Life on the ranch is Soooooo peaceful, horses graze placidly in lush green pastures, sheep ( pasture maggots ) like a formation eating team spread out in a line across the field munching and walking without lifting their heads, Molly Moo and Dolly lie contentedly chewing their cud and contemplating the next meal, the three amigos, Macho (stud goat in training), Lambchop (pet lamb, the ugliest lamb we ever raised) and Daisy May ( pet calf with attitude) happily interact and the chickens do what chickens do, pecking and quietly clucking the day away. REALITY......it's Winter, horses munch on the hay conveniently hauled into their fields each day, sip water from between the ice chunks and stand miserably backs into the wind and rain just waiting to be taken back to their warm dry stalls. The sheep defiantly form a defensive bunch in the corner of the barn....Annie, boss ewe stares Bran ( sheep dog !) down, she stamps her front hoof on the floor in warning "try it, make my day". Bran knows better, she T boned him when he was too young and too enthusiastic to know when to take a hint and retreat. It's wet and cold out there, food is in their pen and the food fairy delivers it like magic when its empty, why go out and have to forage for food," thanks, but no thanks, we're stopping here !" The three amigos line up at their gate mournfully mooing, baaaaing and bleating,they figure if they moan louder and longer enough mum and dad will have sympathy and supply the peanut treats and attention. The chickens, ahhh, the cute little chickens ......if we could only video the antics in the hen house ! I stood yesterday and watched. "Thats MY nest box, no its not, I got here first", "you are taking up too much room on the perch" " You just POOPED on my head" " I wanted that piece of grain" and, directed towards me " leave my eggs alone!!!!" Yes, really cute little birds, its worse than a girls reformitory on a really BAD day . Oooops, got to go, its time, take care, we will. M
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Well, by all accounts a mini tornado hit the district around midnight last night, we heard nothing,........Greg snores so loud that I wear earplugs with pneumatic drill capability and Greg takes medication that helps him fall to sleep on a washing line....not a lot of use if a" tree fell on the house" emergency arose ! This morning we switched the tv on and watched in awe as the roving reporters described the damage, county wide that less than 5 minutes of the wind can wreak. We were lucky... this time , all tucked up, warm and cosy we slept through the lot !! Today I had to visit the heart doctor...good news, I've got one, he found it, it's just got a minor "issue". This afternoon Doctor Dave had the dubious pleasure of beating me up.....Doctor Dave is currently very near the top of my Christmas Card list, when I break he puts me back together. With all the "stuff" I have been doing to try to help Greg, my body is letting me know I'm not built to be a weight lifter. Doctor Dave is my Key Center Chiropractor and he can work miracles....when he is finished pummeling squeezing twisting and hugging me I always feel like nearly new. Who else do you go to, get beat up, say thank you and pay for the priviledge of pain. It was quite the day for doctor visits, so now I'm walking round wired up, and wearing a corset....welcome to middle age, smile !We make a great set, there's poor Greg with all his back issues and no complaints and then, there's me. The good news ( yes, there is some !) is, Greg is actually feeling the benefit of the first "fix" shot, thanks everyone, I know that we have been in your prayers....thanks Mom and Mum Joanne, we especially appreciate your hot line to Heaven. On another subject, I'm loving the chocolate Advent Calender....I did put one for Greg and one for me....it's not my fault I get there before anyone else...and I'm saving him from himself...I'm so unselfish . NOT !!!! Good job he's forgiving. smile. I'm going to have to get going, I started this last night and fell asleep over the computer, now it's time to get down to start another day at the barn. I needed to get this entry posted though... I really don't want to spoil anyones coffee! Take care, M
Will someone please tell me why, everytime I go for a mammogramm, the technician always looks like a mixture of Pamela Anderson Dolly Parton and Betty Boob ! Over the telephone they always ask " any implants ?" ......I wish !!! If I had had implants, I'd be after my money back ! The ladies are always SO nice, I'm sure they don't know that there is a massive insecurity problem when they try to squeeze a whole lot of nothing between 2 glass plates...".thats my backbone you are trying to push in" It doesn't help that I'm generally two feet taller than the technician that is on tiptoe trying so hard to squeeze my backbone into the x ray. "THAT'S ALL I'VE GOT !!!! It's almost less fun than a colonoscopy...no, in retrospect, the colonoscopy was WAY harder...cancel that last thought, I'm NEVER wanting another of them!! I know that it's a great thing, I know that it could save my life but could it possibly be made less traumatic for us seriously under endowed .....ok, quit moaning, just deal with it...maybe I'll grow a bit...a lot before the next time. We live in hope !! Well, it's getting late, parts of me that shouldn't hurt, do and it's bed time, tomorrow's another day, another year till the next mammogram torture and maybe it wont rain, good night, God bless,Take care, M
MJ ( Fox 13) was right, I had my ear plugs in ( pneumatic strength)...Greg snores a storm and even through the earplugs I knew there was a REAL storm outside. The rain didn't pitter patter on the window pane, it pounded on the deck, it battered the windows and the wind chimes were playing the orchestra !! By the early dawn light we knew we had trouble, no sleepy Sunday, no lazy weekend for us, the pond had breeched its banks and the farm road was a roaring river, the little creek running through the fields had white water falls and Destinys field looked like an extension of the pond. Destinys nose poked out of her shelter, warm and dry in her stall, wrapped up in a snug blanket she didn't look like she had any enthusiasm for being turned out without water wings or a a rubber ring. Hassan ( the terrorist) turned his nose into the corner of his stall...dont try putting that headcollar on me, I can't swim ! Bran tried to stay in the truck....thanks for the offer but I'd seriously like to decline.....I'll stay in here. Molly Moo and Dolly turned their butts into the wind and rain and the sheep stayed hidden at the back of the barn...if we stay out of sight we may be out of mind and he wont send us out into the rain...wonder if we'll still get fed ? Danielle and Alissia the kid goats breathed a sigh of relief and Lamb Chop, Daisy May and Macho contentedly settled down to chew their cud in the warmth of the nursery pen. No such luck for Greg and I, we scurried from pen to pen, the chicken coops were a mass of feathers clucking and crowing, every bird crammed into nest boxes or crowding perches, stepping over and through wet feathered bodies, nothing or no body wanted to go out into the rain...but we had to !! Greg got out the big boys toys, the farm road was under water, an excuse to play with the tractor, an excuse to splash in the puddles and an excuse to make a mess in the name of flood prevention !! There I was, doing my best to stay dry, not mudded up and desperately hard ... to stay "un frizzy" and there was Greg with a big smile on his face forging dykes and ditches in the rain. Sometimes I think there is a little boy still in the man !!! Well, it's time for bed, it was a long day and it's still raining, maybe more of the same tomorrow, take care, God Bless, M
I'm sorry, I have been absent without leave, I know that "almost daily diary" has turned into "almost weekly diary" but I blame CHRISTMAS. Christmas made me do it, Christmas has caused me to neglect my almost daily diary, Christmas has caused me to spend what spare time I have ( not a lot) writing copious Christmas cards to family and friends in the UK. Christmas has been to blame for me balancing on one leg from the top of a ladder trying to string a garland or a set of lights, Christmas has to be blamed for a slightly fuzzy head after a one too many mugs of spiced mulled wine.(..but it is REALLY good !!!) So, the living room looks like Santas' grotto, Greg is having palpitations in anticipation of this months electricity bill and I'm in Christmas heaven !!! Today, Bill Cosbys quote " Noah, how long can you tread water" came to mind as the christmas lights infused with the torrential rain, drains stressed and creeks and drains overflowed...it was no fun !!! Dear old Destiny has finally got smart and goes into her shelter when the rain is falling, Dolly and Molly Moo hide in the barn from the rain ( good job or we'd be drinking watered down milk !!!!) The christmas tree twinkles with lights reflected in the rain drops on the window panes and the holiday garlands with baubles and bright lights reach out through the darkness. Christmas is a time of demand, family and friends wait for acknowledgment, animals needy through the cold look for special care and strangers, touched by the Christmas spirit reach out for friendship. It's a wonderful time of the year. I 'm sorry if my diary entries are a little inconsistent over the holiday, it MAY have a little something to do with overindulgence ( well, we can't let our farm friends toast the holidays with hot spicy mulled wine alone, it would be rude !) but it is more likely to be my laptop. Greg ( computer wizz) once told me that "a computer only does what you tell it to do"...I beg to differ, I NEVER told it to translate my daily diary into Chinese ! It looks like my laptop has a bug.....and it looks nasty, Greg's going to have to put his computer head on and make it better,...fast. This is going to be a big weekend for us, Greg is going to get some treatment for his back problem...so he can do without pain all the things he shouldn't have been doing in pain !! Keep your fingers crossed, this wont make him better and we know a very serious surgery is in the future but hopefully this will buy us some time and help us keep the farm running for longer. Got to go, take care, keep warm and dry ( we wont !!). M
It's no secret, everyone that knows me knows that I am the family jackdaw...anything bright shiny or glittering and I'm a major interest. !!!! I'm not a great jewellery adict, sentimental means more than expensive BUT if there's an Avon ring that sparkles, I can lust after it till the brochure goes on the fire !! Stores with Christmas lights / decorations and I wander around like a kid in a candy store, Greg gets a kick out of the expressions on my face ( then he goes into tremors as his wallet goes into shock !!!!). I love just driving around and watching the Christmas lights adorning the houses, different colors, twinkling and shining in the night. I have boxes of Christmas STUFF, all of them my treasures, all of them so special but I know that I'm outgrowing my space. How do I decide what isn't " needed" any more ? I pull each ornament out of its box, I remember where we got it, who we got it from and when we got it, how can I part with anything ??!! All through the year on my Goodwill forays, little (and not so little treasures arrive via the sale bin.) Right now, all my Christmas stuff is all over the living room floor, it's waiting for the time that I can start to transform our lounge into a Christmas grotto..and I'm waiting for the christmas fairy to wave her wand and find me the time !!!! Red green and gold....blue and silver....pink and maroon, ....whats my color (colour for my Brit critics) theme, decion decision, life's tough ! A VERY SPECIAL person in our lives wants to see Christmas down at the barn...the Christmas grinch has capitulated ( I think it was after sampling the hot spiced wine, well you can't tell it's ok after just one cup, can you ?) so at this very moment in time he is buried head first in my light box ( it's a BIG box). I've got cookies to make but I can't make them too soon, Greg is a cookie monster and they'd all be gone by the weekend. I have to have a good long afternoon too, 'cause every disaster has to be disposed of so I don't have to admit to it. The chickens think it's great ( brownie flavoured eggs to follow the pumpkin eggs from Halloweens trick or treat...I treat them to pumpkin...they treat me to an egg...or they are soup !! I'm tough...NOT !!) I hid charcoal burnt ones once in the garage and Greg presented them to my mother in Law, he paid for that for a loooooong time! Moms a super cook .Oh well, I can see light on the horizon, better go and start putting on layers,...Christmas will have to wait. Take care, M
Today is Gregs birthday, we don't make a big deal about birthdays, we don't go out for a meal ( we have the BEST steaks here on the ranch !) We don't go out to a club....we have the best company here at home ) We don't "take it easy"... (there are too many reasons in too many pens / stalls for that ). The only time a birthday has been an issue was my 50th birthday, I was sitting on the floor in the lounge, surrounded by packing cases and my mums crystal. I guess that was the only time I was homesick, I cried like a baby...and I didn't know why.Looking back, we were only just here, I think I felt a long way from my" English family" and mum and dad were no longer with us . So, in comparison, today has been a "normal" day, Greg crawled out of bed and made my cup of tea( always a good start to a day ).....bless. The dog went out for a pee and we went down to the barn as usual, livestock are no respectors of holidays. This afternoon we made an assault on the house garden,( for someone who HATES gardening, I have TWO to deal with !!!) up came the big guns (BIG clippers) and the tractor. On went the armour, leather gloves , 10 layers of clothes and a woolly hat that covered everything but my eyes....roses don't like me any more than I like gardening !!The roses ( and everything else )were out of control, everytime we left the house we were attacked by a wayward rose bush, slipped on piles of wet leaves or swatted in the face by overgrown trees and it was time to make a stand !! Gardening is certainly not my favourite pass time, infact, I would probably prefer to be hung drawn and quartered ( Favoured English medaieval pastime) to spending an afternoon gardening but the garden was turning into an out of control jungle and I was having a major guilt complex, something had to be done...couldn't we just set fire to it all ? Tonight, I am scarred by rose bushes fighting back, rose thorn scars and scratches, my knees are scraped and my ankle is twisted but the garden looks almost cared for, not quite the wilderness, so our day was not entirely wasted. I HATE gardening !!! I'd almost prefer to do ANYTHING else but the weeds keep coming and someone has to keep it under control. Maybe we get the sheep and goats in, they'd clean it all up in no time....now thats a thought ! I'm tired, gardening wears me out, I think I need a drink, medicinal you understand. Tomorrow is my physical, I look like Greg beat me up or I had 10 rounds with Molly Moo. Good night, God bless,Take care, M
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AuthorIts me, Maureen, (the Boss) Archives
March 2018
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