Having a hard day.

I am having a hard day today.
Just heard news that my older brother is moving up to Westlock. He has been trying to better his life, went back to College as a mature student and did well, he has been working at By Law, hoping to get into city police, his childhood dream. I am happy he is getting one step closer by becoming a Peace Officer in Westlock but it is hard to see him go so far away, we are pretty close and it is always nice to just stop in for a visit when I feel like it. Now he is going to be 8 hours away, need to plan the visits a little more than when he was 1 hour away.
Then this morning our little bottle lamb cannot move her back legs. Talked to the vet could be white muscle disease (which is easily treatable with Selenium/E) or it could be her liver is failing. We will take it day by day with her, get her the shot of selenium we need when hubby gets home with it, and go from there.
On top of everything just the cold, the frozen water fonts, and cabin fever is getting to me. Going to go read a book for a while and hopefully everything will get better.

On a positive note I will have more excuses to do North now in Alberta and hopefully help people along the way with critter deliveries.

sorry to hear you are having a hard day...the cold is just the tip of the iceberg but it makes life so much more difficult and you don't know how stressed you are by it until something... even something small... happens that you would normally handle fine but now you don't!
(Like someone mainiacally breaking out the ice in a water pail left overnight and ending up smashing the pail into smithereens) That wasn't me was it?
You are not alone! Hugs and yes good idea i think i'll now too....

Awww Hidden, sorry to hear your brother is moving, BUT all I could think of was you will have to pass by here to get to him, well kinda!! Very selfish of me.

Oh I do hope your wee little lamb will be alright, she is such a pretty little thing.

And yeah, it is hard with the water freezing, I have my tap in the barn I have been fighting with for a couple of days and it's not thawing, hauling water from the house and not enjoying it. Left the heat lamp on all night, or so I thought, went out this morning and it was out!

Then my Big Guy, the white Jersey Giant, got the crap beat out of him yesterday. He is such a big baby. He is in with all his girls and just doing great, then the roosters must have actually pulled the staples out of the chicken wire to get fighting, well not pulled so much as pushed and shoved to get at him, and I am sure he was on the other side doing the same thing, he is such a mess, head hanging low, I am just sick, but so very tired of everything.

I know how you feel about your family moving away, but with our phones now a days they are only a quick call away.
Keep your chin up, it will get better.

SOmetimes this cold and the extra trouble it brings and the lurking worry that it adds, this pushes us over the edge when some sad news comes our way. I know you are happy for your brother, but there was that moment where your heart dropped too. Happy and sad all at once. IT's like loving your life and hating how hard it can be, all at the same time. It's hard when a person is pulled in two direction or 'not of one mind', as they say.

Yes, read a book, make some tea, glop in a big blob of honey, maybe a shot of whiskey and take a moment to just feel sorry for yourself. Just plain let the bad feelings be wht htey will be. Don't fight them, feel them. Then after a while, tell them it's time to go and take a deep breath and step back into your life.

I hope you get back on track soon and sorry to hear things are sad, for now.

Last night it only got to -10 with a wind chill factor of -16 and that was really uncomfortable to be in. I feel for you Jayme to have to be dealing with those kind of temperatures with such a heavy heart. What did occur to me is how lucky you are to have a brother you really love and who's company you enjoy so much that to move that distance would pang you the way it does. You're both so fortunate to have each other and to have the relationship that you do and I'm sure you know that.

I'm sorry to hear about the little lamb too. I hope it pulls through. Hang in there, things will be better again.

Hidden I hope everything works out. I know I had the exact same problem with a goat kid a few years back, was doing fine then BAM couldn't move it's hind legs. This happened 6 days before we were scheduled to leave on a family trip, so my dad said if the kid wasn't better it was going to have to go to a "nice farm" .. if you get my drift. I talked to a friend of mine who's a vet, and she ordered in the selenium/vitE and I think I did an injection every day for 3 days, but by george that goat was nursing on it's own by the time we left! Hang in there!!

I can't add any pearls of good advice, but wanted to say that I feel for you in the cold you're experiencing. What I don't know about is described very well by Chicory, and that is the love of a sibling so strong that their imminent distance could hurt so much. If you can take comfort in that, do it. You are very blessed.

I'm sure there must be days when it's hard to find our blessings, let alone count them. That's why friends are so great. They remind me/us that we really do have a lot.

Prayers also for Angela. Hoping it's the Selenium/E and that she bounces back quickly.

If you're the type who takes comfort in knowing you're not entirely alone (like Coopslave! ) then take some in me. I'm down to one working outside hydrant. Thankfully it's the one closest to the horses' outside shelter, but I am having to pack water to the chickens and into the barn at nights. Hoping things warm up, some snow falls to insulate the ground - something! And hoping that your blues don't last too long.

Sorry to hear about your brother moving - always hard to have family further away! The cold stinks - just a couple more days and it's 'supposed' to break...I've been chipping an inch of ice plus off my geo-thermal waterers - 4 times a day!!! Apparently these work great if you have a couple hundred head of cows drinking out of them, but no good for my situation! yuck!
Hope your day gets better! I could bug you with more emails - esp. now that I'm on the route from you to him (at least as the crow flies I am!)!

chickeesmom wrote:Then my Big Guy, the white Jersey Giant, got the crap beat out of him yesterday. He is such a big baby. He is in with all his girls and just doing great, then the roosters must have actually pulled the staples out of the chicken wire to get fighting, well not pulled so much as pushed and shoved to get at him, and I am sure he was on the other side doing the same thing, he is such a mess, head hanging low, I am just sick, but so very tired of everything.

Is it just me - but do you ever get the feeling there is just TOO much testosterone on the farm?!?! lol,
So tired of 'dumb males'...dogs-gotta out mark each other all over the place, roo's gotta fight & beat each other up, colts have to rumble no matter how slippy it is...yeesh! (sorry to the 2 legged variety reading this - don't mean you!) just way to many hormones some days!!!

Thanks everyone, I have changed Angela's feedings to 1 oz every hour, a lot of work but she is perking up a bit. Still having issues with her hind end, hopefully the sel/E will help that. The girls are home from school now so too busy to feel down.
Chickeesmom you bet I will be stopping in for coffee on my trips up to visit my brother, and dooversue definately we will be talking more about ducks/geese when I make my trips north bound.

On a side note, Dooversue did you ever think to put a box over your waterers? My neighbor sells and runs the thermosink water systems, after doing his chores we vowed we would never have one, but this year we did install one after talking to a few farmers around here. What some have done is put up wind breaks around the water bowls to keep the wind off them, they said rarely do they freeze up now. With our sheep water (it is a rubber trough with a sinking heater in it) but it would freeze up all the time, my husband built a box that goes over top, cut a hole in the side (kind of a large rectangle) so the sheep could drink out of it, and we have never had an issue since, even in these -40 sum conditions. I would think the same idea would work on the thermowaters as well.

Sorry to hear that you are having a discouraging day. Did you get my e-transfer?

Sorry to hear you were feeling blue Hidden. Winter blahs can really get a person down. I like the idea of relaxing with a good book. I usually add a hot bubble bath and a glass of (insert your fav beverage here ) to the equation and soon my troubles are far from mind. (at least for alittle while) Can’t say this works every time, but darn near. Hope your feeling better soon and your little lamb too.

Ah, yep, sounds like you are down in the dumps.Rightfully so, tomorrow will be another day, sometimes the rest and sleep of the night sheds an entirely new feeling for that day. It is a bummer your Brother is moving away. Think on the lighter side though, when you see each other it will be such a celebration, family is such an important part of life. Chins up, things will be better as things get better. Wishes for a great day tomorrow, CynthiaM.

It is tough when you have some many negative things happening at once but try to look on the positive side of things. Like you said you will be going north Alberta more often, also if your brothers dream works out for him it will be a blessing for him.

It will warm up and lets hope sooner than later, I hope your little lamb pulls threw, good luck.

*hug*

Hey Jayme. You will have to stop at my place as I am only 2 miles from highway 2 or 5 from Highway 44 and that is how you go to Westlock. I lived there from 12 to 18 - it's a nice place. Hopefully you can stop by for coffee and we can give the girls a ride in our carts behind our miniature horses.

I dido what Uno said.
I have also had several day like that and Uno is
right just go with it have what I call a down day.
And try to make just a you day as much as you can.

My brother up and moved to Newfoundland a few years ago
and I don't think I will see him again.

My eldest son and wife live in Okotoks which is 10 hrs
and they just had our first grand child.

But it is summer her we are only at -15!!!

Take care

duanescows wrote:Hey Jayme. You will have to stop at my place as I am only 2 miles from highway 2 or 5 from Highway 44 and that is how you go to Westlock. I lived there from 12 to 18 - it's a nice place. Hopefully you can stop by for coffee and we can give the girls a ride in our carts behind our miniature horses.

That would be great Duane! So many people I can visit on my way up and back, so nice.

Yesterday was a much better day. Little Angela is doing better, still a bit weak in her hind end but we are working with her and hoping to strengthen her up in time. Feeding her small amounts every hour so she is not overloading her system, and gave her a shot of Sel/E which has seemed to help alot.

that is good to hear that she is doing better, must be an awful lot of work for all of you, how are the other lambs doing in this cold?
I guess I will have to come down your way this week as you probably can't leave your lamb for long....

The other lambs are doing well, -2 out this am an not much wind so let them out of the barn with mom, they are sticking pretty close but before long they will be running all over...
Yes if you want to pop down that would be great, can't leave her for long with hourly feedings.