thankful thursday

I hope you and yours are keeping well.

If you are able to stay home, I hope you feel "safe at home" not "stuck at home."
It is such a luxury to have the option.

If you are among the people working to keep people and animals healthy, supply chains functional, and everybody fed, thank you so much and please take good care of yourself.

I am thankful that all are well here.

The hens are providing organic eggs daily.

Eloise waiting for the Daily Apple.

~~~

The goats have enough good hay to take us through, with careful feeding, to first cutting. And a delivery from the feed store last week provided my usual Spring top-up of supplies, which my Occasional Helper very helpfully came by to put away for me. I've missed having him here lately, but we usually work together on projects and although he was willing to come, I could not justify the unnecessary risk. (To him, to me, to the world at large.)

However, unloading 50-pound sacks from a feed order is always a solo job, and the bonus since-you're-here task of shifting a dozen bales of hay out to the "distribution centers" saves me a heck of a lot of heavy lifting and dragging for a couple of weeks.

It's uncertain when I will have Occasional Help again,

but I'm certainly grateful for last week's visit.

And I'm not the only one:

 Violet, the eldest, tasting the new mineral mix.

Bud, the youngest, waiting his turn to taste the new mineral mix.

~~~

It's been quite cold lately, but unless it is raining,

Piper and I have been taking daily walks along our road.

It's a team sport.

I do the looking...

and Piper does the sniffing.

 ~~~

There have been many "firsts" in the past week.

The first wood frogs singing.

The first robin in the paddock, first pomegranate finch at the feeder.

And literally overnight, the goldfinches began to color up! One day all the finches at the feeder were the same muted green, and the very next day:

 ~~~

In other green and gold news:

the marsh marigolds are coming along:

I hope you are finding many things to feel thankful for these days.

It's a gift we give ourselves.

~~~~~

wordless wednesday

~~~~~

more on monday

More snow.

More soup.

 

More plans.

I hope you are all keeping well.

And staying home.

~~~~~

walking on

An inspiration forever.

If you aren't familiar with the work of Dr. Catherine Hamlin - or even if you are - 

I recommend watching the documentary A Walk to Beautiful.

~~~

The following excerpts are from the obituary written by
Carolyn Hardy, Chief Executive of the Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation

"The world is mourning the death of Australia’s most renowned obstetrician and gynaecologist, Dr Catherine Hamlin AC, who died, age 96 at her home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Wednesday March 18th, 2020.

Catherine, together with her late husband Dr Reginald Hamlin OBE, co-founded Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia, a healthcare network treating women who suffer from the debilitating effects of an obstetric fistula – a horrific childbirth injury.

Before the Hamlins arrived in Ethiopia, patients with obstetric fistulas who sought medical help at the Princess Tsehai Memorial Hospital were turned away as they had no cure for their humiliating condition. The Hamlins had limited knowledge about obstetric fistulas as they had never had to deal with one before. Confronted by the tragic plight of women with obstetric fistula, and never having seen this condition in Australia, Catherine and Reg had to draw on medical literature from the 1850s to develop their own surgical technique. The technique they perfected is still used today.

Over the past 61 years, more than 60,000 Ethiopian women suffering with an obstetric fistula have received life-changing reconstructive surgery and care, thanks to the Hamlins’ vision.

Catherine was most proud of her Hamlin Model of Care – holistic healing that is part of every patient’s treatment. “We don’t just treat the hole in the bladder, we treat the whole patient with love and tender care, literacy and numeracy classes, a brand-new dress and money to travel home.”

Today, Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia is a healthcare network of over 550 Ethiopian staff – many trained by Catherine – servicing six hospitals, Desta Mender rehabilitation centre, the Hamlin College of Midwives and 80 Hamlin supported Midwifery Clinics.

Hamlin is the reference organisation and leader in the fight to eradicate obstetric fistula around the world, blazing a trail for holistic treatment and care that empowers women to reassert their humanity, secure their health and well-being, and regain their roles in their families and communities."

~~~

I cannot imagine a life better-lived.

~~~~~

comparative vocabulary

In my neck of the woods,

what I woke to yesterday morning would be called

"a dusting of snow."

In Appalachia, I believe it would be called "a skiff."

Personally, I think "an etching of snow" describes it quite well.

What do you call it where you are?

~~~~~