Not much has changed around here this week, Zorro continues to stalk and attack me, leading Hunky Husband to rationalize that in fact Zorro is sexually attracted to me and that is the reason for his behavior towards me. Nice try, hunny, must be those lesions that are doing it for him. Magic, who is growing with each shake of his tail feather, still enjoys his morning baths in the kitchen sink, taken while I simultaneously feed the Pint-Sized Farmer, three slobbery beasts, one little brown mutt, and Apollo the cat who won’t leave me alone until he has his morning egg. And no, I don’t cook it for him. Raising too many fowl creatures equals an abundance of eggs which equals very lovely coats for the regular domestics.
Severus the new turkey poult is doing well out in the, shock, out of doors, but his nest-mate as we expected didn’t fare as well and died about 24 hours after hatching, poor thing. Excuse the very trite expression but it was for the best. One of his eyes never opened and he never hopped and peeped like healthy poults do.
Me? I’m trying to focus on what I can do rather than what I cannot. Believe it or not, I garnered this little gem of personal advice from the wheelchair-bound character on the children’s cartoon “Dragon Tales” and thought I should do my best to follow it. No Dr. Phil for me, darned high-fallutin’ getting-real know-it-all. I prefer taking advice aimed at pre-schoolers (All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten, anybody?) What follows is a small smattering of things I can do:
1. I can legally ingest narcotics. Lindsey Lohan, eat your heart out.
2. I can turn my head right.
3. I can knit a simple pattern with a medium-sized needle, such as a 7 (4.5 mm). Don’t ask me about lace or socks; they are not on this list.
4. I can guilt my children into administering much-needed and appreciated neck/feet/hand rubs.
5. I can lie in bed and cuddle with a Pint-Sized Farmer guilt-free no matter the time of day.
6. I can be at peace knowing my house is dirty for a legitimate reason for once and not feel too self-conscious about it.
7. I can accept the fact that I will always be a pretend farmer and be happy with our small spinner’s flock. For once, I don’t need to have ambitions of Shetland breeding greatness.
8. I can ingest gold without any apparent side effects. Amazing grace! It goes well with my new gold necklace with a pearl solitaire pendant courtesy of my awesome in-laws. They know how to cheer me and then some.
9. I can appreciate all my friends who have been calling and writing and telling me that they’d wait patiently for me to post once again.
10. I can type for about 10 minutes before agony sets in. The joy of writing overrules the pain of arthritis.
Thank you all for being here for me. This blog has brought me so much more than I ever realized it would.
Hey Lauren,
Would you please e-mail me your snail mail address? I have something that I want to send to you....
Posted by: Nancy K. | August 24, 2007 at 06:33 AM
I am sorry you are still feeling badly. How long does it take the gold to work? Am home in Idaho ... lots of work to be done ... but I am insanely happy. I hope you are feeling better soon.
Posted by: Meg | August 24, 2007 at 06:56 AM
I thought of you as I unloaded 200 lbs. of various animal nutritional necessities this afternoon. I feel so bad that I ever gave you a hard time about not being a "real," muscle-bound farm girl. I'd gladly come over and do some heavy lifting for you (even some housecleaning -- now that's LOVE!) if only we lived closer. I applaud your determination to be as positive as possible, and pray that the gold brings some relief. And can you say, "homegrown turkey for Thanksgiving"?
Posted by: Michelle | August 24, 2007 at 06:11 PM
You have it right --- after all, childhood is supposed to be a time for learning those things which will later get us through life. Problem is, we've started forcing our children to grow up too soon, so they are not learning those lessons!!
Take this time to enjoy the beauty of summer and the sweet smells of pint-sized necks. We miss soooo much trying to win the rat-race. I'm sad that you have to experience so much pain, but do take time to smell the roses --- let your body have some time to relax --- it will help the healing process.
Your blog was such a help to me in the spring when my life was going nuts --- it helped me keep my sanity and gave me something to look forward to each day. Now I love looking at your photos --- we have similar tastes in photo subjects.
Hang in there and let us all help you through this --- thank goodness for good in-laws, eh?
Posted by: Karalyn | August 25, 2007 at 08:45 AM
I'm vote with Michelle on the home-grown Zorro . . . erm . . . turkey for the holidays. Serve him right! (pun intended). I identify so much with the uncleaned house and piles of laundry and *not caring* being a good attitude. I have that attitude myself. Almost every day now. Hugs.
Posted by: PixelPi | August 25, 2007 at 08:52 AM
Sorry to hear you're having a 'down time'. That's what I call it when my body refuses to work the way I wish it would - which is not to say perfectly but, preferably with less shrieking pain.
On the zorro - I don't know. I've had a few male animals do this to me. Our ram, Rufus, is usually quite calm but with breeding season upon him, he changes for about 10 weeks. I won't go near him at this time because he makes the 'breed face' and comes running in my direction. Creeps me out!
Posted by: farm-witch | August 25, 2007 at 09:10 AM
Still trying to track your wrestling friend from OSU?...I think he's the same name (and age) as someone in B'ville who is married to a nice gal and owns a large security system company. I picked up your question on Ree's site this morning.
Posted by: meme | August 25, 2007 at 09:11 AM