Splitting Up

Since the guard dogs stay with the goats and the goats go pretty much anywhere they want on the farm, it is always a surprise where they will be in the evening at feeding time.

Today the goats were split up.  And of course, the dogs were not with the group right in front of the house.   They were with the group 1/2 a mile away and over the hill.

But look at those faces.

They are worth the hike.

I took a panorama shot, you might have to do some zooming in.  The group in front of the house is to the left, and the group with the dogs is to the right.  At least it was a nice evening for a walk.  And on another note, 

Happy New Year.

 

A New 4 Year Old

We had Sadie’s birthday party a couple of days early because a lot of the family was still here after  Christmas. But different illnesses cut back some on the guest list anyway.

Sadie 

and Allie had a great time decorating the cookies Emily had made with leftover cake icing.

When Sadie came in she said that the decorations were perfect for a birthday party. 

She really liked the extra attention.

Emily did a wonderful job on the cake and icing.

Sadie got several very fun toys, a Spirograph Jr. from uncle M, which is a vast improvement over the Spirograph we had as children, a camera from aunt A that takes pictures and prints them out on thermal paper for immediate viewing, a Coco Mellon version of Chutes and Ladders from aunt C that I am looking forward to playing with her, and a Barbie Dream House from me and Pop Pop.  I am trying not to spoil her but I just cannot  help it.  

Then today, I was going to keep Allie while Virginia and Mike had a special real birthday with Sadie.  A couple of hours later, they brought Sadie over because she was afraid Allie was having a more special day here than she was.  I had not planned anything to do so on short notice we took a trip 2 miles down the road to Dollar General.  Virginia orders groceries on line and has them delivered to the house, so Sadie had not been to the store very often.  She pushed the kid play cart and we went up and down all of the 

aisles looking at everything.  She wanted to get Christmas presents for next year.  But she could not even wait a day.  She got Allie a Christmas headband and ornaments. She wanted a plastic party crown but I told her we could make a better one at home.  Then I let her get a mermaid Barbie that she can play with in the pool of her Dream House.

At first she was pretty skeptical about me making a crown better than the store crown.  But she soon changed her mind, wanted to help, then play dress up with it.  I am sure with a little planning I could make a better one.  As soon as Pop Pop came in and said he needed to feed the calves and dogs, Sadie wanted to go with him.Then we ended up the day with a viewing of  the 2018 version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  I hope we made her day special.

 

Wonderful Visit

We had a wonderful visit over Christmas with Emily and Keiran.  Since they are married we now have to share Emily with Keiran’s family.  But it also means that we get Keiran when it is our turn.  It worked out this Christmas that we got them from Christmas Eve until yesterday.

We got to play Catan and several rounds of Wingspan.  Keiran even let Sadie and Allie “help” set up a game.

He also showed Sadie how to decorate cookies.

Emily got a vacuum for Christmas and vacuumed my entire house.  Keiran says she loves the Dyson more than she loves him.

We went for a walk and saw a beautiful sunset.  And they made a lot of good food including a made from scratch chocolate birthday cake for Sadie, yum.          

The time passed too fast.  But how lucky were we to get such good company. 
 

Merry Christmas

For obvious reasons I took a more minimalist approach to decorating for Christmas this year. 

But the more important thing is spending the time with family and not worrying about how everything looks. 

I got the stockings up and filled,

and the nativity out for Allie and Sadie to play with. 

I just reused last year’s centerpiece.  

 But the biggest change was no real  9 foot tall tree.  I pulled out my 1950’s aluminum one and only two boxes of ornaments.  Sadie said, “I like your tree Mimi, but the goats won’t eat it because it’s not green.”  Her insightfulness never ceases to amaze me. But it will certainly be less to put away. 

From Birds of Prey to Birds That Pay

 I am giving Joe credit for the catchy title.  I went with him to our other farm while he fed the cattle there.  After we drove up I was looking around and saw this…
There were two gorgeous bald eagles in a tree by the river. 

They let me get incredibly close

Before they flew off.  

Virginia and Mike took the girls to Dollywood this weekend, so me and Joe are on chicken duty.  

It is not that complicated, just a matter of opening up the egg box on the outside of the egg mobile and collecting the eggs. 

I always love seeing the accidental chicken.  When they ordered the chicks this one was in the group by accident. She is pretty cute though. 

5 Week Post Op

I had a good checkup today.  First, I met with the orthopedic doctor about my sacral fracture.  Nothing had shifted, it was healing and I only had to come back in 2 months if I wanted to.

Then I met with the neurosurgeon.  I finally got to see the original imaging. 

This was the CT scan.  Can you tell which vertebral body doesn’t look like the others? The crushed one is also bulging into the spinal canal.

This is the radiograph taken today.  The broken vertebrae is the one between all of the screws.  It is a little shorter than before the accident, but much better than before surgery.  I have to wear the back brace for 2 more months, then go back for another radiograph.  I have been told that I can lift a little more weight but still no bending or twisting.  

So far so good.

 

Outside Time

I have gotten tired of walking around inside the house.  So I have started walking around outside. 

I was pleasantly surprised that Hugo actually let me walk up to him without running off.  

The other horses were up on the hill. I didn’t attempt walking up there by myself yet. So I just said hello from a distance. 

One thing that has happened that I just now got to see were the truck racks that Mike made for Joe.  Now he can haul things without worrying about it falling off the bed. 

I had a little visit with Ricky and Lucy.  Ricky looks like he is growing well,  but Lucy not so much. But she is cute as ever. 

Then today we were finally able to get Otoelene’s shoes reset, 4 weeks overdue. She seemed to be back to her old calm self.  I still don’t know why after 14 years, she decided to buck me off. 

 

Shattered, Collected, Drained

When I ventured outside a few days ago, I was met with disappointment. 

My beautiful bird bath was shattered. 

Joe thinks it was from the wind.  I never plugged the hole in the bottom, so it was not holding water.  I don’t believe freezing was the cause.  Now I am back on the lookout for a sturdier bowl.

I have also been able to walk more and am taking less pain medication. Today the temperatures were in the upper 60s. I decided to walk around the yard and pickup sticks with my grabber.  You have never seen as many sticks fall out of trees as fall out of the two river birches in the front yard.

 We also took the truck to the local garage for an oil change.  On the way home the engine started knocking.  Joe pulled over immediately.  There was no oil in the engine. He hitched a ride back to the garage and the mechanic came back.  He said the filter O ring blew off and all of the oil drained out.  Another filter and 5 quarts of oil later, we were able to get back to the house.  We just hope there is no permanent damage. 

As Seen On Facebook

Since I am pretty much house bound, there hasn’t been much to post about.  I did make it to my clinic’s Christmas party and the the R’s Christmas party.  I had a good time at both and did not over do at all.  My pain has lessened and I am able to go up and down the stairs now.  So things are continuing to improve. With little else to do, I will share a few things I found humorous on FB.  

For those in the south that are not use to snow.

To my brother and three sisters.

This one could definitely be me, it is hard to ask for help.

Not for me, but I know some people.

This one is very much for me.  I have not been able to organize my penny shopping from last month.  I have a huge pile of things I bought just to be buying things.  But it is hard to pass by at a penny.

Hope you got a little laugh on Emily’s birthday.