It's never boring

Got the last coat of finish on the living room and dining room floor today, which was no small feat given that I managed to nearly give myself a backectomy yesterday afternoon in the barn... but I think I'm getting ahead of myself.

On Sunday I got the first coat of finish down after way too much prep work, it seemed. Sal had wisely escaped while she still had a soul and went to St. Louis, catching a ride with some friends and spending a few days with our daughter and her family. In process, she'll be driving back a new to me truck that I bought from my son in law. Anyway, I got that coat of finish on and it stunk so bad in here I had a couple of huffers that stopped and backed up and just wanted to stand outside a window here. I decided to run into town and grab a burger and did. Got back home and the phone was ringing, it was my Dad.

Dad: We're sick.

Me: Like how sick Dad?

Dad: Real sick... we need to go to the hospital.

Me: Be right there.

So I get up there and they're already loaded in the car waiting for a driver. Mom is in the back seat with a wastecan, sick sick sick. Dad is in the front seat, with a wastecan... sick sick sick. This ain't no Lincoln Towncar, this here is the vomit express! Yeee Haww! So after driving the 24 hours of LeMans to the hospital, I waltzed 'em both in the E.R.

Sunday night was a busy one in the ER. They got Dad all checked out and got an IV running on him and the same with Mom, but she was much sicker. 'Bout 11 pm they released Dad and decided they were keeping mom for awhile, so I took him home, got me in bed about 12:30 or 1 and ready to attack the next day.

We'll fast forward to yesterday. Mom is doing pretty good, she had the same flu that I had last week, but she's got about 30 years on me and it's pretty rough on her. They think she's got pneumonia and by yesterday evening, that's confirmed.

My uncle and I needed to get the cows up to the barn and take the herd bulls out, that were still running with the cows. That move went pretty well, just a 1/4 mile move but when we got 'em up to the lot it looked like we had all the bigger calves as well, with the bunch. So, the decision was made to sort them off. The frost has left the ground here and that means "mud". Lots and lots of mud. We got the whole mess sorted out about noon and decided to just haul the calves to the sale barn. Culled out 36 head and they sold today... did pretty good considering the market is a little stinky right now.

So then I get home to take a shower and end up sitting down for "a second" and fall asleep. :-) I wake up a couple hours later and give Dad a call to check up on Mom and everything is still like it was there. I put another coat of finish on the floor and the phone rings... it's Robert. Got a cow that can't have her calf, so off I go back to the farm.

We get the cow in the barn and everything seems to be all cool, just a really really big calf. I get the OB chains around it's front hooves and put the calf pullers up to her hips and start cranking... calf stops at it's hips and I gotta finish up by hand. So Robert and I are holding tension on the calf waiting for a contraction from the cow for that little extra ooompf and KABOOM... there it goes... and there I go. I hit the floor pretty badly and did something unsavory to my back, can't get up. I finish up with the calf while I'm down there and Robert helps me up. I pull off the shoulder length OB glove that I've got on my right hand and toss it on the floor, turn my back and my Aunt Charlotte is standing there and she yells, I turn just in time to see the cow swallowing the glove. Okay, that's a new one.

Me: *stunned*

Robert: *stunned*

Charlotte: Jace, that cow just ate that glove, now what?

Me: Beats me, I never had a cow eat a glove before. I ain't going after it.

Robert: Think she'll pass it?

Me: God I hope so... boy that's a weird one.

I'm guessing that the cow thought it was placenta and they normally eat that when they get rid of it. I'm sure it smelled like placenta and was an odd facsimile of what it might look like to a cow. Hell, I dunno... LOL

Anyway the calf is fine, Momma was licking on him after getting her fill of glove. I came home and finally got that shower and stood in there til the hot water stopped coming out. Got up this morning and could barely walk, but got the last coat of finish down on the floor, and then got in to see the doctor this afternoon and got smooshed out some.

So, gonna get chores done in the morning and then go up to see how Mom's doing. Dad says she "needs a talking to" so we'll see how that goes. :-)

Hoo Boy.