Bittersweet

Well, today is the 748^th anniversary of the Battle of Evesham during which Simon deMontfort and his oldest son were killed. Life is fragile. Last night I was reading about Simon’s daughter, Ellen, who was wed to the Prince of Wales, Llewellyn ap Gruffydd. She died shortly after giving birth to their only child, a daughter, on June 19, 1282. Llewellyn himself was killed on December 11, 1282, which effectively marked the end of Welsh independence from England even though the war continued for something like another six months and eventually Llewellyn’s brother, Davydd, who became Prince upon Llewellyn’s death, was executed by Edward in 1283. Life is fragile and these events forever changed the history not only of a family, but of a nation which had been holding onto the thread of independent existence whilst England kings sought to bring it under their own control.

You have to be very careful what you do, what you say, because you do not know when something might happen that will prevent you from seeing those you love for a very, very long time. You might be in a Walmart, or any other store, and your son might say to you, “Look, Mom, this one is a better deal.” And then, less than twenty-four hours later, you might be flat on your back in an emergency room somewhere and you might learn that this child of yours “Did not make it.” Memories are bittersweet.

Yesterday was not an altogether bad day in spite of the fact that I had to drive in to Boston again to pick Laura up. Actually, it was rather easy and I could tell where we went wrong getting there Monday. I made it there in an hour and a half and I think we made it back in about the same amount of time. While I was gone getting Laura, Paul took the boys out shopping. They got some shirts and shorts and shoes. They all wrote book reports and so they were able to pick out a reward for doing so. They all chose food, namely candy, cheese puffs, and a soda. I think I would like to limit the purchase of this type of food for rewards in the future. I’m not sure but I think deciding upon something before reaching the store might be a good idea.

Right now it is time to go milk so I will likely be back for more before posting.

Milk production was much better this morning. Seth does not look terribly excited about taking them out right now. I can’t say I blame him. Taking the goats out is not one of my most favorite things to do. A couple of days ago I was recalculating when Princess and Golilocks are due to kid. I had been thinking it was this month but it actually is next month. I don’t know if I’ve forgotten how to count to five or what. Anyway, tomorrow we should be getting some grain and alfalfa pellets for them and I hope they like the pellets because I think they need them.

Joseph complained of a headache earlier this morning. I told him to eat a peach and drink some water. He ate most of his peach and had a vitamin C with his water. I think he likes the vitamin C’s that we have. They’re not flavored, just the big old things that are somewhat bitter if you suck on or chew them. It was while getting ready to strain milk that I remembered that Seth complained of a headache at the beginning of his not feeling well a few weeks ago. He didn’t live on vitamin C for weeks previously so maybe he won’t actually get whatever Seth had although he does have a cough upon occasion. It isn’t the same as Seth’s so maybe it is allergies or something else. In any case, I’ll keep an eye on him.

Right now it is time to move on so I will say adios for now.

Have a wonderful day!