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Hi Everyone,
If you are one of those people that worry that we do not relax enough or take enough time to smell the roses—then this week’s journal is for you. Friday night, a week ago, Mom came down sick. Then Monday night I came down sick, and Saturday night Papa came down sick. Therefore, we have had a lot of down time—but we did manage to spend some time in the garden.
When everyone was still in function mode we spent Monday in the garden putting out some more woodchips in the walkways. Then we put up four trellises so that we could plant some sweet pea flower seeds. We finished that job late—so no peas were planted. That night I finished up my journal from the week before—because Sunday night when I should have been journaling I was in the kitchen vlogging a Blender Custard Pie. I have not been able to get the video 100% edited yet. Anyway, I had to finish the journal on Monday night because as I was writing Sunday night I looked at the clock and it said, 10:00—and since Mom (my editor) was sick I closed up the computer and went to bed.
On Tuesday I was sick and stayed inside, but Mom spent her day weeding in the garden. At 2:00 the Tavernari family showed to help us package eggs—but Mom and I were not able to “help” so Papa took our place and helped them. What a blessing it is to have people to help you get things accomplished—who are even willing to do it if you cannot help.
Come Wednesday Mom and I were so sick that we knew that we must keep our distance from everyone—but we had orders to pack for the Jacksonville delivery. Usually we pack after we milk the cows—but if we waited until after, then Steve and Penny would be in the milk house with us. So we decided to pack before we milked—while Steve was out in the pastures doing his morning chores and Penny hadn’t arrived to work yet. Most weeks we do not have enough milk to fill the order until after milking, but this week the Lord was so merciful that he allowed us to have enough milk to pack the orders—before we milked! Once the orders were packed we headed to the milking parlor and milked the cows. Yes—we still have to milk the cows no matter what we feel like. Mom and I are the only milkers here on the farm—we have no backup, so we have to milk “rain or shine” “heat or cold” “sick or well”. I will say that it has had its challenges though. We are tired and weak, for a few days I was in total pain, and now my patience is short—but I have learned a trick to help. I milk eight cows, and I have three cows that just eat—so, if I milk the first four cows, then bring in the two milkers they give me the chance to go back inside for a little bit, walk around some, get a change of scenery—and then I can go back and milk my last four cows. Once the cows are milked for the day—then we can rest all we want (or don’t want). Wednesday afternoon the sheep kept getting out into the yard so Mom and I had to move the hotwire netting to block the hole in the fence. Then the sun was shining so warm and bright that I decided to lay down in the grass with the sheep and fell asleep to the munching of grass as it drew closer to my ears, and then further away, and then closer, and then further away. Sometimes they nibbled the grass around my head, and once a lamb tugged on my shirt with its teeth. It was so peaceful and calming to just lay there in the grass with the sheep all around. The sun was shining so bright that I couldn’t open my eyes, but every once in a while a shadow would come over my face and I would open my eye and find myself eye to eye with a sheep who was grazing around my head.
Thursday I was finally pain free, and with more cold snaps in the forecast I decided to work on the strawberry tower so that we could get it moved into the greenhouse. I also potted up a few plants in the greenhouse. Papa and Steve’s job was to put sliding curtains on the sides of the milking parlor to block the rain and wind—and they work very nice. It is cozy in its own way, and although they do not make it warm, our little “milk rooms” are much warmer than the breeze way.
Friday dawned and I was tired of being sick, tired of drinking tons of herbal teas, tired of being tired, I was ready for all to be over. I talked with Mom and she was a great encouragement—that’s what Moms are for! I headed back to my room to get ready for the day. When I looked into the mirror I was greatly disturbed—my hair was dirty. Ugh! When you are well that is a total “No, No,” but when you are sick—well, I had two choices. I could pretend that I was a ballerina or I could pretend that I was an old-fashioned school marm. So I put my hair up in a bun and went on with my day.
I usually live life full speed ahead, but last week I was not the locomotive going at the speed of light—I was the tortoise in the race. Steve finished his chores early Friday morning (his goal was to finish before the rains arrived), and since we were in slow mode, we still had quite a few cows left to milk. I was glad when he decided to come and help Mom and me. As he opened the gate to come into the milking parlor he said, “I am here to catch the poo for you!” I think that the cows heard him and figured that since there was someone covering for us, they could go potty as much as they wanted to. Those cows went to the bathroom more times than we had ever seen in one milking. Sally the cow pooed, and just as soon as Steve dumped it and rinsed out the bucket—she decided to go poo again. Then Abby decided to go pee, and then Sally pooed again, and then Miss Abby pooed—those were my two cows. Then Mom’s cows started in and poor Steve was hopping back and forth. He would be catching poo from one cow when we would call out that another cow was fixing to go and he would run over to catch it. Steve did what he said he would do—he caught poo!
When dinner time arrived Friday night I was so tired and drained, and when I reached for my quart jar of lemon water I only managed to knock it over—all over the counter, the chair, the floor, the fridge, and the cabinets. UGHHHH! Mom came to the rescue, and between the two of us we got the mess cleaned up. Then I got dinner put into the Instant Pot and headed for a shower. When I came back dinner was supposed to be done—the vegetables were, but while the meat tasted good, it was a little tough. The recipe said 50 minutes, but since I had a very small roast I thought that 35 minutes would be long enough—sometimes it is best to follow the recipe!!!! The not so perfect meal really didn’t help with the “emotions” of being sick. When we set down at the table I took a look at Mom—and her eyes looked frail and weak, with a hint of fear. Mom had been such a rock for me all day that I thought she had been doing much better, but one look into her eyes and I knew she was struggling. We talked and I found out that her biggest fear was not knowing what kind of sickness we had. We had been told that it was just the flu or a head cold that was going around that only lasted three days—we were on day four and seven! If it was the flu—it was different than any flu we had ever had before. If it was a head cold—our noses never ran. What we really feared though was the question—is it Covid? Natural Immunity sounds great—but would we survive? Mom was fearful because she didn’t know what we had so that we could properly treat it—and it didn’t help that on Thursday Mom’s lungs began to crackle. On Saturday we decided to go ahead and treat it as Covid. All the herbals would take care of it—if it was only the flu or a cold, but we decided to add Ivermectin to the regimen for many of the symptoms did resemble Covid. Mom is doing a little better today, but I am still struggling—I am three days behind her in symptoms. Papa just began his sick journey—but hopefully it will be easier for him since he started the Ivermectin the first day.
There is so much to do—but the doctor said “REST”. The lemon tree is full, and the lemons are ripe—will they get harvested? If the lemons are harvested—will they get juiced? The trellises are built for the sweet peas—will the seeds ever get planted? The garden beds are prepared for the spring flowers—will they ever get transplanted out of the greenhouse? The onions are ready to be transplanted to the garden on Thursday—will their garden bed be weed free and composted by then? The manure spreader is broke (and full of manure), and the parts have arrived—will it get fixed any time soon? Yes, there are lots of things to do—but life has slowed us down and stopped us a little. I can say this—the Lord has supplied everything that we needed, and He has been faithful to give us the strength we needed every day.
Hoping to be better soon,
Tiare