Home Health

*DISCLAIMER* The following post may come across a quite whiney and full of complaints. Be advised that the author has spent the last two weeks unwittingly catching every cold, flu, and other common viruses so generously shared by viewers like you.

I tried... I really did. I did the tinctures, the oils, and every other home remedy I could think of. Nothing worked. Not only had I spent the last week and a half battling allergies, sporadic sore throats, laryngitis, a 24-hour flu bug, and a whole host of minor aches and pains, but I spent this entire weekend sicker than I care to be for a really long time (say...forever?). My fever started sometime early Saturday morning and didn't really 'break' until Monday morning. I had..wait make that STILL HAVE that stubborn stomach flu bug that's going around. I had headaches. I had chills. I had soreness, fatigue, etc. etc. I still feel like I've been through the wringer and it's Tuesday! Boy, was I annoyed to spend a 40 degree no-chore-duty Sunday stuck in bed... So after a long weekend of being sick and nearly two week's worth of various illnesses, I broke down and went to the doctor's yesterday. She prescribed an antibiotic for a bladder infection and said to push fluids, etc. for the stomach flu and get plenty of rest. I said, Ok. After I got home, I read the warning label for the pills the doc ordered. "May cause diarhea" WHAT? I just went in because I was sick and now the medicine that's supposed to make me better could possibly add to my troubles? *Sigh* That's what I get for going in instead of just sticking it out a few more days....I do have to add, though, that I haven't had a sore throat since Friday night. That's got to count for something, doesn't it?

Today's To Do List

I asked Lanny what I should write about today and he replied, "Write a list of everything that you should be doing instead of writing." Since I had no other grand ideas, I figured why not? So here's my list of things I should be doing instead of writing this post...
1. Finish washing the dishes so I have a clean counter for the first time in two weeks.
2. Bake Banana Bread (this has been on my list for the last four days and just never gets done...)
3. Bake for Salmen Ladies Weekend, Church, Bible Class, and/or company.
4. Start filing this year's receipts and update books.
5. Finish my garden seed list and order seeds.
6. Clean the bathroom.
7. Make the bed.
8. Wash at least one load of clothes.
9. Finish straightening up the house.
10. Exercise for 30 minutes.

If I can accomplish all ten things on this list today, then I will treat myself tonight with something. Not sure with what, yet, but I am sure I'll figure out something. Well, I am not getting anything on my list done by sitting here so away I go to tackle my chores!

*Update* I finished washing my dishes and baked some goodies but then Lanny came home for supper. There went my clean counter and half a pan of bars (or so it seems). I moved some things that need to be filed to my 'need to be filed' basket but didn't get any actual filing done. I finished (just about) my seed list but didn't get my seeds ordered. I walked into the bathroom to clean it but the phone rang and I 'left it for later'. I forgot the clothes at home when I went to do chores, which is usually when I wash clothes. Etc. Etc. In summation-I can easily start a project but have a terrible time actually finishing it. And, no, I did not get my treat...

The new and improved...Dog House

All I can think of at the moment is that Spring has sprung a leak. One major blessing-my house is on pillars so I don't have to worry about flooded basements or water in the house or, in the case of some in Fargo, the possibility of my house floating away. The only real worry I have right now is that my dog Mindy Lou could have puppies any day now. Since her current bed of choice, a nest of straw insulating our water line under the house, doesn't provide enough protection from wind and water for brand-new puppies, Lanny built her a doghouse. This is the second doghouse in the last year and her third one overall. The first one was a cardboard box with a hole in one side and the bottom cut off. We put old baby blankets on the floor for insulation and voila-instant dog house. It worked until she got too big to fit in the box, but it was spring at that point so we just burnt the box and blankets. The second doghouse was built this past Fall. It is constructed of small square straw bales stacked up on three sides with a piece of plywood for a roof. For extra insulation, we spread straw inside and on the roof. Unfortunately, Mindy spent more time on top her doghouse than in it and it drifted in over the winter. Now, it's too reckety to use and she's due to have her puppies soon. I was all for making her an 'actual' doghouse out of wood, since there's plenty of scrap wood laying around but Lanny didn't want to go into that much effort. His idea is to use an old pickup topper placed on a pallet but he needs to put some straw in it before she can use it. We will see if Doghouse #3 is the way to go or not. I'll keep you posted.

If you see my voice, send it back this way...

I discovered something strange about myself today. Well, actually Lanny discovered it but that's besides the point.... What's so funny about me is that I like to hear myself talk when my voice is disappearing. For some odd reason, my voice has been slowly losing itself as the week has gone by and this morning was no different. It's this oddly nasal combination of gravel and rusty saw blades with just a hint of fingernails-on-the-chalkboard just for good measure. Add to this, I whistle the occasional high-C! when I get particularly riled up. As if this isn't enough, I can only make noise if I force an inordinately large amount of air through my voice box. I sound like I am hyperventilating as I speak since I have to breathe every few words. I was complaining earlier about this and Lanny told me I should just stop talking for a while and my voice would come back. I told him that's pointless. It's too easy. I think the reason I like hearing my voice like this is because 1. it sounds so interesting in my head and I can only imagine what it sounds like to the rest of the world, 2. it cracks me up because no matter how hard I try to yell, it still comes out as a whisper, and 3. it's so unlike my normal voice, that it's cool. Does this make any sense? Well, it does in my thought process and that's good enough for me.

Calf Chores

The following excerpt is from my future, probably-will-never-actually-be-written guide to farm life. It will be found in the chapter The Care and Feeding of Calves.

Put bottle into bottle feeder. Climb into pen and, using all available upper body strength, wrestle calf over to feeder. Stick fingers into calf's mouth in an attempt to guide it to the bottle's nipple. Calf isn't fooled and shakes head several times, resulting in skinned knuckles from calf's overly sharp teeth. Lose grip on calf due to sore fingers. Chase calf around pen a few times. Sigh in angry frustration before wrestling calf over to the feeder a few more times. Each time, the calf is too slippery and gets away. Try to keep voice down when calf stomps on tender toes encased in non-steel toed barn boots. Play Ring-Around-The-Rosey with calf before getting a lucky grab on it's neck. Get head-butted in numerous places by starvingly hungry calf looking for bottle. Yelp in pain and lose grip on calf yet again. Catch calf in far corner before wrestling calf over to the bottle one last time. Get calf to actually start drinking before it backs up too much and nipple slips out of mouth. Mentally contemplate your choices as calf runs circles around your legs, trying to find the bottle. Throw hands up in air, give up in angry frustration and stomp back to milkhouse while mentally haranguing L414 for giving birth to such a 'high spirited' animal before finding Lanny to feed that darn, pushy, wish-I-could-use-a-stronger-word calf.....

What driveway?

Well, Spring is in the air....*Happy Sigh* The air smells so clean and refreshing, the fields are starting to poke through (meaning Lanny will be getting antsy-pantsy to start farming again), and I have three new calves to take care of. I love this time of year. It's a time of birth and rebirth, a fresh start for everything. It's wonderful! I am even enjoying calf chores, for the moment. There's only three little ones-two bull calves and the daintiest, darlingest, prettiest heifer calf you've ever seen. She is this soft brown color, so itty-bitty compared to the bull calves, and just looks like a "Daisy" to me. (Well, one of the bull calves is either half-blind or just plain stupid. It wanders everywhere but where the bottle is and bumps into everything!) Yessireebob! Spring is a gorgeous time of year. *UPDATE* That bull calf I mentioned above...Well, I found out it wasn't as stupid as I thought. (The blindness is still debatable.) It had a pretty nasty infection and we ended up having to put it down since it couldn't stand up anymore. Poor calf... Now I feel bad for thinking it was stupid...

Except in reference to our driveway, that is.... *Sad Sigh* Yep, it's time for greasy, tire-spinning trips down a mucky, rutted lake-covered dirt trail. (Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating there a bit.) It's the time of year when I sigh as I turn onto the driveway, firmly grip the steering wheel and try to find the right balance of speed and stealth to creep through the pond-like puddles without getting stranded in the middle or hung up on a hidden rut. It takes a certain skill to navigate a dirt driveway in springtime and I applaud any of you who do so.

Who I am...

Who I am-

I am a woman, strong and capable of doing many things I never thought possible.
I am a wife, a homemaker, a chef, and an interior decorator.
I am a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a niece, a granddaughter.
I am a dairy farmer, a self-educated cow medicator, and a 'replacement momma' to the calves.
I am a friend (hopefully a good one) with an always open door and empty ear for listening.
I am a struggling optimist, trying to keep the "Why ME?" questions at bay while looking to the future, bright with promise.
I am hopeful that I will be a mother someday, that my medical troubles will soon be past me and I will no longer have empty arms.
I am happy that my babies are in God's care, and will never have to experience the trials of this earth, yet sad that I never got to see them smile.
I am not perfect, nor do I wish to be.
And most of all, I am simply ME.

Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscopes used to be fun things to play with. A simple tube with mirrors and bits of colored plastic was all it took to keep us amused for a while. We used to spend alot of time twirling it this way and that, trying to see what kind of magical stained glass windows we could create next. It's been within this last week and a half that I have discovered something wonderful about my kaleidoscopic life. Life is always changing, shifting into something new based on the events of my day. Of course, not every day can be a happy pretty kaleidoscope-full of bright colors and intricate patterns. There are the dark days that just don't seem to have any happiness in them. Yet, looking back at the end of the day, I can usually find beauty in those somber colors and simple patterns. I just have to look past the surface of my day's events and see how everything turned out in the end. It's hard sometimes, but I've found it can be done.

Gray Day

It's a pretty good UP day outside today. I notice them alot more now that I have lived in MN for over a year. I don't mind the fact that it's grey outside...I mind the fact that Lanny still hasn't gotten a replacement fuse for the windshield wipers. (I swear my car is possessed! You turn it on and the wipers turn on by themselves!) He had to take it out so the wipers would turn off and it must have fallen out of the car. So unfortunately for me, wet roads are the norm for today. Actually, it's not that bad not having wipers. I've been able to keep back from traffic enough that I haven't had much spray on the window. Thank goodness for small mercies.

Making and Doing

I have come to the conclusion that I am really, really, really, really good at making plans but really, really, really, really bad about actually doing them. Like this blog... I made a promise to myself that I would post on here more often, but unfortunately, that plan didn't work out so well. I am constantly making plans to clean my house and reorganize my kitchen and finish knitting my mom's christmas present (from three years ago!) and do more sewing, etc. Does any of it really ever get done? Nope... Well, I guess I could say it only gets done if I have a really good reason to do so. Like having company over. Then my house gets cleaned. I should have more company over. Maybe I should have my parents over. Then the house REALLY gets cleaned. ;) Anyone have any ideas or hints for how they overcame (or plan to overcome :P ) their procrastination habits?