Frost
Good goat times today.
The real cold has set in, though. Only barely over freezing in the morning. Had to bring out the trusty old sweater for the first time this season. It kept me nice and warm. Only problem was my hands. I hate those frozen fingers. Fumbling with cameras and mp3 players and treats. Ugh. And coming out of a hot shower in the morning into the cold air of the bathroom. Ugh.
And it’s only going to get worse. For the next 4 months. Ugh.
I don’t always cope well with heat, but I much prefer dealing with heat than with cold. Much.
Speaking of heat. i think Luna must have been in heat today. She was a hot mess. She was snorting and blubbering a lot. She sometimes does little snortysnorts, but today she really was like a little buck. With her beard too. if you didn’t know she was a girl you’d have thought she was a boy. Breaking those gender stereotypes. But pretty darn hilarious.
Got some news to share, but I’ll bring them later.
18/11 2024
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Well, I have bad news from the playground I am afraid. We lost two chickens over the weekend. To a fox, presumeably.
We lost the two big whites, Henrietta and Susie. It’s terribly sad. Henrietta had been with us so long, she got the nameHen Solo because she was the only chicken we had for a while. She survived another fox attack and a dog encounter and other things. She was a lovely big hen. And Susie was lovely too. She was with the goats often, Henrietta tended to wander more. It really sucks that they’re gone.
I know these things happen in nature, but I can’t stand thinking of it happening at our place. Damn. Poor feathers.
It happened over the weekend, Jeanette told me Andrea called her and told her yesterday. We’re going to try to let the last 3 hens be outside while Jeanette is around, but they’ll hae to be locked up when Jeanette isn’t ther.e
I am glad Red Sonja is okay. She is part goat by now and always hanging out with us. She’s the only tame one left now. The other two are Maren and Hanna. I still haven’t learned which is which, they’re hard for me to tell apart. But they aren’t tame and socialized like Sonja, although they do hang out with us a lot too.
Yeah, that was really sad news to get today. Hopefully the last three cluckers will stay safe, it’s so nice having them with us. They liven things up. I’ll miss the whites.
18/11 2024
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A happier post before heading to bed. I managed to grab some lapgoat time with Luna today. It’s been a long time. She’s kinda too big for it now. Only barely fits. But I’ll take it. She was a hoot today, funny girl.
18/11 2024
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The platform may be askew on the treddle, but Bella can still reach up to the hay on the storage shelf through the gap at the back. It’s funny how the hay on the storage shelf is always more alluring than the hay we actually put out for them in the hay rack.
19/11 2024
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A little lapgoating with Luna. Pretty much too big for it now, but I am clinging on.
19/11 2024
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Will it ever be Hammer Time again?
19/11 2024
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goatlog
20/11 2024
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Got an hour on the bike today. Good to get back to that. I have only done it twice the last 2½ weeks. So I need to keep at it.
But I have always been wanting to let my body heal. One of the problems is, when i do the biking I need to stretch my legs a lot or I get horrible cramps. Even with all the stretching I still often get cramps. But doing the leg stretches involves using the arms, and when I do them I can feel the chest bone pain. And I don’t want to aggravate that too much, I want to let that heal.
But I think i’m getting better. Still some chest pains, but not as much. And not as quickly out of breath today. Got out of breath from the intervals, but this time it was more.. “working up to get out of breath because I’m exercising”. Instead of “Immediately out of breath fr no apparent reason”. And as I said the chest pains are less. So hopefully it’s all progressing as it should. The rib problems usually take 3-4 weeks, and this has been a couple of weeks, so I think it tracks.
Doing core strenghtening exercises too, in the hopes of helping my back. After a long where my back didn’t bother me as much, it’s been really bad the last few weeks. Back to excruciating pains and being wiped out for days after going outside. That’s no fun. Along with the cold, it has meant cutting back on goat trips. And i really don’t want that. So i’m trying to get better. Here’s to hoping.
Good to get back on the bike anyway.
20/11 2024
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Sky rocks.
20/11 2024
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Good goat times today. Frosty. Much too cold. Down around -5C/23F in the morning. Noooo. Expletive deleted! I can’t stand it.
And I had a busy morning. Had an appointment at the optician to pick up my new glasses first thing in the morning. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to the goats afterwards, with all the pain and the utter freezing, I figured maybe I’d just go back home afterwards. But the lure of goats was too big. So after picking up the glasses I trekked the walk to the goats and had some good times with them in the frost. Lots of nice visitors, the neighbouring school groups. Some of them happy to see again because it’s been a few weeks since I was there on a Thursday. But they are really nice people.
Now I’m back home and ready go heat up with soup. I haven’t tried my new glasses yet. I am scared to put them on. I just know in my heart of hearts that they’ll do me no good! Not that I’m pessimistic or anything. Well cross all you have to cross for them to give me a little help. It took an age, but at least now I’ll see. If there’s anything to see.
21/11 2024
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Frosty the goats.
21/11 2024
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Well, I’ve tried out my new glasses and the verdict is… *drum roll*
They help. A little. Looking at the computer screen, it’s definitely a little sharper. Is it enough to make a real difference? I think it might be. I have to get used to wearing them, they do a little bit of magnification I think so it kind of feels a little weird. But making things sharper is good.
I don’t think it’s enough to be a huge lifechanging thing. Would it be worth it if I had to pay for them myself? Eh.. I’m not really sure. I guess after using them more I’ll be able to evaluate that better. But my initial impression is that there is an improvement, and in my situation that does count for a lot. So, so far so good.
I haven’t tried the filter glasses yet. I did mention that I was getting two pairs, right? One for using at home, and a pair of filter glasses for using outside. I already had a pair of filter glasses, as you can see in all my photos from the goat place. But that pair doesn’t have any strength in them, the new pair does. So next time I go goating I’ll bring both pairs and see if I feel the new pair is better. We’ll see about that.
It took a long time to get done, but it seems like it was worth the trouble. Seems to especially help when I’m leaning back against my chair. Maybe that will help me not having to lean forward and strain my back so much. Here’s to hoping.
It’s going to be weird using glasses again, at home. From a young age my eyesight was very bad and I wore glasses as long back as I can remember. And then when my eyesight got wrecked by the beetus, I stopped because they didn’t help anymore. How long is that ago? It’s all a blur, like my eyesight. Might have been 2010 when I stopped wearing glasses all the time.
i think I may nee to go back to the optician and get them adjusted a little. The lady asked me if I wanted the ‘legs’ of the frame (what are they called?!) bent or straight. I figured having them somewhat bent on the pair for outside would be good, and the home pair not so much. But they’re kinda sliding down a little bit I think, so maybe getting the frame bent back around the ear more would be a good idea. i’ll see about that.
I’ll pronounce this a tentative success.
21/11 2024
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Time to bundle up. Today: Two blouses and one sweater under my coat. And a skullcap on my head and gloves on my hands, as investigated by Luna here. Also, now’s the time that the camera gets fogged up when you leave it off for longer than a minute. Really annoying when goats suddenly do something cute out of the blue and you race to capture it but then all you get is the foggy ghosts of the frozen wastes.
21/11 2024
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Jeanette was handing out the remaining carrots, after the visitors had left. In the picture she’s giving some to Bella, but it was actually Sky in Bella’s position to begin with. Jeanette was keeping the others away so Sky could get some too. She’s doing her part to make sure Sky gets a share of it all, at breakfast too if I’m not there.
21/11 2024
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Well, it’s about a day into using my new glasses. And I’m really happy with them so far. There’s definitely a slight improvement, and that counts for quite a lot when you’re as blind as I am. It’s not like it fixes everything. I still have to have everything enlargened and super contrastred and stuff. But I can read a little easier, when sitting back. So I think this was definitely worth it, and would have been too if I had had to pay for it myself. It remains to be seen if the filter glasses will be of good use too, we’ll find out next week.
The only thing that bothers me is that my glasses keep slipping down to the tip of my nose. I definitely have to get them adjusted. But I won’t be getting to that until next week either. But I’m really glad I got them. Glad I pursued it instead of avoiding it.
I think my lung situation is getting better too. Yesterday’s walk from the optician to the goats was a little longer than my usual walk, but it didn’t leave me completely out of breath immediately. So hopefully that is almost fixed. Almost. Hopefully.
22/11 2024
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if there is no lap to sit on, then a box will have to do, says Luna.
You know, photos look better with clearer eyesight.
22/11 2024
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It took me three episodes of Matlock to realise that her husband is Bernard from Lost. Man, I miss Rose and Bernard.
Just watched episode 4, enjoying it more and more. Still wish it wasn’t quite so modern, but Kathy Bates is as wonderful as expected. And now that I know she’s married to Bernard from Lost, weeell. I’m all in.
Currently reading Nicole Maines’ new book. Very interesting. It’s hard to imagine exactly what it’s like to be trans and have a lot of people in your own country wanting to deny your existence and being. Humans are weird.
There are things about myself that are.. complciated. Maybe some day I’ll be ready ro really dive into them.
When i’m done with that book, i got the new Murakami lined up. No, not Keiko. The other Murakami. Haruki. Finally, a new novel! The City And Its Uncertain Walls. It’s been a long time. The short story collections didn’t grab me as much as the full length works. I think I would enjoy the short stories more if I read them as a paper book. Hmm, i wonder if I can read paper books with my new glasses? Maybe I should try that. Well, even if I could it would be too much of a strain on my eyes I’m pretty sure. That much physical reading would be stressful. But it might be fun to try and see if it’s possible. I miss lying in bed on a cold winter night, readig and drinking a cup of hot chocolate. I used to boil up a coup of hot cocoa and then I’d put a chocolate bar into it and stir it so it slowly melted and then when the cocoa was drunk up the sides of the mug would be coated in hardening chocolate. Yeah I have no idea how I ever got diabetes.
Anyway. Hope you’re all doing well out there. Can’t believe it’s already the secondtwentieth of the eleventyfirst month of Y2k+two dozens. Time sure is a thing that has wings. Oh look the penguin exploded.
22/11 2024
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Got an hour on the bike today. Not the biggest effort, but just trying to get back to regular exercise. And my breath is definitely better, maybe not completely normel. But better. No rod twisting yet, but doing my core strenghteners. Working on it.
It’s too cold. Much too cold. Forecast looks good for next week though, it’s going to get a little warmer. We’ll probably get a bunch of rain, though. I wish I could pack the goats up and move to Hawaii for the winter. Live in a shack like Rose and Bernard and Vincent the dog. That or hibernation.
But I’ll have to settle for soup. For now.
23/11 2024
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Undercover Muppets. I would watch that.
23/11 2024
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I managed to get the framing andl ighting completely wrong for this, but nonetheless. Here’s me in two blouses, a sweater, a coat, a skullcap, a pair of gloves and a partrirdge in a pear tree. No wait those are goats.
3/11 2024
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goatlog
23/11 2024
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It’s been a tired, headachey day. Didn’t get enough sleep. Wasted too much time. Neighbours were drilling rseemingly eight into my head for half an h our. It’s Blehday.
23/11 2024
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Frosty Sky. It should be warming up now, at least.
23/11 2024
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That’s all for now.