i got a call yesterday morning (7:40 AM!!!) from the hand specialist. went in.......he's even LESS impressed with our ER. Not only should they have surgically cleansed me, and x-ray'd me, they SHOULD NOT have stitched me. at all. the wounds should all have been left completely open to drain. :sigh:

he didn't like the top bite. he opened it up right there in the office and did a quick cleaning......it's draining a lot, now - both blood and yellow-ick.

i am now in a soft, below-the-elbow cast. i have orders to take it off 3x/day to wash my arm.....and i have been ORDERED to knit. oh happy day! granted, it hurts like h**l, but - knit! it took me 20 minutes to knit 2 rounds last night (144 stitches)....i am supposed to work my arm so that when he sees me again on Friday (for those playing along, that will doctor visit #4 for this week) he can see how improved i am. NO sling - which is kinda sad - Herself helped me make one Sunday afternoon. ah, well.

he's not sure about the nerve. it's not destroyed, because i do have some movement and reduced sensation; worse case it's been torn/split. it might just be the swelling - in any case, it will make no difference in outcome if he did surgery now vs. surgery in a month, should surgery be needed. :whew:

i can't flip my hand over - at all, due to pain. i can't spread my fingers very far apart, but i CAN make a fist. it hurts - tear-inducing, in fact - but that's good.

friday we should know more. hopefully, it'll be good news.

and came home in a fiberglass splint. only i could get a closed fracture of the distal end of my left ulna from a dog bite. :shakes head:

seriously - i broke my bloody wrist. or rather - the damn dog broke my wrist. :sigh:

i have to call the ortho first thing tomorrow to set up an appointment. and a followup with my worthless gp.....

anyway. apple IS going to replace my poor, destroyed watch with a brand-new one. i have to pay a $69 deductible - but still! they are covering a dog-bitten watch! the "genius" couldn't quit laughing over the situation....you have to admit, it IS funny.

still can't knit......i am going to go crazy soon.

Let's see....busy, of course. Picked up more work - I'm now helping do tax returns. Fun stuff - no, it really is. Tax returns are fun, and relatively easy. I know it won't last - 4/15 is coming up fast! - but the extra money is good. The regular contract job is ticking along.

Health: I have insurance now! It SUCKS! Went to the doc about my leg 2/5.....total waste of time. The NP didn't listen, caused me more pain (I went in at a solid 8. Left at an 11.), and lied to me ("I'll call you in a few hours." 6 hours later, *I* call. "She doesn't have time today. She'll call you tomorrow morning". Next day, at 1 PM "Oh. She's LEFT FOR THE DAY." At 3:30 "She looked at them, and they're negative." Um. Either you lied to me about her leaving for the day, or she took the X-rays home with her, or she didn't actually look at them, or she came in just for li'l 'ol me. Right.). :Sigh: Made an appt. with the only Ortho in town (for some reason he's NON-Approved by my insurance. Um...he's the only one in town, so how can he NOT be approved??), who also didn't listen and caused even MORE pain. I quit. (He also didn't LOOK at the x-ray - not that it showed anything. Bones heal in 6 weeks - I am 6 MONTHS out from the injury. Bones are healed, and the X-rays are worthless. He said he'd send me out for a MRI if exercises didn't work. Um - 6 MONTHS, dude. Exercises aren't going to do jack except cause more pain. I'm DONE.)

See, this insurance doesn't actually cover anything. We pay $500/month for....this. Regular doctors are $25/copay. (Not bad). X-Rays are NOT covered ($251/copay. That doesn't apply to the $1,500/person deductible.), neither are MRI's. Or lab work not done in the doctor's office. Specialists are $40, unless they are non-approved, in which case they are $60. ER visits are $200/copay. Once you meet your deductible, you're only covered UP TO 70%. Did I mention it's $500/month ($6,000/year) for this....."coverage"?

The insurance we had at the husband's previous job was what you expect. Yes, it was more per month (the retirement coverage was $1,000/month for the 3 of us; he was paying $500/month for him and Himself), but co-pays (both regular doctors AND specialists) was $30. ER visits is $100. Once you meet your deductible ($750, with a family maximum of $1,500) you're covered. Period. The husband's carpal tunnel surgery (BOTH arms) cost us $250 out of pocket. And no, he hadn't met his deductible yet. And that included the doctor co-pays. EDITI was mistaken. It was only $30 TOTAL.

So. After the horrible orthopedic visit, I did the math. I can't afford to have anything done to my leg, assuming these.....doctors....can find anything. So......I quit. I told the husband to remove me from the policy - if I can't use it, I refuse to pay for it - and I'll just continue on the way I was. With the exception of my leg, I am healthy and don't go to the doctor much, anyway, so why pay?

Anyway.

Sewing: Just finished a new barn coat. Pattern is Green Pepper's Barn Jacket......I like it. Easy pattern, directions could use a little tweaking (how you cover the raw edges on the neck after attaching the collar...suck, to put it nicely), and the resulting jacket is nice. I used the heavy-weight denim I had (it's all gone, now!) and lined it with a nice Black Watch plaid flannel......I'll be testing it this AM. (Oh, shoot - I need photos. I'll try later today.) There's at least 3 more in line - Herself wants one in purple, Himself wants one in.....some dark color, and the husband decided he needed one, too. :lol: I'm thinking I need one in a lighter-weight outer fabric, for knocking about.

Herself bought us a 36" wide plotter for printing out .pdf sewing patterns. We are having issues loading the drivers - probably because the only laptop we have that can use them is...well, borked. I have a friend configuring a "new" laptop for me - he said he'd try to load the drivers for me, too. :fingers crossed: (Full disclosure - the printer was only $120. If you consider we were paying $10/page for pattern printing (because I am OVER taping letter-sized pages together), this is a HUGE bargain. Print 6 patterns, and we are even.)

Household: Had to have both the washer and dryer worked on this month. The dryer is about 14 years old, we think, and the rollers went out. My beloved Speed Queen is just 4 - the timer went out. The repairman said we should be good for another 15 years or so...hope so! I still love my washer - this is the first time we've had any issues at all.

Duncan: His official name is "Dammit Duncan!" because he's 7 months old now, and has discovered he can reach the table top. He's eaten 3 balls of yarn, a memory foam pillow, 3 shoes, 1 portable DVD drive, 1 hat, numerous pieces of firewood, 1 feather pillow, 3 pairs of reading glasses.....and I'm sure I'm forgetting a LOT. He's a destructive force of nature.....:lol: Good thing he's cute!

I need to get ready to face the weather and do morning stables. I'll try to pop in later!

We didn't get to visit the breeder this weekend (more on that in a moment), but she sent me some lovely pictures yesterday. He's gotten Big!







We're planning on going out this weekend, since all our necessary chores are done (as of today - right now, in fact.) See......last August, when we got our septic tank pumped, they informed me that the tank (fiberglass) was collapsing, and gave me anywhere from a few months to a year.

It lasted just at 1 year. Last month, the alarm went off - so we called. They sent out an inspector.....long story short, the tank has totally collapsed and needed replacing STAT. Gave me an estimate of 6 weeks......2 days later the planner came out, did a drawing, and gave me an estimate of, still, 6 weeks.

3 days later, he called and said they'd install the new CONCRETE tank, in *3* weeks. Or, today. :gulp:

So. I went into work mode. No one else did. :sigh: Last weekend, SG finally realized that Oh, S**t! Tank install is THIS THURSDAY oh dear! :sigh:

The back fence has been moved to behind my Studio (FINALLY! 2 years I've been waiting......) We put up a temporary side fence, and yesterday (yup. YESTERDAY. Why do I even....?) the old back fence was removed (well....most of it. There's still 16' that needs to come down....but at least MOST of it's down, right?)

This AM, SG removed the temporary side fence so that they could get the equipment in. I have 5 very upset dogs in the house right now - don't I understand that there are THINGS that need barking at? Outside? Now???? :lol:

We also got Himself's Studio and the "sweat shop" (what? It's better than "torture chamber", yes?)(home gym) painted, all the lights/fans installed, and measured for carpet. The carpet has been ordered and paid for, and the floor store ordered it Tuesday. Should be here in 2 weeks or so.....

Herself and I have "opened" an easy store. There's only 1 thing in it right now (Pokemon cards), but soon it'll be stocked with geeky jewelry and bags. I'll post a link once it's open - and then I will try not to mention it much again. I don't want this to devolve into an advertisement channel. :lol:

ETA: well....I am a klutz. While the guys were getting ready to remove the electrical box for the old system, they told me they needed to cut the power. I said OK, then realized that they didn’t know to also cut the solar box. I ran outside and got them safe, watched them remove the box, tie off the wires, and restart both boxes. I turned to walk back to the door, and found a hole Chloe had dug....and felt - and heard - something in my left ankle POP. Sigh. I have an orange-sized ankle now, turning a lovely shade of black - down from the softball-sized ankle of yesterday. Hurts......but I’ve survived worse. I e is my friend.......

Did a lot of running around this weekend. We needed to replace the TV in the family room (PSA: Stay AWAY from Vizio TV's. We've had to replace this one 2x in less than a year. :sigh: The mother board keeps going out.....) and the husband wanted to get a shotgun to help rid us of the cat problem. While we were out, he decided we needed to go to the Japanese Mall.....

We now are the proud owners of a hot water dispenser. Before you sneer and roll your eyes at me, let me explain: this thing is SO cool and useful! I had an electric kettle, but it only had 2 modes: boil, or off. This? This thing boils the water, then switches to "keep warm" mode.....it'll keep 4L of water at 194* for 6-8 hours.

We drink tea, here. This is useful - no more dirty pots to wash (sometimes multiple times/day, if we drink a lot of tea.) Himself has a bunch of Miso soup to eat......so, yeah. It was a bit of an indulgence, but.....it'll earn it's keep. I have to say, the Japanese take hot water VERY seriously - there were 9 models on display. :boggle: Each one had different features.......it took the husband 20 minutes to make a decision. I'm glad we decided to pass on a new rice cooker........:lol:

Yesterday I learned how to shoot a shotgun........um. I know that SOME people recommend a shotgun for home defense. *I* do not. I prefer my home to be as hole-less as possible.....and that won't happen with a shotgun. :shrug: Plus the kick.......yes, it has it's place. I WILL be using it to hunt the critter killing my chickens, but I much prefer a pistol. I don't get bruises from a pistol......

We also watched "The Greatest Showman" last night. It was...it was OK. The songs were catchy, but very modern - it didn't stop me from getting the soundtrack, but.....I've heard worse. It is family-friendly, and doesn't drag anywhere. And Hugh Jackman can sing. :lol:

My Harrison shirt dress is almost done......I'm on the fence about it. The line drawings make it look like a tent; the photo of Jenny has a belt (and looks great on her!); before sewing the side seams it looks like a tent. With the side-seams sewn, it looks more fitted on Kate, but.....the jury's out right now. I'll get it finished and wear it around before deciding if i want to make another one. This one just needs the button band, the placket, the collar stand, the collar, and the bias edging on the arm holes. Maybe today.....

The pattern is well-drafted, and the instructions are top-notch. I'll give a proper review after I've worn this one a bit.......

Gotta skitter!

So. We have another bobcat. :sigh: I think we are dealing with a family - the first one vanished for 5 weeks, we lost a hen, then a week later we lost a guinea. I've left 4 "packages", now - the latest yesterday (the guinea was gotten sometime Saturday late morning/early afternoon.) The packages are being consumed by *something*......so I'm pretty sure this isn't the same critter. :deep sigh:

Been busy in the Studio. A while back I had the bright idea of using a doctor-style bag to hold the critter medications. I found a pattern - Swoop's Nora Doctor's bag - but had to let it simmer while I decided on fabric. This week I made up the chicken bag - I used the fabric from the breakfast area. It's GORGEOUS, if I do say so myself. :lol: Pictures will be forthcoming - I've already started the bag for the goat and horse meds. then I have to knock out a gift bag, THEN I can start on my Harrison shirt dress (finally!). The SOI Nancy is still in time out.....:rofl:

Oh! We have acquired 2 new does. Saturday the hubs and I ran to Home Depot for concrete (We need to put up a fence around the garden...Suki is a DIGGER. :sigh:) We saw a guy in the parking lot that looked familiar....so the hubs called out "G!" And yea, it was him. His wife was in the store - these are our goat mentors - we bought our starter herd from them.

They had lost 10 does to a dog attack a few months ago, then their bucks died...they were down to 2 does. Hubs immediately told them that IF they ever wanted to sell them, we'd buy them. They looked at each other, then G said "You can HAVE them. They'll have a good home with you!"

Anyway, they brought them out to us yesterday afternoon. They are nice, well-bred Nubians, and very, very scared. Our dogs (of course!) freak them right out - but the dogs can't get to them, and the fences are separated by about 50 feet. They'll settle in.

And we have somehow acquired a new rooster. He appeared down the street about a week ago....Wednesday AM he was hanging out in the pasture behind our coop. (We sorta wanted him to become the next victim - save OUR hens, y'know? Bad, yes....but......he's not ours, y'know?) Anyway, by Saturday he'd decided to move into our goat barn. So, it seems we have a new roo. Fun times!

I need to do a photo post soon - I want to finish the next bag first. That's today's project - I have most of the pieces cut out, just need to cut the foam, stabilizer and interfacing, then sew it up. The first bag took about 4 hours to sew it up - this one should go faster. I hope. :lol:

since I last posted. We lost 2 baby goats and almost lost 3 more - and it's my fault. :sigh: and :sob:

There's a parasite that affects goats, cows, and chickens (maybe more, but those are the ones I am aware of). You treat the babies beginning at 15 days old (if using Corid), for 5 days, then do it again 1x/month until they are well grown. Adults are immune to the effects.

Anyway. I have a notebook that I ALWAYS pull out and read before kidding/right after. This year, my notebook had gotten packed up and I figured, no big deal - I've done this before! How wrong I was..

I was able to save the 3, thankfully. I also realized WHY I didn't have any Corid on hand.....a few years ago there was an experiment with a new class of drug - it's a 1 and Done dosage. I tried it, it worked brilliantly, and we switched. Only, again - I keep that drug in the kitchen, on the counter (along with the Wazine we use to worm the chickens). On the counter, I see it All The Time, and it helps me remember what it is, and why I have it. The Baytril bottle was almost empty - I planned to reorder it, but the leak happened, and the bottle was packed up and forgotten. :sigh:

I will use Corid on this batch of kids - I have both the powder and the pre-mixed bottle, now - and I will order more Baytril next month. Just to have it on hand. I am also going to draft up a checklist for the milk room - actually, 3. 1 for the breeding pen, 1 for kid-to-breeding, and 1 for dry goats. Maybe this way I won't forget stuff.

We've also lost a LOT of the chicks this year to...something. I think it's a feral cat - it's coming in the pen under the fence, and it's getting into the coop and attacking the young birds that haven't quite figured out how to roost. Herself and I are tired of cleaning up the remains, so we are going to war tonight. Cages, with death administered when we catch the culprit. It's cost us 25 of the 30 chicks we had earlier this year.......and injured 3. 2 of which are hanging in there, in her Studio. :big sigh:

Such is life on a farm - it's not for sissies!

Oh! In other news, I'm getting into making salves and creams. I've ordered a few herbal books; why is it that some people need to go all woo-woo when discussing herbs? I mean.......really. I just want to know what herb does what, not "the great goddess embodied this herb with mystical powers...." Really? I mean.....Really? Just tell me that comfrey helps bones to knit, and leave it at that - or tell me that comfrey has such-and-such enzymes in it that aids bones. That's all I want! :sigh: (At least I'm getting some laughs out of this.......I mean, "lunar tea"? Lunar rays are similar to solar rays????? REALLY??????? The Moon just reflects the Sun's light.......so.....um........yeah. :giggle:)(And I don't mean this to be insulting. If YOU believe this, then....good! I just find it a bit over-the-top silly, myself, but if it works, it works.)

:lol: let's see - they were supposed to come out Friday AM (at 6:30!) to begin, but didn't. Seems that their supplier wasn't going to ship our panels until Friday, to arrive MONDAY. Today. :gulp: The owner said, NO - we install Saturday! Get the stuff HERE. And they did. :rofl:

So. Saturday AM (6:55) they began. And were stopped by rain. They started again...and again, were stopped by rain. They stayed until almost 9 PM, then showed up at 7 AM yesterday.

They finished right around 2:30-ish. We were running strictly on the panels until the sun went down - we opted to NOT do batteries, so we're still tied to the grid. :shrug: We're on the panels right now........:whee!:

The pool is also finally - FINALLY! - open. Good thing, too - we worked on emptying the 2nd pod. SG got a little pissy - he wanted to start early. I said, fine - tell me when! - so he went and took a nap. :bangs head: The kids and I went on out and started; got all of *our* stuff out, but had to stop when we reached the stuff he had put in there from his plant.

He claimed that NONE of the stuff in there was his.....until I pointed at the boxes and boxes and BOXES of stuff branded Plant Name. :snicker: He quit, and decided we needed to have a portable building built....I have nixed that. I do NOT want to spend the $$$$ for a building to store junk in - I'd rather deal with the junk NOW. :sigh:

Herself's Studio is full to the brim. MY plan is for the kids and I to empty 2 boxes each per day until it's done. We either find a home for the stuff, or it gets tossed. The only problem is my stuff - my Studio is FULL. So.....I'll do my 2 boxes, then go work on my Studio to get space made. Or I'll just toss a bunch of stuff. I haven't needed it since November, so......:shrug:

SG's stuff will be tossed in his shop for now - HE can deal with it. Or not. :Shrug:

Anyway. The power co-op is supposed to come out today or Wednesday to put in a new meter - we are supposed to be able to see what we're "giving" the co-op. I just want to either break even or run up a bunch of credits. I'd like to get rid of the power bill, thanks. :lol:

Today is grocery day, so I gotta get hopping! Tomorrow we'll be at the FIL's.......then we're home for the rest of the week. :whew: I prefer to be a home-body.....

apparently not. There's a store here, called Beall's (Ball's. Whatever.) I had seen the ad, but figured we wouldn't do anything; this weekend (for Father's Day) they had a HUGE sale. Mens and Boys were buy 1, get 2 free, and everything else was 50% off - including Clearance. Normally, we don't do sales...but our next door neighbor mentioned it to SG, so off we went.

And we spent.

Both he and Himself made out like bandits - Polo and Ralph Lauren and Izod shirts, at 3 for $50. Swim trunks - Polo! - for $25....only somehow we got Himself's free. Herself and I got a ton of blouses and shorts. We basically got new wardrobes - for a lot less than I anticipated. (We basically saved over 70%, if my math is right. The sales clerk couldn't believe the size of the receipt, or the number of coupons we got on Sunday!)

And we hit another one the next day....and he bought MORE. And.....they have a thing that when you have a Beall's card, you get so much cash back, AND $10 off purchases of $10/more coupons...and I currently have over $100 in coupons to use. :blink: (He opened an account, charged the stuff, then turned around and paid it off. It's still open, but *I* am not on it (didn't want to be!), and he won't use it. So....we get the perks but don't have to pay the interest.)

Herself and I hit yet another one yesterday and used some of the coupons...we got about $200 worth of stuff for - wait for it! - $40. I ended up with 1 shirt; she walked out with a hat, 4 blouses, a jacket, and some more shorts. It's.....insane. I don't know how they stay in business!

We're going back Thursday - I have some "50% off all clearance" coupons I need to use, plus some more $10 off $10+. Both she and Himself can use a few more clothes.......:lol: These are a LOT nicer than what Wally-world carries, and with the coupons the prices are pretty comparable. Especially if we hit the clearance racks again!

The 3 batches of Whey Cool soaps look good. I made a test batch of GM soap (new scent - Cherry Blossom!) today - so far it's looking good. I think this one will be called "Sakura Goat", unless Herself objects. She's my Japan "expert"; I don't want to offend anyone with my silly names. I also made her a jar of body butter in Cherry Blossom - she LOVES it. :heh: I think I have a new hobby. Maybe. :snicker:

My SIL made it in from KY. We'll be going over to FIL's a lot, I think, to help her get him straightened out. I hope she can get him to go back up with her to visit - he NEEDS it.

So today I tried my hand at making cold cream and whipped Shea body butter. It was surprisingly FUN and easy!

I'm going to share a not-very-good photo. :lol: Sorry -but I didn't feel like dragging them out of the bathroom cabinet just for a quick photo-shoot. :snicker:



The yellow is the cold cream. Due to my allergy to all things bee, I swapped candlelilla wax for the beeswax. (I've not reacted to beeswax - yet - and I'd like to keep it that way!) The candlelilla wax is a vegetable wax, and it's shockingly Yellow. Ah, well - it shouldn't stain my skin; it didn't stain my arm when I tested it. I haven't actually USED it yet - that'll happen tonight - but I think this may be a keeper. We'll see.

The whipped shea butter....oh, man! It's WONDERFUL! I took a quick shower after milking this afternoon, and slathered on about 2 Tablespoons of the butter. Wow - my skin is SUPER soft! I think I put in a wee bit too much scent - I prefer a very LIGHT scent, and this is heavy, to me - but that's OK. We'll see how it holds up.

I don't think this will be added to the "shop".....I'm not sure how it'll ship. However....it's going in the gift box. I know a LOT of people that'll LOVE this! And gifts don't have the worry for me that purchased items do....so....well. We'll see.

My milking machine arrived yesterday, but we need to do a few modifications before I can use it. Like running an extension cord to the barn, and getting a pressure meter for the pump - things like that. We did try it out last night on 2 buckets of water (what? I needed to *clean* it, right? Right!) and it worked a treat, so I am looking forward to this. The bucket is HUGE, though.......but that's OK. If I need to add more does to the milk line in the future, the bucket will handle them. (You never know what the future holds; I am the only dairy-er in my area. :shrug: I would prefer to NOT add more goats, but hey - I can if I need to.) (I can't keep from rubbing my soft, soft skin right now. :snicker: I think this could become a new hobby......oh, dear.)