Saturday, January 22, 2011

Saturday at the Farm

The sun is setting here at the farm as Steve is cross county skiing around the property. It is COLD outside! I am sitting here in front of the fire all toasty with Mia. Eli just left. He brought over some butter for us and we caught up with our lives since the last time we talked. Lizzie is doing fine & just recently had a check up from the mid-wife. She is due mid-April. Number twelve. We are all hopeful that there is no repeat of the last pregnancy problems.
Earlier today, we had someone come over to do bodywork on  me. I don't know the name of what he does, but it is magic. He describes it as working on the nervous system. It is a very light touch (not a massage) and the muscles relax. I have always had terrible posture. I mean since I was at least three and in one session, I am standing up as straight as I ever have. Since the accident, the stress has hidden in my muscles (hip neck, back, etc). What he did, freed that tension. Steve was amazed. He said he's never seen me with good posture before & honestly, neither have I! We talked about how the body holds on to what it has known and adapted to so there might be times when I regress back, but it is a process that eventually my body will be comfortable not holding in all that stress. Steve was ready to hop on the massage table too :-). If Harry would have had the time today, Steve would have had him work on him, too. So in a couple weeks, he is coming back for both of us.

We went to town for lunch after that and ate at The Driftless Cafe. We actually tried something besides pizza this time. Steve had a veggie quiche and I had a veggie panini. Both were excellent. While we were eating, I mentioned the animal shelter in town & how I would like to volunteer there when we move here. I have also been looking on Petfinders.com lately at the cats & dogs :-). So we went to check it out. I really like two of the cats we saw. One is a gray tabby & the other is black & white.



Wonder how long they will be at the shelter......


Eli mentioned that they are thinking of getting another dog & since we said we would like their dog Shep if they ever wanted to get rid of him...well, we'll see if that works out. :-). Shep is a great dog. He is almost blind though, which is fine with us (our dog Ginger was blind & deaf) and he is so friendly. He is not an inside dog, but maybe we could teach him to be. (Mia says that's okay. Leave him outside.") Does anyone have experience with bringing an outside dog inside?

So there is a plan in the works for me to move up to the farm soon. As much as I want to, I still have mixed feelings about it. Steve & I are together 24-7 now. It would be different.  We both love it up here so much...maybe the shop will sell quickly and it won't be for very long.
Shep  
Mia in her usual position.
Well, Steve's back in & it's time for dinner...have a great weekend!

11 comments:

Judy T said...

Oh, that black and white cat is beautiful.
I do hope you are able to move to the farm soon and that your DH can join you quite soon. That would be wonderful for you both.
I'm wondering, your massage, was it myofascial release? I know several OTs who are trained in that for therapy and I know it is wonderful!!
Judy

Barb said...

Hi Judy...I have been reading about indirect myofascial release. It is close to that. My neighbor told me about him. I have to give her a big hug when I see her.
I love the black & white cat too. She came right over to me too. Don't know if she will still be there when I am up here permanently. I hope so :-)

PatQ said...

Shep is beautiful. I love Australian shephards. The cats are also very nice looking. You know me, I'd bring them all home. I could never work in an animal shelter.

Barb said...

Hi Pat...I will have to have a lot of willpower to help out there. It makes me sad to see them all in there, so maybe I could bring a little joy to them.

Anonymous said...

Both cats are beautiful and one can´t but love that old dog :-)

I guess the best thing is to let the dog decide for how long he likes to stay indoors. You can have him com in later again and continue like that until he feels that it is ok to stay all night.

That massage thing sounds great! I think I could use it since I lean slightly forward, like a monkey, when I walk :-) It started when my first hip went down the drains and it didn´t get better when the second gave up either :-) :-)

Have a great day now!
Christer.

LBB said...

You know how much we love dogs here!Shep looks so cute. Hope you find a new friend that gets along with Mia (the sweetest cat ever!!).

angie said...

Hi Barb,

Just catching up on reading. I've been busy and haven't had time to pop over and say hi. Happy New Year to you and Steve! I hope 2011is the year you guys are able to relocate.

Judy said...

I should get the name and number of the person who did the bodywork on you. Sounds like it would be something I could use. We haven't eaten at The Driftless Cafe...we'll have to check that out next time we head to Viroqua.
Our dog was more of an outside dog and now with the cold temps she's more of an inside dog, and does really well. But, I think each dog is different.

Carol............. said...

Glad the therapy has helped you. I'm going to have acupuncture this week and am VERY nervous!

Jim said...

Now Mia knows how to spend these winter months!It IS so hard to turn away from any animal in need. Good luck at the farm.

Barb said...

Carol...don't be nervous. I have had it done & it is not bad at all. Steve was helped a lot by it for chronic neck pain after the accident.
Jim...it is hard to turn my back on animals in need. I know if we don't take Shep, he will "disappear" like there other dogs have, when they don't want them any more.