Bad Night

Wow, did I ever have a bad night. I have had trouble with some of my teeth since I got whacked in the face by the rooster and it seems like stress triggers flare ups of swelling and severe pain. So, I did not do any sleeping. Morning chores were a blur. Goober cow refused to let her milk down and I just managed to coax a quart of milk from a cow that normally gives a gallon a milking. She does this same thing to me about once a week. Tonite, her bag will be full to bursting and I will get all the milk. Daisy calf went over the pitiful field fence and was running around in the pouring rain so in the new barn she went, loose in the barn isle since I still havent managed to sell enough straw to get the stalls opened up. She's actually behaving rather well and leaving the hay alone. Of course, there's the land mines she leaves for me to not step in. The extra clean up work isn't a burden tho.

My stress is not coming from the farm or the holidays but the source affects both for me which is why it's so stressful. It's something I'm not in a position to eliminate which only causes even more stress. Which, in turn, makes it harder for me to keep a happy farm. ARG, sometimes there's just no way to get out from under the rock because it just leaves you in the hard place.

The urge to do anything around here just isn't there lately. The constant mud and slop doesn't help the attitude/mood much either. I feel kind of burned out. I miss the sunshine!

I had to teach a wayward dog a hard lesson this morning. Whos dog it is, I havent a clue. I've not seen this dog before and he ripped up a few of my rabbit cages(pretty much beyond repair too), killed 9 rabbits and turned another 5 loose. I have yet to catch any of the loose rabbits and if I don't get them caught in the next day or so, the coyotes will kill them so I might as well write it off as a loss of 14. That's a good amount of meat I just lost from one ignorant dog owners neglect. In just a couple of minutes, that dog wiped out 3 months worth of work raising rabbits and around $150 in property damage. Just add it to the list of what I can't fix around here.

Yep, the bad night has turned into a bad day...

Time Flys

It really didn't seem like it but this week really did slip by me rather quick. That sad part is, I didn't really manage to get much accomplished. The whole week was an exercise in mudhole navigation with ice breaking 101 for the last 3 days. Every night has been below freezing with a warm up in the 40s during the day. Lucky goat has taken to laying in the tractor bucket in the sunshine when he isn't trashing the straw pile in the old barn. I started out the week with 7 baby bunnies but only 3 are left now. The doe drags them out of the box with her and they freeze. I really need to build a new rabbit hutch. This old one is starting to rot and I've got it held together with hay string in several spots. I have salvaged everything I could from the old chicken house that got smashed when the tree fell on it. Plenty of wood still usable but I still need to get some wire. Maybe next week.

Roast is what's for supper this weekend with taters and veges I canned from the garden. Of course, it's not a meal without home made bread smothered in apple butter or blackberry jam.

A Monday Funny

An old German Shepard starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a panther headed in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

The old German Shepard thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in deep shit now!"

Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the panther is about to leap, the old German Shepard exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious panther! I wonder if there are any more around here?"

Hearing this, the young panther halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees.

"Whew! that was close! That old German Shepard nearly had me!"

Meanwhile, a squirrel who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the panther. So, off he goes.

The squirrel soon catches up with the panther, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the panther.

The young panther is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, squirrel, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!"

Now, the old German Shepard sees the panther coming with the squirrel on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?," but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to the attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they got close enough to hear, the old German Shepard says...

"Where is that squirrel? I sent him off an hour ago to find me another panther!"

Moral of this story...

Don't mess with the old dogs. Age and skill with always overcome youth and treachery. Bullshit and brilliance only come with age and experience.

My friend Bill sent this to me today, I laughed so hard, I cried. Thanks Bill!

ARG, raining again!

All we got was 3 days of partly sunny and the ground was just starting to firm up. Now, it's raining again! Well, it is that time of year I guess. Doesn't make me like it anymore tho.

I have been working on a couple things around here, I'm about done with the little chicken house I will be putting my banty chickens in. I hate it's raining on it, again, without it being painted. But, none can only do what they can do. Maybe I can get it finished next week.

The Goober cow kicked me during milking last night. She raked my hip with her hoof, it hurts. I wont be running any marathons anytime soon.

Something I read this morning I thought was kind of, hmmm, mixed feelings on it I guess. Parents can rent toys. I remember when my kids were little and they'd beg and throw fits for the latest toy the saw on TV (damn that cartoon network). Sometimes I could afford to indulge them, sometimes not. Both my kids are grown now with a closet full of those toys they just can't bring themselves to throw away, even if they're broken. I also remember several toys they "just had to have" that they soon discarded, never to play with again. I see being able to "rent" a toy kind of neat in case you child decides they really don't like the toy but I also see it as a way to continue the trend of over indulging our children and a continuance of our consumerism mindset. Renting movies or checking books out from the library is not the same as renting a toy. What do you all think about it?