A quick update on Esme … she’s a holy terror!! I can’t believe she’s six weeks old already. How time flies.
It’s a good day to stay in, keep warm and read. I thought I’d pull out Building Blocks for Performance by Bobbi Anderson and re-read it. It is a great book for foundation training. There was a series run in the Clean Run magazine written by Nancy Gyes on raising an agility puppy which was quite good. I might take the time to go through that and see what I can apply to Esme’s up-bringing. I have all the time in the world to do this. There is no money involved, just time … if I can get myself out of this rut I’m still in. I am going to try really hard to not put Esme on stock until she’s closer to a year old and spend most of my “training” time with her in agility. She’s got one more week to sleep with her mother in the X-pen before she starts sleeping in a crate by herself at which time we’ll start real housebreaking.
I am simply not taking being unemployed well. When I do go back to work, I’m going to kick myself for not making better use of my time off. First it was too hot, now it’s too cold, but it is at least 20 degrees colder than normal here. The temperatures we are experiencing now are more along the lines of what we get in January. As I write this, I’m wearing my long down coat. It is going to rain today so it’s overcast which doesn’t help matters.
My homeopath sent me a lovely care package containing some books on tape, edible goodies and a vial of the homeopathic remedy Selenium which I took yesterday. I am not feeling any improvement, but often improvement takes time.
The cheese making isn’t going all that well. The last batch I tried to make failed. I think the thermometer I got with my cheese making package is not accurate. I bought a digital thermometer last week and used that (after I had used the first one) and found what was showing up on the original thermometer wasn’t the actual temperature. I was heating the milk too hot. I need to figure out a way to keep at least one area of the house at a normal room temperature. To save money, I’m keeping the house cool. The average temperature in my house is around 60 degrees which isn’t warm enough to make cheese. I tried leaving it in the oven with the oven light on, but that was too hot. When I go out to do my Thanksgiving shopping, I’m going to buy a small electric heater with a thermostat and put it in my small bathroom and try to keep that room at about 70 degrees.
The next time I work at WalMart will be the Friday after Thanksgiving. I’m scheduled to work 4:45 AM to 1:00 PM. That’s going to be rough. I had not heard this term before, but the Friday after Thanksgiving is referred to as “Black Friday.” Hopefully WalMart will continue to do well in sales. They have expanded their offerings and now have more variety, which I have noticed as I check people out. I see things that I never knew WalMart carried. For a small store, the one I work at carries a huge variety of items. I made known my interest in possibly moving into a management position and the Assistant Manager I talked to said she’d be talking to the powers that be sometime this week to let them know that someone with my background was interested in moving up. At this point in time, however, I just hope that I can continue to work there part-time into next year. That extra money, coupled with my unemployment, will hopefully keep me going.
After I finished milking, I had to bring my trash down to the curb. I started the ATV and wheeled it down there. I let the goats go along with me, then took them for a run through the pastures. They seemed to enjoy it. I think they might be a bit bored staying in the one area, but I can’t really allow them free-rein on the 15 acres because they get into too much trouble. Starting next weekend they’ll go up to the Christmas Tree farm to be part of the petting zoo which will entertain them. Goats are just too smart for their own good.