Boy, is the time ever flying! It's been a wild week. On Saturday I noticed that Ed was favoring one of his ears and when I checked it out I saw the ear was oozing behind the lobe and that the skin was supporating. I immediately washed the area with hydrogen peroxide and painted the area with tincture of iodine. When that dried I applied a triple antibiotic ointment and pulled out my homeopathic remedy box to give him some Hypericum for pain, Merc Sol for the swollen glands beneath the ear, and Belladonna because he was running a fever in the ear and its exterior was very red. When we saw the doctor on Monday he checked to be sure Ed didn't have an ear infection and told me to continue what I was doing.
The next day, I got a call from our doctor's nurse saying that my Dad was in the Emergency Room because he fainted while getting a Lovenox shot. Dad said that the nurse who gave him the shot pushed the needle plunger so hard that he couldn't stand the pain and fainted. When I got to the Emergency Room I made sure the ER doctor knew Dad's side of what happened. Geez, Louise! We waited until they released Dad and then Ed and I followed him home. (I had to take Ed with me because Tom was getting ready to leave for his appointment at Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield for his melanoma skin check-up with the dermatologist there. I left Lara at home and figured that if I needed to be away with Dad for very long that I would just go back to the house and get her.)
We had Special Olympics bowling on Thursday. There were six of the young people, and only Tom and I and Annie's Dad, Mike, who showed up. I wound up keeping score (I don't mind because it gives me practice) while Tom worked with both Lara and the bowling ramp and Ed. It was a fast two hours.
And, I've been trying to get my 200 gallons of collected maple sap boiled down before it spoils. Fortunately the temperatures have dropped (it was down to 0F last night) so I'm not worried about the sap right now. The bad news is that we are so dry here that the danger of forest fire is very high and I don't like the idea of boiling down the sap outside when these hazardous conditions exist. We are very careful with our fire and as you can see from the picture that shows our sugaring set up (this is last year' picture, but the set-up hasn't changed) that we have a concrete block fire enclosure screen and we use a US Forest Service approved fire ring that is set over a shallow pit where we build the fire. We always have a rake, shovel, and water handy. And if it's really windy, as it was yesterday, we won't start a fire.
Today after taking care of the chickens and eggs, I worked on Dad's birthday sweater, did the laundry, and then ran out to the field after catheterizing Lara after lunch and scattered in the chicken pasture area the 5 lbs. of red clover seed that I bought from Bernie last week . We are supposed to have some rain/snow tomorrow so hopefully that will be enough moisture to get the seed started.
While I was in the field I checked out the high tunnel and moved a couple of the downed fence posts. That is one of my big projects for this year -- fixing the fence along the creek side of the field. The other is repairing the end walls on the high tunnel. I figure I will need about 50 fence posts for the fence, which I should have in my post pile that I gathered last Fall. I am still thinking about what to do with the end walls on the high tunnel: should I buy new panels or build solid frames and just have the poly side walls. Hmmmm.
My new hops rhizomes came today in the mail so I will have to get them into the ground ASAP, and the cabbages, leeks, and herbs seedlings are doing well in the basement. I need to get more seeds started! I also have to get a couple of mushroom logs drilled and plugged with the Shitaki mushroom spawn I have. I could sure use some time management tips (besides having to get up at the crack of dawn LOL).
Did I tell you that the big red fox is back?
Oh, Dear -- there just isn't enough time!
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