I’m back, it has been a pretty hectic few days, I swear I have earned a head full of grey hair and several more wrinkles.. and if I wasn’t superstitious about Friday 13 before, I am now! It felt like everything went wrong and all at the same time. Big brother Johns daughter Alyson arrived in Sea Tac courtesy of British Airways, very late and without a suitcase. Apparently the hold had frozen during the flight and couldn’t be opened. Not a good situation, I guess Customs weren’t happy and neither were 200 passengers on vacation with no clothes!! Oops. Just got a call, the bags will be here after 1pm ( today is Sunday)….Alyson arrived on Thursday and without any clothes, something tells me that British Airways aren’t going to get a Christmas card this year.
At the same time, Camille our lovely French volunteer had problems with immigration when she came back to continue her adventure in Alaska. Please note… ANY foreign national WOOFERS coming to the US MUST have a work permit even though they are volunteers and NOT being paid. Sadly we were also unaware, lesson learnt, the very hard way.
Meanwhile the infection which has apparently taken up residence in my spine and can not/will not be evicted flared up again. A pic line was inserted after a couple of practice runs ( my veins are done with being poked ) and, just to keep things interesting, the entry site for the pic line (and the three practice holes) decided to bleed…a lot. Another unplanned trip to Tacoma!
By this time Bran had had quite enough excitement for one day and disappeared… having fed the five thousand ( well, it seemed like it !!) I really wanted to follow suit. How can so much happen in so short a time ?
Back to the Ranch. With the sun shining and the prospect of an unbelievable rain free run (well,.. about 3 days) Greg took the opportunity to repair fences that had suffered through the Winter storms. Carla is quickly learning fencing skills, an essential farming lesson… we do like to see our livestock on the right side of the fence and if there is one tiny break you can be sure some little critter will find it. But Friday 13th wasn’t finished with us yet… Carla’s aptitude for learning and all Greg’s booklearning and life’s lessons couldn’t have prepared them for Bessie the big Chevi farm truck deciding to take herself a mud bath..a deep thick gooey sticky mud bath and she was not going to get out by herself. Time to bring in the big guns and pray that the tractor doesn’t join the truck which was beginning to look like she had every intention of being a permanent feature in the pasture. Out trundled the old Kukji, bumping and grinding up the farm road to rescue the stranded Bessie. Out came the old tow rope which was attached to the still sinking truck. Wheels turning just dug her in deeper but, with the tractor actually lifting off it’s front tyres and mud flying Bessie the no longer silver Chevi emerged from the myre and back onto solid ground. On a positive note, she did get a well overdue bath and Carla, returning the tractor to the barn was able to practice her tractor driving somewhere she couldn’t cause any damage. Smile.
It is nice to see the livestock out in the Summer pastures, up to their knees in bright green juicy Spring grass. Lady returned to the barn last night grass sleepy and content. Offers of hay were clearly rejected, carrots were half heartedly accepted and I think the old Shire mare was possibly asleep when Greg fastened the cinch and put on her bridle. Molly moo and her four cohorts slowly waddled back to the cow barn and a very rotund Gimpy, Lamb Chop and the sheep eating team managed to round up their rambunctious offspring in time for an orderly if slower that normal return to their barn. Charm, Mr. Beauty with attitude was so satiated that he forgot to prance and dance when saddled up and Greg and Carla had a comparatively sedate plod through the forest trails as the sun went down.
Time to go, hopefully life will settle down again. Keep us in your thoughts. Take care, keep safe, M
At the same time, Camille our lovely French volunteer had problems with immigration when she came back to continue her adventure in Alaska. Please note… ANY foreign national WOOFERS coming to the US MUST have a work permit even though they are volunteers and NOT being paid. Sadly we were also unaware, lesson learnt, the very hard way.
Meanwhile the infection which has apparently taken up residence in my spine and can not/will not be evicted flared up again. A pic line was inserted after a couple of practice runs ( my veins are done with being poked ) and, just to keep things interesting, the entry site for the pic line (and the three practice holes) decided to bleed…a lot. Another unplanned trip to Tacoma!
By this time Bran had had quite enough excitement for one day and disappeared… having fed the five thousand ( well, it seemed like it !!) I really wanted to follow suit. How can so much happen in so short a time ?
Back to the Ranch. With the sun shining and the prospect of an unbelievable rain free run (well,.. about 3 days) Greg took the opportunity to repair fences that had suffered through the Winter storms. Carla is quickly learning fencing skills, an essential farming lesson… we do like to see our livestock on the right side of the fence and if there is one tiny break you can be sure some little critter will find it. But Friday 13th wasn’t finished with us yet… Carla’s aptitude for learning and all Greg’s booklearning and life’s lessons couldn’t have prepared them for Bessie the big Chevi farm truck deciding to take herself a mud bath..a deep thick gooey sticky mud bath and she was not going to get out by herself. Time to bring in the big guns and pray that the tractor doesn’t join the truck which was beginning to look like she had every intention of being a permanent feature in the pasture. Out trundled the old Kukji, bumping and grinding up the farm road to rescue the stranded Bessie. Out came the old tow rope which was attached to the still sinking truck. Wheels turning just dug her in deeper but, with the tractor actually lifting off it’s front tyres and mud flying Bessie the no longer silver Chevi emerged from the myre and back onto solid ground. On a positive note, she did get a well overdue bath and Carla, returning the tractor to the barn was able to practice her tractor driving somewhere she couldn’t cause any damage. Smile.
It is nice to see the livestock out in the Summer pastures, up to their knees in bright green juicy Spring grass. Lady returned to the barn last night grass sleepy and content. Offers of hay were clearly rejected, carrots were half heartedly accepted and I think the old Shire mare was possibly asleep when Greg fastened the cinch and put on her bridle. Molly moo and her four cohorts slowly waddled back to the cow barn and a very rotund Gimpy, Lamb Chop and the sheep eating team managed to round up their rambunctious offspring in time for an orderly if slower that normal return to their barn. Charm, Mr. Beauty with attitude was so satiated that he forgot to prance and dance when saddled up and Greg and Carla had a comparatively sedate plod through the forest trails as the sun went down.
Time to go, hopefully life will settle down again. Keep us in your thoughts. Take care, keep safe, M
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