A Soldier's R+R

     Saturday morning I woke to a white, snow covered, winter wonder land.  But it was also still rather cold out.  I got a 5 am e-mail from Dan: "I'm in Kuwait right now, won't fly out till tomorrow so still a couple days till I'm in the US".  It was good to hear from him and know he was progressing homeward.   I worked on lesson plans until Courtney came over.  We brought the horses in and she picked hooves while I brushed.  I tried to do Roni's hooves, but on the third one, the packed snow was so hard and my wrist already too tired, I had to let Courtney take over.  All three were glad to get back to grazing when we were finished.

 








     Laundry, school work and then an afternoon walk with the dog and the day was coming to an end.

      We made our way, circling around the property as I tried to capture farm shots.








     I wanted to replace the header photo at the top of this Blog.  These two were a close second and third.

     Zorro and Roni continue to work things out.  Having a face to face horse discussion.  It typically ends with
Zorro chasing Roni, trying to bite him in the butt.  All the while Roni does little bucks and kicks with his back feet. 










     Usually Roni turns and stops to face Zorro, and they have another discussion.  Meanwhile Amiga watches from a safe distance.

    





     No one has gotten hurt (yet) but it worries me none the less. 

     Eventually Amiga runs interference and then they all get stirred up.

      They resume eating and watching for predators.
     Back at the barn, the cows are cleaning up some left over alfalfa hay, their favorite.






     Kaysha and I concluded our walk and I filled bird feeders (both domestic and wild) and cleaned the coop heated water bucket.  The ducks always make such a mess of it.

      I finished the task of getting all my lesson plans done for the next two weeks and went to bed about the time Dan should be getting up. 







     Sunday morning I heard that Afghanistan had just gotten 15 inches of snow.  (They are 9 hours ahead of us).  After news of a big avalanche Friday and now all this snow, I was thankful Dan had been able to leave when planned.  Our weather Sunday was a surprise and a disappointment.  It was supposed to be warmer with some sunshine, and then rain at night.  Well it was very foggy in the morning and never completely cleared off during the day.  Then we had freezing drizzle for several hours during the day.  
     The sermon on suffering made it

clear man's life on Earth will be filled with strife.  We Christians aren't immune from heartache and pain.  But we do have God to help us through these tough times. Well, Pastor Mike's words brought many things to mind, and it really hit home shortly after I left Church.  I couldn't get my car shifted out of park.  I was on a slight incline on the sidewalk by school and it must have locked into park and I did not have the strength in either hand to push the button to release it.  After two phone calls, I opted to get on the bus back to Church and recruit help.  The bus driver and a very nice young man came to my rescue, braving the wind and freezing rain.  I was soon able to move on with my day and head to Wal-Mart.  While shopping for extra food to celebrate Dan's homecoming, a random man gave me an envelope and told me to have a nice day.  He walked off as I opened the envelope and there inside was a 5 dollar bill and a nice note.  God shines on us and reassures us all the time... we just
                                                     need to have our eyes and heart open
to see it.
     The winds picked up and ice from the branches was blowing and hitting the roof, siding, windows and deck.






     The ducks are just plain crazy, bathing in this weather. 

     All the other farm yard animals sought shelter and looked resolved to wait it out.  The horses stand with their rears to the wind and sleet.


     It rained much of the day Monday, melting the snow and filling our water way.









 Roni and Zorro were at it again.




Look how muddy it is and they are.







     On the way home from school Monday, I got news from Joe that Dan was in Atlanta and going to be flying in to B/N by dinner time.  I was so excited.  I had some last minute cleaning to do in his room and bathroom.  Joe did chores and we were off for the airport where Courtney and Mike also joined us. 

     It was such a joy and thrill to see Dan come down the tarmac.  Courtney gives him a big hug.








     He was a very tired and hungry young soldier.  We went across the street to Avanti's for dinner, bringing Dan home afterward. 



     Kaysha was equally glad to see him and wrestle a bit.  I gave Dan some "alone" time to unpacked and shower while I did school work.  He was so tired he ended up falling asleep in bed with his lap top and light on.






     Tuesday I came straight home to kind of hang out with Daniel.  He was rebuilding his computer.  I chatted with him some, watched a little TV and fixed a pork roast for dinner.  When Joe went into town to make his monthly Panera's delivery to our Church's food pantry, he took Dan to Courtney and Mikes to hang out there for a few days.  This gave me a chance to get some grading done.

     Norman did not eat during Wednesday morning chores.  When I got home from shopping after school, I could see him down, by himself, out in the back pasture.  I put away the perishables, changed into farm clothes,
                                                      garbed the calf halter and went to his
rescue.  I got him on his feet, but could see he was kind of bloated, and I could not get him to walk.








     It took me over an hour to pull him from the back pasture to the paddock.


He went down twice, just fell over on his side with stiff legs.  He also was clenching his teeth and was quite bloated.   

 








     I paused to rest several times, and for a little comic relief, I caught a film of Babe chasing Brother.

    
     Joe got home as I neared the paddock with Norman in tow.  We managed to get Norman loaded on the trailer.  Over an hour later, Joe called from the veterinary clinic to report that Norman had a fever and bloat and he may have lock jaw (tetanus).  The vet put a tube down his throat to relieve the gas and gave him bloat medicine.  To treat the tetanus he gave him an antibiotic, an antitoxin, and a pain killer. 

     I cleaned stalls and did evening chores while Joe was at the vets.  Norman did look much better when Joe brought him home.  We put him in the calf stall with some of Carol's old hay and a bucket of water.  Now we just had to wait and see if Norman was going to be okay.  What a long and tiring (physical and emotional) afternoon.

     Norman was still alive Thursday morning but his belly was starting to get bloated again.  At least he kept burping.  It didn't appear that he had eaten, drank any water or pooped. 
     Thursday afternoon marked my last day of therapy.  My wrist was sore from the work-out of pulling Norman for over an hour and then cleaning stalls the day before, but I have reached the "normal" range with my wrist movement.  Even though it is not near as good as my left.   With the financial cost since the start of 2012, I am glad to not need to go back.  My therapist did say to continue to do the stretching and strength exercises.  It can improve the condition of my wrist for up to a year.
     The weather was cold and rainy all
day... very blah, and with a sick cow... life was depressing.  Joe and I (and Carol) read up on tetanus, convincing me that this is for sure the problem.  Norman displays several symptoms such as stiffness and reluctance to move, lockjaw, prominent protruding third eyelid, unsteady gait, and bloat, which is common because the rumen stops working.  Joe talked with Brian and he said he has never heard of a cow of any one he knows getting tetanus.  They never vaccinate any of theirs so I don't feel as bad about not giving Norman the vaccine.  I brushed Norman all over and looked at his hooves and did not see any signs of a sore or infection, so it is a mystery as to where he's got the bacteria festering.  I feel so bad for Norman because he can't even open his mouth
                                                     to eat or drink.  He puts his nose in

the bucket of water but can't get any of it.  I tried massaging his jaw muscles and he kind of grinds his teeth.  We tried giving him a bottle but couldn't even get that into his mouth.  He hasn't gotten any worse, and he continues to burp, relieving the gas from bloat, so I am still hoping and praying for him.


     Friday was a pretty day of sunshine.  I went shopping for two photo frames after school... I had gone to Wal-Mart a few days ago. Today I hit Meyers, Hobby Lobby, Target, Kohls, Pennys, Sears, Michaels, and K-Mart.  None have dark oak 11X14 frames.  Mike and Courtney came for dinner tonight.  We opened Christmas gifts and watched a movie together. 
                                                     Then Dan went with them to their

house.  A beautiful snowfall with wet flakes sticking to trees, and buildings and ground was in progress.  As they drove down the drive and into the night, I turned and went to the barn to check on Norman.  Farmers rarely get R+R.




First I gave the barn cats more food, the horses more hay and water, and tossed a few flakes to Frankie and Babe.  They periodically stand on the other side of the barn door lowing (for Norman or food).  I ended up spending

twenty minutes out there massaging Norman's swollen belly and locked jaw muscles as I cried.  We had decided to give him a little more time in hopes he would pull through but I think he is starting to digress.  The bloat has gotten worse, the eyes more sunken, and his horns are very warm so I am sure the fever has returned.  He still stands with his nose at his water bucket, unable to drink.  I washed his lips numerous times and tried to get water in his mouth.  I feel so helpless and awful.  It has sure put a damper on Dan's visit this week.  This evening's snow is so pretty, but it is difficult for me to see beauty.  The snow will melt away and so will my sorrow... but it is very hard right now. 
.

Counting The Days

                                                          I believe Dan left Afghanistan today,
so I am counting the days till he gets home.   (I don't know... maybe 3 to 5)  The catch is, well... what he said in an e-mail, is that he won't really know until he gets on a plane headed to the US.  It's been random really, some people got home in 2-3 days, others it took a whole week.  But once he gets a flight from Germany/ Ireland he will call from there... if not, then for sure when he arrives in Atlanta.

     Dan was being silly dressed in his cold weather gear.  He may or may not need it when he gets home.  Our weather has been so sporadic, with temps going from mid 50s to low 20s in a little over a day's time.  We have had mild, warm sunny days with no wind, followed by 30 mile an hour gusts with blowing snow and the temperatures well below freezing.  I don't know what Dan should be, want to be, or will be wearing.

     I ended up staying up till 1 am to re-do half my blog I had lost last Friday... and was back up at 5 am Saturday.  I finished up the Blog and posted it.  While catching up on Facebook and e-mail, I did some grading.  The wind had finally died down so I opened the coop during morning chores.  The ducks were really put off by the snow, and not real sure what to do.  They kept lying down in it, I think to warm up their feet.  I snapped these pictures near the end of the day.  By now they didn't seem to mind the white stuff which was starting to melt.




   
     The horses were so busy searching for grass to nibble on, that they didn't seem to chase each other around as much.








     By mid day, the ground was soft enough to be fairly muddy.  This photo shows Zorro lying down to roll in it.  All three horses were caked in mud when they came in to the barn at the end of the day.

     I spent the bulk of the day taking down Christmas decorations, getting out the former knick knacks, pictures etc, and cleaning as I got the house
                                                     back to its usual order.  It took a
while to get all the Christmas stuff packed up.  I was trying to be more organized, putting a different room in each bin.  Things did not fit as well as I would have liked and I had to mix container contents a bit for the best fit.

     Boy was I glad to get it all out of the house, into the garage and ready to be put back up in the garage shed for another 10 months of storage.


     Church went to three services on Sunday, so we went to the 8:00 and were home by 10:00.  I slipped and fell on compacted snow just inside the barn during morning chores.  I went all the way down, partially breaking my fall with the first two fingers on my right hand.  It wasn't a hard fall, didn't hurt too bad, but the wrist was more swollen by the time we got back from Church, so I iced it. 

     One of our afternoon chores involved putting in a cat entrance to the tack room.  We had been leaving one of the doors wedged open but had been getting lots of dust or humidity in there.  And in this cold, the room has problems retaining heat with the door part way open. 

 





     Believe it or not, both cats can fit through the 31/2 inch wide hole.  And it is thin enough to keep out the chickens.















     Kaysha finds it handy for peering in at me and looking for the cats.  I plan to hang a cloth over it, but wanted to get the cats used to using it first.


     Joe had mixed up a batter of cookie dough and had the oven pre-heating, when we got the call that the manure spreader was on the way.  So I took over in the warm kitchen getting the sweet job while Joe went out into the cold to help
                                                          Richard with the poopy job.

     First the three cows were "locked" in the corn crib.  Then Joe and Richard filled the manure spreader, each using their own tractor.  Our little Kabota is so handy, but was dwarfed by Richards, and out scooped by a ton.  Once the spreader was full, they hooked it back to the large tractor.












     Then off Richard went, around the grain bins, through the gates, and past the chicken coop.  Notice the steam coming off the manure.









Down Beck's Lane, through another gate and into our front pasture he went.










Around the field he drove, flinging rich, fertile, stuff for next spring's growth.

      It was a bit cold for an outdoor job, but worked out well because the ground was frozen, so no deep tire treads or getting stuck in the mud... and with the snow, Richard could tell were he had covered.  Joe thinks they spread at least ten loads.


     Monday I did it again... This time it was more a trip than a fall.  I was carrying the three feed buckets to the cows.  The best way to get around the big drift in front of the barn is through the garden.  Stepping over the two foot high fence, I caught my toe, and down I went.  I kind of turned and landed on my right shoulder in a foot of snow.  The buckets in my left hand did not spill, but the one in my right hand did.  I just lay in the snow laughing at myself.  But when I got up and
headed back for more feed I got mad.
What a waste and I hate it when I am a klutz.  At least the chickens had a good time cleaning up the feed.  Nothing got hurt this time... except my pride and confidence.
     To the right you can see a drift that covers the rock garden.  Below is a path I made through the drift in front of the barn so I wouldn't have to step over the fence anymore.

     We had the day off from school in memory and honor of Martin Luther King Jr.  I had intended to get all my lesson plans (for two weeks) done first thing in the morning, but ended up dragging it out most of the day by interspersing desk work with other jobs. I did three loads of laundry, including washing the shower curtain in Britney's bath and adding a second more water proof one to it.  I also decorated for Valentine's Day adding little heart lights to the
Christmas tree.












     I read my Bible and graded papers.  Later I went for a walk with the dog, taking several photos.

     I had to check out what was left of the manure pile out back... it was mostly gone.  I think the cows miss it.

     Once they spotted me, they had to follow me around to see what I was up to.    







The three moosketeers!



     These are the three amigos, only one of them is Amiga and the other two (Zorro + Roni) are not very friendly towards each other.






While in the paddock, I spotted the cats by the tracks, on the look out   (for prey and predators).

 















     The day was much warmer than Sunday and we were thankful we had gotten the manure spread when we did.  It was warm enough to melt a considerable amount of snow... and to also make it quite muddy.  The horses thought it was great for rolling in.  Look at the mud on these two.

      Tuesday was an institute day so I was at school earlier and left later than usual.  I did some snow removal from the drive from 6:30 to 6:50 am... because it was going to get much colder and I feared the drift would become a permanent ice pack until a thaw.  We wanted to be ale to get the little trailer in and out of the barn to haul and disperse wood chips.  I ran out of time so had Joe finish up what I had started. 
                                                     
      It was considerably colder coming home from school mid afternoon.  I cleaned and filled lots of water buckets and tubs before it got any colder... which it did by evening.

     Does trouble come in threes?   Well, I tripped again... this time it was over a hungry barn cat at feeding time.  They get underfoot.  I caught myself (with the right hand) on a wall inside the barn, kind of bouncing off instead of falling... so no harm done... but maybe I need to bubble wrap my wrist. Ha ha ha.
    It is hard to stop from counting the days of wrist rehabilitation. But because the time frame is unknown, I can only count how long it has been, not how long till it is over.  I am so ready to be back to normal... but think I am going to have to adjust to a new normal... ugh.  I am now seeing my OT every other week.  Last week I told her I have been dropping things while holding them with my right hand... and it is more the light stuff like ear rings, a spoon or my pen.  Although my cup of tea has almost gotten away from me several times.  The therapist thought possibly carpal tunnel and said I might need to go back to the surgeon if my grip continues to be a problem.  She had me do a grip test.  The right is definitely weaker... but she said I was stronger than she expected.  I wonder if there might not be some arthritis contributing to the dysfunction as it also tends to be weather related.  I guess time will tell.
     This is as far as it will bend, an improvement,
but not yet close to the 90 degree angle my left can accomplish.  You can see though that the scar itself looks really good.
    It doesn't help that I have been so hard on my wrist.  But I really am trying.  There has been lots of swelling, some days more than others, so I have been taking 200mg of Ibuprofen each evening.  There is also plenty of scar tissue... I keep messaging, as instructed, to break it up.  It aches so I had been putting heat on it, but because of the swelling, I followed sister Carol's advice and was icing it three times a day.  The first 3 to 4 minutes are complete torture until it goes numb.  The ice really seems to be helping with the swelling... which prohibits full range of motion.  My therapist said I don't need to splint it any more... but I wonder if the more I protect it the better.  However, I want to keep it moving for flexibility and strength.  What to do, what to do?

     It was much colder Wednesday.  I worked with a student during their 8th hour study hall and then stayed at school until the Incoming Freshman Orientation program at 6:30.  Got home at 8:30 pm, being gone for over twelve hours... a long day for a part timer.

     I have set up a bed for the dog behind the couch between the dinning room and family room.  She can see into the kitchen and office from here as well.  This more central location lets her be "part of the family" more, when we are home.  While gone, it is back out into the dog room (back porch).


     To best honor the return home of Daniel, I had Joe replace this old tattered flag with this new one.  I am not sure why having a son in the military makes me feel more patriotic than usual... but it does.  I am proud of him and his service to our country.

     Thursday started out with flurries and was colder than any other day this week.  The wind really contributes to a chilly feeling.  The snow came in bursts, off and on, throughout the day.  It was coming down again when I got home, so out I went to feed hay to the horses and cows. 

 They all headed towards the barn when they saw me go out that way.


Amiga and then Roni follow Zorro into the back paddock area.







Babe heads over also.


Zorro warns the cows to back off.  I throw their flakes over the electric rope to right where they are standing here.






Zorro was giving everybody "the eye", even me.




 Roni waits patiently at the gate,
knowing not to push too close to Zorro.
He really is a very sweet horse.
And I am counting the days until
I can start riding him again.
I will start with ground work
as soon as it warms up.



     I went to bed early Thursday night feeling chilled and worried about getting sick. 

     Today was cold and windy and I felt chilled all day.  An afternoon nap only made me crave more sleep and want to stay snugly warm beneath the blankets.  I was thankful that Joe did the evening chores so I did not need to venture outside.

     After I post this, I am going to go sit in front of the fire with a hot bowel of Cream of Wheat, a blanket, and watch a show with Joe.  Then it is off to bed early and hope I wake tomorrow feeling great.