Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 5:51 pm Post subject: Hello, I'm Mary, book 6
10 pages was enough, especially for those readers with dial up internet, so I started a new book. 99 entries was plenty. I don't know if these are long chapters or small books. What I do know is that I talk a lot!
Yesterday was a full day down the road at the neighbor's corrals. We worked with cattle all day, first sorting the cows and calves into different corrals, then putting the cows through a chute to receive 3 vaccinations. The owner's wife kept the syringes loaded, I opened and closed gates, prodded stubborn critters to go into the chute, kept a record of numbers and any problems we saw, For instance, 2 of the cows have developed very large udders, which get larger as they get older. Calves want to reach up, not down, to get hold of the teats, so a cow with a big udder full of milk can have a starving calf, as unlikely as that may seem. An overly large udder can also be a hazard in brushy country, being injured as the cow goes over logs or through a thicket. Those two cows might have a problem next year or the year after, so we'll keep an eye on them. I think they are sisters from a cow that had a worse udder than that when she finally was sold.
After lunch we put all the calves through a smaller chute and they all got a brand and whatever else they needed. Most needed to be dehorned, the males were castrated, those without an ear tag got one, and they went back to a holding area. When we turned the cows and calves back together we tried to match the newly tagged ones with their mothers, but that will have to be done another time, as there were just too many. The newly tagged ones got red tags with letters instead of numbers. The owner will watch through binoculars whenever he sees a red tagged calf nursing, and then will match that tag letter with the number tag on the cow. They got missed because he was too busy to catch them when they were too young to run from him, or because the cow was too protective to risk handling her calf.
Today I repotted my tomato plants from cell packs that hold 6 plants where they were planted as seeds, into 4 inch pots. They are so little they really look tiny, but I needed to get that done before we leave for 4 days on Thursday. My neighbor who borrows greenhouse space will be watering mine along with his, so I didn't want any of them to dry out in case he skipped a day. His plants are already in 4 inch pots. I also potted some geraniums that I rooted in water on the windowsill. They were pieces that were being trimmed off and thrown away at a nursery, so I rescued them from the trash. Nothing to loose with a situation like that. The colors will be a surprise.
My garden rows need watering again. I walk along them and water with a hose and hand sprinkler. It takes extra time but then I can look closely to see what is coming up and pull any weeds I see. I try not to water between the rows because I would rather not have the weeds sprouting so soon. There are already plenty of weeds in my flower beds.
We are still having freezing nights quite often, but days have been sunny. The wind is quite strong again today so I will need a jacket and a hat when I go to water.
The neighbor's sheep have been grazing in our big pasture for 3 or 4 days now. They go home at night to keep them safer from the coyotes who seem to have a runway though our pasture. Every year he looses both lambs and ewes to coyotes, so this takes a little time every morning and evening, but so far there have been no losses. I don't have a recent update on the wolf problem, but I did read last week that they had killed a calf not far from where they attacked the sheep. I hope they don't come in this direction.
Life really took a radical turn last Monday, April 27, when my hubby had chest pain and we drove to the emergency room, just to check in case it was something more serious than heartburn. In just a few minutes they confirmed that he was having a heart attack. I called our son and daughter in law who came to the ER with the pastor and another couple from church to pray with us before the Life Flight heilocopter took hubby to Boise, Idaho 150 miles away. The local hospital sends their serious cases to St Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.
Our son drove me to the hospital and we spent the rest of the night sitting in hubby's room. The next day, Tuesday, our daughter in law drove down, and stayed most of the day. We visited and watched hubby's heart rate and blood pressure on the monitor. The pastor and an evangelist who was holding special meetings at the church came to visit and pray. Son and daughter in law then went home and I spent the night at a motel next to the hospital. It's a Rodeway Inn, and they give a special rate if you have somebody in the hospital. So, the $93 room was $60. By the time I had a nice long hot shower and put my head on the pillow I'd been awake for about 37 hours.
Wednesday I was back at the hospital by 6am. At 8am the cardiologist performed an angiogram to locate and fix the problem area. Dye was injected into the heart via a tube inserted through an artery in his groin and it showed where the problem was, but the tube couldn't navigate the corners his artery makes to get to that place, so they had to withdraw without repairing anything. They did get a good look at how his heart was functioning and saw no other problems. The damaged area is fairly small. By mid day hubby was doing well, except for some bleeding from the incision which they said was fairly normal because of the medications in his system, and his condition was stabilized except for his blood pressure bouncing around, so at mid day I left and drove home to take care of things that needed to be done, and to get some paperwork to take back with me the following day.
When I started the car I noticed a dashboard light was on, telling me that I had a low tire. I drove to the dealership in Baker City, where we had purchased the car, and they adjusted the air pressure. Soon I was on my way again, drove to Boise without incident, and parked in the hospital parking lot where I could see the main door so that the car would be easy to find.
Hubby's bleeding had stopped early Wednesday evening, then started again when they got him out of bed on Thurdsay morning, so he needed to stay another day with a pressure device on the wound. He said that was more painful than the heart attack itself. The problem was that clot buster they gave at our hospital, before he was transported to Boise. It stays in the system for 72 hours to prevent additional heart attacks.
I stayed another night at the nearby motel, and at about noon on Friday, hubby was released to come home. When the nurse got him to the main lobby in his chariot (wheelchair, you know, hospital regulations), I went to get the car and discovered a flat tire. Oh great timing! But I figured the Lord was still in charge, so went back to the lobby and they called a security person to come with a tank of compressed air. A few minutes later we were on our way to a tire store a few blocks from the hospital, where the tire was removed, had a nail extracted from it, was patched, and put back on the car. I had asked that hubby be able to stay seated in the car because he had just been discharged from the hospital, so I guess that is why we weren't charged for the repair.
Prescriptions had been phoned ahead to our local pharmacy, so we made a quick stop to pick them up, then it was on to the bank to make a deposit at the drive through window, and on to home. Hubby was tired when we arrived, but a nap in his recliner and a light meal made him feel better. The best thing was to be able to take a shower!
Now hubby has had 2 nights of good sleep at home, and he walks around in the house between light meals and naps in his comfy recliner. Yesterday, between rain showers we went outside for a 10 minute stroll in our driveway and around the parking area, all level. He enjoyed breathing fresh air and listening to the birds singing. Today he seems stronger than yesterday, so as far as we can tell, he is making good progress.
I've been reading on the AHA website and others to find good recipes and tips for this new low fat, low salt diet. Today I cooked pinto beans and seasoned them with onion, garlic, and canned tomatoes. They were under salted, so hubby added some hot seasoning to his bowl. We had them with brown rice. The only thing missing was the sausage or ham I usually cook with them for flavor, so today we just had a different flavor. We'll get used to it, and he will loose weight. I might too.
I can help you with the beans. This is how I do mine and they are delicious. You could never tell they were virtually fat free.
1/2 lb dry beans of your choice
1med onion quartered
minced garlic to taste
1/8 cup (or to taste) sweet green pepper
2 cans 97% FF chicken broth
1 can water
Cook in a crock pot on high until beans are done. I then mash mine with the potato masher because we like our broth to be hearty and thick.
*you could add Mrs Dash or some hot seasoning if you like.
Cajun, thanks for the recipe. I'll have to give it a try soon.
My life seems to center around this new diet for now, until it becomes second nature to cook this way.
It's been a few days since I was able to check in here. We had family here for the weekend. Saturday they mowed the yard, hauled the clippings down to the garden so I could use them along my vegie rows, weeded flower beds and hauled away the weeds, and when our son came out from town we put the shade cover on the greenhouse. It's a job that normally takes at least 2 people, but there was repair needed to the rail that holds it up off the peak of the roof, so I hoisted our son up there in the tractor bucket and he sat astride of the roof while he fixed it. We also devised a simpler and quicker way to tie the edges down. That improvement will make it easier to take off this fall and easier to put on again next spring. Or so it appears.
Saturday evening we ate grilled salmon, green salad, steamed spinach and baked potatoes. Sunday morning we were treated to crepes made with fat free egg substitute, then covered with no fat cottage cheese and strawberries. I rolled mine up to make a cheese blintz, do you think they knew it was my favorite breakfast? Oh yummy! Our granddaughters have learned to cook from their mother, and the 4 of them prepared the whole breakfast for 8 of us!
This morning hubby's breakfast was brown rice with his egg substitute, topped with very thin slices of fat free cheese. I sprinkled some Italian seasoning on it as it cooked, but that might have been better if I had put the seasoning in the eggs and let it stand a while to bring out more flavor. Tomorrow he gets oatmeal with a few sunflower seeds, some brown flax seeds and dried cranberries on it.
For Mother's day I recieved the American Heart Association Cookbook, 7th edition, copyright 2004. What a gift! It will be a big help. I've already learned a lot from it, including how to make blooming onions which I will try soon.
This one is sliced into the classic blooming onion shape, boiled for a few minutes, turned upside down and boiled for a few more (about 7 min total), then rolled around in the crumb/spice mix, and baked. There's more to it than that, so if you want the recipe I can copy it and post it on the recipe forum. Maybe you could do an online search and find it, the recipe in the book is called Crispy Baked Onion Flower.
Hubby is getting a bit stronger every day. Yesterday we went to town and I dropped him off at the post office on one end of town. He moseyed up the street taking care of a few errands, then parked himself at the library 9 blocks from where he started and waited for me. I was putting in some volunteer hours at the food coop. He had his cell phone with him, and people around him all the time, so I didn't worry.
Monday we have to drive to Boise, and hubby will see the cardiologist, then we'll know more about how the diet and meds are working, and how much exercise he should be doing. I have a lot of other questions. The next day he will see a GP in town who will monitor his progress, etc.
Today is another beautiful day, so I've washed clothes and hung them on the line, and am working on the flower beds. The granddaughters weeded a lot of it, but they would have had to work another day or two to get them all. The replacements pop up overnight.
Hubby saw the cardiologist today and he seemed pleased with hubby's weight loss (so far about 15 pounds in 3 weeks), and with the sound of his heart, and wasn't concerned about anything else. He answered a lot of our questions and said hubby could do anything he felt strong enough to do. We know it will take a long time for him to build up his strength because he was basically inactive since late last fall. Dr was pleased that we are following the low fat low salt diet, and said the low fat was the most important part. We don't use much salt anyhow, so he said don't worry about that. And an occasional treat is ok, just not too often.
They only weighed him and checked his blood pressure. No blood tests for now. Doctor wants another EKG in 3 months which might be done locally because there may be a mobile unit coming to eastern Oregon about then, and after that hubby has to see him Boise again in 6 months. That will be in mid November! Praise the Lord, it will be before the bad weather arrives!
Tomorrow the local doc will have a turn at him mostly to establish a base line for monitoring. No blood tests tomorrow either I think, but who knows?
My neighbor said the shearer was in the area now, and wanted to shear the sheep tomorrow (Tuesday) or Wednesday or maybe Thursday. I told him I could help Wednesday, but not Tuesday. And on Thursday I have jury duty. Whatever day it gets done, it would be nice if it is cooler than today. I think it was at least in the middle 80's here since Boise had 90 and it was still 80 here when we got home at about 6 pm. The sheep need to be rid of their wool.
Yesterday I saddled Patch for the first time this year, and we went to help move a bunch of yearling cattle. On the way some other neighbor's cattle broke through a fence and came along with us, so we went an extra mile to the corrals where we could sort out the extras, then brought the right ones back to our pasture where they were going originally. That added about an extra hour to our job, since they played hide and seek around haystacks and old farm equipment when they were supposed to turn and go through an open gate, and then they did the same thing on the way back.
Patch was working quite well, he got a lot of experience turning cattle back that were going the wrong way, and even got a good run down the road when a few of them took off at a run. The Quarter Horse half is coming out a bit at a time. If we had more opportunity to do cow work he would get better sooner, but this is ok. He was a pretty good boy for not having being ridden in about 8 months. My back muscles were telling me I haven't ridden a horse in a long time, but my legs were ok once I got off. My knee was bothering me from being in one position for too long.
Now I need to get out and put some miles on him to have him ready for some rides after the middle of July when our granddaughter gets married and we are finished with family obligations on weekends when I would otherwise be at endurance rides. By that time I should be comfortable with leaving hubby on his own for 3 days at a time.
So glad your DH is doing so well. 15 lbs!! Iam a bit jealous. LOL You guys keep up the great work.
The cattle drive sounds like fun. Several of our gaited horses would do well with cattle. Very agile and always up for a challenge.
I'm sure you are itching to get back to the competitive riding. Stuff like that gets into your blood. We are like that with the trail riding and camping. We'd go every weekend if we could. It's not just the riding but getting to spendtime with friends, too. And, of course, seeing Knock have such a wonderfultime is also lots of fun.
The sheep got sheared yesterday and I'm still tired and a bit achey today. They aren't getting any more cooperative about their annual haircuts. It was a warm day, with quite a bit of dust in the corrals, so I definitely needed a shower and clean clothes when I finished.
Today I served on the Grand Jury for the first time. It is very interesting. I like it better than being on the regular jury. We dealt with 3 cases today. Now they will proceed through the court system, as we concluded that there was enough evidence to warrant having charges brought to court against them. Formal charges in a court proceeding are next, in a few days, then trials after that. Several bad actors will be spending time in prison I think. Meanwhile, some of them sit in the county jail.
A few days ago my neighbor found wolf tracks by his irrigation pond. An agent from the state Fish and Game Department came out and confirmed that the tracks were from a wolf, and that 2 were traveling together. One of them is probably the one that was caught and radio collared a few weeks ago. They are likely the same pair that killed sheep and cattle about 15 miles away. Most likely they are living on calves that are out in the hills with the herds, and it will be hard to document any kills out there. The sheep might be reasonably safe for the time being, but when winter comes there is likely to be more trouble for my neighbor. Or it could come sooner when his cattle go to his hill pasture which is closer to the National Forest land.
The game department is flying over the area to try to keep track of the wolf movements, and to try to spot them. I'm afraid the darned things are here to stay. We have enough trouble with coyotes, so we sure don't need wolves too.
Some friends of ours have come out from town after work and school for the past 2 evenings to work on taking down our east fence and replacing it. Earlier today hubby went out on the 4 wheeler, then walked along the fence and removed staples from the bottom wire. He stayed out there longer than he should have and was hot and dizzy when he came back. I guess I should have gone out to check on him. He stayed longer than he should have and had walked about a quarter of a mile, but then when he was feeling tired he had to walk back up hill to the 4 wheeler, and needed to sit down a few times because he felt dizzy. No chest pain, so that is good, and he did get some exercise. I hope he realizes his limits now, and will remember to take some water with him when he goes again.
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