Change of plans, proper questions, settling in

I was scheduled to teach an all-day class today but last night I started to feel a lot of mucus in the back of my throat and this morning I woke up with a sore throat and a troubling cough. I have been struggling with my voice since I taught a class Wednesday, (I had someone else lead the music Wednesday evening.) but the onset of this cough was pretty sudden. I woke this morning a little after 1 am and took some Nyquil to alleviate some of the drainage I was feeling. It helped but not enough to give the strength of voice I would need to talk for seven hours straight teaching a class. Plus, the cough I started nursing this morning is not improving and refraining from talking is one of the things I have to do to minimize the bouts of coughing. So, I let my management know at 5:30 this morning and we were able to get a substitute to present the class on short notice. That was a relief. There are only two in the class this today, but when a client has paid their fee and scheduled the time for the class, we hate to force them to reschedule.

Yesterday evening, I sorted through the remainder of the pallets we have lying about the property just to see how many were still usable after the couple years they have set there. I managed to find eleven that I could use to start the larger duck enclosure. The remaining ten or twelve will be taken apart to recover any usable wood and the refuse from those will be burned. I am left with a couple clean spots where the pallets have rested as they waited to be used. A win-win. Of the fifty or so I started with, having to only discard a few is a pretty good outcome. At least, I think so. It will give me a good start on the enclosure – which I am in no hurry to build at this point, other than the fact that I have most of the materials available and want to assign those materials to the duck area before they get used across the farm in other projects.

Building the larger area will allow me to enclose a larger pond for the ducks to inhabit. I did not build the first enclosure large enough for anything big enough to be decorative. So, getting a second opportunity to build is a good thing. Where we chose to set the large area will not interfere with feeding and caring for the chicken coops. Another benefit to a second attempt.  It will also let me use the cover I set up several years ago for a loafing area for our cows. Something that was rarely used then and serves no purpose now. Putting that to good use will make me feel better about the time, effort, and money I spent getting it built. Repurposing things is a skill I am developing rapidly.  

Moving those pallets about and getting the moldy leaves dusted off the ones lowest in the stack may have contributed to my current cough and postnasal drip, but I was starting to get the itch in the back of my throat earlier in the week. So, it is hard to tell. Every time I stir the accumulated leaves anywhere on the farm I get a tickle in my throat, but it does not always end up as a bronchitis. It looks like this cough will go that route, so I am trying to be preemptive in my treatment, but this will affect my weekend plans. It may keep me out of church Sunday as well. Time will tell. I am not making plans that far in advance.

Mama has been struggling lately getting Grandpa set up properly with Medicare. That is always a challenge. To help with that. I gave her a contact I made last year as I was looking into the process. When I turned sixty-five, I received a plethora of mail soliciting services with a large variety of marketers of the many Medicare plans. I settled on one particular company after having called more than a dozen to check them out. Mama called that company and got some very helpful advice. They have also been diligent in following up on Mama’s progress making the required inquiries.

The problem arises in asking the questions properly. If a question is not worded exactly as needed to be understood by the government representative, chances are that the answer given will not yield the sought-after results. Mama is doing her best and with a little help she will succeed. We are all making this a matter of urgent prayer. So far, Grandpa has paid dearly for the Medicare plan he chose and has not gotten much benefit from that plan. We will see if we can remedy that. We are hoping to do much better for Grandpa, but we must get hold of the right person and then ask the right questions.

I think Grandma and Grandpa are settling in. I see Grandma getting things out of the refrigerator for herself now and even using the washer and dryer on her own. She still does not mind running Mama around doing things she might be able to do on her own, but that is getting better. Grandpa makes few if any requests of us or Grandma. We constantly question him about his needs because he does need the extra help right now. Mostly, he just tells us he is fine.  Mostly, we just assume that he is.

So far, that is working out well enough.