Got meds

Yesterday, in addition to the coughing I've had for two weeks, I developed an intensely sore throat.  This morning I decided enough was enough, and Cliff took me to the intensive care place.  I was diagnosed with upper respiratory infection and a Z-pak was prescribed.

I don't think I mentioned my black eye on here, although I shared a picture of it on Facebook.  I've since deleted it, just because I didn't want that particular picture of myself to be around forever.  The nurse asked me this morning how I got my black eye, and when I gave her a condensed version, she said, "You're going to have to come up with a better story than that!"  

In this entry, I'm going to try to explain to my readers how I got my shiner.  

Here you see the feeders that I put sweet feed in for my two bottle calves.  They are out in the open, so if it rains, the feed is ruined.  The calves won't touch it.  The other day we got 4/10 of an inch of rain, so some feed was ruined.  Fortunately, Cliff has made me a tool to scrape these little boxes out as clean as a whistle.  

I didn't get the whole thing in the picture, but it's sort of a paint-scraper-type thingie.  Plastic handle, thin metal, pretty light-weight.  It hangs on the fence so it's handy when I need it.  

I reached up, opened the snap, and lifted the tool up and over the fence because it was hanging on the other side.  It was a day of fifty-mile-per-hour winds, and I didn't grab onto the tool as I lifted it over.  As soon as it was free of the fence and on my side, the wind blew the sharp little corner really hard into my right cheek bone, just under my eye.  It honestly didn't hurt that much, but as soon as it hit, I was pretty sure I'd have a black eye from it.  

Here's what it looks like at present.  No, it doesn't hurt.  At all.  

I don't usually babysit on weekends, but the Little Princess' parents wanted to ride horses and said they would gladly pay me for the day.  Cliff was hand-picking corn at his brother's place for some hogs we intend to raise at some point this spring, but that's another entry.  I had intended to help, but I can use the money for babysitting and I have a blast with the baby.  After it had warmed up somewhat in the afternoon, she and I went out to visit the cows.  

First we looked at the babies.  

Then I introduced her to the bigger cows.  This is Gracie.  

Here you see Gracie and Penny checking her out.  I wish I had taken a video; the heifers would sneak ever so slowly and cautiously closer, then jump back and run circles around the wagon, kicking up their heels.  I'm hoping to take her out there again when Cliff is home to do the honors of taking a video.  I hope they'll do the same performance, but you know, animals are like children sometimes: The very thing you WANT them to repeat, they often refuse.  We shall see.  

And here is a "selfie" of me and my little pal: