Rainy Day Blues

Rainy and humid all day. Nothing is as wet as a farm in prolonged rain, and I am in desperate need of new rubber boots. I've put it off too long and have to bite the bullet and buy some. Still hoping I can find some boot made in the USA and not the unmentionable country, but that's difficult. Matt is flat out with a bad cold which I think is pneumonia. Couldn't talk him into going to see Nurse Tanya today and get meds. He's comatose on the sofa in all his tatooed glory, with a wretched, mucousy cough, the kind only heavy smokers with their already compromised lungs can have. Thank you Lord Jesus I never started smoking. I have plenty of bad habits but smoking is not one of them. Forgive me, Lord, for considering it a serious character flaw. Tommy Boy is still down. I went to Leatherstocking Equine after work and Dr. Rachel gave me Dexamethasone and Ivermectin for him. She said it could be meningeal worm or a tumor on his spine. He is quite old - at least ten - and might just be on the way out anyway. He has always been my darling, after his father Jupiter died. I will call my neighbor the taxidermy guy to inquire about keeping his gorgeous head intact. I don't want him in the dead pile. It can't hurt to ask. I'll do chores tonight then start some soap. Loew's had two bottles of lye crystals left, annoying since I had to go out of my way to get there, but anything I don't have to order in is saving money. I came home to find the pigs in with the sheep. They are surprisingly friendly and don't bother the sheep at all. Not able to get Matt up to help me get them back in their pen, I tried slopping them in the main part of the barn. Not successful, as the sheep pushed the hogs away from the slop. I thought for sure the pigs would get their slop but no, they deferred to the sheep! I hope they eat hay tonight. I sure don't want sick piggies, especially three pigs who are really big and almost ready to go in the freezer, sweet boys that they are. Better get to work. Miles to go before I sleep...