Towards the Light

Every time I see a light at the end of the tunnel, the mine caves in.

The wood floors are 70% installed - everything except the master bedroom and the living room. The texture is done on the walls/ceiling in the hall, entry, and office and the master bedroom. The living room was almost done enough to tape and bed then...

somehow, the workers convinced Tom that the ceiling needed to be torn out and replaced in that room. Yes, the ceiling was sagging. Yes, it had termite damage around the edges. Yes, it had the ugly popcorn texture. I was prepared to live with all of that even though it would have been more beautiful if it were fixed. But I wasn't willing to open another can of worms and postpone the finishing of that room just to have a pretty ceiling.

Well, it's done. The ceiling is torn out. I wasn't there, but Tom said that the rafters are undamaged. That's one good thing. So I guess tomorrow starts the re-sheet rocking of the ceiling. Who knows how long that will take. Then comes the tape/bedding, then painting.

Then maybe we can get the rest of the floors installed.

I've ordered my baseboards on-line since it was cheaper that way than to buy them locally.

I ate a cantaloupe out of our garden this week. I think the vine only made three. It was good, but could have been a bit sweeter. The watermelons are growing quite large. The corn is done producing, but I haven't picked it all. The tomatoes are still going strong. If fed the rest of the lettuce to the goats because I didn't like the bitter taste. Onions are still growing and not ready to harvest and there are about three cute little pumpkins growing.

It's almost time for fall planting and I'm NOT READY!

Tomorrow

I've hired a carpenter to finish the sheetrock, build the arches in the doorways, and to do a few other jobs. He estimates that it will take him two weeks and he's supposed to start tomorrow. He already does not have a good track record on returning my calls, so I will actually be surprised if he shows up for work tomorrow. If he does, yay. If he doesn't, no big surprise.

Floor installers are scheduled to start on Wednesday.

Goat Lumps

Part of last week's bad news was that Pansy's lump had not already burst like the vet thought. It burst on me. Think...a grape...no, a muscadine, filled with thick disgusting pus. Now, think of it popping and splattering on you. Do you feel like retching? Yeah. That's the feeling.

Thank goodness it did not get on my skin. It splatted on my jeans and I could not get those pants off fast enough.

So, as soon as the abscess bursts, it's contagious. Now Hyacinth and Billy have been exposed to CL abscess. Great.

Lesson reinforced...do not buy a goat of undetermined origin. Especially do not buy a goat that has a visible funky lump.

Overwhelmed

This has been a terrible week.

While driving home from the farm close to tears but still hanging on to my composure, I passed a man and woman riding their bikes up the hill. The man had his hand on the woman's back, obviously giving her a boost to make it up the hill. Despite the fact that he was also pedaling up hill and the effort it must have taken to pedal, steer with one hand, keep his hand on her back and help push her up the hill, he cared enough to do it.

That struck me as so sweet and poignant that it put me over the edge and caused me to sob a couple of times. That is something that Tom would do for me if we were cyclists. He does it for me in a million different ways.

Holy Hairy Heel Warts Batman!

So...Hyacinth has an eye infection. I discovered it on Friday, the Fourth of July. Of course, no vet office was open, so I had leave her to suffer over the weekend. Her eyes were very runny and her cornea was hazy - like a cataract. And it appeared that Billy was getting whatever Hyacinth had.

I did a search on the internet and decided that it was probably pink eye. I also discovered that pink eye can be very serious for goats. While I was looking up goat diseases I looked up that funky lump on Pansy's neck and though it might be a "CL Absess". Don't ask me to explain what that is, because I can't. Suffice it to say that both pink eye and CL are contagious and can spread to the whole herd.

So today I called every vet in the local phone book looking for one that would make a house call, or ranch call, as it is called out here. Oddly enough, there are very few.

Anyway, one of the vets that called me back was very nice and asked me to come to the office and he'd talk to me about my goats and give me some meds. So that's what I did.

The clinic was extremely busy, so Pearlie and I sat patiently waiting while everyone else got taken into waiting rooms, or picked up their pet, or bought their meds, and the receptionists answered numerous phone calls. Finally, one of the receptionists called me up and I explained to her my reason for being there. I asked were they always that busy. She said yes and proceeded to tell me about some woman calling about her cattle's hairy wart problem. Looking over at the other receptionist, she said, "I've never heard of hairy warts, is that a real ailment?" The other gal said, "Yes, you don't want your cattle to have hairy heel warts. It's very serious." All this cracked me up, so I said, "Well, my goat has a funky lump. If y'all can treat hairy warts, you can surely treat funky lumps." We both laughed until we cried.

Anyway, I finally got in to see the vet. He was very nice and helpful. I described the eye problem. "Yep, pink eye. Did you get your goats from a barn sale?" "No, I bought both of our Nubians from individual breeders, but my husband got a little goat from the flea market, although she isn't having an eye problem." Vet told me that she probably came from a barn sale and they usually carry pink eye and other diseases. She's a carrier and gave it to Hyacinth. Treat all the goats at once and they should all clear up. Don't buy any more goats from the flea market.

Since he didn't seem to be in a hurry, I asked him about the funky lump on Pansy's neck. "Is it crusty or oozing?" "No, just a hairless lump." "Yep, CL abcess." "Is she contagious?" I asked. "No, the abcess has already burst and healed over. Those lumps are what remains and it should eventually go away. BTW, those barn sale goats also frequently get crusty-something-or-other on their mouths. If her mouth gets crusty on the corners, don't handle her, it can spread to humans." Great. "Is there a treatment?" "No, it just has to run it's course."

So, when I got home, I enjoyed the experience of locking each goat's neck between my knees and spraying them in the eyes with the medication. They didn't resist too much, but each of them spit in disgust several times. You'd think I was squirting it in their mouths the way they carried on.

Finished Barn

Yay! What a great feeling to have something completed. The barn was finished yesterday. Now we can start moving things in. Here are a couple of pics. Our stalls look great enclosed in the new barn. There's our hay stored away, a view of the where the apartment is planned, and a view from the side door of the barn.

Spider On My Lips!

Spider on MY LIPS! AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHuhuhuh.... **Shudder**

I was reaching out to pick a tomato off the vine yesterday, focusing on the tomato and I planted my face right in the middle of a spider web. With the spider on the web. I felt it's spider feet tap across my lips. ACK! It was one of those beneficial garden spiders and harmless, but still, spider feet should never touch human lips. Ever.