The shitake mushroom logs that we prepared last spring have started to produce! They are delicious! I have been reading up on the health benefits of eating shitake mushrooms. People in China have been eating them for more than 6,000 years! They are known for promoting longevity. They boost the immune system, are good for the heart and are said to have anti-cancer activity. My Brother, a Friend and I prepared these logs a year ago. I have watered, watched them closely and about a month ago I soaked them each in the trough for a couple of days. I was warned that I would have a wait, but I was still anxious and worried that I had wasted time, water and energy nurturing these dead hunks of wood.

3/11/2009

I planted my first seeds of the season last Saturday, sunflowers, ornamental corn, hot peppers, cleome, only to find yesterday that my flock enjoyed a scratch and sand bath right where I had weeded, tilled and planted my seeds! I turned my hose on them in retaliation. I am going to have to come up with a better deterrent before I waste any more of my seed.

On Sunday I mucked out the barn. It was dry, so my pitchfork was not as heavy as usual. That was a treat! As much shoveling even dry shit can be a treat. Oliver has grown accustomed to my barn cleaning activities, so he is less curious and obtrusive. I had to move him to the round pen this summer after he turned over the loaded wheel barrow the second time. I enjoy a little game now and then, but this game was only fun for him. The game I like is letting him break up the new straw bales. I can work while he plays with the bale. Click HERE to view a slide show of last weekend’s fun!

His wound had healed nicely for the most part, but there were two scabs that were just not right. They would get large and warty looking, so I would pick them off and let them start to heal again. He and I both were getting tired of this same old ritual, with no sign that it would have a different outcome. Then my friend Linda gave me a miracle elixir! It is called Underwood Horse Medicine ! I noticed a difference in the first few days and I feel that in the next week or two it should be completely healed. I wish that I had this stuff from the beginning. If you have horses or dogs, goats, sheep, cows, even ostriches, you should have a bottle of this stuff on hand for emergencies. I know that I will not be without a reserve bottle. Thank you to Linda and Bobby, from me and my Twisted Oliver.

I finally got my new snail mail box installed on its post at the street. Thank you John Hundley! I am still waiting for you to bring me your mail box to paint.

Yes, I turned 49 today. I appreciate all of the well wishes that I received, but happy is not the way I have described my birthday for some time now. Getting old makes me angry. My body can not keep up with my ambitions. My productivity is limited and each year that ticks by only reminds me that I have too few of them left to accomplish all that I want to do! I am angry about all of the opportunities I lost because of immaturity, yet now that I am mature I have less time and energy to pursue them. What a cruel joke! Crap! I sound like someone’s cranky Grandma.

3/04/2009

Two weeks ago today, my brother made an investment in his future and had his right hip replaced. For a man that makes his living running a landscaping company walking is a very important aspect of his job. It was not the pain that he dealt with in the act of doing his work every day that forced him to take this action. It was that he was finding it more and more difficult to get a good night’s sleep.

His surgery went well. After only two nights in the hospital I took him home with me. He was a good patient, but he was determined to get back to normal life as soon as possible. My biggest challenge was to rein him in and keep him warm. I had to stop him from going out and fetching firewood several times. He about roasted me out of my house! I think that the blood thinners that he was taking sapped his body heat.

It had been a long time since we spent more than an hour alone together and that is usually spent as I prepare his weekly bank deposit while he takes one phone call after another. We share regular phone calls to keep up with one another, but even living so close busy lives leave little time to connect. I will not try to deny that I enjoyed holding him captive here for is own good.

I am so happy that he is recuperating quickly and now able to look after himself. I did not want to take him home, but I did. I know how I hate to be away from my home, bed, animals. I stayed, he cooked dinner, Joel played his guitar while we watched Duke take FSU. I slept in Paul’s bed. Thank you for changing the sheets for me, Paul!

When I got home this morning, after taking Joel to school and stopping by the feed store, I was greeted by some very confused critters. My short nursing career has disrupted their daily routine and I am sure that my spending the night away perplexed them. Steve is getting back to normal life again and so will we. Feeding will take place at the usual times… starting tomorrow!

2/16/2009

I don’t know anyone that is not feeling this un-named economic situation to some degree. My part time employment, that provides most of my income, has essentially disappeared and as an artist I can be assured that demand for my work is virtually nonexistent. I am not spending money on anything but that necessary to sustain life.

Actually, this is not so different than my life before the downturn. I am normally very frugal. My mother taught me how to manage my resources. She was the master! Being one of six children, raised by a widowed woman in southern West Virginia afforded her the experience and knowledge that helped her provide for her three children alone after her divorce. I feel fortunate that I had their example to draw from in my life.

To get through this we are all going to have to be more creative. We can get through this. We have done it before. We are going to have to be less wasteful, frivolous. We will all find out what is really important and what we are made of. I know that there are many that are afraid that their quality of life will suffer. Maybe, the things that constitute quality of life must change, but changing people’s values is a difficult thing to do. Madison Avenue is better at it than the Vatican is. How sad is that?

I have been taking in web design work for a fraction of the price I usually ask. Although I am earning less, I feel a sense of hope in working for people that are looking toward the future. They have not given up and they are not looking for anyone to “fix” the problem for them. I too am making changes to adapt to this new world that I must live and do business in.

I am excited to be born in interesting times! I enjoy the challenge. Please visit my barter page. I am willing to trade artwork and web design services for items listed on this page. Am I willing to work for chicken feed? Frankly, yes! Horse, dog and cat feed too!