Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

The grass may be greener on the other side, but at least you don't have to mow it.

- unknown

Hello all! I hope to get back to read tomorrow! Take care! {{{{{HUGS}}}}}

What great posts from Mamacita and DoA. Others as well. I do hope everything goes well for you Mamacita. You sound so much more contented.
I seem to have been busy but not achieving very much. I have caught up on a lot of Emails and phone calls. Played bowls last Tuesday and we won. Shopped today. Wolf will be in Sydney next week so, with Lizzy, we have been trying to find out who would like to have dinner and meet him and his wife. They are from Dallas. Another Sudoku gathering. I then have Jane and Sacky staying with me at the end of the month.

Lovely sunshine today, yeah! But it has turned cold, the feels like temp (still have the high winds that are making it feel colder) is just below freezing, -1C, or 31 F. The big weather change I talked about earlier.

June, you sound busy as you plan once again to be the hostess with the mostess. Hope you enjoy your visitors.

Doc yesterday is trying a new approach, said my current pain seems to be fibro, not the inflammation of arthritis. Lab work suggest we got that under control with the Paquinil, that part is good. We have run out of fibro drugs to try, either they stopped working, or caused unacceptable side effects in the past. Not many to choose from, so we are now going to try super strength supplements. First one is a duper formulation of folic acid, or rather a metabolite of it. Hope this works. Today is better at any rate, meds working, I think the weather change effects are over.

Julie, hope you are getting better, and will have time for a real post soon. It is good of you to check in.

Heidi, any more calves born?

Forget all that is one page back, but know i did read and thought nice things about your post I am really not THAT forgetful, it has been a while since I read. Phone calls interrupted my post.

Scrabble this afternoon, and several small chores to catch up with today. Hugs to each of you, with extras.

I'm heading out to do a cow check in a few. We haven't had any more calves born since the first 4..... which has been good for me 'cause the back has been flaring up. That last epidural just barely took the edge off the pain.

WELL! Gil just walked in the door and announced that we just had 2 new heifer calves born. That's now a total of 6 calves: 3 heifers, 3 bulls.

Heidi, do you foresee keeping any replacement heffers from this years calves?

Not from this year's crop. That's because we ran both bulls together with the cows, so we don't know which bull sired which calf. I WILL be keeping some from next year's crop, tho. We'll be sorting the herd into 2 groups in May, and each bull will bet his own group. Duke, for instance, will be getting the replacement heifers we just kept. They are Rede's daughters. He'll also be getting the younger cows. Also Rede's daughters. So I'll know the sire of every calf born next year. That's not important this year 'cause I'm not keeping any breeding stock. I don't keep heifers from every calf crop because I don't want the herd size getting too big. The mavximum we can handle with grazing and hay production on our farm is 50 cows. Right now we're down to 41 cows and 7 replacement heifers.

Greetings to all! I'm heading to bed soon, determined to get rid of the vestiges of upper respiratory infection, etc. Take care, Everyone! Stay well!

Safe travels to Broni!

Sending lots of {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, healing energy, prayers, positive thoughts, and !

Had another heifer calf born this morning. I'm now heading out to do a thorough cow check..... not just looking for new calves, but to see if any cows are close to calving.

Whiledoing the cow check, I discovered one of the heifers born yesterday had gotten thru' the fence and was in the wrong pasture. Mama was very upset. Fortunately, it wasn't too difficult getting her back with mama, but my back is killing me. I also spotted a cow that I believe will be calving tonight.

I hope all are well! Sending lots of {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, prayers, positive thoughts, , and healing energy for each of you!

Greetings friends, having breakfast here in Sudoku land this morning. The coffee is extra good today!

Heidi, with your cow count, you forgot plus 7 calves hehehe. Glad the 'lost' calf was easy to return to it's mum, sorry it got to your back big time. Do other farmers with herds about your size also keep two bulls? I think you did not have 2 back when we first 'met' here.

I just saw photos of the elephants in Tennessee playing in last month's snow. Some enjoyed it better than others http://www.elephants.com/eleNotes.php?eleNote_id=319

I also managed to view the live elecam, yesterday and today. It took many minuets to load, I just have to be more patient to get to see them

There are daffodils coming up in both containers now, the green shoots about 5 inches high. I need to check today to see if any buds are appearing yet. LOVE having spring flowers showing this early.

Julie, are you sending candy to Sudoku folks with your posts? Not your usual hearts, is this a secret message?

Warmer today, we should get to mid 54's which is normal for January and February. think I shall plan on going outside for a bit today, this afternoon when warmest.

Hugs to each of you, with extras.

I went outside for a bit, too much wind to be comfy out long, until I got to a sunny spot on the protected from wind back covered patio. Found a sunny spot and chatted with a resident who had her dog out for exercise, sunshine and doing his business.

No buds showing yet on the daffodils, but more and more little green shoots bravely popping up.
the pansies and ornamental cabbage out back and looking better, they are now getting a couple more minuets more sun each day. that bed is a big improvement from previous winters, for sure.

MizT... You should have 1 bull for every 25 to 30 cows. A mature bull should be able to habndle 40, but if he has an accident during breeding season, and have only 1 bull, you're in trouble. That happened with my first Red Angus bull, Scotty. He broke his leg on a wet hilside after getting only 4 cows bred. I didn't have a second bull at the time, and had to scramble to find one. The one I found, while he had good conformation, had a nasty streak a mile wide.We kept NO daughters of his.

Hi, Everyone! One of these days I'm going to find the time to read & comment. For now, it's just been a really busy time. {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, excellent health, positive thoughts, prayers, healing energy, and for all!

Back from a Lions regional meeting, then grocery shopping. We're supposed to have 2 days of freezing rain and snow, starting about 11 tonight. I decided to get stocked up.

Thinking of each of you today. Stay healthy; take care of yourselves. Share the {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, positive thoughts, prayers, healing energy, and

Tanya brought clean clothes, I washed bed linens yesterday, we are having Wendy's salads for lunch. It is getting warm today but very cold tonight, I need to mulch the daffodils. All is well.

Hugs to each of you with extras.

The weather is weird today. Just above freezing, but with intermittent heavy snowfalls which don't stick.So once the temperature falls another degree or two, everything will ice up with snow on top. That's the worst possible driving conditions. Fortunately, I don't have to go anywhere tonight.

It's now cold and white here. It won't be getting above freezing until Friday at the earliest.
As long as the mud freezes, the calves will be fine. They have a shelter out of the wind and snow, at least.

Busy day.
Tahli was checked to see if she is long sighted. She's not, which means she is one step closer to being diagnosed as on the spectrum. I think she's on the awesome spectrum myself.

I had a whole bunch of spots frozen. Owey....

Played bowls today but lost by 2. A very enjoyable friendly game.
I have bed etc. ready for Cathy (CP) who will be staying here tomorrow night after the sudoku meeting with Wolf and his wife (from Dallas).
Sorry about that awful weather Heidi. I guess it is better than mud though.
Suzy, sorry about all the spot removal. Better than having them cut out.
Julie, thank you for stopping by every night when you are so busy and exhausted.
Love and hugs to all.

In another life, I had 'removal' done with an electric 'needle'. Novocaine injection to numb, followed by the burn off with the needle.

Another day of cold and snow flurries. I'm ready for Spring.

The cows are popping again. One calf (a heifer) born this morning, and another cow in early labor right now. She's acting kinda spooky, so I'm leaving her alone for the time being. I'll check her again in about 45 minutes.

She had a nice bull calf just as I stepped out to check on her.

Heidi, what is the total now?

We had scattered snow flurries, nothing stuck. I do hope it stays that way. I did get some pine straw mulch on the daffodils that are sprouting. Hope that is sufficient.

We have had yet another resident to die suddenly in his apartment. I did not know him, he did not come down for programs and entertainment. It happened while we were downstairs for the speaker from a local weekly news magazine. Interesting fellow, enjoyed his talk yesterday.

Today one of my favorite visitors returned. she is the storyteller. always some very interesting story, then she gets almost everyone involved with interesting questions. this is her third series with us, once a year, and always enjoy.

Nothing else happening here.

D or A, I have had over a dozen removals. the first was cut and titch, because of it's location on my face and the fact we were private pay at that time. the rest were scrape and burn, what medicare will pay for, and a few precancerous spots frozen. the worse one was on my chest and the smoke from the burn right to my nose, YUCK, not a nice smell. Had to change docs, and 18 months ago had 4 removed for biopsy, NONE were cancer. Previous doc could tell at a glance, from 10 paces, if it was cancer or not. He never biopsied anything that turned out benign. I am seeing a new doc in 2 weeks. Wish me better luck with this one.

Hugs to each of you, with extras. time to wind down for the night.

OOOPS, that is cut and Stitch.

The total so far is 9... 5 heifers, 4 bulls. Last year, all the heifers calves were born by Feb. 10th. After that, we only had bull calves born. Really weird... but good, since we were keeping replacement heifers. I like them as old as possible for breeding the following year. We're keeping no replacement heifers this year, but we may sell some heifers as breeding stock. We have had a couple of people express interest. Red Angus are becoming the new breed of choice for cattle breeders because they have it all.... great dispositions, calving ease, fast growth, good looks and top quality beef. I will never sell an animal as breeding stock that isn't good enough for me to keep. People who have bought breeding animals from me in the past rave about them. Even my Vet has some of my cows!!!

Hi all. Haven't had time to read all the news. Have lost 2 messages so will make this brief. Op went ok and slowly recovering. Good to see you are getting a decent amount of calves for resale Heidi. Hope your back is not giving you too much grief. Mamacita - your words of wisdom are wonderful. Hope you are feeling much better and more comfortable. Suzi - hope your spots are healing well. Is'nt it odd that a small bit of the sun is good for healing but can produce such horrible results. MizT - you are so fortunate to have a champion daughter in Tanya. Good on her. Enjoy your visitors June - so lovely to meet others from this site face-to-face. Julie I think it is time you slowed down a bit and smelt the roses - you seem too busy and will wear out too quickly. Daughter is moving house next week and we are hoping to have a few days away together before uni starts again. I just need to get over chest and kidney infection quickly. Transplant at the moment is stable so fingers crossed. Caravan is still at the beach so that might have to do. We were going to Qld but time is running out. I have a few friends from when we lived there in the 70's and would love to see them again. No 3 son is in New Zealand so we are pretty busy at work without him. Best wishes to everyone.

SO glad the op went well, Midge. I hope your health steadily improves now. Quality of life is SO important.

Happy Birthday Heidi

I don't get here very often anymore. I actually had to login today. Luckily I remembered my password.

So many things I want to say, but I'm all wrapped up in my own little world right now. Hubby has been told today that he is diabetic. I've suspected for a while because he smelled different. I don't know if that is a diagnostic tool and I don't know why I linked the two. Maybe I read something one time. Now we have to work on changing our whole diet. I'll change with him to help.

Happy happy birthday Heidi!

This is going to be tough. 'Why can't I fry the chicken?' It's rubbish that I can't fry chicken? What's the difference?' I started to argue but he wasn't having it, so I said whatever you want. Sigh.

Happy Birthday, Heidi! Hope your day was amazingly wonderful!

Hi, Victoria! It's nice to see you here. We miss you.

Greetings - and Good Night - to everyone. Had a long day and a long meeting tonights. Take care! , positive thoughts, prayers, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, and healing energy coming your way!

Humph.....lost a long post and don't feel like trying to recreate it for now... I'll simply say hello, all is going well with me... Happy birthday Heidi and I'll post again later...Take care all...It's always great to hear from you. Midge..happy you are recovering well.

Suzy, I think you shall have to pick your battles with hubby with his new diet. Perhaps an appointment with a dietitian, to help him find ways to have the 'taste' he wants without the carbs he should not have. He needs to know it is not the frying or the chicken that is the problem, it is the coating, flour or meal is a carb. With him being the family cook, it will be harder I think, to get him to change. good luck, Suzi. Is he on medication now? Or are they trying the change in diet alone first? And yes, I think you are right about the different smell. I know dogs are trained to alert to changes in blood sugar, and they must do that by smell.

Heidi, I hope you have more bulls from here out. Do you still have snow on the ground? I was noticing in Tennessee, at the elephant sanctuary, on the cameras, their snow is mostly melted already.

Midge, good to see you post again. I am wishing you a speedy recovery. I hope you do get a few days away soon.

cold and colder here, and will continue colder than the average for about a week. Oh well, that is what makes for an average, the cold days balanced against the warm days.

Ouima, so glad all is going well with you. sorry you lost a post, I hate when that happens.

I am off here, a few things to tidy before my house cleaner lady comes. she can not clean what she cannot get to for the clutter

It's presently 23˚F / -5˚C, and the ground is covered with a light coating of snow. It probably won't melt tomorrow, but Friday looks good. Because the nights will be well below freezing, the mud will stay frozen, fortunately.

I'm not going to grumble about the number of heifers vs. bulls. As long as we have healthy live calves, I'm happy.