Criss Cross Applesauce

Yesterday Six and I went to see our grannyboy and ended up coming home with our three legged granddogger Molly.
She is the most human like dog I have ever known and she loves to come and play at the farm and even though she may only have three legs she gives our black and white boys a run for their money!

A few years ago Molly was hit by a car but managed to crawl home.
The car that hit her didn't stop to help or even look at her tags to notify Wendy and Jesse.
Luckily they were able to get her to the vet in time to save her and let me assure you, losing that leg didn't slow her down a bit.
So last night we had a bed full of dogs, all but Buddy who sleeps in a heap on the floor beside the bed.
We have a king size Craftmatic fully adjustable bed which consists of two twins so I can have my own blankets never tucked and seldom washed and six can have his pristinely made hospital cornered practically starched crisp sheets with fancy laid blankets made every day bed.
Whatever, don't judge, it works.
Barty sleeps in the ditch where the beds meet, Pooter sleeps at the end on feet and last night Molly burrowed under the covers so she could be directly on the heated mattress and snugged in the blankets.
She's no dummy, she went straight for the business of a good nights sleep.
I'll be sad to take her home today, but glad to see my grannyboy!

We have a goose sitting on a stack of eggs in the goat house.
Doesn't it seem early in the year for that?

Here's the Boss of the barnyard keeping on eye on everyone.

And here's a picture of Judy the camera hog getting up close and personal.

I think Judy someone needs to call Jenny... If you get my drift.

Pearl is still in the barnyard. 

So far so good.

Now, for something completely different.

My friend Deb over at Postcards from the Edge did a blog post the other day about family, friends and crossing her legs when she pees.

What?

Yes.

Deb says she crosses her legs left over right when she pees so today I want to take a poll on how you go.

Do you cross your legs?

Take your shoes off?

Door open door closed?

This topic turned into quite the discussion on Facebook and I bet it would have trended worldwide on Twitter had we taken it to the tweets.

So, let me know, how you go.

Barnyard Woes

If it's not one thing it's two sheep and a pig.
Bell, Judy and Pearl have apparently been sneaking off into the mobile spaces when we're not looking, so yesterday I had to go on a livestock reconnaissance mission.
Pearl was easy to retrieve because if there's food involved she comes running.
The only problem was, Pearl was obviously the brains of the operation because after she made her way to the right side of the fence, dumb and dumber Bell and Judy were stuck on the wrong side.
I walked all the way up the pasture with my menagerie in tow which consisted of one black and white dog, two geriatric donkeys, three woolly ewes, one ginormous white cat and a lone black duck.
It took a while, but I found the weak spot in the dilapidated fence and the two Baaaa'd sheep made a run for the hay truck.
Little did they know I had big plans in store for them.
It was going to be a short trip to their new digs in the barnyard complete with secure fencing, a fat goat and some obnoxious geese for company.

That part of my plan went smoothly.

Getting Pearl resituated was going to prove to be my daily undoing.
You see Pearl doesn't like to cross water and parts of our upper pasture are more pond like than pasture like right now from all the heavy rains we've been having.
There I was in my barn boots and housecoat trying to persuade one very stubborn obese pig to cross water and follow me through the sopping wet sod, bribing her with marshmallows and sweet feed to no avail.
I was slipping and sliding around like a troop member from Fat Girls On Ice.
I knew that this was quickly turning into a recipe for disaster, envisioning myself going ass over end falling in a muddy heap and ending up in traction with my rotten back.
So I gave into the pig.

Pig one, Farmer zip.

That is until today when I brought in the big guns.
The smart farmer.
The fast farmer.

The pig whisperer.

Six didn't really whisper, but he did cuss and convinced Pearl to see things his way and she is now unhappily back in the barnyard.

We'll wait and see for how long.

Friday Harbor or Bust

Did I tell you my Mom was moving?
She's moving to Friday Harbor which is where she moved from when she moved here to Oregon in 2005 and where we moved to from here in 1977.
Did you follow that?
In 1977 we moved from West Linn Oregon to Friday Harbor Washington where we lived in a tent and took showers at a trailer park which is a story for another day.
Anyway, now she's moving back and Six is assisting her with the move and even though I am not involved in the move in any way it's driving me crazy because if anyone knows how to move it's me.
I can assemble a moving team, pack a truck, have the furniture in place and the kids enrolled in a new school before dinner time.
Seriously, I'm that good.
I wrap dishes and chotchkes in clothes, T.V's and computers in blankets and everything else goes in black plastic garbage bags which can be re-used later for trash, so I guess I'm also  a green mover, re-use and re-cycle is my motto.
And since I'm talking about re-using....
I was married to Wyatt's Dad twice which makes him 4 & 5 and I can NOT count how many times I packed up and moved us out of that relationship.
I think Trina or Shelley could tell you the exact number, but I personally lost count.
Moving out when I was with him was easy though because I never fully unpacked from the time before so I think the last time I left all I had to do was load the car and close the door.
So back to my Mothers move.
She has been packing for a week and Six has been over there twice to help and today is the final load day before the big day tomorrow when they hit the road.
I tried explaining cost saving to them by getting the truck the day they go but they want to be "organized and stress free".
Organized and stress free?
That's not moving!
I wish I could just go over there and boss everyone around and get everybody worked up, but they won't let me on the job site..
What a bunch of Nancys.

Goose, Goose, Goat

The rain seems to have passed but oh what a rain it was...
The goat was staying close to the geese just in case she needed emergency floatation assistance.

And Bell went in search of higher ground...

All this rain got me to thinking, if things really get bad I think we have two of almost everything. 

We don't have an ark, but we do have a 1987 Suburban (The Goat Wagon) and I think that's close to an ark. 

Isn't it?

Maybe not, but it probably gets about the same mileage.

Six bought Yuban coffee.

I love Yuban.

I forgot how much I love Yuban.

You should buy some Yuban next time you buy coffee, you'll be glad you did.

I've started listening to the radio during the day instead of turning on the T.V.

 It started because they took two of the three stories I watch off the air and so out of personal protest I just turned the T.V off and I find that not only am I more productive, but I'm in a better mood too.

Maybe T.V is dumb and I just never realized it before now.

Wyatt has his first middle school dance tonight.

Have I told you he's shaving now?

He also rolls his eyes and is constantly annoyed.

How did this happen.

I'm making soap tomorrow.

Any scent suggestions?

Thursday Morning

The rain here is crazy... While everyone else is having record snowfall, here we are at almost fifty degrees and pouring down rain.
The yard is like a big green sponge.
The llamas slosh when they walk, the chickens are marinated and the pig is about to float out of the pasture
(Pearl is a free range pig).
The geese however are quite content.

My Granny Baby Daddy's surgery went off without a hitch yesterday.
It took an hour and a half, two plates and a pocket full of screws to set him straight, but he was able to leave the hospital the same day and I think he even ate dinner last night.
So that's a huge relief, and I just keep thinking what a story this little man is going to hear someday about the time that he was born ❤

You know how you always hear the the reference to "Mom Blogs" or someone will say "oh yeah, Mary Ellen is a mommy blogger", well I figured it was time to start a new niche, a new club, a new group, or for you with tattoos a new gang of bloggers.
Granny Bloggers.
So I'll go first.
The Granny Ma Blog.
It is there I will gush and go on about my little lovebug.
I'll post so many pictures your eyes will cross, repeat in print the sounds he makes and the amazing things that he does.
I'll post granny baby craft ideas, links to toys I love, and recipes for little belly's.
Do you get the idea?
I think this will really catch on, who's with me?!
And then over here at the farm blog I'll just post about the boring stuff like the rest of my family, my menagerie of large and small animals and anything else I do that doesn't revolve around my new baby love.
Sound good?

Ok, I have a hat or two to make today so I better get busy.

Peas.

No Snow News!

I have news and a story for you today.

First the news...
Our Granny Baby is growing so fast and doing so well and getting so strong that they think he will be home in about two weeks!
Can you believe that???
I credit Wendy and her absolute love and devotion to this little man for his ability to astound us all every day with his amazing progress.
She is by his side from morning till night and if he isn't in her arms she is sitting beside his little bed holding his hand or his foot talking to him and telling him stories about life.
I don't think a little tiny baby like this is supossed to be able to smile so he must of just been born happy because I swear to you, this child is always smiling

Next...
As I told you before, J Copeland Granny Baby Daddy formerly known as the douchebag now known as the man who helped give life to the person I love more than anyone or any other thing in the whole wide entire world was roofing at his parents house and fell two stories onto the deck below.
I know, I heard you gasp, again, I still do the the same thing and then I kind of can't breathe and then I get sick to my stomach, still.
He broke his jaw in two places, right dead set in the middle of his chin splitting clear up through his teeth and up by his ear.
Can you even imagine?
There was nothing they could do for him in the emergency room so they referred him to a specialist at OHSU the big hospital where Wendy and the baby are, but that doctor didn't even know how to fix him so they have flown in a specialist who will operate today and put him back together.
So, whoever you talk to when the going gets tough, put in a good word for
J Copeland, the kid with the broken face in Oregon.
Those two continue to awe me with their strength and positive outlook

~Even though I have a picture of his askewed mandible I will refrain from posting it~

And then...
Last Sunday Granny Baby's Aunt Cori hosted a shower for Wendy.
Because of the weather (snow) it was a small crowd but still big on love and laughs, and Cori and her family did a bang up job on the party preperations and a good time was had by all.
Here's Wendy pretending Hunter is at the party too, I told you she was a good mom ; )

Oh!
We have a goose sitting on at least five eggs in the goat house with Nanny.

I figure Nanny may be a little perplexed by this...

And these two clowns, Bell and Judy

have both grown up and should be lambing any time now!

AND...
Loretta, one of our other muscovy hens is sitting on a mountain of eggs so we will be having more of these guys running around!

I tell you, it surely is a season of new beginnings and I am loving every minute of it!

Now, I was going to tell you a funny story but I'll have to save it for another day because I'm running out of room and I don't want to keep you here all day.

Peas.

Dinner & Doctors...

Tonight we are having another culinary masterpiece by Plain Chicken.
I love her blog and she has such quick easy affordable doable recipes.
I made the cream cheese chicken chili last week and it was deeeelish!
Tonight is pepperoni roll ups and I'm making a side of garlic balls to class it up a bit.

The garlic balls are a cinch, just your basic pizza dough smothered in garlic and butter, baked to a golden brown and then smothered with more butter and some Parmesan.

Did I mention I wanted to lose some weight?

I didn't think so.

My Granny Baby is amazing.

He is absolutely thriving and growing so fast and doing so well and nursing and has all of his IV's out.

It's just so hard to believe that my baby made a baby ❤

There was a bit of a tragedy in the family last night. 

Granny Baby Daddy Jesse was roofing and fell off the backside of the house.

I know, did that just make your stomach queeze...

He broke his jaw and will have to have surgery to put it back together, so please call up all of your happy thought sending abilities and send them his way.

These two have really been called to the mat on their coping skills lately and so far they're both doing an incredible job.

My Dads favorite thing to tell me in hard times was, "this too shall pass" but I have to tell you, when you're the one waiting for it to pass things sure can seem overwhelming.

Ok, I have to go make some pizza dough.

Ciao.

Surprise Baby!

So much has happened in the last three months I don't even know where to begin...

So let's just start here.
October I had a back surgery.
Not to correct the pain I was having, but the doctor found another herniated disc higher in my back that was causing the numbness in my thigh.
I have a fantastic doctor and the surgery went off without a hitch.
The only problem was the problem I had before the surgery and that is...
My aching back.
My disc is shot, rotten caput at L5 S1.
The bottom.
When I say bad, I mean ugly.
All they can do to fix it is fuse it and I can't do that and the reason why is because I'm fat and out of shape and I would probably never heal and I would and up fat and stuck in a chair with an aching back for the rest of my life.
I decided I have to lose ALL my weight and strengthen my core but since I can't move and hardly walk this is going to be a chalenge, but I'll figure it out.

I am obviously no longer a lunch lady and that makes me very sad and that's all I'm going to say about that.


Thanksgiving was great, we had turkey and pie and ate to much.

Christmas was fabulous.
Mikes parents came from Washington, his daughter Maddy was here, Wendy, my Mom and the Neighbor.
I loved having everyone here and the only thing that went off kilter was my Mother making a rather pornographic remark about some cupcake scented lotion and Wendy got a headache and had to go home right after dinner.
Wendy still had a headache the next day.
So she went to the doctor.
The doctor sent her to the hospital.
The hospital transported her to OHSU the BIG hospital.
Wendy had extreme pre-eclampsia that had been going on for over a month and her regular doctor (who was on vaction) let it go untreated and now it had reached a critical point of no return and Wendy was in real danger.
They could no longer control her blood presure and her kidneys were shutting down.

The only treatment at that point was to deliver her baby.
Two months early.
~Insert all the emotions here~
Hunter Thomas Copeland was born December 30th 2011.
He weighed 3lbs 6oz and was 16 and 1/4 inches long.

His parents are two of the stongest people I know.

His Granny Ma however, is a cry baby.

Hunter is now a week old and they have removed his CPAP that helped him breathe, his goggles that protected his eyes, the big blue lights that I don't know what the lights did I think he may have been a little yellow, he started nursing yesterday and now he's getting his IVs out.

Can you believe that?

This is Hunter on his one week birthday...

And this was him yesterday...

Amazing.

I made a super simple crockpot cream cheese chicken chili yesterday that was really good.

Plain Chicken

Plain Chicken Photo

My New Years resolution is to be a more regular blogger.

I seem to recal saying that before.

I mean it this time.

Do you want to see one more baby picture?

Ok, how about a video?

Peas.