and the beat goes on...

so, as my handful of readers out there already know, this year has been a booger of a medical roller coaster. persistent cough. shortness of breath. discovering lung spots. discovering ruptured implant. replacement surgery. cancelling shows. putting music on hold. monitoring lung spots. thinking cancer is back. praying for stable spots. and trying to keep life as normal as possible in the meantime. and finally it's memorial day... and i get results of latest scan. spots are gone! not just stable. but miraculously gone! celebration!

still, in the back of my mind, i'm thinking, why do i still cough? why do my lungs hurt? why do i get so tired? yes, it's not cancer. but what the frak is it? and then yesterday, i get the actual printed copy of PET scan results in mail. and guess what? report states that i have mild centrilobular emphysema. i must admit, it's a bit scary, but nothing i can't handle. at least it explains my symtoms. and i've caught it early. i don't smoke anymore. i eat great. i get plenty o'exercise on the farm.

i would like to thank everyone who has supported me this year. those who came out to the benefit concert. those who sent cards, food, smiles, jokes. i'd be lost without you. i'd especially like to thank my husband. who always seems to be overshadowed by my health. if you see him, give him a hug. tell him he's the cat's pajamas. and know that he is my rock. my rock & roll.

speaking of rock.... wormwood scrubs has entered the studio. watch out! new album has a song that is over 20minutes long. and look for us returning to the stage later this summer. can't wait any longer!

i leave you with a few pics from the memorial day weekend. sam, kate and ophelia came down to celebrate. ophelia and kate had fun visiting all the critters. sam, had fun recording. and i had fun admiring my hand-decorated commemorative celebratory bottle o'beam.

ta da!

kate and ophelia throwin' rocks in the pond (good ol'fashioned fun)

rock n roll mirror

ophelia got goosed!

the two sams

pure joy!

"in labor" day weekend.

what a lovely weekend. started with some general home/farm improvement. cleaned up the laundry room and installed a new-to-us refrigerator which will be used solely for curing meat and aging cheese.

an amazing harvest from the garden...

then a visit from sam the drummer, his wife kate, and their gorgeous baby ophelia. this baby is crazy about animals and loves to give them hugs. a simultaneous visit from jason's daughter, amber. much fun was had playing with baby goats, chickens, the llama, the pigs and the zillion dogs. plus a bottle of italian prosecco didn't hurt, either.

ophelia leading the way for sam

ophelia waving in her very own chicken parade

then today, labor day, the goat stork visited. 842 finally had her baby. a beautiful blue-eyed blond buck, tito (named by our friend kendra's daughter). labor and birthing went brilliantly. unfortunately, that's where the brilliance ended. 842 wasn't too keen on being a mom. perhaps she imagined her role as mere surrogate? after much counseling upon our part, 842 still stuck to her guns and gave the baby up for adoption. she rejected the poor tike. luckily, we have colostrum replacer on hand. and he is currently being bottle fed indoors by his new mother, me. his big doggy sister (little bit) is doing a wonderful job at keeping him clean. and he seems to like the extra attention.

tito

although tito is currently doing well, baby goats that are rejected have a hard road to travel. right now he's still about 50/50 for survival. so all well-wishes and strong-goat-baby-vibes you want to throw our way will be ever so appreciated.

ophelia takes the lead.

the title of rook farm's youngest visitor has been usurped! ophelia, aging a mere 3 months, took the rook farm by storm on sunday. she held conversations with chickens, goats, and one very nosey llama. much sleep was required after such highly charged baby/animal discussions.

still waiting...

ever heard the expression "stubborn as a mule"? well, donkeys have that beat. stella is STILL pregnant. holding her foal captive. demanding more grain, a new harness, and possibly her own tractor. so what have i done in the meantime??? something i never dreamed of in a million years... joined an on-line support group for donkey owners. i can barely even type the words. it sounds absurd. but it is helping to pass the time and calm my worries.

our drummer, on the other hand, has held up his end of the baby delivering deal. his wife gave birth yesterday (with his assistance) to a little baby girl named ophelia. looks just like him, minus the beard. congrats to the proud parents.

and here in the hellishly hot rook homestead, our newest little angel, del ray, is on day two of no accidents. yes, we HAVE had him for more than a month and this is only accident-free day TWO. but apparently, mini-pins are one of the hardest breeds to housetrain. no wonder we are his third home in four months! poor little guy. oh well, it passes the time between checking my donkey's ever changing milk bag.

"why do i always make this face?"

maybe i'm amazed...

this weekend our "top bunk drummer guy" sam got married. what a beautiful ceremony. the bride, kate. the dress. the garden. the vows. the look in their eyes. all, truly moving.

i'm so happy for you two. beyond words. i wish you nothing but the best. keep on keeping on. keep on keeping strong.

- larissa

fat sunday.

today was a good day spent driving down country roads, feeding cows, laughing with friends, playing with dogs, and eating lots and lots of smokey meat. the afternoon commenced with a trip to visit my newly acquired vintage four wheel all terrain monster, tentatively called "big red" (but that is just a working title). next we headed to our friend bryan's for a washington county barbecue to rival all barbecues. there were turkey legs, brats, chunky ribs, burgers, sausages, chops, tater salad, beans, and slaw. when the dinner bell rang, bryan tried to warn kate of the impending dog stampede but to no avail. she was overcome while daisy, the world's roundest beagle watched and drooled.

big red

aw stanley, you made a happy bottle!

"watch out, here comes the dog brigade!"

they got kate.

the end.

what's going on...

on friday, i ate some crawfish bisque, drank some so-co hurricanes and played a full-tilt show at the broadway oyster bar. then drove to potosi to visit stanley the cow on saturday. the dogs ran in the rain & mud & sand (see choppy's paw for complete details). then completed the weekend with an old fashioned barbeque at sam & kate's on sunday. gizmo the cattle dog was the master of ceremonies & general jerk with no support from the donk.

me after a few hurricanes (photo by dana smith).

dirty chop.

dirty chop paw.

barbeque wormwood scrubs style.

ocd gizmo freaks out.

"gizmo, i'm not a hate donkey. i'm a love donkey."

happy new year.

new year's eve 2006. beginnings and endings. we celebrated the newly engaged sam & kate. we wished good luck and bon voyage to our friend kit. i started a new tradition of toasting with the leg of a freshly roasted chicken instead of champagne. and we burned our christmas tree in a ceremonial bonfire. good morning 2007! bring it on!

daanish brings on the chicken.

jason and sam prepare the ceremonial tree offering.

burn, baby burn.

birthdays, beagles and mexican-irish pirates.

sam, the mexican-irish pirate at his 25th birthday bash.

amber turns sweet sixteen.

john's day-glow cake.

beagle pups fittin' to roll.

even beagles like coffee.

this past week was full of celebration. thursday night our drummer sam turned 25. to commemorate the good the bad and the ugly of reaching this ripe old age, we gave him an authentic mexican poncho. it only seemed fitting.

amber turned 16 on monday. we celebrated this weekend at rita's with a big ol' barbeque. amber was crowned birthday girl and was showered with gifts, (including a car, a chunk of change, and tickets to see wolfmother in chicago). she's pretty lucky.

and my brother in law john turned ? (after 30 it doesn't really matter). a decadent and somehow radioactive cake was shared in his honor.

the rest of the weekend was spent observing the latest litter of my father-in-law's beagle pups. i can't think of a better way to spend the holiday. i love puppy breath.

organic fruit, five dogs, and barbeque.

chewy, mutt, mr daniels, and chopper mesmerized by dog treats.

i just discovered that st louis has an organic farmers market every saturday during the summer. yesterday my mom and i went and bought some delicious tomatoes and peaches. the produce was so pretty i just had to display it in this beautiful handmade bowl (courtesy of my sistah nancy). since the weather has been nice (a la, no storms), jason and i decided to barbecue today. our friends sam and kate, and bryan came by and brought their dogs (mutt & chewy, and raven). at one point we had 5 dogs running around our house. it was pandemonium. i really wanted to snap a photo of the madness. it was next to impossible due to mutt's extreme camera phobia. he believes they steal your soul. but alas i possessed the magic holly hobbie cookie (dog-treat) jar which put them in a spell long enough for me to sneak a pic of four of them. sorry, mutt. your soul is now mine. mr d and choppy played hard. they have currently retired to their beds for the evening.