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.