Thwarted plans....time to re-group

First, it was a case of "fifth disease" which kept us away from a family reunion.  The rest of my family (sisters, brothers, their kids, my Mom and Dad) were together just 45 minutes from where we live.  We had decided not to join them.  Fifth disease is a "childhood" disease, but, like some childhood diseases (chicken pox), it can affect adults with far worse symptoms than the fever and rash which a child would come down with. Plus, the incubation period and the duration of being contagious weren't all that clear, so the whole family decided that it would be best to not take the chance to spread it around (despite the fact that it was clear where our immediate family member picked it up:  School, from a fellow student).  Seemed best to play it safe. Friday, we knew the party was going on without us.  I felt a little sad, but had lots of work to keep my mind off things (cleaning up the willow tree and the normal "other" chores of living here with lots of animals!) Michael and I shoveled away a huge pile of cow manure and bedding which I'd been tossing into a big pile against the silo. I breathed in a cloud of steam that was rising from center of the pile, and promptly started coughing. Then the farmer came through, spraying something onto the corn that is in the fields around us.   I was still coughing, and my chest started to feel tight.  The smells of cow manure, pig manure, sheep manure, chicken manure.....even the smell of the rabbit barn set my sinuses off and started a sore throat. Saturday, I thought about the family reunion but had such a sore throat that I couldn't talk, so I skipped calling to talk to everyone. Sunday (Father's day), Jeff and Michael needed to be at church, but I was too sick to go and Jeremy still had his fifth's disease rash.  We stayed home.  I could have slept all day. It was miserable! Forward to today.  Did I tell you about the bull calf that Bessie's farmer called me about last week?  Today should have been the day that I drove almost 3 hours to get him, to bring him 3 hours back here so that he can have Bessie's milk while we wean Princess Ruby. I had to cancel those plans, with no idea if I'll be ready for the drive tomorrow.  It's a full-blown sinus infection, and I need to get to the doctor's office for some medicine. It's not fun to miss time with extended family.  My nephews, Bryan and Evan, were supposed to stay here from today until next week Tuesday.  That visit has been re-planned, and they are staying with my sister's family and my brother and his wife instead, on and off until the date of their plane tickets home.  They'll get to avoid farm work, and probably will see more of Chicago and the area than if they'd come to stay with us.  It will work. We may have missed out on getting that calf, because I knew that the farmer had someone else who was interested.  I needed to tell him that my plans were uncertain until I feel better, so, if he could sell the calf to someone before I can make it out to his farm, please don't hold things up on my account. None of these changed plans are the end of the world.  It's not such a problem to regroup, replan, or come up with a different scenario.  Sometimes, the result is better. Hard to see what's better than a weekend spent with familym but.....   We DID make progress on clearing up the willow tree.   We DID clean up the cow pen and that pile of manure.   I DID have time to clean up the incubator and move all the ducklings out of the house and into the barn (the house is starting to smell like a house again) Michael had time to move his piglets out of the barn and to clean up their old pen.   Jeremy and Jeff had time to build the nest box which Sheila the rabbit needs for her babies this week.   I've had time to start the weaning process with one-year old Ruby (enduring the bellows from inside the barn, where she's been tied in her stall during the daytime instead of running free with her mama). Jeff and I DID have time for a relaxing couple of hours in the hammock on Sunday afternoon (if I could ignore my sore throat and extreme tiredness, it was pretty restful) Now, with the calf, it might work out just fine if his home is someone else's farm.  But it may still work out for him home to be here.  Time to re-group and see what can be managed.   Maybe after a short nap to regain some energy...... Laura http://dykstrasfarm.blogspot.com/