Some farm updates:

Flo seems to have shed her cold, two days of anti-biotics did the trick. I realize that people get upset when an animal is sick here, but I ought to say I share my life her as it unfolds, and every animal here will be sick at one point or another, they eat all kinds of stuff, there are all kinds of worms and germs  and ticks and fleas on a farm.

Flo just had a cold.

Very few of these issues are serious, they are part and parcel of life on a farm. I am allergic to drama, a gift from my mother.

When an animal gets sick, I take them to the vet or call the vet to come here.

If it’s bad, I’ll say so, otherwise, it’s just a part of life, no call for prayers or anxiety. The Gray Hen came out of her long funk and is behaving normally also, so it is a good thing I didn’t shoot her.

As a journalist, I learned that bad news travels faster than any kind of news, and no news is quite often good news.

I also ought to say that I don’t reply to queries on Facebook about how the animals are feeling, or who has died in the past five or six years. I can’t accommodate the strangers who pop up on Facebook and want updates or briefings or wonder where Simon or Elvis is.

It would be a lie to say I wish I could, because I would hate spending my day that way in any case. Social media promotes the idea that everyone is available all of the time, and that is true for many people, but it is not true for me. I come onto social media once or twice a day, read most of the comments, and reply to some. Any hostile or nasty poster is banned instantly and quite happily.

I will be honest, and admit it does gall me at times when demands to know something I wrote about just that morning on the blog. I am not obliged to respond to that.

Each obnoxious or hostile person I kick off the site marks a step forward for free and civil speech. It happens two or three times a week. It used to be more.

I work very hard to keep the blog updated several times daily and the only way for all of your questions or concerns to be answered in a timely way is to read the blog. I have learned that many people don’t actually read posts on Facebook, they reply to the headline or to what other people are posting.

The blog will  have to do. It is always up to date.  Facebook is important, but the blog is my home and creative source.

I do thank you for caring.