After the Storm

 The storm was over but the drizzle continued today into the afternoon.  Spark was the first one out this morning heading to the shop and had to clear the drive. A big tree had come down over the main road.  Mom had another good night. We believe we have turned the corner on her restlessness.  She made GREAT progress today. Karin was able to get her in the shower and for the first time since the brain bleed she had a nice long HOT shower.  Sarah arrived with her 3 girls and they went to work giving mom the treatment that included a nice long foot message.

Rachel brought over a couple of Pug puppies for puppy therapy, probably more for Karin than for mom but mom enjoyed them too.

Jessica gave her the OT therapy today working on her hand. Mom frowned at the colors on Jessica's nails.

The nurse came today and gave us a good report. The only horse work I did was to drive around the paddocks making sure all the horses were in the shelters eating during this cold rain. I'll have to make a trip out to Middle Grove on Wednesday (first available) to bring in Rosaleigh's colt for weaning. His owner just contacted me about coming Nov 5th. He also needs a coggins and health certificate for travel as he is going to Texas. If I have time I should also bring in Jewel's colt. I have someone that already owns a Raven son and daughter and they want another Horsemeister colt. 

So MUCH Rain

 Rain was promised and the rain came starting early morning (Mark thought about 1:00 am but it has been pouring pretty much all day today with very few breaks.  Mom was ready to get up around 7:00 am and watched the rain slamming down on her deck as she was waiting for breakfast. Amy Koch came to relieve me at 8:30 am so I could get ready for church. We had a blessed day in church. Mike Kaisner had the morning service and spoke on the wise man and the foolish man building their houses. We all know the story and song. David had the afternoon message on Psalm 47. 

After church the rain was still pounding down. It was so wet here that the kids decided not to come for dinner.  Mark and I ate alone. I headed over to mom's at 5:00 pm and got soaked just running from the car to mom's garage and I was parked close to the door.  There was a big group at mom's. Faith and Berlica were there, Karin was there, Dad and Susan came and Rebekah and Brian and their 3 munchkins came. Everyone left around 6:30 pm. Mom decided it was so dark she must need to go to bed but once in bed just couldn't get comfortable. She rang the bell at 7:00 pm and then apologized for waking me up in the middle of the night. I explained it was ONLY 7:00 pm and I wasn't sleeping. We tried different positions, then she decided she needed to sit up and was able to sit with assistance on the side of the bed for about 10 minutes. Finally around 8:35 pm she decided it was time to try to sleep again. She was given 2 Aleve pm pills at 8:40 pm and by 9:10 was sound asleep. Joan arrived at 9:30 pm to relieve me.  I had to run back out in the rain to the car and needed the wipers on full blast to see to get back to our house. We are truly getting drenched.  Our drives are washed out and our patio is flooded. The people that bought Sofia, Tatiana's filly, sent an update they made it to their ranch in Texas and Sofia has settled in just fine.

Julie, the lady that bought Ayanna also posted pictures. Ayanna had a gorgeous colt by Evan this spring and he now left for his new home. Ayanna and Evan sure did throw beautiful foals.

Sometimes I think I must have the best job in the whole world. I really AM thankful.

Carving Jack-O-Lanterns

 Mom had another good night. It started out a little rough but ended well.  Ruth and Karin were thrilled that mom had plenty of energy for some of the therapy they had planned. Mom is getting stronger.  We had a busy day here. Mackenson and Berlica came to help Mark with  grass seeding, log splitting, stacking firewood and gravel spreading. 

We met David and Stephanie at the Mexican restaurant for a late lunch.

At 4:00 pm I was at the fellowship hall to pick up the soup from the auction and by 5:00 pm back at mom's house to relieve Ruth.  At 5:40 pm Mark called that there was a horse out. Berlica stayed with mom while I ran over to see which one even though at the time I was sure it was Rockaway. Sure enough he had pushed down the top rail, jumped over and was happily grazing in the yard. It took about 5 minutes to put him back in and tie up the rail he knocked down. Tomorrow a more permanent fix will be applied. I ran back to mom's but got a text from that people from Texas were going to be here at 6:00 pm to pick up Sofia (Tatiana's filly) and another text from Onyx's owner they would be arriving around 6:00 pm. Below The trailer with Sofia is pulling out as the trailer for Onyx is pulling in.  

That worked out well as mom and Berlica were watching a documentary on the big screen tv on a volcano. Berlica had mom's phone to call me if there was a problem but in the 23 minutes I was gone all was well. Sarah Reinhard arrived with Lucy and pumpkins for carving.  

If you would like to see the rest of those pictures click HERE.

They turned out well.

An absolutely WONDERFUL update came in from the lady that bought Hadassah's filly. I was a little worried about this filly, she just didn't like me to put the halter on and was kind of stand offish. I was SO happy to read this update:  It has only been a few days, but I thought I would send an update on Dee. As you can see, the standofish baby who was not a fan of the Halter is doing quite amazing! On the first day she decided that my hands are delicious and must be licked, the halter takes us places where we can play, and mom must be monitored at all times by being in her business ALL THE TIME!

She loves a good face scratch, ear massage, and whither rub. She must eat all the delicious grain only if it is on the floor after flipping the bucket. The little blonde is just a smaller version of mom, so she is okay.
She leads like a dream. Puts her nose on the halter when I come in. Tonight I got my first big hug with arms all around her neck. She rubs her face on me as much as she can.
She is so happy! She is such a dream, I still can’t believe she is mine. I have found almost instant peace. We don’t need to hear each other, we can just be present. She will quietly dream with me and we will travel this journey of life together.
Thank you for this amazing baby. She is so smart, observant, and gentle. I have heard great things about your horses, seems another great baby has made her way into
my heart.
Until the next update, have a great night!

Listening To Ron

 Mom slept all night for the second night in a row! We are all thrilled, she is finally getting comfortable.  Joan spent the night and Ruth took over this morning. Mom woke up with a smile this morning. 

Jessica came to do a little OT therapy and Karin arrived to help Ruth with  PT therapy. So very thankful for those willing to share their knowledge and experience.  I finished up at the barn and came in to get the laundry going and while that was going turned on AC Central.  I was flipping through the new sermons when thought of putting Ron Kipfer's name in the search button. Ron moved to Peoria about the time I converted in 1971, over 50 years ago now.  He was from Bluffton and had taken a job with Caterpillar. When he moved back to Bluffton he was put in the ministry and I always enjoyed listening to him when he would come back to Peoria for a visit. I had heard he retired from the ministry so when I put his name in the search button was surprised to see he spoke in Kansas City June 13th, 2021.  He really does let the Holy Spirit work through him and I was edified and encouraged by listening. If you would like to hear this message it is posted below.

Around 9:00 am I left for Sam's club to pick up food for the Sunday meal. It is suppose to be 100% chance of rain on Sunday so there will probably be no volley ball but we still like to eat dinner together. Thankfully they had toilet paper and paper towels in stock, mom's house was out of toilet paper.  Karin thought she had picked up a package at Dollar General and it turned out to be paper towels. My next stop was Aldi where I stocked up on items for later such as pumpkin, evaporated milk, chicken stock, and other baking supplies. Thanksgiving will be here soon enough and last year Aldi ran out of pumpkin.  When I got home the toilet paper was taken over to mom's, it was really neat to see mom sitting at her spot at the table.

Ruth, Dan and Karin were there when the aid came to give mom a bath and after the bath the sun came out so we all ended up on the deck in the sunshine.  I needed to leave as Evan needed a new bale today and there was a lot of work to do before that job could be done. He was moved into Ribbon's old paddock and all the horses grained. The weanlings were brought into the stall barn and given their grain then the indoor arena cleaned up. The skid steer needed to be moved out of the way so I could use the tractor to pick up a round bale. That was taken down to Evan's paddock and dropped on the driveway so the bale feeder could be opened up and moved out of the way. Once the bale was put in and the net wrap taken off the gate was shut and Evan moved back into his own paddock. The tractor was put away, the big doors to the indoor shut and the 2 fillies put back in there. Mark got home about that time and wanted a little help with the next job which was to get the fabric spread for the driveway going to the new barn.

I would roll it out and he would stake it down. He wanted it to curve which was a little tricky. We still need another roll of fabric to finish. Mark will be spreading rock on the fabric tomorrow.

Dinner was made a little early then I left to relieve Ruth. Tauyna arrived to sit with mom but since it was her first time I stayed until mom was in bed for the night. Joan will relieve her around 10:00 pm.  It was a very good day. Mom was for sure stronger and able to do more today than yesterday. She even won at Yahtzee.  

Sister's Farewell

 No new horse news, I've not spent a lot of time with the horses but have been getting emails on the 2022 foals expected.  Mom had a great night sleep last night and briefly woke up this morning asking if the trip was today. Aunt Jinnie and mom talked about the trip that didn't happen but thankful that they got to spend this last month together. It is hard to say good by to Aunt Jinnie she has been so helpful and mom has loved having her here. We don't know if these two sisters will be together again in this lifetime but if they don't they KNOW they will meet in heaven.   At 10:15am I needed to take Aunt Jinnie to the airport both Ruth and Karin arrived to be with mom. Those two were anxious to get started on therapy but mom was hungry and wanted breakfast of eggs, rye toast, some pumpkin bread and coffee. We got to the airport in plenty of time. On the way home there was a mature beautiful bald eagle feasting on cat that had been hit on Middle Road. 

There were no houses around in that area, just the runways of the airport so I'm not sure who lost their cat. When I got back they had mom up and playing Mexican Train. She was doing well when we saw her blood pressure tank. It was obvious by mom's eyes. We were able to get the chair reclined and her legs up with a pillow under them. Ruth was taking her blood pressure about every 15 minutes and it started coming back up and was up to 105/77 by the time the nurse arrived. She checked mom over, asked a few questions, told us we were doing a good job and that we would see her again on Monday.  Karin stayed to help until after 3:00 pm when Amy arrived with a delicious pineapple mango smoothie from McDonalds.  She had just come from Bridlewood and couldn't stay long. Joan gave Mark a ride into town to pick up the motor home. Spark and Rhonda arrived at 5:30 so when I got home I went right out to the barn to clean the weanling's stall, put in their grain, bring them in from the indoor, clean up the indoor then start moving equipment to make room to put the motor home in the barn. I took the golf cart back to the house to ask Mark to help hook the Salem FSX up to the skid steer so that could be moved in the barn. That will need to be winterized along with the motor home this weekend. We were just getting ready to shut the barn doors when Jared brought back the truck and trailer. They had borrowed that to take their mare in to Hoerr vet clinic. She had an abscess that needed to be drained.  I'm heading back to mom's at 9:00 pm to relieve Spark and Rhonda..

A funny message came in from the lady that bought Zalena. her filly by Evan is quite the character. She writes: So, apparently, Marra also has giraffe in her background-lol. She apparently has done this before, because she very deliberately placed her feet before she put weight on them. I guess we won't have a hard time teaching her to stand on a pedestal!

These Friesian foals are SO funny!

Staples

 We were up at 4:00 am and at 6:00 am the weanlings were taken care of and I was on my way to relieve Ruth at mom's house. Mom was restless but not needing anything so Ruth felt she had a somewhat decent night. I know when I got there mom was awake and wanting her back scratched.  She was very itchy this morning.  She wanted up on the chair and was up having breakfast of fresh baked pumpkin bread from Pat Meister with a cup of coffee when Aunt Jinnie woke up. Her blood pressure was very low this morning 76/57 so we put the chair way back and got her feet up with a pillow. She was tired all morning. Aunt Jinnie had the really great idea to bring in one of the chairs Rhoda found on the side of the road, clean it up and put it in the shower to measure and see if that would work as a shower chair for mom.  IT FIT!  Rachel arrived at 8:30 am so I left to get a shower and then drive to Goodfield, IL to pick up Jace. Today was the day he got his staples out. 

He was picked up from school and taken to his pediatrician's office in Bloomington, IL. We had to wait about a half hour before they called us in and of course they first had to see how much he weighed and how tall he is.

Then we waited again.

Thankfully the removal went almost painless and easy.

Jace was taken back to school and when I got back to mom's house there was a nice group all enjoying the warm sunshine on the deck. Ruth brought over a wheel chair we could use to take mom into the shower and was busy washing the outside chair.

When that was done we sat around and visited really enjoying this wonderful weather. 

Later after everyone left Aunt Jinnie got a phone call from Becky, her daughter and she asked if mom and Aunt Jinny could sing some camp songs. They sang two songs and talked a little about this camp, mom was just 5 years old and Aunt Jinnie was 8 years old. Mom got to go because Aunt Frieda and Antydolly were the counselors. 

Amy came to take a shift but needed to learn how to use the lift so I stayed tonight with her. Mark picked up Aunt Jinnie for church.  Joan stopped in on her way home this afternoon and helped get Facebook up on the big screen using my phone so we could watch church tonight except my phone went dead.  We tried Amy's phone but couldn't get it to work. Mom's phone was next but we had the same problem. Finally I ran down and asked Matt to help. Within minutes he had it  up and on just in time.  Joan brought Aunt Jinnie home, Amy is staying with mom until Joan gets there to take her place and I'm heading to bed. 

Too Tired

 I had a tough time getting going this morning. The transport company arrived around 11:30 pm and by 11:45 he was pulling back out.  Quiet Dreamer was excellent while the truck driver unloaded 3 horses watching and curious about those different horses. The last one unloaded was a huge 3 year old Clydesdale stud. When the trailer was ready I walked her over to the trailer, stepped in but just then the driver asked me to wait as he wanted to get pictures of her before loading.  She stood very well for the pictures then when I asked her to step into the trailer, she hesitated, it was much taller than the one we had been practicing on and she wasn't quite sure how to get her legs up that high. I asked the driver to just give her a little push and told him, she won't kick. He did and she jumped right in then followed all the way up to the front of the 6 horse trailer and stood quietly while the driver took her halter off. The picture below is before the 3 horses were loaded back up.

The horses were loaded back up and they were on their way.

I turned out the lights and headed back down to the house and was in bed by midnight. When the coffee maker went off at 5:00 am it really was hard to get out of bed. After getting Mark's breakfast I ran up to the barn, shut the big doors and moved Onyx and Sofia back into the indoor arena before heading over to mom's. Joan spent the night last night and mom had a rough night. She just couldn't get comfortable. She didn't want to take anything and this morning her mind was much clearer but she was really tired. She does not like the drugs that cloud the mind and give her crazy dreams so we will not be using those again. Today was my day to stay from 7:00 am to 5:30 pm except Ruth was taking my place until I could get home from Bereans. If you would like to read about our morning there click HERE. We didn't have a lot of mail and didn't stay for the treat after the work was finished so we could make it back to mom's by 11:00 am. The house was full of people when we arrived. Anna and Jessica were there doing a deep clean on the house. They started the laundry but the washer was leaking so those two girls took the washer apart and were fixing it when Aunt Jinnie walked in. She was marveling about those cleaning ladies that also repair appliances.  The aid showed up a bit later and mom got her bath and her hair washed. Karin and Ruth were here just getting mom ready to go out on the deck. Faith and Berlica arrived so they had plenty of help with that job.

Success!

Mom didn't want to stay out long but we were really thankful for another beautiful day. After bringing her back inside Aunt Jinnie spent some time brushing mom's hair.

Mom didn't have a very good day. She was just too tired to want to do any therapy. She was even too tired to eat much, we even bribed her with ice cream but just ate a few small bites of that. Joan is staying with her this evening and Ruth is going to spend the night tonight. We are hoping she will have a better night so she feels better tomorrow. I left mom's at 5:40 pm made us some dinner, took care of the weanlings and will be heading to bed soon. 

Empty Shelves

 We had a short night, waking at 3:30 am and just couldn't go back to sleep. Instead I sent an email to Hoerr Vet clinic with all the information needed for the travel papers for the 3 weanlings leaving soon. These are only good for 30 days so I sure hope none of them get delayed.  I called the vet clinic at 9:00 am to make sure they got the information and the papers were up and ready to be printed by this afternoon. Quiet Dreamer is leaving tonight. The transport company just called to tell me they would be here around 11:30 pm.  Now I really wish I had taken a nap. Joan reported mom had another rough night. We think it is the medicine that we are giving her to help her sleep. For a couple hours during the night she was sure she was supposed to be carding wool. The sheep were there but she didn't have anyone to help teach her how to card the wool. That was the first crazy dream that kept her awake. The second dream was she was in a shipwreck and was trying to clean up the debris. Poor mom felt like she worked all night long. She even remembered the dream come morning. I went to Sam's club this morning and they still have empty shelves as far as paper towels and toilet paper. I wish someone would have warned me about the coming shortages.  I don't watch the news anymore as they can't be trusted. The stalls were cleaned when I got home. The weanlings were left in the indoor arena for the day. Mom's hospice nurse arrived around noon. We had a big group there waiting for her. We wanted to get some better information on what we can give mom to help her sleep. She is so uncomfortable and restless at night and then tired during the day.  The nurse gave us some really good ideas to try. Ruth as able to help mom do the stand and pivot into the chair from the bed today then later the stand from her chair.  Jessica (Rachel's daughter) arrived to do a little therapy on mom's arm.

Mark came home a little early from work and called for help. Joan, Mackenson and Berlica came to help fill the wood box on the porch. Below they are also filling the wood shed. 

Joan helped get the log splitter back on the tractor. With the price of heating doubling this year we for sure want to have enough wood for the wood burners for the winter. The weanlings were brought inside their stalls for the night. They know the routine, they walk quietly into the stalls where their grain waits. They are now used to being alone in a stall during the night and the together in the indoor during the day.  Quiet Dreamer was given a new halter this evening as the one she is wearing in the picture below is on the last hole and getting a little snug.

There really isn't a good inbetween size so this next halter is a little too big and a knot was tied at the crown so it won't slip off during the transport. I took the video below yesterday during the picnic of Berlica getting swung so high in the hammock that she went flying out.

The two pictures below are also from yesterday's picnic. I forgot they were on my phone.

Rachel came over to stay with mom with a pizza from the Warehouse.  Those are always special and mom really likes pizza.

I'll be heading over soon and will stay until Joan comes for the night. Now that the transport company is coming so late I may as well find a book to read.

 

Cavapoo Puppy Available

 Sarah and Nolan had a puppy returned that is now available for adoption with a very reasonable adoption fee of $1500.00. This Cavapoo puppy is 12 weeks old. Rhoda has been hired to train the puppy and he is doing very well. IF interested in adopting him you would need to contact Sarah direct at 309-208-1589 She can tell you his history and see if you would be able to provide a suitable  home. The puppy has been traumatized at his first home but is doing extremely well under Rhoda's tutelage.  Below is Iris (Rhoda's daughter) carrying a very relaxed Cavapoo puppy. 

He is beautiful red with white markings and this puppy MUST be groomed regularly as he is non shedding. 

He needs a loving home .

He enjoys sitting on the couch watching the family but would probably do best for a family with older kids that would not man handle him.

If you win him over he would be your loving companion for years to come. He really does want to please and wants to be part of a family. 

Ruth stayed with mom this morning while we all went to church. Ruth sent a text that mom wasn't feeling well, her blood pressure was dropping quite low. She was put back in bed to get her head down and it came up a little. Craig Stickling had the first message this morning, it was really convicting reading Roman's 1. David Obergfel had the afternoon message on 2 Thessalonians 1. If I have time tomorrow I'll try to listen to both again. After church the Bible class came to the lake for games, hay rack rides at the playground then to Joan's for the picnic.  My entire family came over to our house for supper.  Mark was going to grill salmon but forgot and ended up visiting John at the playground. We had plenty of chicken so it really didn't matter. That was served with wild rice, grilled asparagus (thanks to Nolan), lettuce salad, deviled eggs, broccili salad and for dessert hot apple crisp with ice cream.  

After dinner we all went to the playground where the kids had the court first playing dodge ball.

They had to get off the court when the volley ball players arrived. I went inside to help Diane with mom. She was not having a good afternoon. She just couldn't get comfortable. Gabe Stickling, Molly's husband, ( who is Spark and Rhonda's second daughter) came over after supper and evaluated mom for therapy and gave us all some great ideas. He was encouraged at how mom was able to use her left arm and by the time he was done we were all encouraged. Mom is such a strong willed person she is determined to get better.  I didn't go out to watch any of the volley ball games and when the sun went down it became too cold to be outside without a coat if one was not playing. The grand kids got to go on the hay rack rides in the dark. I think Spark was the driver of the tractor.  Tom Haefli (Rhonda's brother) went to Middle grove to groom horses and was a little worried about Mika as he was not moving.  Mike drove out to check on him this evening and found Mika was just fine.  We think he was just so relaxed with getting groomed and the warm sunshine he just didn't really want to move.