our fill that day, and had ham for dinner for a week after that.

Later, when Martha begged forgiveness from B for being under the influence of Lex, B said he loved her multiple personalities with Lex in the mix. Martha asked him if he wanted to boot Lex out of her life, and while he said, ‘It’s up to you, Dear” she really heard the truth in his voice: ‘If you ever go off of this medication, I will run screaming for the hills never to be heard from again. Never, EVER miss a pill.” And I think he really means that, White Castle for Christmas dinner and all.

So, bear with me and my cup full of I don’t give a shit. It’s not that I don’t, I really care about things. But other things just get in the way…

Truthfully, and kidding aside, part of the titration is to get through the part where you are feeling somewhat numb. My first reaction to the medication was that I did not like how it took away all of the good feelings with the bad. My emotions were spiking up and down, and I liked the ups. I never even considered that the medicine would shave the peaks off of the good and the valleys off the bad moods. Fortunately, the peaks have come back, and the valleys have stayed away, except when appropriate. This has been a good thing for me. But I continue to have motivation problems. It’s the old, “spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” line. Last night I really intended to get some extra work done that I had brought home. Yeah, and B woke me up at midnight to go to bed. My laptop was still open. I had fallen asleep waiting for a remote document to load. I had every intention to stay awake, but…

Okay, you get the picture. The gist is this: I know you are all used to Martha with the stick up her butt. But please, be patient with Lex, and get to know her. She’s totally laid back and cool (when she’s not sleeping). And she’s REALLY, really good for Martha.

I'm SO making this next year...

Cool, eh?

Jumping to Contusions

Saturday night B and I went out to feed the animals. I had gone to a meeting, so when we went out it was later than usual. I fed as I always do, and stopped a minute to pet Major as he ate. I must have startled him or made him think that in some way I was going to take his food, but he instantly lunged at me and bit me in the upper arm. It was an extremely hard impact, it happened so fast and suddenly that I had no idea what happened until took a couple of seconds to replay it all in my head. He bit me straight through my coat, and while he did not break the skin, I can't imagine what he would have done had I not been wearing a coat. Or if he would have bitten my face. He did not mean to do it in that way, he has never been aggressive to me, other than nipping for attention or stamping out of anger. He has been relegated to low horse on the totem pole in the pasture, and I am sure he was instinctively potecting his food from a horse-- he just assumed that it was another horse coming up next to him.

Too bad.

it HURTS!

Just another day in paradise...

Last week when B was sick, we pretty much spent the day in bed, ala John and Yoko. B slept, and I kept vigil with the thermometer and extra quilts, but I had my laptop with me and got some mundane data entry done.

I also mentioned that the cats were there (most of the day), all three piled on the bed with their thermal support, and the dogs were sleeping on the floor, surely adding a degree or two to the ambient temperature.

The kids were downstairs watching a movie, I heard a frantic shriek, “Mom! Bub’s got a mouse!” She is the resident mouser, while the other two cats jump on chairs and quiver when they see one of the rodents. In a vain attempt to get the mouse away from her (we are happy to have her kill them, but prefer she doesn’t eat them), the kids chased her upstairs with her kill—that wasn’t completely killed. She ran into our bedroom and under the bed, and promptly let the catch go. She wanted to play with it some more!

I chastised her and told her I would really REALLY like her to find that mouse sometime before bedtime, as I would prefer not to wake up with Mickey on my pillow! She set to work trying to find it, and she did just that. However, when I tried to get it away from her, she jumped up on my bed and let it go in my bed!!

Yes, that was creepy.

At that point, I put all phobias aside and threw the covers back, grabbed the (still very much alive) mouse by the tail, and took it outside.

I’m trying very hard to shed my suburban image. Is it working?