September 18, 1410

                Today I got the dog andtook him to the castle yard to start training him.  The badger tagged along too.  The same knight that cuffed me came by andyelled that I get my filthy animals out of there.  I yelled back at him that I had permissionfrom Lady Trillium.  He took the dog byhis scruff and before I could stop him he had thrown the dog out of the castlegate.  He ran, terrified, away until Icould not see him anymore.  The badgerhighly disagreed with the knight's decision and attacked him viciously.  He kicked her off and screamed and swore atme some more than he stalked off.  I amso sad.  And I am mad.  He will face my full wrath one day.

                September 20, 1410

                Today I served dinnerand one of the other pages, the bad one who gets the most whippings andthrashings from the teacher, came over as nicely as you please and pretended toaccidentally bump my arm.  I spilled somewine right on Lady Twilika’s fine dinner dress. He said he was most sorry, but he did it on purpose because he sneeredwhen I spilled it.  I miss the dog, and Ihad thought of the perfect name for him. Kody. I also what I will name the badger. Her name shall be Chip for the wayshe chipped the knight's leg.

                September 21, 1410

                 I wonder what my family thinks about myleaving. I wonder what I should be doing. Father would have checked here I know. Maybe he has just accepted this as a fact. I will never know until Ireturn to them when I am twenty one.  Iwill bring many presents, and something like a huge horse for Yvonne.  And a big fur coat for Father that Ifashioned myself.  I will make specialslippers for Mother out of the softest rabbit skins.  They would be so proud to see me walk intothe castle in armour.  I would tell themof great adventures I had experienced myself. I cannot wait for that great day to come.  There would be a huge feast in the great hallwith much entertainment.  And Fatherwould invite knights and Lords and Ladies from all over the land.

                September 24, 1410

                Sorry I haven'twritten you in a while, dear Journal. I'm just experiencing too much grief. Imiss my dog. I miss him so much.  Ithelps that I have Chip but I still miss him. Kody is what I would have calledhim.  Naming him makes him seem likesomebody.  Last week Lady Trillium saidthat a good name for my dog would be Kody because it means "puppy."

 I am so mad I will never be able towrite the date again! It is so infuriating!! What this is about is that stupid page today in lessons.  He punched me, so I punched is just because Iam new here and finds great enjoyment from teasing those younger than himself.

An extention to the previous entry.

September 10, 1410

                Today I was kept verybusy with my studies and duties.  What Ido every morning is wash my face with cold water and stinky mushy soap and getdressed.  Then I help my Lord dress. Iget his shirt and hose and help him put them on.  I do it quick because he's got a temper inthe mornings.  Later in the day we sit ina room with the teacher and listen about Latin and Grammar so that when we aregrown up knights we can write love letters to ladies. That's all nonsensethough!  Then we do some difficultmathematical problems and learn a few rules about being a page and youngman.  Then a little after the afternoonmeal I go with a few scraps and feed them to my dog and badger in the mostsecret fashion.

                September 12, 1410

                It is morning and I amstealing a little bit of time writing this before morning lessons.  This evening I am serving Lord Slaytonhimself! I'll tell you, Journal, tonight how it went. 

                Nine o'clock by thesun dial,

                Lord Slayton is mostpleased with me! This evening I served his roast venison which he had huntedthis afternoon with his nobles and men. I filled his wine cup and he askedabout whom I was and we conversed for a time. Then something most surprising happened. He asked me to sit beside him and we ate together!  He introduced me to his daughter Trillium,his oldest son Philip, and his younger son Brandon.  Then I left to go to bed where I wrotethis. 

                  September 13, 1410                                                                  

                As I was walking downto the great hall to serve dinner again, I tripped and threw the potatoes withpheasant across the stone floor with a clatter. A knight walked casually by and cuffed me on the ear.
"You worthless clumsy page!" he spat at me in utter disgust.  Just as he finished that Lady Trillium cameby and asked me what had happened. I explained ashamed. 
"Let's get some different food," she said, and we walked to thekitchen.  She explained to the cook, andshe didn't dare yell at me while she was there. When I picked up the newplatter I accidentally touched it with my knuckles.  I gasped and gripped them with my other hand,but then I gasped again because it hurt to touch my already bruised knuckles.  She then asked me again what had happened.
I said, "You saw."
"I meant your bruise."
I did not want to tell her but she persisted. I relented and said,
"I had gotten the whip because I had a dog and a badger outside which hadkept your mother and father up all night long." 
"Oh," she said and walked off. I guessed that meant she wasn't goingto side with me anymore.  I sadly made myway to bed and when I opened the door there was my dog badger clean, and wellfed and overjoyed to see me.  They ranacross the floor and leaped into my arms, happy as larks.

                September 15, 1410

                I can hardly believewhat she has done for me.  Now she haseven arranged for me to have time every day to be with my dog and my badger - awhole hour!  You wouldn't think that itwas the same dog, he is so pretty.  LadyTrillium told me it is a collie.  Ihaven't really thought of a name for him. I just call him dog. I will decidewhat I will do about naming him later on.

                September 17, 1410 

                I have been wonderingwhat to do to thank Lady Trillium and I have the perfect idea.  I could train the dog to herd deer!  I know that his breed herds sheep in Scotlandso I could figure out some way to get him to herd deer.  I will try my plan the next time they gohunting.  When they chase some deer hecould make them stay together to make an easier kill.  This idea cannot fail!

                September 18, 1410

                Today I got the dog andtook him to the castle yard to start training him.  The badger tagged along too.  The same knight that cuffed me came by andyelled that I get my filthy animals out of there.  I yelled back at him that I had permissionfrom Lady Trillium.  He took the dog byhis scruff and before I could stop him he had thrown the dog out of the castlegate.  He ran, terrified, away until Icould not see him anymore.  The badgerhighly disagreed with the knight's decision and attacked him viciously.  He kicked her off and screamed and swore atme some more than he stalked off.  I amso sad.  And I am mad.  He will face my full wrath one day.

More from the book....

August 18, 1410

                Today I found adog!  You would never believe what Ithought it was before he showed himself. Well I was finishing my breakfast when I heard rustlings in thebushes.  Thinking it was nothing morethan a squirrel or chipmunk so I paid no heed. Then when I heard crashing in the growth of weeds around where the soundwas coming from I readied myself with a special dagger that Yvonne had given mefor my birthday.  I held it in front ofme, fearing a large boar I waited.  Thenout stepped a happy little dog.  Well heis not exactly little.  He is up to mywaist at his nose.  He is not much of adog.  A little bit of hair with some skinand a few scrawny bones.  When I did notgive him any attention he whined for the food I had in my hand.  I walked away for I do not care much for dogsfor I was bitten by one when I was young and it left a small white scar.  The dog barked and wagged his tailhopefully.  I still paid him no attention.  Then he howled.  I reluctantly turned around and tossed himthe last bit of bacon.  He devoured itlike he was a badger hunting dog.  Ilaughed at him.  He looked curiously forthe answer of my laughing.  Then I turnedaround and walked away.  He was not justabout to let me just go like that so I let him tag along.  When we came to the river I looked at thedog.  He looked at me.  Then he leaped in and with a splash thatshowered me with water.  Then he turnedsmiled and seemed to say, "This is how you do it."  I waded into the warm August water.  I now have a dog. 

               

                September 1, 1410

                Today the dog caught ahuge rabbit!  He dropped it at myfeet.  I picked it up and hegrowled.  Queer dog, I thought anddropped the rabbit.  He looked at mecuriously, and I picked it up again he growled once more.  Weird I thought again and walked away.  He followed me and dropped the rabbit onemore time.  I finally figured out what hewas trying to communicate.  He wanted hisshare.  I took my dagger, and cut it inhalf.  Gave him one half, and I got theother.  We cooked the rabbit and both atetogether, Smart dog.

                September 2, 1410

                We did not move veryfar because it stormed almost the entire day. It started bright and sunny then I looked behind me and saw a largeblack cloud.  That is when the raincame.  I and the dog are soaked.  The thunder was so unmercifully loud.  The dog cowered behind me thinking we wereunder some kind of attack.  I went undera huge tree that kept us mostly dry from the weather.  The dog was so soaking wet that if you gotall the water in his fur it would fill up half the ocean.  I am quite sure.  A deer walked by while we sat quietlytogether.  How she was a beautifulcreature.  And she had a fawn that wasgetting ready to make it out on its own like me.

                September 3, 1410

                Nice sunny morning,watched it come.  What I mean by watchingit come is that watching a morning come, not only means that you merely see asunrise.  But that when a bird lights ona rose glistening with dew and sings a pretty song is a part of morning.  When flowers unroll from their night’s sleepthen it is morning.  When beams of sunfight their way through the foliage it is morning.  The morning colours are different then justthe sunrise itself.  They contain a personageworth noticing.  That is when it ismorning to me.  And that was what themorning was like today.  After we ate thelast remains of the rabbit we continued our journey on.  The path to the Lord's castle goes through aforest so I have to be careful not to stray from the path.

                September 4, 1410

                 It was a muggy, hot day today.  The dog is acting like he will evaporate ifhe does not run through a puddle soon.

                September 5, 1410

                This dog surprises meto no end.  He tackled a badger thisafternoon!  He was loping along ahead ofme when he suddenly stopped.  I fell overhim he stopped so suddenly.  Then withnose to the ground he sniffed and snuffled all around.  Then he yelped and took off.  I did not really care much wether he wouldactually get something worth eating.  Icontinued walking by myself.  Thenwithout any sort of warning there was growling and snarling and biting andthrashing somewhere in the forest.  Ithought that this might affect the safety and welfare of my dog I charged offinto the forest to find him.  After I passeda huge tree there he was digging like a mad dog at a huge hole."Dumbell!"  I yelled. "Why are you yelling at ahole."  Then I saw the reason.  He ducked into a hole and pulled out a huge strugglingbadger!  "He is a dog that huntsbadgers."  I said aloud tomyself.  Then the badger swiped him witha paw.  The dog's thick fur protected himwell.  Then he bit the badger hard enoughthat it died.  It appears on closerinspection that he had already hurt it pretty bad before I got there.  Then he carried the carcass over to me todeal with.  "If he can scratch andbite me like that I am not going to eat it!" he seemed to say as hedropped it.  "Good dog" I toldhim as I skinned it.  Then he went overto the hole and pulled something gently out. It looked like a large ball of fur. Then he very tenderly placed, not dropped the baby badger into my hands.  What am I going to do with a baby badger Ihave no idea. The dog must of thought that the little baby was in danger fromits own mother.

A story is best when told by the author.

This is a long story, a story never told before.  It is about the course of a young mans life told through the format of his journal.  I know how I said that this blog was to be about nature.  Well I lied.  It isn't.  It is the story of this persons story.  His ups and downs, his losses, his joys, his failures, and victories.  I hope you will read my story, and take wisdom and teaching from it.  As well as  enjoyment and pleasure.  There will be new parts added every day.  unless something hinders the consistency.  So here is the beginning of the story, enjoy.

August 15, 1410.

                This is myjournal.  It will be the story of my lifeas a page, if my plan works.

                My name is EdwardJourney, and I live in a spacious castle with my Father, Mother andten-year-old sister Yvonne.  We live withlots of servants but I take care of myself. My Father is Lord Wrennsson and my Mother Lady Rancilly. We make a goodliving as my Father is a wealthy merchant. He met my mother in Rottweil in 1390, so you have noticed that they havebeen married for twenty years.  Before Iget into the true meaning and purpose of this journal, I decided to introducemyself and my family before you think I am of some crazy personage for what Iam about to say.

                August 16, 1410

                My idea is this:secretly run away from home, take myself to a distant lord, and ask that hetake me in as a page with a forged letter from my Father.  I am going to begin my interesting adventurethis midnight.  The only person otherthan me who knows about my idea is Yvonne. I am wondering if this was a good idea telling her but she usually provesherself trustworthy.  If you arewondering why I know, that is also a secret matter.  Once I was playing close to the well outsidein our courtyard next to the stables; when I stood on the rim of the well whichI knew was strictly forbidden by Mother and Father when I slipped andfell in.  Father had made absolutely surethat we had an ability to swim.  We hadhad a special instructor to teach us how. I am not one to panic, but this was very stressful!  I was foolish for a minute and did not callfor help fearing my Father's wrath.  Butsoon I came to my senses and screamed for someone to help me.  Guess who heard my desperate cry forhelp?  Yvonne.  She came to my aid and since we are twins, wearen't much bigger than each other. She was strong enough to hoist me out ofthere.  When we got to my room so I couldchange I begged her not to tell.  Sheactually listened to me and left me to change. And that is the reason why I could tell her of my escapade.

                The reason why I amrunning away is that Father is never going to let me be a knight even if Iwanted to.  For when I was very young myoldest brother went away to war and never returned.  That is why I am keeping this a secret andonly telling you and Yvonne.

Five in the morning, August 17, 1410

                I made it. Right now Iam sitting by my own private fire, cooking some of my own private food, writingthis.  I will tell you this dearJournal.  At midnight I arose for I heardthe rooster crow. We have a crazy rooster who crows at midnight and it wakes meup every night, and I knew that was when it was midnight and time to go.  I oh-so-silently slid out of my large bed,and put on some ragged looking clothes. (As not to prove suspicious and rich byrobbers.) I threw a bag over my shoulder which I had packed earlier, andslipped silently into the hall.  For asummer's night it was pretty chilly so I pulled my clothes tighter aroundme.  Suddenly without warning, afloorboard creaked. I winced and froze in my tracks.  But then I realized it was not me who hadmade the sound.  I cautiously turned downthe hall and I heard footsteps.  Somebodywas following me.  Before I could doanything, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It wasn not a hard grip.  It wasonly Yvonne. "Good-bye Edward." She said in a quiet whisper.
"Bye" I said extremely quietly back. 
I knew it was safe right then so I continued on.  Wonderfully, no more floorboards creaked as Iexited the hall, until I reached the stone floor.  Then I tip toed across and made it to thesecret door that only the soldiers and my Father and I knew of.  It was used only if the castle was undersiege for making a sneaky counterattack or sending out someone to get food andwater if the castles supplies ran low.  Iopened the door and it creaked and did it creak!  It creaked so loud I thought that even thesoldiers in the neighbouring castle would hear me. 
"What was that?" I heard one say.
 My heart stopped beating, and Iflattened myself against the stone wall of the castle wall and waited. 
"It's probably nothing." Another guard said.  
I stayed flat as a mat for a minute before I found it was safe.  When I had heard nothing more, I crept intothe night.  I had chosen my escape to beon a dark night so I would not be seen by any soldiers at watch.  When I had sneaked some one hundred metersfrom the castle I took off running and made it to the woods, where I amcontinuing my journey.  Come to think ofit, my last name fits well.

My first real day of farm life.

*WARNING* This post contains graphic images that may not be suitable for younger ages or vegetarians.


Recently we purchased some cows from our friends the Joannides.  The cows are living at their house until we can take care of them.  At the time, six of the cows were pregnant.  When one of the cows started to go into labour there was some problems.  The cow was having an extremely difficult birth with its first calf.  When the calf was born after much praying, it was very healthy.  When we heard the calf had been born safely, Dad, Davy and I all headed out to see if there was anything we could help with and to see the little calf.  The calf was a female and I named it Fuzz.  When we arrived we were met by Mr. Joannides and we followed him to the birth site, where I first laid eyes on the little, wet, adorable calf.  The reason the calf was wet was because the  mother had not cleaned its calf after it had been born and it would have been dryer and not so slimy.  Most mothers take care of and feed their calves immediately after they are born, but because of this cow's difficult birth it had unhappily rejected this calf.  And it refused to feed the calf.  To continue the calves's life foster mothering was required.  We needed to feed the calf approximately every two hours on a bottle of milk.  Shortly after we arrived Mrs. Joannides came with a bottle of warm milk for the calf.  She tried to feed it but it refused to drink. I asked if I could try to do it and to my immense surprise, she said, "Yes."  With gladness I tried my hand at the job.  It took a while but after a minute or so the calf was sucking the milk with me assisting her.  At about midnight we noticed something protruding from the cow's rear end, I asked if it was the placenta but they told me it was a prolapsed vagina (sorry, but that's what it was!) which is when one of a cow's reproductive organs comes out of  the cow's body inside out. YUCK!  But luckily when the cow stood up it slipped back in.  We all breathed a sigh of intense relief.  Raccoons were a danger to newborn calves so they had to be protected either by a dog or a twelve- year-old with a pitchfork.  Since Kody was not available I was the next best thing.  I listened to raccoons clanking around in the barn hunting for stuff for a moment, then it was very quiet for about half an hour.  After a little longer Dad took a shift for guard duty while I slept. Or at least tried to sleep, because that night was like sleeping in a torture chamber while being tortured.  Sleeping that night was hard because of three main things.  Stuffy air, Crampedness, (if that is a word), and mosquito's (there were tons of the little evil things biting me all night). In the early hours of dawn we woke up to a little cute slimy calf who was not one bit interested in drinking. And he wanted to be licked; it was very sad, she'd rub her head on your pants or your boots as a substitute for being licked.  And when I looked at the mother cow it was not a pretty sight indeed. What we saw we guessed again might be the placenta turned out to be wrong again.  It was a prolapsed uterus.  When I woke from a short window of sleep I saw sunlight streaming through the windows and I was thankful to God for bringing me through that awful night.  I took a look at the mother and it didn't look too good. When Mrs. Joannides saw it she told us it was the uterus and said it could be very bad for the cow, so the vet was called and he arrived quickly.  When he got there he took a good long look at the cow and without any questions whatsoever said we need two buckets of clean water.  When he had that he went to the work cleaning the uterus and vagina which were both prolapsed.  He kept bathing them with a mixture of iodine and water to protect them from any infection that might be on it.  After he was done cleaning them he stuffed them into the cow and inserted a large pin to hold it in place until it healed then he bound it up and we moved the cow and calf to the shade, gave the mother some shots and a little later we headed home so I could write this story of my first day of farm life.


The little wet calf.



The sleepy little wet calf.

Washing the organs.

The tail had to be held out of the way!

Pushing it back in. 

Feeding the sleepy, wet, hungry little calf.

My latest Case

It was a monotonous afternoon, everything was going normally but I could feel a case coming on. We were taking my trusty sidekick Kody on a walk with my most important staff member. As the group rounded a corner we saw a dog,Sydney my staff member thought he was cute but I was sure his fluffy moustache was fake. I immediately got an idea of the situation. My theory was he had hijacked the lock on his age and busted the fence and escaped, but I hadn't the faintest Idea why. We took him home and interrogated him with questions like is your mustache fake? But he acted like he didn't understand. It was time to call in the big guns, also known as the vet. He gave us the information we needed in order to track down his owner. We immediately found where his owner lived. I drove him in the Maretzki Mobile to the house and for some strange reason he seemed excited to be home! The owner explained every thing, how he had gotten lost because the gate was open it made sense, so the mystery came to a close and we retired back to the lab.

My Crazy Dog That I Love

This is my dog Kody. He looks innocent doesn't he? But he's not. Did I mention that he tried to kill me a few days ago? Well, I was taking him for a walk and we were running up the side of the house and I had a piece of ice in my hand. As we were running I threw it to the right side of me. Kody, meanwhile was on my left side and out of common sense went to see what that thing was I'd just thrown. I was still running and had no time react so Kody walked right in front of me. I tripped right over Kody, landed flat on my chest, not to mention that hurt!!!!!! So Kody, thinking he had me, stepped on my hand. I did not die, probably much to Kody's dissapointment. My dog, probably not really meaning to hurt me, thought it would make his day more interesting.

But I still love him.