When it Rains, it Pours

Have you even had a time in your life when one things happens, then another & another & another.....until you feel burried?......then it starts happening to people around you & you wonder.......on my......maybe others shouldn't get close as it must be rubbing off. I don't truely believe that happens, but sometimes if feels that way.

This has actually started months & probably years ago, but just in the last few weeks, I feel like I am being burried in mis-haps & accidents & at the point where I know I have no control of anything.

I posted about the dog I rescued from the accident that was in front of my house.....we I have his as my foster dog & keep him on the front porch & then later in the day....have him tied to the front tree, so he can be in the shade & run around.

I have 6 other american eskimo dogs that are my babies.....living in the house with me....but in separate areas as there are several that love to fight with each other.......Leo, Celia, & Tawny stay upstairs mostly with me.......then Chinook has his back porch that I have a gate across & Destiny & JoGI have their puppy pens they hang around in all day.....huge pens that have a lot of room to move around in & a grate flooring so everything goes through it if necessary.

Everytime I let them outside, I keep a leash on them so they don't get close to Roscoe (my foster dog).....but Leo, 2 weeks ago, slipped out of my hand & ran across the street with his leash on.....when he came back, he came nose to nose with Roscoe....they stood there for about 30 seconds....until I reached for the leash to grab Leo away before anything happened. Just as I did that, they got into it. Leo got his leg bit....with the help of the person that was there with me, we got them separated only to have them get into it one more time before they could be completely broken up & controlled. Leo was limping around & I took him upstairs to clean off the bite & look at it better...it looked strange, so called the vet. Of course, it was after hours.....they only handle emergencies until 10pm & by the time I got it all settled, it was after 9pm.

Previously, I had taken Destiny in to have her teeth cleaned & pulled, then took Tawny in to have her spayed after she got together with her brother Leo & also have her teeth cleaned & pulled. I was commenting on how I hadn't met the vets yet & wondered what it took to meet them........well, with the emergency, he was there in 10 minutes & I had Leo in my arms as he didn't want to put any pressure on the leg that was bit. Luckily, the vet caught onto that lack of putting pressure on it & took an xray....sure enough, the bite had broken the small bone in the leg.....so they stitched up the wound & put a splint on & sent him home with antibiotics, pain meds, & some calming meds so he would stay quiet & let the leg heal.

A week later, I was potty waking my doggies before going to a lunchen with our womens horse group.....there were flames & smoke up the street.....having just met my neighbor from up the street the week before when he brought down some tomatoes & then bush hogged all my overgrown weeds in my yard, my first thought was his farm. Later that day, after the lunch & a few errands, I stopped by their farm & sure enough.....his barn had burnt down that morning.....started by the light he had on & igniting the hay that was in the barn.....huge fire but they kept it from burning down the other builings. I had Leo in the truck with me & had some ice in a bucket of water for him....sure enough, he tipped it over & got his splint all wet.....found this out so late in the day, I didnt want another emergency vet bill, so decided to take him in the next day to have it checked out & taken care of. Not only was the splint damp.....but it had been broken so it wasn't supporting the leg the way it should. They put on a cast & I brought him home & tried to keep him quieter with a little higher dose of calming med. Later that night, I was getting into the puppy pen with JoGI.....somehow, he got his head down to push through the door & got the metal hook that holds the door shut, hooked into the corner of his eye. He was screaming & I was looking at it, trying to figure out how to undo what I was looking at without poking out his eye or tearing the skin. I was holding onto the scruff of his neck to keep him still & said a huge prayer for help. Somehow, I was able to push his head down & lift up on the door & it came unhooked as easily as it got hooked.....at 2am in the morning.....nothing was torn, bleeding, & the eye looked the same as it had before.......so I closed the door & told him to go to sleep & I would check the next morning......no swelling nothing....miracles do happen & that was definitely a miracle. That same day, Chinook had climed over his gate & got into the house. I noticed blood drips all over the floor....looking to see what he cut, I noticed blood dripping out of where he pees. I immediately called the vet & we went in thinking a bladder infection or a stone, or something not good, but they couldn't find anything except an enlarged prostate......so he is on AB's for that....I ha noticed some yellow gook coming out of there also, indicating some infection somewhere in there....but xrays showed no stones & the cath that took the urin, showed no blood in the bladder......so we are working on getting that cleared up.

I thought I would have a breather for awhile.....really, what more could go wrong......I just shouldn't ask those questions.....I was volunteering for our the 127 yard sale setup on Thursday, Friday, & Saturday. Saturday, at the end, we loaded up all the left over stuff into our trucks & took it to Goodwill. I left goodwill & decided to get a couple of things I needed at Walmart. Driving down the street, somehow, Leo jumped into the front seat & got his casted let caught between the back part of the oassenger seat & the center console. He was yiping & I couldn't find a place to pull the truck off the road. I grabbed him with my right hand to keep him still until I could find a place to pull over. Sure enough, he had pulle the cast down about 3 inches....paniced that he might have broken the big bone in the leg, I hung onto his neck & drove directly to the vet's office, calling them when I got there. He was there in 15 minutes......& I helped him hold Leo while he got the cast off & put another cast on.......in answer to my prayer, the bone was not broken but his leg was definitely sore.

Wouldn't you know, that was the one morning I didn't give him the larger dose of his doggie calming med.....but the anesthetic used to knock him out to recast his leg lasted for about 4 hours, so I just let him lay on my air mattress on the floor with me. That kept him still for quite a while.

I refuse to ask what else can happen as I really don't want to know.....nor do I even want to think that about anything more happening.....I have all I can handle each day. It's like having 6 children of my own plus a foster child that are accidents waiting to happen.

Other families around me have their own share of things happening to them which I know aren't related to me, but it just sometimes feels that the bad things happening to me rub off on others even though I know it's not true.

Living alone with 6 doggies really keeps live busy besides all the work I really have to do around here.....I don't even have my horses here yet & I am struggling with everything.....add 2-3 horses & life will really be more of a challenge.

So much for a quiet life on the farm....lol.
Debbie

oh hon you sure are a busy lady! you try to take time for yourself!

(((((((((((((( eskielover )))))))))))))))))

Feeling overwhelmed really stinks...I do so hope that things quiet down for you soon and you can take some breathers.


sabby

Debbie, I have ONE word for you, Hon... SIMPLIFY!

Thinking about it, my quiet times come at moments throughout the day, when nothing is going on or dogs aren't demanding my attention or barking so I can't hear myself think. It's when I walk out in the yard & pull a few weeds or clear out a flower bed. Plant plants or mow my lawn with my lawn tractor......those are my quiet times when I get away in my head & really enjoy the beauty of my farm.

Even potty walking my doggies is a blast......today when I had Destiny out, she was running around (if that's what you call that overweight doggie waddle a run as she lops across the yard). I run around with her & she then she runs up & jumps on me with huge kisses. I sat down on my wicker swing on the porch & she jumped up next to me & helped me finish my bowl of cottage cheese while we swing in the afternoon breeze......then she got down & helped me weed some weeds out of my gravel driveway. Those are the peaceful relaxing times with my doggies that we all enjoy & cherish. Given all the stress they can cause during the rough times, their companionship is something I cherish beyond anything I have ever experienced in my life.....as they definitely give me more love than the grief they find time to give when getting into their doggie mischief like children will do.

They fill me with love & peace 99% of the time, it's just that when the problems hit, the resitual feelings of stress hang around making it seem as though it's a longer amount of time that I am experiencing it. It's important to enjoy every good moment. I have learned since living on this beautiful farm & being surrounded by beauty constantly.....just looking out my window at the woods can be a peaceful moment.....especially if the dogs aren't barking at that moment. In California I wasn't completely surrounded by peace & beauty like I am here & would have to leave to find it.....now I can grasp a moment many times during the day & definitely praise God for what he has provided me with.....between the rain storms. Sometimes I have to remind myself where I am & that my surrounding aren't what they were in California & that I am surrounded by peace & beauty. When one has lived their life the other way so many years....it just takes reminding & taking the time to be aware on the surroundings without getting burried under the overwhelming situations that can blind us from the beauty at times.

Debbie

Debbie, when I read your first post, my immediate reaction was "wow, I can barely manage my cat and 5 house plants." You are a woman of courage...

When I read your last post, my immediate reaction was "wow, I need a dog...and a farm!

Amongst all the chaos you are able to enjoy the "little" things in life--we may call them "little"...but are they? String all those "little" things together and I think you have a beautiful life. Thanks for sharing.

Oh, and no I am not getting a dog or farm!

DePressMe,

No, you don't have to get all the doggies or the farm....lol. I think that it's a mindset we need to get in where ever we are......sometimes it's harder like I said, in California, I was surrounded consantly by things that weren't good, including the marriage. So leaving that surrounding was necessary to break the pattern & habits along with getting me away from where the trauma happned......clearing my mind from that setting, since most of my mental problems are based on situational happenings.

I do believe that we can however change our thinking into enjoying the minutes that are wonderful throughout out days & get lost in the beauty & joy of the moment.....when we string them all together & don't forget to enjoy them, then they really do become the majoriity of the day & at the end of the day, we realize just how good life really is.

It does take constant reminding sometimes......i know sitting back & thinking about all the fixing that has to be done on this house & how I am not even moved into it after a year, gets to me a lot of the time.......then I sat down in my family room, looking out on the deck, there was a cute little chipmunk scurring around finding little things to eat, with the trees of my woods in the background.......& the beauty constantly strikes me & I thank God for all the beauty I have surrounding me rather than all the work that I have to do to finish the house.

I also have a 90 year old friend.....she has lived here since 1946 & has owned horses & a farm.....never married. She has completely plumbed her previous house & barn, she still has 2 horses, 4 llamas, & 4 emus & 5 cats she cares for everyday. In the past, when she was younger, she put up all the fencing around her farm & painted it, she has her own tractor & bush hog that she would use to mow her pastures & on top of that, she built her own boat for on the Kentucky river. Just knowing her gives one energy to live & a love for life. On top of that, her first job was in a mental hospital all those years ago. She cared for the people in there which was much different than th normal treatment at that time......without a college education, she did more for those people than all the educated professionals could have ever done......giving them respect.. After years of working there, she also spent time working in the historical society here, learning much about the Shakers & all the other historical information in our area......her love & enthusiasm for life is what keeps her going along with her religious beliefs that are a huge part of her life. It definitely gives one the understanding of how wonderful life can really be...it's all in the way we look at it.

Debbie