As I look around

Sometimes it takes getting away to see things from a different lens. And a little self awareness helps too, which I find requires regular practice. After arriving safely home from Tennessee, our farm looks the same yet different. All our sweet animals are here including:

Dora and Hope our mini horses

I love their love for each other.
Keeping them in the barn each day
allows them to stay out of the sun
and stand in front of their fan.

I love you too 💟

Maggie The Piggie

She has her own pen, but spends a fair 
amount of time out with every else

And when she's out, she makes us brand 
new holes often

Belle, Lulu and Willow our sweet sheep

              Belle and adult granddaughter, Willow

The heat sends them to this shady spot.
They have a fan in their own barn,
but seemingly not a fan of using it.

Our approx 65 chickens whom I adore

They, too, are spending extra time in the 
barn trying to stay cool

Girl Power

The Little Girl Area houses my little 
silkies and frizzles

I just love the iridescent look of her 🖤

The little Easter Eggers are growing up
and starting to lay little green eggs

This frizzle gets all the beauty awards 🏆

Our 6 barn/farm cats leisurely live their life 

Smokey, who loves David the best.
He's permanently attached to the top of the 
dryer in the laundry room, better known as
The Cat Room.
Photo of Sugar courtesy of David 💛

Kitty (I know, very original name) is carefree
on The Graves Farm.

Blackie. Sweet Blackie. He's getting old and 
it's hard for him to get around. He gets a litter
box (in his spot in the Tack Room/Barn) of
 his very own so he doesn't have to venture far.
He sits in it so the chickens won't.

June Bug, better known as Junie B whose a siamese kitty with a 
bobtail and blue eyes. She's sweet as they come with a meow
that is fairy-like. Don't tell the others, but she is my favorite
barn kitty (who also loves the top of the dryer where there
happens to be cat food at all times). The Cat Room is 
their refuge and is a room shut off to the rest of the house.
 

Finn Finn desires to be an indoor and outdoor kitty 😸

The ever-popular Paul The Turkey

The most docile of all our animals, he's now out and
roaming again (when he's not in heat).

Our 4 wonderful livestock guard dogs Levi, Whisper, Penny and Dutch

Levi, Head LGD

Whisper whose dirty from pond swims
and is uninterested in most everyone.
She keeps to herself mostly, unless you
are a predator. It's true, she's a weather-predicting dog,
but also enjoys staying in the a/c of the laundry room
more than a LGD usually would.

Young'uns Penny and Dutch
Brother sister duo.
Penny is The Boss Lady.

Trying to put some weight on Penny as
she and Dutch shot up high on their legs
and could use some more girth.
After a meal, they all come and ask for a treat. 

Our kind and sweet stray Winston

Winston, stray now resident.
Old man, kind soul.
Does not get up quickly. Please
give him a minute.

The 3 ducks at the pond

I still have so much to learn about ducks. These three ducks will molt, get new feathers, and actually change the way they look. 

And the 'indoor/outdoor' Littles that include Maybe, Sugar and lil Buddy. 

Maybe and her most favorite activity

The cart was initially used to keep them all corralled, 
but traveling the country roads is what they love. 
They see the cart out, and they are ready to go.
Pawfect, it's what I love too.

Sugar Pie Honey

Buddy and Maggie showing some love

Fowl Play

While we were away on what I call a vacation, we unfortunately lost 2-3 chickens to predators and/or heat. I know it sounds odd that we do not know exactly how many, but the frantic call(s) from our caretaker, Rosie let us know that she would prefer someone else to clean up the crime scene. We know of 2 chickens for sure, but there may have been 3 who passed. One of them was my little black silkie girl, Coco. Luckily though, we have some wonderful friends, Gina and Ed who came to the rescue and discarded the bodies. We really appreciated that as it's a dirty and undesirable job. It's hard to lose chickens, and esp hard when we do not know what happened. What we do know is that when we are gone from the farm the activity decreases and predators start creeping in. Esp in places like the garage and the Little Girl (silkies and frizzles) fenced area whereby the livestock guard dogs cannot actually get in.

In addition, we had our awesome friends, Angela and Paul who came over regularly to water plants, sweep the barn, and be present with the animals (giving treats and pets). It was the great combination of friends who made sure the farm was good while we were away. I was not able to focus on much else but the race and getting myself across Tennessee each day, and knowing they were all here at the farm allowed me to direct my energy on my goal - the race. I thank you, Angela and Paul, Ed and Gina and Rosie for all you do and for all you did! It's appreciated more than you know. Thank you, my friends. Wait, I'd also like to thank Ryan, my son-in-law for getting me Bear Spray to have with me when I'm 'out in the world'. Luckily, I did not need to use it on a dog, bear or otherwise. But it always feels good having it as it provides me with a sense of security. 

As I mentioned, what happens on a farm is that predators sense when people are here, moving about, and rustling around constantly. Then, it's quiet. The people are gone, and predators sneak into the places the livestock guard dogs cannot get to (garage, Little Girl area of our silkies/frizzles who are fenced separately). Once we came back, that helps a lot, as well as us setting traps in the garage to see about catching said possums, skunks and raccoons who love to mess with our chicken community. Usually just our return takes care of this issue.

I will say that within the first day of us leaving for Tennessee, the mini horses got out, the electricity was off due to an Oncor problem, and an emergency water notice began to be issued for the City Of Gunter. That and the chicken losses creates a bit of chaos when we are not there to take care of these unusual day-to-day things. Angela and Paul along with Rosie, did ultimately get the mini horses back in their proper area. They never left our property per se, they just got into a pasture that is typically not good for them because their food intake needs to be monitored, and that part of the pasture had plentiful somewhat dry grass at the time. The electricity did get corrected and Oncor fixed whatever problem there was. I love the text messaging system Oncor uses to alert households when their electricity goes out, which is really nice. 

So after everything was said and done and we made our way back to Texas, it was then that our neighbors next-door, or should I say the cows next-door-parents were leaving for vacation. And wouldn’t you know it, on day one that they were gone, their cows got out. This is the conundrum of having farm animals and living in the country. Animals love to escape because seemingly the grass on the other side is always better.  We know we’re not the only ones with these issues as I see it on Instagram all the time and this seemingly happens to all like-minded farm/homestead folks. David was the one to go down on the road and maneuver them back into their pasture. We were happy to help as they are always there to help us. Somehow, fences cannot hold back cows and somehow gates get left open. It's the way of the world out here. Luckily, David is now in full retirement mode and he can’t even keep up with it all. Fence, gate, ground, barn and everything needs mending or fixing at some point. The to-do list is so long, and I want to note here that I have not made a to-do list for him as of yet because all you have to do is just look around and you can actually just see the invisible to-do list. No need to write anything down.

Water you doing

This may be a little hard to read,
but says, "Get ready because we
are about to have no water"

Once we arrived back home, we were already monitoring the City Of Gunter‘s website in regards to the water supply for the citizens of Gunter. It was dire. It was on the news. Gunter has run out of water, people. Technically, the City of Gunter was running out of water and there were no reserves left. The use of "non-essential things such as watering outside, using the dishwasher, washer, or shower" was imprinted on the citizens so that basically you should not be using water. Period. I did actually give up many showers so that I could fill water buckets for the animals. In my head it was a fair trade to not shower so I could make sure that the animals were cooled off and had the water they needed. We took it down a notch and tried to use only what was needed, but the animals were so hot and needed water to survive the hundred degree heat. 

The City of Gunter was amazing at giving
updates, sometimes 2 updates in 1 day.

As I went out on runs and walks around Gunter over the weekend following the water drought, I would notice how people were handling the situation. No one was watering their yard. I wondered too if they were only showering every few days. Did they also brush their teeth with water from a gallon jug?

I feel you neighbors

So it seems we were not the only ones pottying outside to not flush the commode, and doing a little bird bath (instead of shower) to conserve water, and there was no one watering a yard anywhere to be seen of course. Everyone’s ponds are drying up as is ours too. I can imagine the fish that we stocked last year are in the pond thinking 'Where did the water go. How will we survive?'

I can imagine they are working hard on
getting those wells working again.

But things are looking up and I now feel a little more comfortable with filling up water buckets for the animals and even not feeling quite as guilty if I take a shower. David had gone and bought us a bunch of water in gallon jugs and I was actually using those to fill up water buckets for the animals as well as keeping them in the bathroom for teeth brushing and such. It seems that the citizens of Gunter all did our part in a small way to conserve enough water to make it through this tough time. They are working on fixing the wells and even though we have a little bit of water now (and may be able to 'water the yard once a week' again soon) we are still mindful of what we are using. I notice I use a lot less water, and most of the water I use is for the animals. In an unbelievable moment, we actually had a random storm that brought rain that left the ground somewhat wet on Saturday evening. As little as it was, it was much needed and we are happy to take it even if it is to moisten the very top layer of the ground. It did bring with it lots of cloud cover which stayed through Sunday. What a blessing. 

Backwards glance

As I look around, I realize we have gotten quite settled into our property and animals. It's happened over the years (can you believe more than 6 years now) as we've tried to created an environment of security, comfort and consistency for the farm animals. Everyone knows everyone, everybody knows where they are to be, they all know who everyone else is and who belongs on the farm. This is the most stable our farm has been in over six years. Seemingly with many rescue or stray animals, we feel proud that they call our property home. They are home and we love them all dearly. Hope, our mini horse/Shetland pony who has had skin issues (pretty much since we were blessed with her) is now going to have some testing done to see if she has allergies or mineral deficiencies. I’m working with a equine company/veterinarian in Pilot Point who specializes in taking some hair from the mane of a horse and performing hair analysis in regards to does the horse have allergies, mineral deficiencies, mineral buildup from the water source or maybe something else that might be related to her skin condition. Hope's skin condition ebbs and flows as her skin and hair can look so beautiful, glossy and gorgeous black and then all of a sudden she’ll have some owies crop up that require me to place ointment (usually fly ointment on them) so the fly strikes don’t make her skin issue worse. She’s very tolerant of me with my grooming and putting the ointment on her. Recently, I told David 'I’m going to go out and put the Hope on the ointment'. Obviously I meant to say the ointment on Hope, but now that’s how I do. I’m going to put the Hope on the ointment because that’s about what it’s like. I lavish her with plenty of ointment that sometimes helps heal her skin issues. It’s part of our life and our ritual with Hope. She deserves every good thing in life. Her first 7 years of life were awful for her, and it makes my heart happy that she's in a safe place. I want to save all the animals, but will settle for trying to do my part. 

Brooks, Brooks, Baby

The Sunday after we got back from Tennessee, we had the privilege of taking Brooks to the children’s museum in Fort Worth. This is our go to place. He loves it there, it’s free (thank you Lauren and Ryan for being a member of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History) there's an abundance of air conditioning, and Brooks gets to run around as he pleases all while playing and learning.

I love the blacklight room they have with
so many options of toys and games in 
just that room - it looks very cool.

You can drive a boat

Or go grocery shopping (always for corn)

Or play with trains and lots of track to push
them on

We’ve taken him here since he could just barely walk. And it’s exciting to watch him each time we go as he learns and plays differently each visit. His favorite thing really is just running around freely, as that’s what all the kids enjoy doing as it's safe and meant for them to all be who they are. It’s a wonderful space and absolutely one of our favorite places to take him as well as one of his favorite places to go. 

Or dress up with the construction helmet
and run wild

In other news, he’s taking swim lessons, and I will say he absolutely loves being in the water as most kiddos do, so we’ll need to maybe find a place to take him to swim sometime too. 

There's no floaties allowed at AquaTots. 
Safety is not an accident and 
they teach water safety like no other.

He’ll be two in October, and like you, we often wonder where the time goes? It disappears into the universe with only memories left in our mind and on our phone. 

Birthday Breakfast

We do have a special event coming up on August 20. We will be celebrating my sister, Sheryl‘s 60th birthday, Ryan my son-in-law, 40th birthday, and Lauren, our daughter of course, and her 30th birthday. These are all late August birthdays and because it’s going to be so hot we will have a breakfast birthday party. The fishing will begin at the pond at 8:30 AM so everyone can fish before it gets hot. No you will not be catching your breakfast. Instead, breakfast will be cooked probably primarily by David, because that’s his thing of French toast, pancakes, bacon, farm fresh eggs and yummy stuff like that. Lots of coffee, must have lots of coffee. We are looking forward to having family over, Ryan‘s family over and sharing communion with one another to celebrate these momentous birthday times. David and I do not take birthdays for granted. We, like you, are grateful for every day, month, year and minute that we are given. It’s so cliché to say life is precious, but we know it is.

Treatment Change TBD

Speaking of precious, my new cancer treatment of BESREMi was denied by my insurance. Something a cancer patient and her oncologist(s) think is precious finds out real quick-like that the insurance company decides what is precious and what isn't. This is unfortunately how it goes sometimes. 

Seems my insurance would think this is a good thing

At my last visit with Dr V at MD Anderson, he recommended I begin treatment with a biological, the interferon BESREMi to be exact. FDA has approved BESREMi, a treatment specific to polycythemia vera patients. It's the treatment my oncologist(s) is recommending, but insurance does not want to pay. Typically, by age 60, PV patients will be on a treatment plan other than phlebotomies. You can't keep doing that forever and either a chemo agent or an interferon will need to be taken. Dr V prefers BESREMi before prescribing a chemo agent, and I trust him impeccably. But apparently, my insurance does not want to pay. My local oncologist at Texas Oncology who has prescribed BESREMi for me (so I do not have to go to Houston every 2 weeks for treatment and labs) is onboard with this plan but will be the responsible party for getting the appeal process started with my insurance company and will/should be my advocate. I am having second thoughts about not going to Houston every 2 weeks, as MDA said they could get the appeal completed and get me started on treatment, but MDA also encouraged me to go to my local oncologist as it would be more accommodating with location and the need to go into the office fairly regularly twice a month. One would think Texas Oncology has completed appeals for cancer treatments and has been successful, but due to the time this is taking, it does cause me to pause and think about my decision. We'll see how this will go, as in another week, I'll check in the portal and ask for a status on the appeal. It may be that I end up at MDA for treatment, and that's okay. I was hoping Texas Oncology would go to bat for me and only time will tell. 

On that note, it's a Sunday night and time to prepare for the week. I have an exciting evening planned tomorrow (Monday) night as I have an MRI of my brain and a CT Angiogram scheduled. Apparently, they think it's necessary to take a look at my brain every year. I don't blame them, it's probably a good idea and there are probably others in my life that would think so too. But for real, a stroke some years back (likely PV related or my a-fib heart thing may be to blame) is reason for them to watch for another stroke esp since PV is a keen way to get yourself a stroke going on, after all that thick, sticky, too-much blood is not the kind of blood that's good. There's also a little aneurysm involved in all this too. Geezz who has time for these things. I suppose I do, and will do as the doctors advise. I look forward to a clear and good report. My neurologist said he'd call me once he gets the results. 

Hope your Monday is a good one and that all your scans are clear too,

Cyndi, who is officially recovered from the Tennessee adventure or so she thinks 

Barn Therapy in case you are in need of some.