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!

what's up doc?

so i met with pulmonary specialist this week. still trying to figure out what is going on with my lungs. i am having a new test run next week. hopefully, that will shed some light as i feel i have wasted the first 3 months of 2010 in medical limbo.

i need to get back to life. back to reality. we are knee deep in pre-gardening season and i have to get to work on my garden plot. jason tilled it last week. so now, it just needs raking and ground cover (straw) for weed management. but i get so winded and tired after only an hour of work that i'm only getting about one row done a day. but that's how you eat an elephant. one bite at a time. and by the end of next week, my garden should be all ready for seeds.

i'm also going to have to rabbit proof (chicken wire) the garden as armel jr and josephine jr (i know i really should come up with more original names but they look EXACTLY like their mom & dad) are completely wild and have access to all fields until we re-do the rabbit field and make it baby-rabbit-proof.

armel jr & josephine jr hangin while little bit supervises

the ducks are still sitting. chicken little still sitting. and oh, i do believe we are expecting piglets in may as well. i happened to witness "the act" back in february. the gestation period of a pig is 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days. and i do believe ms penelope is starting to show. i think she will make a wonderful mother. samson is requesting cuban cigars if anybody knows where we can get contra ban?

proud mom to be (cloven hooves crossed)

i refuse to believe.

i've had this silly superstition regarding posting photos of newly acquired farm animals. it goes like this... if i post a pic shortly after their arrival, something bad will happen. this odd belief was loosely based on a few isolated incidents. mainly, the llamas, leroy, and baby chickens. so, i've given myself the week long rule. wait a week to avoid tragedy. however, my fear grew. and the week extended to months. sometimes more. in fact, i have never shared photos of our sheep. but i have come to realize that bad things just happen sometimes regardless of a digitally captured image. and i really shouldn't look at them as bad or evil events. just nature. just life. sometimes mistakes. and sometimes not always pleasant.

due to my archaic belief system, i have held off introducing our new guinea hog. i have been afraid that if something happened, what would my audience think? i want to protect you. and protect my own ego. but after recently reading my husbands blog, i have a new lease on blog life. i shouldn't censor myself. i want to try and post more often. more photos. less editing. and less worrying about what my non-existent audience is going to think. just tell it like it is. so, here goes.

may i introduce to you ...

penelope, the guinea hog.

since our dear male guinea hog, samson, lost his wife to pneumonia shortly after her arrival. he has been alone. depressed. and very, very needy. we were happy to finally adopt a new little girl hog. penelope. she came all the way from kentucky. where some of the finest whiskey is made. her and sammy have been inseparable ever since.

yes, i did wait over a week to post this. it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. but i'm willing to try.

where are the flowers?

can't believe it's may already. i thought april showers brought mayflowers and pilgrams. but apparenlty it has brought more rain. tornadoes. winds of 70+ miles an hour. turning my newly planted garden into a swimming pool. i have not given up. i will rebuild, reseed, replant. i'm fairly certain the potatoes will be fine. you should have seen the eyes on them when they went into the ground. crazy long.

along with rain, april has brought more sadness to the rook farm. the loss of our dear sweet goat, bernadett. we are still mourning her absence. especially with the front yard fenced in and every goat getting fat on fresh grass. she would have loved it. she would have also loved being so close to happy joes (the kitchen).

in addition to losing bernadett, we lost our sweet little female piglette, delilah. both her and samson came down with pneumonia shortly after their arrival here. we suspect they contracted it when they were taken to the state university to be examined (this was required by law) in order to be registered. we fought with their breeder against having them registered. we are not planning on breeding them for sale. but their breeder wanted to comply with all the rules and regulations. unfortunately, little delilah wasn't strong enough to fight. despite an intense regimine of antibiotics and immune boosters, she died within a week. samson still has a bit of a cough. and we continue to medicate him as needed. incidently, his registered name was "too big to fail". foreshadowing, perhaps.

and then the worst of all happened, jason's father had a stroke. he has been in the ICU for past two weeks. he's a private man, and wouldn't want to be in the spotlight, so i won't say much. except that all prayers, good thoughts, positive energy and well wishes are greatly appreciated. if it weren't for my father in law, i wouldn't know what a beagle was. i would not have my treasured dog, porkchop (whom my FIL rescued when porkchop was orphaned). and i wouldn't have my partner in crime, my anchor, my heart, my dear husband jason.

on a brighter note, yesterday was mother's day. and my mom paid a visit to the farm. we decided to take the day off. and just relax. ate some omelets (courtesy of our hens). watched a dvd. and spent the rest of the time meandering the fields, feeding the goats and pups, playing with the chickens, and being heckled by the peanut-gallery (donks, horse & llama).

it's me, grandma.

baby snakes giving a mother's day kiss.

albert the mighty little.

meet samson & delilah.

my apoligies for taking so long with introducing our new piglets, samson & delilah. but life got in the way. family illness. sick goats. baby turkeys. oh, and the nicest surprise of all, snow. yes, i awoke to a few inches of white yesterday. glad i didn't plant my 'taters yet.

so, please allow me to introduce.... all the way from columbia, missouri... sampson & deliha. our guinea hogs. i put the emphasis on hogs, because they are in no way related to guinea pigs (which are cute in their own right, but quite a different species). guinea hogs are a heritage breed hog. there are very few of them in missouri. or even in america. and we are lucky to have this cute little pair as a new member of our farm family.

where as i failed miserably with speedy introductions, the piglets succeeded by taking matters into their own hooves. they snuck out of their pen and made the rounds. introducing themselves to all the other animals.

"s'up, jeliza-rose"

"hey, we're the new pigs""albert, nice to meet you"

"so, you're marla?"