Farmgirl

Behind This Farmgirl

Liz James · January 23, 2018 ·

……. stands a man who supports me in all that I do. My farm guy and I have been married for 25+ years, and he truly never ceases to amaze me with his support, care, and love.

I’m not gonna lie, these past three weeks have pushed me to the limit and have brought out the cranky side of me. I feel like lack of sleep has called out my evil twin. Charlie has been awesome despite all this, and has picked up where I’ve had to leave off to keep Elsa fed and cared for. (She is doing INCREDIBLE by the way… and feedings are now spread to every 5 hours!)

Charlie learned early on that my love language is service. We make a great team…. I say something like, “I wish I had a ______________” (this blank usually requires power tools to complete), and the next thing you know, he’s out there building it! No joke. My dad was a handy guy, and I married an equally handy one. My guy is gifted beyond measure and can visualize something and then the next thing you know, it’s built. He is a man’s man, and he is also a tenderhearted sweet soul that God gifted me.

Last year, he encouraged me to step out and pursue a passion that I’ve been carrying in my heart. He did this verbally, and then backed that encouragement by physically stepping in and being present when I was absent. That is no small feat when it entails caring for 60+ animals, managing farm chores, being an elder at our church, AND holding down a 50+hr per week job that is a 2+hr round trip commute each day. He sees value in what I am passionate about, and he supports me 100%. This is a gift beyond measure, and he does it without complaint.

Last week, I pretty much hit my stress limit. I’ve got alot going on here…. at times, I wonder if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew (especially when you throw Elsa’s care into the mix). In some ways, I feel like I’ve gone back to college…. but these things I’m doing are part of a much bigger vision that God has on my heart, and I have a sense of urgency in completing them. People are hurting (physically and emotionally) and feel it. It is driving me to learn how to help them find healthier ways to heal (instead of being ‘band-aided’ by meds).

This is a season, and it won’t be forever, but it’s a busy time right now, especially with Elsa’s needs. (I only have words of admiration for you moms of special needs human babies….YOU are amazing if someone did not tell you that today!)

My ‘to do’ list of farm chores is steadily falling further behind. For having a working farm, I’d say we run a pretty tight ship around here. We both like ‘neat and tidy’, and my efforts with Elsa mean that other duties have fallen to the wayside. We’ve recently hired a young man to help us for a few hours a week…. I think you might have heard us both audibly sigh in relief.

We are in the process of converting our barn apartment into a home office to house ‘my vision’ that has become ‘our vision’. Charlie has been working tirelessly to get the physical upgrades done, and it is looking awesome! I am the caulker and painter in the family, and both of those duties have fallen to the side. He knew that was stressing me out (falling behind on my end of the work project), so he quietly arranged for a dear friend who owns a commercial painting company to come out and do what I have not had time to complete, and then surprised me with it. If you want to see a grown woman cry, that was it…. a blessing beyond measure.

He even surprised me with my dream of a purple door on ‘The Dairy Palace’. The whole palace (another ‘wish’ that became a reality) isn’t quite done yet (there is a little more to complete), but I love the whimsical pop of color!

’m a tired farmgirl. It’s a passing season, and I’ve got a farm guy who is my favorite person in the world, my best friend, and greatest cheerleader. It is a blessed woman indeed who has a man such as mine. (And by the way, our animals are blessed too, because his heart is big enough for all of us).

Elsa, continued

Liz James · January 5, 2018 ·

My world has come to a standstill…..at least it feels that way. I take my hat off to all those mamas who have (human) babies. The 24/7 is real….. even more real when you’ve got one with a health problem.

Elsa’s entry into the world, while received happily by us has been fraught with issues. The last two days, we’ve been unraveling the problem(s) that have plagued her.

Elsa’s problem #1: Hypothermia at birth: Although we live in north Texas, believe it or not, it can get dang cold here. It’s a different kind of cold than up north where it’s drier. Here…. it can be bone chilling in the winter time. We found her within 30 minutes of her birth, but she was already half frozen even in that short amount of time. Despite our efforts of heat lamps, warming pad, time indoors in front of the fire with us, we could not keep her warm.
Elsa’s problem #2: Low blood glucose: It appeared that because she was so cold, she wasn’t eating. Not eating was causing a dangerous drop in blood glucose. Between this and the hypothermia, we were setting ourselves up for losing her.
Elsa’s problem #3: Pneumonia: Babies are so very tender, especially ones born under such dangerous conditions. For whatever reason, I’ve found that calves and foals can be particularly tender at any time of the year. The vet heard rattling in her lungs, and her oxygen saturation came back at 72%. That is not conducive for living long, as eventually organs will begin shutting down.

Once we found out she had pneumonia, we upped our game. Frankly, the vet, rather gently attempted to talk me out of saving her, simply by telling me her chances of survival were slim. That news came Wednesday. Today is Friday, and baby girl is doing better. She has been on a round of two antibiotics, and spent about 48 hours in our bathtub. Because we wanted to do everything we could to support proper lung function and boost her immune system, we’ve been diffusing therapeutic grade Frankincense, Copaiba, and Lemon around the clock. Our bathroom became an aroma tent for her. Two days of tube feeding…. and then we tried to teach her to nurse again, with very little success. We were all disappointed. Honey, (her mama) was THRILLED to have her back this morning after two days of absence. Honey’s mourning was heart wrenching. She went into a depressed mood, and didn’t even call for her baby. It was as if she knew she was dead. This picture isn’t so great, but neither one of them would stand still for a photo op.

Tube feeding is time consuming, but so is keeping a calf in the house….Keeping the house clean is a chore all it’s own. I’ve done load after load of towels and blankets. Little girl has proven that both her bladder and her bowels are functioning… this is GREAT news, as it means her organs are working. Her blood oxygen saturation level yesterday afternoon confirmed that….. it had risen to 95%. Because she is so tiny, she needs food every 2-3 hours. Feed. Clean. Repeat.

Honey, Elsa’s mama, can’t be forgotten in all of this…. she has a bag full of milk at any given time, and has pined for her baby. Throughout all of this, Honey has been a trooper. She is young, and has never been milked before…. so, on top of missing her baby, she had a crash course in getting to know me intimately while I milked. You can’t just walk up and start milking a cow. It actually takes time, trust, and a learning curve on the cow’s part. So this… milking….. has to also be added into the equation. Thankfully, because of scheduling at work, I was given a window of 7 days in a row off (Thank you Jesus!)…. but by next Wednesday, I’ll have to come up with a longer term plan.

This brings me to Elsa’s Problem #4: Last night in the wee hours of the morning as I was placing the tube down her throat for yet another feeding, I felt something odd on the roof of her mouth. No wonder the poor thing can’t suckle well…… she has a cleft palate! After feeding her, I promptly did a little research…. what are our options?…..are we looking at surgery, is death the only option…. what’s next? Surprisingly, I found a small group of farmers and ranchers who have successfully raised cleft palate calves. It appears that if you can get past the initial suckling problems (ie: get creative with feeding), they can actually grow up and thrive. I also found that this particular congenital defect is almost always due to ingesting a plant in the lupine family during a certain time of pregnancy. You know I’m going to be stalking those fields in the spring with the intent of destroying that offending plant.

Today is Friday. Technically, she should be dead by now. I won’t say she’s thriving, but I do believe she is at least 85% better than she was on Wednesday. But the “window”, according to the vet, is still 3 days away.

Y’all keep praying for her. She is a cutie, and she’s worth fighting for!

Hugs and love, Liz

Elsa’s Life Begins

Liz James · January 1, 2018 ·

T’was the night before New Year’s and all thru the barn,
Not a creature was stirring…….’cause it was dang cold on the farm.

The critters were nestled all snug in their beds,
With visions of warm spring days dancing in their heads.

With Charlie in his long johns and I in my leggings…..
We too bedded down for a year’s calm ending.

The morning came quickly, and someone was missing,
…. A cow named Honey had left without sleeping.

A package she left us half frozen we found…
A little calf so cold on the hard winter ground.

Shivering mightily, she lay there so weak…..
We feared our new year would begin with a valley, not a peak.

Spotted and tiny the little girl lay,
We towel dried & wrapped her in a blanket and prayed.

The temperature kept dropping, a crisis at hand,
So we brought her inside by the fire to mend.

A blanket, a fire, Frank & Myrrh on the (belly) button….
This baby girl was gonna grow up to be somethin’!

Slowly she warmed and began to stir,
And with a small ‘mooo’ we knew the coast was clear.

Two hours later she returned to her Mama,
Who was pacing the stall, clearly glad to be done with the drama.

Slowly she warmed and began to stir,
And with a small ‘mooo’ we knew the coast was clear.

Two hours later she returned to her Mama,
Who was pacing the stall, clearly glad to be done with the drama.

We hope your 2018 is filled with HEALTH, Happiness, and Prosperity! Thank you for reading my first year of blogging. You are appreciated!

XOXO, Liz

Labor & Delivery

Liz James · December 21, 2017 ·

This morning I got off to a late start. Cole, our little foster dog, was scheduled to be neutered, and I had to have him at the vet before 8 am for his procedure. I usually begin feeding around 7, but since Cole couldn’t eat breakfast (per vet’s orders), I decided to delay the morning feeding until I got back. Food is one of Cole’s favorite things in life, and I just couldn’t imagine feeding the others while he looked on.

Anyway…. my late start really bothered a few of my critters, but especially this one particular hen. We have nesting boxes in the chicken coop, and generally that’s where the hens lay their eggs…… except for this one hen who apparently needs privacy when laying her eggs. I opened the chicken coop door (mind you, about an hour later than normal), and this little hen goes running across the yard as fast as she can with a single mindedness that bespoke of urgency at hand. The poor girl was in labor and trying to get to her private L&D suite as fast as her little feet could get her there.

By the time I finished feeding I could tell she was in the throes of delivery…. she is VERY vocal when in active egg production and makes a very distinct type of cluck called (informally) a laying cackle (you can learn more about the language of chickens here :).

Later this evening as I was making rounds to feed, I gathered the eggs in the coop, and then headed over to the private L&D suite for this girl. She surprised me today with 2 eggs! Congrats Ma…. you’ve had twins* :).

Prodigal Squirrel

Liz James · November 28, 2017 ·

was out of town for 5 days last week working to further my education and edging closer to Dolphin MPS certification. It was a whirlwind trip and I got home late in the afternoon on the 21st.

My hubby has been a trooper this last year….. working full time, and managing the farm when I am out of town either educating others or getting educated myself. We are a great team, he and I, and we both see the benefits of what we are working towards.

As I drove up the driveway, I automatically began scanning my the pastures and doing a mental farm-ily checklist. I stopped and checked water troughs. The last one I checked caught me right in the heart. Despite the fact that there was a piece of wood floating in the trough (for little critters who might fall in and need a lifeboat), there were two dead squirrels. Drowned.

Of course, my first thought and breath prayer was that neither body belonged to Henri. It was not in an area that I could imagine she or her babies would be, but still….. it’s also not that far from the house. Charlie went out and disposed of the squirrels and cleaned the trough. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it… simply because I wasn’t sure who exactly had drowned. Let’s face it, squirrels all look pretty much alike. As much close contact as we have with Henri, I still can’t tell her apart from other squirrels except by her personality and approximate size.

We have incredible relationships with all of our animals out here, and although we grieve when one passes away, we are healthy about it. Life goes on, and so must we. What is nearly harder than death is when an animal comes up missing. It’s been a rare occurrence, but it has happened. Then you have a kind of limbo grief it’s hard to let go of… not knowing whether to grieve and move on or keep on hoping. Charlie hadn’t seen Henri the entire time I was gone so she had been missing already for about a week. As the days wore on, I started giving up on hope. I left nuts out and they didn’t get eaten. She really seemed to be gone, so my hope was that she had just gone into the wild and not drowned. That thought was a little sad too… but better than the alternative reason for her absence.

Today was a great day! Henri returned…. acting as tho she had never been missing. She looked thru the window and asked for nuts. Her favorite nuts come from our local pecan orchard, Foster Crossing Pecans.