Sunday Evening Ramblings

December 27, 2009 by Breeze Hill Farm

As I sit here this Sunday evening, just two days past Christmas, I am thinking about all of the new and wonderful friends we have made this year. I am so thankful for the support and understanding that I have received through this Holiday Season from everyone. For me, it is not easy to “go public” with things that are happening in my life, because I am by nature a very private person. As I have been told though, all things are relevant to the Farm and our lives here at the farm. The changes in the seasons, aging parents, new births and good byes to old friends, watching the once black muzzle, of our border collie “Gabe”, take on hints of white, looking in the mirror and seeing my own hints of silver (got to do something about that before 2010!!!), feeling that great sense of being satisfied and content and so much more..all things really are relevant to our farm life.

To all my family, friends, acquaintances and customers thank you for all being a part of Breeze Hill Farm! We couldn’t do it without you and honestly, wouldn’t even want to try.

I hope everyone had a great Holiday and are looking forward to 2010!

By the way, we have a new Domain Name for our Blog..still can’t believe it was available. When you go straight to us now you can type http://BreezeHillFarm.net..is that cool or what??? Now we’ve really got to get to work on our farm website, it’s a mess.

Have a good night..go Redskins..later.

A Beautiful Snow!

December 21, 2009 by Breeze Hill Farm

It fell in silence all night Friday and all day Saturday, blanketing the earth with 19 inches of it’s pure white grace. No sounds of cars or trains or even people. There were no prints, not even that of a bird. What an amazing feeling of solitude. The fire in the woodstove crackled sending its warmth into the house. We didn’t even talk as we watched this beautiful scene build through our picture window. I thought fondly of how many snows I had seen in my lifetime and how many of those were this close to Christmas. I thought of Christmas and wondered what we might do that day since Mom is back in the hospital. I thought of my Mom and wished that this draping of perfect beauty could somehow influence her healing process. I thought about my husband who has been my rock through all of the craziness of the last two months and wondered how all of this has made him feel. We gals don’t ask our hubby’s often enough how they are handling things, you know. Then with all of these thoughts and wonders, it hits me…..

Are You People Ever Going To Feed Us???

…the wonderful reality of owning a farm!!

Rain & Sog – Enough of A Good Thing!

December 10, 2009 by Breeze Hill Farm

As we are all learning..too much rain (and in some cases snow) is becoming “enough of a good thing”. After our major down pouring of Tuesday evening our farm could easily become a “rice patty”. There isn’t a square inch of this property that isn’t sog. I’ve actually had to milk the goats outside for two days because even the barn has become a soggy mess. The good news..it’s sunny and beautiful today and should be tomorrow as well. The bad news..the weather people are calling for more “wet” this coming weekend. Spring and Summer should produce crops and gardens that look like they’ve been on steroids! OK, enough about the weather.

I am so happy to see the high volume of sales we are experiencing this Holiday Season. Giving consideration to the economy still not being in that great of condition, I am surprised that sales are up for us. I suppose it’s easier on the pocketbook to purchase a bar of soap or a skein of wool..the person is giving a nice, handmade gift that the recipient can use. I appreciate every single one of our customers who are doing this because they are not just taking care of their gift giving..they are keeping a farm in business. It’s a valuable thing for all of our customers to realize how very important their purchases are to us..and feel good about it!

Remember to buy local whenever possible and handmade always comes from the heart.

Two Women Knitting

December 8, 2009 by Breeze Hill Farm

I was just cruising around the internet and found this painting..

…thought I would share it. It kind of reminds me of how it looks outside today, a little gray and overcast. Can you imagine how much fun it would be to just sit around on rocks out in the open air with a friend knitting? That may not sound very appealing to everyone but I think it would be so cool! The only think I see missing in this painting is a glass of wine and a Blackberry (we have to stay in touch no matter what!).

Enjoy and have a great afternoon!

Update On My Sick Mother

December 7, 2009 by Breeze Hill Farm

As many of you know my Mother has been very ill since before Thanksgiving. There have been hospital stays, doctor visits and several emergency situations to deal with. I would love to say that she is doing much better but she isn’t. On her first hospital visit the Doctors finally diagnosed her problem and said that the treatment would be a long process but she and I both really hopped that by now she would be seeing positive results.

I want to share with you all what her problem is and how it all came to be. Many years (around 15) ago, Mom was diagnosed with asthma. Her Doctor at the time felt that her problem may have been triggered by an allergy, so he put her on a series of Prednisone to help with her breathing. As years have passed and her asthma has gotten progressively worse, she has been steadily taking series of Prednisone, to the point that she was never taking a break from it.

For those who do not know, Prednisone is dubbed in many circles as a “Superman” drug. It is used to treat more and more conditions everyday. But one of the things that is never really discussed is the long term use side effects. I’m not talking about slight mood changes and sudden bursts of wonderful energy. I’m talking about the side effects of extended/over use. One of those side effects is the Adrenal Glands get lazy and ultimately stop working on their own.

Back to Mom. In March of 2009, Mom ended up in the hospital because she was pulled off of Prednisone cold turkey. She had been having problems for months with serious fluid retention, to the point that her legs began weeping. Her skin had become paper thin, she was loosing her hair and she looked like a Thanksgiving day balloon..she was in awful condition. Five days after being taken off of Prednisone, she was taken to the hospital via emergency and almost died. The diagnosis..her Adrenal Glands has stopped working..the treatment..low dose Prednisone, for the rest of her life! According to the Doctors, this would be the only way her Adrenal Glands would ever work again.

So here we are, less than a year later. She has all of the same symptoms again. The Doctor in the hospital took her off of Prednisone again..gave her another medication that is non-steroidal and daily she is getting worse. She has now, over the last 9 months lost all of her muscle, her Vitamin D, and 2 or 3 pounds daily in weight and her skin is turning a reddish black. We are going to the Doctor at least weekly (if not more often) and she is just getting worse. She now has an Endocrinologist working with her too. I fear her Adrenal Glands are not working again and I am wondering how much further down her Doctor is going to let her get.

My Mother is a 76 year old woman that up until mid November, worked 5 days a week..8 hours a day, every week at a funeral home. Now she can’t even stand in the kitchen long enough to make a sandwich..not to mention she has no interest in eating it once it’s made. The only other medical problem she has is some problems with her heart but every visit to the Cardiologist is more than positive.

I’m sharing all of this for several reasons, first of all, if you or anyone you may know is being consistently treated with Prednisone be aware of the long term use side effects. The second reason I am sharing is out of fear. I fear that I am loosing my once healthy, strong, determined Mother to something that shouldn’t take her and I don’t know what to do. We all age differently, I know that and we all will loose our parents..these are facts but I don’t feel that this would be a natural loss.

I am on my own with this..no siblings, Father is gone and bless my husbands heart he is trying but like all men, he wants to fix and have an answer for everything.

To my customers (all) if you read this, you will better understand the delays in getting your orders to you. The only time I really have to work my business is at night. To my friends, please be more patient with me as I go through this with my Mom. Don’t tell me to stick her in a home or make her do things for herself..I know you are trying to help, but I’m not going to do things that way, unless I have no other choice. To my Blog readers, I know this has nothing to do with life on the farm and I know no one wants to be made depressed by reading a Blog but it is the real life that this farmer is going through right now. It affects the day to day life here at the farm.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I have included a picture of Mom from last Christmas. Looking at it, I cannot believe how sick she actually was then.