Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

Happiness isn't about getting what you want all of the time.
It's about loving what you have and being grateful for it.

I picked the above quote because of something that has happened in our life recently. But I have to go back to a previous event.
22 years ago, some very close friends of ours split up because he met a young woman online and dumped his wife for this woman. When they met it didn't work out but it was too late to go back. They divorced. She remarried and is happy. He drifts around the world, never settling, never really happy like he was with her.
Another couple of close friends, married for nearly 30 years - the exact same thing. He has met a woman online, younger and luring him in suggestively. He has told his wife he wants a separation, she is devastated. He felt the need to tell us all but has not told his wife the real reason. He seems oblivious to the havoc he is causing to her and his son.
It is very hard to not choose sides when it's obvious he's being an idiot! We did tell him that much!

If you rely on 'remotes' to make your life 'simpler', you should read this. Especially if you have young people either living in or visiting your home...........................

Toddler bleeds to death after swallowing button battery that burned through the 23-month-old's organs as his North Carolina paramedic parents battled to save his life

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9184391/Toddler-bleeds-death-swallowing-button-batt ery-burned-organs-North-Carolina.html

Remove the space in 'batt ery'

Another reason I like being as low tech as possible. Smsll batteries can harm pets, too.

Happy

I'm so glad that Australia is celebrating with us over the major change in international unity and civility.

No more of He Who Shall Not Be Named calling the Australian leaders and treatening & insulting them!

The rain is coming down HARD, with the occational bit of thunder and lightning. I do NOT want to go outside to feed animals or check the mail. I'm going to watch the radar carefully for a break in the intensity.

Yesterday my Sun Conure, Boo Boo, went to a new home. A good friend of mine, Anita, my farrier, got an Umbrella Crested Cockatoo. He's a super sweet and friendly bird, but was getting lonely being by himself while she was working. So I offered her Boo Boo, who is also very tame, but has been lonely since her mate died. They could keep each other company. And Boo Boo can be trusted running loose in the house while she's home. I stayed for a couple of hours while we introduced the birds, and while Boo Boo was a LITTLE nervous being in a new place with new people, she relaxed quickly. The cockatoo loved her at first sight. I heard from Anita a little while ago and they're getting along beautifully.

I have an appointment for 8 AM tomorrow to get the brakes on my truck fixed. It'll be such a relief to not worry about whether or not the truck will stop when I need it to. I suspect it's just the brake pads. The brake fluid is fine.

Great TOPP, CynB! What a shame it applies to 2 sets of your friends. To be honest, I suspect many people would benefit from that advice!

DOrA, thanks for sharing the information about button batteries. How awful for that young family! I don't think much about remotes, but it wouldn't hurt to check any that we have in our house and share the information with other family members.

Happy Australia Day!

Sounds like a lot of rain, Heidi! We're due to get as much as 8 inches of snow in the next 36 hours or so. I think I'd prefer rain, but nobody asked. And I suspect you might prefer the snow.

Heidi, your sun conure BooBoo is a beauty. I'm sure you'll miss her, but hope you'll be able to visit, since Anita is not just your farrier, but also your friend. It's great that the 2 birds seem to be getting along. I hope they'll both do well together!

What a relief that your truck's brakes will be repaired tomorrow!i

It's time to head to bed. Thinking of Everyone and sending healing energy {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, prayers, positive thoughts, and ! Take care, Everyone!

The front brakes on my truck were pretty much nonexistant. They had to replace pads, lines, calipers and sensors! The rear brakes were fine. I'll be getting the truck back tomorrow morning.

The management at Robert's apartment complex told him this morning that they were going to spray his new apartment, so he had to leave for at least 4 hours. So I spent the time driving him around running errands in the rental, and a couple of those hours on my farm where we did some barn maintenence work. It was a warmish, sunny day today. But VERY muddy. (Tomorrow we're back to rain, ice and snow.) He's now back home. And I'm going to bed early.

Sounds like you and Robert had a very busy day, Heidi! I hope you get a good, long, restful sleep!

I suspect the fact that your front brakes were so worn and the rear brakes were fine tells you and the mechanics something - perhaps about your driving pattern and lots of towing? Regardless, it's very reassuring that the repairs and replacements are being made, and driving and stopping will be safer!

Thinking of Everyone tonight and hoping everyone is well and staying safe and virus-free! Sending lots of positive thoughts, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, , prayers, and healing energy for Everyone! Take care!

Yes, I DO do lots of towing. And frequently heavy loads....the maxinum that the truck is rated for (7,200 lbs/ 3266 kg).

I've got my truck back!!!

And it's now snowing heavily. Everybody has been fed and watered already today. At least I'm well stocked in feed for all the animals and me. Now I can snuggle up with hot cocoa and either a good book or a DVD.

Sending {{{{{HUGS}}}}} and for All!

Cold today and cold tomorrow. And they're now calling for rain on Sunday when I'm going to be hauling the 5 big calves to the sale barn. I'm SO glad I've got new brakes. There's one big hill, with a 90˚ turn onto a narrow bridge at the bottom, on the way there. Terrifying if your brakes are iffy. But I can't justify putting this off any longer. I'm having an epidural on Wednesday, and there will be only 2 heifer calves and an old cow to feed once those 5 are gone. MUCH easier on my back. The rest of the herd has just been put on fresh pasture so they get no grain.

I hope the snow has stopped and the temperatures aren't quite sol cold, Heidi. I'm so glad you got your new brakes so taking the big calves to the sale barn on a very rainy Sunday isn't quite as nerve-wracking as it would have been without the new brakes! I hope the calves will bring a good price and you'll be able to be rested prior to your epidural! Feeding the remaining calves and the old cow will be much easier, so hopefully, the epidural will be a doozy and you can rest afterward.

I hoe everyone is well and staying safe! Sending healing energy, prayers, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, positive thoughts, and ! Take care and stay healthy, Everyone!

It's above freezing now, and the snow is melting. The rain is due to start in about 8 hours and continue all day Sunday and well into Monday. So I'll be sorting and hauling cattle in the mud and rain tomorrow. If it wasn't for that upcoming epidural, I'd pass again. Only one of the calves I'm hauling is mine. The others belong to Mike the Vet. I still have a few calves of my own that haven't been weaned yet. I plan on weaning them within the month.

My young hens are starting to lay! I got the first 2 eggs today.... both brown.

My trailer is hooked up to my truck, and positioned in 10 feet in front of the barn door. Tomorrow I'll back it up flush with the door, open the trailer door, then drive the calves into the barn. They're in a pen adjoining the barn, and have been through the gate into the barn several times before. Once they're in the barn, I'll sort the 2 red heifers (#'s 32 and 300) into horse stalls, then walk the others calmly into the trailer. Once the trailer door is latched shut, I'll turn the 2 heifers back out again, then take off for the sale barn. Dawn will be going with me. She has become my travelling companion.

Monday I'll be ordering a load of rock to fill some nasty mud holes in front of the hay barn. I'll put the bucket on my tractor to spread and level it. I may need to get 2 loads of rock. There is a serious mess after all the rain we've had.

Gosh, I haven't been here in days. Just been a bit busy around here. And I have nothing interesting to tell.
I started back at Art/Drawing/Watercolour Classes on Wednesday. I do enjoy them. I have decided to paint some colourful native birds to start the year off. I do love colour.
Good luck with taking your calves to the sale, Heidi. It sounds like it could be a dangerous journey because of the weather. Take care!

The rain started about 10 minutes after I got the trailer positioned. So I didn't have to slip and slide while hooking up the trailer. It's just a light rain this time, not the downpour we had a couple of days ago. But it will still make the roads wet. I plan on driving slowly. Mike offered to help me sort and load the calves, but I told him that I prefer doing it alone. It's a lot less distracting for the cattle if they have only one person to look at. With 2 people, some animals will look at one person, and some at the other.... so they don't all move in the same direction at the same time. It can make a LOT more work. Mike said that he prefers working them alone for the same reason. There are times where it works better having more than one person.... especially when you need to distract an animal. We still need to put his ancient cow down. We're planning on working her together into a smallish pen.... we'll get her in a corner with a little feed.... then I'll hold her attention while he comes up quietly on her and puts her down quickly and painlessly. That's the plan we've worked out. Her arthritis is now so bad we can hear her joints grinding from 30 feet away when she tries to walk.... which she doesn't attempt very often any more. We're just waiting for the ground to dry up or freeze so we don't tear up the pasture with the tractor when we dispose of her afterwards.

I made the chickens happy today. My bird barn is divided into a feed storage area and 2 pens of equal sizes inside, with separate runs outside. I opened up the divider between the 2 inside pens today to double their indoor area. They have food and water on both sides. There is a heat lamp on each side, too, to keep them warm. Once I've recovered from my epidural, I'm going to open up the area between the outside runs as well. I will have to make a hinged door for the area so I can close it if needed.The outside area they don't have access to now is the smaller of the runs. It's only 12 feet by 16 feet. The run they have access to is 30 feet by 50 feet.

Back home from taking the calves to the sale barn. Horrible drive. I drove at 35 MPH on 55 MPH roads. They danced around in the trailer, throwing it off balance the entire time, while I drove on wet, slippery roads. Thank the gods for my new brakes.

And now the temperature is dropping. They're calling for a change from rain to snow tonight.
On the way back home from the sale barn, I stopped at Tractor Supply and got some fresh, clean bedding for the chickens. The half of the indoor barn I opened up for them yesterday didn't have warm bedding. Now it has three inches of fine pine shavings.

I'm glad to read that you are back from taking the calves to the barn, Heidi.
And I love the way you plan to euthanise the old cow.
I would love that, when I'm old, in pain, and of no use to anyone - just distract me, sneak up behind me, jab me and let me go quickly and quietly. My greatest fear is getting dementia like both of my parents did and being a drain on my family for years. Not that I resented the years I put in in dealing with my parents, I just know that they wouldn't have liked being that way and would have wanted out. They had said so before it happened.

Woke up this morning to a few inches of snow on the ground. It's so much prettier than mud. But it's not cold enough to freeze the mud solid... it's only 1˚F below freezing.

Couldn't get to yesterday. I kept getting a message that the server was down.

My hens gave me 3 eggs yesterday... 2 brown eggs and the first green egg. The day before I got only 1 egg, but it was a double yolked egg! Only the Faverolles haven't started laying. They lay cream colored eggs.

I had a load of rock delivered yesterday. I should have waited to spread it, but foolishly didn't. The ground was so soft and muddy that I tore it up worse with the tractor. I can finish the job and fix the damage once it dries up.

Tomorrow at this time I'm leaving for my epidural. I REALLY need it desperately. Tonight will be horrible since I have to go stock up on feed today for the alpacas and horses. That means a lot of heavy lifting today.

HAPPY ..... sort of. Punxatawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, so we're supposed to get six more weeks of winter. But Phil is only right half the time.

Mike the Vet is amazed that the cows still have fresh grazing. I always stockpile the best pasture (no cows allowed on it after September 1st, so the grass grows all September, October and November) and turn them out there on February 1st. They go into ecstasy over the fresh grass. Mike says we have the only herd in the county that has fresh grazing this time of year. Everybody else is heavily into hay feeding. My way, the cows are happy and it saves us money on hay.

Another 3 eggs today. It's picking up.

My epidural is scheduled for 1 PM tomorrow. I've gotten all the feeds stocked up. I'll feed the heifers early (altho' Mike offered to feed them). I'll feed Buddy when I get home. His food is already in his stall. I just have to let him in, then out again once he's done eating. I put out 2 days worth of feed for the alpacas and for the chickens. So I can relax after the epidural.
BUT, Robert has eye surgery scheduled in Louisville at 8:30 the following morning. He begged and pleaded with all of his relatives and nobody was willing to take him. This surgery won't improve his vision, but it will keep him from going completely blind. So I'll be picking him up at 7 AM and driving him there, then waiting in my truck until he can go home again. It's outpatient surgery. Robert needs some better relatives.

In Roberts case, the refusal to help could, almost, be classed as 'elder abuse'.

Here's hoping your epidural is a doozy and provides a good measure of relief.

Best of luck with the epidural, Heidi! Hope it's a doozie.
Thinking about Robert and his relatives refusal to help. Is he not eligible for some kind of help due to his condition? He would be assessed here and possibly be eligible to be picked up and taken home - among other services.

He WAS elegible for that service, and used to use it, but funding was cut for that service and it was discontinued.

The epidural was a doozie, but I have a new doctor, and she uses different drugs with a faster recovery time from the injection. She has given me clearance to drive Robert tomorrow morning.

Four brown eggs today.

Now I'm going to watch a couple of silly DVDs. Everybody is set for the night.... except feeding the fish and giving meds to Sandy (for cancer) and Timmy (for epilepsy).

5 eggs so far today. There will be more by this evening.

Back from taking Robert to Louisville for eye surgery. They initially told him that this surgery would not improve his vision, but it would keep it from getting worse. After the surgery, they were so pleased that they told him that there's a good chance that his vision WILL improve! He's ecstatic.

I hope Julie is OK. She hasn't posted in a week.