It's not over yet

Thank-you for all your concern, sympathy, and prayers. I am in a better place emotionally and spiritually than I was Monday and into Tuesday morning; Sarai is in a worse place physically than she was yesterday. She's definitely not out of the woods yet, but that is not what my title refers to....

I was at my nadir when I fell into bed Monday night. Tuesday morning didn't look any brighter, apart from the fact that Sarai was still standing. But on my way to the part-time office job I turned the dial to contemporary Christian radio (it's either that or public broadcasting). The following song was on the playlist, and spoke to my heart on so many levels. As my mom has reminded me throughout my life, "It's a battle and a march." Or a marathon, according to the Apostle Paul.



Also resonating with me was The Last Battle (speaking of "for King & country"!), the C.S. Lewis book Brian is currently reading to me when we're in the car. So much so, in fact, that last night I stayed up very late to finish it while Rick was gone on an emergency. (Shhh; don't tell Brian as he hates it when I read ahead, even though he's read it already himself.) Yes, I've read ahead to the end of the book so I know how the story ends – it's what keeps me going!

The weather is not in a better place yet, although it is supposed to improve a bit. We are all ready for a break from the relentless wet.

Squish-squishing along at . . .

Bad, like most news these days

Dead lamb; stressed dam. Had to take the head off to get the big katmoget ram out, and it still took all three of us (Brian finally succeeded) to get both front legs up to pull it out. Avoided a c-section, but still very worried about Sarai. And so ends a no good, very bad day.

Waving the white flag at . . .

News (possibly) at 11:00!

Just went down to do evening chores, and Sarai is in labor! Didn't see THAT coming, so don't have a lambing jug set up or any straw available. Left a message for Rick, in case he can pick up a bale of straw somewhere before heading home; I'm headed back down to see if I can set up the jug by myself.

From the midwife at . . .

A capital idea

On our last day with Rick's family, us "old folks" decided to take in the beauty of Oregon's capitol and surrounding grounds. (The young folk were, variously, driving back home to Colorado, riding mountain bikes, and napping.) The light wasn't great, but I took pictures anyway. ;-)  At least we didn't get rained on – like we did for much of their visit.

While we were sightseeing yesterday, the hens produced eggs 29-32 for the month. That equals the total number of eggs we got in January and February combined. Young layers rock!

That's it now from . . .