Farm week

Today I started a week of looking after over 200 sheep. This is the same I farm that I worked on last summer. I have been looking forward to this for a few months now.

A great deal of the work that I need to do is not the best. Even those jobs that are not bad require walking around in a barn that is due to be cleaned out, but something about the work calls to me. It is simple and basic, but it needs to be done, and so is important. If I do not do it, the sheep will suffer. I do not like the idea of that.

I will be posting more about it next week, and most likely even before that. This weeks had to to be quick because now that the warm weather has started I am starting to get calls for yard work. This is on top of the sheep and small woodworking jobs I take. Students need to take every little job they can to make money.

Church work

Along with many of the other things that I do I volunteer as a sub-deacon at my church. This time of year, the Easter season, has been very bust for me in terms of that. There is Maundy Thursday service when all reminders of Jesus are removed. The Good Friday service the next day that shows him going to the cross. Then tomorrow is Easter Sunday where we celebrate the rebirth of Jesus. All that combined leads to me getting a little worn out. The on top of it all this year I had exams.

I do not want to say I dislike the task I have taken on as being a sub-deacon. Most of the time I find it enjoyable because it gets me involved and I am able to see how it helps people. But sometimes I wish someone else would be willing to take some of it on. I took on the task because the person who did it before me left. So I was simply filling the void. If I had my choice of what I would rather be doing to help my church it would be fixing the many small broken pieces of woodwork that is has. As it is with school, the church, and the other tasks I need to do in a week, I often do not get to doing the thinks that I would prefer to be doing. A great deal of the things that started out as being joyful have grown to be tasks that stress me some what. This blog for example. It began as a fun relaxing thing, but the skills I gained here were discovered and now I am looking after another blog written by a leader in the church, and posting content to other places online. Again most of the time a do not really mind, but other times it does begin to wear me down.

Tomorrow She Returns

Tomorrow afternoon I am driving to pick Biohazard up from the bus depot of a town that is about an hour away.  If she had taken a bus right to our home town she would have had to wait around at the train station, and the bus ride would have been 3 hours longer. From what I understand, from my own 2 day bus trip, the bus system in Canada has changed recently to be more "efficient". From what I figure it means more "efficient" for the bus company. They now run fewer buses less often. It stinks, but to be honest I would go halfway round the world to be with her, and around the other half to bring her home.

Having my girlfriend at home means some changes. One of the nicer things about her living so far away most of the year is that I carry her with me where ever I go in the form of my cell phone. When she is away it really does not matter if I am at home or some where else, we are just as close. We can text or call each other no matter where I am. This gives me a fair degree of freedom. My time is basically my own and I do not need to check any plans by her to make sure they do not conflict. Do not get me wrong, I want to spend as much time as possible with her. That is the issue, I want to maximize my time with her, so I need to plan a lot to see that it happens.

I also realized today that after tomorrow the tone of this blog may change somewhat. While for most of the year I am in fact in long distance relationship, for the next four months that is not going to be the case. I am going to have four wonderful months that may not be ideal because am still in school and she will be working, but we will get to see each other. It is possible for me to just drop by and see her even if it would just be for 5 minutes. To me that is a wonderful thing indeed.      

Cane

I have always had a great interest canes and walking sticks.  Something about them just kind of speaks to me. In most cases they serve a purpose, but also they say something about the person who uses it.  Often you can tell a great deal about the person, simply by looking at their walking stick.  The most basic is height.  I always heard that my great grandfather was a tall man, He measured in at about 6 feet 2 inches. Something that was confirmed when we found his cane a few years ago when my grandparents moved.

The first cane I ever made was for my Granny. I have made about a dozen since then. When I broke both my feet 3 years ago I made my own cane to use while I recovered. They are not hard to make for most people. You only need basic tools and materials. For someone like myself who has a shop set up and formal training it is easy.  The canes I have made ranged from my first one that was a stick with a brass handle, to one made up of turned segments. What I like most about them is that they are simple, but the range of things you can do while making them are almost limitless.

Godson

My Godson (referred to as Ninja for in this blog) just turned 7 months. I was very honored to be selected as his godfather and it is a role I take seriously. 


Ninja is a very special little boy. I say that both as his godfather who loves him and as someone who is training to become a nurse. Ninja has a condition called 22q. I have pasted the following from the website of "The International 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome Foundation, Inc"


"The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome is a recognizable pattern of physical and developmental features associated with a missing piece of genetic material from chromosome 22. The condition is sometimes referred to as velo-cardio-facial or DiGeorge syndrome. The effects of the deletion can include a variety of physical findings, such as heart problems, cleft palate, immune deficiency, and a characteristic facial appearance. In addition, many people with the 22q11.2 deletion syndrome show a spectrum of developmental issues, including learning, social, and emotional differences." http://www.22q.org/

He inherited  the syndrome from his father, Aztek, one of my best and oldest friends. Aztek has the heart condition that can be part of the syndrome, and that is where most of his issues have come from. Because of this history when he and his wife became pregnant they started doing tests and such to make sure they knew as much as possible before the baby arrived. It maybe important to note that Ninja is their second child. Their older daughter, Eldest, was born completely normal.  They have no issues beyond what is expected with any child, and have avoided even many of them. Eldest is a good tempered and wonderful little girl.


Ninja has had a few issues so far. He was born with a cleft palate, a minor thing in the big picture and will be fixed after he turns one year old. Until then he needs to use a special bottle with a longer nipple.
The more major issue he has been dealing with has to do with allergies. Like his father and grandfather before him, Ninja has very sensitive skin and a sensitive system. It seems as if he is allergic to everything. They placed him on a none cotton blanket for a short time last week and he broke out in a rash. Aztek's mother has told me about having to let Aztek's cloth diapers air dry because for some reason drying them in the dryer caused them to give him a rash. 


So far all of the issues that Ninja has had will most likely disappear as he gets older, or that is at least my hope. We continue to watch him as he ages, as do his doctors, for signs of other larger issues that may arise. He is a very lucky little boy in that he is not only surrounded by a loving family, but by a loving family of nurses. Ninja's mother, grandmother, aunt, and myself in training are all nurses who only want to see him happy and well. Sometimes love can be the most important part. Love makes everything easier, for with love comes support.