Every summer, my legs take a beating and I can tell already that this summer will be no exception.
On Sunday, I got rammed in the shins by one of the bucks, Peppermint Patty, while Emily, Pat and I were working goats. It hurt like the dickens and a purple goose egg popped up almost immediately. Then yesterday, I cut the same leg- in the same spot- while going into one of the pens.
It doesn’t actually hurt but I know it looks pretty hideous. By the end of the summer, I’ll be black and blue all over, and have a smattering of bug bites and poison ivy as well.
This job of mine is not so glamorous, but I love it all the same.
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
holy smokes!!!
Yep, you got banged the heck up. BUT, I see beneath those scrapes and sore spots to the hot, defined muscles underneath. Farm work may mar the surface, but it sure puts a polish on the stuff underneath!
You have nice feet!
Do you really do your dying in that beautiful kitchen? You are a braver woman than I am — or maybe a neater one. The kitchen would never be the same after I got finished with it.
Ow!
I wish I hadn’t just showered or I’d take a picture of my blue streaked legs to show you– instead of scrapes and bruises I end up covered in rivulets, sprays and drips of multi colored dyes. And since I love to have the doors open to the studio, also a plethera of red insect bites!
Is it too obvious to suggest lightweight cotton or linen
L O N G pants?
May be a little warmer, but sure beats infection and scars from germy scratches and might even help a little preventing direct bruising.
Is your tetanus shot up to date? At least you didn’t mess up both legs. Keeping all the damage to the same spot isn’t such a bad idea.
Ouch! I’d rather have anything but poison ivy. I’m allergic, it spreads all over, have to go to the doctor, get predisone, it’s the worst.
On a positive note, I haven’t been bitten by either a rattlesnake or a scorpion since we moved to the damn desert.
:0)
Ice, Motrin……
Ouch! Girl, that looks like it hurst like a #$@$$#@%. But you know, I was looking at your photos on Flicker the other night, and while it’s hard, hard work, I have to say, I love your life…. I know, grass is always greener when it’s somone elses, but really, the sheer beauty and splendor you see each day in your flock and the scenery. Girl I’m not an envious type, but I must say I wish I had the courage to do what you did, chuck it all for a dream. Perhaps someday.
You look fine! It’s the bodies that look like nobody lives in them that make me wonder . . .
ouch! My legs used to look like that when i had the dog sled team! Have you heard of Arnica? It comes in a cream and a small pill for internal. I swear by the cream, lol, professional hockey players use it as well as my hubbys grandparents…who tend to get the weirdest bumps and bruises!
Poor you! I’d suggest arnica ointment for the bruise but you can’t use it on broken skin. You could try calendula ointment to help heal the cut. I agree with Carolyn C, try wearing long pants… and perhaps shin pads.
jeepers
you NEED to get yourself some ARNICA to apply topically
it’s GRrrrrreat! for bruises
and aches and pains
and strains
i SWEAR
my fav brand is by herb-pharm (called trauma oil) topical only
another very good brand is weleda
GET SOME
really
get some
you’ll be happy you do
really.
so ya gonna?
they’ve GOT to have a health food store on the vineyard and if not order online.
just do it.
it’s inexpensive and WORKS wonders — really!
love
rona
p.s. oh good i’m not the only one recommending the topical arnica see?
yay.
now
go
get
some
now.
and u can stick your tongue out @ peppermint patty
She’s right, Arnica. Gel, cream, balls, (sublingual) Good stuff. That’s pretty tuff lookin’, Cowgirl. Don’t ya have some new tall boots from Justin???
ouch…thought about investing in shin guards???
Nice legs though, Susan.
Traumeel, another fantastic arnica ointment, you can get it from Vitamen Shoppe!
Ouch! Looks like something I’d do.
Battle Scars!! Battle scars won in the War Of The Independent Shepherd!
((you guys))
Yes, we’re gonna have to have a talk about proper Farmer Attire.
‘Course, I look like that even with jeans and close-toed shoes for protection. All my t-shirts have little holes from getting hung on the fences. I was never a fashion diva or clothes horse, and now this lifestyle caps it.
I belong to the same club. I go around looking like I’ve been in a fight with something that has claws! (plus the bug bites and the poison ivy). We sure can’t be accused of being delicate prima-donnas!
Dear people, Susan can not be convinced to wear long pants in the summer. She wears shorts and Crocs in fields where I have forbidden Emily and Andie to go without long pants and boots. In addition to your everyday hazards of goat horns, hooves, thistles, briars and poison ivy, there are enormous SNAKES out there in our pastures. Yet she will not be swayed.
snakes are good
as long as they’re not poisonous…
but watch out for the TICKS
lyme disease (sucks)
see this article : http://www.mvmagazine.com/2007/may-june/ticks.php
from someone who moved from australia to the vineyard
from poisonous snakes to teesy weensy ticks…
whatever u choose
long pants or shorts…you GOTTA
check for those pesky ticks
daily
Amen to that, Rona. I’ve seen up close just how bad Lyme can be.
Ho Ho, it looks like Susan has a mutiny on her hands here….but I have raised sheep for more than 20 years and I have to agree with Erin. There is something to be said for using the right gear. In the summer, that means hat and good footware. And long pants. Yesterday, my daughter helped me put the ewe-girls down into the field wearing a pair of cutoffs and came back with little grass cuts all over her legs. Now I have fought with my desire to wear sandals in the summer for years…love Tevas but I was always getting my toes torn up by barbed wire and the like. Then Keen came out with a sandal with a covered toe and I was in 7th Heaven! Finally a farm sandal with a supportive footbed, good traction and protected toes (they are great on mountain trails too).(But I don’t wear these if I am around the horses–not protective enough). I have two wardrobes–town clothes and barn clothes. If I make a mistake and wear town clothes out to the barn, well, it turns pretty quickly into barn clothes–stained and torn. The other essential farm gear is a good, sharp, pocket knife. Won’t leave home without one. My preference is for a lockblade that you can open and close with one hand.