but I have come to find that
having patients requires many virtues...
and one of those virtues is patience,
along with perseverance, hope, faith and love.
It increases my worry rate and prayer time.
Stew has been an easy patient, keeping an eye on him for possible infection after the castration. He is doing very well as a bottle baby and is content to hang out with Babe even though she has been confined to the corn crib.
Stew looks bigger in this photo taken Tuesday, because he was closer to the camera. Actually, Babe has lost a considerable amount of weight and I worried that she was not thriving. She did not eat all of her morning grain with the pain medicine in it, another cause for concern and more praying.
The chickens come to visit the cows and look for corn (from cow's grain) left behind before entering or after leaving the cow. Babe couldn't stand very well, hardly walked at all and spent most of her time resting. 
It was a beautiful day, but was to get up to 90 degrees, so I decided to ride in the morning. I tied Zorro to the trailer so he could practice patience while I got Amiga ready to ride. I did also brush and fly spray him. 
His patience was short lived and he started getting frigidity, chewing on his halter and lead rope. After scolding him several times, he started chewing on the spare tire. 
I put him back with Roni and took Amiga on a very nice 45 minute ride. She continues to calm down and listen better to my cues. 
Roni was next to be ridden. I took him down Brian's road to Marj's. Here he is with Adam's puppy. 
Marj wasn't home, so I took a look around at her barn repair project. 
They are re-doing all of the wood that has rotted. This involves removing the metal side, replacing the bad boards, and re-attaching the metal. 
Marj got home just as I was preparing to leave. We chatted briefly and then Roni and I headed for home by way of the creek, wooden bridge, and farm field road. Once home, I dismounted out by the tracks, put on Roni's halter, and let him graze. I wanted to reward the great ride he had just given me, and change up the routine. With the heat of the day well upon us, I put the horses in their stalls.
I opened the corn crib in case the cows wanted to go out and graze, but they stayed put. After some mowing and a shower, I met Courtney at the Bloomington Fire Station, we gave blood, and had a free pizza dinner together. Then I did my weekly shopping, adding camping supplies to my cart for the up-coming weekend. Wednesday I made a sack lunch to take to Moraine View, started loading Roni at 11am, but he would NOT get on the trailer. I thought maybe his back right leg was bothering him because he kept turning and looking at it. So I took him to the round pen and lunged him, but saw no evidence of lameness. Last week it was his back left leg he was troubled by when Loren shod him. After 30 minutes of trying, I tied him to the trailer and came in and read my Bible for 15 min.
I went back out to try again. I decided to put the windows down in the Expedition to cool it off before going, and it was dead as a doorknob. Guess I wasn't going to make it to the park. I decided to still try to get Roni to load... but still no luck after another 30 minutes. I did not pressure him much and he did actually stand with both front feet on the trailer several different times... but would turn and look back at his right side and sometimes kind of bite at it. I fly sprayed him thinking that was the problem. One time when he had both front feet on, I kept pulling on the lead rope to put on forward pressure and he got all the way on the trailer, but I released the pressure and he backed right off again. I finally put him in his stall and the first thing he did was pee (a ton). I have seen him not want to load before when he has had to pee. I was so frustrated...
I checked the cows. Stew likes to stay close to Babe who he has adopted as "mom." He tries to nurse, and with her lame leg, has had more luck because she is unable to kick him off or move away very well. Then I came in and communicated my trailering difficulties to Marj. She was worried that Roni might be starting to colic since he kept looking at and kind of biting at his side. So I took his temp (which was normal) and gave him some colic medicine.
I fretted away the day checking on Roni every hour or so. I read up on colic and did what I could. I didn't want Roni to lie down. I monitored his water intake and took his temperature every three hours. I also walked him twice, 20 minutes each time. At 7pm I took him for a ride for almost an hour, never going faster than a walk. I just wished he would poop.
At
least my worries about Babe were diminishing. I had opened the corn crib before noon and she and Stew came out for some green grass and a drink from
the stock tank. She was moving slowly, but she was trying. At 10pm I went out to check on Roni. He had been farting and then pooped a little bit. It started out very runny and then a small blob of mash potato consistency. That made me feel so much better. Then he started scratching his rear end. I checked him and he had made his tail bleed and had liquid poo down his thighs and tail. So I took him out and hosed his back end off, put cream on his tail and walked him for 20 min. He showed little signs of discomfort so I did give him a handful of grass hay which he snarfed down. He acted like he was starving which is no surprise since he hadn't had food all day. It was nearly midnight by the time I got to bed.
Roni had a normal poop over night that I immediately saw when I went out at 5:30. So I gave him his cup of feed and 1/3 flake of alfalfa. After the horses were done eating, I turned Amiga and Zorro out, but when I went back in the barn to get Roni, he was lying in his stall. I thought SHOOT!!
I took Roni's temp, gave him more colic medicine, walked him 20 min and called the vet. She was going to be in the neighborhood today, so
would come after her first emergency call.I continued to monitor Roni as I had Wednesday. I also fly-sprayed all three horses and both cows.
Emily checked several things, including Roni's heart rate, respiration and temperature, which were all normal. His gut sounds were absent on one side and slow on the other so she did a colon exam. She eventually had her arm in Roni all the way up to her shoulder, removing manure as she went. He had no impaction and his manure was normal. She diagnosed Roni with mild colic and advised me how to continue to treat him.
As soon as Emily left, I gave Roni mineral oil mixed with some apple sauce and pellet food, more colic medicine that I squirt from a syringe into his mouth, and 1/2 flake of hay with some electrolyte water sprinkled over it. I continued to monitor him the rest of Thursday afternoon.
Joe and I went to LeRoy to swim at the Replex and pick up the Expedition. The reason the battery kept dying was because the back windshield wiper was stuck in the on position and it was trying to turn itself off, but couldn't. 
I was to monitor Roni while out on pasture. He was allowed 30 minutes and I was to watch his behavior and for him to poop. So I set up a stool, and was eating crackers with my ice tea.
The horses were curious about me, and came to check me out with Amiga leading the way.
When I crumpled my cracker bag, it sent them running.
Joe was trimming fence line while I sat and watched the horses grazing peacefully.
Our little willow tree is doing well because we water it almost every day. It is getting big enough to actually cast some shade now.
Eventually, Roni decided he needed to lay down... but he kept eating. This was not good.
So, I went over to get him up and moving, and he quickly complied. His 30 minutes were about up so I took him back to his stall.
Roni needed to be taken for another walk. It would be good for Kaysha, Joe and I as well. So the four of us took off towards Brian's.
If you enlarge this photo, you can see the rising moon to the east of Kaysha and Joe.
I wanted Joe to get a photo of the setting sun behind Roni and I. It was already down too far. But notice Roni looking at his side. This is an indication of a tummy ache (colic). The last manure to come out of Roni is what Emily examined at 1pm, no wonder he doesn't feel right. 
We gave Stew his tetanus vaccine at bottle feeding time. He was a good patient. Because we had cancelled our weekend camping trip, we grilled hot dogs for dinner and sat around the fire pit to finish off the day. One last check on Roni before bed...and still no poop.
Friday morning... Roni had still not produced the goods I so desperately wanted to see. So I gave him more mineral oil with his morning feeding.
After taking care of my basic morning needs, I got Roni (with Joe's help) on the trailer and took him to Morine View. Emily said trailering is good, because it often makes them poop. Well it worked!
I rode Roni on a nice 90 minute ride at a slow, easy walk. The pond above is in desperate need of water. I have watched it slowly shrink all summer during this drought.
This tree on the right has a burl, or tumor. Tree burls can be created during a tree's response to stress from damage. Who knows what caused this particular growth. Scientists can actually track such growths back to the single cell of origin. It’s possible the mass developed as the tree responded to an infection by bacteria, virus, or fungus, or it could be the faulty result of an attempt to put forth a new bud or branch. Or perhaps it resulted from the tree’s response to an insect infestation or a cut. (freedictionary.com) In any case, like other tumors, the cell divisions involved led to far greater numbers than normally would have been seen.
Burls do not usually cause harm to
trees and the wood cut from them is often used for decorative purposes.There were tons of people out on the trails getting in one last ride before the rains were to come. Roni and I arrived back at the campground. I recruited a man from a near by campsite to help me get Roni loaded.
This is the manure spreader Joe bought and assembled several weeks ago, and put to use Friday, before it started raining.
He used the tractor and then a shovel to fill it, hooked it up, and then would go spread manure. It took him many trips to clear out the big pile.
Joe and I did a bunch of yard work. I raked grass while he spread poop, and we both hacked away at an overgrown prairie willow in the pasture, hauling branches to the burn pile. Our chain saw was too dull to help us with the big limbs and it was starting to sprinkle, so we called it quits. 
I continued to monitor Roni through out the day. He would still looked at his stomach sometimes, and I
knew was not feeling normal. I decided more time (patience) was needed. Then, when I brought him in after an hour in the paddock, his eye was swollen almost completely shut. 
I rubbed eye medicine on his lids and in his eye, which seemed to help... but knew it too needed time.
The rains finally came early Friday evening. I felt bad for all the season-opening football fans across Illinois.
We must have gotten quite a bit of rain overnight, because the weather reported 1 3/4 inches for Friday. Another storm cloud hit just as I stepped out to do chores Saturday morning, and I got drenched. My morning "walk" was actually a short "run"... I ran through the rain from house to barn, to corn crib, to chicken coop, to barn, and back to house.
Roni's eye was much better and, he had pooped over night and again mid morning, so I was feeling less worried about him. Several waves of storms passed threw all morning long. At one point I had taken Kaysha out to the barn with me so she could take care of business. A monsoon like wind and rain suddenly blew in from the south and was coming in the barn. I got soaked closing all three south side doors. There was some thunder and lightening too. I convinced the dog to make a run for it, with me, to the house. Then I had to sit here smelling a wet dog who wanted to climb into my lap for fear of the storm.I finally gave her a tranquilizer. We
got a total of 3 inches on Saturday, but it had cleared off enough in the afternoon that I let the horses out to graze for awhile. They were starting to get agitated with staying in their stalls. I was sure Roni was feeling better because he was behaving (and pooping) more normally. 
I found this nest of 14 duck eggs in my Iris. The ducks have been gone for over a week, so I knew these were too old, and through them out.
Joe got the chain saw blade sharpened, so during one break in the rain, we finished trimming the big prairie willow. It had huge branches all the way down to the ground. We went to dinner Saturday night and rented some movies to get us through the rainy weekend.
Sunday resulted in one more inch of rain. With more breaks in the clouds, I let the horses out three different times. I started a crock pot of chicken before going to second service with Joe. Courtney came over and joined us for a 1:30 "Sunday dinner."
Courtney helped us get the cows in off the back pasture. I was worried they were getting too much green grass, because they had been confined to the corn crib for a week. Babe's walking continues to improve, but she still moves very slowly.
I helped Joe hang a new (old house door) in the barn to replace the other one which came to it's demise last weekend.
The sun actually broke through the clouds late afternoon. There was still plenty of water that needed to drain from the water way.
Mike had been out of town, 4-wheeling with his buddies. He brought his "buggie" out here to store and work on. Notice the incoming storm clouds above... 
They had passed us by even before Mike left. Hercules is giving him an escort out. This is my idea of "4-wheeling".
Labor Day Monday : If Sunday was to be a day of rest, but we worked some... I decided Labor Day could start with some rest before we started working. Mostly I sat on the front porch and worked on this blog post. I headed out at 10:30 to bring the horses in, and start on a project with Joe.
Installing a window in the barn was our main accomplishment. I felt we needed more light by the hydrant because putting in a frame (wall) for the garage door had really reduced it.
Getting the hole cut just right was our biggest hurdle, and patience with each other was in high demand.
The lower boards were too rotten, and we made a "cutting" error, so we decided to replace them.
A few coats of paint along with a frame, and this will look much better.
I really like having more light here, where we step down into the main barn from the west side. Below you can see the new, darker door that doesn't have a window. We hung it on the north side of the frame so it opens against the wall Joe had built. It is also much easier to access the light switch now.
It was a bummer to be stuck at home instead of camping the last four days, but I was glad to not have gone through with it in the rain (our total almost 6"). We also needed to be here for our animals. As we wrapped up the three day holiday weekend, it was a relief to know my patients were on the mend. Unfortunately, Joe had done something to hurt his back again, and needed pain pills for that.
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