HeatherLynnKy on the farm Ranting and hormone crazy tonight warning

[BarredBuff]

I am thrilled the cow is doing better, and I will be praying for your daughter and your other issues.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Ahhhh, I know it's hard being in the "sandwich" generation. I find myself there too. My dad is 84 and while he's "hanging in there" he's simply not the person he used to be, and he doesn't like it at all. He is so very proud, but he's unable to do the things he used to do AND to top it off, he's always taken perfect care of my mom. I don't think she's ever pumped a gallon of gas in her life and in HER aging process she's lost all patience that she needs to deal with him and his sagging pride. Geeze... this just isn't easy.

So, I'll say an extra prayer for your family tonight, while I say the usual prayer for my own.

I've also cried many a tear in the goat yard. Hope your little one is feeling better soon!

 

[heatherlynnky]

Thats exactly how it fees too. Like a sandwich. Like that analogy.

Well hopefully all the work being done today will keep everyone happy. Hubby is on his way out to cut firewood, fix one gate, replace another gate, and fix a bit of fence. I have cleaning, dishes, laundry and making a stew on my list. Then its sorting the Christmas stuff because I have 2 trees to do , then I have presents to wrap. I am almost done with my mothers shopping. . Then its thank you cards for the church, cookies for the church board and Christmas Cards for the nursing home. DS already did all the animal chores and is picking up any clutter in my parents area and then its cleaning out the car. At some point DD is coming home from helping her Aunt sissy clean up her house and I can get rooms finished up too. I'm supposed to find time to escape at some point also so I don't get as stressed today. I think my husband needs to kidnap me in order for that to happen.

Blossom continues to do well and is picking up weight. Bessie is a big ole heifer who has a bit of an attitude. I am trying to find time to visit the dairy farmer near us. Problem is, they are as busy as we are. Everyone home after church tomorrow but we have family coming over, an eagle ceremony to attend and my DD is part of the entertainment at a craft fair at the high school. On top of that meetings at the church, its just insane.

Somewhere in all this we have to find time to cull the last few roosters. I like weekends because we can get so much done but it does not leave anything for leisure for sure. I should write down leisure on the to do list and see what happens lol.

LoL, so in the middle of cleaning up I decided to go ahead and pull out toys for give away. We do this every year, before new toys can come in, older toys that are no longer played with get cleaned up and bagged up for goodwill. When I do this the kids get sorta excited now because they know Christmas is getting really close.

 

[heatherlynnky]

All i can hear are sniffles, coughs and the fast beat of my heart. I am trying to get ready for Christmas, make myself a bit of an alone place on the balcony, take care of kiddies and just stay sane. I am going in 2 days for a doctors appointment to see if I may be going through "the change". I am so not happy about that part. It explains a ton of stuff that I have been talking to the doctor about. Individually maybe it means nothing but you show all of it happening together and at certain times......well I talked to the OB and she has me coming in the same week so we can start putting an end to the misery. Isn't that awful sounding. Uggg, anywho I am looking at all natural ways I can take care of this. She knows I don't care for meds much so she should be ready for that part. Now I just need to do my part. do my meditation, go for my walks, eat right, try like heck to get plenty of sleep. I am feeling a touch wornout but I am going to keep chugging along.

My little heifer is doing well and is becoming very very playful. She is picking up weight nicely and is getting a very healthy look about her. I am thrilled. My very pregnant goat no longer looks pregnant at all and pretty sure she really was just fat. My possibly pregnant goat is HUGE. I will have to post pics but seriously in 3 weeks there is a shockingly visible difference in her tummy area. Her udders are getting larger also. She is not ready to go yet but soon I hope. I am wondering with how huge she is, if I am in for triplets. Scary thought but whatever we get will be just in time for Christmas I think. DH is making a kid warmer out of plastic food barrels we have on hand. I thought with the season they are being born in that would be for the best. When I bred my other gals I am planning on kids during better weather. This weather stinks for it. Anywho I got all my stuff together that I may need and am ready and waiting.

This will sound bad but I am just too tired to write more. We have some self sufficient projects on the board right now but I will talk about those later. So tired.

 

[heatherlynnky]

I feel so much more human today. So the goat stalls got super clean out. Fresh straw was bought today, because the old straw was victim to a leak in a roof we did not know about. Thats ok. Blossoms barn got scrubbed out also to get rid of any of those nasty old germs. She is doing wonderfully well btw. Hubby drew up plans for a new double door in the goat barn to make cleaning it out a bit easier and we scavenged today to get all the supplies we needed for free. We also scavenged all we need to make a kid warming box. Instead of a barrel my husband is taking a box he had built to hold baby chicks at one point and remaking it a little. Minor changes and it will be perfection. Even have a small lite/heat source that has a guard. I have my stash of regular bulbs too and heat bulbs. I checked udders and we still have time I think but little by little the farm is getting more together and more efficient.

I gotta start thinking about breeding my other gals too. One project at a time I know. i have so many things i want to get done I tend to run myself into the ground trying to juggle them all. I will worry about getting the others bred later though. Talk to me in a month lol.

The little chicks are not so little anymore and they were moved out with the big kids. When the last roos FINALLY meet Mr freezer this weekend they can come out and play with the girls and bantams. Its great that they are old enough to not need the heat lamp most times. If it gets severely cold then they will get heat again but for right now just good solid shelter is all they are needing.

I would love to get another greenhouse up in the garden but I don't know if that will get done this year or not. We have all the greenhouse frame, just need to put it up and cover it.

We are also getting the walk out basement ready for construction in the new year. Its time to finish it up so we have more room. We are so cramped there is just no room to move at this point. 8 people and 3 bedrooms if you can imagine that. Harsh! But money has been sat aside and after the new year slow but steady progress should start. The floor plan is all layed out. So soon it will be 8 people and 5 bedrooms. i even scavenged and old cast iron tub being hauled out of a dilapitated house. It was actually in good shape and deep. Man I love deep tubs. It needed MAJOR scrubbing.

Well off to more projects for me. I am getting gifts ready to take to the nursing home with our scout troops. Cannot believe how fast this season is moving.

 

[heatherlynnky]

Added another project but it won't get done this month at least. We shall see how things work out but we got insulated panels from an outdoor refrigerated building at the local booze store. FREE Huge pile of panels. We are working out a supplies list to turn these into a partially sunk root cellar. Its going to work out great. My dad and hubby have been huddled over those panels a good bit. We have 2 trailer loads of panels. So more projects will come out of this I think. So much fun taking free stuff and making it useful again.

I am looking at school books again for homeschooling. I want to get teaching textbooks but its just does not make sense to buy them for only a half year. The kids both finished up their mathbooks before the holidays so.....Actually they finished their science and grammar too. So i am spending some time online looking for other subjects for them. Keeping them busy and learning is a full time job I swear. So worth having them here all the time though and getting to share the experience with them.

I have been sick and a bit messed up as of late. I ended up getting a touch of a cold and tummy bug that lasted a week. Still holding the bi yearly bronchitis at bay. I am determined to break the steroid and antibiotic cycle and so far so good. On top of that I found out about the perimenopause( due to some pretty severe symptoms this week) and on top of that I found out that I have some funky thing going on that similar to endometriosis but it starts with an A. They want to do surgery. Yea no thanks, its not bad and hopefully I will hit memopause before it gets bad. For now I am keeping all the parts God gave me. They have no idea how I guard all those parts. So i am exhausted, dehydrated and ready to hide under the bed to get enough time to get better.

All the gals are doing great. You should see the heifers. Its too cute. Blossom is still separated by a fence but the 2 girls stand next to the fence and talk to each other. Its very cute. You should see Blossom running around. She has become very healthy and is filling out nicely. I tell you, give me 6 months with her and she will be the prettiest little heifer around. And the vet said to give up on her. I am calling the new vet to thank him this weekend. Such a sweet man. My mom says he is a gentle giant. ( he is like 6'7" maybe 8" )

The world keeps turning, the goats keep eating, the cows keep pooping and all is right with the world tonight. I prayed for sufficient grace and peace earlier and I really feel that prayer has already been answered. I am very thankful.

 

[BarredBuff]

Glad things are looking up

 

[frustratedearthmother]

So glad to hear things are going easier for you now.

 

[heatherlynnky]

I am feeling almost like my old self a bit. I will tell you this, sometimes you can be too self sufficient in your mind set. I get that way and I push myself past what I can handle, especially when I am sick and trying to fight my way through it. Sometimes you gotta drink your water, eat your soup and go to bed. Which I gave in a did.

So we got lots done today. More tall fencing around the chickens. I am going to stop letting mine free range;-( They will not stop jumping into the fenced in dog area. They have to be contained better. I thought having the run of several acres minues just that little quarter acre would be enough. Apparently not. So my deer husband has made a 6 foot tall fence around the entire chicken area which is pretty dang big. I believe he ended up needing to run an extra 160 foot of fence;-( not great for the pocket book. The upside is no more slipping on poo when they get on the porch. Will miss then roaming around but for now this is how it has to be. In the summer they are moving to new summer quarters in a tamed portion of woods by our barn. Give them a bit of heat relief and a home while their calf barn they have been occupying gets a much needed remodel.

Betsy went into heat again. I am not going to survive this i swear. She is royally ticked off and is trying to take down the gate. She is only 10 months old. I cannot breed her yet. We cannot go in with her when she is like this. The last time she knocked my son down and tried to mount me. My neck still hurts and my shoulder is all messed up from holding off a dang big heifer. Did I mention I found a vet who lives not 10 minutes away who has already said he will do AI. yep I am so thankful for that. I am thinking I might try to get her bred in late April? maybe I worry about breeding her too soon but dang these heats are about to kill us all. My parents had like 6 females before and none of them were ever like this. EVER She looks semi insane I swear. Granted the bellowing bull on the other side of the valley answering her is not helping things. Stupid bull.

Blossom is doing well, despite the weather. She is growing nice and steady and is a solid little gal. Ok I admit it right now, I love that dang little heifer. I sneak out and sing songs to her sometimes. She is just the sweetest little thing. Not that she replaces my goat gals because I love them dearly too. They are my sunshine up on this hill I swear. Not that my children are not little rays at times too, but the goats and the heifer do not have messy rooms or argue.

Ya know what, I am sleepy and want to watch the Christmas lights twinkling. Its a good night for it.

Middle of the night and a little is hurting with an ear infection. While he watches a little video and the motrin kicks in I am meditating on a verse given to me tonight.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

 

[Denim Deb]

Yeah, the goats and heifers don't have messy rooms or argue, they just try to mount you when they're in heat and act insane!