Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

So... Did ya get anything done today?

I did, I did! Started on the fence that the goats feeders used to hang on....it is in the middle of the swamp and with all the goats pushing on it all the time it was leaning a good bit. So, I pulled up the t-posts and moved them to the inside of the fence about 6 inches inside where they were and re-stapled the panel to the posts since most of the staples had popped out. Then I started on the winter barn set-up. I leave it wide open in the summer so everybody can get inside, but in the winter I block off a small area for the horses and give the rest to the goats. That way the horses can't hog all the hay. I spent about 3 hours working on those little projects.

Weather was damp and overcast all day but it wasn't bad working conditions. As long as I was working I was comfortable in just long sleeves. When I first started it seemed that I was a little scattered. I had a hammer and a pair of pliers and a pocket full of staples. I was using the pliers and thought I had hung the hammer on the fence. Went to get it and couldn't find it anywhere. I thought maybe it had fallen off into the mud never to be seen again. So, I got a stick and started dredging through the nasty, pig poopy mud. Could NOT find that hammer anywhere so I thought maybe I've totally lost my mind and never even brought the hammer out. I walk back to the feed trailer where that hammer lives and it's not there either. By this time I'm gettin' a little pissed and go back out to get my pliers and dang it if they weren't gone! ARGH! I'm looking around and there's a dog sitting around with a guilty look...lol. I walk around a little bit and find both the hammer and the pliers laying on a pile of old hay. GRRRRRRR! Can't accomplish anything with such good "help" around. After that little fiasco I was watching my tools a little closer.

Had a wayward piglet running around for a while. I finally caught the little bugger...picked it up to put it back in the pen and noticed TESTICLES! OMG - we missed one...I was afraid that might happen. If it's not storming tomorrow we'll get that done.

Ended the work session by worming a couple does that were just looking a little off....checked their eyelids and grabbed the wormer. It was also time to re-worm some that I'd wormed a couple weeks ago. I intended to re-worm them at 10 days, but it ended up being two weeks. I'll get 'em again in another 10 days or so.

Oh,, almost forgot...dammit. A pygmy doe must've aborted...she had bloody discharge today. This makes three years in a row that she hasn't/won't produce a live baby. I'm gonna move her into the pen where I have her gramma. I penned the old doe because she was having a hard time competing for feed in the swamp so she's up in a separate pen. I'll move the doe that aborted in with her and let her hormone flush pass and then she will be culled. She's probably 6 years old so I don't know how she'll taste...might be dog food before it's all done. But, I'm not gonna feed her another year... Shame too because she's a really nice doe.

You got to go outside! It all gets better when you have dirt, tools, animals, outside, even the mud is a welcome break from being inside. Glad that you got some sleep, even more glad that you got some outside therapy.

No better therapy than outside therapy - for sure!

Bummer about the doe! So nice you were able to get out and do some work today. Definitely a needed break for you! How're your parents doing today?

It was really nice... DH sat inside with 'em and ended up refereeing a 'fight' between them. So weird, in all the time I lived at home I don't remember ever seeing them fight.

This started because dad stays in bed a lot...and he wants mom to be beside him. He went to bed and started hollering for her to come to bed with him. She didn't want to. DH went to tell dad that mom wasn't coming and he got totally pissed off. He threw the blanket off, cursed, and got out of bed as fast as his 89 year old self could. He comes rolling into the living room and tells mom that he wants a divorce because she won't go to bed with him. DH grabs the white board and writes to dad - "that wasn't nice." Then he says he's going to town to buy a gun and shoot himself. Mom is horrified at the "d" word and is visibly shaken. That's about the time I walk in the door. DH gives me the skeleton explanation and I tell mom not to worry that dad was just confused. She says "somebody better UN-confuse him" which made me giggle, lol. Dad is so very upset - doesn't remember saying anything and is just aghast when we tell him. Then he starts his litany of "I love you" over and over and over....

Later, after dinner, they go to bed together. I hear him apologizing again and then he tells her that he's going to buy her a "caterpillar" for Christmas. She says that she can't drive anymore and he pops back with you can drive that caterpillar anywhere you want to. He used to randomly, buy her a new Cadillac every few years...I'm assuming that's what he was referring to. SMH....

I hate to say this, but there are certain aspects of this that are a bit amusing. Like the whole "I'll buy you a Caterpillar" statement...and when mom tried to put a Kleenex box on her foot yesterday thinking it was a shoe. I'll probably go to hell for laughing at those things - but if so - I've got no regrets!

Un-confuse him, I love that! I think you have to laugh or cry, and laughing is better for everyone. If they could have seen some of these moments years ago they probably would have laughed too. The caterpillar is really cute. Your poor husband is a saint!

frustratedearthmother said:

No better therapy than outside therapy - for sure!

Click to expand...

For sure! That is what I'm planning to do with some of today as well.

Your parents are adorable and your DH is amazing, really, you both are, but you're so lucky to have him around. It's o.k. to laugh at some of the moments, take the positives from this situation. It helps make things more bearable and as NH Homesteader said, laugh or cry? I know which I prefer!

Ya'll are right!

I suppose I could call last night a bad night, but surprisingly I'm not as exhausted a I should be. Maybe I'm getting used to it or more likely it'll hit me this afternoon. I went to bed at 8pm....kinda like having a newborn and you sleep when they sleep. I probably didn't fall asleep until 9 pm and I was up with one or the other of them at 10:30p, 12:00a, 2:00a, 3:00a, 3:30a, 5:30a, and finally got up at 7. Sometime between 2a and 3 I slept through the alarm and of course that was the time that mom got into the fridge. It wouldn't be so bad, except she spills things in the fridge,(try cleaning up chocolate Ensure after it's sat in there a few hours) takes things out and leaves them out and eats leftovers with a spoon right out of the fridge. Any time I see a cover off the leftovers - they go in the trash- or to the dogs depending on what it is. Dogs got sour cream in their food the other day - but probably wouldn't be good to give them a jar of jelly, lol.

I'll be looking into a fridge lock or just duct tape them shut. I hate to do that...it feels wrong to me to lock someone out of the fridge...but I can't have this continuing. I usually leave snacks and drinks out on the table for them. Sometimes they see them - sometimes they don't.

Rained, rained, rained over night. Sure glad I got all that work done yesterday. I really need to do some cold weather preps for the upcoming cold. I was really worried a week or so ago when we got to 28 and I hadn't even protected the outside faucets. We had hoses freeze and I'm so glad that was all. My fall garden isn't thriving with all the rain we've had - except for the stuff I have in big tubs - that stuff looks pretty good so far.

At some point today, I'll try to find that little booger that we missed when castrating. Shame they all look so much alike, lol! He will not get away with having testicles - not gonna have any more of those around here!

Oh geeze rough night! I wouldn't feel bad about locking the fridge, especially if you leave snacks for them. Do you have a mini fridge? You could put a few things in one for them, then they can only get into what's in there and not whatever is in your big fridge!

Happy testicle hunting!