Went to the doctor

10/12/11 Wednesday
Went to the doctor yesterday about what I thought was an infected big toe. Turns out I have something called gout. I’ve heard about gout many times but never understood what it was, other than it causes a lot of pain. I had figured the toe was infected because there had been a thorn in it that I had pulled out and squeezed pus out of. You can still clearly see where that thorn had been and the whole area had swollen up and turned red. It hurt so badly that walking was extremely difficult despite my high tolerance for pain. Kept hoping the infection would go away but it didn’t seem to so we went to the VA hospital in Big Spring. They did blood tests and I was surprised to learn there was no longer any infection at all, but high levels of uric acid, a sure sign of gout. They gave me medicine for it along with a list of foods I should avoid. The most important thing they said I need to do is drink lots of water, so I’m working hard on that. With the weather cooling off I haven’t been drinking as much water so that’s the big reason this happened. The infection just provided an area for the uric crystals to form so was the catalyst for this.

There are good things that can come out of anything bad. I’ve been needing to write for a while but haven’t been real focused on it. Now that I am hampered from working on the farm and not anxious to walk anymore than I have to I am forced to focus on writing. I see this as God sitting me down a bit.

There is much to do, always. Income taxes for last year need to be completed by the 18th, so that’s a rush. The VA is still confiscating all federal payments we get as we continue the three year long appeal process. Meantime, because we are listed as owing the federal government money, we are exempted from all USDA and federal programs designed to help beginning farmers and those starting up businesses. We are still putting together the business plan for the home inspection program we were trained and certified by the state to perform.

I sold the big diesel truck so now we are looking for a replacement vehicle, preferably a pick up truck that I can use on the farm. May go to Ohio to get one as there are great deals up there because the economy is so poor. If anyone reading this knows of a good deal on a truck let me know. I would love to get a diesel for several reasons but they cost way more than gas trucks do. God will provide, as He always does.




I’m not getting far on putting the booster pump in. As it seems to be with all my projects, I get started and then don’t seem to go anywhere. This drives me crazy and I’m sure doesn’t make Cherie real happy either. Our electric bill appears to be very high at the well so there is something that is not right. We don’t know enough to figure that out and can’t really afford to have someone look at it. What we know is the water pressure is low and the electric bill is high.







I planted winter wheat and rye grain when I knew some rain was finally on the way. Here you can see how I took a fertilizer spreader and tied it on the back of my disc to spread the seeds. Then I drug the old tires I had bolted together on top of it to press the ground down. Waiting to see if that did any good. I am always guessing on how to do things and am never sure because I can’t remember how I did it last time or what the results were.




We haven’t seen many snakes this year. I was harvesting watermelons one morning and after cutting a melon from the vine rolled it over to pick up. There was a young rattlesnake curled up under it that I didn’t see till my hand was about two inches away. It was cold so the snake wasn’t moving very fast. Later, as I was cleaning up the veranda area, I pulled a chair out to shovel the sand that had blown in out. There was this rattlesnake curled up under it. I shoveled it into this rat trap and took it to the tank that’s a couple of hundred yards away, where I released it. They keep the mice and rat population down and I’m all for that. You always have to be careful out here cause you never know where a snake might be. That holds true among people too.