May. 17, 2003 ~ Obviously, we forgot
to mention to the calf that he is dying, because he looks pretty good for a dying calf. Except for the fact that he is now totally blind. He attempts to nurse his mother, refuses a bottle, and struggles and fights us when we try to restrain him. He doesn't have the energy and perkiness of a typical calf, but he is stronger than Doofus was when he was so sick, and Doofus pulled through. I gave him a second shot today, and we tried to give him the bottle. I then came in and took an antibiotic after he bit my finger. I'm sure he didn't mean to! He does drink water from the pond, or did, before he lost his sight. Husband and I talked last night about putting him out of his misery, except of course I am a big baby about such things, and wanted to try again this morning to help him. He does seem to be doing better today. Huh.
Having a blind calf is a genuine challenge. They are easy prey for predators, and when they get separated from the herd, they sometimes panic and run wildly about, mooing frantically. Doofus had peripheral vision, but no central vision. The new guy has zero vision now. Doofus was hard to deal with as he got older. I was always afraid he would tear through a fence, with all his wild running, and let the entire herd loose. It will be interesting around here, to say the least, if the baby does make it.
There is so much work to do here. It has really piled up! Husband has been working a lot of weekends, has been out of town for two of the last four weekends, and I'm no longer able to do much of what I once did. Even mowing the yard... I had forgotten how much time that took. I used to do it about every four to five days, when the grass was really growing, and it took maybe four hours each time. But I didn't usually do it all at once. I'd do the back yard and maybe the side of the house, then come in for awhile. Do the area by the garden, then come in. Do the driveway, and come in. You get the idea. So a four hour job sometimes took all day, but I was doing things while in the house, too, like laundry and cleaning or using the computer. It didn't seem that bad. Now, weather permitting, Husband usually mows when he comes home from work, just about every day, because that four hour job means he now mows an hour or so a day, which is such a pain. He also has to clean the stalls... another of my former jobs. I guess I never really thought I did much in the way of work, until I stopped doing it, and can see the toll it takes on others. College Boy does help when he's here.
Yesterday my sweet cousin Myrna set up a Notify List link for me, and "Links" link, on the archives page, which can be found right here. If you would like to be notified when a new entry is posted, please sign up! A couple of folks have asked for this, and I don't always remember to send email when new entries are posted, so this should help. Right after posting an entry here, there is an automatic prompt to send out a notice. I respond well to prompts. I need reminders. Anyway, thanks a lot, Myrna! Soon, we hope to have the Links and the Notifylist there on the left side of every page, too.
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