An End To All Things

     The English Proverb “All good things must come to an end.” doesn't make letting go any easier.  But it points out that there is an end to everything, even good things.  None of us seem to complain about bad things or tough times ending, but it is reassuring to realize that they too won't last forever.  

     Saturday morning when I opened the coop, I discovered a dead chicken, just lying on her back under the roosting slats.  It was Red, Floppsie's
sister.  They were the first two
chickens we adopted here on the farm.  I looked her over carefully and there was no trauma to her anywhere, but on the underside of her neck, by her waddle there was some white stuff.  At first I thought maggots, but upon closer examination it looked more like cottage cheese. I wondered if it was some kind of parasite and if that is what killed her. 
                                                          I never dread weekends, but this
one marked the end of Spring Break so I was not as jubilant to see it come.  I had to force myself to work on lesson plans all morning Saturday. 

     Abbey bird watching.  I flipped my Biology book to this page as well as my Google search to birds. 

     Is Abbey telling me to get back to work?  The gloomy, overcast and misty skies that God blessed us with, was helpful in keeping me inside, and working on school work.  By 10:30, I had gotten done with my lesson plans for the week (well, four days, we have Good Friday off).  At this point I went shooting out of the house after starting a load of laundry.
                                                             I worked for over an hour moving
dirt in the back pasture.  The old tile still gets sink holes, and the pile of dirt (on rt. side of photo) that didn't fill in around the new tile line needed to be moved.  So using the Kabota, I dug, scraped and drug the dirt several feet over to its' new spot (left of photo).  I only completed about a third of it.

     Back at the garage shed, I discovered that the chickens were pulling the feathers out of dead Red.  Talk about being at the bottom of the pecking order.  So I moved the carcass to a better location until Joe could take care of it.  Floppsie was in the barn, standing in the corner with her head down.
She let me pick her right up.  I took
her to the coop and gave her some "comfort" food.  Then I proceeded to get Roni ready to ride.

     As usual, Brother is keeping track of my where-abouts and watching what I do.  Roni finds the cat fascinating, yet unpredictable. 

 
     I did ground work with Roni and used the side pull reins to remind him of head position.  When I got on, he still tried to nose out the first ten minutes or so.  I liked that he was walking relaxed and calmly.  But I was not able to get him to go into a nice slow easy gait.  Once he finally did, for several yards out in the field, I stopped and got off him.  Wanting to reward the accomplishment, however small, I walked him back to the barn.

     Back at the barn, I found Floppsie, again moping around.  Seriously, I think she was mourning the loss of the "sister" she had hatched with, been raised with  and hung out with over the last three years.  I just sat and held her for a little while.

     I came into the house to continue work on laundry, make new seating charts for school, read my Bible, and mess around on this here computer.  I researched chicken parasites and, other than getting grossed out, I didn't find anything obvious.  The white stuff may have been mite eggs, but shouldn't have caused her death.  

     Floppsie was sitting near the trailer during chore time, and she had the appearance (like when she first started laying eggs) of being egg bound.  So I filled a tub with warm water and a little Epson salts and put her in it.





        She seemed to enjoy the warmth and just sat in the tub.  Hercules was concerned about the whole process.

     The soaking did help clean off her back end, and she pooped, but no egg materialized.  She hopped out on her own accord after about ten minutes so I dried off her underside and took her to the coop.

     At 1:45 Sunday morning I heard the rolling thunder approaching and wondered how soon the dog would react.  She slipped out of her collar and was upstairs by my bed before 2 am.  Up I got to take care of her.  By the time I went out to shut barn doors, it was really coming down.  I was so glad to finally get rain.  Our total rainfall for March was 1.01 inches.  As it turned out, we got a total of eight tenths Sunday... almost total what we got the month of March.  (Bring on the April Showers)

     Joe woke me from a deep sleep at
7 am to get ready for Church.  We ran out and did chores, and I got ready to leave.  I was still in a fog... put my shirt on backwards, couldn't find my glasses, and left my cup of tea on the roof of the car until I was a third of the way down the drive when I went to take a sip and it wasn't in the cup holder.  Glad it didn't spill, I needed all the caffeine I could get.  After Church I spent over two hours at school.  I brought the snail (above) home after draining and cleaning its tank at school because of an ick outbreak that killed all three of the large goldfish. 

      Missy was lounging with the ducks.  They were acting cold until the sun came out, which it did mid afternoon.












     I worked around the house and out in the yard and then relaxed in the lawn chair reading my horse magazine.  I nodded off to sleep in the warm sun, but it did not last long because Brother started biting my toes.  So up I got to work some more.

     Just as I was going out to do chores, Courtney arrived and helped get the horses in and fed.  We brushed our very dirty boys and then I saddled Roni up to ride.  We tried working him in the round pen, but it was still too wet and slippery in the low spots.



      Courtney rode first because she was on a limited time frame.  Roni took a few minutes (as usual) to get settled and walk relaxed without nosing out or tossing his head.  He does this to get more rein.
 

     Courtney started in the round pen and then rode Roni around the pasture on my mowed trails. Do you see who I see?




     Brother is always hanging around looking for action, or trouble.

     Roni took off with Courtney once, along the east fence straight away, but she stayed with him and got him calmed back down.  She said it was a little scary, but fun.


     When I rode, Roni was more relaxed and willing to listen, and we had a great ride together.  I only tried gaiting (with minimal success) a couple of times. 

     When I brought the horses in for the night, I brushed Amiga who was still very dirty.  I had read: "A once-over grooming gives you visual and tactile information about your horse's health, and if done on a daily basis it can help you catch potential health problems early. Familiarize yourself with your horses so you can detect when something isn't quite right."  So, I want to be more intentional
                                                      in doing this with Amiga.  I should do
the same with the dog, cats, and maybe even the chickens.  I did look over four of the chickens who are easy to catch.  They all look fine, except the broody hen is scabby and scaly on the top of her head, but she gets picked (pecked) on regularly.  

     I decided a gorgeous warm sunny Monday morning, although teasing me because I had to go to work, was better than a cold, cloudy, gloomy one.  Spring Break was officially over.  As always, I was thankful for a new day and my breath of life.  The students were sleepy and unmotivated.  Feeling the same way, it was hard to get them enthusiastic about Biology, but I tried.

     Once home, I made phone calls, answered e-mails, chatted on AIM and commented on Facebook, soaked Floppsie, and fried bacon and onions to put in the pot of beans I was cooking.  We grilled and ate outside for our Growth Group pot-luck.  It was a lovely evening.  Then we all went to Church to pray as part of the spiritual preparation for Easter Sunday.  This pales in comparison to what has been happening in Guatemala all week.

     Britney reported that Alfombras (Holy Street Art) have been made along the path of the processions all week.  Beginning early in the morning, the people spent hours working on their Alfombras!

 




They are very intricate and detailed, beautiful works of art.  Some are made from flowers... some from saw dust ... and some from other things.











     But then the procession comes and tramples all over them and ruins them!  And thus, these good things come to an end.


     I think my favorite part of the procession is the Roman guards.  Can you guess why?




     Tuesday was a better teaching day.  I stayed late for an after-school meeting about one of my students.  I also got official news in an e-mail that I was needed to work full time next year.  All good things must come to an end. This news may push me into early retirement, (An end to all things, like teaching) which would be nice…
                                                      however I need to consider several
options because early retirement may not be in my best economic interest.  At home I called TRS for the third time in two weeks with more questions and to schedule an appointment to meet with a retirement counselor.  I discovered yesterday that my school district would pay their share of the ERO (early retirement option) fee... but what I hadn't realized was how large the penalty fee I'd have to pay was going to be.  I continue to pray for direction on this.  "... I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."   Jeremiah 29:11

     I went out to ride Roni and as I got to the barn, I discover a mob of four chickens pecking at Floppsie who was lying on the ground, wings spread and head down.  I thought for sure she was dead, but still rushed to her.  And when I picked her up she exhaled a big sigh.  Upon inspection, I saw no damage/blood.  But she was still acting so sickly. 

     So, I put riding on hold and took her to the back deck and made another hot tub for her to soak in.  She started drinking the water, so I got her some apple sauce.  She loved it.  Then I added some chicken feed and warm water. She kept eating.  I tried gently massaging her abdomen some of the time while she soaked.  I kept her in for 30 minutes and then dried her off.  Still no egg or change in behavior. :-(

      I had Joe feed the cows and horses while I was soaking the chicken.  Being short on time, I just took Roni for a 30 minute ride.  I tried going back and forth along the east fence line many times... wanting a walk and then slow gait out of Roni.  But he just couldn't do it for me.  When I went back to the round pen though, he gaited like a champ.  I just don't get it.

     I thought we were going to get rain Wednesday with this red sky sunrise, but it was a false warning.  After school Wednesday, I made my rounds outside and found Floppsie on the floor in the chicken coop, behaving as she has been the last several days.  She appeared drowsy or ill... was hunched over with her head drooping.  Betty had followed me into the coop and I gave her the customary small scoop of feed she has trained
                                                                                   me to do.
Because her beak is messed up, she can not forage as well as the other chickens.  I put a dish with some feed in it right beside Floppsie also.  I was planning to give her another soak in a warm bath when I got home from my riding lesson.     

     My lesson went okay.  Roni was really jumpy for some reason.  I need to go back to the desensitization exercises I used to do with him.  We worked on lots of speed transitions in an effort to get him to gait slowly and smoothly, but not to keep him gaiting for long periods of time.  This rewards his efforts immediately and gaiting hopefully won't seem like drudgery.

     I have been putting the horses out when I get up around 5 am and calling them to breakfast (in the barn) 2 hours later.  This is the response I usually get.  They come running.

     I searched for Floppsie once home from Marj's, but could not find her anywhere.  I looked again after dinner thinking she had hidden somewhere to die.  I did not want to be smelling her in a few days under the corn crib or back deck.  I looked one more time at bed time, but with no luck. I figured, in her weak state, she could have been snatched up by our resident hawk.
                                                           Before my shower Thursday
morning, I looked for Floppsie one more time.  I found her in the front end of the garden shed.  I had looked in there twice the day before.  I skipped my shower and soaked and fed her again.  I also set up the dog crate in the calf pen and put a light on it for her.  I rushed off to school not even putting my ear rings in.

     After school I checked on Floppsie who was squatting under the heat lamp, gave her more food, showered, packed up the cooler and car, loaded Kaysha and hit the road.  We were Indiana bound.

     I had one little miss-hap while lost, before arriving at Carol's, so was ready for the cold beverage and pretzels while relaxing in a lawn chair watching her lambs.







     We had put this mama and her three babies in with the rest of the flock.  It was fun to see them get reacquainted. 

     The ewes were quite protective of their babies.











     As usual, Kaysha had a grand time looking around the farm and with Carol's two dogs.

     We enjoyed a late dinner of Shepherd's Pie made with lamb.

     While taking photos with my new camera, I also did some videos.  I am not happy with the videos because they are like the old fashion films that seem to be missing frames.  I need to read up more and see if I need to change my camera setting.  It also takes forever to down load them on here, so I just put this very short one on, that was actually an accident.

     It was a Good Friday, relaxing with Carol.  It had gotten quite cold over night so we were slow to go outside. 



     We spent the day moving sheep and watching lambs; working and walking; eating, drinking and chatting; and enjoying the sunshine.

     Here is a longer herding video with Carol and Ike working together.  Hope it doesn't take too long for your computer to down load. 

I can't get it to load... after several tries.  Maybe it is too big... more research on my part required.

     The 236th posted this Friday:  "Travel News Flash:  weather, 40s, surroundings-living conditions fair with all in walking distance with plenty of beautiful green grass to see, staff-excited and motivated to get you out of here. if families come, time will really be available at the end of the day as
                                              the process will not stop for actual lunch
breaks to speed up the process (mre's). PLEASE pack 72 hours of clothing as part of check baggage as bags have a possibility of not being with you ;-) we learned by experience."
     So, I am thinking they are about to move out.  This is very GOOD.  Dan's deployment to Afghanistan is coming to an end.  This photo was posted a few days ago: Army Achievement and Certificate of Achievement recipients for outstanding performance!  Do you see Dan?

     Saturday morning Carol's house was cold by my standards, so I stayed in bed a little longer.  We each had work to do, so I graded while she worked on the computer.  Once the sun was  
a little warmer, she moved sheep and
we sat out watching them graze.  After an early lunch, she headed to work and I hit the road for home.  This good (relaxing) weekend was to come to an end.  As I drove, I wondered if Floppsie would still be alive and how Joe had gotten along with all the animals.

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”-  Dr. Seuss
.