Ducky Day

Good morning! It is a lovely cloudy day and we are supposed to get rain today. At least, weather.com says a 100% chance and it certainly looks it outside. Currently we are at 87% humidity so rain would be nice. We’ll see how it works out and how it affects Cedric’s plans for the day. Yesterday was beautiful.

This morning I woke up at 5:15 and my back was killing me (good thing I don’t have to be absolutely literal whenever I open my mouth or express myself using the written word). I know it’s my own fault because I haven’t been doing stretches or walking or anything like I know I should be and I have been doing a bit of reading and working on papers that require a lot of looking in the book while I’m typing stuff up. I supposed I could write it out and then type it but, you know, that takes longer. Maybe today. Still, my back hurt, so I told myself I’d do my stretches when I got up for good. At 6:18 I woke up for good and did my stretches after feeding the goats their grain. They still need their hay and pine branches but I have to put on long pants and a jacket and gloves and some kind of shoes with no holes (think Crocs here—as an example of with holes).

Why?

Because I was outside Saturday for less than 30 minutes moving Christmas tree skeletons and brush. It was a beautiful day and I was wearing capris and a short sleeve t-shirt. I woke up yesterday with a rash all over my lower arms and legs and neck. An itchy rash. When will I ever learn. I asked Margaret what essential oils were good for itching rashes because I didn’t remember and was too lazy to look it up and she said lavender, frankincense, and tea tree. So I got them out, added them to some coconut oil, and slathered them on. And they did the trick. One place on the back of my left hand is currently itching and the oil is upstairs by the bed.

I do wonder about this, though. I have had seasonal allergies for as long as I can remember. I didn’t develop asthma until I moved to Scott Valley and was exposed to freshly cut alfalfa on a regular basis. I never experienced contact dermatitis until I moved here. So what is the difference between the other places I’ve lived and here that walking in grass makes me break out in an itching rash? I’ve been exposed to poison oak before and it had no effect on me. Why now? Why grass? And, no, I’m not complaining, I just really would like to know.

Saturday Paul took the boys out to look for shoes and pants and said it would be a quick trip. I’m not sure he knows the meaning of those words. I’m not sure when they left but it was by 10:00. They didn’t get back until after 3:00. A quick trip means I’ll be back in two hours or less. He asked if I wanted to go and I said no. I’m glad I did because that would have driven me nuts.

Yesterday was pretty good. Kind of Sunday-like, you know?

And today is cool and cloudy and my goal for the week is to get Laura’s dress done. Not an impossible task by any stretch of the imagination so we’ll see how it goes.

Hey, Joanna, you asked about turkeys the other day. This morning, when I went out to give the goats their grain, I noticed that Kitty was watching something intently. When I was done with the goats, I saw what it was: I big tom turkey showing off his finery. He had some friends down the hill.

And, Laura, you need to get blogging. If you want to successfully market using social media, you need to be doing about three blog posts each week. They can be short, but they need to be done. You can do it! I have faith in you! Even just a quote or something small would work.

Have a ducky day!