Fred's not dead! There's a fox in the hen house!

Oh my goodness! I thought the weeks before were busy with farm drama. I'm hoping it is coming to a close.

On the 21st, Fred was attacked by a fox in the hen house. There was quite a bit of blood and feathers in the coop with Fred stooped over. He appeared lifeless when I found him the next morning. We weren't sure he would make it through the night. He didn't eat or drink for 3 days. He couldn't lift his head or stand.

On the 4th day he began to eat, drink and kind of stand up. On day 7 he began to crow as well as make some moves on the hens. We are pretty sure he is going to make a full recovery!

Last week we brought home 14 adorable balls of fluff from Carlberg Farms/AR Farms. We also picked up 2 packages of  Bees. Sadly, 1 package died! I'm really upset about that. My plan is to call the place where we purchased them to advise and ask if anyone else had experienced anything similar.

The garden starts are happy. Mr. Awesome created a raised bed and plans on building a few more for me. A great help they will be since my knee is getting better a bit everyday.

This is enough excitement for me! How is it in your neck of the woods?

The mystery of the missing duck... SOLVED!

Frankie the Duck- she thought she was a chicken

A few weeks back we lost my favorite duck. Well, we didn't lose her. She vanished!

Now this isn't uncommon when you have outdoor critters. There are various reasons for missing animals such as, predators or they wandered off to pass away if they were sick or maybe someone swiped them. It's sad but these happen.

Mr. Awesome and Peanut looked all over the yard and even investigated a pile of white something that turned out to be a plastic bag up close.

A few days later, Mr. Awesome and me had a trip to pick up a table and chairs from a nearby town late in the evening. We arrived home to find the flock put away. This was unusual. Why? Peanut puts them away and it's usually a lot later though we have reminded her to please put them away sooner especially after Frankie went missing.

She stuck her head out the door to help light my way down the path. I'm still healing from the "Great knee incident". I applauded her for getting them in without me having to bark at her. She said, "Come in I've got a story to tell you!"

I hobbled in faster.

She said the dog started barking madly so she let the dog out only to watch a Fox happily trotting down the yard with a duck in it's mouth!

The dog went tearing after the fox, which decided to let go of the duck and run away.

After getting the petrified duck back in the Abbey, she closed up the rest of the crew and went back in the house with the dog. Not even 5 minutes later the dog started barking again! Apparently, this fox was super hungry. She let the dog out a second time. This time the dog chased the fox about a few acres down the road.The next day she appeared to be just fine.

Now we know what happened to Frankie. 😢

Raccoon at base of tree.
I didn't want to show gore so I pulled back a bit

Next 3 days ago, Mr. Awesome noticed movement on top of the barn. He believed it was a Raccoon. These guys mean business when it comes to snagging out animals as well. We were monitoring the situation when I saw something big and fuzzy hanging out of the tree in our front yard.

Guess what, it was the raccoon! If you are squeamish please stop here. We are mini-homesteaders and our farm animals are not pets. They provide food for us so we do not take kindly to predators.

Mr. Awesome put the raccoon down. There was no nest and we believe it is the same one we saw prior to this a week ago in a yard about a mile down. There is an abandoned silo there and I was pretty sure that was it's home. Now just to clarify, we do live trap animals if needed. Also, there are protected animals, check your local area for information.

Enter in a new flock soon or hens or chicks we want to be sure everyone is safe and sound as best possible. This means we protect our flock by whatever means necessary. We are out in the country so we do have coyotes, hawks, raccoons, foxes, cats and even other dogs to keep away from our critters.

Prior to having farm animals, I thought it was cruel to take a life of a majestic and cute animal. That stopped the day our flock of 20 was decimated by a family of foxes 7 years ago. Don't get me wrong I still believe they are beautiful but from afar.

As for the fox? We are unsure what happened to it. Now either the dog was enough to scare it off or after the situation Peanut witnessed I was in the yard the next day when I heard a few gun shots. Again, we are out in the country so that isn't unusual but it was only a few and silence. We have a neighbor about 5 miles down the road that also has chickens between our house and their home the fox may have been having a buffet.

I'm crossing my fingers that this will be all for now...

God bless! I hope your day is awesome!

Coming up tomorrow, "Homeschool game day" and I finally started my seeds for the garden! Did you know I have 2 books out soon? I am setting up book signings in the area and I'm excited but this is another post.😊

BIG HUGS!
Mel

Where oh where can Spring be?

I'm almost certain Spring is going to skip us this year. The weather has been so crazy! Upper 50's and sunny than the next it's in the 20's with snow?!

There are seed packets still in dire need of unpacking. These last few months have totally thrown me off my game. Call me a bad gardener. I can't be the only one that just is not feeling it.
On a good note, China Doll sprouted some tomato seeds so I do have 8 starts! WAHOO!

We should be hearing from the Bee supply company soon about our package of bees. I am so excited! Hopefully I can find a mentor to help me along. I have read so many books and watched YouTube videos but there is something wonderful about having a 'Go-to person'.

The first flea market of the year is coming up in a few weeks and I am just not as prepared as I had hoped. Thank goodness I do have some time to get my butt going. I will be having bargain boxes, where everything in the boxes will be $1.00 each.

This also gives me a chance to have an Author event for signing my book, Call me Master. I have Hope when there was none for tips, suggestions, or inspiring quotes.
received much support and love from sharing. I have been able to spread awareness and help women learn simple tools to begin healing from abuse. Visit my page at

This is us in a nutshell!

I hope you are having an excellent day!

God bless!

BIG HUGS,
Mel

Someone I think you should know- Taylor Schwabe

In 2015 I received the most joyous news... I had Lyme Dis-ease. Why was there joy? That diagnosis opened the doorway for years of unanswered questions I had about my health. I shared my woes and such on social media such as I do with my abuse survival story. 



I was excited to have LymeLight Stories reach out to me to do an interview about my story! After my story ran I connected with the courageous leader, Taylor Schwabe. Seeing her as a Hero for spreading awareness as well as her own personal battle led me to find out what 'Her' story is. 

She is kindly opening up to share an intimate peek into her life with overcoming Lyme. I hope you glean wisdom and know you are not alone in 'your' journey.


Hi Taylor! So, tell me about when you noticed something was not quite right with your health.

"The most severe symptoms began in 2014 while I was in college (although looking back now, I was bitten by several ticks at a young age and had minor symptoms throughout the years). After finishing class one day, I started experiencing a sharp, stabbing sensation in my chest. It was very painful, like a knife, whenever I took an inhale - and no matter how I positioned myself, it didn’t subside. At urgent care, they could not find anything wrong based on a chest x-ray and EKG. 

More symptoms continued to pile on in the following weeks: I started to get neuropathy in different parts of my body (like tingling & pins-and-needles). My hearing started to decrease and the GI issues, fatigue, and joint pain worsened...the sharp chest pain persisted with every inhale - Along with this, I developed the sensation of being unable to catch a full breath (called “air hunger”). Every day since then, I have been struggling with these symptoms and working hard to heal. "

At what point did you decide, "Ok, I'm really sick and just not getting any better by the advice of my

doctor and need to try something different."

Taylor recalls, "After things took a turn for the worse, I saw many different health providers (MDs, naturopaths, alternative health practitioners) over the course of a year... No one was able to give me a concrete diagnosis nor did I experience any relief from their therapies. Like many in the chronic illness community, I was told that my symptoms were due to being "over-stressed" and that they were "in my head."  

After nearly a year with no explanation and no end in sight for these terrible symptoms, I was feeling pretty hopeless. This was when two friends (separately) suggested that I look into chronic Lyme Disease. After researching the symptoms of chronic Lyme and discovering that false negatives are common with conventional testing, I decided to see a Lyme specialist, which was when I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme, Babesiosis, and Bartonella."

Taylor, I know there are so many remedies and wacky treatments out in the world. What is the weirdest you tried and did it work?

She says, "Some of the treatments I’ve tried are pretty "out there". Over the past few years I’ve experimented with a wide variety of therapies - everything from antibiotics to shamans, from placing giant magnets over my organs to being zapped with lasers and electromagnetic machines, from western modalities to eastern modalities, and everything in between... One of the weirder treatments I received was when a practitioner rebalanced my Yin & Yang energies by waving an antenna (with green/red lasers) over several of my chakra points...I can't say I noticed a benefit from that one!"

When asked if she could change "1" thing in the medical community in regard to the challenges of being a patient she answered, "I left many appointments feeling vulnerable, alone, and unheard. There have been many times where I felt that my visits were rushed - I didn't have time to ask questions because there was pressure for the provider to hurry into the next room for a different patient. I wish that all providers genuinely wanted to do medicine in order to help people heal - and that healing would be more of a lifestyle for those who choose health professions, instead of merely a way to make a living. I feel fortunate to have found a few providers who truly live to heal others as best they can - when you’re with them, you feel hopeful and you know you are heard...wish there were more like this!"

Taylor is super excited that she is beginning to see with a Lyme-savvy neurologist and this has made her hopeful about future treatments... She happily adds that she is also moving soon - back to a place that she loves!

I asked if there was a ritual, object or tool can she not live without or that she must use everyday even it isn't health related. 

She responded, "Meditation (at one of my outdoor "hideout" spots) has been an important ritual for recovery. Also, going for a drive with some of my favorite albums turned up really loud has been a good release. 😄"

How has the dynamic at home and or work changed since you have had your health challenges?

"I’ve had to decline several professional opportunities due to my health... which has been frustrating, especially considering my age (23). This is a time when I want to be focusing my energy on building a career and having fun, not trying to recover from disease. During the past few years, there have been periods that I was able to work full-time, periods when I could only handle part-time work, and periods when I could not work at all because the symptoms became too debilitating.

I am lucky that my immediate family has been supportive, as well as many close friends. Even with an amazing support system, it can still be very isolating - No one else knows exactly how much pain you might be experiencing at any given time, and you don't always want to explain how it feels to others, especially because it might make them feel bad. We can't expect family and friends to understand what it feels like to live with these symptoms day in and day out but, it makes a huge difference to surround yourself with people who appreciate the seriousness of this condition and who want to walk through this challenge with you." 

Taylor, could you tell me how the idea for LymeLight Stories come about? 

She replied, "LymeLight Stories" has been a fun, small side-project that came about because I was starting to connect with so many other Lyme patients. I was amazed by the similarities of our stories, particularly with the challenging and long diagnostic process. I thought that having a platform where I could share other Lyme patients' experiences would build awareness of the fact that late-stage Lyme can mimic many other conditions and that receiving a diagnosis can be extremely difficult."

When asked about a favorite quote or motto she has, she says her favorite quote is: "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”  ~ Viktor Frankl

I asked her what hobbies she enjoys, she says, "Anything outdoors...especially hiking & skiing when I can. Music, too - piano, guitar, mostly."

Taylor, looking back on your health journey what advice would you give to someone just beginning to look for answers on their path?

"Recovering from chronic illness is complex, multi-layered, and very unique to each person. What works for one person may not work for the next. Antibiotics may help some people with chronic Lyme, and they may not be the right path for others. People are quick to give you their opinion on the best treatment to do. There is not a lot of gentleness when people talk about “miracle cures” and what worked to get them to “remission.” It’s great to talk with other patients and learn about all of the different treatments, but bear in mind that the same thing that worked for “Bobby Sue” may not work the same for you!

Just as people love to tell you what to do, people are also quick to tell you what NOT to do. There will be advocates and naysayers for any direction you choose. I’ve had people tell me that antibiotics are a bad idea and others tell me that alternative therapies wouldn’t work - ultimately, it may be a lot of trial-and-error until you find what works best for you. One cool thing about all of this is that you will likely build a communication with your body. You'll be able to better tune into what causes you to feel different, for better or worse, whether it’s a medication, supplement, or food. This awareness can be a useful guide to help navigate treatment. 

It would be great if there were one silver bullet for everyone - but everyone has a different set of puzzle pieces to work with. Besides the tick/vector-borne infections, you may also have to address other factors - like heavy metal/environmental toxicity, mold toxins, parasites, yeast, viruses, other pathogens, immune/hormonal imbalances, among other things...

I wish I had taken detox methods more seriously at the beginning of my journey - I didn't appreciate how important it is to get the toxins out to best support your body as it fights off all of the infections. There is a lot of good information online about different ways to detox for chronic illness. Also, talking to others with chronic illness and chronic Lyme (whether that's in a support group, online, at your doctor's office, or any other way) can be very rewarding - sometimes the best therapy is connecting with people who really "get it." 

As difficult as it is to be fighting for your health and getting through the days with debilitating symptoms, illness brings a lot of lessons and ways to grow. Lessons of awareness, of finding balance and self-compassion, of disengaging from the ego, and of letting go. Healing is an opportunity to get to know yourself better, too.

Something that helps me get through the hardest days is reminding myself that there is meaning in the suffering - Pain can be turned into purpose, as we can use this experience to relate to and help others going through their own challenges." 

For more information or to just give a little virtual hug to Taylor reach her at-schwabe24@gmail.com. LymeLight Stories for inspirational stories.