Villhauer's Farm Blessings: Baby It's Cold Outside

     I have placed random pictures throughout this post to break up the text because I don't really have much photographed of what went on this week.

     Wednesday 1/12 was a very long day at school....almost 14 hours....I left home at 6am with a slow drive due to the blowing and drifting that had occurred over night. It was bitter cold out. Coming home at 8:15pm, I got stuck in the drive twice, and it took me about 5 minutes to get up it. Andy came and plowed it 15 minutes later. I had stayed at school and work until the Freshman Orientation program I was helping at from 6:00 to 8:00pm. At the start of the program I was helping direct all the incoming people to their
   seats. The place was packed, noisy,

and people were still trying to get in. But then, when the choir started singing the national anthem, everyone stopped moving and it got dead quiet. It brought goose bumps to my skin, especially with the thought of Daniel leaving for Afghanistan in May. I was both amazed and thankful of the respect everybody showed to our flag, country, soldiers and student choir.

Thursday Britney and I carpooled to school for the first time in awhile. Because her test grading job is over, she is now back to part time like I am. Once home, I could not keep my eyes open while trying to do school work. I took a 70 min nap and woke up feeling worse, and feared I might be getting sick. Dan had the flu yesterday. I just couldn't get warm. It doesn't help that it barely got into the teens and there had been a sub zero wind chill outside. I was quick about chores which I did early, took a long hot shower, had Joe's home made chicken soup for supper and sat with hot tea at my computer. I did not last too much later than 9pm.

Brother out hunting....the snow doesn't slow him down much.

Friday it was a little warmer, so later in the afternoon, even though I still felt drained, I took Amiga and my new saddle over to Marj's. Courtney walked Zorro while I messed around with Amiga and the new saddle. I wasn't sure about the saddle. It fit okay, but sat a little high on her back. I liked the looks of it but it felt too wide while sitting in it. Somehow with Courtney and Marj there, and our three horses, my fatigue drained away and we three had an enjoyable time taking turns riding Amiga and Arboleda.

Amiga and Sir Loin....
and Brother to see what I am doing.

Because it had gotten so late and cold outside Friday evening, Marj offered to keep Amiga over night. We put her in the stall next to Zorro, so the two could have a slumber party.

Courtney and I were back at Marj's by 9:45 Saturday morning. She had a horse trainer from Champagne come and speak to our class. Natural horsemanship is rising in popularity and there is more and more information available on riding in lightness. The speaker was a physical therapist (for humans) by trade so did a fantastic job explaining about the horse and its movement. He helped us see what is meant by "a working frame" and how suppling and strengthening the horse's entire body reduces tension and stiffness and enables the horse to more easily maintain balance. This leads to relaxation which allows the horse to stretch and become more flexible in his joints and muscles while moving more efficiently and gait better because collection can be achieved.

The book we have been studying, "Lessons In Lightness" is aimed at teaching us the "art of developing the horse through an understanding of the complexities of how the horse thinks and moves, so the horse responds rather than reacts". An intense and sensitive bond between horse and rider is the goal. I am excited about implementing these philosophies to my training methods. Actually, I am the one in the most need of training.

Sunday, Britney helped me take

down all of the Christmas decorations. Joe dismantled the tree for us. I spent much of the day packing everything up. Un-decorating is the worst job ever, depressing....no joy and no anticipation of the holiday to come, it is all over. I went to Marj's after chores and walked Zorro for Courtney. He did very well. Marj showed me how to sidestep him which is good for his type of injury and also gets him thinking.

Monday, Presidents Day, No School....the record low for this day in history (-18°F) was recorded last year. We were at a balmy 34 degrees most of the day. The wind picked up and it misted/sleeted in the afternoon. I finished packing up Christmas, got out all the old nick nacks, dusted them and the furniture, and returned the house to pre-holiday decorated. I also got a nice chunk of school work done. At chore time Joe and I spent 15 min.
trying to eradicate an opossum from

the chicken coop. It was hiding under the roosting perches. The chickens did not even want to go into the coop for the night. In the photo below, Joe is going into the coop with a bucket to catch the intruder. It was a cute young-in so I wanted to catch and release it. You can see how big the two "baby roosters" have gotten.

Joe came back out to get a hoe to help scoop the unwilling creature into the bucket. He left the door to the garden shed open and the chickens quickly noted this and started making their way to this shelter for the evening.

The opossum sure put up a fight. I kept hoping it would "play dead", but that was not the case. It wasn't aggressive, but it kept trying to run and hide. We did finally catch the little bugger. Later when we drove to Bible study, we took the country route, and found a nice wooded, fairly remote location in which to turn him loose.

Tuesday it rained off and on throughout the day.... while the teacher meetings for the institute day drug on and on. I really fought sleepiness.
I didn't get home until late in the Missy with Sir Loin

afternoon, made cream of wheat, had a cup of hot tea, and still ended up taking a nap. What else does one do on a cold, damp, gloomy, winter day?

Wednesday I had to slip out of my last class very early to go with Joe and Britney to Chicago for her annual neurological evaluation. Cathy, the teacher who is in the same classroom as I, the other 5 periods, was kind enough to step in and cover for me.

We have been taking Britney to Children's Memorial Hospital and she has been under the care of Dr. Goldman for 11+ years. She has also been seeing Dr. Tomita. Both of them and their staff have been wonderful.

Stewart Goldman, MD- Medical director, Neuro-oncology, Gus Foundation Chair of Neuro-oncology; Associate professor of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Our two Drs. along with nurses and interns, looked at Britney's MRI scans and report, and went through the neurological testing and checking of her eyes, reflexes, strength etc. and said everything looks great. The brain tumor is stable and she should be good to go to the mission field in Guatemala. They did want her to have part of her shunt in her neck region x-rayed to be sure it will hold up for 2 years. If it looks like it might "spring a leak" or get clogged ....they will want to replace it before she goes. Evidently, there tends to be greater scaring and calcification in the neck area because of all the movement the tube must endure.

Amiga heading back to barn following Kaysha + Bro.

Britney drove me to school Thursday as it snowed. We only got about two inches, but it was enough to slow down traffic and make me nervous. The temperatures had started dropping in the wee hours of the morning and continued all day long. The chickens were back in the coop when we got home form school....just too cold and/or snowy for them. After I fed Amiga and closed her into the barn for the night I brushed her and then picked ice out of her hooves for the umpteenth millionth time this winter. I think she likes getting the cold clods of frozen snow out because she is really picking and holding her feet up nicely for me. I have to really work to get the chunks out most times.

Brother and Missy have become good friends.

Friday morning we hit our weekly low of -4 degrees (with -17 windchill) As would be expected, I was hoping for a day off school because of the cold...but that was not to happen. It was just as well, because I had a computer lab reserved for my 3 classes, and to reschedule it for next week would have been nearly impossible. When we got home, I discovered that the cow had gotten through the fence again. This time he went from the side pasture in to the back pasture. He went through one of the stretch gates breaking one of the hook springs in the process. He was probably caught in it for awhile, judging from the tracks in the snow, but it was just the ground wire so he probably wasn't getting shocked.

Brother likes to come up on the deck, especially if it is sunny, and look in at us.... while Abbey likes to gaze out at him and the rest of the world.

Recently, Missy has been getting bolder and following Brother further and further from the barn. She has even come all the way up to the deck with Brother. Here she is trying to get a better look at what brother is watching.... Abbey.