Emergency Room

We knew Rhoda was sick before church so once church was over was sent a text to find out how she was feeling. The reply came back not good, vomiting 10-15 times and can't stand up without fainting. By the time we arrived home, she called to ask for help. She called prompt care and they told her to go straight to the emergency room for fluids. As she was too weak to drive, vomiting every 15 minutes and not able to sit up without feeling faint I left immediately drove to her place then headed to Proctor arriving before 3:00pm. They didn't waste much time getting her in a bed. She was pretty severely dehydrated and the first step was to get liquids into her body by IV.

The first RN named Logan pictured below tried to put the IV in twice, once on each arm before giving up and asking for help.

The next RN Heather (an expert on IV's) came in and tried 3 times, twice on one arm and once on the other before giving up and asking for help.

At this point they discuss how dehydrated she is and how her veins keep collapsing causing the IV to blow. Heather decides to try wrapping Rhoda's arms in warm blankets. By this time she is feeling a bit like a living pin cushion.

The 3rd RN Tammy arrives, states she works at St. Francis, is an IV expert and came to put in Rhoda's IV. After 2 unsuccessful tries, she tells Rhoda, I'm going to try one more time.

By the 8th needle jabbing into some part of her arms or hands Tammy has success.

Finally the IV was in and running. The Physicians Assistant starts Rhoda on anti-nausea medicine then leaves her to rest while the IV bag empties. By the time that bag was emptied and the medicine taking effect a bit they discharged her with a prescription for Zophran more anti-nausea medicine, told to take every 6 hours and we could get it filled at any pharmacy. We drove straight to Walgreens only to find the store open but the pharmacy closed. Next we tried Walmart, again the pharmacy was closed. What good is a prescription that can't be filled? We gave up and drove to the farm with plans for Rhoda to stay the night on the couch (the beds here are still not set up) only to find Mark laying on the couch sick and vomiting. Here we go again!

Yesterday's Pictures

Below are a few pictures of Rachel's company, first butchering the 2 deer and then horseback riding on Missy and Cookie. Thanks Rachel for taking pictures.

Productive Day

After the curtain rods were hung in the upstairs bedrooms Mark went out to work on digging more holes for the fence line. Philip arrived to work on the tech stuff at the barn and office. We now have doors with keypads and infrared cameras. Braelyn came over to play while Philip was working. The pictures below just had to be posted, she is just so cute. Playing peek-a-boo in the curtains:

Playing with the rocking horses:

Pulling out some Breyer horses and lining them up:

Philip and Mark finished about the same time and came in for lunch. After lunch Braelyn took a nap while Mark and Philip took the pallet of concrete bags and set fence posts. Steven arrived and was working Valiant in the outdoor arena so the camera was taken out for some canter pictures.

Valiant is so tall for a three year old, he is just plain majestic.

Rhoda arrived to work Missy and Cookie. Below she and Missy have just come up from the death trails.

She reported that Missy was great, easily splashing through the creeks and up the steep hills. Rhoda showed us what she has been working on with Missy.

Missy is just about confirmed on the bow. Karin arrived to help with Rachel's special company, both Missy and Cookie were used for these girls, these are teenage girls from the south end of Peoria. They all got lessons on horses and lessons on butchering. Rachel's boys shot 2 young tender doe yesterday and today they needed processing. No pictures of those activities, Mark and I needed to leave for Cleve and Kathleen Klopfenstein's for potluck. That was the best meal we've had in years. We were served marinated grilled tenderloin medallions, baked apple, baked squared sweet potato, fresh green beans, mixed salad greens with a special dressing, rolls and a wonderful pumpkin torte. Even better than the meal was the fellowship. It was really a wonderful ending to a productive day.

Cold Frosty Morning

Mark started the wood burner early, real early and got it so hot the smoke alarm went off before 5:00am. He claims it was the hedge wood, it just burns so hot. I didn't care the house is toasty warm. The horses were fed just after sunrise. The 3 weanlings were so cute Rachel's camera had to be brought out for the 2 pictures below.

Left to right is Onyx Sandy's colt, Oksana T Eliza's filly and Olympia Jenis' filly. After the horses were fed it was time for our breakfast, Mark is up installing curtain rods on the bedroom windows and took a break for a nice hot meal. Below is a picture from last night. Braelyn sure knows how to entertain herself, no pictures of Taegan, she was either sleeping or my arms were full holding her.

Mike and Diane are staying in the cottage at Middle Grove and will check on the mares that no longer have their fillies. Karin called to report they were calling a bit but for the most part content.

A Grandma's Pleasure

We had a beautiful sunny and relatively warm day for November 16th. The paper work to register the 2012 foals took about and hour and a half to fill out, all could be finished except Hadassah and Jewel. They both need to donate a hair sample the registry requires and both of those mares are at Middle Grove. The Friesian Heritage Horse Registry (FHH) was contacted to see if all of the rest of the paper work could be sent in now with the hair sample to follow and asked if they could also email the total owed. The list was mind boggling, needing to be registered is Jewel's filly, Sangria's colt, Jenis' filly, Eliza's filly, Lily's filly, Sandy's colt, and Hadassah. Two of our horses needed to have their registration transfered, Evan from FHANA & FPS and Jewel from FSHR. FHH requires DNA testing on all purebred Friesians so we will have to pay for Evan's, Olympia and Oksana. FHH emailed back to send in the paper work, they would total it up there and yes the missing hair for those 2 mares could come later. It will go out tomorrow. The weaning is going well, all three foals are sticking together and eating grain. Ciera is also doing well, the better she feels the more she thinks she should go out. She needs one more shot of Exceed (a long term antibiotic) on Monday then should be finished with all medications. The deposit came today for Ciera, she will be marked sold tonight. Today is Philip and Anna's anniversary. Mark and I were so pleased when we were asked to watch the 2 munchkins while they went out. Both girls were so very good. Braelyn is very active and Taegan only woke up once to eat then went right back to sleep.

Video

This was one of the frustrating videos to make. I had to hike to the highest ridge to find them, they were lazy and didn't come galloping over the hills to greet the 4 Friesian mares instead came to the edge of the hill and waited for the mares to come to them. They were so far away it has to be zoomed all the way in which is really hard to hold still enough, a tripod was needed at that point. The video was rendered in high definition meaning the download time on youtube was 2 hours. It was almost finished downloading and someone (not one of the dogs) here thought the computer was running to slow and closed out all the programs so it had to be started over. Finally this morning it is up. It can be watched in high definition if desired but after watching the video it is shaking and boring. Oh well I'll leave it up as a reminder sometimes the things I find important are not. Today the house must be cleaned and laundry done. Today God willing and the creek don't rise, I'm staying home to organize, dust down walls and wash curtains.

Weaning Day

Ciera gave me a scare this morning. She was not interested in breakfast and running a temperature. The vet clinic was called and the receptionist was going to pass the news to Dr. Hoerr. While waiting for the return call, the 2 box springs were hauled to Sams Club for a refund. Just as I was heading out, Beth drove up, took a look at the trailer and said, "I buy a lot at Sams but never needed a trailer that size." Back on the highway when the Dr. Pallen calls. She was already at the farm checking over Ciera reporting the incision site was fine, Ciera was not in pain any where, her lungs and heart were good, blood was drawn for testing and the next step would be a belly tap. She was gracious enough to wait until I arrived (12 minutes) before starting the belly tap. Even that turned out well, no discharge at all. Dr. Pallen then did a rectal and felt around the surgery site from the inside. Again Ciera was not in pain and stood well. Dr. Pallen finished up by giving her some banimine and 2 shots of antibiotics then took the blood back to the office for testing promising to give the results later today. Today was the day we planned to wean Olympia and Oksana. We have found the easiest way to wean is to leave the foals and remove the mares, so far they can't hear each other. Zalena, Ylse, Jenis and Eliza were loaded up and taken to Middle Grove. The video camera was taken along and once the truck and trailer turned around and parked, I hiked up to the highest hill to capture the herd greeting those mares. The video isn't the best the herd was so far away it is hard to hold the camera still when zoomed in as far as possible. Rachel brought Onyx over to wean with the 2 fillies. They were calling for their moms but have now settled down. Tomorrow hair needs to be pulled from Olympia and Onyx then all of the papers to register the 2012 foals can be sent in. Dr. Pallen called with the good news of the results of Ciera's blood work, all looked normal, no elevated white cells, every thing exactly as it should look.

Queen Size

Two new queen size mattresses and 2 new queen size box springs were purchased today from Sam's Club. Philip offered to pick them up with the Meister Brother trailer. The receipt was dropped off on his desk when I made it back in to work. After work Philip brought out the bedding sets and we started by bringing in a box spring, got as far as the living room when we had to quit. The box springs are too big to fit up the narrow staircase in this old farm house. Why didn't I measure before the purchase, guess I'm just not use to living in small areas. Karin was here working the mares and stopped in at the exact time we needed help. Between she and Phil they were able to get both queen size mattresses up those narrow stairs and into the bedrooms. Phil got on line and found we could order the base for the beds. Now they just have to arrive and built before Thanksgiving! Mom took her car to church picking up first Spark and Rhonda before stopping at our place. Mike and Diane drove separate as did Ruth and her boys. Ken Hoerr had the service on the Holy Spirit. Both for us as individuals and for the church. Once home the dogs were let out, the wood stove stoked and it's time to crash.

Unwelcome Visitor

We retired early last night shutting both of the bedroom doors hoping this would encourage the dogs to stay in their own room and not bother us but around 1:00am Darcy woke us up with a bark. Stumbling out of the bedroom I see her standing in the back hall just as expected but instead of standing at the door she is intently staring at her water bucket. At 1:00am the brain isn't really firing on all cylinders but the thought did go through my mind, "hmmm wonder if Darcy is getting confused in her old age." The door was opened Emma was called and both dogs made to go outside. While waiting for them to finish I walked into the livingroom and stood next to the still hot glowing woodburner to warm my feet. All of a sudden there was a noise that sounded exactly like one of the dogs drinking coming from the back hall. Just for reference to those who don't know, an English Mastiff is not a quiet drinker. At this point my mind is screaming, "something HUGE must be drinking out of the water bucket and it's NOT one of my dogs!" Not knowing what in the world my eyes would see and dreading it, the lights were turned on only to discover there is no strange dog, wolf or coyote standing over the water bucket but the sound of slurp slurp slurp has not stopped. Inside the water bucket is a poor little mouse desperately trying to get out. It was cold wet and shivering, and that was inside our house, but that mouse's life was about to get worse. The bucket was taken outside and dumped and no I didn't rescue the mouse, he or she probably froze to death shortly after getting dumped on the frosty grass. Time to buy mouse traps. Living in a 150 year old farm house I should have known mice would like to share this place.

Shopping Exhaustion

After work Philip talked me into visiting the cell phone store and upgrading to a new phone, hopefully one that works in the farm house. This took quite long, almost every aspect of the new phone had to be explained. At one point the saleslady tried to show me how to send a text but couldn't figure it out and had to call a young techie. From there Walmart to exchange the broken stool then to Quick Lube to get an oil change on the car and from there down to Unclaimed Freight to look at mattresses. That turned out to be a wash, they were just way too expensive and not as good as the one we bought at Sams. I did buy 4 saddleseat stools for the tall table in the apartment. By the time I arrived the dogs were anxious to get out and Ciera was anxious to get fed. Karin arrived to work the mares while the stall cleaning was going on which was a very good excuse to quit and run get Rachel's camera. Just a few shots below of Karin working all 4 Friesian mares. She put it this way, "I'm running out of daylight and want to get the most horses worked in the shortest amount of time."

Naughty Boy Evan

Below is just a short video of Evan misbehaving at the dressage clinic. At least Steven got his back realigned! By the end of the lesson, when Evan was asked to go forward he went forward instead of up or sideways. The instructor Patti, told us she likes him and he has a lot of talent. Today is Berean day, 600 dollar stamps must be picked up along with a couple rolls of 32 cents stamps and a couple rolls of first class stamps. Below are a few pictures of Lorna on her imported fantastic horse working with Patti Becker.

Dressage Clinic for Evan

Steven signed up for the dressage clinic at Carousal farm in Washington, IL with Patti Becker. Patti is a well known dressage competitor. Patti has earned her Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals, has won many regional titles and placed 7th at the I-1 Championships in California. I offered to drive Evan over so pictures and videos could be taken. This was the first time Evan has been under saddle at another farm. We didn't know how he would act and were very pleased with his behavior. He was quiet in the stall, stood well for tacking and mounting and really tried to please most of the time. Below are a few pictures of the clinic.

Isn't he just gorgeous! He actually ignored the other horses as they were coming in and out of the arena. It was so cold this morning the video camera at first wouldn't work at all. After taking it to the heated lounge and warming it up it worked for a while then had trouble focusing. A long video was made for Steven to watch and for entertainment for the masses a shorter video of Evan being naughty. but it won't be able to be uploaded until tomorrow. By the time the clinic was over and we were home the frozen ground was starting to thaw but the wind was fierce almost making the house shudder. Evan was put away and the wood burner stoked. Both boys spent the night inside the stall barn with Ciera so 3 stalls needed to be cleaned. When I arrived at the stall barn Ciera was so glad for the company nickering her welcome, then leaving her hay to follow me around as the stall was cleaned. Tomorrow will be a week since her surgery, she thinks she is ready to go outside but she must stay in for one more week per doctors orders. After dinner Diane came over to work on ordering supplies for the farm house. She had a 2 page list of which we got one page done. Shopping, even on line is exhausting!

Dinner at the Farm House

Our morning at the jail was such a blessing. It is just amazing to hear the special numbers and testimonies from the prisoners. There but by the grace of God go I is the thought that keeps running through my mind. We made it to church before the morning service was over. Lunch in Peoria is always a loud happy group of people hungry not just for food but fellowship. After church all of our precious children and grand children came over for more fellowship. Dave and Stef couldn't stay for dinner they were invited to potluck but the rest made for an overflowing table. Below are a few pictures of our grand children. Cousins Braelyn and Addyson are good friends that most of the time enjoy playing with each other.

Jack keeps busy getting in the girls way or perhaps they are getting in his way.

Taegan is so precious, below is Aunt Rhody cuddling up with her.

Addyson wanted a turn to hold Braelyn's new sister. Is this cute or what?

After a delicious dinner of chicken, ribs, potatoes, and vegetables then warm peach, apple blueberry or cherry pie and cold ice cream for dessert everyone headed for home except Rhoda, she left for the volley ball game. Mom called to report Aunt Bernie is back in the hospital. She could sure use prayer, they believe she has had a small stroke or a TIA. It has been pouring down a cold rain most of the afternoon. It was just too cold and wet to walk over to the barn to care for Ciera, the car was used to drive down to the barn. Steven had already cleaned her stall, fed and watered her. What a nice surprise! Thanks Steven. Now it is time for some peace and quiet reading by the fire. How I love living out here, each day there are too many blessings to count. So much to be thankful for. Mike emailed some pictures of the horses he took yesterday in the late afternoon sunshine. They go as a herd down to the water to drink.

I count 24 horses in the picture above. We have 10 here putting us at 34 horses. See I do know how many we have... that's if we counted correctly at Middle Grove!

Going To Jail

I am being hauled to jail this morning by my mother. She is also taking Diane. Yes our loving mom is going to do that to a couple of her children. What have we done to deserve this? Actually we will be joining Spark, Rhonda and the Peoria choir where we will sing for the 3 services there before heading to church. Mom is picking us up at 7:30am. Meanwhile there is much to be done here before leaving even though this IS Sunday. Ciera must be fed and watered and her stall cleaned out, the house straightened and the apartment swept. We are hoping some of the kids will come for dinner tonight for our first family meal in the farm house. Speaking of Ciera she is doing well, yesterday she was led outside for a couple of pictures. She is recovering quickly from her surgery to remove her right ovary.

A close up of her stitches from surgery.

and finally a picture of her in the stall.

Now I must get off the computer and get to work.