Things Seldom Go As Planned...

Ten years ago today we welcomed our sweet Maliah Joy into our lives.  Last year on her birthday my dad fell into a coma and we mourned our loss a day later.  I had hopes that this year the weekend would be less stressful as we celebrated Dad's first year in his true home.  But things seldom go according to plan.

On Friday Rosie's calf was 10 days overdue.  We weren't overly concerned as she looked great.  Huge but great.  Jersey cows are susceptible to milk fever so we had been feeding her a special additive as a precautionary measure for a month or so.  Milk fever can happen before or after a Jersey calves.  Their milk is very high in butterfat.  When their milk comes in calcium is drawn so quickly from their system that it pretty much renders their muscles useless.  The classic milk fever symptom is staggering.  If treated a Jersey quickly recovers.  Breadwinner had done much research on the subject.  We had gone to great lengths to find the correct additive to feed Rosie preventatively.  We thought we had sidestepped that landmine.  Our greatest concern was problems birthing the calf. 


On Friday Rosie seemed to be contracting.  Starting at about 11:30 I checked on her every 20 minutes or so.  She lay in the pasture where we thought she was laboring.  I took pictures hoping to catch her in the stages of her labor.  We all eagerly waited to see whether she would deliver a bull or a heifer.  When Matt got home about 3:00 we started to suspect something wasn't right.  Soon after this she began to vomit.  Apparently cows don't vomit.  Our 2 Johns, "retired" farmer neighbors who both raised beef cattle had no idea what was wrong with her.  They had never seen a cow vomit.  Upon later research I found that the milk fever effected the ability of Rosie's rumen to work.  


By now Breadwinner was frantically trying to locate a vet that would be willing to come treat our cow.  At this point we hypothesized that perhaps the calf was positioned incorrectly and that was why she was in distress.  We stood around the yard talking with John about making applesauce avoiding looking at Rosie out in the pasture as there wasn't anything we could do for her but wait for the vet.  After a search calling around the nearest towns we finally found a vet in a town 20 miles away.  We greatfully welcomed Doc Stickley, even though his right arm was in a sling from recent rotator cuff surgery.  


He confirmed that she had milk fever and was pretty far along.  He gave her a couple bottles of CMPK intravenously.  He then checked her and told us she was only about 3cm dilated and to expect a calf in the next 12 hours.  It was bout 5:30 P.M.


The prognosis was not good.  It took Rosie a few hours to get back to her feet.  Usually when Jersey's get the CMPK they get to their feet presently.  When Breadwinner checked her at 8:00 P.M. she finally got to her feet and we had hope.  Breadwinner had spoken to Eric Lyon where we purchased Rosie and he suggested she had a 50/50 chance.  Breadwinner spent the night on the couch so he could check on her.  We hoped that if Rosie wasn't to make it she could at least deliver the calves feet, so we could pull and save the calf.  
 
From the initial sign of Rosie's distress I had begun to pray for her.  Cows are very resilient.  I prayed God would preserve her life if it be His will.  When I awoke in the morning I found Breadwinner on the couch.  He just sadly shook his head.  We lost both Rosie and the calf.  She wasn't strong enough after her ordeal to endure labor. 


Lyon's Dairy told us to come back on down to get a replacement if we lost her.  Breadwinner is questioning his ability and what business he has as a bovine farmer.  I'm questioning whether the benefits outweigh the time and inconvenience of a family cow....

Flowing Seas and Lofty Skies

I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise,

That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;The moon shines full at God’s command, and all the stars obey.

-Isaac Watts

Breadwinner was in charge of one thing on the occasion of our wedding.  The honeymoon.  I supplied my opinion that the local should be one that was warm and involved water and sand.  I might even have mentioned South Carolina.  I love surprises and so didn't dig for info. about where we would spend the dreamy first week of the rest of our lives together.  I had not a clue where we were headed when we flew out of Ohare Airport.  When we arrived at our destination we rented a zippy little red Neon, picked up keys at the local Spanish moss festooned realty, and found our cozy cottage-for-the-week about a block from the beach.  Breadwinner had even arranged for a beautiful vase of red roses to await me upon our arrival?  He had carried out his end of the operation to perfection!  


As we sat on the beach feasting on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and gazing upon the towering beach homes, we declared that we would one day return and stay where graceful porches provided entrance directly to the sand and salt spray.  This seemed all the more a miraculous hazy dream as the very thing that provided the funds for our vacation was an act of God.  Shortly before our wedding a major hailstorm rained down on Breadwinner's fully insured '89 Bonneville.  Breadwinner gladly received a check and left his newly "textured" sweet ride as is.  It served us for many years as a "stone of remembrance" of how our loving God had provided one of our wants simply to give us joy.


15 years later we drove across country in our red 15 passenger van, dodged the Spanish moss hanging from the ancient oaks to pick up another set of keys, passed through the security gate to the end of Inlet Point where we delighted in our grand beachside-for-the-week residence.  


It was the most relaxing vacation I have ever enjoyed.  There were 14 in residence and it never felt crowded.  The one member of our wedding party that was not family and his wife and 4 kids joined us in our adventure.  They were gracious companions and after a week together, about 46 of those hours spent with our collective 10 children in the van, we remain fast friends!  

I think this was the one sunrise that wasn't overcast.  I couldn't help but praise the Creator as the waves crashed upon the shore and the sun swelled over the clouds that marked the horizon.

   

In front of "our" beach house.  I did have a fabulous swim suit refashion to sport until I had to cover my sunburn...

My little beach bums.

On My Calling...

How can it be a large career to tell other people's children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one's own children about the Universe? 

How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone?  

No; a woman's function is laborious, because it it gigantic, not because it is minute.

-G.K. Chesterton

What's New on Sunny Toad Farm...

Today is the 6th of October.  I write this and have to check the calendar to make sure I am correct.  How can it be fall already?  I have to admit it catches me by surprise most years.  It is my usual to forget to put out Autumn decorations until the Thanksgiving turkey is in the oven.  It seems we move 100 miles a minute all summer doing what we have been dreaming done while laying all slugabed in winter.

I have another admission, that the first frost often comes just in time to save my sanity.  In early spring we eagerly press seeds beneath soil and await their emergence.  When they appear they need the care of a newborn to survive the chill.  All summer we carefully nurture them keeping weeds and pests clear and adding a cool drink when the clouds fail.  In their maturity they supply us with an abundance of much longed for nourishment.  And more...and more...and more!  While I am greatful I soon become overwhelmed with the amount of food available for my stewardship.  We press on and preserve what we cannot eat.  By the time a killing frost blankets the gardens and orchard the gardener in me is exhausted and ready to let it rest.

You would laugh if you knew before I blathered on so that I just yesterday arrived home refreshed from a week at the beach!  We took a long awaited trip to the beach that Breadwinner and I honeymooned on 15 years ago.  Up until the day before we left I was in the kitchen processing our garden bounty.  We came back refreshed and ready to tackle our to do lists.

This was The View From the Throne Room earlier this summer

First on the list was to sand and stain our new wrap around porch. check and check.  Next thing this week is to harvest our pumpkin and squash garden.  Autumn decorations. check!

Breadwinner used the lift to tear off a most-recent-in-history add on.  He found a squirrel nest and the momma safely relocated when left alone.  

Here is the front of the house sans the concrete porch and peonies.  Take a good look at the last picture.  My hundred year old peonies may not have survived the move.  Although I survived having to prep new locals and digging them out of the hard unforgiving ground.  It would be in poor form for them to die on me!

The porch being added.  I have never understood why they call them wrap around.  It only goes half way around the house...  

Knowing When To Say When contd...

 Wanting good government in their states, they first established order in their own families; wanting order in their home, they first disciplined themselves.

Confucius

Soon after our fourth baby was born we had planned to surgically insure that we would have no more children.  We had 2 girls then 2 boys-  the perfect family.  

Before we could take this step the Lord intervened and we were relieved of part of our business which made it economically unfeasible to carry out our plan.  At least one person offered to make us a loan to pay for Breadwinner's procedure.  But the hole in our bank account served to encourage us to reconsider our plans and decide if they were truly in line with the Lord's will for our family. 

I clearly remember one night when #4 was about 2 months.  He was an ornery baby.  He cried easily and wanted to nurse constantly, especially in the evening.  I thought perhaps he had colic or some other health related issue.  Turns out babies often display parts of their coming personalities early on.  Even as he cried, Breadwinner and I looked at each other and declared we could not stop with this one.  Even through his orneriness he was a great blessing.

There were other encouragements around this time that helped us form our philosophy of family.  My dear friend Deb lent me a CD of a preacher named Voddie Baucham.   I was truly convicted by his message.  God calls children a blessing.  Why would I want to limit the blessings God had for me?  It made me question all my preconceived (hah!) notions about "family planning".  If God can do anything, including allowing me to conceive while on any attempt at birth control, why do I think that I should be the one that is making that decision?  

It was also around this time that while researching forms of birth control we found that birth control pills can cause abortions.  We felt shocked, saddened, let down, and embarrassed.  Before we had decided to use the pill in the first few years of our marriage we had discussed it with our Pastor in marriage counseling and my trusted gynecologist.  As we both have degrees in biology we thought we had all our bases covered and knew what we were doing.  No one had ever even hinted that by using the pill we could have killed our own baby.  Randy Alcorn wrote a book called Does The Birth Control Pill Cause Abortion.  You can find it here in a condensed form.http://www.emmerich1.com/Does%20the%20Birth%20Control%20Pill%20Cause%20Abortions%207th%20edition.pdf


Breadwinner was all for having a passel more kids.  I, although convicted at heart, was a bit reticent.  What about all my plans and dreams and projects?  More kids would definitely cramp my style.  Didn't kids cost a lot?  Would we have the money to bankroll my plans and dreams and projects?  If we had more kids we wouldn't fit into our truck that pulled our 5th wheel travel trailer.  Each new baby meant about 4 months of all day sickness for me at the outset.  My grumblings to myself went on and on.  Then my friend Linda lent me a book called Be Fruitful and Multiply by Nancy Campbell.  I took a good hard look at myself and finally saw my self-centeredness.  I wasn't thinking about loving the Lord and considering His plan for my life, I was thinking about what would cause me the greatest pleasure and ease.  I realized that on my current trajectory I would never have been a consideration for the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11.  If I truly believed that God was in control of all the universe then I needed to live that way.  By faith.


Opening our bedroom to the Lord was very freeing.  We are open to the "rewards" God has for us.  I no longer have to consider if the time is right or whether we are "ready" to have another baby.  

Since we made this decision in faith we have seen God's hand on our lives more than ever.  He truly provides all our needs.  Faith in one area of ones life tends to radiate outward like the ripple from a pebble in a pond.  It hasn't ensured our lives are trouble free, it just reminds us we have reason to sing His praise as we tread the rocky road.

God has allowed us to be involved in His plan for His creation.  He has given us warriors to train up to follow Him.  Can there be any greater joy? (3 John 1:4)

Our quiver holds potential arrows for God's army awaiting being loosed on targets we could never reach.

How Do You Know When To Say When?

When I was in junior high my dad's mom had a stroke that paralyzed the right side of her body.  She and my legally blind and pretty deaf grandpa came to live with us to be cared for by their daughter-in-law.  The fact that we had to give up 1/3 of our living space which contained our "rumpus room" was of little concern to me.  Two things about this situation made life changing impacts on me.  


1. I convinced my friend, Ellie, that we needed to take all our science notes with our left hands on the occasion that we ever had a stroke and would not be able to use our right.  We needed to be prepared and since we had to take the most notes in science class we would get the most practice there. 


2. Even though I didn't want to get married or have children I decided it would be a necessity.  It was obvious to me that I would need to create someone to take care of me in the event that I was ever incapacitated.  Incidentally, I also convinced Ellie of this and she has duly given me credit for the existence of her two darling dear boys...


From this you can pretty much surmise my feelings about birth control.  I was recently asked how many children Breadwinner and I plan on having.  When we married my answer would have been four sounds about right.  With that number at least one should end up liking me enough to take care of me in my old age and we would fit comfortably into society's expectations.   I also wanted to wait a few years after marriage before adding to our family, but I wanted to be done by the time I was 30.  That way I could teach school for a couple years, take some time off to have my kids, and get one with my life by the time I was 40.  As I write this I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry at my self-centered thought process!


Our first baby fit the plan to perfection.  I went off birth control pills one month and got pregnant the next.  She was born a month after I resigned my teaching position when school let out for the year.  I was 26.  Sixteen months later her sister was born.  Our next baby took a little longer to arrive and ironically I was upset as we tried for over a year to get pregnant.  I was closing in on 30 when he was born, but since it had taken so long with him I decided it was okay to have another baby even as I had passed my self-imposed age limit.  Number 4 arrived a year and a half later.  Now we had 2 boys and 2 girls.  All had worked out according to plan.  Now was the appointed time for Breadwinner to take permanent measures to end our 6 year baby making run.  


When I was in kindergarten I failed my hearing test possibly the result of chronic ear infections.  I still miss out on things I need to know, once-in-awhile, if I am not paying attention.  The Lord used a unique dial to turn up the volume of His plan for our family with what happened next...


-to be continued...

Where Has The Summer Gone?

I finally successfully downloaded photos from my camera from the beginning of May or so.  There were close to 900.  It took awhile...  It also reminded my why I haven't had a lot of time for blogging.  

One of the first sets was from the purchase and retrieval of our milk cow Rosie.  We purchased her from Lyon's Jersey Dairy.  She is pregnant due in October with her 4th calf.  They were selling her because her production was down this freshening.  She should give around 3 gallons a day and we could only coax 1 out of her.  Don't get me wrong, that is quite all right with me!  It was the gentle way to enter the world of owning a dairy cow.  At times this summer we have had an excess of 4 gallons that we turned into mozzarella cheese.   We enjoy the fresh milk, but it is a lot of work.  It is safe to say I have harbored unkind thoughts against Rosie this summer as I have had to make time in my schedule twice daily to milk her. There were times that gained me greater understanding into why Grandpa Ed used such profane superlatives when working with livestock.  I have 6 kids to ride herd on and I'm chasing a cow around the pasture to gain teat squeezing position to extract what seems like not enough milk to lighten my coffee?!

Most days Breadwinner and I tandem milk.  A lot of days he works dawn to dusk then I play solo.  You may wonder why our freshly, in July, crowned 11 year old doesn't draw barn duty.  It took Rosie a long time to accept her new surroundings.  She came from a herd of around 300 living in a barn on sand to our wide open pasture with only the chickens for company.  For the first week she sat in the barn with her nose in a corner.  She was so stressed out that her milk tasted very salty for a few days.  -For the record my weanling loved this particular milk.  What does that say for his experience with my lactation?-  Rosie didn't cooperate well in the stanchion for a long time and still has fits that upset the milk pail if one does not have a quick hand.  We are hoping that after her calf is born we will be able to introduce the girls to the joy of being a milkmaid.

Our first glimpse of Rosie.

An explanation of why Rosie likes to lay with her nose in a corner.

Rosie's old digs.

Eric took the kids into the pit as they hooked up the cows at milking time.  He let them try to milk the cows by hand and feel the suction of the milking machine.

Eric (in black) and Joe Lyon mugging with the fam.  

  

Eric Lyon graciously gave us a tour of the dairy.  He is dedicated and excited about breeding quality Jersey calves.  We were there at the right time of year to see all the cute baby calves and he explained what qualities he prizes in a Jersey calf.

The Lyon Dairy may ring a bell to those of you familiar with the Iowa State Fair.  Duffy Lyon aka The Butter Cow Lady, was Joe's wife.  Sadly, she passed away a few weeks after we brought Rosie home.  Joe shared with us while we were there that she was to be grandmaster of the Iowa State Fair parade as the Butter Cow celebrates 100 years at the fair this year.