Thankful For Good News

 It wasn't raining this morning but was predicted to start raining by 1:00 pm. We arrived at church at 9:40 am. Mike Kaisner had the morning message on Psalm 113 and Acts 24. During lunch I sent a text to Dr. Hoerr asking if the colt was too far gone to try the Madigan squeeze but didn't hear back during the lunch hour. David had the afternoon message on Jesus' early years Luke 2. Click HERE to watch it. It wasn't raining when we exited the church but by the time we started driving the rain started and it rained all the way home. We got a quarter of an inch but then it stopped. When we got home from church I opened up AC Central and found that Fred Witzig had the message in Washington. This is another one of those sermons that you won't want to miss, just click HERE to watch that.  Rhoda came over to ride Jury and took her for a long trail ride. 

She rode over to Valiant and wouldn't you know Jury stopped and showed.

Rhoda took her right over to the breeding stand and Valiant got her covered. Jury was put away, Rhoda used the golf cart to take the saddle back.

The Pickles the cat came right over to where I was standing and laid down putting her back paw on my sneaker.

She really craves attention from people. On the way back to the house I stopped to take a picture of the tiny rose bush that Ray and Shirley gave me. It has one bloom right now but the promise of more. I'm so glad it survived. 

We heard in church today that Ray was in the hospital and are praying it is nothing serious.

Mark's marigolds are doing great.

Mark, Rhoda and I drove to Gil's for supper tonight. Phil and Anna were there with Gertie's family and all enjoying a meal out so we stopped by their table and visited a bit. After supper we took the golf cart over to the barn where the volleyball players were playing inside as it was much to wet outside.

Dr. Hoerr sent the picture below of Sheena's colt.

He wrote: He was standing on his own this morning, He is on his feet more and starting to hold his head up this afternoon. Starting to have a little suckle reflex. These are all improvements so let's carry on another day.

Thankful for good news. I've been praying for this colt off and on all day. Now if ONLY he would learn to nurse tonight.

Abram & Addie's Wedding

 It started raining about 3:00 am, a nice soft rain. By 6:00 am the rain was coming down much harder and by the time I needed to leave for mom's around 8:00 am our rain gauge was showing almost 5 and  a half inches.

What is a little confusing it Diane's AND Rhonda's rain gauges were only showing a bit more than 4 inches. So do we have a defective rain gauge or did we just get more at our house even though we are in the same neighborhood.

Ruth had already arrived at mom's so she took the morning shift while I ran to Aldi for groceries for mom's house and my house. Ruth left when I got back around 11:00 am. I made a beef brisket and salad for mom and Aunt Jinnie for lunch. Karin came back early, just after 1:00 pm so I left to get ready for Abram and  Addie's wedding. Karin helped mom get ready and by 2:20 pm Joan, Aunt Jinnie, mom and I were loaded and on our way to the Cannery in Eureka for the wedding. The rain had stopped and we made it just in time for the pictures. Left to right are Dan, Susan, Addie, Abram, Levi and Sofia with mom in the front.

Of course we needed one with mom and the happy couple.

We had a nice place to wait while the rest of the pictures were taken. We were ushered to our seat then just before the wedding was to start the ushers brought in the grandparent.

Abram brought Dan and Susan in just before the wedding party.

David had the wedding ceremony. The video below is of some of the ceremony.

Almost all the guests then went down stairs into another room where drinks and chips were served. We stayed upstairs as there was not an elevator. Dan brought over a small table and served us salsa, chips and some drinks. We had to try the Mexican drinks of horchata, the pineapple and the hibiscus. All were very sweet but good. Earl and Dixie's grandson was the DJ for the reception.

The reception dinner was put on by a local Mexican family and was authentic Mexican food. It really was delicious. The desserts were cookies they even had a cookie wedding cake. Mom insisted on taking the forks home, the forks, spoons and knives were all made out of wood.

Those were put in her backpack.

The sunset on the way home was interesting. It started out gold but by the time we reached Hanna City Glasford Rd the sun was a big round deep RED ball sitting on the horizon. I could not get good pictures as I was in the back of the wheel chair van but we all sure admired the colors.

 

Sheena's Heartache

 Sheena had a black colt this morning. I discovered him standing by her at 6:45 am on my way up to the barn. At first I was delighted but soon realized there was something wrong. He had not yet nursed and didn't seem interested in even trying. I was able to get them outside the paddock while waiting for Mike to arrive. The colt laid down and even that wasn't quite right with his head tucked into his belly. 

We got him standing easily but again, he was lethargic and didn't seem interested in trying to nurse.

We walked him to the stall barn, got them into a stall, tried to put him in the correct position but that didn't help. I thought if we could do the Madigan Squeeze he may end up ok.  If  you have not heard about this procedure this is what the internet says about it: The Madigan foal squeeze technique is a procedure in which thoracic pressure is applied to a young foal in order to induce recumbency and a slow-wave sleep. The procedure can be used as a method of restraint or as a treatment for foals exhibiting clinical signs of neonatal maladjustment syndrome. IF interested in learning about the Madigan Squeeze click HERE. I called the clinic at 8:00 am and asked Emma if they had anyone at the vet clinic that could do it and she replied Dr. Pallen could and she would call her to see if she would come out and would call me right back. When she called back it was to report Dr. Hoerr wanted Mike to bring Sheena and the colt into the clinic. We loaded them up and off Mike went with the colt standing next to Sheena.

Mike sent back the message that the colt's heart was not beating correctly and may have a hole in the heart.  They put him on the gurney, strapped him in to treat him. Sheena was having a fit until Mike opened the stall door and let Sheena touch him. From that point on she was perfect as long as she could touch him.

Dr. Hoerr also treated him for dummy foal syndrome but as far as I know they did not do the squeeze. They milked Sheena and tube fed the colt getting lots of colostrum into his belly.

Diane stayed with mom until Mike left with Sheena then I took her place and stayed until Karin came home. Aunt Jinnie read her book to us then after lunch mom put on a Christian movie she found on Pureflix while Aunt Jinnie worked on her needlepoint.

I haven't heard how the colt is doing but no news is better than bad news at this point. We heated up the walleye in the air fryer, fried up the left over baked potato from last night and added an egg roll to the meal and that was good enough for dinner. It should have been served with a big salad but neither of us felt like eating that. This evening Mark worked on cleaning out and organizing his car which really needed it. I got 2 loads of laundry done and then just rested.  Amazon has season 3 of the Chosen on prime for free. I have watched it before but am watching it again and enjoying it as much or more than the first time of watching. 

It IS FINISHED, well almost

The coffee maker worked perfect, the coffee was done, good and hot and stayed hot for 3 hours. I would almost rather keep this one and take that awful Keurig to the barn but if I did that it would be very hard to write down the instructions on how to program it and it never makes all 12 cups. The guests staying in the apartment pulled out around 6:00 am so before breakfast I took the golf cart up to start laundry. We had 6 construction workers staying this week so ended up with 3 loads at the apartment and took 3 loads down to the house.  Phil and Anna worked until 10:30 pm yesterday and quit when they ran out of tile. Anna was back in the barn really early this morning cleaning up while Phil made a run to pick up more tile. Below is the first time I've seen the desk completely empty.

I left for the walk after talking to her. When we got to Joan's house had to stop to take a couple pictures of her hibiscus plant that is blooming so beautifully.

The bush has many many buds on it all getting ready to open.

Joan came out of her garage carrying a chair. We thought maybe she planned on sitting a lot on this walk.

Really she was taking it to mom's, John and Beth had arrived and were driving down to Gulf Shores to stay in Island Royale and offered to take the chair down with them.

After the walk I started on the dinner for 30 tonight making 3 big crockpots of lasagna, slicing 6 big loaves of French bread, spreading butter in the slices then wrapping each loaf in aluminum foil for heating later. Next 24 eggs were boiled deviled eggs were made. Once those were in the fridge the poppy seed salad dressing was made for the salad. In between working in the kitchen my machines would be changed every hour or so then I would run up to the apartment to change the machines up there. David was the first to arrive to help Phil and Anna but Nolan arrived right after. We had 2 Meister trucks here to install the air-conditioner and furnace.

Nolan was put to work drilling holes in the ceiling of each of the 3 bathrooms to run the duct.

Philip got the hot water heater going along with the air conditioner then he and David moved the washer and dryer in and hooked those up.

Jozsef, Fedi's brother made the banister for the stairwell and today Phil and Nolan installed it.

There are 20 steps to climb to get into the game room and the banister will help us old folks get all the way up.  Anna finished the tile work in the bathroom, no pictures I was just too busy. By 3:00 pm things were getting finished up. There are still small things to get done in the living area but most are minor. 
We can't really say it is finished but can say, "almost!"

At noon I drove in to Dollar General in Bartonville to pick up shampoo and conditioner for the apartment guests, the 5th wheel guest and the new barn guests all coming in tonight for the reunion. Next stop was across the street to Kroger for the salad toppings. When home the laundry was taken up to the apartment and the beds made. Braelyn is down to clean it today and was going to start around 1:30 pm. She should easily get it done by the 3:00 pm check in. Mike sent the picture below with the words, the hay is delivered. 

We had such a drought this spring we were concerned about finding enough hay for the herd at Middle Grove this winter. The price was higher but what a relief to have enough good hay. That meant I had to run some money in to the bank but stopped first at Diane's to pick up the check from them for the same amount. We should be able to pay ourselves back once the foals are weaned and picked up.  Do you know how to make a million dollars as a farmer?  The answer is a simple one, just start with two million.

At 3:20 pm the food was taken over to the new barn. The eggs and salad were put in the fridge. Yesterday I took the desserts:  blueberries, strawberries, ice cream and cheese cake. The crockpots were plugged in and instructions given on serving the food. When I walked in the door after that I went straight to the recliner, stretched out and put my feet up.  Mark arrived pretty quickly and decided we should go out to eat at the Bartonville Diner so we did. We each had the senior walleye dinner, brought back half for an entire meal tomorrow and enjoyed every bite. I think everyone is going to sleep good tonight!

Long Working Day

 Our walk this morning was extra long but 4 of us were there and it seemed that each had a lot to say.  Joan was with mom this morning and took mom and Aunt Jinnie down to the home to visit Aunt Bernie. Aunt Bernie and Aunt Jinnie are both 94 years old and mom is the youngster at 91 years old.

I left for Sam's club to pick up supplies for the new barn.  We have our first event starting tomorrow, a family reunion. There was much that needed stocking. When I got back Anna was here working so I joined her first putting together the towel rack for the master bath and then giving that room a good cleaning. Anna installed the rack while I was cleaning.

While I was working on the shower she was busy caulking.

Mike and Diane went to Middle Grove and sent back the picture below of the horses lounging under the trees.

I quit at 4:30 to grab some lunch and brought in a coffee maker that had been donated from Karin's library. That was given a good cleaning and programmed to go off tomorrow at 5:00 am. I just want to make sure it works well before taking it to the barn. Rhoda and Lee arrived to help Anna and Phil this evening so I kept their kids while Mark went to the fellowship hall. Sandy was giving a demonstration with her horses. Braelyn, Taegan and Kensley got to go too.  I took Iris and Zeke on a long golf cart ride going on most of the trails. It was so long Iris thought we must have gotten lost in the woods. The picture below is just as we were starting out.

We saw Gabe and Josiah working on repairing Spark's barn.

Nice to have carpenters in the family, although Gabe is really a PT at St. Francis. 

When we finished our golf cart ride, we stopped at the barn and Iris was able to help her dad install doors.

They soon found the play area with all the new toys and that kept them busy for quite a while.

Rhoda was busy putting up tile in the bathroom.

Anna was outside cutting the tile, she would bring it in for Rhoda to apply. Philip was busy installing the furnace and air conditioner. The water heater, and water softener were put in last night.

The kids got a little restless so I took them into the Wildcat so I could get a few pictures for the new airbnb ad. Iris found the bunk room and immediately had to climb up on the bunk. 

She then ran up the stairs and found the big bed with the mirrored closet so we got a picture of Iris times 2.

They were soon ready to head back to the barn. The picture below is of them heading to the door.

Rhoda and Lee left after 8:00 pm. Mark got home around 9:00 pm and said the girls enjoyed the evening. I'm very glad they went. Below is a video of just some of the day.

It is almost 10:00 pm and Phil and Anna are still hard at work in the barn. What a long working day.

More Progress

Pickles the cat slept outside our door again. I'm not sure if our old cat is running her out of the barn or she just wants to be with people that badly that she will sleep outside. I think I'll try to move the cat bed from the barn into the garage so she at least has some protection. I just don't want an inside cat. The church newsletter called The Connected was emailed out and we got it this morning. I checked to see if the pig roast was published and it was but when I read it I started laughing.  When I wrote to Elisabeth, the person who puts together the Connected,  about the pig roast I used the words Meister compound to describe where it was to be held. Mark told me to take compound out as that is just not a suitable word to use for our little neighborhood. The words were changed to Meister recreation area but the wording on the connected said it was to be held at the Meister compound. Of course Mark had to be shown the connected and we both laughed.  I took the golf cart to mom's before the walk this morning with some French vanilla cream for Aunt Jinnie's coffee. She was up but had not yet had her coffee so got it there just in time. The cheese cake, blueberries, my purse and the empty study box was put in mom's wheel chair van for the trip to Berean all before our walk. On the walk we stopped to admire the surprise lilies that popped up in Diane's hosta area. 

Mom even had some pop out in an unexpected place.

I didn't go home after the walk but went right into mom's so we could start loading the van. Diane and Aunt Jinnie came with us to the Berean office. We had a great time volunteering there. If you would like to read about our work there click HERE. On the way home we stopped at Sam's Club so I could pick up a few needed items for the Thursday meal at the barn. Once back to mom's Diane stayed and served lunch there but I needed to go home to put groceries away. This afternoon I stopped in at the barn to check out the progress from this morning. Anna found the perfect rug for the bedroom but now we need to find a matching bedspread for that king size bed. The one on the bed she got for free but it just doesn't match.

Phil was working on the air conditioner and got the outside unit set.

The master bathroom vanity was wired in, the mirrors hung and the lights installed.

Sarah gave Anna some toys and books for the kids area.

We need to find just one more chair for that area. 

Mike and Diane took Evan out and let him have free time in the round pen. Phil and Anna's girls played here after supper while their parents worked. They ended up at Berlica's house and worked on cleaning out the playhouse, then coming here for supper and some foam to cut into cushions. Below I am taking them back to the playhouse on the golf cart.

They were pretty thrilled with the foam.