I've been challenged to list 3 books that I'd want on a deserted island. But there is a problem.
Which 3 books? Why only 3? I can list 3 books, but which 3 should I list? Should I list the 3 that are stacked up, waiting for me to read them? Should I list 3 favorites? Can I list 3 series, and not just 3 individual titles? 3 favorite authors? Should I list 3 of those on my growing I-need-to-read-this list? Should I list 3 classics that I've never taken time to read. I'm just going to play it safe and list them all.
3 books I've got stacked up, waiting to be read.
1. Queen of Swords by Sara Donati.
2. Meeting at Corvallis by S.M. Stirling.
3. Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick.
3 favorite books.
1. Oklahoma Run. Can't remember the author, but it's an old novel written in the '50's. I loved it, and still re-read it every once in a while.
2. Valley of the Horses by Jean Auel.
3. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon.
3 series of books
1. Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.
2. Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
3. Earth's Children series by Jean Auel
4. Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. (Yeah, I know it says 3, I'm not good at rules...)
3 favorite authors
1. Diana Gabaldon
2. Anne McCaffrey
3. Nora Roberts
3 Classics I've never read
1. Catcher in the Rye.
2. Of Mice and Men.
3. War and Peace.
3 titles in my need-to-read-soon list (From lists and book reviews I've got clipped and laying all over my desk.)
1. The scroll of Seduction by Belli Gioconda
2. The Stand by Stephen King
3. The Testerone Files by Max Wolf Valerio
Now, IF I were on a deserted island, what books would I really want to have? I'd want a survival manual. Cause, I'm a person who buys how-to books about my animals, so I'd need a survival manual. I'd want some book that I could read over and over and over, and being a voracious reader, I'd need a thick one, so would probably take ALL of Diana Gabaldon's books. And, I guess I'd want another how-to book--how to build a boat, so I could leave. After I re-read all of Diana's books.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Friday, October 06, 2006
Who's tired?
I didn't sleep well last night. My bed was rather full, and I had some wild dreams. My bed was full of people and animals, but my hubby wasn't one of them.
You see, we've been trying to get to my folks' house, we've got a whole beef to pick up, and Andy found some Boar goats he wanted to buy. So yesterday, my boys took off for Englewood. Kev had been slow all week, in fact, he stayed home Tuesday because he didn't have any patients to see. The kids got out of school at 1:30 yesterday because of Parent-Teacher Conferences, and don't have school today. Perfect, Kev's slow, the kids are out of school. We planned.
Guess what, Wednesday night, Kev picked up 6 patients. S.I.X. In one day. But, he thought he could squeeze them in yesterday. Nope. He still has to see six people today, but we had planned this trip, we'd called, we committed ourselves. So this trip is a flying trip. The boys left town last night at 6. That put them at Mom and Dad's at 9:30. The newly revised plan is to get up early there, load up the 2 or 3 goats, get to Minneola early, get the beef and get their hineys home. Then Kev will rush around and go see his six people.
Last night, I called my Dad, gave him the revised plans. He then had to rush around, catch the goat owner, and figure out how to get the goats loaded early.
So what does all this have to do with my sleeping?
Well, since Kev was gone, Miss Kat took the opportunity to sleep with me. Fine, not a problem. But since Andy was gone, that meant that Emily, the Labrador, had to sleep with me. And since Kat was sleeping with me, that meant her Labrador, Midnight, had to sleep with me. The cats, Cutie and Chubs also chose to sleep with me. So, in our King sized bed, there was 1. Me. 2. Kat. 3. Emily. 4. Midnight. 5. Cutie. 6. Chubs.
Who did everyone have to touch? Me.
Who couldn't move, not even roll over? Me.
Who woke up 50 million times last night? Me.
Who got up at 5:30 when Cutie hissed and jumped Chubs, and woke up the dogs who then decided it was time to go outside? Me.
Who's tired? Probably everybody except Kat.
You see, we've been trying to get to my folks' house, we've got a whole beef to pick up, and Andy found some Boar goats he wanted to buy. So yesterday, my boys took off for Englewood. Kev had been slow all week, in fact, he stayed home Tuesday because he didn't have any patients to see. The kids got out of school at 1:30 yesterday because of Parent-Teacher Conferences, and don't have school today. Perfect, Kev's slow, the kids are out of school. We planned.
Guess what, Wednesday night, Kev picked up 6 patients. S.I.X. In one day. But, he thought he could squeeze them in yesterday. Nope. He still has to see six people today, but we had planned this trip, we'd called, we committed ourselves. So this trip is a flying trip. The boys left town last night at 6. That put them at Mom and Dad's at 9:30. The newly revised plan is to get up early there, load up the 2 or 3 goats, get to Minneola early, get the beef and get their hineys home. Then Kev will rush around and go see his six people.
Last night, I called my Dad, gave him the revised plans. He then had to rush around, catch the goat owner, and figure out how to get the goats loaded early.
So what does all this have to do with my sleeping?
Well, since Kev was gone, Miss Kat took the opportunity to sleep with me. Fine, not a problem. But since Andy was gone, that meant that Emily, the Labrador, had to sleep with me. And since Kat was sleeping with me, that meant her Labrador, Midnight, had to sleep with me. The cats, Cutie and Chubs also chose to sleep with me. So, in our King sized bed, there was 1. Me. 2. Kat. 3. Emily. 4. Midnight. 5. Cutie. 6. Chubs.
Who did everyone have to touch? Me.
Who couldn't move, not even roll over? Me.
Who woke up 50 million times last night? Me.
Who got up at 5:30 when Cutie hissed and jumped Chubs, and woke up the dogs who then decided it was time to go outside? Me.
Who's tired? Probably everybody except Kat.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
It's going to be a lovely day...
I can already tell.
You see, everything was going well until I got to work. Went to get my keys out--my keys to the library. They weren't in my purse. Great. Called Kev, hoping he'd still be at the house. Called the house, no answer, called his cell, no answer, called the house, no answer, called the cell, no answer.
I went to the main office and called maintenance to come let me in. I've worked here 19 years, this has happened twice in 19 years. Humiliating, especially knowing they will N.E.V.E.R. let me live this down.
Kev called, his phone battery was already dead, at 8 a.m., after being plugged in all night. Guess what, his car beeped at him, said "NO COOLANT, SHUT OFF MOTOR." He did. He's driving the diesel today.
Yep, looks like a good day already.
You see, everything was going well until I got to work. Went to get my keys out--my keys to the library. They weren't in my purse. Great. Called Kev, hoping he'd still be at the house. Called the house, no answer, called his cell, no answer, called the house, no answer, called the cell, no answer.
I went to the main office and called maintenance to come let me in. I've worked here 19 years, this has happened twice in 19 years. Humiliating, especially knowing they will N.E.V.E.R. let me live this down.
Kev called, his phone battery was already dead, at 8 a.m., after being plugged in all night. Guess what, his car beeped at him, said "NO COOLANT, SHUT OFF MOTOR." He did. He's driving the diesel today.
Yep, looks like a good day already.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Why do I have goats?
Can someone please tell me why I have goats?
Last night, I got vaccine and penicillin for Winter. She was due for a vaccination, and since she tried to rip off her ear, I thought a dose of penicillin would probably be best. I had visited with the vet, who is NOT a goat person, but she KNOWS a goat vet, so we are doing the best we can.
I ran by the vet clinic for 3 doses of vaccine, one for each of the 3 goats. Then I ran to Orschlen's for some Koppertox and syringes and wormer, then home. I wrangled my assistants, because I knew I'd need them. Andy and Kev were both wrangled to help.
The vaccination went well. We caught Winter, Kev and Andy held her against the fence. I gave the shot. Sub cue. No problem. I didn't go in and out the skin this time, the med's got where they needed to be, and she didn't fight too much. Next on the list, penicillin. I had loaded the syringe, warned my assistants that she'd jump because penicillin burns. (Just ask anyone who's had a shot of penicillin in the hiney...)
She jumped. Bent my needle. She threw a fit, reared up on hind legs and all. We wrestled her down, I tried again. She jumped and knocked the needle from my hand. Third try, same result. Ok, we'll, move on. I'll get someone more comfortable giving shots to help me with this one. (Kim...)
The Koppertox (I'm misspelling it, cause I didn't read the label that closely), is for her hooves. You see, I trimmed her hoof to short and she's been walking on her knees. Splayed toe is the condition, if the inside of the hoof is too short, the goat will spread her toes when walking putting stress on the upper foot and the "crack" between the toes. The vet recommended the Koppertox to toughen up the hoof and hopefully help her get over this a little quicker. Worth a try. Koppertox is a liquid. It's blue/green--the blue/green of copper, and it stinks, a definate metallic scent. Once spilled, it can only be removed with paint thinner. Great. Needless to say, I had a blue/green hand, no paint thinner, and my hand stunk all night. But I did get it squirted on Winter's hoof--the correct hoof, first try.
Round 4 was for the wormer. The wormer I got is really for horses, but it's ok for goats, you just give a lot less. Yeah right. Insert nozzle into goats mouth, not too bad, except when said goat is really tired of you messing with her. But, I got a dose in her, she actually came sniffing for more, but this is a one shot deal, I'm DONE.
Now for the kid-goats, they just got vaccine and wormer. They were much easier to hold and they also wanted more wormer. And their hooves need a trim. But I'd had enough. Someone, please remind me that I don't have to do everything at once. I can space things out next time.
And the sad thought? Well, we're getting 2 or 3 new goats this weekend. I'll have to vaccinate and worm them too. Since they will be new to us, I have no idea what to expect. And since 1, maybe 2 of them will be bucks--in rut, it will probably be a joyful experience. I'll probably smell like something other than Koppertox...
Now, why do I have goats?
Last night, I got vaccine and penicillin for Winter. She was due for a vaccination, and since she tried to rip off her ear, I thought a dose of penicillin would probably be best. I had visited with the vet, who is NOT a goat person, but she KNOWS a goat vet, so we are doing the best we can.
I ran by the vet clinic for 3 doses of vaccine, one for each of the 3 goats. Then I ran to Orschlen's for some Koppertox and syringes and wormer, then home. I wrangled my assistants, because I knew I'd need them. Andy and Kev were both wrangled to help.
The vaccination went well. We caught Winter, Kev and Andy held her against the fence. I gave the shot. Sub cue. No problem. I didn't go in and out the skin this time, the med's got where they needed to be, and she didn't fight too much. Next on the list, penicillin. I had loaded the syringe, warned my assistants that she'd jump because penicillin burns. (Just ask anyone who's had a shot of penicillin in the hiney...)
She jumped. Bent my needle. She threw a fit, reared up on hind legs and all. We wrestled her down, I tried again. She jumped and knocked the needle from my hand. Third try, same result. Ok, we'll, move on. I'll get someone more comfortable giving shots to help me with this one. (Kim...)
The Koppertox (I'm misspelling it, cause I didn't read the label that closely), is for her hooves. You see, I trimmed her hoof to short and she's been walking on her knees. Splayed toe is the condition, if the inside of the hoof is too short, the goat will spread her toes when walking putting stress on the upper foot and the "crack" between the toes. The vet recommended the Koppertox to toughen up the hoof and hopefully help her get over this a little quicker. Worth a try. Koppertox is a liquid. It's blue/green--the blue/green of copper, and it stinks, a definate metallic scent. Once spilled, it can only be removed with paint thinner. Great. Needless to say, I had a blue/green hand, no paint thinner, and my hand stunk all night. But I did get it squirted on Winter's hoof--the correct hoof, first try.
Round 4 was for the wormer. The wormer I got is really for horses, but it's ok for goats, you just give a lot less. Yeah right. Insert nozzle into goats mouth, not too bad, except when said goat is really tired of you messing with her. But, I got a dose in her, she actually came sniffing for more, but this is a one shot deal, I'm DONE.
Now for the kid-goats, they just got vaccine and wormer. They were much easier to hold and they also wanted more wormer. And their hooves need a trim. But I'd had enough. Someone, please remind me that I don't have to do everything at once. I can space things out next time.
And the sad thought? Well, we're getting 2 or 3 new goats this weekend. I'll have to vaccinate and worm them too. Since they will be new to us, I have no idea what to expect. And since 1, maybe 2 of them will be bucks--in rut, it will probably be a joyful experience. I'll probably smell like something other than Koppertox...
Now, why do I have goats?
Monday, October 02, 2006
Wanted: a three day weekend
There are 48 hours in a weekend. If you count Friday night, there are 55 hours. Kev and I packed about 100 hours worth of work and activity into those 55 hours.
We've got to have another day in our weekend.
Friday night, I had "my ladies" over for a scrapbooking night." They were at the house from 7 until 11. Not bad, but I rushed home at 4 to get ready for their arrival at 7. So, early Friday evening was spent in a frenzy of picking up the basement, sweeping the stairs, the basement floor, cleaning Andy's bathroom, setting up for the ladies, and eat supper. I can't tell you what we had for supper, but I can tell you that Andy vacuumed the basement with a bag that was past full. Kat was busy herself, she had a friend sleep over.
While I was doing this, my much-loved husband was preparing to make venison jerkey. We borrowed a dehydrator--commercial sized, and he'd gotten out 20 to 30 lbs of venison, both burger and steak. Another friend, C, was bringing over his dehydrator and some venison and they were going to mix this up together. So, I had my project, and Kev had his. My ladies left between 10 and 11. C didn't leave until 11:30. The girls didn't go to bed until Midnight. We followed shortly thereafter.
Saturday, we were all up by 8. The girls had to be taken to town to a bake sale, Kev started forming his jerkey strips and getting them into the dehydrators. Andy needed to come to town with me to get some leaves for a biology project. (Hey, we don't have any trees other than cedar trees at our house!) Off to town we go. I drop the girls and the baked goods off, Andy and I run to the college to get leaves, and then to Sonic. There we ordered a Large Dr Pepper, a Large Poweraid Slush and a job application.
Kev calls, "Kim's here ready to make pickles."
"Ok, we'll be right there."
I'd been given 2 bushels of cucumbers. We decided--Kim and I that we'd make pickles. She's never done it, I have, so she wanted to help. We spent the day in the kitchen making Bread and Butter pickles, Sweet Relish, Dill pickles, Hot relish, and we even pickled some eggs for our menfolk. I ran out of quart jars and we ran out of pickles while we were making the dill pickles. But we had the canner going from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m.
While we were in the kitchen canning, Kev was also in the kitchen making jerkey. My kitchen is nice sized, but not big enough for 4-sometimes 5 people to all be working on different projects. Kim and I and B and Andy on the pickle project, and Kev and sometimes Andy and sometimes Bob working on the jerkey. We were in each other's way all day. It was 85 degrees outside, my kitchen was close to 100 degrees.
Did our work end at 7, when the pickles were done? No. We still had to get all our hunting gear together. Sunday was opening day for the archery deer season. We had to go, it was opening day! The temperature forecast was 80 degrees. Sunday morning, the alarm went off at 5. I wasn't ready to get up, but, since it's allergy season, I was awake, sniffling. Up we got, three of us. Kat spent the night at Kim's. Into the pickup, off to town to get Lynn, gas, then on to our hunting spots. As we're tooling down the highway, Kevin tells Lynn not to shoot a deer today. We can't let it hang and would have to process it. Ugh. After smelling raw venison straight for two days, the thought of smelling it again was nauseating. Lynn agreed, because he's helping with corn harvest and would be in the field in the afternoon. My thought, while this was being decided, was "Why the heck are we going hunting if we can't shoot anything?"
We sit in our trees until 9:30. Fine, no big deal. Except my allergies kicked in. I'm in this tree, sneezing. No-deer-gonna-come-my-way, no sir-ree. Kev could have shot a nice buck, Andy shot at a doe (turkey, this is his first day! EVER!) and Lynn could have shot a doe. Me, all I saw was birds and leaves and my Kleenex.
Back to town to drop Lynn off, then off to the store for more ingredients for the summer sausage that still was waiting at home. We picked up Kat, mixed the summer sausage up, I started laundry, Kev got shotguns ready for 4-H that afternoon. Grabbed lunch, sent the "men-folk" off to shoot, did more laundry, cleaned a little, used about 40 Kleenex, baked the summer sausage and jerkey sticks, and then it was time for supper.
We ate out.
After supper, Andy and I went to work on goat hooves. Discovered Winter had tried to rip off her ear and I trimmed a hoof to short. Blood everywhere. I'm holding a wiggly goat--one with horns. Trying to keep my finger on her hoof to stop the blood, yelling at my kids to hurry and get the book, get some water, bring the flour out and to help me hold this goat. After stopping the blood, peroxiding the ear wound and getting the pigs back into their pen (They just wanted to see what was going on!) and washing, Kev and I then had to package his 40 lbs of jerkey and C's 50 lbs of jerkey. We finished around 9.
We were in bed by 9:30, exhausted. We need at least another 24 hours in a weekend.
We've got to have another day in our weekend.
Friday night, I had "my ladies" over for a scrapbooking night." They were at the house from 7 until 11. Not bad, but I rushed home at 4 to get ready for their arrival at 7. So, early Friday evening was spent in a frenzy of picking up the basement, sweeping the stairs, the basement floor, cleaning Andy's bathroom, setting up for the ladies, and eat supper. I can't tell you what we had for supper, but I can tell you that Andy vacuumed the basement with a bag that was past full. Kat was busy herself, she had a friend sleep over.
While I was doing this, my much-loved husband was preparing to make venison jerkey. We borrowed a dehydrator--commercial sized, and he'd gotten out 20 to 30 lbs of venison, both burger and steak. Another friend, C, was bringing over his dehydrator and some venison and they were going to mix this up together. So, I had my project, and Kev had his. My ladies left between 10 and 11. C didn't leave until 11:30. The girls didn't go to bed until Midnight. We followed shortly thereafter.
Saturday, we were all up by 8. The girls had to be taken to town to a bake sale, Kev started forming his jerkey strips and getting them into the dehydrators. Andy needed to come to town with me to get some leaves for a biology project. (Hey, we don't have any trees other than cedar trees at our house!) Off to town we go. I drop the girls and the baked goods off, Andy and I run to the college to get leaves, and then to Sonic. There we ordered a Large Dr Pepper, a Large Poweraid Slush and a job application.
Kev calls, "Kim's here ready to make pickles."
"Ok, we'll be right there."
I'd been given 2 bushels of cucumbers. We decided--Kim and I that we'd make pickles. She's never done it, I have, so she wanted to help. We spent the day in the kitchen making Bread and Butter pickles, Sweet Relish, Dill pickles, Hot relish, and we even pickled some eggs for our menfolk. I ran out of quart jars and we ran out of pickles while we were making the dill pickles. But we had the canner going from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m.
While we were in the kitchen canning, Kev was also in the kitchen making jerkey. My kitchen is nice sized, but not big enough for 4-sometimes 5 people to all be working on different projects. Kim and I and B and Andy on the pickle project, and Kev and sometimes Andy and sometimes Bob working on the jerkey. We were in each other's way all day. It was 85 degrees outside, my kitchen was close to 100 degrees.
Did our work end at 7, when the pickles were done? No. We still had to get all our hunting gear together. Sunday was opening day for the archery deer season. We had to go, it was opening day! The temperature forecast was 80 degrees. Sunday morning, the alarm went off at 5. I wasn't ready to get up, but, since it's allergy season, I was awake, sniffling. Up we got, three of us. Kat spent the night at Kim's. Into the pickup, off to town to get Lynn, gas, then on to our hunting spots. As we're tooling down the highway, Kevin tells Lynn not to shoot a deer today. We can't let it hang and would have to process it. Ugh. After smelling raw venison straight for two days, the thought of smelling it again was nauseating. Lynn agreed, because he's helping with corn harvest and would be in the field in the afternoon. My thought, while this was being decided, was "Why the heck are we going hunting if we can't shoot anything?"
We sit in our trees until 9:30. Fine, no big deal. Except my allergies kicked in. I'm in this tree, sneezing. No-deer-gonna-come-my-way, no sir-ree. Kev could have shot a nice buck, Andy shot at a doe (turkey, this is his first day! EVER!) and Lynn could have shot a doe. Me, all I saw was birds and leaves and my Kleenex.
Back to town to drop Lynn off, then off to the store for more ingredients for the summer sausage that still was waiting at home. We picked up Kat, mixed the summer sausage up, I started laundry, Kev got shotguns ready for 4-H that afternoon. Grabbed lunch, sent the "men-folk" off to shoot, did more laundry, cleaned a little, used about 40 Kleenex, baked the summer sausage and jerkey sticks, and then it was time for supper.
We ate out.
After supper, Andy and I went to work on goat hooves. Discovered Winter had tried to rip off her ear and I trimmed a hoof to short. Blood everywhere. I'm holding a wiggly goat--one with horns. Trying to keep my finger on her hoof to stop the blood, yelling at my kids to hurry and get the book, get some water, bring the flour out and to help me hold this goat. After stopping the blood, peroxiding the ear wound and getting the pigs back into their pen (They just wanted to see what was going on!) and washing, Kev and I then had to package his 40 lbs of jerkey and C's 50 lbs of jerkey. We finished around 9.
We were in bed by 9:30, exhausted. We need at least another 24 hours in a weekend.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)