♫HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH.....

....HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH, HAL-LE-LU-JAH♫

Yes, I'm belting out the Hallelujah chorus even though I can't carry a tune in a bushel basket, I had the long, anticipated appointment with Dr. Rao and she told us that my PET scan was CLEAR! I am in remission, that is not cured, I have to go 5 years for that designation but I was delighted to hear those words.

It was only fitting that Janet was with us, her strong faith guided Bruce and I through the first traumatic diagnosis and subsequent treatments before leaving for Texas to enjoy the winter months. She kept in contact, offering up encouragement and her medical knowledge to decipher all the test numbers. Janet was always a calming influence.

So we celebrated with a group hug and then off to the Dairy Queen for a treat, I had earlier disparaged the DQ in Storm Lake and this trip didn't change my mind. They are bunch of sour faced employees, obviously not enjoying their job at all. We should have held out for Cherokee's DQ.

This also doesn't mean I'm free of Dr. appointments but they are fewer, every 6 weeks or so I have to go in and have my port flushed, the love/hate relationship with it will continue while I go on a maintenance program. Every 6 months I will go in one day a week for a month and get a dose of Rituxin, the anti-body, this will be for 2 years and then go from there.

So now I don't have any excuses, no more lazing by the pond, reading the afternoon away.

There is a yard to clean up and a pond to clean out.

There are house windows crying out for a good washing.

The basement is demanding equal time.

We have a horse fence to rebuild. (You notice I add the 'we'.)

There will be calves to care for, poopy pens to clean, gardening, fruit trees and bushes to plant......

WHEW! I might have to go lay by the pond to rest up!

Thank you all for your love, support, well wishes and prayers, I feel very blessed!!

   

The Batchelor

Chris Soules, a farmer from a small town in eastern Iowa, Arlington, has become a famous heartthrob for being on the hit reality show, The Batchelor. As a disclaimer, I have never seen the show or cared to see it, the only reality show I watch is Alaska, The Last Frontier with the Kilchers, now that is a show that is real life. Not the drama, back stabbing, phony reality shows. OK, you want to know how I know if I haven't watched any, I've spent a lot of time in Dr office waiting rooms and they all seem to get People magazine. Enough said.

We listen to Agri Talk every day and our good friend, Mike Adams, had Chris on one day this last week and he was talking about how hard he worked on the show, dating and breaking up with all the lovely ladies. How he spent 10 and 12 hour days being wined and dined and traveling to exotic locations.

PFFFFFT!!!

(At least Mike did chide him on that comment.)

As a farmer, I'm quite sure he knows how hard they work and I really can't imagine one of the beauty queens that he courted would ever be happy living in a tiny town in Iowa and helping out in the hog buildings. I understand that he did end up proposing to one, that was the story in the last People magazine I perused while sitting in the Dr. office. She was talking about her career in Chicago and she wanted to continue it and would think about commuting.

PFFFFTTTT!!!

Now if I were putting on a show to find a farm boy a wife, it would include the following tests.

It's snowy and cold, more snow is falling and she has to get up every couple of hours at night, drive 1/4 mile to the farm and check all the pregnant cows for impending births.

It's 20 below and 4 AM, time to crawl out of bed and help load hogs so the farmer can get them to the packing plant before 7 AM and collect the fifty cent per pound premium. After the hogs are loaded, she has to shower and get to work by 6:30.

The farmer is gone to town with grain and a cow is struggling to have a calf. She has to get the cow in the barn, lock her in the head gate and pull the calf. Bonus points for a live calf.

It's cattle working day, she has to bake a pan of rolls and load a cooler of pop before helping to separate cows from calves. Then she has to be ready to help where ever she is needed, pushing cattle through the alley or checking ear tags, all the while avoiding stepping in cow poop. Bonus points for keeping clothes clean.

It's 100 degrees and time to bale hay or help build fence. Bonus points for not losing her temper and stomping off to the house in a huff. 

Gone are the beautiful clothes, professionally styled hair and makeup and high heels. In their place are jeans, work shirts, coveralls and rubber boots. 

On their first dance, the bachelor should compliment her on her 'firm back' and exclaim in astonishment, "I've never danced with anyone who had such calloused hands before!"

Now that is a show I would watch to see the beauty queens drop like flies in a manure pit.

Oh, I forgot, I won that competition, the batchelor is mine - all mine!!!!

Housekeeping and more pond photos.

I've been asked about my PET scan and haven't written about it, I drove to SC on Monday, leaving a little early because I never know if I might run into delays. I arrived at the June Nylen center a little after 9 AM, my appointment was at 9:30 but I got right in. I had my new Kindle along, that I won a week ago at the Meriden Fire Department breakfast, loaded with an audiobook to listen to in the waiting room. To my surprise, I could also listen to it while I was in the 'quiet room' for an hour after getting the radioactive tracer. 

Probably the worst part of the scan is the 25 minutes on a hard cradle, arms above my head, motionless except for wiggling my fingers. I couldn't take the Kindle in because it has metal but I survived without asking, "HOW MUCH LONGER??" My technician was extremely nice, I really appreciated that and she told me to get a snack on the way out, even though I was headed for real food. I didn't even know they had snacks.

I met my sweet sister in law, Susan, at Golden Corral, after a spartan diet for 24 hours and nothing at all for over 12 hours, I was ready! The day before Bruce and I went to a confirmation celebration and they had a chocolate fountain, I couldn't have anything with sugar in it. AAUUGGGHHH!!!

Golden Corral has a chocolate fountain, I made good use of it!

Now I wait a week to see Dr. Rao on Monday, April 6th, it's hard to wait but I wanted to see her, not Mr. Personality, Dr. Wender. I know I have no control over the outcome, it is what it is and we will go from there.

The dogs and I go to the pond every day it's nice and have a walk/run (they do the running) from the first gate, through the pond to the picnic area and back. That is my exercise program, trying to rebuild my stamina after a long, sedentary winter. I love being over there and watching the return of the wildlife. I see more and more geese everyday.

"♫ I love a parade.......♫

"Wait someone is coming, lead, follow or get out of the way!!"

♫Off we go, into the Wild Blue Yonder....♫

After taking off, the group did a fly by, right over me, I was just hoping no one emptied their 'tank' as I was pointing the camera upwards.

(I was sitting in my chaise by the pond yesterday when a dirty bird dropped a warm, wet, smelly dropping on my leg, think of the damage a Canadian Goose could do.)

They did leave this sneaky pair in the water.

"If we keep our head down, no one can see us."

Murphy has to test the water at every stop..

....she doesn't care if the water is murky or clean, she is an equal opportunity pond dweller.

(When we arrive back home, she immediately heads for the backyard pond.)

Murphy tries to convince Mollie to come in and enjoy the water but Mollie stays on land.

And on that note, it's time to quit blogging, step away from the computer, take my pillow and electronic devices out side and soak up some vitamin D by the pond, maybe capture some animal antics for another post.

I had to edit this post to add these pictures from our daily walk at the pond, surprise, surprise!

That is Mollie belly deep in pond water! I guess she finally decided Murphy was having too much fun and you know what I think......

.....I'm so glad they are not house dogs!

More new babies at the farm and things are waking up at the pond.

Over the weekend, two more heifers had their calves, #26, a solid black cow had a cute little white faced girl.

I couldn't get a better picture because she has a very nervous mother, after she was born the cow didn't seem to know what to do with her. Instead she stood nearby and kept bellowing at her.

"I don't know what you are but I think you are supposed to be doing something!!"

Yesterday #20, another white faced heifer, had this solid black baby girl, go figure.

It's great to finally have babies while the weather is cooperating.

Every day that it is nice, the dogs and I drive to the pond and park inside the first gate. This is my view as they bail out and race each other to the trees to be the first one to flush out any critter that might be hanging around.

When they reach the trees, the real work begins....

...no hole is left unsnuffled....

....no dead critter left unrolled in.

Murphy has to sample the water in each pond....

....and it's much better if you are belly deep.

This goose is now sitting on eggs....

....see how low her head is? She is being very, very sneaky.

I saw the first deer, well actually I saw the first deer hiney, her white flag was bobbing back and forth waving "Bye, Bye!"

Earlier I did see deer tracks but this was the first actually siting. As I was walking along studying the ground where I saw the tracks, my heart leaped and stomach clenched. Behind the deer tracks were some big paw prints, YIKES!! There have been numerous mountain lion sightings and wouldn't one love to live at the pond??

Then my two big dogs came running back to me, Uh, never mind......

A new baby! FINALLY!!

As you know we have been on baby watch since the first of March, #25 was the obvious leader of the pack. Lately Bruce has been checking before bed and then going over about 4 AM but nothing. Not even low pressure did it, Dang.

On Wednesday we had errands to run in Cherokee and were gone about 2 1/2 hours, on the way home we went right to the farm because Bruce was pretty sure she would have it. He said she had been quite restless all morning. We drove in and parked by the barn, we first noticed two heifers were standing by the lean-to with their noses close to the ground, intently staring at SOMETHING in the shed. When we got out of the car, suddenly both of them jerked and their heads came up.

"I think we have a baby!"

Then we heard that wonderful sound, "M-M-M-M-M," that new mother's make to their baby.

"I KNOW we have a baby!"

Yes, indeedy, inside the lean-to lay a sopping wet baby calf with her mother diligently cleaning her up, with her tongue. YUCK!

Now if you have a daddy that looks like this.....

....and a Mama with a face like this.....(far right)...

.....it was such a surprise to get a baby that looks like this!

Where's the white face??

It doesn't really matter, she is adorable and so young and innocent. This is when they are so much fun because they aren't afraid of me, when she got up, she walked over to me, much to her Mother's dismay.

She followed her Mama outside and then settled in for a drink.

The other ladies lined up at the gate, trying to get their noses through for a sniff or lick.

"Oh, how I wish I had a baby!"

Oh, you will, don't worry.

Then Murphy came in to get acquainted and Mama ran her little butt right outside.

"And you STAY OUT!"

To emphasize it, she raised her fist and shook it. Well, metaphorically that is, you know cows don't have fists.

But I could still see it.

Guilty dog

Does this video look like a guilty dog to you?

But nothing keeps Murphy down for long and soon she is back to bouncing around. A couple of days ago, the dogs and I were at the farm. When we arrive, Mollie immediately tears off for the corn crib to sniff out rats. Murphy was with me and discovered two dead (the only good rat) rats by the bulk bin that Bruce had dispatched.

As much as I love animals, I can't love rats, they are scurvy little creatures with beady eyes that are always scurrying around in the dark. The movie, Charlotte's Web glorified Templeton, the rat, and made him a cute and cuddly creature. The movie lied.

So here was Mollie, hunting for a rat and Murphy came upon two already dead, what a gift!! She picked one up and pranced around, all the while keeping her eye on the other. I could just hear her thinking, "I need to hide these from Mollie!" I saw her run up to Leo's shop, return without the rat, scoop up the other one and take it to her hiding place. I did not see where she stashed her treasures but when I called them to load up, Murphy came without a rat.

(I have memories of one of them trying to carry a dead rat home in the back of the gator and she kept dropping it behind me in my seat, YISH!!)

Today we made the trip to the farm, Mollie went to the crib and Murphy disappeared behind Leo's shop and came out with a dead rat dangling in her jaws, she remembered. But war broke out when Mollie discovered the rat, she tore into Murphy and made her drop it. I then made Mollie drop it, much to her dismay and Murphy scooped it back up. Mollie tried to wrest it from her jaws once again, I wasn't sure the rat was up for that tug-o-war so once again I had to make Mollie back down. This time Murphy didn't hesitate, with her treasured prize, she disappeared behind Leo's shop and reappeared without the rat.

You can bet she will return for her prize another day.

Today is the day.......

 Urban Legends profess that on the Vernal Equinox you can not only balance a raw egg on it's end, you can also balance a broom on it's end. I took the challenge, marched out to the coop and waited impatiently for a hen to lay an egg. Grasping a still warm, slightly sticky egg in my hand, I ran, well, maybe power walked, to the house and proceeded to dispel the myth. 

After much frustration, I turned to Mr. Google and found a great video and........drum roll, please......

TA-DAH!!! 

I DID IT!!!!

I swear on a bible that there is no glue, gum, stick-um of any kind.

Then I ate it, YUM!!

(I'm leaving the broom thing up to you.)