Sweet Normalcy

This past weekend, Derek needed to fix his dirt bike. So, off we all headed to the farm for some wrenching assistance for Derek and some fresh air and sunshine (it was 86 degrees - woohoo!) for the rest of us.


I love it when Blake and Nadia are NOT trying to kill each other. They can truly be quite a charming pair when they refrain from pushing each other's buttons.

The duck couple had just hatched five babies the night before we arrived. Three had survived and were as cute as pie.



After checking out the ducks, the kids went their separate ways, true to their hearts. Blake had his eyes on a sweet motored vehicle over by the garage, and Nadia was hearing winnies and neighs.





We spent a nice chunk of the day there, and I got to relax in the sun while Blake ran amok and Nadia hit the swing set. I sustained the worst sunburn of my life, presumably due to all the meds sitll in my system. I can't think of any other reason why I would burn so badly even WITH a low grade sunblock on, while Derek and the kids got only barely pink with NO sunblock on.

OH! By the bye, I am now back on the antibiotics, as of this afternoon. My doc's office called midday to tell me that the culture taken in her office last Thursday was POSITIVE for infection in my incision. I'd felt so confident that the nightmare was finally over after the negative results of the hospital biopsy. That was the fluid in the 'abscess' which had been tested, whereas I am now being treated for infection she dabbed out of my actual incision. It had slightly opened when she removed the sutures, which is normal and was expected. The concern is low, I think, because the incision is so shallow now (nearly healed!) and no puss was seen below the surface on the CAT scan. The hope is that it will clear up this week while I am on this cycle of antibiotics. Otherwise, it's back to the cutting table, literally. Ugh.

Back to the fun...

We ended up coming back on Sunday afternoon because the pigs had arrived!!! Each year around this time, they receive a 'shipment' of hundreds of baby pigs. They keep about 30 or so to raise there on the farm and slaughter when they are grown, and the rest are purchased by individuals in the surrounding communities who take them home to raise themselves. You know, in their yards, for food. Not as pets, silly.

The kids get paid a dollar a piece for catching the pigs (not as easy as you might think) for the proud new owner. Blake, along with a couple of girls who are seasoned pros, was quite the pig catcher. The girls had told he and Nadia both that the way to catch them was to grab their hind legs and move them in the direction they wanted them to go like wheeling a wheelbarrow.





Nadia, being a tad less aggressive than her bellicose brother, preferred to attack them at the trough.



Derek, on the other hand, was the one accosted - by the farmer! On Saturday he was put right to work moving bails of hay and mending fences. And on Sunday, well, let's just say he earned the repairs on his dirt bike!

Dan: Hey Derek, you're a doctor, right?
Derek: Um, yah. A chiropractor.
Dan: But that's a doctor, right? I mean, you know about the body, right?
Derek: Um, yah, the human body.

(five minutes later): Derek is seen assisting Dan in the pen with the sick pigs.

About ten of the many had prolapsed rectums from the stress of 500 miles on the truck getting there. Apparently you just use a little water as a lubricant and push 'em back in! Who knew?

Nadia: Daddy, the pigs have apples on their butts!



And here is my favorite pic. It reminds me of one I took of Blake when he was about four. He had caught a huge bullfrog and was standing and grinning much the same as he is seen here.