Great Ranch Trip

With no pictures.

I picked up Linda at her house

Monday at 2:ish.

Her daughter and family had arrived

an hour or so ago, so they got to visit

for a bit before she left.

We had a lovely drive up to the ranch.

I took the "scenic" route.

I didn't want to drive through Orlando

AND Ocala during rush hours.

It was a beautiful day and we had a

wonderful visit. (It's a 4 hour drive.)

We stopped in Ocala at Rural King

and I bought $100 worth of feed.

50# chicken feed

200# sweet feed (cows & horses)

80# beet pulp pellets

80# alfalfa pellets

A lovely young man loaded it all

into my trunk (with one bag in the

back seat...)

Then Linda suggested we drive to Gainesville

and have dinner a Chuy's.

I've never eaten there before...

there are a couple in Tucson!

But the closest one here is in Orlando.

Nope.

Anyhow.

We had the Monday special.

As usual, we ended up each ordering exactly

the same thing. We always do that!

Stuffed avocado with Ranchero instead of the

3 alarm stuff it normally comes with.

And chips with the most delicious creamy

jalapeno sauce / dip.

SO YUMMY!

(Kyle opted out of joining us...)

After a lovely dinner,

we headed to the ranch.

Linda picked up her truck and headed back

to Gainesville to her hotel and Kyle and I

headed into Bronson to the Dollar General store

to pick up some wasp/hornet spray since he

nearly got stung minutes before we got there.

(The nest was ON the squeeze chute...)

Then across the street for a Subway sandwich

for him for dinner.

(He re-hung a bunch of the gates in the facility

so they swung better - the cows beat on them

and they start to sag after a bit.)

We sat on his couch and watched a couple

episodes of West Wing on Netflix and

then headed off to bed.

We were both up this morning at 6:30.

The cowboys were coming "just before 7".

Sure enough, 6:59 they pulled in!

Two trucks, two trailers, two cowboys

and they each brought their daughter and

their ponies.

Clair was FOUR and Dixie was EIGHT 

(it was her birthday today!)

They "work" with their dads every day

during the summer.

They were both really good little cowgirls.

Oh, and 5 or 6 dogs.

They headed off into the mist to gather

the herd - next thing we knew, they were

thundering across the pasture in a big

group, out of the pasture and into the

long alley. Once they hit the alley 

(no way out) they slowed down and walked

them up to the front of the property and

into the facility.

About that time the vet showed up.

(7:35 - he missed the turn - we watched him

drive by and took bets on how far he would

go before he figured it out... lol)

They got set up and got to work.

One cowboy (Lint - like the stuff in your pocket)

started pushing cows around the wing,

into the sweep and down the alley to the chute.

The little girls pushed them forward.

The other cowboy (Bob?) worked the squeeze.

The vet stood at the back and opened the

gate to allow one cow at a time into 

the chute, then slipped a "wand" into the cow

and did an internal ultrasound.

He called out the cow tag # and whether she was

pregnant, the gender and how far along 

or if she was open.

We were really afraid we were going to have

a 50% open since the bull was an untried

2 year old. The last time the vet was out we

"synced" all the cows (gave them a shot) to

bring them all into heat at the same time.

A week later the bull showed up.

Out of 27 cows we ended up with

2 - "open" un-bred (going to the auction)

1 - "mummy" (last stages of an aborted fetus)

also going to auction

22 -  at 4 months gestation

1 - at 80 days

1 -  at 45 days.

WOW!

Linda stood next to the vet with a clipboard

with each cow's number where she made a

note about whatever the vet said.

Most of them he was able to sex the calf,

there are going to be a good blend.

One the little guy was "swimming" and he

couldn't get it to hold still enough to get a 

good look but all the others he identified

what was in there.

His ultrasound beamed up to a visor like 

a virtual realty thingie so he could see

really clearly what he was looking at.

But it also beamed to Linda's phone so she

got to follow along. She was in heaven!

(Kyle and I stood on the other side of the

chute - close enough to hear what he was

saying, but out of the way.)

He ran the last animal (a surprise little bull

calf that was born AFTER his last visit)

who needed to be castrated, ear tagged and 

given his baby shots at 8:00!

Thirty minutes to run 27 cows and 13 calves!

IMPRESSIVE!

The cowboy doing the pushing kept them

going in a steady stream.

Kyle and I usually work a group of 5 or 6

and then gather another group of 5 or 6

and it takes us about an hour if we stop to

weigh everybody.

I don't think we can do it any faster.

But it was fun to see it move so smoothly.

Lint (like the stuff in your pocket) is also the

President of the Levy County Cattleman's Association.

He was VERY complimentary on Kyle's facility.

He had worked this same herd before Linda

bought them - using the old facility Ronnie

had cobbled together out of random junk.

He was VERY complimentary on Kyle's facility.

(hahahahahahaha)

We also had a really interesting conversation with

the two cowboys and the vet when we were all done.

The field they gathered the cows out of looks

REALLY good right now.

It's Pensacola Bahia grass which self-seeds and

since the cows have been off it for 30 days,

there are tons of seed heads and the grass looks

really good. They said we should call this guy

they know (gave Linda a card) who will come and

harvest those seeds and pay her for them!

Who knew!!!

They also recommended she lease out the extra

pastures to another guy who comes in early spring,

deep disks, spreads Dolomite (a form of lime)

and plants a peanut crop.

Since peanut is a legume, it replenishes the soil's

nitrogen content, and then part of the deal is

he leases the property for $50/acre and after he

harvests his peanut crop, he RESEEDS with a 

winter rye / bahia blend!

So you make a little money, improve your ground

and end up with a fantastic pasture!

(That's why the other pasture looks so good,

they leased it out for peanut the year before 

Linda bought it... the next pasture over was leased

out for watermelon and was supposed to be peanut

the next year when the property owner died and

everything just stopped.)

Anyhow.

Linda and Kyle are both really jazzed about that.

The guy that comes in has all the RIGHT equipment

to disk / seed / etc which means Kyle doesn't have to

do all that work and try to deal with using the

wrong equipment for the job.

Exciting for everybody!

And, since they had such a great success rate

with this year's breeding, instead of Kyle building

4 new holding pens they decided to cut that in half

and only build 2 right now with the potential to

build the other 2 down the road if they decide

they need to. (They need these extra pens for

cutting the herd but also for fence weaning and

private selling the cows / calves they are 

getting rid of.)

So Kyle was heading down to Orlando to pick

up the wood this afternoon and get started

on that "little" project.

After the guys left we rode out to the pastures

and took a good look at them

and had a really good "meeting" to make some

future plans for the property and get everybody

on the same page as far as projects and

priorities.

And then Linda and I packed up and headed

back down south.

We got home about 1:30 so she could spend

the rest of the day with her Grandkids.

A successful day all around.

And now I'm going to take a nap.

Hahahaha

Whew!

Man oh Man!

That was a class.

I finished up with 36 students.

And a couple that just NEEDED

to talk, ask questions, comment, 

hear themselves speak.

A LOT.

I was EXHAUSTED when I rolled out of 

there at 9:45 Sunday night.

I had a good Podcast to listen to,

so I didn't have any trouble 

staying away on the highway,

but I was asleep within 15 minutes

of getting home!

Out of 36, I passed 20.

Some were super close and should have passed,

but we have to give the test at 7 pm and

they started the day in my classroom at 7:30 am.

(They were working in their workbooks,

don't they look studious?)

On the drive up, Friday evening, there was 

a rain storm ahead of me most of the way.

But I was in the sun following it.

Which meant I had a fun companion.

You have to look hard to see it,

but it was a double rainbow!

The pictures aren't very good cuz I just

held up my phone and hit the button

and hoped I got something other than 

the road, or my door, or the roof...

It was a nice drive and didn't start raining

until after I was safely in my bed in

my hotel room.

This morning I'm doing my "end of class"

paperwork and getting that submitted

to the home office,

then I have to run to WalMart.

My power cord for my iPad broke last week

so on my way out of town Friday I stopped

and got a new one.

But when I got to my hotel,

it had a C instead of a USB on the other end

so I had to plug it into my iPad and my phone.

I sat and watched the battery on my phone

tick down, but the battery on my iPad

barely move.

So then I recharged my phone (takes 2 hours)

(so I set an alarm), woke up, plugged in my

iPad again, then recharged my phone...

I was up and down all night and still only

had about 80% on my iPad in the morning.

My presentation SUCKS my battery dry,

so that wasn't going to work.

I left the hotel early and ran to CVS.

They had what I needed!

YEA!

Otherwise I would have just borrowed 

an iPhone charger from one of my

million students.

Anyhow, I need to run to WalMart and

return the cord I bought on Friday.

And I want to get a little trash can to

put in Kyle's "guest" bathroom instead

of the walmart bag that has been hanging

on the cabinet knob for 6 months.

(I'm the only one who uses that bathroom...)

He just left to head up there.

Hopefully he has a finished building

when he gets there.

(hahahahahahahahaha)

Because ALL his tools are stored in

the front bedroom.

Usually he just piles them all up and

clears a little space for my blow up

mattress, but he keeps accumulating 

more stuff and now there isn't even room

to walk in there.

So I might be sleeping on the couch.

If the building is done, he can finally

put the stuff out there where it belongs!

But I'm not holding my breath.

I'm picking up Linda and we are going

up together. We will stop in Ocala on the way

at Rural King (a WAY better version of 

Tractor Supply) and get me a load of feed

and then head to the ranch.

The cowboys (yup, TWO of them this time)

are supposed to be there at 7 in the morning

with the vet arriving at 7:30.

We need to preg-check all 27 cows,

weigh and spray everybody,

and there is a calf that needs to be

vaccinated, ear tagged and castrated.

Hopefully we will be all finished before

it gets too hot.

And then we will jump in the car and

head straight back.

Linda's oldest daughter and her husband

and 4 kids are arriving down here some time

today. They will stay at her house,

play in her pool, etc. but she wants to 

get back as soon as she can to spend 

time with them.

School starts on the 12th, so this is the

last summer hurrah.

Better get stuff done here!

Record Numbers! (And a Couple "God Winks")

It has been brought to my attention

that I left y'all hanging about my

class last weekend.

Maybe because I was trying to wipe

it out of my brain?

Hahaha.

I sent a text to the gentleman who

sets up the room for me and let him

know that we had 143 people registered.

I would need ALL the tables and chairs.

He took me at my word.

My room is rated for 20 students.

I can comfortably fit 28.

I have STUFFED 32.

He set up for 42 students!!!

GOD WINK #1

(God Winks are what some people call

those little blessings that show you that

you are LOVED.)

There were students waiting for me when

I arrived at school at 7:10. Registration begins

at 7:30, but I sent a couple emails to the students

letting them know they should be EARLY.

I started signing people in.

At 8:00 I had 14 more people still standing

in line waiting to sign in.

I counted them off and then closed the door.

I had EXACTLY 42 students.

Class starts at 8:00 and I'm not allowed to

sign in anyone after that point, so I let those

14 people in, gave them books and then closed

the door into my classroom.

I put a note on the front desk in the office

letting people know we were full and to please

leave their name and contact information

so they would be re-registered.

When I opened the door at break there were an

additional 6 people who had left their names.

(And two more showed up Sunday morning.

REALLY? They were unhappy they couldn't get

in, but hey - class started yesterday. You weren't 

here so I gave your seats away.)

GOD WINK #2

As I pulled into the drive-thru at McDonalds

to pick up my breakfast , I said a quick prayer,

asking for everything to go smoothly and

for help with this huge class I was expecting.

I ordered my breakfast in the drive-thru,

(2 sausage burritos, and a large drink with no ice...) 

he mis-heard me and

rang me up for 3 burritos.

It wasn't worth the hassle of correcting him

and they are only $1 each, and my company

pays for my meals, so I let it go.

I inhaled one on the drive to the school.

At first break, I started signing in the 14 people.

I got 5 of them done.

(It's REALLY EASY, but some of these folks

don't speak much English and haven't got much

experience with "technology" so it takes a little

time on the first run through...)

At 2nd break, I signed in 5 more students.

At 3rd break (when I normally pre-order my

Subway sandwich) I signed in the final 4 students.

So I didn't order lunch.

And then at lunch, I had RVPs, students, etc

asking a billion questions and I knew it was going

to take forever to sign them all back in, so

I chose not to take lunch.

And LOOK! I still had 2 burritos left

from breakfast!

All-in-all it was a good class, but WAY too big.

I didn't feel like I connected with more than

half of the students. There were several who were

vocal, it was a good class, but I feel like there were

some who were "lost" and I couldn't "find" them.

I dropped to 40 students on Sunday (so I COULD

have fit the 2 late girls, but I expect everyone to

come back and they annoyed me with their 

attitudes so... whatever... lol.)

Anyhow.

Incidentally, I DIDN'T say a quick prayer

when I got to McDonalds.

Ordered my usual (except I intentionally

ordered 3 burritos since it was a great idea)

and when I got 2 blocks away and reached

into my bag to snarf a burrito...

My soda was a regular Coke with FULL ICE.

My breakfast was 2 hash brown patties

and an Egg McMuffin.

So I made a Good Girl Moonshine

(splash of apple cider vinegar, tsp of

powdered ginger, a packet of stevia and

a bottle of water - I keep this stuff in my

cabinet at all times...) and opened the McMuffin.

Ate the meat, cheese and egg.

Gave the hash browns to the first 2 students

who raised their hands,

and threw away the muffin.

I didn't get a chance to pre-order my lunch

and Subway was PACKED, so I hit the

McD in the same parking lot and got

a burger. (Ick... but food is food...)

Point taken.

Also... Kyle and I keep telling each other that

we have GOT to start listening to "that little voice".

The little voice said, after school on Sat night

you should really pop into WalMart and get some

paper products for the bathroom.

But WalMart isn't anywhere near my school,

Chili's where I get my take-away dinner, 

or my hotel.

So I forgot.

And we ran out of paper towels.

Wipe your hands on your pants.

Hahahahahaha.

Looking forward to this weekend.

NOT looking forward to calling and marking

the electronic roll and re-signing all 40-ish

students back in for their final exam in a 

TEN MINUTE BREAK.

The class is SO full that I can't walk from 

student to student and have them sign in once

the test has begun, so I think I will go back

to my original idea (a year ago) of giving

them the test and then when they bring

up their test to be graded, I'll have them

sign in at that time.

It was a TOTAL pain in the neck.

But the best of the lousy options.

Pioneer Day

It's the 24th of July.

Pioneer Day.

I got an email from Family Search

to let me know I was related to a

Pioneer!

So I clicked on the story.

All about Marion Leslie Stoddard.

And then I clicked on the
"Sources" tab.

And there she was!

MOM!

Very cool!
I'm just finishing reading the entire
Work and the Glory series
again. I have a couple of chapters left.
I'll probably finish it today.
I'm feeling very "Pioneer-ish" lately.

(And then I have no idea what I'll read
this weekend while my students are
taking their exam... but I'll find something.)

***************************************

Meanwhile.

Remember when I joked about

Kyle's building not being done

until August?

Yeah. 

That's next week.

Progress photo...

Woot!

One ... stinkin' ... wall.

(Those are NOT windows up there at the top...

its just where they quit for the day.)

They promised to work last Wed afternoon

and then 12 hours each Thurs and Fri.

But they never showed up.

They did this on Monday.

And another part on Tuesday.

No show again today.

Sigh.

Shades of the mobile home install.

Never hire people in Bronson, FL.

The people there have ZERO work ethic.

Random Stats

I was goofing around in my blog

the other day, looking at the stats.

I have posted 1071 blogs!

(Including this one...)

I have had 19,662 views!

(But that's since day 1... lol)

371 total comments

*Thanks Rozie!

And I have someone who has

read my blog 3 times from...

Portugal!

Totally random.

I'm getting ready to head out.

I have a class this weekend in

West Palm Beach.

My room holds between 28 and 35.

28 comfortably.

35 sardines.

I currently have 148 students registered.

I'm hoping 80% of them sleep in.

Hahahaha.

Wish me luck!

Bump

The other day (ok, about a week ago)

Rod was sitting at a red light

and someone in front of him

backed up into him!

That's a hard one to explain to

the insurance company...

But he had good insurance.

And was on his way to the 

hospital to visit his Dad.

So they exchanged information and

went on their way.

A couple of days later,

Rod took his car to the body

folks that Jim's dealership uses

(Rod drives a VW too...)

and the guy's insurance paid

for a rental car for him.

It was a silver Nissan Altima.

He didn't love it.

But it was free.

Yesterday he was very pleased to

trade it back in for his little Golf.

All cleaned up with a lovely new

bumper with no more crinkles.

Glad nobody got hurt and his little

car is all better.

Whew.

Creepy or Cool?

So, I need your opinion.

This was in our mailbox today.

It was a mailer.

And at first glance, it's SUPER COOL!

And then I got to thinking about it.

How does this random company

know that we HAVE chickens and

sell eggs? We haven't sold them to the

general public in several years.

It's been all private sales.

On the other hand, lots of people

have backyard chickens, so I guess

it's not a total stab in the dark.

Or maybe they got my name from

the hatchery I order my chicks from...

So.

Cool?

or 

Creepy?

And no, I'm not ordering any.

Although they would be fun,

they are on the pricey end and more

than I want to spend for a novelty item.

Best Laid Plans

I had lots of plans for today.

They started with feeding the animals.

However I was going to work at the

town hall, so I tried to get started

a little earlier than usual.

Which meant I didn't start the day

with my usual workout.

Which also meant I didn't start the

day with my usual 16 oz bottle of water.

Headed out to feed the animals.

Brought the horses in,

took feed out to the cows,

and then walked to the front of the 

property to open the gate to the

front yard. It's Thursday and I like

to put the horses up front on Thursdays.

That's the day our neighbor has all

his city customers come to his farm

to pick up their produce shares.

I don't love having my horses back

there where people are trying to

feed them hand fulls of grass.

(Not that it would hurt them, but

Andy has a split in his bottom lip

and it you aren't careful when you

hand feed him, its easy for your 

fingers to get caught up in his lip

and then you THINK he is biting you.

Yeah... don't need that drama.)

Anyhow.

While up there, I grabbed the hose to

dump, scrub and refill their water bucket.

But the hose was all kinked from the

last time it was used.

So I wrestled with that and got it mostly

straightened out and stretched over to

the bucket.

Then I remembered that Thursday is the

day they pick up "yard trash" and last

week Kyle trimmed the bougainvillea

in front of his window and left a big pile

in the yard. So I went back to the barn

and got the big yellow wheelbarrow and a

pitch fork and went back to gather that up.

(Stopped at the house for my deer skin gloves

cuz SPIKES!) Got that all loaded up and

taken out to the street and dumped.

By then the horses were mostly finished

eating their breakfast, so I went back to the

barn to return the wheelbarrow and bring 

the guys up front. They know where to go,

so I just follow along behind and remind them

not to stop and then close the gate behind them.

And then I needed to let the dogs out so they

could go to the bathroom and run around

for a little bit.

While they were out I headed into the 

house to make me some oatmeal for

breakfast.

And that's when it hit me.

I was WAAAAAY over heated and pretty

well dehydrated. I got to a chair and sat down

just before it all went black around the edges.

I drank a bottle of water (with a pinch of

himalayan  pink salt in it), and sat under

the ceiling fan for a bit.

Then it was time to get the dogs and

bring them inside the garage.

We have a deal with our neighbor that

our girls will be inside the house from

10 to 11 every morning so she can let

her neurotic show dog out without worrying

that he will freak out.

By the time I got them in their crates

and fed, I was feeling woozy again.

So it was back to sit under the fan with

another bottle of water.

It took about an hour and a half to finally

feel like I was back to normal!

Lesson learned!

DRINK BEFORE YOU GO OUTSIDE!

Anyhow.

I FINALLY felt well enough to make 

my oatmeal and a drink with some collagen.

But by then it was "lunch" at the town hall

and no point in heading over there to just

sit around and chat.

And then I remembered that I needed to

finish up some paperwork for my church calling

(Self Reliance Specialist - we saw a member yesterday

and I needed to type up a report for the Bishop.)

Got that all done and by then it was too late to

bother going to town hall, so I decided to

take the truck and head into town to Tractor Supply

and get some feed and then by our local feed

store for a bale of hay for the cows.

And that's when the heavens opened up and

it POURED! So... no feed run.

Instead, I decided to clean the kitchen.

I got out my beautiful Grove.co glass bottle

full of natural cleaner and wiped down the

counters, the inside of the microwave,

the stove, etc and realized my bottle was

nearly empty. So I pulled out my concentrate

and made a new batch.

And then I knocked the entire bottle off the

counter - smashing it into a million pieces.

Naturally I was barefoot and Beau (aka My Shadow)

was right there next to me.

And here we were standing in an ocean of

cleaner with ice burgs of broken glass.

I managed to get Beau out of the room

and grabbed some clean bath towels from

on top of the dryer to mop up and contain

the mess. Then it was sweep, swiffer, damp mop

to make sure I got every single little micro

chip of glass off the tile floor.

And then Rod walked in the door.

He has High Council tonight, so he is

resting a bit before he gets cleaned up

and then we are going to go to Chick Fil A

for a sandwich before he heads south

to his meeting and I head into town for feed.

I would just wait and go tomorrow,

but I have to drive over to Orlando to 

substitute teach for one of my instructors

who had a death in the family this week.

It's a Friday evening, Saturday afternoon,

all day Sunday class. (And it's the final

weekend so all day Sunday means

ALL. DAY. SUNDAY.

7:30 am til 9:30 pm.

And then an hour plus drive home.

So yeah.

Anyhow.

If you read all this...

thanks!

A peak in the life, as it were.

My Cowboy

Our horses are getting old.

Ok, so are we... haha.

But we don't ride often anymore.

Partly because we are always busy.

Partly because it is HOT in Florida.

And partly because ... we just don't.

But we DID go for a ride on July 4.

We went "early" in the morning

to try to avoid the HOT here in Florida thing.

No idea what I was looking at...

Rod still loves his "new" saddle.

Although, CJ doesn't love standing still on the trail.

He was in a hurry to get back to walking

through this lush and beautiful trail.

We had a wonderful time.

We might have to do it again!

Ears

The other morning I was laying in bed.

I was resting on my right side,

as I often do, and noticed I could

hear my wall clock ticking LOUDLY

from in the bathroom.

As I often do, when it is quiet, I 

began talking to myself.

And then I started counting along

with the ticking.

Which was driving me a little nuts.

So I rolled over.

And noticed I could no longer hear 

the ticking of the clock!

So I rolled over again.

Left ear - ticking.

Right ear - no ticking.

Left ear - ceiling fan squeaking.

Right ear - no squeaking.

But I was still able to "hear" out of

my right ear, so I decided it was a

sign I was getting old and got up.

Fast forward to yesterday.

I had a regular thyroid check-up at my

new ARPN's office.

I noticed my right ear felt "plugged".

So I mentioned it to her and when 

she checked my ears, my left was

bright and clean and my right ear

was "plugged to the max". 

Hahaha.

She also mentioned I have a TINY

ear canal. 

And then the "specialist" came in to

irrigate my right ear.

She also mentioned my TINY ear canal.

In fact, she had to switch out to the

"child size" thing-a-ma-bobby.

Which explains THIS!

You know those earbuds that come

with your new cell phone?

I've had several pairs of 

these "new" shaped ear buds

over the years.

And they NEVER fit.

I've switched out the little rubber

thingie to the bigger one and the smaller

one and I've watched YouTubes on how

to correctly fit them in your ears...

but no luck.

Kyle has the same problem.

Which explains why I bought 

SIX pairs of these hideous green

ear buds when I found them

on Amazon.

They have a nice, classic, flat style.

And it fits in my ear.

And I live in constant fear that 

they will quit making them.

Oh yeah,

and I can hear again.

I really need to get a quieter clock.

SQUIRREL!

Usually when the dogs are outside

Shadow voluntarily goes into the

dog yard and climbs under their deck

and lays in the cool, shady sand.

Not today.

She has been sitting under the oak trees

for literally HOURS this afternoon.

We had some rain earlier and

it is still overcast

so it is cooler than it has been recently.

But she has been sitting there,

looking up into the tree.

I'm willing to bet there is a

SQUIRREL

up there.

She is kind of keeping an eye on

her kingdom (queendom?)

but she hasn't moved.

And I'm pretty sure she won't.

Until I call her in for dinner.

*The squirrel is TOTALLY safe.

While she is vigilant, she is the world's

WORST hunter. The squirrel could 

literally run across her toes and she would

still miss grabbing it.

E.R.

Kyle hasn't ever been to the E.R. before.

Well, except for when he was 18 months

old and held his breath and "turned his face blue".

But that was just a tantrum.

Of course it resulted in 24 hours hospitalization

for observation and a $2500 bill.

But we won't go there.

Anyhow.

He drove home from the ranch on Wed.

His left wrist started to ache

(as it often does) as he was driving.

And then his shoulder got sore.

And then it radiated down to his elbow.

And then down to his hand.

And then up to his face.

His face felt swollen and kind of "numb".

Or Tingly.

Or Numbgly.

And he started to worry.

And then his chest started to feel tight.

And he started to worry more.

And then he stood up (he was sitting on the couch)

and upon standing said "Ok, I feel TERRIBLE."

So we loaded up in my car and the 3 of us

headed to the Urgent Care.

Which was closed.

So next door to the Emergency Room it was.

Evidence that he felt AWFUL.

He let me take his picture!

They did an EKG because of the chest stuff,

but decided it was a pinched nerve in his shoulder

due to repetitive motion (driving the tractor).

Exacerbated by a panic attack. 

(which he has on occasion.) 

(Work comp!)

Gave him a scrip for 800 mg Ibuprofen and a Steroid.

Dr. said not to fill them yet though.

Likely regular Ibuprofen and rest 

(and Mom added Turmeric for anti-inflammatory)

would be all he needed.

Since he is home for 4 or 5 days anyway...

He got "hooked up" and they even got a needle

in his arm to take blood and in case of needing

an IV. Luckily he didn't inherit Grandma's veins!

(Or mine for that matter, they dive, roll, shrink...)

But the nurse was lucky he was bigger than Kyle

because Kyle REALLY wanted to punch him.

(He does NOT do needles - which explains his

lack of a medical history - walk it off or rub some

dirt in it and it will be fine... lol)

Rod and I are trying to talk him into seeing 

Rod's chiropractor. We both know it will help...

but so far no luck on that front.

Anyhow.

He said, better take a picture, cuz this is NEVER

happening again.

He's feeling better (and embarrassed he wore that disgustingly

dirty hat into their nice clean hospital room)

and kind of enjoying the "sorry, can't, I'm on disability"

response to... everything I suggest.

Hahahahaha.

But he is a little bummed.

He wanted to go kayaking, or snorkling, or 

SOMETHING fun.

Instead we are heading to H&M to get him

some new shirts.

Random Tuesday Stuff

Lots to tell.

And nothing to say.

LOL.

Here, in completely random order is 

all the news that is fit to print.

LOL

1.  Rod got laid off from his 2nd job yesterday.

Talk about burying the lead!

But, although we were both kind of annoyed

about how it happened and the reason behind

it (it really was stupid) we are both actually

really pleased. And feeling extremely blessed.

Remember last week when I said we never see

each other? And poor Rod is always exhausted.

Well, this means he will be able to come home

every afternoon!!!

And his full time job has opened up overtime again

so he will work a couple hours on Saturday.

But YEA!

We get to eat dinner together!

And go for walks in the cooler evenings together!

And maybe even make a run over to the Orlando

Temple (when it opens again)!

And he won't be so tired all the time.

I'm excited.

2. I was really worried about Andy.

He has a terrible nervous thing he has ALWAYS done.

He stomps and paws his left foot, mostly when its

time to eat - like there is a possibility he might 

starve to DEATH while waiting for me to pour

his grain into his manger.

And he now has this HUGE split in his hoof.

It was actually bleeding slightly when I first saw it.

So I sent a text and a photo to my farrier.

(He was supposed to be here 4 weeks ago, but his wife

who is his assistant, hurt her shoulder and they had

to postpone... Andy's feet were quite overdue!

But since we are ALL retired, I don't worry as much

as I used to - he just wanders around in the pasture.

I almost never ride anymore.)

Anyhow.

Dennis came and did his feet.

We were all worried it would require some sort

of epoxy and soaking and... who knows.

But when he really got into it, it's actually

just a surface crack. And while it LOOKS terrible

it's actually just cosmetic.

It's all trimmed up now and he'll be fine.

Whew!

(He spills lots of his feed while eating.

He always has, but it's worse now that he is

31 years old and most of his molars are gone...

thank goodness for chickens!)

3.  I got some hay last year from a ranch near Kyle's.

It must have had some seeds in it.

Because this year I have a surprise growing

out by the cow's hay feeder!

These are purple passion flowers!

Kyle found some up at the ranch last year.

Hasn't seen any up there yet this year...

Years ago my neighbor Chris and I talked

about ordering some from a seed catalog and

planting them along our fence line, but we

never got around to it.

But now... here they are!

However, this week the horses ate them.

Good thing I got a picture!

I'm going to dig up the roots and move them

into a space the animals can't get to.

I love them!

4.  That's it.

Best Friends

Our little steers are best friends.

Wherever one is, the other is

generally pretty close by.

Except at feeding time.

Charlie is always first at the bucket.

Brown sometimes waits a bit.

But generally this is where you will find them.

Basking in the sun together.

Or hiding in the shade.

But pretty well joined at the hip.

They are both putting on weight.

Good job guys!

Keep it up!!!