Joy and Heartbreak

Today has been a roller coaster of a day. It started out a little low since I didn't get to tend my animals for morning chores. Had to be the chauffeur for the hubster. Not one of my favorite things. When I got home, Lucky the goat was in pretty bad shape. Apparently, Polar Bear decided to attack Lucky on the front porch while my son was doing the morning chores. Lucky is pretty messed up right now. The dog bit him in the head, ears, around his eyes, neck, chest, legs and nose/mouth area. It took quite a while for the blood to quit pouring and poor Lucky is still slobbering a small bit of blood. I knew instantly, even before I saw the goat on the porch that something was very wrong as Polar Bear came crawling to me looking guilty. The boy didn't see it so he had no information to offer as to the motive being aggression or rough play. She is, after all, a herd dog. She also knows that she did something very bad. Lucky is resting now, under my chair. It's going to be a rough couple of days for both of us.

So, that's the heartbreak part of today. A brief moment of joy today tho, thru the agony of seeing my "pet" in such pain, some of my seeds have sprouted. It's a small joy compared to the day, but it is a promise of the coming bounty. The Roma tomato seeds I saved from what I grew last year are the strong sprouters with the tobacco and the 7 year old cherry tomato seeds coming in second. Still nothing from the sweet peppers and the celery. I have terrible luck getting that darn celery to sprout. That figures since I enjoy it so much. I was hoping it would all be sprouted before the cold front hits us the beginning of next week. Back to the 40's F during the day. This week has been such a tease with beautiful days in the low 70's and a stiff breeze to dry out the mud. The main garden has been rolled now, all the leaves, grass and manure the horses deposited on it for me has been rolled under. A second round on it maybe later next week if we don't get tons of rain.

Here it is, February already and I am still looking pretty good in the pantry. I didn't really consider last years harvest to be that good but the home canned foods I put in there are still at an amount better than I recall from this time last year. I think the dehydrating had something to do with it. Instead of losing some of my potatoes to rot and throwing them out to the critters, I still have plenty of dehydrated left. The garlic and onion crop is holding on well since I learned to 'cure" them more efficiently (properly, instead of just guessing on it, LOL). The only thing I seem to be running out of is field corn. I estimate my reserve is just around 4 bushel and I know that's not enough to make it to September. It's been a rough winter for both the critters and the vermin. It seems that mice can do major hurt on a stored crop of corn. I will strive to better protect it in the future...