What a year!

It is hard to believe that this year is almost over. Wow! One more for the books. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was nice and sad. We have 3 living children, and only one of them lives close enough to come home for Christmas. He came with his family...our wonderful daughter in-law and their 3 children. It was a great day. Every so often, little Kaylen ( she is 4 ) would come up to me and so sweetly say.. " Grandma, I love you" then give me a BIG hug. I love all of my grandchildren....but she knows just how to melt my butter. :) When the time came for evening chores, the oldest grandchild, Skylar, he is 13...went with me to get the chores done. He is such a great helper. He volunteered to break the ice in the water troughs and rain barrels and haul water to the critters. Even tho he is only 13, he towers over me. Of course I am only 5 foot tall...so MOST people tower over me. I believe he is standing at about 5 foot 6 or 7 now. Such a great kid. We had a wonderful day but it would have been perfect if the other 2 children could have been home. I will not dwell on that tho, I am thankful they are healthy, and have jobs that kept them from coming. So many are without jobs right now. So now that the "hustle and bustle is over...... I have thought about the new goals for next year already. I don't make resolutions...however this year I am...my resolution is to walk away from negativity...and try to spread happiness and be more helpful to every who needs it. I also have goals..for the farm. I am hoping to get the new pigs into the woods. This will not be a small undertaking, however, it will be good for them and me. They will have more room to roam and eat more naturally...and will have the coolness of the woods. I plan to keep the pen they are in now, connected to the wooded pen so I can move them up for winter. This will keep them in a smaller area, closer to the house and make it easier on me during the colder months. Well, that is the plan anyways. Another goal is to get the small pond fenced in, and build a hut for the ducks. Not sure this goal will be reached, but, I am throwing it out there. I also want to build my Medicine Wheel. Don't know what a medicine wheel is? Well....let me tell you...In Native American spirituality, the Medicine Wheel represents harmony and connections and is considered a major symbol of peaceful interaction among all living beings on Earth. I am planning MY medicine wheel to be planted with Herbs and a few flowers...with my totem in the center. This is something I have been planning for a few years....collecting just the right materials , rocks and such. This is something I "need" for MY spirituality. Each one is very personal to whomever builds and maintains it. It will be a place for me to go and cleanse my mind and reconnect with Mother Earth. This next year, I would also like to plant more flowers. There has always been so much work on the farm I have not been able to enjoy flowers. It is time... I need it...the farm needs it. We also need to add a few more apple trees and maybe a few peach trees. Oh boy, the list is growing! Winter months give us all time to sit and think and plan for the new growing season. It won't be long before we are getting in the gardens, feeling the dirt under our fingernails smelling that sweet scent of fresh turned soil. But, for now, I am enjoying the little bit of down time...sitting by the wood stove with my blanket and my seed catalogue's and dreaming.

Cats....hogs...and Electric fencing. Oh my!!

Oh boy....we were scheduled for 3 Thanksgiving dinners. As I sat here contemplating each and every bite, I worried of how hard I would have to work to get those pounds off. You know...we have to keep our "girlish figure" Hahaha. Anyways....so we were set for 3. First, in KY at my baby sisters house. That was a Saturday before Thanksgiving. Then on "the day" was ours with our children and their families....then the third in Ohio, with my husbands siblings and father.Well, fate decided for me, that 2 was enough. While at me sisters, I caught some sort of virus/bug. Oh, I wasn't the only one who got it...my nephew got it as well. It was one of those sicknesses where quietly you pray for death just for a bit of relief. The fever grabbed a hold of my brain as the aches wreaked havoc on my poor old body. Fever ran between 100 and 103.7 It was a doozy! Of course, having a farm, you still have animals to take care of....so, twice a day, I would bundle up, put on my "big girl panties" and head out to do chores. By Thursday I was feeling well enough to put together a big Thanksgiving meal...be social...then drop back into bed once everyone left. Fever raged once again. Friday, I thought death was coming for me, so I went to urgent care. That Dr had no clue...ears, sinus, throat, lungs...all clear. It was just a fever and aches...and Ohhhh, sooo tired. She wrote a script for the ZPac and sent me home. By Monday, I was still ill...so I called my family Dr, told them my symptoms...and they got me right in, but asked me to wear a mask. He checked the same ears,nose,throat, lungs....still clear...urine clear..so he ordered a full blood panel. ( Still waiting on those results) By Tuesday I was feeling better...the fever broke...chores were a LOT easier. Knowing to not over do it...I just did what needed to be done...water the barn animals...clean one small coop...feed and water...then back to bed. Today, Wednesday...I am up and...well..I am up. As I head out to do chores...let the ducks out, feed and water chickens...I head to the hog pen. One of the cats, Ringo...loves to follow me while I work. Now, USUALLY he steers clear of the hog pen...not this morning. For some reason, he decided he wanted to follow me in..well, he didn't know about the electric fence. He hit that fence, flew up into the air and INTO the pen...where he panicked..running to the fence line trying to get out and each time running into the electric fence...that old cat hit the electric fence at least 10 times before running into the chain link fence so hard, he got his face wedged into it. Luckily the hogs were busy eating....and he was under the electric fence enough where I could reach him safely. I grabbed the scruff of his neck...and pulled him free, holding tight because I just knew he would freak out once loose...and I didn't want to get shredded by those claws. I headed to the corner to toss him over, when he grabbed the tree and shot straight up!! *sigh* now I have a cat 15 feet in the tree, stunned, hurt, and scared. I went about the chores..letting him rest for a bit...then came back to him. I had to get him from the tree. If he came down on the wrong side of the fence, we would have been in for round two. So I had to wait it out...in case I needed to unplug the fence. I couldn't leave it unplugged because of the hogs. So, I sat, and waited....and waited...about 30 minutes before he finally found the courage to get down. He is fine...just a little frazzled. Then off to the barn to finish out there...throwing hay, laying bedding...getting everyone ready for this winter storm coming in Friday and Saturday. Yes, I said "winter storm" Its all the buzz....today the temps are supposed to reach almost 70 degrees....and by Friday..highs in the 20's...ice storm, then snow on Saturday. Crazy weather for sure. I am so glad I am over this...whatever it was I had..I am still sore, and tired..but the fever is gone. I am going to head into town and pick up rabbit food...then come home and finish laundry. A good reason to stay inside. Take it easy, and plan for the Christmas parties that are coming up. *sigh* I still have to finish decorating! Running out of time...I need 2 more of me. :)