Thanks for the update on Bertie, Joyce. Tell her that she can't get away from this crowd, even if we don't see her but once in a coon's age.
New Year's Day-2014
That's good to hear on Bertie. It seems like the second day of any kind of surgery is usually the worse. I think because the first day the anesthesia is still wearing off and the second day it hits you like a freight train. I know the DD's back surgery was that way.
Didn't regret doing the markets at all today but sure felt funny to have a Saturday at home. I got some tomato preserves in the jar and helped DD separate the goats and sheep. We've got a kill date in Feb. for about 20 of them and we want to feed them by themselves for a while. That and we weaned the fall lambs. A lot of complaints in the barn tonight.
All of a sudden this afternoon the wind picked up and has been blasting ever since. I'm surprised there's any tin left on the barn roofs and this darned house is cold even with the furnace set on 70.
Sue, sure sorry to hear hubbie has pneumonia. That's nothing to play around with. Although if he's like most men he's a horrible patient.
Think I'll read a bit, check the barn and head for bed. The kids got me a kindle for Christmas. I'm getting used to it and I'll have to say the thing I like best is not having to go to the library to check out books anymore. It's just at my fingertips.
Hi everyone...I'm still alive!
What a winter this has been so far..huh?
We haven't had frozen water pipes...(yet!) but we had a frozen air return pipe on the furnace one cold, blustery night here recently! We have lived in this house for the last 17 yrs...and never had this happen before? Furnace man said the wind was just blowing the right direction?? All we knew was...no heat, suddenly! Lucky for us...he came out at 10:30 pm to fix whatever was wrong. Thawed it with a hair dryer!
Janet, so very sorry to hear about your MIL. I know you will miss her!
Bonnie, how are the eyes by now? Have you had the second one done yet? When I had mine done, they did both at the same time...because of me not being able to see anything much. He said doing one eye would just make it very miserable for me. It was a breeze! Now, if i could just get eyelid surgery..!!!
Joyce...I hope Bertie is coming along ok? Tell her my thoughts n prayers are with her...and to get well!! Miss you guys!!
And thanks to all for the Happy birthdays! No cake..no party..this yr...because of the weather!
We were all going to celebrate this past Sunday, but the roads were terrible so I told them to stay home! Not the first time I havent celebrated my birthday...believe me!! I mean..it's January..right?
I sure am tired of being cooped inside though...am so ready for spring this year!!
When its really bad..i just stay home. One thing i dont need is a broken bone!
Had an appointment with the hand surgeon today, and the surgery on my wrist is scheduled on Feb. 28. Guess this will be the year to "get everything fixed", so I can have other parts that fall off, or need repair.
Good to hear from you Marcy. Sorry about all the water woes. We had a broken water meter back the last really cold spell, and was without water 2 days. We pretty much knew it wasn't our pipes, but DH was down with a stomach virus and didn't feel like fooling with it.
Janet, nothing like this bitter cold to help the goats kid, the markets go to hades, and other various and assorted woes.
What's wrong with the wrist? Right now I've got tendonitis in the left wrist. They gave me a splint and Naproxin and that's fine but you can't do much with that blessed splint. I've been wearing it out in the barn when I'm messing with the sheep and goats but in the house I've basically figured out which motion makes it hurt and I just don't do that motion.
Marcy, glad you weren't without heat for long. We're basically without water at the house since those pipes burst and I'm not planning to repair them. I'm planning to finish that other house and get moved up there. And having said that and planning to go over there this afternoon to varnish doors, we went out to the barn to have one goat with twins and a little yearling with one and another on the way. That pretty much shot the afternoon, getting heat lamps set up, babies rubbed down and making sure that they'd nursed. We've been putting little dog coats on them during this nasty weather and of course didn't have enough. Sent DH to WM for more and he came back with XXS. I don't know if he thought these were actually teacup poodles or what! Had to take them back and get smalls. Sometimes it doesn't pay to send someone else to do something cause you just end up having to go back and redo it. Tomorrow. Hopefully.
Janet, my wrist has been bothering me since back in the summer. I didn't go to the dr to see about it for about a month. When I went, did xrays, and MRI, I have a small bone in the wrist area, right where the hand joins the arm, a bone called the lunate has died. So they are taking that out, plus one on either side or it. So it is outpatient surgery, and will be in a cast for a month, then the splint, brace type thing until it is completely healed.
I don't envy your job of playing nurse to those goats. That is time consuming.
Yes, looking after all these critters, especially in this kind of weather is a full time job. Just busting out water buckets and giving a little grain this morning took an hour and a half. And I got water sprayed in my face from the hose that didn't go on the hydrant correctly too boot!
DS checked the barn at 9 o'clock last night and came back saying one of the yearling ewes had lambed so I guess lambing is about to get in full swing too. I don't know where they're planning to put all these creatures.
Bons, sounds like you're going to be pretty much out of commission if you have to wear that splint for a month. But better this time of year than in May through August. Hopefully you'll be back together by then.
Sue, is hubby doing any better?
How's Bertie today?
Better get this carcass up and get to moving. Maybe I can get up there and work on a door or two today.
Janet, that is the plan. Have the surgery now, and hope that I am healed enough that I can garden. The Dr said he thought so, of course with restrictions.
Marcy, good to see you girl! :o). Sorry about your heat thingy, but glad you got it fixed so quickly.
I would love to see all the new babies coming. I bet they're adorable. Any chance you could post some pictures.
Bonnie, I'm sure that Bertie will be sympathizing with you!! She had her first therapy day before yesterday and said it HURT! But she's determined to hang tough. I went over on Monday and washed and dried her hair for her. It was driving her crazy. It had been a week. Herb is driving her crazy, too! I took them the lasagna dinner over on Sunday. She said they all really enjoyed it.
You hanging in there, Sue? I know when you have a situation like yours that having " him" be home and sick can't be easy on you! Especially when you're stuck in the house!
I must admit that I've been lazy with this frigid weather. Just want to stay under my throw and read or play on the IPAD. Should be working on the house so I can play outside when the weather finally turns around.
Hope you're all staying warm and healthy!
Oh, meant to tell you that Bertie has to have her arm immobile for 6 weeks, then therapy for 3 months. She's hoping to be movable by April. I'm hoping she is, too, cause I don't want to have to pull her weeds AND mine! LOL
Hi, everybody,
I'm just checking in after a year of silence! Hope all is going well and you're all having fun pouring over the seed catalogs! Skimmed through the posts and it sounds like most everything is going along OK, so that's good.
Everything is frozen up around here but we did have nine deer feeding at the foot of my back steps yesterday. They were looking for dropped bird seed. Quite a site.
We haven't had such a herd in the yard since the county started culling them out of the forest a few years ago.
New Year's wishes to everyone! J.
Poor Bertie. Tell her i say hi. Maybe i will come up next week and bring her something ? lets hope this weather we can get a girl day out .
Janet you have goats being born and i have goats i want to sell ! LOL baby goats are cute !!!!
Judy i have not seen many deer at our house . I guess lucy is doing a good job ?
Tim is doing better and went back to work on tuesday. I went to see a friend to get away from him and the kids LOL i got some me time.
Marcy hope your keeping warm.
Im getting lazy too with this weather and less animals to feed and care for. LOL
Hi Judy! I have squirrels, birds, and the odd raccoon or opossum at my feeders, esp. since it's so very cold and the dogs stay mostly inside.
Seed catalogs? I might need an intervention. Good for all of the roundup people, I'll probably have spares of everything, unless I have some botanical calamity.
I seem to sort of be getting used to this cold, at least the air is not that humid stuff that seems to seep into the bones. But I sure don't like lugging all these water buckets out twice a day to break ice and refill. And I've got a bigger water trough that needs cleaning that's frozen solid. One thing, if you get water spilled on you, it freezes on your pants leg before it has time to get your long johns wet.
Got to get this goat out of the basement sometime today. She should have gone out yesterday but I just couldn't seem to get the will up to do it. Don't really want to mess with it today but what goes in must come out and she's sure eating a lot right now. And guess who has to clean it up? Yep. Funny how that goes.
Judy, glad to see you dropped in to say hi. Happy New Year to you too. I've got to go through my seed stash and see what I had left over before I order. Anybody know who offers salsify that won't cost me more than the seed to get it shipped? If I just order one thing from these places it costs more than the packet of seed and I'm not sure any little packet of seed is worth $12. Really????
Better get some dishes washed and the floors swept. Hopefully I can be more productive than I was yesterday.
~~~~~~~~~ to all!!!!
Celine, A friend just gave me a box of seeds. I'd be happy to share. There is way more seeds here than I could ever plant. The price is right they were free!
Judy, Happy New Year to you! It's good to hear from you. Do you need any seeds? I have lots of them.
Sue, Good for you getting some time away. Glad your hubby is better.
Janet, Hope the goats and the weather give you a break so you can work on your house soon. My DH bought a large coat for our 18 pound dog a few years ago. Teacup goats would be cute. lol
Better get going. It's catch up day. Me and my son have had been sick. I guess if you have to get sick this is the best time of year for it. It's been to cold to go anyplace anyway. My driveway is solid ice. I'll have to post pic's later. It's like the North Pole landed in my yard. You walk on the snow/ice. It would be great to skate on.
Hope everybody has a Blessed Day!
Karen
Celene, Try this:
Step 1: I admit that I am powerless over seed catalags and that my life has become unmanageable...
Or, revise the serenity prayer to ask for the serenity to accept the seeds that you cannot plant, the courage to plant the ones you can, and thenwisdom to know the difference!
Karen, it looks from your pictures like we have the same variety of birds showing up at our feeders. I have lots of finches, chickadees, and some tufted titmice also. I love how the juncos show up so much better in the snow.
Oddly, our house stayed much warmer than usual during the worst of the windy weather here. I was grateful, but confused. The mysteries of my furnace confuse me.
Saw the movie "Philomena" recently and recommend it heartily.
Pat
good morning
wow when it hit 30 here yesterday i was ready to get my bikini on ! 30 felt so good !
I have not had much yearning for gardening the last couple years but this year i actually am looking forward to cleaning up my gardens and making them look better.
No veggie garden yet. just clean up as my g ardens have been neglected for the last 2 yrs.
i have yoga today and am enjoying it very much.
Karen, let me know what seed you have, and I'll see if we can swap some. And send you some seeds for vines :)
Pat, The Junco's are one of my favorite's! I love to watch them hop all over the place. They hunker down by my raised bed when the wind is strong out here.
I have a new guy this year. I'm not sure what he is. I have been meaning to get my field guide out to identify him. Maybe you can save me the time. Pic 1 I think is him it's hard to see on those tiny little pictures. Even my glasses don't help any. lol
Celene, I put a list on the seed germination thread. Kathy from my bird feeder trade ask me to stop by and when I did you were there. It saved me from listing twice. We live close enough I could come meet you for coffee or something if you are interested in any.
Sue, Break your Bikini today! We are going up to 50 they say! I love it! This is my driveway! Pic 2 I need 50 for a few days to thaw out things around here. Enjoy the warm up! I wish it could last!
Good to hear you have the garden bug this year.
Better get to my house work. Hope everybody has a Blessed Day!
Karen
Pat, Had to come back and check. Pic 1 is my Unidentified Bird. Do you know who he is?
Karen, I can't see enough details to tell. Plus it's hard to judge what size it is? Is it junco sized? Bigger than the downy woodpecker? What color is the bill, the back, and the belly? Then we can figure it out.
Pat
Pat, It's bigger than a junco or a downy woodpecker. It's about the size of a White Breasted Nuthatch. It' back is a reddish brown along with it's wings. It has a white breast and a brownish colored beak. I looked in my field guide and could not find it. I will try to get a better picture if it comes back.
Sue, Sorry to hear your back to Iceland. It's trying to spit stuff here.
I have to get back to the puppy bowl.
Karen
We had to quit feeding the birds at the farm because the skunks were eating under the bird feeder and guess who was getting sprayed on a much too regular basis. I quit at the house for the same reason but that hasn't kept the skunks from coming around there. I woke this morning to the smell permeating the house. And that was with it closed up. It was really rank outside. I thought those blessed things only sprayed when they were in a tight spot. These seem to do it just for the fun of it. I despise a skunk....
Separated sheep and goats to send a load to the butcher on Thursday. 18 this load. Now I'm hoping that they stay in that pen until then. We don't have enough time to separate them during the week because it gets so dark in the barn that we can't tell what's what so we tried to get it done in the daylight.
It's snowing right now pretty heavily. I got the animals in the barn watered and the momma's fed hay. DD and DH will have to grain and drop hay to the rest of them when they get done with the cows. Wonder how much snow we'll get?
Janet, if we get any accumulation, that is lots more than I want. I have a Dr. appointment in Louisville tomorrow, and it is likely with the sleet and freezing rain that is going on here right now that I will cancel. I don't like to drive in Louisville with dry city streets!
My newest JRT, came in the other day with a hint of Eu'D Skunk. I know that we have them occasionally, but have been lucky that the dogs have avoided that. Mr. B got a good dose about 2 years ago, and it was either throw him away, or bring him in and try to get him cleaned up. It took many shampooings to get it all gone. Learned later that the best thing to use in baking soda and peroxide. I now keep a good supply of both on hand.
Celene, I need to rely on your vet tech experience. Mr. B was sick about 3 weeks ago,with a cough, and loss of appetite, and I took him to the vet and they diagnosed him with a respiratory infection, put him on antibiotics and a steroid. He took all the meds, and was well for about a week, and he is back where we started. Do you have any ideas? I was thinking congestive heart failure, heart worms, the worst case scenario. I am calling in the morning, and if the roads are just not impassable, will take him in again. My vet is conservative, and has not done any blood work or xrays. Thanks for borrowing your knowledge.
I'd want radiographs, and possibly a culture or change antibiotics, depending on what rx he was on. Is he older? Bad teeth? Any reason to believe it's heart failure or heartworms?
He will be 9 in April. They put him on Clavamox, and TenarilP for 2 weeks. Seemed to help the coughing, and he seemed well at least a week after. But he has started coughing, and seems to be breathing partly through his mouth. He is healthy, no teeth problems, has had all his recommended vaccinations, and otherwise in good health.
I have no reason to believe it is CHF, but remember that my DM coughed a lot with it. He despises taking meds, and I hate to put him through any procedures unnecessarily. However, this is the 4th day that he has eaten nothing, and has maybe had just a little water. Just lays and sleeps. At times he feels feverish, but not in any apparent pain.
Bonnie, I'm sorry to hear Mr.B is not feeling well. Hope he gets to feeling better. Healing thoughts for Mr.B.
Hope you and Janet didn't get to much snow last night.
Have a Blessed Day!
Karen
We have about 7 inches of snow. They say this is probably the biggest snow of the season.
I know it is enough, that instead of driving to Louisville for my Dr appointment, I will be making a phone call to cancel and reschedule.
Mr. B did well during the night, and is up, has been outside and is starting on his first morning nap. Didn't seem interested in any food or water though.
So sorry Mr. b isn't feeling well. I know when one of my fur babies doesn't feel well, I feel rotten, too!
Saw on radar that you guys down south we're getting hammered. Geesh, keep it to yourselves please! So far and I am knocking on wood, it has passed us by. We have garden club tomorrow and I would hate to cancel it, but bad roads are not something I want my gals fighting with. I'm co-hostess and made a coconut cake, but Bill and I can take care of that if we cancel.
Anyway, stay safe and warm all of you!
Bonnie, Hope today is a turn around day for Mr.B. I'll pray for him to feel better.
Sorry about all the snow. I'm with Joyce on this one you guys keep that snow down there. We have had enough of it.
Joyce, I would be happy to help you with that cake if need be. Lol
Hope things work out for your garden club!
I'm changing beds and cleaning house. All that fun stuff.
Have a Blessed Day!
Karen
I'm not doing diddly squat! :o)
Have to run a couple errands, but I'm putting it off for as long as possible!
I haven't yet either. I keep playing on here. lol
Wonderful morning here. I'm thinking 5-6 inches of the white death. Roads are fine but the driveways and fields are horrible.
The man that was working with us 3 days a week texted me this morning and said that the physical labor and extreme temperatures were just too much and was calling it quits. I guess to do farm work you have to have a real stake in it. Said he was finding himself making excuses for not wanting to come to work. Course this was the same fellow that was so excited that he'd lost 10 pounds since coming to work with us, his blood pressure and cholesterol had also gone down to the point that his MD told him if he had another visit like that she'd take him off his meds. Really? It was the physical labor that was getting him there. Guess I'm just a little miffed today. I find it funny that a 57 year old woman can work rings around a 50 year old man and most teenagers. ARRRGHHHH!!!!
Was going to take my father to a dermatologist appointment this morning but Dad decided that he wasn't up to maneuvering in this stuff. I don't think they thought too much of him cancelling his appointment but I was all for it. I wasn't looking forward to pushing a 350 pound man through slush and ice ruts to get inside a building for sure.
Bonnie, hope Mr. B gets to feeling better. We have an ewe that I think has hardware. We lost one about a month ago and had her posted. They found a rupture of the rumen and what sounded like peritonitis. I should probably go ahead and put this little lady down too. She's wasting away to nothing. I just hate that.
Better get moving. It ain't gonna get done if I don't do it.
Later all!
Janet, Now you know why he was loosing weight when he started. He's not the physical labor kind of guy. Guess he wants to stay on the meds. We already knew women are tougher than men. You need a 50 year old woman to work with you. Lol
Sorry to hear about the sick ewe. Hope things work out as God intended.
Have a Blessed evening!
Karen
Apologies for bustin' in on your thread. Stayed home today with my 5" of Bluegrass snow.
I think the unknown bird described above is a Towhee, especially if it resembles this one.
Males and females have slightly different colors in the brown feathers, with the males having the darker and females the lighter. This one (from today) is a male, if I remember correctly.
They are never both around at the same time when you need them...
Welcome! We never mind drop ins.
The drop in bird didn't look like that one. It could be the difference between male and female.
My birds never want to work with me on photography either. Lol We need to train them or something.
Thank you for your help and pictures.
Have a Blessed Evening!
Karen
Karen, I just paged thru my Birds of Ohio book and got thoroughly confused with all sorts of brown birds! Glad to know I'm not the only puppy Bowl fan. That whole thing is so clever, it should get an emmy award.
Bonnie, I'm really hoping Mr. B gets better soon. I'd be worried, too, with him not wanting to eat or drink. I was surprised to see that you all had so much snow! We had half an hour of flurries with zero accumulation. I saw on TV that Chelle's kids didn't have school, either, along with a bunch of others east of 275.
Janet, if your former worker had such good results with weight loss, maybe you should rethink the job. Why dont you repackage it as a weight loss daycare program? Add a shower and you can call it a spa. Of course, people will have to pay you the big bucks to take advantage of such a skilled program!
I realize that most of you have full lives, but I've been watching tv or going to movies lately. If you get the chance, go see "Philomena" with Judi Dench, it' s engrossing, engaging, and wonderful. I'm a little bored with Downton Abbey, but enjoyes every second of the Sherlock Holmes on pbs.
Had a pipe break in the garage today, at the same time as the garage door opener refused to close. Then the shut off valve for the pipe turned out to be non- operational, and then I found out the garage drain was not draining. I called the plumber and fixed the drain, then the plumber came and repaired everything else. Finally started to vacuum the living room and the belt broke. I gave up and did needlepoint after that!
Pat
LOL, Pat! Did you look to the sky to see if a black,cloud was over just your house?
I was too busy to look, LOL! At least there were no needlepoint emergencies... However, the internet went down for much of the night. Getting ready to do he grocery run right now before the whole world gets all the bread ahead of me.
Pat