Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Grandma's Birthday and Gemma's Baptism Birthday

Today was Grandma Seevers' birthday and Gemma's baptism birthday!


Since Grandma and Grandpa will be in Ohio for Easter, we decided to celebrate with a different kind of birthday cake!


Marshall and the "birthday girl!"

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The Skunk

Pregnant Ketta befriended this injured skunk. She stayed with it until it died. We think a badger fatally injured the skunk the night before because suddenly we could smell skunk clear inside Grandma and Grandpa's house!

The skunk is off to the burn pile. (It didn't really stink at this point!)

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Saturday, March 21, 2009

Gemma's 7th Birthday

Gemma had a great 7th birthday. She had been asking for 6 months to go to IHOP (International House of Pancakes) so that's what we did. After dinner we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house for cake and ice cream and presents. This may be the year of the cow in Japan but for Gemma, this is "the year of the horse". Almost everything she received was horse related! You can see more photos HERE.


Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Thoughts For The Day

I'm exhausted after a long day of preparing the garden and "horsing around" but I couldn't waste one single second of this beautiful 75 degree weather. I spent the entire day at the farm tending to our injured Jack and getting the garden ready to plant. Luke was happy to jump around in the leaves I was shoveling into the back of the pick-up and Marshall hung out on a blanket (Grandma had "Bridge" today).

Jack (the injured yearling) is doing great and enjoyed his 10 hours outside in the sun and fresh air. I'm feeling more confident all the time because he is learning to trust and respect me more every day. Being separated from herd, he has to rely on me for all his safety and resources, so that helps.

We had parent/teacher conferences today and Gracie's teacher said she's worried about the weather because the kids think it's summer and we have a whole quarter to go yet!

Speaking of parent/teacher conferences.....pretty much more of the same. Gracie is perfect in every way, like her father. Gemma, while just as brilliant as Gracie, can sometimes be a bit sassy and bossy with her friends. Yeah....like me I guess. Those conferences totally stress me out. I can't help but feel like I'm the one receiving a grade on my parenting. Anyone else feel like that? I swear I don't think I take a breath the entire time we're sitting there. And it doesn't help that they have you sit down on those tiny little chairs! I hate to think what my mother went through at my parent/teacher conferences. :>)

One more thing. In case you haven't already heard, my sister-in-law, Karen Seevers' younger sister Stacy, was found dead in California this week. They do not yet know the cause of death. Karen and John are in California with Karen's mother and older sister, Claudia. For anyone wishing to send condolences, her mailing address is:

Karen Seevers
4-28 Sengen-cho, Fuchu-shi
Tokyo, 183, Japan

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Horse Update

Scott helped me with dressing changes today. Thank God because Jack is really starting to push me around. The wound looked great today. The good news is lots of new granulating tissue and nice clean edges along the bottom. The bad news is all this new tissue also means nerve endings are being repaired and he's feeling more and more! I have a little work to do along that top right but I have to go to Lincoln to buy some hydrogel. It's going to be a challenge to keep that area moist. This isn't a nursing home patient who doesn't move. It's like trying to paint on a dangerous moving canvas! Every strip of tape is a wrestling match too! Did I mention this is an untrained yearling? :>)



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Jack's Surgery

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, Jack (a yearling), was badly bitten last week by Hayes (a stallion). The local vet explained that this little horse was in grave danger of dying from an infection of the peritoneal area caused by the wound's inability to properly drain. The location of the wound created a "bowl" effect which causes the drainage to literally tunnel down into his body instead of out of the wound. This horse has a fantastic temperament and the kids really love him so I could not stand by and watch the horse die. Fortunately for Jack, I have an extensive background in the science of wound healing so I dusted off those files in my brain and got to work!

The vet felt that to achieve the highest probability of success, a drainage hole would need to be drilled down below the wound to get it draining, so Jack was scheduled for surgery. See photos HERE!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

AzureStandard.com

For those of you who live here in Seward, I want to invite you to learn more about Azure Standard. Each month a group of families here in Seward places an order with Azure Standard for a delivery of grocery items not available for purchase here in Seward. Available products include organic grocery items and produce, bulk products and specialty items (ie., gluten free products). Azure carries just about anything you would find at Open Harvest in Lincoln or Whole Foods Market in Omaha however we get a significant discount because we are buying direct from the distributor. A large semi literally pulls off Route 80 and "drops" your items here in Seward around the 15th of each month. You can see the categories of products available HERE.

You can purchase individual items or you can buy cases of items for additional discounts. If you join our Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/goodlifenaturalfoods/ you will be notified when someone has ordered a case of items they are willing to share. For example, this month I am ordering frozen, organic wild blueberries. I get the best price ($3.84/lb.) by ordering six 5 lb. bags but I don't necessarily have room to store all six bags in my freezer so I've posted 4 of them to share at Good-Life Naturals. Another example is organic ketchup with no sugar added. I get the best price by ordering a case of 12 bottles, but I don't really want them cluttering up my pantry so I've posted 6 of those for sale as well ($3.80 ea.).

You can shop for items by brand or by category at http://www.azurestandard.com/. If you decide to place an order you will need to know your "Truck Route" (which is J3) and your "Drop Point Number" (which is 561502) when you check out. Please let me know if you place an order so I can contact you with pick-up instructions! There is no cost to join either of these groups!