spring

First things first:

the bloodroot is blooming.

For me, this marks the turning point into Spring.

We may still have freezes and snow and ice,

but there is no turning back.

It is now Spring.

In point of fact, we have had more than one day in the past week

when the temperature has suddenly rocketed into the 80s.

In the shade.

It has not been pleasant for any of us.

Today is wet, drizzly, gloomy, and cool.

Lovely April day in New England.

After chores this morning,

we all just snugged in for a cozy, lazy day.

But first, knowing that Moxie and Della would be mostly indoors,

I brought out the Good Stuff.

I well remember harvesting this with Moxie.

In other news, we've been having visits from a bear.

This is not as much fun as it may sound.

A friend gave me a heads-up on the 7th that a bear had killed two goats and destroyed three chicken coops not far north of my place. Thinking the bear was likely to be moving south through the woods and wetlands behind my property, I stayed up all night watching the barncams. My clothes and tools were lined up at the back door so I could be dressed and out in moments.

A little after 3 AM, the bear was here. Inside the perimeter fence and also inside the paddock fence just behind the barn. A little paddock with two does in it. I dashed out and opened the gates in the little barn paddocks so goats would not be trapped, then banged my mop against anything that would make a loud noise. I didn't see which way the bear went, so I walked the paddocks for two hours until nearly daybreak. When I came inside, it started to snow.

The next night, I stayed up again, watching the cameras. The bear waited til nearly 4 AM. I didn't see it, but thanks to the goatcams, I saw the goats see it. Out. More banging and walking. If the morning's snow had lasted more than a few hours, I probably could have tracked it.

Dara pointing out what the bear did to one of several stock panels.
Rude, isn't it, Dara?
A bear coming along and bending steel panels like they're made of straw.

The next night, the 9th, I was feeling a bit light-headed and wondering if I could risk getting a little early sleep and then watching the cameras from midnight to morning. I had just gotten into bed about 9PM, and was adjusting all the camera settings when one of the four camera screens, the one nearest the house, was suddenly filled with Bear.

Shoes, a walking stick, and a flashlight, and out the back door in time to send the bear, which was right there at the portico, back over the perimeter fence and into the woods behind my property. I was roaring and banging my stick and it was quite a relief in a way to be able to yell at the actual source of anxiety and sleeplessness and worry. I walked the paddocks again, and because it was so early, knew I'd be watching and probably doing more walking and banging during the wee hours. Which was the case. As it turned out, I learned the next day that the bear had gone a few houses down the road and destroyed another flock of chickens.

This is a bad situation.

Every night since I've been out at least once, walking and banging and talking to the goats. 

There have been so many sleepless nights now that we are all trying to nap a bit during the day.

Some of us are better at it than others.

Yesterday I added a new component to my goat defense:

a set of "driveway alert" sensors. This is something a friend has done at her barn, where she had a lot of trouble with a bear last year. The battery-powered motion sensors relay a signal to a plug-in receiver with speaker, which is typically kept in a house to alert the homeowner to visitors, wanted or otherwise.

(Just search for "owl driveway sensors" if interested in these.)

 In my case, the sensors are being tested in areas between my perimeter fence and the barnyard, and receiver is in the open doorway of the barn. Instead of the speaker announcing "Driveway" or "Garage" or playing a jolly tune or siren, it provides the sound of a barking dog. My hope is that the sensors will catch the movement of a bear before it gets to the paddocks and the barking from the barn will scare it off or at least slow it down long enough for me to get out there.

And maybe I could sleep between alarms instead of staring at cameras literally all night.

Here's hoping.

Unrelated: an update on the moving target jaw pain. The morning of the 10th (yes, hours after running off the bear and after the third night of no sleep at all) I hired a kind helper to drive me back to the oral surgery where the surgeon, possibly realizing I was never going to stop calling and describing more/different pain and begging for help, agreed to fit me in and extract a tooth before starting his day's scheduled appointments. I was honestly not sure how much of the overall problem was related to this tooth, but I did feel it was a contributing factor and the pain was so severe I was quite desperate to take action. Upshot: molar extracted. Several new bottles of prescriptions on the nightstand and a complex medication schedule to be followed.

Beginning the very next day, I had the closest thing to a pain-free day since early February. As far as the long-term situation goes, I'm assuming nothing, and I'll still need to see a regular dentist. But right now I'm healing up and taking each pain-free hour as the gift it truly is.

It truly, truly is.

And I'm eating.

Carefully.

And on we go.

Spring!

(and I just looked up from the screen to see that it's snowing)

~~~~~

marking the day

 

Wishing a very Happy Easter to all who celebrate it.

~~~~~

cooking with words

Cooking day yesterday.
Part 1: my favorite rice/lentil/quinoa blend.

The temps have been dropped into the teens and 20s F again, interspersed with occasional 40s-50s. The intermittent cold at first slowed the accumulation of mud, but the rains we've been having - did I mention the many days of rain? - are having an effect. On the 24th my neighbor had some time so we spent 6 solid hours burning brush from the tree work he did for me last December. Someday I will write about all the tree work that's been done here over the past year. I've photographed it, I've spent many hours processing it (both in the sense of working up the stove wood and in terms of walking amongst ghosts every day), but I haven't been able to put it into words.

Part 2: cavatappi w spritz of olive oil.

Words have been elusive in general lately, and I apologize for not thanking each of you for your kind comments and messages after my most recent post. I haven't had a day without jaw pain since early February, and it's been bad enough that when the dentist disappeared for a week, I asked my MD for pain medication, which I almost never take even when a doctor advises it. This time? I'm more or less begging for prednisone, which is the only thing that has given me even periodic relief. Two days ago I saw an oral surgeon for a diagnosis, and after a panoramic x-ray (which I heartily recommend as an alternative to the traditional stabby-slides-poked-into-soft-tissue dental x-ray) and a thorough prodding of my teeth, jaw, and what felt like the inner recesses of my brain, he said he could see nothing about my teeth causing the trouble, but my right TMJ appears to be jammed up (I paraphrase) and I should get a mouth guard from my dentist and wear it for a month to see if that will release the TMJ and make life better again.

I'm still waiting for a callback from my dentist while my little supply of prednisone shrinks. A callback, hopefully an appointment and mouthguard ASAP, and let the unjamming begin please. When this is over, it may be time to find another dentist. I had hoped to stay with this one but his availability and the office's efficiency at returning calls has been less than ideal. I keep getting email requests to leave online reviews for the office, and every time I think, "But are you sure I'm still alive? And do you really want me to leave a review right now?"

Part 3: tortellini soup.

Enough about all that. I have always avoided writing much about health challenges on the blog, just as I avoid talking about it in real life, because my pain/fatigue issues are chronic and nobody needs to be bored by that, including me. Living it is enough. Living is enough.

But the occasional jolt of Something Extra in the Pain Department, like this jaw mystery, or the shoulder dislocation in 2024, is different. It's a temporary (touch wood) overlay affecting daily life in a way that means I apparently have to write about it a bit, or not write anything at all. So there it was, and I'll probably write a little bit more when there is progress.

I say all this now to assure readers - and myself - that this blog will not become my personal Organ Recital.

And thank you.

Part 4: eggbites.
I always try to cook 2 or 3 things in sequence 
 when I use the multicooker, but 4 things is 
a new record. Freezer stocked, fridge full.
Cook smug.
Huzzah!

~~~~~

fluctuation

 

Today I saw the slightest hint of a yellow tone on some of the goldfinches at the feeder. Last night I smashed through a thick layer of ice in the goat troughs before plugging the de-icers in again after a few above-freezing days off.  Yesterday I saw Violet moving quietly from tree to tree, standing for extended periods with all four feet in the little arc of snowless ground at the base of each tree. One morning last week the air smelled - to borrow the perfect terminology of e.e.cummings, "mud-luscious." That night we got more snow.

It's the season of variability. Fluctuations daily. Sometimes hourly.

I've been dealing with a dental/jaw problem since January, or possibly since October, if the jaw pain is connected to audiological issues rather than dental. Hard to say. Also hard to live with, so I've been trying to get it resolved through a series of dental appointments. Right now I'm waiting for a callback from the dentist. For the past couple of weeks the pain has made it difficult to even think straight. Example: this very simple post was started yesterday, and it's taken 24 hours to finish.

On the other and unrelated hand, yesterday I got hooves trimmed on three goats instead of the one I had planned, and now that it's pouring rain I plan to coast on that achievement and trim no hooves at all today. Hah.

I hope all is well with you wherever you are, and that all your hoof-trimming is up to date. It's a good feeling.

~~~~~

all a-dazzle

On the way in from chores this morning.

It snowed heavily all afternoon and evening yesterday.

I had an eye appointment at 4 PM for an in-office glaucoma procedure called selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT), and since I very much wish to retain my vision - and the volunteer driver was not at all worried about the driving conditions - I went ahead with the appointment.

 

During that ride I thought about all the years I travelled to Cambridge and back, working on my Master's degree and teaching sections in the evenings. It was 75 minutes each way on a clear day with no traffic. During those years I drove through countless storms - one semester I know it snowed nearly every Wednesday evening, because that was a teaching night for me and I drove through every one of those storms. Now being a passenger on a 10-minute drive to an eye appointment had me gripping an armrest and trying to speak normally to the driver who was not at all concerned about the inches of snow over slush on the roads, cars sliding sideways, and poor visibility. Maybe it's a matter of one's current "normal"? Regular commuters have probably been slipsliding through a lot of weather this year.

This is not a barncam image, it's me in the barn with Mallow and Violet.

Campion, Azalea, and Lily are beyond the fence.

We are all contemplating our options.

The laser procedure itself was painless; now just a few days of eyedrops and waiting for the blurring to diminish. The doctor has been tracking pressure in my eyes for several years and always decided it was "borderline" for glaucoma, so we decided against lifelong daily medication (eyedrops) until there was greater concern. However, during my 6-month post-cataract surgery checkup last week he saw a change and gave me the option of - right now! - either going on lifelong drops or having the SLT procedure first, which may turn out to be all I need. Now we go back to tracking.

Meanwhile, on this sunny Wednesday morning we've got several more inches of snow to wade through,  and a forecast for temps in the low 40s (!) this afternoon. Cannot imagine what it will look like here in the hours and days ahead, but at the moment the entire world is coated with ice and the sun is shining and I'm enjoying the view.

~~~~~