Still Can't Respond To Posts!

I cleared my cookies (that sounds rather weird!) and still I cannot respond to messages. Considering that my knowledge of computers is middling at best,it may be a while before I can figure it out. Please bear with me :)

(Update---I tried allowing third party cookies and now I can respond to posts! YAY!)

Yesterday we finally took down our tree,since we put up our tree late. Right now it's sitting on our deck,but today it will probably make it's way to the goats!

I am going to go through our bookcase and donate books that I no longer want. I am one of those people who will read and re-read a book I love many,many times,but there are books that I have read only once and that was enough. We do have a set of encyclopedias that are useless now-many countries don't even exist any longer!

We have been having bitter cold weather,with wind chills down in the teens. In fact,we brought our goats inside the other night because our heat bulb was broken:

They may have been OK,but I was too worried about them.

The next day we bought extra hay to bank around their cage and picked up a heat bulb. Our barn is still a work in progress:

The blue tarp in the photo covers the goat cage. Even though the barn is not complete,we figured it would give them some shelter from the wind. We put a piece of plywood across the top of the cage and and blue tarp over it. They have a large dog igloo to sleep in,and we make sure that they have fresh shavings for bedding. We also make sure we bank it with bedding hay to help keep them warm.( Plus the heat lamp,of course).

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

A Touch of Winter

A few weeks ago,our neighbor came up to our door,opened it,and said,"Rick is passed out in the yard." I ran outside with him and there was Rick.laying on his right arm,out like a light. He had been working on building one of the walls for the barn. We tried to wake him up,but couldn't. His eyes were fluttering,and his hands were shaking. I called 911 and he was brought to the hospital in the ambulance.He was awake when Zach and I got there,but confused. He didn't remember what happened. He didn't remember being in the ambulance. Then,he passed again. His eyes fluttered,his hand shook. After a few minutes his eyes opened,and I told him to squeeze my hand if he could hear me,because he was just staring in to space. He squeezed it. I asked him if he wasn't able to talk to squeeze my hand again. He did. Then, less than a minute later,he was out again.

This happened several times. The Dr said it was either seizures,or "pseudo seizures." Because of his history,they wanted to send  him to the VA Hospital down in West Roxbury, MA.

The next day,I went down to see him.

They had him all attached to various wires so they could track his brain activity. He did wind up having another episode during the second night of his stay,so they kept him there for three days to get a good reading.

What they determined was he was having pseudo seizures. When he had the episode in the hospital, there was no seizure activity.  Rick had begun a very intensive cognitive PTSD therapy program a few weeks before. He has to write a trauma statement,with daily homework about the event,and the residual problems that is has caused.I am not allowed in with him at these sessions so he can talk freely,in case there are things that he does not want me to know about (there are).
These sessions,while good,make him think about things and emotions that he has tried to suppress for almost 10 years. It has put him through an emotional wringer. Because the memory and emotion part of the brain are on the same loop,it can get overwhelmed and basically shut down (this is the easiest way to think of it). This is turn causes him to have what looks like a seizure. We were told that it should stop after the therapy is completed. If not,they want him back for a week so they can monitor him further.He cannot drive,or climb anything higher than 3 ft until these "episodes" ( as I call them) go away.

Some days he is fine. Some days he has as much as 6 episodes in 45 minutes. Thankfully,it's been over a week without one,so that is good. It really drains him mentally and physically.

We do have new addition...Rooster Cogburn!  Our neighbor gave him to us. He is a very pretty Rhode Island Red. It took him a few days to find his voice,but he cock-a-doodle-dos throughout the day now,and loves to walk around the yard,strutting his stuff. Hey,if you were the only male among 21 females,you'd strut too!

This past Sunday,Rick and Richie officially graduated from the NEADS program. Rick is officially trained enough to have his service dog-he is licensed for 5 years. At that point,he will have to go back and be tested again,just to make sure he is doing the right things. It was a lovely ceremony. They had 26 dogs and partners-they had children,veterans with PTSD,physically disabled people,and those who use the dog for therapy or ministry purposes.

Here is a pic of some of the graduating veterans-Rick is in the blue shirt. The gentleman in dress blues to Rick's left was in Rick's class.  He also served in Ramadi Iraq at the same time as Rick,and come to find out,Rick's unit helped his unit when it came under attack,but they never met when they were over there.

I thought I had newer pictures of the barn,but I guess not.

At this point, the doors and window areas are cut out,and all four walls are up. Rick has been working on leveling the ground. Because it is getting rather late in the year,we are going to get the hayloft floor/first floor ceiling up,cover it with a tarp,and call it good until Spring when we will put the roof on it.It will just have to be shoveled off during the winter because it will be flat. We have the dog kennel chain link fencing panels that we will use for a fenced in area until the Spring when we will get our permanent fencing up.

This is what we woke up to this AM:

Since deer season for rifle opened up Wednesday,this is good for tracking. Rick and his brother went out early this AM--saw a deer,but couldn't get a shot off.

Have you been hit by this winter weather? Has it affected your farm in anyway?

Busy Bees

Thank you for the kind words regarding the loss of our dear Samson.He was a very good pup and we miss him terribly.

Things here have been busy...one thing after another,it seems. School is back in swing,and with it,Boy Scouts. The Fall is always hectic with Scouts,we start our weekly meetings again,then have various fundraising that we do for the Troop.

I had an operation right after Labor Day -nothing serious,just taking care of some <cough> feminine issues <cough> which sidelined me for a bit over a week. I am now all healed and back in action. The one thing I learned when I was recuperating is that running a house and trying to do the outdoor chores is too much for Rick. Physically,it's not an issue. Mentally,he can't keep track and gets scattered. Because of his PTSD/TBI,Rick needs a schedule. Anything that crops up-even a visitor-will throw him off,sometimes for the whole day. With me laying in an Oxycodone haze, I wasn't thinking of reminding him of things. Dishes would go unwashed for a day or two,even though he would see them and know he had to wash them-but then he would forget. Mind you, I am not complaining,just sharing what goes on when someone has to deal with these issues. What I should've done was made a list of daily chores before I had my surgery so he could follow it. That would've been  most helpful for him.

Fall is finally here,and the leaves are starting to change. The days have been quite cool,even though we are going to get some nice warm weather this weekend.We are getting a lumber delivery tomorrow for the barn. The barn has been a slow process. Rick's brother was going to help when he got laid off for the season,but there is extra work at his job that needs to be done,and he is now working 6-7 days a week,leaving at 5:00 AM and not getting home until dark. Our friend George has been kind enough to help out on Saturdays when he can.We have decided that the roof will have to wait until Spring. The hayloft floor will be laid down upstairs,and then we will just cover it and make sure we shovel it off in the winter,so basically it will look like a box for now.

My garlic came out lovely this year. I have 50 hardneck plants. There is nothing better than fresh garlic!

I can't forget the Greek Oregano!! I

Our small apple tree was laden with fruit this year-we had 13 lbs of apples off one little tree!Now if I could only remember what kind of apple tree it is...the tag has vanished off it. Our Jonathan apple tree is about ready for picking too.

We have new member of the family. Her name is Meadow.When we first saw her,her eyes were a lovely green color which reminded me of a meadow (hence the name). It must've been the way the sun light was hitting them,because I have not been able to see that color in them since. She is a rescue dog that came up here to NH from TN. She is part Hound and part something else. She is a lovely little girl and is very smart. She is almost 3 months old. She will never take Samson's place,of course...and some folks may wonder at the fact that we got another dog so soon. Well, all I can say is that she has brightened our household--we really needed it.

How are things in your neck of the woods??

Snow and Sheep

We had a lovely Thanksgiving.My brother Dennis and his wife Lynette came out from Wisconsin for a visit,so I was able to spend time with them on Thanksgiving day.

Today we are having a bit of snow. We are scheduled to 2"-4",with maybe a touch of freezing rain later in the day. It sure feel good to have the wood stove going today! We are finally going to get our new furnace installed this week. We burn K1,because our tank is outside,and while wood is our main source,we do like to have a back up source to run during the night. when the temperatures get really bitter. We use it a little as possible because K1 is more expensive than regular oil,and I hate using it,anyway.

Barn news: we haven't moved much further than my last update. Our weather turned colder than normal,and the dirt piles froze,then we had rain,which defrosted the dirt but made it heavy to lift because of the rain. Rick had managed to fill the holes to where they sonitubes should be stable,and he hopes to at least get the holes filled the rest of the way and the foundation beam in,but I don't think it's going to even get to that point. I have tried to explain that to him,but he is determined to do what he can. Now that we have snow on the ground and the temperatures are going to be quite cold this week, think any barn building will have to be postponed until Spring. I knew we had started late,and it probably wouldn't get far,but the way Rick's brain works now it can be difficult to for him to see the reality of a situation,especially since his concept of time is not the way we see it. He has finally agreed with me,however. 

Thankfully,we do have a shelter that we can use for the sheep-the green hoop house we kept the boat in. We moved it to the back corner where we used to keep the turkeys,built a pen in it,and placed Richie's metal exercise pen against it,removing one of the panels so the when the sheep pen's door is open,they can walk out into the metal enclosed area, ,and we can get access it via the panel with the entrance door. Sheep really only need shelter,since their wool is so thick,so this works out quite well. We put plenty of hay and straw down for their bedding,and put their feed hey on the outside of their pen,so when they are inside they can just reach through the slots and eat the hay without wasting it.

We picked the girls up the Saturday after Thanksgiving,and we built a temporary crate to haul them back in. They bleated a bit,but really didn't seem to mind. It took a bit trying to get them from the crate across the yard into their pen. The black one is a bit shy,and we had one person at the head,and one pushing lightly on her bottom. The white one was much easier,as she could smell where the black one went,so she was quite eager to be reunited!

This is what the pen looked like before we placed the metal fenced in area against it.

This is the white sheep. She is larger of the two,and is a bit more inquisitive and outgoing. She is also a bit more dainty,and never has hay all over her face.

This is the smaller one,who is mostly black but some great variations in her wool. She is more shy of the two,and as you can see,she tends to be a bit messy. I think of her as the tomboy.

They seem to have settled in nicely. When Rick goes out to check on their food and water,he usually has music playing from is Ipod,and the white one comes running up to the front of the fence,so we know she likes music. She checks me out as well,but is still a bit reserved. The black faced one tends to stay behind.It will take a while for them to get used to us,so we go into their pen,get down to their level,hold hay out for them,and talk to them.The other day they were standing out in the rain,not a care in the world. I suppose since their wood is so thick they don't even get wet!

Time to go out and see how they are doing this morning.I wonder if I could get Santa hats on their heads for a picture....

Changes In The Weather

The weather has been a tad funky the last few days.We were able to pour the concrete into the sonitubes and instead of hurricane straps we used large bolts:

Rick filling up the tubes:

Then, we had to wait for the concrete to cure. As soon as it cured,we had a heavy rainstorm and the rain lasted into the next day,when the lumber to build the barn was delivered. Then,the temperatures took a huge nose dive,going down into the single digits with the windchill factor. The wind was howling all day yesterday,and last night it was so bad that hundreds of people in our town and the surrounding areas lost power,and many trees came down. A couple of the streets in our town were blocked because of fallen trees and electrical wires. We have kept our power,but we did lose a big tree.

During Hurricane Irene we lost the top of one of the big pine trees in the front yard,and it came very close to smashing into the front of the house. This big wind storm decided to take the rest of it down.Rick and Brother B heard a big noise and went outside to investigate. Suddenly they came rushing in,with Rick yelling: "Move out of the room! Get back!" We all ran back into the kitchen. Apparently when the tree started to fall,it looked like it was going to come through the roof in the living room. The wind must've moved it a bit further back. Our deck was even saved! I took some photos this AM because all this happened after the sun went down:

We had another near miss! It was amazing the way the tree landed-branches were around the bird feeder stand and the bird bath-neither were hit. You can see them in this photo:

You can't tell in this photo,but our outdoor grill in under all that,and it wasn't hit,nor was the hammock. 

It just grazed the steps:

On the way down,it took off the top of another pine tree,and split the top of one of our maples.

Today on the agenda is tree removal and filling the holes where the sonitubes are. Even if the temps are going to be in the single digits.

Stay warm!

Projects...

 Sunday it wound up raining,so no leveling of the holes could take place. Our neighbor said he was going to help when got out of work Monday,so work on the mudroom commenced instead.

  

Now all the windows are in,and the doors need to be installed. Then we have to decide-drywall or shall we use the tongue and groove boards for the walls? I admit that I like the look of the tongue and groove,which we used on the outside of the room.

Our neighbor wound up getting home very late on Monday,so Tuesday Brother B did the work making sure the holes were all level and where they were supposed to be. We then had to call the building inspector,and by the time that the holes were done,it was late in the afternoon,so we could only leave a message.

Rick called him again on Wednesday morning,and 20 minutes later  Mr Inspector arrived. Rick explained that some of the holes weren't 4 ft down because of ledge-to which Mr Inspector replied that it's very common in our town and it is taken into consideration. After examining the area,he said everything looked good and we had the A-OK to place the sonitubes and get cracking on building.

We are still getting the sheep next week,and we do have a temporary shelter for them while the barn is being built. I had a feeling that it wouldn't be up in time. It should've been started weeks ago,but one thing I have learned when living with someone with a brain injury ( or at least Rick and his brain injury) is that there is no concept of time. When I would say,"We need to get started on this," I would hear,"Oh,it takes nothing to do it,we can slap it up." Brother B had been working,so Rick didn't have anyone to help him,and he was under the impression that Brother B was only working when he was needed,but apparently it was more steady employment,which also set things back a bit. It is what it is,and it's getting started,thank goodness.

I leave you with this cute photo of Richie:

Doing Two Things At Once

Now that the holes have been dug for the sonitubes,and they have been placed in the holes,the next step is to level them,fill the holes around them,and tamp down that dirt.  The holes,according to town building regulations,have to be at least 4 ft deep,which,where we live,can be a bit tricky,because our land sits on granite ledge. However, if ledge is the issue,it provides a sturdy foundation for the sonitube to rest on,so the support of the building is not an issue.

This is what sonitubes look like:

The sonitubes once levelled and dirt filled in,have to be approved by the town building inspector to make sure that they are up to code as far as how many per feet,etc. Then,once that clears,we pour cement into the tubes,and place hurricane strapping into the tubes and cement. The exposed strapping will then wrap around the pressure treated 6 x 6 that we are going to use as a foundation. Only so much of the board is going to to be above ground level. The barn will then be built with regular lumber,shiplap boards,sliding barn doors,and a metal roof.

Our neighbor works putting in new homes,so he has a laser level and a dirt tamper (stamper?). He is coming over this AM to help us get the sonitubes situated. Since Rick and Brother B had time Friday and Saturday ,they worked some more on the mudroom.

The final goal is to make the mudroom into a regular four season room.Right now it is just an enclosed porch,with wide screened windows which are made with boards and screen. I bought three regular windows,a screen door and a front door that have been waiting to be installed!

The boards around the windows were rotted,so those had to be taken. Zach helped out with the demolition. We decided to place each window in the center of the old screen window area,so those needed to be built out:

When those built outs were done,the outside boards needed to be replaced:

Those are done,and today the sonitubes get seated. That will not take long,and I should have two windows installed in the mud room by nightfall.