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So now we know dates.  The 20 and 22 they are gonna haul them away and kill them.  Just the reactors and the one traceback cow that didn't react.  One did and one didn't.  The vets even sound like they don't think any have TB but they are just doing what they are told.  And sounds like they are gonna use the meat cause it only affects the lungs....if they have it.  So that's good at least they will be somewhat useful.

And ya we are getting paid decent money for them.  More than you thought Mrs Shoes, we haven't gotten the check yet but we will before the cows come out.  So it will buy back those cows in the fall and we will just run a few less this summer.

And ya, through milk is the easiest way to get TB, that's one of the big reasons they pasteurize, and evry load of milk out of a dairy gets tested and then that's a big issue for dairies but they haven't had a case of TB in milk for a really long time, I used to work at a dairy and we could drink all the raw milk we wanted but only could sell it to people using for animals, such as calves, they are pretty picky about it, kinda annoying but I guess they gotta have rules to protect the stupid.

And as much as I woulda liked to stay home in bed it just isn't a good week for it, after helping Thursday and not feeling great then resting Friday I headed up to Stoney Plain for the tack sale up there,  didn't do as good as last fall cause it seemed like same amount of people but twice as many booths, but I still sold more than I bought so that's always a bonus!

Then last night was out Annual Homestead Coulee $1000 draw dance.  I didn't drink as I am taking cold medications but still ended up visiting till 4 in the morning.  Stupid time change, shoulda been 3 lol.  Oh well today's a rest day for me and then the ponies get a massage Monday when the weather is supposed to be so much nicer, yay!!!

Was kinda funny when I started coughing Wednesday Neil laughs and "says is it TB?" haha then last night a neighbor who helped us all week said "maybe its TB", his wife says "that's mean!"  then I told them Neil suggested the same thing and we all got a good laugh about it.   I said I'm just allergic to winter lol

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

Yesterday was the day they came back and looked for reactors.  There was one blood reactor they were looking for, called her Eliza.  Not sure that was the name of the test of what.  We had 25 other cows who reacted to the injection and 2 bulls.  Sounds like they are gonna kill all them but we are not sure when.  I think they will do a tissue test on them and that takes 12 weeks to grow.  But now they are not sure whether to take them cause they are pregnant and due in a monthish or wait.  Personally it sucks either way but I think its kinder to kill the cows now then to calve them out and kill cows and calves.  But again we wait for a phone call to see what we are doing.  Oh and the LIS (Livestock inspection services) came out and read the brands on every cow, that took a bit longer than necessary but they actually were pretty quick, helps they have done it a million times.  They shaved a few but that was quick as well.

I also woke up Tuesday with a sore throat and was coughing a bit, didn't think too much of it just thought it was cause of the cold and being outside then Wednesday I was feeling worse and coughing way more so we got extra help and it's a good thing, the cows were not too keen on going back in but they were not that bad.  But ya today its worse.  And I have to go to a tack sale tomorrow.  Which I want to go to but boy do I feel horrible!  Guess its time for cold drugs and hope it gets better.  I am always paranoid about getting it in my lungs cause they are bad.

And its snowing again, can this ever end???

Ponies :)

Well been a long boring week here.  Haven't seen my Easy since a week ago Friday :(  Been too sick and tired to actually leave the house except for the bull sale Monday, 2 1/2 hours sitting at the hall was more than enough.

Until today my neighbor wanted to try a saddle to see how it rides and she borrowed Jess and rode around and meanwhile I brushed Dee with the intent of getting on a riding a few minutes to get a video.  Not a chance was way too tired from everything else.  Put them away and just came inside and rested :(  Boo but at least I know I was right to not go riding this week.  I got a doctors appointment on Tuesday but I think I'm getting over it not sure if I'll cancel or not have to see how this weekend goes.

I'd like to go riding Monday but it might be too much of an effort.  Oh well at least I got to see the horses today.  Thought about keeping them in but I don't wanna do chores everyday yet, but at the end of the month Easy comes home (yay) and will have to start then anyways so maybe in another week or so Ill have more energy.

Nice to have a good check on everyone out there they are all fat, except Dee who never gets fat.  The pony is a bit lazy she just trots in when everyone else lopes haha but I saw her do a pretty nice rollback to get out of Dee's way today.  I think if shes not so fat she will be a little more athletic too.

Sick

Ugh I hate being sick.  Its only a cold and I totally blame the hubby for it, he come home last weekend with it and shared it with me.  Yay.  Well now for a few days rest and hopefully I will be over it in no time (its already been 5 days) So sad today I had to miss out on the chance to ride the pony with my friends today :(

I went riding Thursday and had a pretty good lesson, the barn was so busy so I never ended up staying long afterwards and got asked about it I guess they all stayed till 5 and left me a beer, darn next time I guess.  I was told to use my feet more even if its wrong get those feet moving.  And I have mostly quit leaning but I still need to keep watching the cow more and stop harder.  Always can stop harder and wait, I'm not very good at wait.  Then Friday I met up with Shirley in Nanton for a short visit while she was on her way through.  Then my friend was is Strathmore so I met her for lunch and we went shopping to the tack stores, never bought anything.  And then she wanted to see Easy so we headed up there.  Wasn't sure if he'd been rode or not but he hadn't so he said I should get on him and he had cows in so we worked cows.  Was super good I dunno what happened but I even picked fast cows and it was good.  He asked if I had been drinking, and no I hadn't haha.

Easy didn't even get upset cause when I went to get him he had just got his supper.  That's his favorite thing.  But next best is working cows and as soon as he saw cows he was his cheerful self again.  His previous owner was there last week and asked if I was gonna pay him more for him now that I like him haha not likely.  And he said I'm riding him too much he likes to be rode one day a week and eat the rest.  I laughed and said wouldn't we all.  Doug just shakes his head and thinks its good for Easy to be rode and he seems to enjoy it, he's bored otherwise just hanging out in his stall or in an outside pen pestering the horses next to him.

Oh well soon he can come home and hang out here with the pony, I'm pretty sure the two of them will have to be in all summer cause they will both get obese otherwise.

Still haven't decided on what I'm gonna do this summer.  I was given the option of just showing once a month and having fun or really going for it and trying for top 5 in my class, he thinks that's possible but then that means I have to go to every show and that gets expensive and time consuming.  Still have a few days to think about it the first summer show isn't till the 15th of April.  I'm kinda leaning towards once a month and take the winter off and then next yea go all out.  I have lots of other things I wanna do this summer to so its hard to just focus on showing.

Not Back to Normal Yet :(

Haven't posted in what feels like forever, was kinda hoping to get a computer of my own so I could post some pictures but so far haven't had a chance.

Neil is home and he was feeling good for a few days and did way too much and now is not feeling as good and we headed to the doctor and he has him booked for more tests.  I dunno what's going on and I think the doctor is kinda stumped as well.  Its frustrating to not know and frustrating to Neil to not be better.

In other news we have about 145 calves on the ground, sure seems like a million when they are running around, lol.  I am not a very good counter but if I go in the afternoons when its warm they are usually sleeping and easier to count.  Had my friend S come up and help me move a bunch more cows north that were hanging out in the creek and I couldn't get them out by myself.  It was such a nice day we went quicker than she expected and so we did a walk around the cows afterwards as well.  Pretty soon it will be time to move them out of that field as well, I dunno where time goes these days.

Got 5 more heifers in the corral that are in no hurry to calve, I sure wish we woulda left our bulls out for shorter, I kept saying we should but ya know cant change they way things are done forever.  I cant wait for the day I can sleep as long as I feel like it.  And one day soon we are gonna move all the heifers that calved out onto grass so I can quit feeding them as well.  But I think we are hoping to get em all calved first.

Not much else is going on I would like to go to a lesson one day but it seems like the weeks are just full and busy with driving Neil here and there and checking cows and fixing fence and doing chores, seems to be no extra time :(  Only good thing is I am getting lots of riding in and I need that break from Neil doing something I enjoy.  I sure would like life back to normal one day soon though.

I do have scrap booking retreat on the 23-25 of May booked and so am hoping to be able to go to that it will be a nice break even if I don't get much done.  Otherwise I hate to plan too much into the future now.

Bad Day Turns Out Good

Well Neil is still in the hospital but he is on the mend.  Been 2 weeks now, everyone panics cause its been so long but I would rather him there healing than home sick.

On Friday I rode up with him in the back of an ambulance to Red Deer so they could drain what they thought was a pus pocket.  We got there and they wouldn't let me watch :(  something about using x-rays and ct scans to find it.  But anyways it wasn't pus just a separate pocket of fluid, the same stuff they drained out on last Monday.  They also gave him 2 units of blood on Thursday and that and removing this pocket seemed to make a huge difference.  They left a drain in so it would completely drain out,  and so another attachment, what a pain.  But so far so good hes feeling a lot better, even got bored in there, but hes still weak.  On Thursday there was quite some excitement at 10:30 at night they thought he was showing signs of tuberculosis and so they rushed him into another room and all his furniture and the other guy in his room and did a major disinfecting.  Then they put a sign on his door saying airborne disease must wear mask, gown and gloves in the room.  And he was swelling up so they gave him a water pill to pee every 10 minutes, what a nuisance, he said he didn't get much sleep that night.

But it was a false alarm and everything is back to normal, hes still in a private room and he will be in there until his drain isn't draining anymore and the doctor is sure he wont come back.  He really wanted to get out tomorrow for his birthday but it doesn't sound like its gonna happen.  He even walked all the way to the x-ray and back this morning but was really tired afterwards.  I am glad they are gonna keep him till hes stronger less work for me to take care of him too.

Its been going well here, except this morning I lost a calf in the heifers that maybe coulda been saved if I was more invasive.  I find I would rather wait and let them do it without interfering if at all possible, but in this case I shoulda helped her sooner, but whats done is done I cant fix t now, too bad cause she was such a nice quiet cow but she didn't even turn around to look at her calf, she just walked away from it after we pulled it.  I tried to put one of the twins with her but he just kept climbing through the fence away from her so after about 3 times I gave up on that and just turned her out.  Was a pretty rotten morning, had me wondering if everything was going wrong.  But then had a nap after lunch and rode through the cows and I felt much better.  I am always nervous riding through the cows cause Neil always says they are wild and scared of a horse and I just don't do it very often, so easy to just grab Bob and drive, but I guess it wont get easier/more normal for me unless I do it.  And it was nice, only took about an hour and I didn't even need to wear a coat.  And I saw a calf being born, so all is alright in my world again.

 Although I do want it back to normal again, I don't like this.  It wouldn't be so bad if I never had to spend 4 hours to go see Neil everyday but still would rather it be like it was before.  Although I know when he gets home he will still need help and be weak, they said not 100% till June :(  That seems so long away.  Although as much as I complain I would rather do this than be the one in the hospital.  I think the hardest part is its hard for anyone to understand unless they have gone through this, and the worst of it is we have no family around to help besides Neils dad who has been coming up every couple days to help out.  But seems like everyone else has tones of family around and here I am all alone.

Sick Husband

Last week Neil had a cold, and it wasn't that bad, and then it got worse, he thought it turned into the flu, so he laid around for a couple days and then he asked me to take him to the hospital, I was a little surprised he seemed wimpy but I thought all men are when they are sick.  So we went in to emergency and the triage nurse looked at him and asked all kinds of questions then they send you back to waiting room to wait for doctor.  About 5 minutes later the doctor saw him and said its not the flu its pneumonia.  And the said they wanted to start him on iv antibiotics for a few days and since we live so far from the hospital they would like to keep him in.  He agreed cause it was a pretty awful drive for him.  So we got there at 8 and by 11:30 he was in a room and they even brought him lunch at noon, pretty organized I was surprised.  He didn't eat it of course but it was there.  That was last Tuesday the first.  I left and went home to check heifers and bring him some clothes cause he was wearing his jeans and no one wants to sleep in jeans in the hospital.  So I brought him some stuff and he was feeling pretty bad, slept in the chair so he could stay upright and not cough.

The next day he made it into the bed but had it sitting all the way up and he was a lot more cheerful but still not great.  kept getting a little better everyday.  Then Sunday he woke up and said hard to breathe so they put him on oxygen which he never needed before cause they kept testing blood oxygen levels and they were good.  Also gave him a couple puffers to open his lungs.  Worked for a while then Monday they figured should drain some fluid around his left lung, the right side was all cleared up and so they took a bunch out and he said wasn't bad but didn't seem to make a lot of difference.  Took a CT scan today and no cancer but might send him to a specialist cause they are thinking there is maybe a blockage of some sort stopping him from healing.

I also think its taking longer cause he is probly going through withdrawal symptoms from not smoking for a week, he says he doesn't miss it but the its still hard on the system.  He asked his doctor for something to quit and he wont give him something unless he starts missing it cause no need to introduce more nicotine if unnecessary.  I hope he quits, would be an ideal time.

Meanwhile I am here taking care of things on the farm, not too bad, we have heifers and cows calving so far no problems and I think only 13 heifers left out of 33, I haven't worried too much about cows, still feeding a little so they all bunch up and then I can go look at the ones who don't come up.  Got about 19 out there, they are so funny even when i don't want to they make me smile.

The worst part is we had to cancel our trip to Texas which doesn't bother me cause he's sick but I really wanted to go.  But I guess there is always next year.  He will still need care when he gets home but I am hoping they keep him till hes pretty good.  Seems like a long time to be in the hospital nowadays but they seem in no rush and they hospital is not full so its good.  I sure have a better appreciation for nurses and am glad I am not one I dont think anyone would like me after a while.

New Years

Saw this picture on Facebook and it made me think of how I felt on Christmas Eve with Jessie :)

Other than that, I got to ride Friday and it was good but I was exhausted, thought it was from boxing day shopping but turns out I had a chest infection.  I headed to the doctor on New Years Eve and got a prescription, the doctor was a little concerned I was an hour from the hospital but I was just glad I was finally gonna be feeling better soon.  Pretty sure I slept for a week and am feeling better now but still coughing and super tired.  Gotta get riding soon, wanted to today but there was a blizzard this morning and the roads are snow covered and I cant even get out of the yard :(  Probly best for me to have another day of rest but I am getting bored!  And now I just joined a horsemanship challenge on Facebook so that should be fun too....if the weather and my lungs smarten up!

Cold and Sunny

Finally we got rid of the wind!  that was awful, made the day seem soo long.

 I had an appointment at the doctor in Hanna because lst time I went, on the 14th, he told me to come back if I wast better when the perscription ran out.  Well I was hoping i was better, so I waited and decided I am not so back I went. 

He listned to me cough and breathe, and I told him it hurts when I breathe deeply which he said is Pluresy and he hears something odd, so sent me for chest x-rays cause maybe a touch of pnemonia.  He gave me a stronger perscription and an inhaler and said he will call after the radioligist has a look at the x-rays.

Guess I shoulda gone back sooner, but I really thought I was getting better.  I guess its okay that the weather is kinda yucky out so I can stay home and get better, but Im not sure its better to stay indoors and breathe stale air, or if the fresh cold outdoor air is better.