~little Ben will be 3 months old on the 10th~

Joan says he is smiling now and has slept through several nights, so things are looking up.

Scott's had flu-like symptoms since Thursday. He has developed a rash all over his back and chest. At first it looked like heat rash, and since he'd been working out in extreme heat, we figured that was probably it. But his sister, a nurse, tells us heat rash would be gone by now if that's what it was. We are wondering if he might have the West Nile virus, which you can get from mosquitoes that carry it. If he's not feeling better tomorrow, we'll be off to the doctor's office to find out what's what. Most people recover from it, not even knowing they have it.

Not that it's stopped him from working, oh no! He's out there right now, moving cattle from one pasture to another.

We went for a drive to the north fields yesterday afternoon. When we get to the fence and the cattle see his truck, they start running toward it like a bunch of pets, and then they follow it. When it stops, they gather around the truck, mooing. They know, Scott says, that they may be moved to "greener pastures," and are excited and ready to go.

He got out his door to look the beasts over, and I opened mine and stood on the ledge until I heard Scott say, "Kathy, get in the truck." Not understanding why, but leery of cattle, I immediately obeyed. Through the window I could see a black bull, which had squeezed through the herd to have a look at me.

"He's the new bull," Scott said, "and I don't know his personality."

It was probably as docile as the rest, but you don't take chances.

***

If I wasn't working freelance, today would be a paid holiday for me! It's the August long weekend. Darn it! However, the pleasures of working from home make it seem like a holiday anyway. I've marked "Birdline" on the calendar so I won't miss the CBC radio call-in show about wild birds. They have a bird expert come in periodically to help callers identify wild birds they've seen.

I'll be going to pick up the boys on Wednesday and am looking forward to having them home again.

Emil reported that his ears were feeling normal again when he was at his dad's, so I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what could be in this house, causing them to feel plugged (mould?). However, yesterday he told me his ears had felt normal on his graduation day, before he left here.

Hornswoggled.

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