jmgoyder

wings and things

Feb 16

The difference between what matters and what doesn’t matter

by jmgoyder

WHAT DOES MATTER

– Ming began harp lessons.
– Anthony said on the phone this afternoon that he’d been kidnapped, but I calmed him down.
– Some lovely friends came to pick the dying figs.
– Gutsy9 (baby peacock) is thriving despite his wonky leg.
– We found a clock man who has now fixed three of Anthony’s clocks, so the house is chiming again.
– I finished delivering details to our accountant for our tax return from last year.
– I am going to purchase an ipad tomorrow so I can access the internet in Anthony’s room and show him stuff.
– Ming and I are getting on top of the housework/yardwork etc.
– I only cried a little bit today, instead of a lot.
– The blog community is amazing.
– Ming has stopped being so bossy!
– Lots of other good things.

WHAT DOESN’T MATTER

– It doesn’t matter!

Animal blogging Family Friendship LOVE STORY Wings

64 Comments »
Feb 16

Farmboy 3

by jmgoyder

Don’t worry – this is not going to become a neverending series. It’s just that today’s incident was so funny.

An old friend of ours, who has a farm nearby, rang up the other day to see if Ming might be available for some odd jobs. Ming said yes so yesterday he had to drive a tractor (which he’s never done before but he learned fast) and today he was asked to come and help a cow who had just delivered a calf.

I think Ming might have anticipated patting the cow on the head or something but when he got back home after around two hours, he seemed a little shaken.

Apparently, the cow was unable to deliver the afterbirth, so Ming was told to reach inside and pull it out. So he did.

The cow is fine, the farmer is happy and Ming doesn’t want any lunch!

Animal Family Friendship

71 Comments »
Feb 15

Farmboy 2

by jmgoyder

Ming was still in nappies when the dairy industry here was toppled by deregulation.

We were just one of hundreds of families affected by this and, without going into the politics, let me just say that it was devastating.

Previous to this, Anthony was a workaholic dairyfarmer (to me, those terms are synonymous.)

It was around this time that Ants was diagnosed with kidney cancer and had to have two operations. Our dairy days were over.

Ming never saw Ants in his prime, never saw Ants working, so he will never know the Anthony I knew.

And yet – and this is wonderful! – Ming is now milking for our beautiful neighbours and has been offered a full-time job as of July.

Like father, like son!

Family Friendship LOVE STORY

32 Comments »
Feb 15

Farmboy 1

by jmgoyder

It was about two years ago when our lives (Anthony’s, mine, and Ming’s) altered dramatically. Here is an abbreviated list of events, in no particular order:

1. Anthony’s Parkinson’s became so bad that he required hourly nursing care during the nights.
2. I eventually got exhausted and was hospitalized for a few days.
3. Ming’s scoliosis required surgery.
4. I had to take extended leave from my university job as a lecturer.
5. Ming completed his last year of school.
6. We found that the farming family, whose property adjoins ours, was willing to lease our 100 acres for the correct rent.
7. We withstood the continuing verbal abuse from our previous lessee who we had already kicked off for negligence etc.
8. With Anthony’s approval, I contacted our lawyer to prevent the previous lessee from coming onto the property.
8. We accepted that Ming would have to have surgery.
9. We accepted that Ants would have to go into a nursing lodge.
10. Ming began his Certificate in music and, simultaneously, began milking cows for the same people we are now leasing to.

Our farmboy’s journey began!

Ever since Anthony went into the nursing lodge, and Ming had his spinal surgery, life-as-we-knew-it has altered dramatically.

Animal Family Friendship LOVE STORY

30 Comments »
Feb 14

Role reversal

by jmgoyder

Tonight, when Ming and I were visiting Anthony and I was chopping his meal up, Ming said, sternly, “Mum, don’t you eat any of Dad’s food, or you won’t eat your dinner.”

You see, Ming had ordered takeaway pizza for tonight, and he had also ordered me to eat with him.

As Ming drove us home, I said, sulkily, “You’d make a great mum, Ming.”

“Don’t you touch that pizza until we get home, brat!” he said, flicking me a patronizing grin.

Arghhhhh!

Family Friendship LOVE STORY

29 Comments »
Feb 13

An amazing anniversary!

by jmgoyder

In just a couple of hours it will be Valentine’s day and the first anniversary of Ming’s spinal surgery. Yeeha!

I have put a few links to that saga below fyi.

Son’s surgery

Recovery

The ‘now’ of before, during, after ….

Family Friendship LOVE STORY

39 Comments »
Feb 11

Dreams inside dreams

by jmgoyder

For the last few weeks I have been having rather dramatic, block-buster-type dreams. Inside the dreams, I am always the hero who knows she is in a dream, but also knows that, in order to escape the dream, she has to either get away from, or else confront, the baddies.

The most recurrent dream is of something preventing Anthony and me from getting married. This barrier is usually a series of verbal and visual ‘stills’ of what really happened (Anthony’s younger brother’s protestations, my bewilderment, and Anthony’s heartbreak). These dreams are becoming so boringly predictable that I am usually able to clamber free.

But last night’s dream was really weird. Inside the dream, I was away at a conference and Ming rang me to say that Anthony’s old girlfriend had dropped in and wanted to stay the night. Then, the next morning, when I got home from the conference, Anthony admitted that he had slept with her.

Okay, so this was all a dream within a dream, but even when I escaped the inside dream, I found myself trying to climb the escalators the wrong way, in an empty airport somewhere in the desert.

I was glad to wake up!

Family Friendship LOVE STORY Wings

50 Comments »
Feb 8

Are you sure it’s safe out here?

by jmgoyder

pea 1457

pea 1469

Animal Family Friendship LOVE STORY Wings

37 Comments »
Feb 7

Graduation

by jmgoyder

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Yesterday evening I took Gutsy9 outside and picked up the brick I had to use once before to put an injured turkey chick out of its misery.

I had weighed the situation up in my mind (his legs and feet would only get worse, he would be vulnerable to predators and the pecking order), and I had steeled my heart to do the deed.

I put him gently on the ground and raised the brick high so that it would be quick, but then he looked up at me and winked!

I couldn’t do it.

It was Rachel’s suggestion (see comments in last post) that gave me the idea of putting him outside in an upside down cage (a cage with a roof but no floor). That way he can scratch in the grass/dirt with his faulty feet but be protected from attack by the various other birds and animals.

And he will now eat the calcium mixture if I give it to him from my finger. He will still come inside for the night.

Ming and I have decided to give this new idea a week and see how Gutsy9’s legs go. If they improve, we have hope!

In the meantime I guess little Gutsy9, at two months of age, has graduated from my lap to a more normal peacock existence.

Animal Family Friendship Wings

74 Comments »
Feb 6

Difficult decision

by jmgoyder

Before I even took Gutsy9 to the vet today, I did a bit of research and discovered that his feet are slightly splayed, especially one, mostly due to being brought up inside rather than outside. The injury to his toe is insignificant in comparison to the structural damage caused by him mostly walking on a floor instead of grass and dirt.

The vet gave me some calcium mix for Gutsy9 (which of course he won’t eat!) but she and her consultant seemed to think his legs might never be normal. The photo I posted of Gutsy9 on the table was taken a few weeks ago. Since then, all of his toes have gradually become crooked and one leg goes backwards instead of forwards. It is possible, that he was born with a defect but I don’t know.

What I do know, however, is that he is unlikely to ever be able to survive outside. I took him out for 3 hours this afternoon and, if I hadn’t been watching, he would have been pecked to death by the adult peas and the gang, he would have drowned in the pond, or he would have been taken by a crow.

He is sitting on my lap now, nearly asleep, but cheeping more than usual. His legs don’t seem strong enough to hold his growing body and I am worried that he might be in pain.

Ming and I will decide tomorrow. I think we will have to put Gutsy9 down.

Animal Wings

93 Comments »
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