Ohiofarmgirl'sAdventuresinTheGoodLand-where ya been? whatcha been doin

[ohiofarmgirl]

hey Free! i broke down and had to make another pie.. peach of course. i usually dont add much sugar but i should have used the honey!

keljonma - my poor hubby is just crushed that i wont be his "lovely assistant" with those beez... i pretty much stand on the deck and scream: "run for the pond if they come for you, baby!"

ha!

mercifully we had another cooler day... fall is working it way here for sure. aint that right, javamama?

i have to say - the roast we had tonite (pork of course) was epic.... i dug taters, grabbed a butternut squash and a few other things ---- then slathered the roast with the (low sugar) peach preserves i just made, topped with thyme... ohmigosh so so good.

and we needed a pick-me-up.

sadly, today we had to help the neighbors. one of their goaties from this spring was poorly and just suffering. the dad was out of town and the mom called me crying that she just couldnt "do it" and could we put that poor little goat out of her misery?

so we got the shovel, the gloves, the gun, and we marched over there. well, that little goatie was just about gone so it wasnt a hard decision at all to help them out. the goat had been lingering for a week. their vet, i have to say, is a hack and i would have fired them long ago. but really - i dont think there was anything else they could have done. so it was the right thing to do.

the poor mom - i think she cried most of the day at work.

so we are chalking it up to "these things happen" but golly - it was a hard day for them. this summer has had a lot of losses for everyone.
:-(

sometimes its hard being right there in the circle of life.. but its good. we keep learning what we can do... as opposed to all the city friends who gasp and say "i could NEVER do THAT!" so its good to know that when it counts we can cowboy up and do what needs to be done.

i spent the rest of the day weeding and listening to all my friends complain about their life.....and then have to hear them tell me that "its so EASY for you"... but none of them had to go and shoot the neighbor's goat. or hear the mom's tears.

i cant decide if i should tell these friends to quit their complaining and get back to work.... or tell them they are right and they never COULD do this - and get back to work.

or maybe, more likely, i'll just say 'uh-huh' and go on about my day.

at least there is pie.

 

[FarmerDenise]

That's another thing about farming life: neighbors help neighbors with stuff like that.

One of our neighbors came over one day about a month ago. Someone had fed his dog some drugs and the poor dog was freaking out!! He has no money, can't afford a vet! So we let him and his dog stay with us for the afternoon, while we tried all sorts of things to help the dog. In the end I gave the dog some of my goats electrolite solution subcutaneously. Within 1/2 hour the dog threw up and had the squirts and got better. On our clean kitchen floor of course (SO had just mopped it the day before, for the first time in many weeks )

Yup, just say 'uh-huh', coz those people wouldn't 'get' it anyway.

We have had people tell us we should have told the guy to go to the vet. The thing is, that the guy couln't go to the vet, because of what: he had NO money! But he still loves his dog!!! A pitbull. If he had taken that dog somewhere, they would have taken the dog away and put him to sleep, because of the pitbull hysteria. I put my fingers in that dog's mouth trying to give him salted butter to make him throw up!
The guy paid us in kind a few days later. We now have a really nice screened gazebo. Someone owed this guy money for repairing his car and paid him with the brand new in the box gazebo. So he gave it to us for helping him with the dog.

 

[freemotion]

Aw, nice story, FD! Around here, if you bring an animal to the vet, they will vaccinate them out the wazoo and charge you several hundred dollars for it, even if you don't want it. They won't treat the animal for the emergency unless all vaccinations....according to their list.....are up to date.

One dog and one cat had seizures for a month after one of those trips....

Anyway, OFG, you and The Big Man are super cool and special and I'd give you all of the hot peach pie with honey that is cooling on top of my new gas stove right now to comfort you. And a lime vodka collins from fresh-squeezed limes to wash it down. And a slice of Gouda from Mya and Ginger and me if you'd like. Maybe a glass of cold milk...I'd pour the cream for you without shaking it in, as you are that special.....to go with the pie before the lime collins.

It takes a special couple to do such a terribly hard task as putting down a a beloved animal for someone. I do feel that a properly placed bullet, delivered at home with a few kind words, is much more humane than the vet's injections that are scary and painful and delivered by strangers who are usually there to cause discomfort (in the goat's experience, anyways.)

for you and The Big Man.

 

[FarmerDenise]

Yeah, OFG, I forgot to say, Good Job! You're a great neighbor! I wish you were my neighbor too!

 

[Henrietta23]

Glad you were there for the neighbors.
I have a pitbull in need story too. Just remembered it. One night I was working at the vet's office, alone, inputting charges because the power had gone out earlier. The vet had gotten an emergency call. Someone's dog had cut its paw and was bleeding heavily. She waited for over an hour and he never showed up. She left. A while later there's a banging on the door. Then a guy holding a bleeding dog looking through the window. I spoke to him through the window, called the vet. Long story short I somehow ended up letting this guy and his bleeding pitbull into the office, and putting pressure on the dog's paw until the vet arrived to bandage it up. The dog was so sweet, either licking my face or her owner's. After all was said and done, the guy couldn't pay the bill. We sent several bills over the months and never saw a penny. The vet knew we wouldn't. I knew we wouldn't. Neither one of us really cared. AFter reading these stories tonight, I care even less. I hope that sweet dog and her owner had many happy years together after that night!

 

[FarmerDenise]

Pitbulls get a bad wrap! It's all hysteria put out by the media.

Think about it. I heard this question asked the other day: Have you ever been bitten by a pitbull? Have you ever been bitten by a dog? What breed was it?
I was bitten by a small breed collie and a russel terrier.

 

[Wifezilla]

Every dog I personally know that bit someone has been a chow or chow mix. That being said, I still have a rule to never own a dog that can fit my head in its mouth

 

[Javamama]

Golly, that's just awful about the goat. I have been wondering myself what are we gonna do when (not if, I know better) something like this happens to us? We don't have a gun (yet), we don't have neighbors who would do it for us. We best be prepared. It's getting to where we can put down an eggbound chicken without too much thought, but a goat is a whole other matter. With a cute face. Sigh. These goat stories are bothersome. I need to see some healthy, rambunctious, things-are-going-good goats and stop reading the horror stories.
I'm asking for a gun and a cheesemaking kit for Christmas. MIL already wants to know what we want and she goes wayyy overboard. She's used to my weird requests
Pie. I don't make peach pies because I'm the only one who would eat it, and I don't need that. Sounds so good though.

 

[emilosevich]

So glad you were there for your neighbor. Like you we are normally the neighbors who get called in those situations. Not that I could do that to one of my own goatie babies, but DH has done it once or twice. Enjoy your peach pie. I can taste it even though we haven't gotten peaches this year. Still have jam from 2 yrs ago

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

I'm asking for a gun and a cheesemaking kit for Christmas.

thats my girl! i knew i had arrived when i started asking for a thousand feet of field fence for xmas
;-)

thanks for all the lovin's everyone - and the snacks. i'm having pie for breakfast. today we are moving onward and upward.

but yesterday was mighty sad.. but the thing is... in real life, unlike a Movie Of The Week, there isnt any sweeping music or dramatic pause... its just me and my man standing over a very sick little thing who needs our help. we both gave her a loving pat, said we were sorry to her, and then it was over.

for reference (and for safety), we had the hole dug, wrapped her in feed sacks, laid her down (she was so weak she couldnt really move), and it was just one downward shot to the head with a .22. it was very clean no struggle and that was that. with both gave a big sigh and just picked up the shovels and got to it. we know the family was very grateful...and that they would help us out of we needed it.

as for them dogs... around here dogs find out they can bite me exactly once. they they find out who the real b*%ch is
;-)

and them bad poodles of my MIL.... they are on notice too. one of them tried to bite me and i told her (MIL) that if one of those stupid dogs bite me i will "kick it until its dead." then i pointed to my work boots.

its made a very uncomfortable family visit.

but now they put those bad dogs up when we come around. they told us one time that they dont know what to do to make the dogs stop biting. me and The Big Man just glared at them and said we had a couple of ideas.....

WZ i think technically i could put my head in my Dog#1's mouth... hum..i guess i never thought of it that way.. hum..... i guess i'm more afraid of what would happen if all those chickens actually got me on the ground... now that would be some serious business.