In other news, I am back home now. Kathy made it back from Colorado on Friday and resumed residency of her home. I hadn't realized just how nasty my house had gotten! It's a shame that two grown adults can't keep four rooms clean for three months but there you go. My plans for renovating the upstairs are kind of in limbo until Mom decides if she wants to redo the whole house. She would like it to be ranch-style, instead of two story but that is a major renovation and will take some money and time. I'd like for her to be able to do it next fall and early winter but it might not happen that quickly. In any case, I don't want to put time and money into finishing the upstairs only to have it be torn down in six months... We'll see how things progress this year.
Bonnie is still pregnant, our Thanksgiving turkey was delicious, even if he infected my dad's finger and Mom's knee is healing still. I went to the dentist last Monday, to have an impacted wisdom tooth pulled and I still have a huge knot of... something, in my cheek, causing pain. I don't know if it's a blood clot, a bruise, unused Novocaine or what but with warm compresses, Ibuprofen out the wazoo and time it seems to be going down. The socket and my jaw are fine now but since the maniac who pulled it jammed a needle into the joint of my jaw and rotated it around without pulling it out I can't open my mouth very far yet. On the plus side, it's a great diet plan.
Dad has cellulitis in his right middle finger. He was gutting our turkey and he nicked his knuckle while inside the cavity. I swelled up and we pestered him into going to the ER. He's on a general antibiotic until they can identify exactly what is in his finger. If it's sensitive to the one he's on then they'll just leave him on that one. If it isn't sensitive then they have to switch them until they find one that is. He said that it's feeling better today so hopefully it's healing and he won't have any permanent damage. He's just amazed that he reacted that way since it's never happened before with elk or moose. I reminded him that we didn't slaughter this bird, he died from hypothermia and he was gutting him hours after it died. The bacteria load in this bird was decidedly higher than in a freshly killed animal. And don't lecture me about the dangers of eating such a bird. He was skinned, cooked very well, and none of us got sick, so there! And, he was delicious.
Charlie made it down for Thanksgiving this year. He's still at GCI, working tech support for wireless internet and loving every minute of it. He's kind of thinking about looking for a house. A buddy of his is willing to go in with him on a large parcel, build two houses, (or one if there's already one there), and subdivide later. It's what we did with Jim and Kathy. He's putting down roots in Wasilla. At least he's still in Alaska. He's four hours away from us but that's not too far that it's a major hurdle if we need him for something. Hopefully, he'll be able to help put up the barn this spring. I really, really, really, really, want a sheltered place for Bonnie to calve, now that I know for sure that she's pregnant. It was nice of her to start bagging up this early, just so I can stop wondering and hoping. The other day, Dad came in and told me to go check on her since there were a dozen ravens ringing the corral. Usually, there's something dead for that many to come. I grabbed my coat, just knowing in my heart that she's miscarried and my dreams for milk this year were dead. But, there was no calf and Bonnie was standing in the middle of her corral, gazing around at her new friends while they eyed the chunk of pig intestine that had brought them in. Nanook had laid it by the corral and they were trying to find a way to get Brandy to quit chewing on it so they could have it. I hung onto the fence for awhile, waiting for my heart to stop pounding before yelling at them and my dogs. Stupid critters anyway!!!
All the turkeys are together now. We have to pick a new breeder tom since we ate ours for Thanksgiving but I get to pick him this time and I want the dominant one. Like I wanted the first time, but was outvoted. We sold one of the older hens to some friends and I keep forgetting to ask them how it was. Now we just need to take care of a hen and a tom and our turkey killing will be done for the year. I might ask Uncle David to help with it when he gets here in January. I can't stand being part of the killing. I'll pluck and gut all day though, that doesn't bother me.
Okay, this is getting crazy long so I'm gonna tack a cute picture of Riley and Phaedra on the end and then call it a post.
~Pam
They were watching Tony and my parents put the trusses on Kathy's porch
