Tasha
Posted on | January 11, 2012 | 13 Comments
I have already mentioned this. Life can get ugly in a New York minute. Which I believe is a very short amount of time.
I already know this fact. I live this fact. So I although I was upset when the Other Half called me in the midst of a delightful pedicure to say I was needed at home, I was not too surprised. Although I was horrified when he told me that Tasha, our 9 year old Rottweiler, was not breathing well and her tongue was turning blue, I was not exactly shocked. I was worried when I found her laying upstairs amidst our family, gulping for air, and I trembled as I felt in her mouth and throat for an obstruction. I gasped upon examining her extremely bloated abdomen and was frantic as I searched for simethicone in a form or dosage that might be effective. I began to cry as I dialed the after hours vet for directions and called out her name desperately as we bundled her into a sheet and rushed her to the car.
But even when I held my head against hers and stroked her side for the final time, I was not entirely astonished. Tasha, like most barrel-chested dog breeds, had struggled with bloat in the past. Bloat can be sudden, unexpected, difficult to detect in its early stages, and deadly. Whether or not a dog will recover is totally unpredictable. Just like life. Read more
Resolutions.
Posted on | January 4, 2012 | 16 Comments
Apparently I am supposed to be making some resolutions. I think this entails a list of things that I will accomplish in 2012. But I am not sure exactly how resolutions work. Because unless the list can rise up and slap me when I stray, I’m not sure how resolutions are enforced. And if there’s no enforcement, what is the point? It’s like a speed limit sign without the existence of the Highway Patrol. Since we all know how effective speed limits are, even with the HP looking over our shoulders, a New Year’s resolution doesn’t seem to stand a chance.
I have heard some people post pictures of themselves in an unflattering outfit on their fridge to keep them eating healthy for the year. But if I had to see a pic of my thighs in skirtless swimsuit everytime I approached the kitchen, the depression would just drive me to eat more. In secret. In my bedroom. Far away from that awful picture. And hiding your eating problem seems to be moving the wrong way on the Fitness and Health spectrum. Read more
All I Want For New Year’s…
Posted on | January 2, 2012 | 12 Comments
is my groove back.
Brianna started it. About a week ago she got a bad scratch on her teat. 4 inches long, all the way to the orifice. She had to be milked as she is a heavy producer and risked mastitis without it. Also, she and Carmen are our only providers until kidding starts in January. But who would have thought that one little scratch would have shattered our delicate peace and put our sanity at risk? Read more
‘Twas The Day After Christmas.
Posted on | December 27, 2011 | 8 Comments
‘Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house,
there was no room to walk, not even for a mouse.
Empty stockings were thrown all over the floor,
torn open toy boxes, stacked by the door.
The children were nestled in piles of trifles—
basketballs, roller blades, new Nerf rifles.
Wearing pajamas, instead of their clothes,
they were all settled in for a TV-induced doze.
When up from the table, I arose with my coffee cup,
“Hey guys, it’s time to clean all this up.”
The children sighed heavily, the dogs perked their ears,
but nobody moved, those insolent dears. Read more
Blue Christmas.
Posted on | December 15, 2011 | 4 Comments
Can you tell what is the same about all these windows and doors?
Honey Baked Ham.
Posted on | December 14, 2011 | 8 Comments
So far, the test pig is a bit of a dud.
He managed pretty well for the first 2 days. Then I had to go to work for a 24 hour shift. The animals don’t get sick/injured/die/give birth/escape every time I go to work off the farm. But if they’re going to do it, that’s always the time they choose. By the time I strolled in the door at 6:00 am, Pretty was waiting for me.
“We better check on Papa Noel before school, ” she said, with a glisten of tears in her eyes.
I almost told her I was going to do the barn animals after I got her and her brothers on the bus and slept for a few hours, but what was the point? As any farmer knows, you will not sleep a wink wondering how bad it is really is in the barn and thinking you might have saved an animal by dealing with things earlier. The parable of the lost sheep may be unfathomable to the rest of the population, but every farmer I know has staggered out into the darkness to search for the single member of the flock that is struggling, regardless of how many are resting safe and comfortable in the barn. Read more
Test Pig.
Posted on | December 13, 2011 | 5 Comments
One of the main goals in farming is getting through winter with fewer mouths to feed. After all, once the forage runs out, even free range animals depend on feed bags for their meals. That, or the pansies on the deck.
The Chicken and the Egg.
Posted on | December 11, 2011 | 8 Comments
It’s that time of year. This is what the nest boxes look like:
Empty. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. Read more
Up on the Rooftop.
Posted on | December 9, 2011 | 3 Comments
I have always considered light and air to be an essential part of raising animals. When we were producing 350 ducks a year, their barn had 2 covered rooms–one for nesting and one as a brooder room– and the rest of it was open wire roof and sides. After all, the ducks didn’t mind the rain and the main purpose of the barn was just to keep predators away from them at night. But when the duck flock decreased and the goats moved into the large barn, there had to be a roof. Goats don’t do rain. They don’t even do sprinkles. Plus we now had a lot of hay to keep dry, too. Read more
I just remembered.
Posted on | December 1, 2011 | 3 Comments
My last post might have left the impression that I have gotten lazy. In honor of the many hard working farmers and parents in my community I figured I should correct that idea. So I sat in the window seat, watching the birds at the birdfeeder, soaking in some warm sunlight, sipping a hot chocolate, and thought really, really hard about what I’ve been up to lately. And I remembered that the hose broke once and had to be cut, mended and reattached. Which was stressful. Because I could only work in short bursts inbetween petting the new fluffy headed chickens that we traded one of the kids for (By kids I mean, baby goats. Not children. Because children are worth way more than some cool chickens. Well, most of the time.) This counts toward farm work.
Also, I took the kids (by kids I mean, children. Not baby goats. Please try to follow along here.) back to the local river to try crossing it while the water was low. Which counts toward parenting work. And only sounds simple and easy. In reality, it involves a plethora of educational constructs and character development including but not limited to the following: Read more
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