Weekly Update: 11.4.23
November blew in on a gusty Wednesday this week. I was sad to see October go, but with our first hard freeze of the year, the seasonal advance toward winter is undeniable -- even though we have another bout of warm days forecasted this week. The gold, red, and orange leaves seemed to burn so bright just days ago -- only to be snuffed out by the cold north wind. In a matter of days, most of our leaves have blown off of our trees. A few stubborn pecan trees are still holding out, but the whole landscape seemed to change overnight, as once again we are surrounded by muted shades of brown and gray.
The week dawned rainy, as days of drizzle kept us either bunkhouse or wall tent bound for most of the weekend. All of our menfolk spent the better part of Saturday cutting firewood between downpours, while Grace and I prepped an interior wall for construction inside the bunkhouse. We built our jack (or liner) studs and some simple non-bearing headers. I had some top and bottom plates all marked and ready to build, but when we tried to lay everything out, it didn't quite fit. The bunkhouse is subtly different than the plans -- a quarter of an inch here or there is just enough to make the precut plates not quite fit. We learned we will have to go one wall at a time, cutting everything to fit the house rather than the plans. Levi joined us to actually assemble the wall, but that is as far as we got on Saturday -- and as it turned out, all week.
We took Sunday off for worship and rest. It was so wet, we made our first meal in the bunkhouse -- taco soup. It was too dark in there to take good photos, but it was much nicer than trying to cook in the rain. It was so cold, Bonnie-Jean cooked wearing her insulated bibs -- the outfit of choice for all of us during the first part of the week.
Monday was our first real freeze, and it was followed by an even colder Tuesday. We woke both days to a sunny world blanketed in frost. It was bitterly cold and beautiful, with the nearly full moon still hanging low in the western sky. Growing up in North Idaho, I find the bracing temperatures refreshing -- and I enjoyed my morning trips back and forth to the office refrigerator for breakfast supplies.
The first part of the week stayed cold, with highs in the nippy low 40s and lows in the teens. It felt more like January than October or November. We unhooked our hoses, washing machine, and gas-powered hot water heater each evening -- and it was nearly noon before we could hook everything back up each day. We had so few hours to wash dishes, do laundry, and shower, we struggled to find time to actually work on our build. Plus, everything was so frozen and cold, working -- even inside the bunkhouse -- wasn't really feasible. So, we just sort of survived on Monday and Tuesday, planning for the next phases of the project in the limited free time we had.
We also prepared for more cold weather. We ordered a gas heater for the bunkhouse, so we could keep the temps above freezing while working. Levi and Erin made a trip to storage to dig out their winter clothes. Grace reorganized our storm shelter so we could keep produce and food items there, where it won't freeze. Most days we drink protein shakes for lunch, and Bonnie-Jean experimented with warming them up. The protein mochas were surprisingly good!
On Wednesday, it was a bit warmer. We went to Bolivar for grocery shopping in the morning, and in the afternoon we drove into Greenfield to pick up some more groceries and to visit the library. My Greene county library card expired last week, and while I don't have time to read too many books these days, I love listening to audiobooks on Hoopla while I work. Though we have wanted to find time to go for months, this was our first visit to our local library. The Dade County library is housed in a historic home near downtown Greenfield. I grew up with small, rural public libraries, and I actually prefer them. For such a small town and county, I was rather impressed with the size of the Dade County collection.
On Wednesday afternoon, we decided to add a bit more tarpaper to the bunkhouse roof. We knew it might be a bit leaky, since it isn't a complete roof yet (we still need to add the rigid insulation and metal roofing), but we were disappointed with the amount of water that came in during the rainy weekend. We want to install the rest of our roof as soon as possible, but in the meantime, we want to minimize water damage. I hate heights, but since both my brothers were busy either at work or splitting firewood, I put on a harness and climbed up to help my dad. He added some tarpaper strips while I taped up small holes and tears. I was really proud of myself for getting on the roof -- in general, heights make me kind of woozy. I was all right until it was time climb back down. Then, I had flashbacks to being 6 years old, climbing easily up the slide at the park and then being afraid to come down (my dad had to come up and save me multiple times). I shook myself out of the fear and climbed down just fine -- but I was thankful that my dad and brother were there holding the ladder.
On Thursday, it was just us ladies at home, and we looked forward to getting busy on the interior of our bunkhouse. Just as we were getting started, Bonnie-Jean called the vet about Jeremiah's German Shepherd, Dagger. He had been having some diarrhea and vomiting for a couple of days. Since he likes to eat mystery substances from the woods, Bonnie-Jean wasn't initially too concerned. She had contacted the vet at one point, and they suggested some canned dog food Dagger had eaten might be the problem. Thursday morning, his symptoms started to get worse, and Bonnie-Jean thought she was seeing some blood in Dagger's stool. The vet was also concerned, as they are seeing a lot of parvo right now. They asked us to leave Dagger at home but bring a stool sample. An hour later, the vet called to let us know that, indeed, Dagger had parvo.
It was a shock to all of us. While Tilde has had all of her vaccines, we realized Dagger was one round short (with all the crazy, Bonnie-Jean had just gotten confused and thought he was up-t0-date). None of us had been too worried about the vaccines anyway, since we are rural and our dogs aren't around other dogs. We all feel pretty silly now, as we didn't realize so much wildlife carries canine parvovirus. Dogs can catch it from wild canines like coyotes and foxes (we have plentiful coyotes on our place). Some studies also show that they can catch it from raccoons. Our vet explained that the virus can even live in the soil. And while vaccinating helps, even vaccinated dogs can get parvo if the viral exposure is high enough -- though the vaccine can help them fight the disease and survive. Jeremiah went to the vet and picked up a bunch of fluids to administer subcutaneously. That evening, Tilde started showing the same symptoms, so Jeremiah and Bonnie-Jean started treating her as well. Since the dogs were nauseous, we made them easy-to-digest food -- mostly rice and boiled chicken.
We were pretty shook up to realize the dogs had parvo, as it has a high mortality rate -- untreated, around 90 percent. Puppies are more susceptible than adult dogs. Tilde and Dagger are 6-7 months old, so they are young but very large and healthy. We all prayed a lot and reminded ourselves that all creatures ultimately belong to their Creator. We gave the dogs fluids around the clock for the first 24 hours, but the dogs just didn't seem to get any sicker. They had a little nausea and some bloody diarrhea, and they slept a bit more than normal during the first night and morning. But by afternoon, when they were awake, they wanted to run and play. We called our vet, and they advised that we didn't need to continue fluids if the dogs were eating, drinking, and seeming alert. But as of this morning, their symptoms seem a bit worse again. The vet had explained it could happen this way -- it can take days as the dogs fight off the virus. We are still optimistic that both dogs will pull through, but we are trusting God.
With all the dog drama and all the men working, we didn't make any progress on our build the last couple days. Now that Saturday is here and we have more manpower (literally), we are hoping to make some progress. The day is dawning warm and sunny, and it looks like it will be a beautiful weekend. Each year we have a family harvest party, and we had planned to have a little celebration tomorrow. It's kind of a kick-off to the holiday season, and after all the stress -- we could use a little fun. With the dogs being sick, we will wait and see how the day goes before doing any cooking for our little party. As always in this lifestyle, we are reminded of the necessity of taking life one day at a time. Our Lord taught us, "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble," (Matthew 6:34, ESV). Indeed, there are weeks that it seems like each day has it's own new difficulty. There are also days of surprising ease and joy. We can worry about part of the project, only to have it go more quickly and smoothly than we could have imagined. On the other hand, there are surprise issues and problems -- from crooked walls and swollen floors to sick dogs. It seems pointless to worry too much, as you really don't know what is worth worrying about. How comforting that God has all of it in his hands, that He is already carrying all the burdens He beckons us to cast on Him (Psalm 55:22).
