Good morning, all!  I don't even know where to begin today.  Yesterday is not a day I would care to repeat.

I got up at 7 a.m. and was out the door by 9 a.m. to drive to Houston to pick up Matthew.  He had his orthodontist appointment in Prince George.  His car is in for repair so I picked him up.  We had a pleasant drive.  We stopped at Vanderhoof at the museum restaurant for lunch.   It is all homemade - even the bread for sandwhiches.  It was a delicious lunch.

Prior to that, while I was in Houston picking up Matthew, Dennis called to say that Red, one of our prize ram lambs, was not well.  He was taking him in to the vet.  I met him in Burns Lake at the vets.  We tried to put a tube down into his stomach as he appeard to be somewhat bloated.  I couldn't stay too long, but Dennis said they worked on him for about an hour, even puncturing his side with a needle to let air escape.  That didn't seem to be the problem but the ram was giving up.  One of our friends, Sue Freeze, was there and also helped out.  In the end the poor ram died when Dennis got home.  He is now hanging in the woodshed.  Unfortunately it is unseasonably warm so we will have to cut him up pronto.  I have the book out on how to cut up livestock and game.  Yet another thing to learn!  He may be too tough because when they are stressed the meat is tough.  But I need to get something out of this poor beast.  If he was sold as a breeding ram, as a purebred and as one this large, he would bring in between $400 and $500.  At any rate, if he is tough he will be lamb stew.

This morning we had more disgusting events - either Crystal or Bridget had a blow-out of black tarry feces in the basement.  Does it ever end?  Dennis said they had been licking up the blood from where he bled the lamb.  So no one is dying.  This is just the result of digested iron which was clearly too much for them.  Not easy to face first thing in the morning though.  So bleach bucket, rubber gloves and a scrub brush in hand, off I go.

Now the phones have quit working.  They worked until 4:00 yesterday.  I was still able to call out last night but calls did not ring in the house.  Now I can't call out at all.  We went outside to the box and tested that.  Still didn't work.  I hd to go on-line to chat with Telus repair.  Apparently the phone repair chat people were having trouble with their system so I was told to phone the repair line.  Um, my phone doesn't work, guys!  So the guy I got on the chat line, who was a tv and internet guy, ran and got a phone repair guy to chat with me.  He finally said we need a repair person to come out to the house.  Soonest date for repair is October 31.  Um, is that the best you can do, Telus?  6 weeks with no phone!  They asked if I had a cell phone.  I told them we have been asking Telus for cell service out here for years, but it's a not go, so no, no cell phone.  So now the manager is going to email me with a sooner date if they can work it in.  It's times like this when I tire of the inconvenience of living here.  Maybe I should just build a cabin without power or phone and go live there.  That way I wouldn't be counting on a service that only works some of the time while expecting it to work all of the time.

Today I will blanch and freeze my second picking of beans.  I am still unwell after yesterday's bout with a mighty mean stomach.  Poor Matthew had to deal with my miserableness during the drive home.  I am watching what I eat today so with any luck it will pass (no pun intended!).

I had to post this on the screen in the spare room upstairs.  Dennis really hates the idea of bats landing on him, so this will remind him, when he's wandering outside with a beer and his book, to look up before opening the screen!

And here is a picture of my kale patch.  Time to bring that into the freezer too!

Ok, time to get to work!  Let's hope today is better than yesterday!