Everything Hurts: Medical Mysteries-Histories

JANUARY 22, 2020 / RACHEL / EDIT

I’ve been hesitant to share specifics because I don’t want pity and it feels like I’m very exposed when I think about it but the fact is… I really value transparency.

I have a lot of different medical things going on that I believe are all connected. I’ll first start by saying I am 33 now so that if you’re reading this you’ve got a pretty good idea how long I’ve been dealing with these issues.

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When I was around 13 I noticed that I could pop my right hip in and out painlessly and thought that was pretty strange and a bit cool, because lets face it I was a kid. When I was 14-15 I had some issues with my knees being “weak”. I had tried to join cross country but ended up with horrible pain in my knees and my primary dr said it was muscle weakness around the knee, I went to physical therapy a couple of times. After that I started exercising and dancing more at home on my own but my knees were never running material.

My stepdad got a motorcycle when I was about 15/16, he took me for a ride on it after which, my skin was hurting but also kind of numb feeling and I broke out in painful hives. Sun? Wind? Something environmental? I have no idea what happened and that was my first ever experience with hives. I did not get back on the motorcycle unless my skin was completely covered.

2004 – I was 17 and had my first baby at 38 weeks

2005 – 18 years old: I was having trouble keeping weight on no matter how much I ate. My clothes were basically falling off of me and people thought that I was doing drugs.

2006 – I kept getting sick with strep throat so I had my tonsils and adenoids removed.  Pregnancy with second child; I was put on bed rest right around 20 weeks as my body was trying to go into labor early. My uterus was “ballooning” near the cervix and I was starting to dilate. Meds and bed rest worked. My water broke at 37 weeks, no contractions though and I had to be induced, it was a stressful delivery but with a good outcome.

2006-winter- 2007 is when I started getting strange rashes,  many ulcers in my mouth that made it difficult if not impossible to eat and I was literally starving. I had to wean my baby abruptly to a bottle because I couldn’t make enough breast milk to keep her satisfied because I couldn’t take in enough calories because the pain was unbearable. I did eventually get a prescription ointment that would cover the ulcers enough that I could eat soft foods quickly but that wasn’t an easy task. I had to tell my primary doctor to consult with another doctor and figure out what I needed after she incorrectly called in a lidocane mouth rinse that specifically said (DO NOT EAT WHILE USING THIS MEDICATION). I was livid. I called the doctors office, I got snippy I told them I was starving and not producing enough breast milk for my infant and try again after consulting with someone or doing research. I also put my back out of place so badly I was pretty much confined to a laying down position for a week. It hurt to breath. I couldn’t make it to the doctor to get my back adjusted and I didn’t have a support system in place to assist me through that time. It was fucking horrid. I almost pissed myself a few times trying to climb the stairs to the bathroom. I’m sure there was more going on but that was a long time ago. 2007-2008 I had a lot of random chest pain but I don’t think I mentioned this to a doctor, I blew it off as being too young for heart issues so it must just be anxiety.

But I got through all of that and didn’t have many other issues until after my youngest child was born(2009) she was born at 36 weeks. In 2010(23 years old) I started having a lot of issues with food sensitivities, fatigue, depression/anxiety, and unexplained pain in my hands. I had a new doctor at this point. All of the sudden I also had seasonal allergies. My doctor prescribed a steroidal nasal spray and prescription allergy medication but said I could use over the counter allergy medication if I chose to. The prescription saved me some money, but hurt my stomach so I switched to OTC allergy medications. I started getting ulcers in my mouth again(I would later discover the nasal spray caused ulcers). I relied heavily on those allergy meds because if my sinuses got too snotty, I’d end up with an infection. At one point I had no symptoms of a sinus infection but I had symptoms of a brain tumor. My doctor ordered a CT and discovered my tumor symptoms were actually from a bad sinus infection.
At one point prior to this I had another sinus infection and was continuously passing the germs to my kids. Their pediatrician was the one who discovered this and called in a prescription for me as well. I feel like he took one look at me and knew where the infections my kids kept getting were coming from. So I kept with the allergy meds and went to the doctor any time headaches started coming back as that usually meant another infection in my sinuses.
2010 – I had to have my IUD mirena removed because it caused horrible cramps.

I also had some nerve testing done on my arms to see if we could pin point a cause for my pain and stiffness in my hands along with the numbness in the ring and pinky fingers. This all came back normal and I didn’t get any explanation. My blood work was normal too. Doctor didn’t suspect carpal tunnel syndrome and that was the end of trying to find answers. I learned to live with the pain.

2011 I decided to try a gluten free diet after my food issues were getting worse and reading that it can help with pain. Turns out it helped a ton! My hands felt much better. But it isn’t easy to stick to and eventually I started eating gluten again.

In 2012 I started having some pretty shit days again, migraines and deep deep feelings of guilt that I couldn’t keep up with life anymore, I was a control freak and I hadn’t learned to delegate or depend on others. I decided to try a vegan gluten free diet but I cannot remember what year that was… 2014?  I felt amazing but restrictive diets are hard to stick to.

Sometime in 2013 I started having low grade fevers. The only other thing that accompanied the fever was headaches or migraines. I also had some random stabbing chest pain near my heart, the doctor said it was anxiety. My allergies also got worse at this time. I had allergy testing done after 2 weeks off of my OTC allergy medication. My results were negative except for being allergic to cockroaches. But I discovered that I had fewer allergy symptoms off the OTC meds! So I stopped taking them. In 2014 we went on a camping trip with friends and I decided it would be best to take some seasonal allergy pills along with. My seasonal allergies were fine with the OTC medication but suddenly I was having contact dermatitis on my lips and mouth from strawberries(which I have always eaten with no issue). For the following week I had issues with all the high histamine foods I ate. Fruits, nuts, etc. At the time I was eating super healthy…salads, smoothies, so this was very disappointing not to mention uncomfortable.

I also suddenly became very allergic to latex, which I figured out after a painful dental appointment one week, and then a gynecologist appointment the next… exposing your genitals to an allergen is horrific in case you didn’t know.

2013 – The mysterious vibrating left leg. You couldn’t see it, or feel it to touch, but my left leg would feel like it was buzzing. It would last hours at a time.

2016 I was in a car accident which led to a flare of all my symptoms thus far. I think it was the stress on my body, the stress on my mind. Moving TWICE in 6 months. My hips started hurting so bad that I would lay in bed and cry. I cried for the life I wanted but couldn’t have. I cried for my children and husband having to deal with me being so damn broken. I became so depressed over those last months of 2016. I was definitely a danger to myself. I believed my family would be better off without me. I felt like a nuisance. After the accident I was seen by a chiropractor for several weeks and lots of adjustments. Sometimes the adjustments caused migraines. My hip and low back pain just kept getting worse and nothing helped. I stopped going to the chiropractor except when it was absolutely necessary.

At this point I was guessing that my pain was caused from fibromyalgia.

January 2017 I went to a new doctor after years of not having a primary doctor. I talked about my depression and anxiety, I talked about my pain. I was prescribed Cymbalta and I noticed an improvement within a couple of weeks(I also had blood work done to rule out lyme, inflammation, arthritis, and any deficiencies: all my tests were normal). My depression and anxiety decreased and my pain was almost gone except for days when I was very active. I started working in the spring although it was short lived because the work was very stressful and anxiety inducing which caused me to have more “bad days” than good along with skin rashes that were so irritating that I was scratching myself raw and causing bruises.

I decided to quit and spend more time focusing on my health and home and our little farm. I had fewer bad days and didn’t need to modify my diet (I gained 20 pounds between 2018 and now I’m sure as a result of this new food freedom!) And our farm grew so much… we added more chickens, ducks, goats, rabbits, pigs… I was feeling good, cymbalta changed my life.

2018 I was having a lot of chest pains for a few weeks so I decided to go to the dr for that before it stopped again as fast as it started. But the heart monitor didn’t find anything abnormal.

In spring 2019 I started working again outside the home. And this is when my symptoms started getting worse again. More bad days, especially after physically strenuous days. We also did some renovations in our house that really wiped me out physically. It started taking more time to “bounce back” again to having good days.
Over the summer I started getting rashes from being in the sun. I was working a lot of hours and just completely wiped out by evening so the garden I lovingly planted in the spring became overgrown and disappointing. I felt yet again, like a total failure.

I mostly just dealt with everything until the fall when I decided to start searching for a diagnosis and help feeling better. The pain was impacting my mental health.

The end of October 2019 my doctor ordered blood work again, referred me to a rheumatologist, and increased my Cymbalta by 30mg. The side effects from the Cymbalta increase were terrible and I basically slept through November with no improvement in my pain symptoms so I took myself back down to 60mg.
In November the rheumatologist ordered some more blood work, it once again ruled out inflammation, arthritis, lyme, lupus, and autoimmune connective tissue diseases.
I was however diagnosed with Raynaud’s phenomenon, which is fairly common but at least I had one answer for some weird symptoms.
This year we got rid of some of our farm animals, a lot of them actually, I couldn’t keep up with it.

2020- Early this month I went back to my primary doctor for the hand pain that had been bothering me for most of December. He thought that it was tendonitis in my thumbs and referred me to a hand specialist who was able to get me in just a few days later. They took xrays and concluded that it seems to be rheumatological in nature. Prescribed 2 aleve 2x a day and said to follow up with the rheumatologist. NSAIDS had started hurting my stomach at this point so I only took them as needed. I started needing them more and more which led to a stomach ulcer. 

So now I wait until March(written 1/22/20)
I’m working on cleaning up my diet and forming good healthy habits again. Regular exercise is the hardest because I have a lot of days when I feel like exercise is just going to max out my abilities for the day.
A couple weeks ago I danced to a song with my 10 year old…. 5 minutes of dancing caused me to feel dizzy, nauseous and weak. I had to lay down for 30 minutes to feel better. I’m not that out of shape(I’m 5’3 & 140lbs) and on days I work I’m on my feet doing things for 5-7 hours. However, after this month I’ll be super part time working only a couple of days a month because I just cannot work and keep up with my family/house or my health. I took my time coming to this decision as I really like my job, but I need to be home more. I need more time… I need to start going to counseling again because carrying all of this shit around is heavy and I know that talking helps.

Current Symptom Recap:

Tendon, Muscle, & Joint Pain
Low Grade Fever/Temperature Disregulation
Migraines
Rashes/Skin Sensitivity
Raynaud’s Phenomenon
Back Spasms
Bursitis
Subluxations – Joints That Are Loose/Weak
Tendonitis
Fatigue
Buzzing Leg
Hand Pain & Numbness
Chest Pain
Muscle Weakness
Exercise Fatigue
Depression & Anxiety
Sensory Issues

Health Update

JANUARY 10, 2020 / RACHEL / EDIT

My primary doctor thinks my hand pain is from the tendon that runs from the wrist up the thumb and diagnosed it as De Quervain’s Disease tenosynovitis. I see a specialist next week. An injection may be an effective treatment option.
When it gets bad I can’t open the simplest things, it hurts to wash my hair and brush my teeth. I get clumsy and drop things. My wrists will feel weaker and less able to grasp. This has been a problem for me off and on since 2010.

I’m not sure if I mentioned my Raynaud’s Phenomenon diagnosis from the nurse practitioner at my rheumatologist’s office. 
Basically the blood vessels constrict blood flow to my hands and feet for absolutely no good reason, (because that’s how something with the word “phenomenon” in the name works). It hurts really bad when the blood flow returns to the area. I’m sure most people who live in colder climates know that feeling well.. you’ve just spent some time outside building a snowman or some other such thing, you come into the warm house and take off your cold wet gloves, as your fingers start to warm up again, you feel that stinging burning sensation. It’s like that except it doesn’t take much to trigger it.

I’ve been thinking about getting a gym membership and trying out swimming for some low impact exercise. I can’t even do the littlest amount of exercise or the bursitis in my right hip starts coming back. Maybe I should try the injection for that too… I need to read up on it some more.

I had a bunch of blood work done and I’m not sure what all was ruled out specifically(it was a lot) but it is not autoimmune connective tissue disease like lupus, rheumatiod arthritis, or sjorgrens. My vitamin D was very low so I’m taking a once a week supplement for a few months then switching to a daily.

I also keep getting tendonitis pain in my feet, like the tops of my feet so I’m going to try to pay more attention to my shoes as it can be caused from pressure on the top of the foot from shoes. Fun stuff right?

I would love to know if there is something big picture that’s causing or connected to all these little things.

Seeking Answers

OCTOBER 30, 2019 / RACHEL / EDIT

The only thing harder than living with chronic pain is knowing that people don’t understand and doctors don’t believe you because they can’t diagnose what is wrong.

Honestly, I don’t even understand what is wrong with me and I feel a ton of guilt over it. Like how can I possibly do so well for so long and then have days and weeks where I just hurt so much that I can’t function? How can I spend the first part of summer doing so well, being so active, working on projects, carrying heavy things, then not be able to gather the strength to stand to cook dinner after a simple day at home doing a little cleaning?

It is pretty difficult never really knowing what kind of day I’m about to have. I do know if I have a low fever that a bad day is coming. I try to get ahead of it, taking excedrine in cause a migraine is trying to take over, resting, drinking more water, taking naps instead of pushing through. When I know we have something planned for the upcoming weekend I worry because I just don’t know what I’m going to feel like by the time those plans come up.

The other day I was feeling pretty great, having a low key day at home, and then I was taken over by full body pain that felt like all of my muscles were contracting even though they were relaxed. I was fatigued like my body had just run a marathon(not that I’d know what that is like) or as I described to a friend “Fatigue like when you have a stomach virus and spend the entire night vomiting and everything hurts the next day”.

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So I’m just accepting I can’t do as much and have taken steps to reduce physical strains.

We sent some chickens to live at my grandpa’s farm because I had “too many” and his stopped laying. Our goats went back to the ladies we bought them from. I’m closing up shop on most of my homestead adventures. Raising animals, growing vegetables, studying herbs, was all inspired by my health originally and it has been a roller coaster of emotions coming to terms with the fact that my physical abilities are not up to the task of homesteading anymore.

I had a decent run, we had a few fun years. But once the pigs go to the butcher I’ll be glad to only have chickens to care for (plus: one turkey, one duck, four guinea fowl). It takes a lot of pressure off of me and I welcome that. But the truth is 90% of the time my husband or son take care of the animals now. The last couple months have been hard and I try not to overdo it.

I wanted dairy goats so that I could have my own milk. But the truth is, I couldn’t promise I’d be able to milk them every day now that I’m not doing well. And it’s not fair to force my family to pick up the slack because I took on more than I could handle physically. But that’s where asking for help comes into place I guess but still, you have to be considerate of others time and interests.

I’m working on acceptance.
I’m going to do my best to keep planting herbs but chances are I’ll end up buying my supplies most of the time, and that is ok. I’d like to continue canning jam and learning how to can other foods. Which I will undoubtedly purchase from farmers markets because I cannot physically garden except for low maintenance plants. My sunflowers were lovely and attracted many birds and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them and listening to them sing in the garden. My accidental pumpkin harvest turned out fantastic and I’d like to toss a packet of seeds out into the pig pen in the spring and see how they grow. It’s all luck of the draw. But it is sad. I started out with good intentions and then couldn’t find the time to tend my garden. I spent a lot of time just completely not being able to go outside into the sun or my skin would get itchy, red and painful. By the time those perfect hours for gardening arrived each evening, I was simply just too tired to do anything more.

I’m not looking for pity, I know that there are many solutions available to me. Like I mentioned, I can go to farmers markets and buy dried herbs from other farms. I can seek out ingredients I need for body care products instead of keeping goats that require more time and care than I can realistically give.

My biggest worries are how much longer it is going to take to get a diagnosis? Will the stress be worth it if we only rule out things it isn’t but don’t arrive at what it is? How much will it cost in copays? Will my insurance cover treatments? Will I have to resort to pain killers and what if I end up with an addiction problem? What if it is genetic and my kids might get it from me?

What I do know is that according to my blood work in recent years I am perfectly fine, I don’t have lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or Lyme disease. I don’t have any deficiencies, my sugar is good, my thyroid is good. Waiting on some new blood work results from today. I don’t expect them to find much.
I’ve had a heart monitor for chest pain and that was perfect too. I’ve had nerve testing done in my arms… you guessed it: everything was fine.

Maybe you thought you were here for homestead related topics... But I think real life plays into one’s ability to actually carry out those homesteading plans. Maybe one day I’ll be able to come back to it all. Maybe I’ll just have to visit farms and kiss other people’s goats.

I’ll be back with updates, sooner or later.

Giving Up Homesteading

OCTOBER 6, 2019 / RACHEL / EDIT

Things are changing.

We are downsizing our little farm to only include birds. I gave some of my hens to my grandpa, his are older and have stopped laying. We processed the rabbits.

Despite having a buck in with our goats for months, neither is pregnant and I’m just discouraged and selling them back to the woman we bought them from. I don’t anticipate that I’ll have the time or desire for milking anyways.

Our pigs are scheduled to be butchered early November. I don’t have any desire to raise pigs again. It hasn’t been bad, but it is a lot of work.

I have loved these animals but I feel like life is taking me in a different direction.

I do intend to support local farms when we buy meat in the future. They have my utmost respect and admiration.

Keeping animals is expensive. Especially if you don’t have the land and equipment to grow any of their food.

I’ve been shifting my focus onto our house. We painted the kitchen, dining, entry and living room. Put down new flooring throughout. Next we will be building a custom pantry and then buying new living room furniture and a dining set. There are also many smaller projects and things we want to update. Like wooden blinds. Painting an old desk to better match the look that we’re working towards. Once the pantry is finished I’ll be reorganizing the kitchen we need to decide if we want to wall mount a tv above the fireplace in the living room or if we want to put it onto a different wall on a tv stand. Which means we need to decide before we buy the furniture.

I need to start studying medicinal herbs again and hope to get back to that now that the seasons are changing.

We haven’t told many people about our plans to give up the little farm dream but those who know are supportive and understanding. I appreciate that so much.

Life is always changing.

Little Farm Updates

JUNE 6, 2019 / RACHEL / EDIT

Our rabbits are 5 weeks old. I have a couple people interested in purchasing some as pets.

Our goats are 2-3 weeks from their due dates though I’m starting to wonder about that entirely. I swear neither has gone into heat since January, but we’re all first timers here with goat kidding. And I’m essentially a mess of worry and second guessing everything.

My vegetable garden is thriving despite all the rain here in Western Pennsylvania  Many of my medicinal herbs washed out in the rain though. I’m feeling pretty discouraged with it so I might just replant more vegetables there as well.

I’ve noticed that food prices are going up, not drastically but gradually a few cents here and there. I looked at receipts from March and then receipts from the past week, comparing prices. Some things have jumped by 50 cents and others by 5 or 10 cents but it is happening and I have a feeling it is only going to get worse. The cashier was contemptuous when I asked if she had noticed any increases in prices. So I came home and pulled out my receipt book and found the answers I was looking for.

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I haven’t been feeling well at all. Processed meat is giving me migraines.. I sometimes forget I’m avoiding processed meat and eat it and then I regret it for several days. I’m not sure what exactly is bothering me and triggering the migraines so I’m just going to play it save and avoid all of it. Another fun thing, soda is making my mouth swell and get rashy? For lack of a better description, rashy is the best I’ve got. So no more of that I suppose. I can only bet that I have been eating like trash for so long and now my body is like, ‘I quit this is what you’re going to get now so treat me better’. I guess I deserve it and I’m just going to let it motivate me to get into better eating and cooking habits, lest we all starve. or I starve. I have a feeling I’d be the only one starving in reality.

I guess all in all I’m really just disappointed at the amount of convenience foods we have now in our house.
It’s not convenient if it makes you ill.
It’s not convenient if it doesn’t have proper nutritional value.

But some days it does hit the spot I guess and THAT is how we get sucked into these bad habits.

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Other things, when our house was built the company skipped installing proper door sills and now all three of our exterior doors are severely damaged from rain getting under the door plate and setting there. The damage even extends into our daughters’ bedroom where we will have to replace the carpet and padding.
We discovered all of this damage when we pulled old carpeting and linoleum out of the one room so that we could start putting in new flooring and put our house back together. Now our house feels like it is going to be an eternal shit show. The insurance adjuster came out today to look at all of the damage. He said he has seen this in a lot of houses and its just the lack of a proper sill under the freaking door. HOW hard is that!? Who wants to build houses that slowly sneakily rot away like that?! Hopefully our homeowners insurance will cover it. We need to get an estimate from some contractors while we wait so that we find out how expensive this is going to be if insurance won’t cover it or if we should start planning to fix it ourselves. Good times.

My husbands truck also endured over $4000 in hail damage. And our rental house’s roof is leaking, we are hoping it is a storm damage situation and not an “old roof” situation.

But at least we’ve still got the farm, hahahaha and a positive attitude. That goes a long way.

Family

MAY 22, 2019 / RACHEL / EDIT

I was feeling especially not good about things yesterday.

I think I have some things I need to come to terms with.

We’re not really doing well as a family. Maybe that’s because we’re getting into the teen years of irritation and discontent humans.

There feels to be a huge amount of disconnect happening. I don’t know what to do to weave everyone back together or if that’s even something that can be done without making things worse. Maybe there is simply just and ebb and flow to a family. To these changing seasons and changing tides that roll with it.

Maybe I’ve just got to roll with it too.

Things were so much easier when our kids were little, when we were their whole world as parents and when they were children who depended on us for every single life sustaining thing. It was easy to be wrapped up eyes deep in mothering and parenting.

Now our children are 14, 12, & 9. And yes I know they still need us, but not like they used to. My oldest just made himself lunch and while he was having an argument with the air-fryer and I helped him, he didn’t really need me. But I was there so I showed him why it was being a pain. I got home from work last week and my 12 year old had baked brownies all by herself. My 9 year old literally just needs a tv and an endless supply of macaroni and cheese and chocolate milk and all will be well. But things are different.

They’re different. And I’m not needed like I used to be and I think this whole process of growing up is opening me up to new things.

On the other hand… I don’t feel like we really spend quality time together. Like when we do spend time together its during meals or during the rush to get ready in the morning, or when I remind them to do their chores, brush their teeth, pick up their dirty laundry. It is all the not fun, nagging parenting stuff that I get now. Only the 9 year old enjoys watching tv together once in a while. The older two would rather be texting with their friends. I think this is all probably fairly normal. But I was a young mom and therefore I don’t know many moms with kids the same ages as mine… at least none that I’d want to open up and talk to about it. About the deep rooted feelings I’ve been having.

Looking Back & Looking Ahead

MAY 8, 2019 / RACHEL / EDIT

I read over a couple previous posts. 

I still don’t have any solid answers. I’m just running on faith that one day it will all pay off and we’ll have the resources to sustain this lifestyle.
The greenhouse didn’t get built in time for spring gardening and so I had to set up my seeds indoors. Resulting in fewer starts and not enough to sell anything. But the greenhouse plan has been modified since the original plan of having a freestanding greenhouse and now I intend to build it onto the front of our house. Which will act as an added living space. As such the build is going to be much more expensive than previously planned. I hope to get it framed in and roofed this fall and ready for plants by spring 2020. Ya know, unless plans change again.

Still waiting on goat kids, 5 more weeks to go. I think Belle is carrying twins, though she may just be extra plump, that’s not unlike her.

Our second litter of rabbits are due this week. I’m definitely interested in selling them rather than butchering for meat for ourselves. “You buy ’em or we eat ’em”… that might be a bit harsh. But in all reality rabbit is an incredibly sustainable source of meat and the quality is top notch for protein and is very low in fat. Look in any old recipe books and I bet you’ll find recipes for rabbit. In other countries you can walk into the supermarket and buy rabbit meat and you’d be shocked at how expensive it is!

We’re still tossing around the idea of raising some chickens for meat for ourselves. But if we’re going to do it we need to plan for a good butcher date that isn’t blistering hot outside. We seriously lack shade on our property and while we planted 20 trees this year, they won’t be much help for at least 6 years when it comes to shade haha.

We got our garden beds built, filled, fenced, mulched, totaling about $560 so far, including seeds. That was a big money drain but it was an important one. I’m struggling however to get my herbs to grow. I think that directly sowing them into the garden is going to be the best option. I’m never going to break even when it comes to gardening.

Our chickens are laying so many eggs that I’ve started using eggs as currency. Haha

I need to buy some egg cartons in bulk and start officially selling eggs. It’s almost time to put up a sign or two EGGS & RABBITS. I never thought we’d get to this point to be honest. I am going to have to get a separate mini fridge for eggs though. We’re collecting so many that there is no way to keep them all in our fridge now. And we keep them on the counter for ourselves a lot of the time depending on the weather and temperature in the house but in order to sell here they have to be washed and refrigerated and marked with the date collected.

Sometimes when I write I feel like it comes out as a jumbled mess of thoughts coupled with to do lists.
I hope that it doesn’t read that way… lol I apologize if it does.

Also, we would still like to get some pigs this year but I’m struggling to find any listings in our Area Shopper Ad, so I’m going to have to start looking elsewhere for them. I really should set up a craigslist account anyway. Also… I need to remember that site that is “like craigslist for farmers” …. because apparently that’s a great way to sell and buy what we need.