Shetland sheep have changed my life and touched my heart. They have brought me joy, adventure and serenity. Follow along as I live each day influenced by memories of my mighty flock of mini sheep ~ aided and abetted by "Bellamica", the English Shepherd,"Sable", my livestock guardian dog and "Hero" the rescue dog that stole my heart! You'll also meet many of the homeless dogs that I rescue and rehome as part of Bluff Country Canine Rescue.
Wouldn't you know that on that kind of day I decided to go out and sit with the sheep for the first time since I started selling them in the early summer?
I know that I was avoiding being close to the sheep to try and minimize the pain when they left. Now that I'm finally home again, I've decided that rather than avoid the pain, I'm going to enjoy "The Dance" while I still have them!
The ram lambs have gotten so big that I almost didn't recognize them!
I'm completely in love with "Bacardi" ~ the big white, Polar Bear son.
If someone doesn't jump on buying him soon, I may just wether him and KEEP him. At least for as long as I'm still living here...
Yup. My beautiful baby sister brought Bella and Sable over to visit me again.
We decided to take the girls to a local park and play out in the sunshine.
Pam 'gave me permission" to go as long as I promised to be very careful with my left arm.
;-)
(notice both leashes are in my right hand)
I love getting outside with my beautiful girl dogs.
Sable
Bellamica
(Italian for "Beautiful Friend")
I also love this bridge!
AND my Beautiful Baby Sister!
Thank you Penny ~ for another great day!
And for taking good care of my sheep, my dogs and my LIFE while I've been laid up. Most of all, for not getting upset about Sable's MUDDY FEET in the car on the way home...
We love you!
DREAM says...
"Well, I can see that Sable is STILL disgusting. DOGS!
Guess what? Mom's got good news. She's going back home on Tuesday and is going to come out and see me and Alice and Zaria and Tanqueray next week! We can't wait to see her! I'll make sure that she takes plenty of pictures!"
My wonderful sister and precious daughter conspired to surprise me today. Penny brought Bella and Sable into Pam's house so that I could visit with them! I was SO happy to see my beautiful dogs. I can't tell you how much I have missed them. Bella stuck by my side the entire time that they were here and Sable came up for her hugs and attention, then checked out Pam's place then laid down where she could keep an eye on me and the rest of the house. I love the difference between the two dogs' personalities! It was such a wonderful surprise but like all good things had to come to an end. Penny had to be to work by noon and was taking my girls to her house for the day/night. I cried so hard when they left...
When I was finished crying, the rest of the day was very nice. My bestest friend, Corry, came over for a visit. She always makes me laugh and makes me feel loved. My handsome son came over and went for a walk with Pam and I. It was a glorious day for a walk!
I'm hoping and praying that I'll be able to go back home next week. I have another doctor appointment on Monday and if things are improving I might be able to get my drains out early next week. It's difficult trying to balance how desperately I want to go back home and be on my own and how much I enjoy being with Pam and the boys and how grateful I am for the wonderful job that she has done of taking care of me through all of my medical crisis this year. I can't imagine being anywhere else through such difficult times but I want to give Pam & Karl and my grandsons their normal lives and routines (and house!) back...and then watch ~ once I'm home, I'll be whining about how much I miss PAM!
Thank you Pam and Penny for the wonderful surprise!
Yes, as sad as it may be, I'm finding that if I let too much time go by between blog posts, I forget to mention my latest surgery. When I posted last Thursday, I was preparing for surgery later that day. I hate it when they schedule my surgery for in the afternoon as I can't eat anything after midnight the night before any operation. Thursday's surgery went fine. The doctor felt that he got the 'close margins' from the cancer cells and cleaned out and debrided any tissue showing signs of infection. He was able to close the incision up which is a relief to me as the sight of that gaping wound was really starting to get to me.
I had recovered enough from Thursday's surgery to participate in the annual "Steppin' Out in Pink" fundraiser/awareness walk in La Crosse, WI. with Pam and Ben on Saturday. What a fun day! Over 5400 walkers raised money for Breast Cancer research and awareness programs in the La Crosse area.
Thanks to my wonderful Princess, I was able to complete the five mile walk. I would say that Pam pushed me in a wheel chair about half of the time. We found that going over all the lumps and bumps on the sidewalk in the wheelchair were almost worse than the pain from walking so I ended up walking more than either one of us expected! Ben zoomed ahead of us in his motorized wheelchair because he had to be back to his house by noon when his noon aid comes to make him lunch. It was a busy but FUN morning. Needless to say, I slept like a log for the next two days...
Unfortunately, catching up on sleep was probably a good thing as I was back to the doctor on Monday and once again scheduled for surgery on Tuesday! (as in the day before yesterday) I seem to have a recurrent infection that they just can't get control of so another surgery was deemed necessary. The surgeon was extra focused and determined to get any and all remaining infected sites this time so there would be no more returns to the operating room. However, he gave us some warning signs to watch for and one of them is developing so Pam is calling him this morning to see what he wants to do...
...sigh...
I'm hoping to go watch my oldest Grandson compete in a track meet this afternoon. So if I DO have to go in for more surgery, I hope it can at least wait until tomorrow!
I am SO hungry. Famished. Not that I normally eat breakfast anyway but today I can't and therefor I am hungry. I am also very thirsty. Parched. I'm having more surgery early this afternoon and can't eat or drink anything until I'm in recovery. Sure, then I won't WANT anything because everything will taste and smell like metal or a salt block and I'll have no appetite at all...
whine. whine. whine. Katie (BBG)~ want to help me out here? ;-)
This blog will resume when I stop feeling sorry for myself!
P.S. I did post a new update on my CaringBridge site. I wanted to spread the whining around! You can click on the link in my sidebar to go to my CaringBridge page...
The past couple of days have brought rain and even some strong storms to the Bluff Country.
If you look closely at the upper left corner of this photo (click any image to bigify), you'll see something else that has completely taken over my place.
They may be difficult to see in these photos, but if you stepped out of my house you were likely to be bombarded by...
They were hard to 'capture' with my camera because they move so quickly and blend in with grassy backgrounds but my entire yard was buzzing with them. When they'd bump into the metal siding on the barn, it sounded like someone was throwing ROCKS at it. I swear! These guys were the size of hummingbirds!
KAZILLIONS of them!!!
Apparently, dragonflies migrate. I had no idea. Although, I do know that this dragonfly 'seige' is a yearly occurance in the Bluff Country. There's lot's of information out there, if you're interested...
BELLA says...
"There's a lot of information out there even if you're NOT INTERESTED! All I know is that those puppies were huge. And FAST!!!"
As we prepare for the "Labor Day Weekend" here in the United States,
I hope you'll take a few minutes to listen to this young lady and think about what she has to say. The quality of the video is poor but her words are a plea to each of us...
What if each one of us ~ and all of our family and friends ~ did just ONE thing today, to make this world a better place? It doesn't have to be something big ~ perhaps just picking up a bit of litter along the road or handing a $5 or1$10 gift card to a grocery store to a homeless person. Maybe just say something nice to someone to bring a smile to their face. Instead of fussing while waiting in line at the grocery store checkout, smile and say "Hi" to the people around you. Wish them a nice day! Sure, they'll probably think you're nuts, but I bet they'll smile and be in a better mood. Put your cell phone down for a minute and talk to the people around you! Instead of honking and flipping off the idiot driver going slow in the passing lane, smile and wave at them. Think about it: you're already angry because they're going slow in the passing lane. If you honk your horn and flip them off as you pass them, it just reinforces the anger. Chances are it also ticks the other driver off and now we have TWO angry drivers on the road. But if you smile ~ you'll probably find your anger melting away. You'll certainly brighten the day of the poor soul who probably didn't even realize that they were in your way. Perhaps they'll be more aware of their driving habits after that nice person smiled at them...You may just be the nicest thing to happen to them that day! If you are blessed to have a comfortable home, bills paid, plenty to eat, clothing for your children and even a little extra ~ why not send off a check ~ maybe $10 or $20 to St. Jude's Children's Hospital or the charity of your choice? You may think that $10 or $20 won't make a difference, but how many people live in your town/city? If even half of them donated to a charity it would make a BIG difference. If EVERYONE did something, not just today, or tomorrow, or on Labor Day but EVERY day, just think of what a beginning it would make towards making the world a happier place for our children and grandchildren as well as those that we will never meet, from all corners of this planet.
Those kids and Grandkids are not exempt either! It is our (that means YOUR!) job to teach them. To teach them to do better than we do! To stand up against air/land/water pollution. To protect our environment and the less fortunate amongst us who also share this great planet. To be kind to animals and respectful of other people ~ no matter their differences. To reject foods, beverages, textiles and products that are produced with toxic chemicals and so widely available that we think nothing of putting them in our mouths, on our bodies and in our homes. After all, "everyone does it" and you "don't have time to cook or read labels and certainly can't afford to buy local or organic". How much healthier our children would be if they were taught to see what is really in the products that they use and make an informed decision as to weather they truly want to put that into their body/environment. We warn our children about strangers and inappropriate touch ~ but we don't even bother to mention all of the poisons in the foods that they may eat? It's up to you to teach your children to protect themselves. YOU have to set the example. If you sit down for a meal with your family, perhaps a nice dinner conversation could begin with: "what did you do to make the world a better place today?" Make an effort to keep improving the world in the forefront of our thoughts. If you don't consciously think about it, odds are you will forget about it...
It's not going to just "go away" because we ignore it. Sure, you doing one thing a day won't make a bit of a difference. But you doing one thing a day may inspire someone else to do one thing a day and they may inspire someone else...It has to begin somewhere.
Are you willing to make a difference?
If you can think of something (big or small) that YOU could do to make the world a little bit better, please share it in the comments section. I'd love to see what you come up with. I also suspect that each person that actually follows through with this challenge will actually feel better about them self as an added bonus. What have we got to lose? It doesn't cost anything to smile, or pick up a piece of garbage, or give a hug or thank a teacher or wish a stranger a happy day....
Although I don't feel strong enough to attend the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival (and MSSBA Shetland Sheep Show) this year, my sister Penny will be attending and showing with her daughter, Alicia, and the two ewe lambs they bought from me.
The show is next weekend (9/10) and Penny & Alicia have been working hard trying to get their lambs halter trained. Alicia is doing pretty well with "Kahlua" but Penny's a bit behind with "Tia Maria"...
Even though Penny tries to bribe Tia with cookies (animal crackers), Tia Maria is a stubburn little soul:
I don't think I've laughed so hard since my BC diagnosis!
Penny has tried talking with Tia...
But there still seems to be a bit of an 'attitude problem'!
Luckily for Tia Maria,
Penny still loves her very much!
If you're going to the WSWF please watch for Penny & Tia Maria in the ewe lamb class and cheer them on for me!
