How you heal...

 Yesterday morning, little Shine the goat didn't look right. She was limping and wasn't interested in breakfast. She let me catch her easily to check on her, and her hind end collapsed as I checked her over. I did what I must and messaged our marvelous veterinarian. She arrived mid-morning and decided that Shine was either suffering from a parasite that affects the brain (meningeal worm) or some tick-borne disease. She left me a gallon Ziploc bag filled with medications. The doctor dosed her up before she left, but I was on deck to give medications this morning. 

This was just some of what I needed to get into my little goat. There was also some probiotic gel and a pill. I'm a good hand at getting pills into dogs, and even cats, but pilling a goat is a whole different thing. Sometimes one can sneak a pill into a slice of banana or a bit of Fig Newton, but Shine is off her feed, so I knew that wouldn't work. I opted instead to just stuff it in her mouth and follow it with some of that HUGE tube of stuff on the right. She spit it out once, but I found it and redosed her. That big tube is a liquid vitamin supplement, with a sticky texture and a potent odor. I got most of it down the goat, but a good deal of it was on my hand, clothes, and boots. The two injections were easy, but the probiotics were a real challenge. It's a thick gel, and I had to try to hold the goat, open her mouth, and depress the stiff plunger. The goat did not cooperate. The gel ended up everywhere. 

It was all over Shine, and all over me. It was a struggle from start to finish. We were both worse for the wear. Shine staggered out of the goat cozy and stood outside a while, looking shell-shocked. I took a long, hot shower to recover and try to wash the scent of all the medication off my skin. 

Back inside, I tackled the floor in the room that was just repainted. I washed it with a regular mop, then steam mopped it, and once it was dry I put two coats of wax on it. What a difference! 

I moved a little heavy furniture around, hung some new curtains, and then tackled a project I've been meaning to do for a while. I cleaned and organized the baskets on the laundry room shelf. Lots of stuff got tossed, many things will be donated, and now I can easily find anything I'm looking for. 

And then..! I moved the heavy drop-leaf table from the newly painted room to the laundry. It will be perfect for folding clothes, and it occurs to me that it will make a great space for gift wrapping, too. That seems like a happy thought.

There's a song I like that has a line that says, "She's a stubborn believer that time and a clean house is how you heal." My house and I are a work in progress. 

Tackling To Do Lists...

 My cousin Chrissy made me a basket! She is a talented artist, and I am delighted to be the recipient of one of her projects. It's so pretty I can scarcely believe it's mine. It was hand-delivered to me by my brother-in-love, John, who, OH SO KINDLY, drove here from Massachusetts to help me accomplish some Projects. I use a capital "P" because they were biggish projects, and I was so grateful to have his able assistance. 

The first thing we did was drive to a friend's house and plant 50 mixed narcissus/daffodil bulbs in honor of her very good dog. I hope that when the flowers bloom in the spring, they will make her smile and remember how much beauty that dog brought to her life, and to all who knew him. 

John brought his garden drill and made random holes in groups of 2, 3, 4, or 5. I followed along, sprinkled bone meal in each hole, added a bulb, and gently patted soil over it. 

It was a beautiful fall day, and it was uplifting to plant and look forward to the beauty our efforts would provide in a few months. 

When we finished that project, we came back to my house and planted fifty narcissus bulbs here, plus twenty tulip bulbs. John brought me a hydrangea and butterfly bush from his yard, planted them, and fixed the big shepherd's hook where my bird feeders hang. It was tilting annoyingly and too heavy for me to shift. He also shared some other plants from his garden, which I happily planted here and there. Rain was predicted that night, so the timing for planting was just perfect. 

Next, he hung up the panels we use to block wind in the goat house. I cleaned their house while he worked, so the goats went to bed that night in an extra cozy space, ready for the coming season.  After all that hard work, he headed out for the long drive home, leaving me feeling content and very thankful because together we crossed several big items off my "to do" list. And had fun doing so! 

A brand-new list has started. Hopefully, the momentum and progress will continue. 

Change of season...

October is putting on a show in New England this year. The light on the foliage is breathtaking, and I find myself gasping as I run mundane errands. Just driving to the grocery store or the transfer station is a celebration for my eyes. 

I pulled summer foliage out of most of the planters and window boxes. Then I laid some hay on top of each and got a little whimsical with pumpkins. The grands were thrilled to see my efforts. 

One of the ancient lilac bushes got a good pruning, and I hauled the pulled plants and trimmed branches out to the goats for a sumptuous smorgasbord. They make short work of such "waste." 

Every year I treat the house to having its windows professionally washed. There are several reasons for this. First, I am a terrible window washer, leaving streaks and smears despite my best efforts. Also, since we have a two-story house, climbing on the roof and using tall ladders is necessary to reach the second story. Third, wrestling with our old windows and screens takes strength and talent I just can't seem to muster. Oh, and the windows always have a lot of spiders hiding around the edges. Way too many legs for me to cope with. All of these factors make it much easier to save up, write a check, and have the job done perfectly.

Maine winters are long, dark, and often dreary, so it feels important to me to have sparkly clean windows that let in every speck of sunlight possible. 

I always take down all my curtains before the washing crew arrives. This makes it easier for them, and gives me time to wash all that fabric. I had a moment this year as I took the fragrant curtains from the washing machine... re-hanging them has always been a "Chris job." He was so tall it was an easy chore for him to go from room to room and place the rods in their holders. I miss him in a thousand ways. Sweet Rachel understood that and took the job on as her own. She had to scramble around on a stool, but she kindly did it for me to help save a little sorrow. 

This time of year we normally make many quarts of tomato sauce, capturing the flavor of summer to enjoy for the rest of the year. I didn't think I had it in me to do it this year, but Rachel pulled a quart from last fall out of the freezer to make pasta for us for work lunch one day, and it was so delicious I had to rouse myself to tackle the coring, chopping, seasoning, stirring, and packaging. Rachel helped, of course, and we are so glad we did it. The scent of it cooking was indescribably delicious, and the flavor of this year's efforts is excellent. We are all looking forward to enjoying the bounty. 

After my sweet friend Angel did me the great kindness of cleaning up Chris's office, I gave the room a hard look. Before we ever bought this house, someone had covered the ceiling in some sort of wallpaper and then painted over it. The seams were gaping in spots. There was peeling paint on a lot of the woodwork, and damage to the drywall that needed skills I do not possess to repair. The nice men who built our deck last year came and got to work scraping, sanding, mudding, sanding some more, and priming. It was a bigger project than I realized; they spent many hours making everything smooth and paint-ready. I'll use the space as an additional guest room and homeschool space for the Owlet and Cygnet. Just as autumn arrives with glorious color, flavor, and predictability, it is time for this room to have a new season, too.