What a day on the prairie. I went to Emporia this morning. Stopped at the Vet’s office and got flea and tick medication for two dogs and two cats and HeartGuard for the two dogs for three months. Spent almost $300! Another customer must have seen my face when I was told the cost. She quickly told me “They are worth it”. Somedays I’m not sure that is true.
Between the meds for the dogs and cats and chicken feed my budget for the month is blown. I have spent way more on my animals this month than on me.
Went to the library book sale. Today and tomorrow is bag day for $10 a bag. There were three small children running around, screaming and doing what little ones do. They almost tripped an older lady and pushed others out of their way. I could only handle it so long and had to remove myself from the room. I didn’t get a full bag of books but I took care of myself.
I usually enjoy watching little ones play but today I didn’t enjoy them. The mother was looking at books and didn’t notice her children pushing people out of their way or tripping others. Guess she is used to the noise and chaos they were causing. I think my age was showing itself to me a bit today!
I went to Bobby D’s for lunch. I enjoy their brisket without sauce or the bun. It was nice to treat myself to lunch out. I had a great waitress and it was nice to get waited on.
I filled the car up with gas on my way home. Glad to see gas prices are below $3 a gallon. It costs $40 to fill my car up at those prices. Better than the $65 I paid mid-year last year.
Came home and cleaned out the chick’s pens. I went down to the barn and brought up the second big dog crate and set it up. I put the chicks that were in the nursery pen into the dog crate. As I would catch a chick I would hand it to Kathy and she put them in the dog crate. I had to try to keep the top covered as the chicks can fly out and over. Had two fly out and over but managed to catch one easily. The second one gave Kathy a run for her money but Kathy persisted and got the little bugger.
They will have more room in the dog crate than they did in the nursery. I have more room to move in the furnace room with the big table down. We had to wrap the crate with cardboard so the little buggers don’t squeeze themselves out. I’ll keep the door closed in case they escape.
At one point I had to ask my dad for some help. I needed to figure out how to attach the cardboard and hang the heat lamp. He helped me remember zip ties. I love those things. I struggle to make them work right but finally remembered how to use them. Dad always shows up for me when I have to figure something like that out.
The chicks seem happy in their new surroundings and quieted down a bit afterwards. The other pen got fresh linens and clean watering containers. I have two more weeks before I can move them outside. I’ll need to get some more wood shavings next time I go to town as I will need to change them out at least one more time before I move them out.
Don’t have anything on my calendar for tomorrow or Wednesday. Thursday I am meeting some friends for lunch in KC after I pick up my ring. One of them I haven’t seen since Covid started so it will be good to catch up with her. I need to go to Home Depot while I am in the city and get more deck paint so I can start that project next weekend. It looks like Sunday will be a good day to paint.
I may go back to the library book sale tomorrow and get some more books. I am sure I have enough to get me through until the next book sale this fall but it is hard to pass up $10 for a bag of books. New books have gotten so expensive I would hate to run out and have to pay retail price for a book.
I need to vacuum the steps and clean up the wood shaving mess I made. I tracked up the carpet on the steps running up and down getting things to get this project completed. Maybe I will wait two more weeks as I’m sure I will track it up again going up and down to take care of the little buggers each day. I usually go down to check on them several times a day.
It was interesting to watch myself react to the noise and chaos of the children at the library today. I could feel my consciousness level dropping. I could tell the mother wasn’t going to do anything so decided the best thing for me was to remove myself from the situation. As I walked into the other side of the building I could feel my consciousness level start to rise again.
It felt good to recognize an external force that was effecting me and then be able to do something to take care of myself. I knew I had plenty of books at home so it was no big deal to not get what I needed. I could have come back after lunch if I felt I needed more books today.
There was a time when that little incident would have ruin my day. Not today – I recognized it for what it was and took care of myself. I am going to call that my win for the day.
Grateful the chicks are in a bigger pen, grateful the chicks have fresh linens, and grateful for progress on my healing journey.