Give It A Rest

     Sleep eludes me.  I wish my brain had an on/off switch.  While I lay in bed willing myself to sleep, hundreds of thoughts go through my mind.  I have become sleep deprived and am starting to feel like a zombie.

     Saturday morning I was up, and at em, before 3am.  When Joe got up at 8:00, I was napping on the office bed.  This groggy feeling from lack of sleep must be similar to what Dan is experiencing.  Hopefully it is a temporary problem (for both of us).  

     Joe and I worked on outside jobs first thing, knowing the day was going to heat up.  The drought has left everything brown and dead looking.  I continue to water gardens and flower beds, and even put the sprinkler on under the peach and pear trees.  Joe mowed to keep the weeds down... the grass hasn't grown enough to mess with.  We moved fencing and then moved the steer out on the side pasture.  We also had to re-locate the black water tub, and will now keep the cattle off the back pasture to give it a rest.

     Joe went to town to take a bike in for repairs, and I went out back to work on trimming trees along the riding path I had made at the wood line along the tracks.  Lots of vines and weeds needed hacking back also.  Well I got into some poison ivy.  So I made a point to not work too long, and showered right away with the poison ivy prevention soap we have.   






     While back by the tracks, I discovered this large hole, with fresh dirt by it.  I stuck my foot in the photo to give you an idea of the size.  It is probably a ground hog, but looks like it is large enough for a fox.  I wondered if skunk do this.

     We ate dinner at the truck stop in LeRoy which was a first for me.  I enjoyed my ground steak with sauteed onions.  I took Kaysha for a walk when we got home, and then went up to read in bed, not lasting more than a few pages.

     A view down Beck's lane as I was walking.  Notice how brown the grass looks, and the beans are starting to turn.


I also saw this ->






     Upon zooming
in, you can see soy bean pods around this ground squirrel hole.  In fact, all along the lane there were holes with bean pods around them.









     I was awake Sunday at 2:30am and out of bed 40 minutes later when the dog started barking.  It was lightening, (but no thunder yet) as a little storm was approaching.  I gave the dog a tranquilizer right away, not wanting to deal with her anxiety.  A short 5 min. sprinkle was all we got, and I finally went back to bed to sleep two more hours.  Upon my second rising for the day, I noticed my left eye was gunky,
                                                           red and itchy.  I think it has poison ivy,
that I probably got while wiping the sweat from running into my eyes the day before.  At least I hadn't gotten it on my skin where I had washed with the special soap.

     Joe dropped me off to work in the nursery and then met me for second service.  We grabbed a few things at the grocery on the way home.  House shoppers called to make an appointment to come look later in the day.  I had plans to ride with Lisa, so did that, while Joe showed the house mid afternoon.
     
     Lisa and I did some training exercises with Leo and Roni while out for our 90 minute ride.  Roni behaved well and it was a great ride.  Notice in the photo that he has slimmed down some?  I am still in a quandary, not knowing what to do with Roni if he doesn't sell.  Taking him to auction will probably result in him going to a slaughter house.  As nervous as he is, this would not be a good experience, but would soon put an end to (give him rest from) his worries in life.  If he goes to a "bad" home, his life could be quite miserable, and continue for
                                                           who knows how long.  I can not detach
my emotions and think of him simply as livestock.  But taking him to Tennessee would be a financial burden.  I keep praying for an answer.

     Dan came for dinner, put the new tires on his antique car, and left my car here, driving his home to Downs. 

     The water was kind of cold for us Water Lilies Monday.  Shortly after I got home, I went over to Marj's to pay her a visit.  I got a tour of her newly renovated basement, which was quite nice.  It was good to talk with her too.

     The day was heating up quickly, so I stayed inside the majority of the afternoon.  I did pick some peaches and apples to add to my fruit salsa I was making for Growth Group treats.


    

     

     I had noticed some more broken pine branches and didn't even need to see this   ^
<-  to know the cause.  Bad Cow!






     Chickens squabbling over the next box and eggs.

      With the high of 97 predicted for Tuesday, I started the day working outside.  Some new shoots needed trimming from around the base of some trees and on the trunks of others.  I also removed the broken branches from the pine Stew had attacked.  And I weeded the rock garden.  My brush pile by the tracks has grown quite large again and needs burning.  So much to maintain just to keep this place looking sharp.

     By 10am I was in, seated at the dinning room table, going through the 41 page Home Inspection report from the Flossmoor house.  It had been done with a fine tooth comb, and I made notes of everything, categorizing them into small, medium, or large problems.  The large problems we will ask the homeowners to take care of before closing.  The medium ones we will work on once we have possession.  Abbey is always cute company for me.

     The cows (steer) enjoying an afternoon snack of hay in the shade of the barn.  Isn't Kabob cute?








     Most of my afternoon and evening was spent reading and note taking.   I did meet with a North American Van Moving man.  We went through the whole house and he gave me an estimate of what it would cost to have them pack up and move just about everything ($5,585.90).  He itemized our "stuff" and I looked to see where we could save money.  If I pack up all our stuff, I can save about 1K.  The breakables are especially costly.  And, if we move some stuff ourselves, it will also save a nice chunk of change, especially the heavy stuff.  The big heavy furniture we will definitely have them move, but we can pack and move plates and books etc. that would increase the weight quickly.  Now, if we just knew when we will need to be out of here.  It could be as early as November 30th, but if the sale falls through, who knows when it could be.  So much rests (as in Brother below, but not me)
                                                           on the closing of this house... such as
when we have to get livestock off the property, when the house needs to be cleared of it's belongings, when we would have our farm sale (don't want to sell mowers until we know we are through with them), and when I will go live in Tennessee and Joe will move in with Courtney and Mike.

     Missy has tape worms again, so I gave both barn cats some medicine.  Brother was enjoying his on tuna. 

     I went to Water Lilies Wednesday and then did weekly out side chores before it got too hot.  I had gotten an e-mail from (Lexi) an interested buyer for Roni.  We set up a time for her to come see and ride him the next day.  While moving the horses from the front pasture, I have been working on getting Zorro and Amiga to get on the trailer.  I use an apple to entice and reward them.  Zorro actually got all four feet up and on the trailer and stood and ate quietly. 

     I kicked off my shoes and socks, and took a few minutes to sit in a lounge chair and rest.  Brother started attacking my shoes and then me, snagging my shorts and skin with those claws.   
  

     Speaking of snags, there were a few with our loan for the purchase of the new house, so Joe was dealing with that.  He also was picking up and delivering papers to and from us and the buyers and our lawyer.  This, on top of State Farm needing him... I don't know how he sleeps at night. 

      The owners of the Flossmoor house are going to take care of the big problems that were noted in the inspection report summary.  This included all but one I had listed in my notes as a major problem, plus there were several of the problems that I had categorized as "medium rated" that they are also going to fix.  This was great to hear.  They really are motivated sellers.

     Courtney came out to ride Zorro and I rode Roni.  We went over to Becks to see how Zorro would do.  He was pretty full of himself and excited to be out on the trail.  Courtney did a nice job containing his enthusiasm and energy.  She finished up sooner than I was ready, so I worked Roni in the round pen to get him ready for the following morning's "showing."

     A storm (well actually the dog) had me up before 2am Thursday.  I gave Kaysha a tranquilizer and went out to open the back gate and Amiga's stall gate to give the horses an option to come in out of the rain.  They chose to eat in the down pour.  I napped in the office as Kaysha slept on the floor by Dan's old bed.
                                                                 Waking when Joe came down,
I got ready for Lexi to come look at Roni.  We had gotten an inch of rain so the paddock was a muddy mess, and wouldn't you know, so was Roni.  I was hosing him off when Lexi (and her friend) arrived.  We spent almost two hours messing with Roni.  He was his usual self, a little nervous, but well behaved and responsive under saddle.  Lexi really liked him, but couldn't get him to gait.  She wants to try him out on the trail and have her trainer give her a lesson (on how to gait) on him.  Once she left, I worked on arrangements for the lesson and trail ride.

     It was a cool, cloudy day.  A welcomed relief after all the hot ones.  I discovered a new hole in the soften dirt that Hercules had dug, and continue dealing with chickens getting into flower beds and grass seed that I have been trying to keep nice.  I am getting tired of it, and plan to "ship them all off" sooner than later.  I have no idea what I did with the rest of the day, other than start cleaning out the chicken coop.  As usual, I also moved horses back and forth from the front pasture, fly spraying them and putting on their fly masks.  Joe and I took Kaysha for a walk at day's end.

     Again on Friday I woke up too early, could not will myself back to sleep, and finally got up at 3am.  I took a short nap before going to Water Lilies, but still drug while exercising with the ladies.  I got home in time to meet with our buyer's appraiser.  (I hope he sees this property as valuable as we do.)  As soon as he left I got Amiga ready to ride, and then headed out on her just before Joe left on his weekend golf trip with the guys. 




     Riding Amiga down Baker's Lane... through the corn gauntlet.






     We woke up the boys, who had been sleeping under a pine tree, when coming around the front pasture for home.






     I rode Amiga for about 90 minutes.  She did a nice job.  The rest of my afternoon was spent lying in a lounge chair reading a book and napping.  I was hosing down a very dirty fence (to get it ready to take to Carol's) when Lisa called saying she was ready to ride.  So I shut off the hose, moved Zorro and Amiga to the paddock and Roni into the trailer.  We rode from 5:00 till 7:40, having a great time.  It really cooled off, so I got a little cold.  After a quick 8:30 dinner and decaf tea to warm me up, I went up to read.  I did finish a whole chapter but had the lights out not too long after 9pm.

     As sleepless as my nights have been, my thoughts have been many.
                                                          The more I think the less I sleep... and
the less I sleep, the more I think.  It is a never ending cycle.  Getting closer to moving off the farm, I think of all that needs to be done to move.  I get more and more anxious about what will be left behind, but also relieved to be leaving the struggles and work of farm life.  However, I am sure there will be plenty of new hurdles awaiting us.