Homesteading Diary 9, 2006
12/28/06:
We took Gramma C. back over to the cardiovascular doctor at West Plains today.
We also took her out to eat at Shoney's right before we took her to the doc -
just in case he wanted to admit her again. This doctor is a very nice doc - and
a very honest one. He talked about the spot or tumor in her lung. He said there
is very little chance that it is not cancer. Statistics say that 95% or more of
tumors in the lung are lung cancer, especially at her age & with her history of
smoking. She also has enlarged lymph nodes in her neck, along her jaw line, and
along her collarbones, which says that it has probably spread to her lymphatic
system. He wants to make arrangements to do a bronchoscopy and a biopsy on her
lungs, along with a biopsy of one of her lymph nodes, and to do surgery on her
hand all at the same time to remove the dead parts of those 2 fingertips.
She told him she did not want any chemotherapy or radiation therapy and that she
has already lived 3 years longer than the doctor in Arizona told her she would
after her last heart attack. She was not sure whether or not she even wanted the
biopsies. He explained to her that the main advantage to doing the biopsies is
that it will give her a definite diagnosis. With a definite diagnosis, he will
have access to more medicines and services for her than what he would without
that positive diagnosis. Because without the biopsy, they are just working with
a "presumptive diagnosis". She did ask him whether or not he would be there for
her or if he was going to try to dump her off on some other doctor. He told her
she was NOT getting rid of him, he would be there every step of the way. He
prescribed her some more pain patches & some more pain pills, both at higher
doses than previous.
She is supposed to go back in 10 days to discuss her decision with him -- unless
she decides to allow the biopsy before then. If she decides to allow it, he
wants us to call him immediately, so he can get it scheduled before she changes
her mind. I'm so glad she got this doctor. He is great. He is ornery, jokes
around with her, and is just as honest as he can be - but very gentle about his
honesty. He also told her he would be there no matter what she decided to do.
That's all the news we know for now.
12/26/06: Another year is almost over now. We will soon be into the seventh year of the new Millennium. We've gotten our Bakers Creek and Stark seed catalogues already. We had an ice and snow storm the week after Thanksgiving that kept us all in for several days. We are only a few days away from New Years now. Shanna had Christmas dinner down at her place this year. It was fun to watch the kids rip & tear open presents. The food and the company was good, and the kids all sang fractured Christmas carols to us. We had a good time. Drone has been busy, as usual. He brought home 6 bales of hay for the cattle & goats. Hopefully, that will carry us through the winter.
12/23/06: I think Grandma C had her day made yesterday (made her eyes light up ) The gal's in the doc's office got together and brought her a dwarf Alberta Spruce All tricked out with lights and the works. It made her even happier to find out we can plant it in the yard this spring . They grow 8' tall and around 5' in diameter . So it will make a nice little tree in the yard to put lights on. Mb & Honey will be down this morning so Drone told Gramma C he would be down there around 11 a.m. They both got home around 5:30 p.m.. They stopped the treatment on the clots in her leg. They did a cat scan of her chest yesterday, trying to figure out where all these clots are coming from, and they found tumors in her lungs. Guess I am not sure why they stopped working on the clots. Our hearts tell us that it is not good. The nurses would not tell Drone anything and said he would have to talk to the Doc, who had been in to see Gramma C before Drone got there. But we do have her home for Christmas.
12/21/06: Gramma C has been admitted once again. She now has blood clots in the left leg, and two toenails that are dark in color - and they have just started getting a bit dark since last night. When I looked at her toes last night, they all looked normal in color. So, that was something new from today. Hopefully, the leg & foot will not get as bad as the hand and arm did. That's all the news that I can think of. I am wiped out, tired. The long drive has really made my legs & hips scream.. So, I think I am off to take my book to bed and read and hope for sleep.
12/13/06: Gramma C is now back at home and asleep in her bed.
12/12/06: Drone called, Gramma C is out of surgery. They found a mass of (or massive - not sure which he said on phone) blood clot in her left shoulder/underarm region. They cleared it out with the clot-buster stuff and placed a stent in the artery. They were getting ready to move her from recovery to ICU so they can keep an eye on her & make sure the clot-buster stuff doesn't cause any of the BAD side effects that it can cause. So far - so good. That's the News on one of our mothers, now only one more to go.
Later in the afternoon: Well, my mom called from her house. They went in & looked around, said her heart looked great, no blockages, no problems. Now they think her chest pains that the nitro wasn't doing anything for is caused by her stomach, acid reflux. So they gave her some meds for that & will see how it works. She's sposed to take it easy for a couple of days now. I'm just glad to know that they are both alright so far. It has been an answer to all our prayers. Thank you all so much for the prayers for these little women. It has meant a lot to us (and them).
12/10/06:
Both of our moms are scheduled on Tuesday - 12/12/06 - for different procedures.
My mom lives in Florida but usually stays with my brother in Iowa ever summer
for a few months. She is going in for a cardiac catheterization. She said there
was not anything definitely wrong - but she has had 2 cardiac cath procedures
done already, and during both of the others, they did angioplasty (where they go
in and clean out the atherosclerosis and fatty plaque deposits) and placed
stents in her heart both times. She says they are only doing the procedure
because they haven't done one in 2 or 3 years now, and she has occasional chest
pains that require her to take nitro, so they just want to go in and have a look
around to make sure everything's still all good. My aunt Perky will be going
with her. IF she requires another angioplasty or a stent placement, they will
keep her at least overnight. If not, she can go home that afternoon. I will have
to keep in touch on that procedure by phone.
Gramma C. is going in on Tuesday to West Plains. She will be admitted for an
arteriography, which starts out the same as a cardiac cath. They will place a
sheath in the femoral artery and they will go up through the arteries. BUT,
instead of going to look around in her heart, they will go in to the brachial
and radial arteries to view the arteries in her shoulder, underarm, and in her
arm. Then they will do a hemolytic procedure and run "clot-buster" stuff into
her arm to try & break up whatever clots are left in her hand & fingers. They
are trying to save those 2 fingertips - but not sure whether or not it will
work. They will keep her in the ICU at least one night after the procedure and
possibly more to watch & see what the clot-busters will do to her or for her.
We do appreciate all the prayers, good wishes, and good thoughts from all. And
BOTH moms know they have lots of folks praying.
11/26/06: Fantastic News! Just talked to Gramma C again. The doctor is releasing her today! They're sending her with enough meds to last her till she can get prescriptions filled tomorrow - but in the meantime, she gets to come home today. Drone is on his way to go get her. I'll bet you all would never guess that I have really MISSED this little woman.
11/24/06: Gramma C is getting feeling back in her pinky, but the fingertip on her ring finger is still pretty numb. There is damage to the skin & the nerves in the ends of her fingers due to lack of oxygen. The blisters are where the dead skin will slough off. Hopefully, with restored circulation, that skin will grow back okay. In the meantime, where the blisters are now, the doc says she will end up with nasty scabs first before the skin starts growing back. I think the problem here - it is more the doc you end up with in the ER than what your own doctor actually wants them to do.. The one she had in *this* ER (at the good hospital) on Sunday started out by thinking that this was all due to Raynaud's disease and to the fact that our house is just "too cold" for her. Once they actually *DID* the test that the doctor's office requested be done & he saw the results, his tune changed right quick. Then he went back & looked at her records from the 3rd also, and they started calling the cardiovascular guy and admitted her. The CV doc told her yesterday he wanted to watch the fingers for 2-3 more days, so I'm hoping he will have a good idea by then.
11/23/06: Well, Gramma C. had turkey & dressing for lunch and saved her punkin pie for later. Her arm is horribly bruised from the surgery, but the incision is healing pretty good. Her ring finger has a big blister on the fingertip, and the pinkie finger has a smaller blister. The doc said the blisters are there because the skin actually started dying on those 2 fingers because she had no circulation in them. He also said she may still end up losing part or all of those 2 fingers. If she does, Drone says he will sue Cox South, as that was the ER that she was transferred to on the 3rd - where they scratched their heads, said - well, you have us stumped -- and sent her back home with absolutely *NO* treatment, no plan, no care of any kind. She is still in pretty good spirits. She's not supposed to be using that left hand, but she bumps it on something now & then, which sends her into orbit pain wise. They still have her on the heparin and pain meds are working better for her now. I think that's all for the update. She said to tell everyone Hello and Thank you all so much for the prayers, good wishes, and the hugs.
11/22/06: I'm not sure if they are giving her anything besides that patch for pain or not. They were before the patch, but not sure about after. I asked her & she didn't know either. They told her yesterday they would like to keep her for another 2 or 3 days to keep that heparin going. She actually agreed to stay. So, I know that this put a big scare into her, not to mention that the pain involved before they did the surgery really was bad for her. I think part of the pain she has now is from the surgical incision, and then the circulation getting back into her hand is painful also. Like when your hand goes to sleep for a long time and then starts waking up - she told me - only magnified by about 100 times. The pain should get better now that the blood is flowing again like it should. But, she said it's better than it was before the surgery. We'll be spending our Thanksgiving up at the hospital tomorrow, probably go to Shoney's or someplace for lunch, then maybe stop by Shanny's for supper & pie on the way home.
11/20/06:
Drone was on his way to the hospital this morning. He's probably there by
now. In the meantime, I called over there to see how she was doing. She sounded
in good spirits, and she was joking around with the nurses. She was looking
forward to Drone's visit, but it's not sounding like they are going to let her
go home yet. She wasn't throwing a fit yet, but she said they have her on
"enough pain meds to throw a party for the whole block". AND they came &
put a pain patch on her while I was on the phone. They are watching closely for
the clot they believe is still in her shoulder - hoping the heparin will break
it up.
This clot is what has been causing the discoloring in her hand for weeks now. I
agree, it's too bad *someone* couldn't have done *something* to fix it weeks
ago. She has seen 2 regular docs, been to 2 different ER's on 3 different
occasions, and could not get in to see a specialist until the 22nd of this month
(this coming Wednesday).
(Later in the
afternoon) They told us at the beginning that the blue fingers could be caused
by a few different things. A blood clot was at the top of their list. Next would
have been Raynaud's disease, which causes the blood vessels to constrict or
tighten up so the blood can't flow through. The third thing they mentioned was
that her blood counts were all elevated, which could be due to dehydration or to
polycythemia vera.
Last night, the ER doc's "original" opinion was that he thought that her fingers
were all blue because our house was too cold. Drone proceeded to tell him our
house stays at a minimum of 80-85 degrees all the time, sometimes warmer,
because we have an outdoor wood furnace that keeps it that way. PLUS, that she
had been having this problems for weeks now.
They pulled up her records from when she was there at that same hospital on the
3rd of November, plus they finally did the CTA thing that her doctor's office
wanted done ASAP. Once the ER doc from last night saw the results from the CTA,
he was singing a whole different song. That is when they *finally* FINALLY
called the cardiovascular doctor.
The cardiovascular doc came in on a Sunday evening,
when he normally does not work, to do the emergency surgery on her. He told
Drone & Gramma C. that, because this was let go for so long without anyone doing
anything about it, she may now have permanent damage to that left hand and her
fingers. They are just not sure yet whether the damage done is permanent or not.
On the 3rd, that same ER transferred her to Cox South that night. At the ER at
Cox South, she was examined and released -- and they did absolutely *nothing*
for her. They told her they were stumped, but they didn't feel she was in any
immediate danger.
We switched her from one family physician to another during this time. The first
doctor did nothing for her. He said he was afraid to give her anything until the
specialist saw her, as he didn't want to accidentally make her worse. All this
while she had a blood pressure of 205/107 and enough pain to make her cry.
The second (family) doctor gave her blood pressure meds, pain meds, and tried to
pull all the strings he knew of to get her in to see the specialist earlier than
the 22nd. He even made the comment to us that, if a sick person came in to his
office, he would stay late if he had to - but he would not turn any sick person
away - "but I guess specialists don't work like that" he said. As of this
afternoon, when I spoke to her, she said the pain patch wasn't doing anything
for her pain yet. They did not let her come home today, and we are not sure when
they will let her come home. Thanks to you all for the continuing prayers,
because we can sure use them. To everyone else, Gramma C.. said to tell
you all Hello and that she thanks you for all your prayers - AND that she *will*
be home soon.
11/19/06: Just talked to Drone on the phone. He said they transferred her to a room around 4:30 p.m. She apparently wasn't there very long before the nurse came in to prep her for surgery! They had been told earlier that the cardiovascular surgeon does not usually come in on the weekends, but he would be in to see her first thing tomorrow. BUT, while they were taking her up to her room, they called the cardiovascular guy - and he came in immediately, looked at her tests, and said She needs immediate surgery! So, They did the surgery tonight (while we were on our way to Grove Springs, I guess). I asked him if she was upset about having surgery. He said they didn't give her any time to be upset, they just whisked her away. They are going to keep her on a heparin drip, as the doc thought she might have another blood clot higher up in the arm that he couldn't spot on the ultrasound? He said she was already out of recovery and back to her hospital room. She was sleeping soundly, and he was going to head home. It's been a very long day for all of us.... Thank you all again for your prayers & good wishes for her. We sure do appreciate it.
11/19/06: Drone had to take Gramma C to the Emergency Room again this morning. Her whole hand turned bone white, and she was in terrible pain - clear up into her shoulder. We called the doc's answering service, they called back in about 5 minutes, and said take her to the ER and tell them she needs a CTA (cardiovascular thoracic angiogram) ASAP. I think they will probably keep her this time. One of us had to stay here because DS has to be at Grove Springs at 5:30 to pick up his kids. So, I am sitting here waiting for a phone call to find out what they're going to do about Gramma's hand & arm. So, in the meantime I am just praying that they will actually DO something to fix her.
11/16/06: Well, Good Afternoon, everyone. Went with Gramma C - back to the new family doctor today. Her appt was at 10, and all the 10:00 appts were sitting in the waiting room chatting about that at 11:00 a.m. Guess there was something going on, because they were running about an hour late. The doc switched her to a different kind of pain meds, and her hand still looks bad (and it hurts). She is going to a specialist in Springfield next Wednesday. This doc took blood work last week, and he was worried about the results of the CBC as all her blood counts were high. He told her needs to drink lots of fluids in case it's from dehydration - but it could be a blood disorder called polycythemia. I about fell off the chair. She & I looked at each other & he looked at both of us and said Are you familiar with that? Yes, I have polycythemia. He asked if we were sisters. Anyway, we straightened him all out on that. I asked him if there was anything besides Plavix they could give her. They could safely give her Plavix - regardless of whether it is from blood clots, polycythemia, or Raynaud's disease *IF* she were not allergic to the Plavix. Since she is allergic to Plavix, though, that leaves that out. All the docs have been hesitant to prescribe something else until they know *for sure* what is causing it (although I'm not sure how long it will take them to know for sure). I think they are hoping the specialist can just jump right in & figure it out - just like that. Well - I hope he can too. We'll have to go to Springfield next Wednesday for the specialist. She is to have an ultrasound first, then see the doc. She is supposed to be going to see a St. John's specialist named Dr. Reese (sp?). It is at the National Ave Bldg. She has the ultrasound in Suite 3200 at 2:30, then an appt with the doc right after at 3:00 in suite 3400. I looked him up, and it says he is a specialist in cardiac, thoracic & vascular surgery. I hope he can figure out what the heck is going on anyway. The sun is actually shining here today. That wind is still blowing though.
11/9/06: I called & made Gramma C. an appt with a new doc for this morning at 10 a.m. I had called her other doc's office, they could not get her in to see a specialist until the 22nd - which is 2 weeks away. That made me mad, because they STILL did not give her any meds for her high blood pressure or for the pain in her hand. So... I went with her to this new doc this mornin. He gave her a prescription for blood pressure meds and something for pain. She will still have to see the specialist on the 22nd - but in the meantime, the blood pressure meds will hopefully help her feel better & so will the pain meds. Unfortunately, they were supposed to call the meds in - and they still had not done so by 2 & 1/2 hours later. Gramma C went to pick DS up from work, and she will have him run in & pick up the meds. I did call the doc's office back to make SURE they had called in the prescriptions.
11/06/06: Gramma C went back to the doc this mornin to see what he has to say about all of it. 2 of her fingertips are still blue, the middle 2 of the left hand. Sometimes the fingers are really cold, sometimes not. They said if it starts turning an ashy white color, get her to the ER immediately. She did rest most of the day yesterday, so that was good. I tried to keep dishes done up all day - so she would *not* even be tempted to do them. She is very special to me (and to Drone, of course). Lots of people don't get along with their in-laws, I guess - but I don't know how I would get along without her.
11/04/06:
Drone took Gramma C to the ER in W. Plains last night. I was awake till
after 1 a.m. this morning. Then about 3 a.m. or so, I woke up because I
heard the toilet flush. Knowing I was here by myself, and that our dogs have
never been known to this point to flush toilets... I knew *somebody* was here
besides me. Then I heard Drone's voice AND Gramma C's voice. I was immediately
wide awake wanting to know what they found. Day before yesterday, the fingertips
on the 2 middle fingers of her left hand turned dark blue/purple. I talked her
into going to the doc yesterday. He wanted her to be scheduled for an angiogram
at St. Johns. When he found they could not get her scheduled in until Tuesday,
he said That's BS.. and had the NP call here to tell us he wanted us to take her
to the ER immediately. We took her to West Plains. At West Plains, they did some
blood work and said she had a clot somewhere - but they weren't sure where. They
wanted to transfer her by ambulance to Cox South. BUT, she refused to go by
ambulance. She did finally agree to be transferred if we would take her. After
they dropped me off in Norwood & LS brought me home - they went on to Cox. They
got her right in at Cox South because of the transfer papers. They did some type
of ultrasound on her arm. AND they are completely befuddled as to what the cause
is - even the head heart doc was completely stumped. They are talking about
Raynaud's disease versus possible blood clot somewhere that they cannot find
yet. So, they sent her home with instructions to watch the fingers, hand, & arm
- and REST. If her fingers, hand, or arm turns dark, gets excruciating pain, or
turns white - we are to take her immediately back to the ER. So, for now, Gramma
C & I will be like TWINS. Hopefully, she will get through this and it will go
away. I really wish they had figured out a definite cause for it, though. They
usually treat Raynaud's disease with Plavix - but she is allergic to Plavix. She
also had high blood pressure at W. Plains - which is really unusual for her. Her
BP usually runs low, but last night it was 205/107. They gave her some meds for
it before she left W. Plains - so maybe that helped her out before she got to
Cox.
11/01/06:
We are supposed to get a hard freeze tonight with temps down to 29 degrees.
Cynthia & I went out & picked the last of the green tomatoes (and a few red
ones), all the green peppers that were over thumbnail size, the turnip greens in
the fall garden, and the last of the green beans to dry. Yes, I thought we
picked the last batch of green beans a month ago - but there were more.
Many of those were dried pods, and others were green but drying. I put
them on a cookie sheet so they can finish drying for seeds for next year.
I figure this will be the last of the garden stuff for this year. We have
a bunch of iris bulbs & other flower bulbs that need to be planted. Our
friend Whirl brought us some double-blooming iris bulbs. Our friend
4-Deuce brought us some maypops too. The leaves are full of color and
falling like crazy now. We are running the furnace about every night now -
but did go night before last without a fire at all. Deer season (rifle) is
coming up soon. We may have to clean out the deep freeze before time to
butcher hogs. Can't wait for him to fire up the dehydrator for deer jerky
also. The year is winding down. I can't believe it is November
already.
10/01/06: Fall is coming on. Our green peppers and banana peppers are going crazy. We're still getting lots of tomatoes and peppers. I picked the last batch of green beans (at least I think it's the last batch) this last week. I also had several vines that had dried up bean pods on them, so I picked those too and saved the seeds inside the pods for planting next year. The wood furnace is installed, and it's working well. He has only had to light a small fire in it on a few cool nights so far. I harvested the heads off the sunflowers and took all the sunflower seeds out. I left them out on the picnic table on a sheet of plastic for a bit, so the breeze could take off some of the extra chaff - then bagged them up for next year too. He took the air conditioner out, fixed that wall to make it more sturdy, and then boarded it up for winter. He also built a new door for the well house and then painted it today. He's been running around here like a tornado. We had 4 of our adult children here yesterday, 3 with spouses, and 8 of our grandkids. That was fun. Grampa gave the grandkids tractor rides down the hill and back again (down to the mailbox and back) - so each ride was a mile long. He packed em all up in the carryall - and they all had a blast. Of course, they all had to see the pigs and the cows and the goats and the bunnies, etc. I laughed when Duchess (our female Pyrenees) introduced herself to Cory (who will be 5 in November). She just walked up and licked his whole face, wagging her tail the whole time. He threw both his arms around her neck. Gramma Corky made a big pot of goulash for supper, and we all had a good time.
9/6/06:The hog pens and hog barn are done now, and all the pigs are in their respective homes. He is now working on getting ready for winter. We are installing a new wood furnace for the mobile this year. We tried the long-wood outdoor wood furnace that was hooked up already and didn't like it - so we went back & bought another Lil House this summer to install for the mobile. Also got a carry-all frame for the tractor, and he'll be working on getting that finished up. The garden is pretty much finished, except for tomatoes & peppers, which I need to get picked again today. We have had a very good year for tomatoes this year. I'm glad we bought the tractor. With the post auger, we will be able to get the orchard trees planted in the spring without him having to dig holes for the trees by hand. The homestead is coming right along.
8/21/06: We've had fun playing with puppies today and getting new photos. Also put flea & tick spots on all the dogs. This has been a very bad year for fleas & ticks, probably because the winter was not ever very cold last year. Not sure how this winter will come out, but hope we get more moisture in the ground -- even if that means SNOW - which I dearly do *NOT* like but would put up with rather than drought. They have talked about farm ponds drying up all over, but ours still has water in it. Ours isn't full but it isn't empty either. I need to get out and take some photos of the new hog pens & barn, plus all the new homestead sites - "after" photos of all the work done. Always something. We have a granddaughter that is almost a year old, and I finally got photos posted of her. Seems like I am always behind - at least somewhat.
8/15/06: The hog barn & hog pens are finished, with the hogs all in their new pens. They look great, and he laid them out so nicely to be able to put them where he wants each one without a chance of them getting out. They finished up ringing noses this morning. The kids are getting their hog pens built for their own hogs also. Our "free" pigs ended up costing quite a bit for the materials, wire & work getting the new barn & pens built after all. Sweet corn is done.. We'll end up pulling up the stalks & all to feed to the pigs. Most everything in the gardens seems to be done except for the tomatoes, and they are still going great guns. I picked handfuls of cherry tomatoes & full-sized tomatoes yesterday. We're still getting a few peppers here & there also. Our sunflowers are wilting, some have even died. No seeds on any of them. Not sure if it was too much heat, too little water, or a combination of both. Guess I'll have to go out & see how the beets & carrots fared. It didn't look like either was going to do too much, and it's been too hot to do much out there also. We made a trip to the lake Sunday to visit some good friends there. It was a long drive there & back but well worth it for the visit. :) We've talked about planting a fall garden, but not sure if we will get that done or not.
7/27/06: The sweet corn did come back. Last night, we ate our first batch of sweet corn. It was so good. We've eaten lots of green beans now, with more coming on all the time. We will soon have a big enough batch to dig the pressure canner & put them up for winter. The sunflowers are all blooming now - they're so pretty. As long as we can get some sunflower seeds, that will make me happy. It's been very hot here. It was 107*F out the day I went to the doctor last. Lee has been doing lots of work with his tractor. We ordered a load of rock & my brother & his wife ordered another load. They dumped it in paths, sort of, then Lee straightened it all out & smoothed the roads down somewhat. He also has been brush-hogging all the weedy areas, in the easements, & did some for the neighbor lady down the hill too. The tractor has been a wonderful item for the farm - and was definitely a necessary thing. I'm glad he found it because he did get us a great bargain on it. :)
7/12/06: We have been eating lettuce, radishes, & peppers from the garden, and even a few ripe tomatoes. We had a bad storm last month with some hail. We thought we had lost all the sweet corn we planted, as it was all laid right down on the ground. We went out and looked, and the corn stalks weren't broken, just laid down against the ground, all in the same direction. It's all standing back up straight now, and tasseled out with ears developing. The hardiness of plants amazes me sometimes. The green beans have gone crazy. They are blooming out all over, growing up all over the twine "fence". We had planted some turnip greens, but they didn't do much. We planted turnips in the salad garden too, and they seem to be doing well. Our carrots haven't done much either, but there are carrots in there. The beets seem to be picking up somewhat since they were weeded. Our tomatoes & peppers have done very well, along with our lettuce. The sunflowers are up and look like they are ready to bloom any time. We had planted some exhibition glads, but had almost given up on those. They are finally starting to come up. They probably will not bloom this year, but might next year. I guess we could pot up those cherry seeds now. We've been talking about tearing the pull-out off the mobile (in the living room) and putting up an addition there instead, which would make our living room a bit larger. That would help out on space until we get the house built.
6/12/06: As of this time, we have 2 gardens planted, and we've done extensive planting in and around the yard. We have planted lots of different flowers. Today, we planted red hot pokers, 2 pots of sugar cane, some pampas grass, and more hens & chicks, all planted in the yard or in the flower beds. We've gotten several varieties of hostas for a planned hosta bed. We also have 2 "Indian" peach trees to plant. My mom was here for her visit in March, and we really enjoyed seeing her, as always. We did end up getting our Dexter cattle in April, a bull and 2 heifers. We had a big gathering at Baker's Creek during their seed festival on April 30th. He went to Jacob's Cave this first part of this month and did okay. We took several birds to the swap in Mtn Grove yesterday and did okay there too. He will be going to the swap in Fordland towards the end of this month. We've caught up somewhat on our rainfall, although I think we're still a few inches behind. Conditions are nowhere near as dry as they were. Hopefully, we'll stay caught up. We have 3 litters of puppies at the moment, 3 litters of poms and 1 litter of Cavaliers, all born in May. So, things are really moving along at the new homestead. We have some cherry seeds drying that we are going to try to get started in pots. If it works, we will plant some cherry trees in our orchard.
3/10/06: It's been a while since I've made any diary entries. Seems like less time available sometimes. Our holidays were small but happy. The water project was finally finished, and everyone has running water to their homes now. We've been here around 7 months now, and spring will soon be here. Hopefully, the orchard & garden projects will go smoothly. We have finally gotten rain recently. There may not have been enough rain yet to completely do away with our drought conditions, but the pond is slowly but surely filling up. We are working on getting our taxes done at the moment, but hopefully that will be over with soon. We have been waiting anxiously for puppies this spring, since we ended up missing a whole puppy season (on purpose) because we were getting ready to move. In the meantime, we have been looking very hard into getting some Dexter cattle to add to our homestead. We've had a few recent visits from an old friend. My Mom will be coming through for a visit next week on her way north for the summer. Hopefully, during the last half of this month, we will also have a visit from friends down south. :)
